Prof Laxmidhar Behera, the controversial director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has come under fire for a few comments he made during a lecture – yet again.
In a video of the lecture making rounds on X, Prof Behera can be heard talking about a “Body-Mind-Soul Model”, and waxing eloquent on the “Bhagavad Sankhya” and the teachings of “Lord Kapila“.
He speaks of a “gross body” and a “subtle body”. “Our modern science treats the gross body…They have no idea what the subtle body is,” he adds.
“Ayurveda and other things… they know how to treat this subtle body,” he goes on to say.
Prof Behera further claims that nobody can treat the soul and that it can only be done through spiritual knowledge. Introducing a “super soul” or “Paramatma”, he claims, “There is a communication between them (the soul and the super soul) with a divine sound.”
He further adds that the “atma” is “residing near the heart region”, and that heart attacks are nothing but the soul leaving the body.
“When you are pure, you can hear Him (God), talk to Him, and converse with Him,” he proclaims. He adds that the “soul” and the “subtle body” can “communicate through a sound called Pashyanti”, and that the “subtle body” and “gross body” can communicate through another “sound vibration” called “Madhyama”.
This video has garnered flak from educators, scientists, and netizens alike, who all expressed worry over the head of a science institution making such comments.
The institution is already being criticised for allegedly introducing a compulsory course for undergraduate students with subjects like “concept of subtle body”, “reincarnation”, and “near-death and out-of-body experiences” under the new “Indian Knowledge Systems” (IKS) Department.
The implementation of the Indian Knowledge Systems, which has been mandated under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been criticised by scientists and academics as “pseudoscientific”.
Prof Behera is notorious for making such comments. In September 2023, he claimed that the disastrous cloudbursts and landslides in Himachal Pradesh were caused because of the consumption of meat.
His administration at IIT Mandi also garnered further notoriety for imposing separate dining halls for vegetarian students and allegedly introducing yoga and Bhagavad Gita sessions with compulsory attendance.
