A senior sadhu and office-bearer of the Ram temple trust used such eulogistic expressions for Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the consecration here on Monday that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat apparently felt compelled to react.

Acharya Govind Dev Giri had described Modi as Shivaji reborn and a “Shrimant Yogi” (most holy person), narrating how the Prime Minister had volunteered to follow a much harder austerity regime than suggested in the run-up to the consecration.

Bhagwat, delivering a speech a little later, said one should “stay in one’s senses amid all this excitement”. He did not name Giri but referred to the claim about the “harder vrat” Modi had opted for.

Invited by temple trust general secretary Champat Rai to address the gathering, Giri had said: “I was asked to give the routine (for the ascetic regime to be followed) to the Prime Minister, who was to be the chief guest for the Pran Pratistha. I suggested some rituals and a three-day fast but he fasted for 11 days.

“We will never find another such tapasvi national leader who would opt to sleep on the ground for 11 days and observe every rule. Such religious rituals were followed in the past by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.”

Giri, who belongs to Maharashtra and studied the Vedas in Varanasi, said: “God has sent him (Shivaji) to us again. A Shrimant Yogi is standing before us…. He has purified himself to attend the sacredness of a sadhu.”

When Bhagwat’s turn to speak came, he said: “A new Bharat is bound to stand up and bring succour to the world. Today’s event symoblises this. You don’t have to explain your enthusiasm in the given situation… but it’s better to stay in one’s senses (hosh) amid all this excitement (josh).”

He added: “We heard today that the Prime Minister observed a harder vrat (rituals and fast) than suggested. I have known him for a long time, he is a tapasvi. But is it enough if he alone observes austerity?

“Ram Lalla has come to Ayodhya but why did he leave Ayodhya? According to the Ramayan, he left Ayodhya because there was discord in Ayodhya. Ayodhya has to be without tension, discord or confusion. He (Ram) went into vanavas for 14 years. He returned to Ayodhya after resolving discord across the world. Ram Lalla has come back again after 500 years.”

Modi had trained under Bhagwat’s father Madhukar Rao Bhagwat after joining the RSS as a young man.

“We salute his (Ram’s) tapasya, his sacrifice, his hard work hundreds of times. The PM observed austerity but now it’s our turn,” the RSS chief said.

He advocated unity and asked people to help others without expecting the government to do everything.

“We have to behave accordingly. We have to discard all the discords…. We have to discard our small differences…. Everybody is ours and this is why we are able to move forward,” he said.

“We have to behave in a coordinated manner with each other, which is the first truth of religion. Compassion is the second necessity, which includes service (seva) and charity (paropkar).”

Talking about his 11 days of austerity, Modi said in his speech: “During my 11 days of fast and rituals, I tried to visit places where Ram had stopped — Panchvati Dham in Nashik, the sacred Triprayar temple in Kerala, Lepakshi temple in Andhra Pradesh, Rangnathswami temple in Srirangam, Sriramanathswamy temple in Rameshwaram…. It is my good fortune that, with this purity in mind, I got the opportunity to travel from the sea to the Saryu.”

Modi did not mention Chitrakoot, where Ram had spent most of his time in the forest.