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Re: Reply to HKS's Comments on Tolerance Towards Other Religious Viewpoints
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: Reply to HKS's Comments on Tolerance Towards Other Religious Viewpoints
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From: vijaypai@ece.rice.edu (Vijay Sadananda Pai)
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Date: Fri, 21 Jul 95 16:02:06 CDT
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From vijaypai@ece.rice.edu Fri Jul 21 16: 50:40 1995
In article <3um2u5$r7s@babbage.ece.uc.edu> Ram Chandran writes:
>Krishnaji demonstrates his
>deep devotion and dedication to Lord Krishna.
I think we all agree on this. However, don't expect any response
from him for a while -- I think he has gone to India for a month
or so.
>Though she was a great devotee of Lord
>Krishna, she had never expressed any hatred towards other Gods and
Yes, this is correct of all Krishna devotees -- although they follow
"mumukshava ghora-rupan hitva bhuta-patin atha..." (* below) they must
also act with respect to all the demigods, who are themselves
Vaisnavas. I think you will not find any hatred of demigods in HKS's
writings, [in fact, I can remember him once writing "I am sure Lord
Shiva will be pleased with your devotion (as will Lord Vishnu since
Lord Shiva is His devotee)" to one Shaivite who had been
argumentative], only that he seeks to express the Vaisnavite viewpoint
as defined in the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedic literature.
>I still wonder from where did Krishnaji get the message that I am
>an impersonalist
It could be because you suggested that the Visnu Sahasra Nama was
full of names of an "abstract" God, ignoring lines like
"pradhana purusheshwara // narasimha vapuh sriman keshava purusottama // ....
aprameya hrisikesha padmanabha amara-prabhu // ...
suvarno-varno hemango varangas chandangadi..."
In fact, you'll find that almost all of the lines of VSN are as well-defined
as these. They conclude by referring to the Lord by His 4 handed form and also
as "devaki-nandan" -- the son of Devaki, Krishna.
>If Krishnaji strongly believes that God is an object,
once again, I think you are putting words into his mouth. HKS has
said that God is a person, but I have not seen him write "God is an
object". There is definitely some difference.
>We should find a common ground to reduce
>inner conflicts and maintain inner peace.
This seems agreeable, but we must not, at the same time, water down or
average out our dharma over a wide variety of ideas. We must follow the
verdict of the Gita
"sarva dharmAn parityajya / mAm ekam` sharaNam` vraja" -- abandon all
varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me
and the Bhagavatam
"dharmaH projjhita-kaitavo" (1.1.2) -- rejecting all materialistic conceptions
of religion.
That is explained further in the "mumukshavo..." verse above (as well
as many other verses)
>One of the common ground we can find in all religions is the
>elimination "EGO."
Generally speaking, they want people to eliminate "false ego". "Ego"
is the sense of individuality, and is an essential and real part of most
religions -- "false ego" is the exploitative tendencies you describe --
the desire to enjoy separate of the Lord, the thought that "I am the doer",
sometimes referred as "ahankara".
However, another important common ground in all religions is chanting
the Holy Name of the Lord -- this process is praised in a wide variety
of scriptures; if I can dig up the material, I'd like to post those soon...
>Krishnaji has great respect for Srimad Bhagavatam, from which has
>previously quoted several beautiful verses. Here are two quotes
>from Bhagavatam that strongly supports tolerance towards other
>religious beliefs:
tolerance is correct -- absolute acceptance is not required by the Bhagavatam.
I'll specifically address your second quote below.
>(2) Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers, the wise
> man accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only
> the good in all religions. (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3)
Indeed, the wise should have no objection to the essence of different
scriptures -- that is, the chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord.
Nevertheless, this does not constitute absolute acceptance -- refer
"dharmaH projjhita-kaitavo" above. Like the honeybee, the wise can relish
the nectar and leave the undesirable parts behind; Chanakya Pandit
said that there can be no objection to picking up gold from a trash heap
or marrying a beautiful wife from a lower caste.
In short, I'll just include 2 slokas from the Bhagavatam I like in particular:
vAsudeva-parA vedA
vAsudeva-parA makhAH
vAsudeva-parA yogA
vAsudeva-parAH kriyAH || SB 1.2.28 ||
vAsudeva-param` jn~Anam`
vAsudeva-param` tapaH
vAsudeva-paro dharmo
vAsudeva-parA gatiH || SB 1.2.29 ||
In the revealed scriptures, the ultimate object of knowledge is Sri
Krishna, the Personality of Godhead. The purpose of performing sacrifice
is to please Him. Yoga is for realizing Him. All fruitive activities are
ultimately rewarded by Him only. He is supreme knowledge, and all severe
austerities are performed to know Him. Religion [dharma] is rendering
loving service unto Him. He is the supreme goal of life.
>=========================||=============================================
>| Ram V. Chandran || email: chandra2%ers.bitnet@vtbit.cc.vt.edu |
(*) mumukShavo ghora-rUpAn
hitvA bhUta-patIn atha
nArAyaNa-kalAH-shAntA
bhajanti hy anasUyavaH || SB 1.2.26 ||
Those who are serious about liberation are certainly nonenvious and they
respect all. Yet they reject the horrible and ghastly forms of the demigods
and worship only the all-blissful forms of Lord Visnu and His plenary
portions.
The Bhagavatam translations in my comments above are by A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada. Copyright BBT International, used with permission.
-- Vijay
(the above also applies to the Gita ref. above)
