SSR 3.2: Rapturous appearance

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Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

 

>From the exchange between Srila Prabhupada and Dr. Staal:

 

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As the goal of spiritual realization is only one, love of God, so the Vedas

stand as a single comprehensive whole in the matter of transcendental

understanding. Only the incomplete views of various parties apart from the

bona fide Vedic lines of teaching give a ***rapturous appearance*** to the

Bhagavad-gita. The reconciliative factor adjusting all apparently diverse

propositions of the Vedas is the essence of the Veda, or Krsna consciousness

(love of God).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

This passage seems to be in response to Dr. Staal's earlier remark that the

Bhagavad-g…t€ "deals with quite different subjects, which I treat at some

length in my courses on the philosophies of India."

 

Dr. Staal speaks of "quite different subjects" in the G…t€, but Srila

Prabhup€da retorts by saying that "the Vedas stand as a single comprehensive

whole" and that the apparent diversity is only due to "the incomplete views

of various parties."

 

However, the phrase "rapturous appearance" seems to be somewhat problematic

if I have to go by dictionary meanings. According to the Random House

Unabridged Dictionary the word "rapturous" means:

 

1. full of, feeling, or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight.

2. characterized by, attended with, or expressive of such rapture: rapturous

praise.

 

The OED has:

 

1. Characterized by, expressive or partaking of, rapture.

2. Feeling or exhibiting rapture.

 

My English-Dutch dictionary mentions meanings such as "passionate", "being

carried away", "ecstacy".

 

Perhaps what Srila Prabhup€da means by "rapturous appearance" is that due to

various parties being passionate about or carried away by their own

different philosophical views their divergent interpretations have given the

Bhagavad-g…t€ the appearance (and reputation) of being a motley or wild

conglomerate of heterogeneous philosophies.

 

A way to translate the phrase "rapturous appearance" could thus be to say

"motley/wild appearance" or "the appearance of being a motley/wild

compilation."

 

However, the OED also gives interesting (albeit obsolete) meanings for

"rapture":

 

1. The act of seizing and carrying off as prey or plunder. Obs.

3. a. The act of carrying off a woman. Obs.

 

Taking these meanings, one could say that due to the "various parties"

plundering the G…t€ (i.e., carrying off Mother Veda, or rather

m€y€-veda-m€t€) the G…t€ may appear to be plundered of its intended and

original meaning to an unknowledgeable reader studying religion or Indian

philosophy. But to translate "rapturous appearance" as "plundered

appearance" may not be tenable because of the latter meanings being

obsolete.

 

Would you have other suggestions, please?

 

 

Thank you very much.

 

Hare Krishna! Your humble servant,

Rupa Sanatana Dasa