Guest guest Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 " Baldev (das) RNS (Chowpatty, Mumbai - IN) " BDN 434Balaji Prabhu from ISKCON Chowpatty narrates this experience on the day ofGita Jayanti in Mumbai.I was doing book distribution in the trains on the day of Gita Jayanti and it incidentally happened to be the day of bakri-id. So many muslims werealso traveling in the train on that day. After distributing books in thatparticular bogie I got down at khandeshwar station to catch the next train. Five to 6 muslim youngsters also got down from the same bogie and followedme. They had a spokesperson who seemed to be quite well read amongst them.He stopped me and then we started conversing.Muslim: Oh! You seem to be a well educated person. Have you dedicated your whole life for this preaching mission?Balaji: Yes.Muslim: Oh! That's very nice. You are doing such a nice thing. I am alsovery interested in knowing about your religion and I have done quite a lot of study about your religion also. Can I ask you a few questions?Balaji: Sure.The spokesperson's tone, which sounded very pleasant till now, suddenlybecame sarcastic.Muslim: So you people believe in idol worship? Balaji: No, we believe in deity worship.Muslim: What is the difference?Balaji: The difference is like this. You see post boxes in almost everystreet of Mumbai. When you post a letter addressed to a person staying in Delhi or Chennai in the post box it will eventually reach him even if thereis a slight mistake in the address. But if you yourself paint a box in blackand red, hang it outside your door and post a letter in it, it will never reach the destination even if it is addressed to the person next door. Why?Because the postbox has been authenticated by the government, letters postedin that box are regularly cleared by postal department professionals and delivered to their destinations. Similarly the deities are invested with thecomplete potencies of the Lord Himself and hence can be worshipped.Muslim: Oh! Then, does it mean that if I am at a place where there is no access to the deities I cannot worship the Lord?Balaji: No, You can worship Him through His holy names. Holy Quran says thatthere are 100 names of Lord Allah. The same way our scriptures also mention so many names of the Lord which are invested with all the potencies. So, wecan always worship the Lord through His holy names.Muslim: Oh! If the Lord can be worshipped simply through His holy names thenwhat is the need for deity worship? Balaji: Ok. Now I will give you my cell phone and you have unlimited freeminutes for the rest of your life to speak with your mother. Does it negatethe need for having any more personal interactions with your mother for the rest of your life? Will you be satisfied by just speaking with her overphone or would you want to personally have some interactions with her and dosome service to her when she is in need?Muslim: I would definitely like to have personal interactions. Balaji: Yes, the same way Deity worship gives us this nice opportunity dopersonal service to the Lord. Moreover, the many names of the Lord areactually named after their form. For example, the Lord is called Keshava, meaning, the one with beautiful hair. He is also called Padma Lochana,meaning, the one with eyes as beautiful as lotus petals. If just thesenames, which are named after the forms of the Lord, are so much attractive, how much more the forms themselves would attract the hearts of the devotees?Hence the deities are there in order to attract the devotees.Muslim: But I have read in your vedic scriptures that those who do Asambhuti worship go to the darkest regions of hell? (Referring probably to theIsopanishad verse)Balaji: Yes, it is Ishopanishad verse 12, " andham tamah pravishanti yeasambhutim upasate " .His face had a completely shocked expression when he heard me actually quote the verse. May be he never expected any hindu to know and what to speak ofactually quoting the verse?Balaji: Here the word asambhuti doesn't refer to deity worship, but itrefers to demigod worship. Anyways, you seem to be well read in our scriptures. What do our scriptures mention about the right process ofacquiring vedic knowledge?Muslim: I don't know.Balaji: See (Opening the Bhagavad gita and showing Bg 4.34) this is the process. First one should surrender to a spiritual master, serve him nicelyand then humbly question. Then the spiritual knowledge flows. Did youreceive your knowledge by this process?Muslim: No.Balaji: Then, how did you learn? Muslim: I read from the Oxford university press edition of your Vedas.Balaji: See, that is the problem. Neither the person who wrote the book noryou, who read his book, understood the Vedas in the way it is recommended. One cannot understand the vedic scriptures by a mere knowledge of Sanskrit,the same way a person with just a knowledge of English cannot understand achemistry or physics book, though it may be written in the English language. But I see that you have a genuine interest in understanding our scriptures(with a pinch of sarcasm). So I will introduce you to a spiritual master andyou surrender your life to him, serve him day and night and then humbly question him. That way your sincere desire to understand our scriptures willbe fulfilled (again intended sarcastically). Now, you want to take thisBhagavad gita?Muslim (With a completely confused look): No, No. I will call you later. He hurriedly walked away with his cheerleaders.(Text PAMHO:18664844) ----- -- LET US NOT MAKE OUR STOMACH A GRAVEYARD. LET US NOT EAT FLESH. LET US BE VEGETARIANS AND STAY HEALTHY. Animals are to be loved, not eaten. Eating flesh is good neither for the mind nor for the intellect, not even for the body. It distorts the basic character of human. Think Soul is Soul and it came from the Supreme Soul...God Head Krishna Chant:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Dear Manikantanji,This is really beautiful.Regards,S.N.Sastri--- On Wed, 12/9/09, manikantan <manikantank wrote:manikantan <manikantank[Guruvayur] Preaching to Musilmspost, koottalaDate: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 8:29 AM "Baldev (das) RNS (Chowpatty, Mumbai - IN)" BDN 434Balaji Prabhu from ISKCON Chowpatty narrates this experience on the day ofGita Jayanti in Mumbai.I was doing book distribution in the trains on the day of Gita Jayanti and it incidentally happened to be the day of bakri-id. So many muslims werealso traveling in the train on that day. After distributing books in thatparticular bogie I got down at khandeshwar station to catch the next train. Five to 6 muslim youngsters also got down from the same bogie and followedme. They had a spokesperson who seemed to be quite well read amongst them.He stopped me and then we started conversing.Muslim: Oh! You seem to be a well educated person. Have you dedicated your whole life for this preaching mission?Balaji: Yes.Muslim: Oh! That's very nice. You are doing such a nice thing. I am alsovery interested in knowing about your religion and I have done quite a lot of study about your religion also. Can I ask you a few questions?Balaji: Sure.The spokesperson's tone, which sounded very pleasant till now, suddenlybecame sarcastic.Muslim: So you people believe in idol worship? Balaji: No, we believe in deity worship.Muslim: What is the difference?Balaji: The difference is like this. You see post boxes in almost everystreet of Mumbai. When you post a letter addressed to a person staying in Delhi or Chennai in the post box it will eventually reach him even if thereis a slight mistake in the address. But if you yourself paint a box in blackand red, hang it outside your door and post a letter in it, it will never reach the destination even if it is addressed to the person next door. Why?Because the postbox has been authenticated by the government, letters postedin that box are regularly cleared by postal department professionals and delivered to their destinations. Similarly the deities are invested with thecomplete potencies of the Lord Himself and hence can be worshipped.Muslim: Oh! Then, does it mean that if I am at a place where there is no access to the deities I cannot worship the Lord?Balaji: No, You can worship Him through His holy names. Holy Quran says thatthere are 100 names of Lord Allah. The same way our scriptures also mention so many names of the Lord which are invested with all the potencies. So, wecan always worship the Lord through His holy names.Muslim: Oh! If the Lord can be worshipped simply through His holy names thenwhat is the need for deity worship? Balaji: Ok. Now I will give you my cell phone and you have unlimited freeminutes for the rest of your life to speak with your mother. Does it negatethe need for having any more personal interactions with your mother for the rest of your life? Will you be satisfied by just speaking with her overphone or would you want to personally have some interactions with her and dosome service to her when she is in need?Muslim: I would definitely like to have personal interactions. Balaji: Yes, the same way Deity worship gives us this nice opportunity dopersonal service to the Lord. Moreover, the many names of the Lord areactually named after their form. For example, the Lord is called Keshava, meaning, the one with beautiful hair. He is also called Padma Lochana,meaning, the one with eyes as beautiful as lotus petals. If just thesenames, which are named after the forms of the Lord, are so much attractive, how much more the forms themselves would attract the hearts of the devotees?Hence the deities are there in order to attract the devotees.Muslim: But I have read in your vedic scriptures that those who do Asambhuti worship go to the darkest regions of hell? (Referring probably to theIsopanishad verse)Balaji: Yes, it is Ishopanishad verse 12, "andham tamah pravishanti yeasambhutim upasate".His face had a completely shocked expression when he heard me actually quote the verse. May be he never expected any hindu to know and what to speak ofactually quoting the verse?Balaji: Here the word asambhuti doesn't refer to deity worship, but itrefers to demigod worship. Anyways, you seem to be well read in our scriptures. What do our scriptures mention about the right process ofacquiring vedic knowledge?Muslim: I don't know.Balaji: See (Opening the Bhagavad gita and showing Bg 4.34) this is the process. First one should surrender to a spiritual master, serve him nicelyand then humbly question. Then the spiritual knowledge flows. Did youreceive your knowledge by this process?Muslim: No.Balaji: Then, how did you learn? Muslim: I read from the Oxford university press edition of your Vedas.Balaji: See, that is the problem. Neither the person who wrote the book noryou, who read his book, understood the Vedas in the way it is recommended. One cannot understand the vedic scriptures by a mere knowledge of Sanskrit,the same way a person with just a knowledge of English cannot understand achemistry or physics book, though it may be written in the English language. But I see that you have a genuine interest in understanding our scriptures(with a pinch of sarcasm). So I will introduce you to a spiritual master andyou surrender your life to him, serve him day and night and then humbly question him. That way your sincere desire to understand our scriptures willbe fulfilled (again intended sarcastically) . Now, you want to take thisBhagavad gita?Muslim (With a completely confused look): No, No. I will call you later. He hurriedly walked away with his cheerleaders.(Text PAMHO:18664844) ------------ --------- --------- -------- -- LET US NOT MAKE OUR STOMACH A GRAVEYARD. LET US NOT EAT FLESH. LET US BE VEGETARIANS AND STAY HEALTHY. Animals are to be loved, not eaten. Eating flesh is good neither for the mind nor for the intellect, not even for the body. It distorts the basic character of human. Think Soul is Soul and it came from the Supreme Soul...God Head Krishna Chant:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Nice one this mail.Hindus are unaware of this great religion whìch is further more worsened by bogus swamyjis and mathas who call themselves gods and make spirtuality business and make plenty of money with self financing colleges and hospitals .Do something to CONTROL THESE FALSE MATHAS AND SWAMYS On 12/9/09, Tigers tail <anair1101 wrote: > Hari-OM > > Balaji's handlinng of the sitution was superb. Mere knowledge of Sascrit is > not enough to grasp the meaning of the scriptures. > When faced with sitution like this we should not quarrel with the oponemt > but rather, get even with him, just as Balaji did. It humbled the Muslim . > Knoqwledge is power. > > jai shree krishna 1 > > Achuthan Nair > > guruvayur , Nilakantan sastri <snsastri wrote: >> >> Dear Manikantanji, >> This is really beautiful. >> Regards, >> S.N.Sastri >> >> --- On Wed, 12/9/09, manikantan <manikantank wrote: >> >> manikantan <manikantank >> [Guruvayur] Preaching to Musilms >> post, koottala >> Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 8:29 AM >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Â >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Â >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> " Baldev (das) RNS (Chowpatty, Mumbai - IN) " >> Â >> >> >> >> BDN 434 >> >> Balaji Prabhu from ISKCON Chowpatty narrates this experience on the day of >> Gita Jayanti in Mumbai. >> >> I was doing book distribution in the trains on the day of Gita Jayanti and >> >> it incidentally happened to be the day of bakri-id. So many muslims were >> also traveling in the train on that day. After distributing books in that >> particular bogie I got down at khandeshwar station to catch the next >> train. >> >> Five to 6 muslim youngsters also got down from the same bogie and followed >> me. They had a spokesperson who seemed to be quite well read amongst them. >> He stopped me and then we started conversing. >> >> Muslim: Oh! You seem to be a well educated person. Have you dedicated your >> >> whole life for this preaching mission? >> >> Balaji: Yes. >> >> Muslim: Oh! That's very nice. You are doing such a nice thing. I am also >> very interested in knowing about your religion and I have done quite a lot >> >> of study about your religion also. Can I ask you a few questions? >> >> Balaji: Sure. >> >> The spokesperson's tone, which sounded very pleasant till now, suddenly >> became sarcastic. >> >> Muslim: So you people believe in idol worship? >> >> >> Balaji: No, we believe in deity worship. >> >> Muslim: What is the difference? >> >> Balaji: The difference is like this. You see post boxes in almost every >> street of Mumbai. When you post a letter addressed to a person staying in >> >> Delhi or Chennai in the post box it will eventually reach him even if >> there >> is a slight mistake in the address. But if you yourself paint a box in >> black >> and red, hang it outside your door and post a letter in it, it will never >> >> reach the destination even if it is addressed to the person next door. >> Why? >> Because the postbox has been authenticated by the government, letters >> posted >> in that box are regularly cleared by postal department professionals and >> >> delivered to their destinations. Similarly the deities are invested with >> the >> complete potencies of the Lord Himself and hence can be worshipped. >> >> Muslim: Oh! Then, does it mean that if I am at a place where there is no >> >> access to the deities I cannot worship the Lord? >> >> Balaji: No, You can worship Him through His holy names. Holy Quran says >> that >> there are 100 names of Lord Allah. The same way our scriptures also >> mention >> >> so many names of the Lord which are invested with all the potencies. So, >> we >> can always worship the Lord through His holy names. >> >> Muslim: Oh! If the Lord can be worshipped simply through His holy names >> then >> what is the need for deity worship? >> >> >> Balaji: Ok. Now I will give you my cell phone and you have unlimited free >> minutes for the rest of your life to speak with your mother. Does it >> negate >> the need for having any more personal interactions with your mother for >> the >> >> rest of your life? Will you be satisfied by just speaking with her over >> phone or would you want to personally have some interactions with her and >> do >> some service to her when she is in need? >> >> Muslim: I would definitely like to have personal interactions. >> >> >> Balaji: Yes, the same way Deity worship gives us this nice opportunity do >> personal service to the Lord. Moreover, the many names of the Lord are >> actually named after their form. For example, the Lord is called Keshava, >> >> meaning, the one with beautiful hair. He is also called Padma Lochana, >> meaning, the one with eyes as beautiful as lotus petals. If just these >> names, which are named after the forms of the Lord, are so much >> attractive, >> >> how much more the forms themselves would attract the hearts of the >> devotees? >> Hence the deities are there in order to attract the devotees. >> >> Muslim: But I have read in your vedic scriptures that those who do >> Asambhuti >> >> worship go to the darkest regions of hell? (Referring probably to the >> Isopanishad verse) >> >> Balaji: Yes, it is Ishopanishad verse 12, " andham tamah pravishanti ye >> asambhutim upasate " . >> >> His face had a completely shocked expression when he heard me actually >> quote >> >> the verse. May be he never expected any hindu to know and what to speak of >> actually quoting the verse? >> >> Balaji: Here the word asambhuti doesn't refer to deity worship, but it >> refers to demigod worship. Anyways, you seem to be well read in our >> >> scriptures. What do our scriptures mention about the right process of >> acquiring vedic knowledge? >> >> Muslim: I don't know. >> >> Balaji: See (Opening the Bhagavad gita and showing Bg 4.34) this is the >> >> process. First one should surrender to a spiritual master, serve him >> nicely >> and then humbly question. Then the spiritual knowledge flows. Did you >> receive your knowledge by this process? >> >> Muslim: No. >> >> Balaji: Then, how did you learn? >> >> >> Muslim: I read from the Oxford university press edition of your Vedas. >> >> Balaji: See, that is the problem. Neither the person who wrote the book >> nor >> you, who read his book, understood the Vedas in the way it is recommended. >> >> One cannot understand the vedic scriptures by a mere knowledge of >> Sanskrit, >> the same way a person with just a knowledge of English cannot understand a >> chemistry or physics book, though it may be written in the English >> language. >> >> But I see that you have a genuine interest in understanding our scriptures >> (with a pinch of sarcasm). So I will introduce you to a spiritual master >> and >> you surrender your life to him, serve him day and night and then humbly >> >> question him. That way your sincere desire to understand our scriptures >> will >> be fulfilled (again intended sarcastically) . Now, you want to take this >> Bhagavad gita? >> >> Muslim (With a completely confused look): No, No. I will call you later. >> He >> >> hurriedly walked away with his cheerleaders. >> (Text PAMHO:18664844) ------------ --------- --------- -------- >> Â >> Â >> >> -- >> LET US NOT MAKE OUR STOMACH A GRAVEYARD. LET US NOT EAT FLESH. LET US BE >> VEGETARIANS AND STAY HEALTHY. Animals are to be loved, not eaten. Eating >> flesh is good neither for the mind nor for the intellect, not even for the >> body. It distorts the basic character of human. Think Soul is Soul and it >> came from the Supreme Soul...God Head Krishna >> >> Chant: >> Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare >> Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare >> > > > -- Sent from my mobile device Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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