refuting the ban on Bhagavad Gita,

[Paramananda das]

 

PAMHO AGTSP

http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10156#comment-

This is insane, under Soviet Government, hundreds of Hare Krsnas where jailed ,tortured and some died, it is just more of the same demoniac nonsense, lets face it, Russia is full of fraud and corruption.Russia is a democracy in name only and run by Putin and company under the disguise of so called democracy And surely the reading of Bhagavad Gita as it is ,will make people wake up to the fraud of the Russian Government.The recent voting fraud in Russia... speaks plenty to these facts.

The Ortodox Church of Russia is obviously writing these things on behalf of the Russian Government

This brakes all democratic rules of freedom of religion, the Orthodox church is worried ,ISKCON will become more prominent than they and take away their monopoly of religion ,they have been fighting KC since the communist time,these are clearly human rights violations.

Without the separation of Church and state there can be no democracy.

The first argument is this:"The Vedas and the corresponding is younger than assumed only 2000 to 1500 years old.

Refutation: Actually most biblic Scriptures(versions) are not older than that as a matter of fact there is no earlier edition than that. But still Jesus Christ's birth is accepted by all as 2011 years ago.In Bhagavad Gita it self Krsna described that the Bhagavad Gita as it is, is even more ancient than 5000 years old.

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita .Yes some mundane scholars speculate about the age of Bhagavad Gita with their mundane vision:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Bhagavad_Gita this however has no spiritual value.

In Bhagavad Gita Arjuna has stated:

BG 10.12-13: Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala and Vyāsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.

In the 4th chapter of Bhagavad Gita Krsna has stated:

BG 4.3: That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.

BG 4.4: Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvān is senior by birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him?

BG 4.5: The Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!

The fact is that the prosecutor in Tomsk is an extremist and should be banned from practicing law,

Kindly also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Russia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Russia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights please not Russia never signed the Universal declaration of Human rights.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The second argument of the Tomsk prosecution is: The Krsna culture in the Vedic culture can be attributed to fraud because no Krsna name is found in the Vedas.

Refutation: This is such insane logic, the prosecution say we accept Bhagavad Gita but without commentaries, and then they also say the Vedas do not mention Krsna.

These are strawman arguments and have no substance.

om tad vishnoh paramam padam sada

pashyanti surayo diviva chakshur-atatam

tad vipraso vipanyavo jagrivamsaha

samindhate vishnor yat paramam padam

"Just as the sun's rays in the sky are extended to the mundane vision, so in the same way the wise and learned devotees always see the supreme abode of Lord Vishnu. Because those highly praiseworthy and spiritually awake brahmanas are able to see the spiritual world, they are also able to reveal that supreme abode of Lord Vishnu." (Rig Veda1.22.20)

om krishno vai sac-cid-ananda-ghanaha krishna adi-purushaha

krishnaha purushottamaha krishno ha u karnadi-mulam krishnaha sa

ha sarvaih karyaha krishnaha kasham-krid-adisha-mukha-prabhu

pujyaha krishno 'nadis tasminn ajandantar-bahye yan

mangalam tal labhate kriti

"Lord Krishna is the color of a new rain cloud, therefore He is compared to a transcendental cloud full of eternity, bliss and cognizance. He is the original and supreme person. He is the origin of all activities and the one and only Lord of all. He is the worshipful Lord of the best of demigods, the controller of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Krishna is without any beginning. Whatever auspiciousness is found within or beyond this universe the devotee obtains in Krishna alone" (Rig Veda, and in Krishna Upanishad)

(Om) svasti no govindah svasti no 'cyutanantau

svasti no vasudvo vishnur dadhatu

svasti no narayano naro vai

svasti nah padmanabhaha puroshottamo dadhatu

svasti no vishvakseno vishveshvaraha

svasti no hrishikesho harir dadhatu

svasti no vainateyo harih

svasti no 'njana-suto hanur bhagavato dadhatu

svasti svasti sumangalaih kesho mahan

shri-krishnaha sac-cid-ananda-ghanaha sarveshvareshvaro dadhatu

"May Lord Govinda, Acyuta, Ananta Shesha, Vasudeva and Lord Vishnu bestow auspiciousness upon us. May Nara-Narayana, Padmanabha and Purushottama bestow auspiciousness upon us. May Vishvaksena, the Lord of the universe, Hrishikesh and Lord Hari bestow auspiciousness upon us. May Garuda and the son of Anjana, who is the great devotee of Lord Rama, Hanuman, bestow auspiciousness upon us. May the great and only Lord of auspiciousness, Sri Krishna, who is like a transcendental cloud full of eternity, knowledge and bliss and who is the Lord of all the demigods, bestow upon us all prosperity and auspiciousness." (Rig Veda,)

Rigveda is full of glorification of Krsna such as the Purusha Sukta.

In Bhagavad Gita, Krsna has stated:

sarvasya cāhaḿ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo

mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaḿ ca

vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo

vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham

TRANSLATION

I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.

but by commenting I am going against the Tomsk prosecutor that thinks he has authority beyong that of God.Actually the Vedas without Krsna has no meaning as He is the goal of all Vedic knowledge and study and lifestyle and goal of the true followes of the Vedas and all vedic scriptures:

Krsna has clearly stated:

BG 10.1: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Listen again, O mighty-armed Arjuna. Because you are My dear friend, for your benefit I shall speak to you further, giving knowledge that is better than what I have already explained.

BG 10.2: Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin or opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and sages.

BG 10.3: He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginningless, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds — he only, undeluded among men, is freed from all sins.

BG 10.4-5: Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness and distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy — all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.

BG 10.6: The seven great sages and before them the four other great sages and the Manus [progenitors of mankind] come from Me, born from My mind, and all the living beings populating the various planets descend from them.

BG 10.7: One who is factually convinced of this opulence and mystic power of Mine engages in unalloyed devotional service; of this there is no doubt.

BG 10.8: I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

BG 10.9: The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.

BG 10.10: To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.

BG 10.11: To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance

The third argument is in my opinion not worth the discussion, all souls are part and parcel of God Krsna, and the Isopanisad states:

Iso 6: He who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being.

Iso 7: One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?

Iso 8: Such a person must factually know the greatest of all, the Personality of Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-sufficient philosopher who has been fulfilling everyone's desire since time immemorial.

In Bhagavad Gita Krsna has also confirmed this vision to the extend to also see souls in all beings :

BG 5.17: When one's intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation.

BG 5.18: The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].

BG 5.19: Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are flawless like Brahman, and thus they are already situated in Brahman.

BG 5.20: A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is already situated in transcendence.

Jesus Christ taught us to love all like brothers and sisters and so does real followers of the teachings of Krsna,these universal teachings are the same.

A dear friend and lifemember of ISKCON Senthil Kumaram has given a touching testemony to how a genunie Krsna devotee views Jesus Christ:

http://155090.myvideotalkstudio.com/videomail/player/mid/1328024/tid/138652/cid/1000/uid/104942/fid/311120/package/0

This takes us to the 4th argument that the teachings of Christ and Krsna is not compatible:

Actually a true Krsna devotee does not kill even an animal and this is also in the teachings of the Bible, but most christians fail to understand such basic understanding of the love and compassion of Jesus Christ.

So yes Srila Prabhupada tried to show compatibility but due to the known addcitions of Russians to Vodka ,and eating meat some may not like Bhagavad Gita as it is.this however

does not make Krsnas pure teachings impure, nor Srila Prabhupadas commentaries that has purified millions of persons all over the world to a more pure God conscious life.

And I can cite myself as such an example that came from protestant background in Denmark, Srila Prabhupadas teachings has helped me understand the true meaning of the teachings of Jesus Christ to become a better human being.

God is the source of everything, and those who choose to be evil can do so,the first evil is already done by leaving the kingdom of God, after that all evil follows.

This is also the teachings of Christ.I am seeing this article as the mercy of Jesus Christ on the holy day of his appearance to this world,to spread love and joy.I pray Jesus Christ may always guide me in my service to the Supreme Farther, Krsna.

And yes Krsna is the source of everything even our death that the prosecutor of Tomsk and his Orthodox church allies,is refering too.

BG 10.29: Of the many-hooded Nāgas I am Ananta, and among the aquatics I am the demigod Varuṇa. Of departed ancestors I am Aryamā, and among the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death.

Krsna also says in Bhagavad Gita:

BG 11.32: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you [the Pāṇḍavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.

This this does not make God evil, everyone in this world is born, grows old and dies, but if the prosecution of Tomsk wants to take God to trial for being evil for this be my guest!

Krsna Himself says there is 4 kind of pious and 4 kind of impious person that do not surrender to Him :

BG 7.15: Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.

BG 7.16: O best among the Bhāratas, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me — the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.

A real Krsna consciouss person does not loose humility and think he is better than others,the prayers of humility is given by the great spiritual master Bhaktivinoda Thakura and many other great devotee of Krsna.Daily devotees in ISKCON chant:

trinad api sunichena taror api sahishnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isha kamaye mama janmani janmanishvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki twayi O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth. In ISKCON there are no militants and noone are trained to kill anyone, so these accusations are totaly false. This is all "Un-orthodox" and not pleasing to Jesus Christ on the day of his holy birth

your servant

Paramananda das