NEW DELHI: A sitting judge of the Madras High Court, making a striking claim, said that those who do not accept spiritual Gurus as divine are “barbaric.”Justice GR Swaminathan declared that those who dismiss the reverence for gurus as unworthy(Ayogya), fools (muttal) and barbarians (kaattumurandi) are, in fact, the real barbarians themselves, LiveLaw reported.“In Tamil Nadu, there are certain rationalists who call us unworthy(Ayogya), fools (muttal) and barbarians (kaattumurandi) for treating Gurus as Gods. But I am saying, those who are saying so are the real unworthy(Ayogya), fools (muttal) and barbarians (kaattumurandi),” he said.The remark, made in Tamil during a “Guru Vandanam Utsavam” organised by the Hosur Satsangh, followed an anecdote of the judge’s personal spiritual experience, which, according to him, changed his understanding of faith.Recalling an incident from his daughter’s graduation trip to Punjab, he said that he and his wife were warned against travelling at night, though they still went ahead with the journey. “The roads were misty, visibility was poor, and then — the car tyre got punctured,” he said.His wife knew how to change the tyres; thus, she, along with the driver, worked to fix it in the freezing fog while he was chanting “Gurunatha” for about 30 minutes.“That chant gave me strength,” he said, describing it as a moment of helplessness that drew him closer to his belief in the guiding power of a guru.Justice Swaminathan then built on this experience to make a larger spiritual point. “God is abstract,” he said. “But a Guru is the living presence of God. You cannot touch the feet of God — but you can touch the feet of your Guru.”It was after this reflection that the judge took aim at what he described as Tamil Nadu’s self-styled rationalists claiming they are the ones who are barbaric, unworthy and fools.The judge had recently made headlines for another remark — that he would “carry Sanatana Dharma close to his heart” for the rest of his tenure.