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Re: ARTICLE : Just say no to "Hinduism" (was Re: ARTICLE : On
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To: ghen@netcom.com
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Subject: Re: ARTICLE : Just say no to "Hinduism" (was Re: ARTICLE : On
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From: Pradip Gangopadhyay <pradip@lism.usc.edu>
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Date: Fri, 13 Sep 1996 14:55:04 -0700 (PDT)
Vivek Sadananda Pai (vivek@cs.rice.edu) wrote:
[snipped]
>More importantly, there are two verses from the Bhagavad Gita which a
>lot of Hindus seem to ignore - 9.23 and 9.24. I'll let everyone find
>those in their favorite translations rather than post them here. The
>Gaudiyas take those verses to say that Krishna is saying that He alone
>is Supreme.
>If that bothers people, then they can take it up with Whomever spoke
>the Gita, right?
Hindus do not ignore the Gita verses 9.23 and 9.24. They disagree with
the Gaudiya Vaishnava (GV) interpretation of these verses. Some of them say,
for example, that while it is true that Sri Krishna is the Ultimate Reality,
the Ultimate Reality is not Sri Krishna. That would be limiting the Infinite to
just one name and form. Even other Vaishnava schools do not agree with the
GV position that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Person. The other Vaishnava
schools consider Vishnu as the Supreme Person and Sri Krishna an emanation of
Vishnu. The GV position clearly contradicts the Upanishadic passages clearly
mentioning Siva and Uma (Divine Mother) as forms of Ishwar. The Svetasvatara
Upanishad states for example (3.11):
sarvanana-siro-grivah sarva-bhuta-guhasayah
sarva-vyapi sa bhagavan tasmat sarva gatas siva
He who is in the faces, heads and necks of all, who dwells in the cave
(of the heart) of all beings, who is all pervading, He is the Lord and therfore
the omnipresent Siva. (The Upanishads by Sw. Nikhilananda)
These Hindus do not identify "anyadevata" with other Personal Forms
of Ishvar like Siva. They say that Sri Krishna is saying that if you do not
worship Ishwar you will not be liberated.
This is the reason why I said that it is not a question of ignoring
the verses 9.23 and 9.24. It is a question of different interpretation.
Regards
Pradip
