Guest guest Posted September 24, 1999 Report Share Posted September 24, 1999 >Hridayananda Maharaja has explained that, driven by false-ego, the Hindus >made the mistake of not welcoming back the disenchanted Muslim converts, >and that mistake clearly facilitated communalism and the eventual partition >of India (during which process more people got killed than during Hitler's >tyranny). Actually this point was made very emphatically by Srila Prabhupada in a lecture in India. Hridayananda das Goswami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 24, 1999 Report Share Posted September 24, 1999 > sometimes devotees approaching [Narayan Maharaja] for initiation >have not been straightforward to Maharaja and he re-initiates them without >being properly informed. The image of Narayan Maharaja hastily, with no deep personal interaction, reinitiating ISKCON devotees during his dig-vijaya tours reminds me of the initiation practices during the Zonal Acharya days of ISKCON in the 80's. Do two wrongs make one right? Hopefully it is not the case that many of those hasty re-initiates were driven like sheep herds (cannon fodders?) by Narayan Maharaja's agents. And perhaps at some point in time ISKCON temples and gurus will have to start welcoming back disenchanted Narayan Maharaja initiates... (Re. dig-vijaya tours, didn't Sankara-acarya also enjoy them, and even write a book about them?) This topic brings to mind, as well, the Muslims' practice of sprinkling Hindus with water, to convert them, during their conquering raids in Early Medieval India. Hridayananda Maharaja has explained that, driven by false-ego, the Hindus made the mistake of not welcoming back the disenchanted Muslim converts, and that mistake clearly facilitated communalism and the eventual partition of India (during which process more people got killed than during Hitler's tyranny). How did the Muslims get into India in a conquering, dig-vijaya, mood? Mesmerized by the wealth of Early Medieval India, its world-wide prestige, its spiritual power, its gorgeous temples, its unforgettable food... Andre Wink, a scholar (and sympatizer) of Islam in India, said during a history seminar in Madison that the Muslims prepared themselves for a whole century in order to invade India. First of all with determination -- they firmly set their minds, one-pointedly, on taking possession of India. They built up their military muscle, they visited India to check it out individually and in small groups, they established small-scale commercial operations within India, etc. Why was India, a former world potency, so weak and conquerable in the Early Medieval times? For one thing, it was plagued with petty kings, feudal lords (sort of a political Zonal Acharyanism). And, of course, the Yuga-avatara had not descended yet. Lord Caitanya had not yet told the Indians: bharata-bhumite haila... An article in the latest issue of the Journal of Vaisnava Studies (8.1, 1999, p. 59) begins by stating, "Controversies of all sorts abound in Vaisnava as in other traditions." Derrida is then quoted saying that rather than "religions" there are, for him, "tensions, heterogeneity, disruptive volcanos..." And this verse spoken by Yuddhisthira Maharaja and found in the Vana-parva of the MBh (not in the Critical Edition) is cited thereafter: tarko 'pratisthah srutayo vibhinna nasav munir yasya matam na bhinnam dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah "Logical argumentation has not foundation. The scriptures are divided. "He whose opinion is not different [from that of all other munis] is not an intellectual. "The truth of dharma is hidden in a cave (the heart; it's esoteric). "The path is that by which great souls have gone." your servant, Kunti dd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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