RSS denies its chief discussed successor

The Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh today clarified that its chief K.S. Sudarshan did not discuss the issue of a third acharya with reporters at Kalavai on Monday, as reported in some sections of the press.

Recounting the RSS chief’s interaction with the media after a meeting with Kanchi Acharya Jayendra Saraswathi, a release issued by the RSS said, ‘‘Sudarshan emphasised that no discussion regarding the nomination of any successor to Sankaracharya took place… Only an arrangement for puja by a sanyasi had been mentioned.’’

It further said Sudarshan had only told reporters that the Acharya had made arrangements to keep alive the 2,500-year-old tradition. Since the custom was only a sanyasi initiated by both the Sankaracharyas, and no householder, could perform the puja, a sanyasi was required for the same.