Bengaluru: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi has mocked Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath over the issue of “saffron”. 

She even said, "He is wearing the dress (vastra) of a Yogi. He is wearing saffron clothes. This bhagwa (saffron) is not yours, it belongs to ''dhaarmik'' (religious), ''aadhyaatmik'' (spiritual) tradition of Hindustan. It is a symbol of the Hindu religion. Uss dharma ko dhaaran kariye (imbibe that religion). In that religion, there is no place for anger, violence and revenge. This is all I have to say."

Well, in her hurry to defame Yogi Adityanath, she did give a small lecture on saffron. And it is very evident that her knowledge is very superficial and the mantra which she tweeted the other day was full of spelling errors. Some users of Twitter pointed this out and corrected her. 

So we thought of educating Priyanka Gandhi on the subject of saffron and make her understand the real purport of the sacred colour and why a monk wears the ochre robes. 

Swami Nirbhayananda, a senior Hindu monk says there are primarily three reasons for this:

1. “The colour orange is the colour of fire. Fire signifies renunciation. A monk who has given up on the enjoyments of this world burns his desires and passions symbolically by wearing these robes. So, it symbolises sacrifice.”

2.  “Secondly, the colour of the sun is also orange. Sun stands for knowledge and impartiality. The rays of the sun never confine themselves to particular region of the earth and distribute themselves equally. In the same way, a monk or an adherent of sanyasa should never resort to nepotism or get bound to one particular dogma or doctrine. Through his knowledge, he should lead one and all to the goal supreme, that is god realisation.”

3. “Thirdly, it is debated that that the colour roughly resembles that of mud. Mud, to a monk, is a constant reminder of the ephemerality of the world. Irrespective of the material gains a man possesses, ultimately, one has to return to the mud (through death). So, it helps him concentrate his energies on things not transient. It leads him towards the goal supreme.”