The fact that such swamis, gurus, god men etc., thrive in our society is a clear indication that Hinduism has (probably) irrevocably degenerated. I will just give a real life incident which will, I believe, explain almost every aspect of the "swamiji-business".
A gentleman who worked abroad for a number of years decided to pack up, come to India and settle down peacefully since he had earned enough and more. His relative in India advised him that the best course for him would be to come back to India as a Guru and requested him to grow a beard and not do hair-cut for a few months. This relative cited the following attractive aspects of this scheme:
1. With some small initial investment in advertisement, canvassing and other preliminary expenses, many well-to-do people will approach the Swamiji with an intention to park part of their undisclosed income with the Ashram. Since many of the Ashrams/Mutts now operate actively in the share-market, they will be able to earn handsomely and pay part of the earnings to the donors.
2. People will come in large numbers once a scheme for spiritual upliftment or stress-relief and better living is formulated and marketed at competitive prices so as to beat other competitors' products in the market. This will bring in more money.
3. Without touching the own, hard earned funds, this man will be able to acquire property abroad and establish a branch there because of his intimate knowledge of that country and its systems. Once that is done we can market all goods like CDs, DVDs, books, and other junkets there at inflated prices, thus making a tidy foreign currency fortune.
4. Since the man was already familiar with Hinduism like any other old Brahmin, and is fluent in English as well as Tamil, it will only take a few weeks to learn some things about Yoga, the Sankhya system, The Geetha etc., so as to pose as a yogi steeped in spiritual knowledge; whenever needed it will be possible to find speech-writers and advisers for a small payment.
We are unlucky (!) that the said gentleman refused the tempting offer, came back to India and lives an ordinary householder's life.