Osho's appointment as Sanskrit professor

Osho’s rebelliousness could not remain under

wraps for even a day. Right from the first day he started his job at Raipur Sanskrit College, he was asking uncomfortable questions and rendering the customs of the old college loose. The following incident narrated by Osho attests this: ‘I was a professor in a Sanskrit university. The first day I reached the university I was not yet allotted quarter(s) so I had to stay in the hostel for a few days. Because it was a Sanskrit university, and nobody wants to learn Sanskrit nowadays…almost 90 per cent of the students were on government scholarships. They were there only because of the scholarships. They had no desire to learn Sanskrit, they were not interested in it, but they were poor students and they could not get scholarships anywhere else, so it was better than nothing. And because there

were almost all scholarship holders, they were forced to pray every morning at four o’clock. ‘When I reached the university it was wintertime, and at four o’clock they had to take baths with cold water to get ready for the prayer meeting and were shivering. No hot water was provided—Sanskrit scholars are not supposed to have such luxuries as hot water; they are supposed to live like the ancient rishis and their disciples. And they had to get up early, at four o’clock in the brahma muhurta (which is one of the most divine moments according to the Hindu mythology). ‘That first day, they did not know that I was a professor. I loved to have a cold bath in the morning, so I went to the well to take a bath. And the students were so angry: they were using all kinds of four-letter

words… not only for the vice-chancellor but also for God. ‘I went up to the vice-chancellor and said, “This is not right. You are not teaching them prayers. After the cold bath they have to stand in a line and pray for hours in Sanskrit. Now, how can they be prayerful? They are angry with God. If they come across God they will kill him! And they are praying all that while. What kind of prayer can it be?” ‘But the vice-chancellor was an old Sanskrit scholar. He said, “No, that’s not right. They are doing it on their own; we are not forcing anybody.” ‘I said, “I know that they are doing it on their own, because if they don’t do it their scholarships disappear. You are not forcing them in a direct, but an

indirect way. And if you want to argue with me, then give me only one day and I will put up a notice saying that whoever wants to have a cold bath at four o’clock and pray can get up, and whoever does not want to, need not worry about the scholarship; it will be up to him.” ‘Now the vice-chancellor was caught. He had to agree. I went to the vice -chancellor at four o’clock and he himself was asleep! I dragged him out of bed and said, “Come on! What kind of vice-chancellor are you? Your students are praying, taking cold baths, and you are asleep!” He was very angry at me. I said, “The same is happening to them. Come on!” ‘And there was not a single student, the well was empty and the prayer hall was empty. I told him, “Now take a cold bath with me, and we will both

pray!” ‘He said, “I cannot take a cold bath. I am an old man!” ‘I said, “Okay then I will take the cold bath. You sit here and watch, and then we will go and pray.” ‘He said, “But I am feeling tired and I want to go to sleep!” ‘“Then,” I said, “I am the only person who will be praying—and I don’t know Sanskrit at all! And God understands only Sanskrit! I was wrongly appointed to this university by the mistake of the Ministry of Education. They thought, looking at me, that I must know Sanskrit. I don’t know Sanskrit at all. I am not interested in anything dead.”

‘So he went to his room and I went to my room, and everybody slept. That morning the students came to me and they were very happy and thankful. I said to the vice-chancellor, “This is far more beautiful, this is far more prayerful—their coming to me and thanking me.” I said to him, “Stop all this nonsense!” ‘But rather than stopping the nonsense he made the government transfer me to another university, saying, “This man is dangerous! He will destroy my students’ morality, character and religion.”’