From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 15. THEY SAY BELIEVE; I SAY EXPLORE
That is the highest point. But a small thing triggered him and all the humanity, all the meekness,
everything disappeared.
I have told you that the richest man in India, Jugal Kisore Birla, had offered to give me a blank
checkbook if I was ready to spread Hinduism to the world at large, and create a movement in India
to force the government to ban cow slaughter. When I refused him he said, ”Young man, you
think twice because Jawaharlal gets money from me, Jaiprakash Narayan gets money from me,
Ram Manohar Lohia gets money from me, Ashok Mehta gets money from me.” All these were the
topmost leaders.
He said, ”And every month I am giving them money, as much as they need. Even to Ashok Mehta
who is the president of the socialist party of India, which is against the rich people – even he is my
man.” He said, ”I give to all party presidents, important people; whoever comes to power he will be
my man. Let them talk what they talk; talking does not matter – I have purchased them.”
I told Indira about Jaiprakash, just in that conversation in which I talked about Morarji – to throw him
out. She was shocked! She could not believe it because she called him uncle; he was almost like
a brother to Jawaharlal. He had been Jawaharlal’s secretary for many years and their relationship
was very close. And Indira was brought up in front of his eyes. When she was just a small child she
used to call him ”Kaka” – uncle.
And when I said, ”Jugal Kisore himself has told me, and I don’t think that old man was telling a lie. In
fact, how does Jaiprakash maintain himself? – because he does not belong to any party. He does
not have any group of supporters; he has renounced politics. He does not earn a single pai. How
does he manage to have two secretaries, one typist? How does he manage to travel in airplanes
continually? Money must be coming from somewhere, and he has no visible source. My feeling is
that Jugal Kisore was not lying.”
Indira mentioned this to Jaiprakash: ”Do you get a salary every month from the Birla house?”
And that was the thing that hit him hard; that was when he decided that Indira could no longer
be tolerated. He willingly became a partner of Morarji Desai’s and all the people – it always happens
whenever you are in power that you manage to create enemies – all the enemies were together. But
Jaiprakash was the key. Morarji is not capable of gathering anybody – he is simply retarded – but
Jaiprakash was an intelligent man.
He managed to overturn the government and to show his last renunciation: that although he had
overturned the government, he was not going to be the prime minister. He wanted to prove that he
was higher than Jawaharlal. That was his only, his deepest longing – to be higher than Jawaharlal.
So he placed Morarji Desai in the prime ministership just to show to history: ”Somebody was trying
to place me as premier, but I don’t care about these premierships – I can create my own premiers.”
But it was all ego.
I used to speak in Patna – Maitreya will be aware of the fact – and because Jaiprakash also belonged
to Patna, his wife used to come to attend my meetings. I was puzzled. I enquired of my host, ”The
wife comes, but I never see Jaiprakash.”
He laughed, he said, ”I asked the same question of Prakashwati, Jaiprakash’s wife. She said,’He
From Ignorance to Innocence 203 Osho