- Jan 4, 2010
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It has come to light recently that a group part of the Christian Orthodox Church has pushed Russia to try and ban one of the seminal scriptures of Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita.
Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/212429/bhagavad-gita-faces-ban-russia.html
In the city of Tomsk, in Siberia, a court is going to rule (now on Dec. 28, 2011) whether to "ban" the Gita under the pretense of "extremist literature" along with the likes of Hitler's Mein Kampf.
This particular translation of the Gita, known as "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" was written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, the founder of the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and is quite popular outside of India.
The Christian fanatics in Russia have been pushing to sideline Hinduism for a long time. In fact, Russia does NOT even recognize Hinduism as a religion; its four "main" religions are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world with about one billion followers. The Hare Krishna movement, the core of ISKCON, has spread like wildfire in Russia and that irks Christian fundamentalists.
The fact that these bible thumpers want to term the Gita, albeit a very recent translation of it, as "extremist" is highly laughable while setting an extremely dangerous precedent.
Perhaps the only questionable part of the translation by Prabhupada, that too contested by Hindus themselves, is his insistence that sUdrAs (laborers), women, and mlecchas (untouchables - non-Hindus) are of low birth. Yet, there is no call to harm these sections of society or kill them.
The Gita, in all of its 700 hymns, is NOT just a "Hindu" scripture but is esoteric philosophy for all of humanity. It is part of the historiography of Akhand Bharat (ancient India) and is a condensed version containing the seminal messages of the UpaniSads and the Vedas; a "Vedas for Dummies" if you will.
The Gita has been read by millions around the world and its aphorisms are uniformly praised and studied with serious scholarship. It was Henry David Thoreau who proudly stated:
When the first atomic bomb was detonated in Almogordo in New Mexico, one of the eminent physicists and Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer, quoted the Bhagavad Gita as his reaction! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8H7Jibx-c0) He says, "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds!"
The famous line of "I am become death" was even seen on the helmet of one of the soldiers in the movie, Full Metal Jacket.
One of the world's greatest historians, Arnold Toynbee said this of the Gita and Hindu philosophy in general:
It is despicable that Hindus are being targeted world over when they haven't been the aggressors militarily, politically, or socially. Such tactics by Abrahamics to corner, instigate, and terrorize Hindus has been going on for more than a thousand years now.
As Swami Vivekananda said to the Hindus of the world, "Uthishta Jagrata Prabhiyavaraan Nebhothatha!" (Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!)
Some interesting Russian Hindus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7DOny-5TFE
The biggest travesty of this was that the Indian PM, Manmohan Singh, was just in Russia this past weekend to improve the bilateral ties between the two countries.
Wiki on Gita: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gita
Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/212429/bhagavad-gita-faces-ban-russia.html
In the city of Tomsk, in Siberia, a court is going to rule (now on Dec. 28, 2011) whether to "ban" the Gita under the pretense of "extremist literature" along with the likes of Hitler's Mein Kampf.
This particular translation of the Gita, known as "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" was written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, the founder of the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and is quite popular outside of India.
The Christian fanatics in Russia have been pushing to sideline Hinduism for a long time. In fact, Russia does NOT even recognize Hinduism as a religion; its four "main" religions are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world with about one billion followers. The Hare Krishna movement, the core of ISKCON, has spread like wildfire in Russia and that irks Christian fundamentalists.
The fact that these bible thumpers want to term the Gita, albeit a very recent translation of it, as "extremist" is highly laughable while setting an extremely dangerous precedent.
Perhaps the only questionable part of the translation by Prabhupada, that too contested by Hindus themselves, is his insistence that sUdrAs (laborers), women, and mlecchas (untouchables - non-Hindus) are of low birth. Yet, there is no call to harm these sections of society or kill them.
The Gita, in all of its 700 hymns, is NOT just a "Hindu" scripture but is esoteric philosophy for all of humanity. It is part of the historiography of Akhand Bharat (ancient India) and is a condensed version containing the seminal messages of the UpaniSads and the Vedas; a "Vedas for Dummies" if you will.
The Gita has been read by millions around the world and its aphorisms are uniformly praised and studied with serious scholarship. It was Henry David Thoreau who proudly stated:
When the first atomic bomb was detonated in Almogordo in New Mexico, one of the eminent physicists and Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer, quoted the Bhagavad Gita as his reaction! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8H7Jibx-c0) He says, "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds!"
The famous line of "I am become death" was even seen on the helmet of one of the soldiers in the movie, Full Metal Jacket.
One of the world's greatest historians, Arnold Toynbee said this of the Gita and Hindu philosophy in general:
It is despicable that Hindus are being targeted world over when they haven't been the aggressors militarily, politically, or socially. Such tactics by Abrahamics to corner, instigate, and terrorize Hindus has been going on for more than a thousand years now.
As Swami Vivekananda said to the Hindus of the world, "Uthishta Jagrata Prabhiyavaraan Nebhothatha!" (Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!)
Some interesting Russian Hindus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7DOny-5TFE
The biggest travesty of this was that the Indian PM, Manmohan Singh, was just in Russia this past weekend to improve the bilateral ties between the two countries.
Wiki on Gita: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gita
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