Is it true?

[Priitaa 0]

 

Hello,

 

I have been reading some of Sri Prabupada's teachings and they sounds nice to me, until I bumped into this one:

 

-"Independence for women means they become like prostitutes."

-"Women cannot do anything independently. To give them independence means to create some trouble."

 

(SB Lecture, Los Angeles, 5/19/72)

 

This statement might be mis interpreted as agains't women. Please explain to me why Prabhupada told this?

 

 

WOW I am the one for this. I have done extensive resarch on it. But its very late and I am soooo tired. :-) I will give a summary explanation - maybe more tomorrow.

 

Prabhupada speaks on both transcendental topics, but also on material ones, or rather how those attached to material life can dovetail it and elevate themselves. When he speaks of women as 'women,' first, this is generally in reference to materialistic women and not spiriutal women. Its also usually about Varnashrama dharma, the gradual elevation thru the varnas and ashramas. But we notice he did not come to america and start preaching this, but rather began something higher, which is transcendental Krishna consciousness. To spread Krishna consciousness was his mission, and all this other stuff came later. (Maybe he saw we would have trouble maintaining spiriutally so wanted to give us something to fall back on that would simultaneously keep us working toward the goal.) You will see he did not treat his female disciples as women, but as spirit souls. He had them do many things which the men did too, including give class, go on the altar and worship, go out on the streets and preach to anyone, etc.

 

In this age, men and women are both on the same level in most cases, and I have quotes from Prabhupada to back that up. In this kali yuga, we see many men running to the prostitutes, so such men are also prostitutes. (Before any man becomes offended, I am not automatically speaking about you, regarding anything said here at all.) Srila Prabhuapda has also pointed out simialr problems about men, so when we speak of the body, these issues come up. The problem is, too many men focused on our weakness and ignored theirs.

 

The independence being referred to above is material independence and not spirutal. Some will insist she must be married for such protection, and while I'm all for marriage, it must be for the right reasons. Anyway, once a woman takes shelter of a qualified spiriutal master, that is taken care of. I know devotee women who live in their own apartments or with a godsister, and do not fall down to illicit sex, intoxication, etc. They are strict in following the regulative principles and by taking shelter of the pure devotee, they are therefore protected. (There is a differnece between protection and control.)

 

I prevoiusly put out a weekly newsletter on this very topic, because I felt some devotees were only looking for the less than perfect qualities of women while ignoring that men had their set of problems too. Some were the same as well. Some were different. Nevertheless, they were being shoved under the carpet and presenting themselvs as advanced authority over women, while women had the better track record! This was simultaneously bad preaching, blaming such things on Prabhupada, thus misrepresenting him and his teachings big time. I know what Prabhupada preached was contrary to the various twistings that went on, so I did research to prove it. But I got tired of it all and just wanted to talk about transcendental subject matter.

 

Anyway, many Hindu's (and others) are going to argue, so I may not come back to this thread. Especially since it was hard to open. I wish I could put my email address up here and you (Myra) could email me with such questions and I could send the quotes, etc, but I am afraid of spam. Hmmmm Also spam from those who think this is feminism when it is spiriutal equality and simply reality of the age we live in. I have many quotes from Prabhupada which clear things up. I just dont know how to get them to you. Yes, maybe to start a new thread, tho they will follow you over there. But hey, we can begin, if you want. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Haridham 0]

I think you are absolutley correct. I dont say this because I am afraid of you /images/graemlins/smile.gif but because I understand what you mean.

 

We should be on a higher level then thinking we are these bodies. We are not men or women.

 

Now I have to tell you that a lot of the things I have learned in Krsna consciousness is from women. Wether its observing, listening or taking instruction.

 

Hey, women are our mothers.

 

Hare krsna

[Priitaa 0]

 

I think you are absolutley correct. I dont say this because I am afraid of you but because I understand what you mean.

 

 

LOL Well, I should hope you are not afraid of me. haha I can't even imagine that. And I am such a wimp really! lol

 

I just did what I did (the newsletter and research) to try to help stop some maya nonsense that was gong on at the time, and to clear Prabhuapda's name plus teachings, which they were twisting and passing the buck to. Other than that, I have no interest in bodily subject matter, either direction. (I would speak out just as strongly if I felt women were claiming superiority, etc.) I only get into this topic when it needs addressing to get us *off* the bodily platform! :-) Or to try and help stop abuse.

 

 

"Hey, women are our mothers."

 

 

Yes. Good point. Very good point.

[Guest guest]

dont start trying to make up information about muslims.mr mo.........if u call the prophet mohammed that then the rest of :ur ppl: should realize that maybey your religion teaches ignorance. and fyi the prophet only went in war because it was to defend his people. and islam IS the right religion our religion makes sense ...get a life and stop insulting a reliogion.and btw thats a fake muslim website. and to let u kno we dont abuse the women in our religion.im a women and im livin it up..dont forget that ur people from ur reliogion are barbaric and evil especailly when they kill ppl

[Guest guest]

The thing for which u people started for thats Kalki Avtar.

it has been confirmed already in front of about more than 100000 people in lecture Similarities between Hinduism and Islam in India .in Indiya evry one knows about it if any one has any doughts about it should ask any Indian or take a cassete of its recording from IRF indya.avery one accepted it not a single person stood up to say that Kalki Avtar is not Prophet Muhammad. and lots of similarities b/w Islam and Hinduism were discussed

 

Hinduism prohibits Wine flesh of swine .Recommends Jihad which means striving in way of God as in Islam and evry even Namaz was there in Hinduism. The definition given by Krishna of a person who fights in God's cause was exaclty the same of PH Muhammad

 

these r u people who r making differences. Muslims and Hindus have actually reunited in Indya after knowing these things

[Guest guest]

"If we add up the total words of both "sea" and "land" we get 45. Now if we do a simple calculation:

32/45 X 100% = 71.11111111%

13/45 X 100% = 28.88888888%

Above is what we know today, the percentages of Water (Sea) and Land in the world. Yet another miracle in the Quran.

do you say Muhammad was a scientist? that he discovered future?"

 

All of U can see other miricles of Quran in here http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/

 

[gopalapriyadas 0]

How do you know that Jesus didn't visit India and study yoga? I have researched that theory for many years and found that very likely it might have happened. But regardless of the hypothetical evidence, it all rests on faith and whether or nor you believe that Jesus even existed. Some people believe that Hinduism is all mythology, like the Greek mythology, and dismiss our religion as imagination.

 

-Gopalapriya

[Guest guest]

as it is a well known thing the mohammed was not educated all he would have done was captured few jews and rewrite the bile in his way and added his name there.

[Guest guest]

our relegion also beleives in single god whom we call paramatma.It is bcos of ur misconception u find hindus as idolaters

[Guest guest]

has anyone contacted these people, are they real or some kind of sinister trick for hindus to conver?

 

Research: Prof Pundit Vaid Parkash

Translated: Mir Abdul Majeed

[Guest guest]

 

http://www.swami.org/sanga/pages/Swami.html

 

 

Q. I have full faith that Krsna is always in control, but how does one come to terms with the fact that during the history of the Islamic conquest of India, Muslim invaders were able to plunder Hindu temples and make a sacrilegious display of destroying the Deities that had been worshiped on the altar? If Krsna were in control why would he want this to happen?

 

A. The presence of God within the Deity is to a large extent dependent on the devotion of the servants of the Deity. It is the power of their love that causes God to descend in Deity form and accept worship. Thus the acarya who is representing the Lord presides over the ritual in which the Deity is established. The acarya actually has love of God, and on the strength of this love (constituted of God's svarupa sakti), God agrees to be present in Deity form to accept worship from the acarya's disciples.

 

Sometimes over generations a particular acarya's lineage becomes devotionally weak, and to this extent the Deity appears to withdraw. In such instances we find that the Deity's worship is neglected, the temple may be abandoned, or the temple worship turned into a business. However, sometimes even when the devotion of the Deity's servants is strong we find that the Deity's service is interrupted, or worse still, offenders destroy the Deity. In such instances God teaches us that while he is symbolically represented in his Deity form and fully present therein, his existence is not limited to this symbolic representation.

 

Deity worship (arcanam) is particularly important for neophyte devotees, arcayam eva haraye pujam yah sraddhayehate . . . sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah. Arcanam involves entrance into the ritualistic world, which is an approximation of the spiritual reality and includes material elements within it. It is the realm in which God makes himself available in a form that devotees still living in material consciousness can approach, thus bridging the gap between them and himself. Such devotees have a conception of divinity that is tainted by material notions (prakrtah bhakta). Thus in rare instances, to help neophytes transcend their limited material notions about divinity, the Deity allows itself to be destroyed. At that time the devotion of neophytes, as well as their understanding of the philosophical underpinning of their practice, is tested in order that they might advance in their understanding and devotion. At that time the Deity, while appearing to be destroyed, withdraws into the hearts of his pure devotees, and when such devotees see fit, they again establish the Deity's service. God's ways are mysterious, as are those of his devotees in whose hearts he dwells. God is more substantially present in the hearts of his pure devotees than he is in his manifest Deity form (arca vigraha).

[Guest guest]

http://indusvalleyrising.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_indusvalleyrising_archive.html

 

A Hindu Encounter With Islam

 

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, whom Gaudiya Vaishnavas worship as Krishna (God) Himself, appeared in Mayapur, Bengal, in 1486 and resided on this Earth for 48 years to the year 1532. During this time, by Mahaprabhu's influence, a powerful and historical spiritual rennaisance took place in Bengal and throughout throughout much of India. For readers of this blog, what is especially noteworthy is that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's spiritual rennaisance, called The Sankirtan Movement, took place in a land that was controlled by Muslim invaders. The following excerpt from the scripture Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, by Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, describes an incident in which Mahaprabhu and His associates encountered a group of Muslim soldiers and converted them to Vaishnavism.

 

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The next morning, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu got up early. After taking His bath, He became ecstatic with love, knowing that He now had to leave Vrindavana. Although the Lord did not exhibit any external symptoms, His mind was filled with ecstatic love. At that time, Balabhadra Bhattacarya said, "Let us go to Mahavana [Gokula]."

 

Saying this, Balabhadra Bhattacarya made Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu sit aboard a boat. After they crossed the river, he took the Lord with him. Both Rajaputa Krishnadasa and the Sanodiya brahmana knew the path along the Ganges bank very well. While walking, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, understanding that the others were fatigued, took them all beneath a tree and sat down. There were many cows grazing near that tree, and the Lord was very pleased to see them. Suddenly a cowherd boy blew on his flute, and immediately the Lord was struck with ecstatic love. Filled with ecstatic love, the Lord fell to the ground unconscious. He foamed about the mouth, and His breathing stopped.

 

While the Lord was unconscious, ten cavalry soldiers belonging to the Muslim Pathana military order rode up and dismounted. Seeing the Lord unconscious, the soldiers thought, "This sannyasi must have possessed a large quantity of gold. These four rogues here must have taken away that sannyasi's riches after killing Him by making Him take the poison dhutura."

 

Thinking this, the Pathana soldiers arrested the four persons and decided to kill them. Because of this, the two Bengalis began to tremble. The devotee Krishnadasa, who belonged to the Rajaputa race, was very fearless. The Sanodiya brahmana was also fearless, and he spoke very bravely. The brahmana said, "You Pathana soldiers are all under the protection of your king. Let us go to your commander and get his decision. This sannyasi is my spiritual master, and I am from Mathura. I am a brahmana, and I know many people who are in the service of the Muslim king. This sannyasi sometimes falls unconscious due to the influence of a disease. Please sit down here, and you will see that He will very soon regain consciousness and His normal condition. Sit down here for a while and keep us all under arrest. When the sannyasi regains his senses, you can question Him. Then, if you like, you can kill us all."

 

The Pathana soldiers said, "You are all rogues. One of you belongs to the western lands, one to the district of Mathura, and the other two, who are trembling, belong to Bengal.

 

Rajaputa Krishnadasa said, "I have my home here, and I also have about two hundred Turkish soldiers and about one hundred cannons. If I call loudly, they will come immediately to kill you and plunder your horses and saddles. The Bengali pilgrims are not rogues. You are rogues, for you want to kill the pilgrims and plunder them."

 

Upon hearing this challenge, the Pathana soldiers became hesitant. Then suddenly Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu regained consciousness. Coming to His senses, the Lord very loudly began chanting the holy name, "Hari! Hari!" The Lord raised His arms upward and began to dance in ecstatic love. When the Lord shouted very loudly in ecstatic love, it appeared to the Muslim soldiers that their hearts were struck by thunderbolts. Seized by fear, all the Pathana soldiers immediately released the four persons. Thus Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not see His personal associates arrested. At that time, Balabhadra Bhattacarya went to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and made Him sit down. Seeing the Muslim soldiers, the Lord regained His normal senses.

 

All the Muslim soldiers then came before the Lord, worshiped His lotus feet and said, "Here are four rogues. "These rogues have made You take dhutura. Having made You mad, they have taken all Your possessions."

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "These are not rogues. They are My associates. Being a sannyasi beggar, I do not possess anything. Due to epilepsy, I sometimes fall unconscious. Out of their mercy, these four men maintain Me."

 

Among the Muslims was a grave person who was wearing a black dress. People called him a saintly person. The heart of that saintly person softened upon seeing Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He wanted to talk to Him and establish impersonal Brahman on the basis of his own scripture, the Koran. When that person tried to establish the impersonal Brahman conception of the Absolute Truth on the basis of the Koran, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu refuted his argument. Whatever arguments he put forward, the Lord refuted them all. Finally the person became stunned and could not speak.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "The Koran certainly establishes impersonalism, but at the end it refutes that impersonalism and establishes the personal God. The Koran accepts the fact that ultimately there is only one God. He is full of opulence, and His bodily complexion is blackish. According to the Koran, the Lord has a supreme, blissful, transcendental body. He is the Absolute Truth, the all-pervading, omniscient and eternal being. He is the origin of everything. Creation, maintenance and dissolution come from Him. He is the original shelter of all gross and subtle cosmic manifestations."

 

"The Lord is the Supreme Truth, worshipable by everyone. He is the cause of all causes. By engaging in His devotional service, the living entity is relieved from material existence. No conditioned soul can get out of material bondage without serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Love at His lotus feet is the ultimate goal of life. The happiness of liberation, whereby one merges into the Lord's existence, cannot even be compared to a fragment of the transcendental bliss obtained by service unto the Lord's lotus feet.

 

"In the Koran there are descriptions of fruitive activity, speculative knowledge, mystic power and union with the Supreme, but ultimately all this is refuted and the Lord's personal feature established, along with His devotional service. The scholars of the Koran are not very advanced in knowledge. Although there are many methods prescribed, they do not know that the ultimate conclusion should be considered the most powerful. Seeing your own Koran and deliberating over what is written there, what is your conclusion?"

 

The saintly Muslim replied, "All that You have said is true. This has certainly been written in the Koran, but our scholars can neither understand nor accept it. Usually they describe the Lord's impersonal aspect, but they hardly know that the Lord's personal feature is worshipable. They are undoubtedly lacking this knowledge. Since You are that very same Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, please be merciful upon me. I am fallen and unfit. I have studied the Muslim scripture very extensively, but from it I cannot conclusively decide what the ultimate goal of life is or how I can approach it. Now that I have seen You, my tongue is chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. The false prestige I felt from being a learned scholar is now gone."

 

Saying this, the saintly Muslim fell at the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and requested Him to speak of life's ultimate goal and the process by which it could be obtained. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Please get up. You have chanted the holy name of Krishna; therefore the sinful reactions you have accrued for many millions of lives are now gone. You are now pure." Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then told all the Muslims there, "Chant the holy name of Krishna! Chant the holy name of Krishna!" As they all began to chant, they were overwhelmed by ecstatic love. In this way Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu directly initiated the saintly Muslim by advising him to chant the holy name of Krishna.

 

The Muslim's name was changed to Ramadasa. Another Pathana Muslim present there was named Vijuli Khan. Vijuli Khan was very young, and he was the son of the king. All the other Muslims, or Pathanas, headed by Ramadasa, were his servants. Vijuli Khan also fell down at the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and the Lord placed His foot on his head. After bestowing His mercy upon them in this way, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu left. All those Pathana Muslims then became mendicants. Later these very Pathanas became celebrated as the Pathana Vaishnavas. They toured all over the country and chanted the glorious activities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Vijuli Khan became a greatly advanced devotee, and his importance was celebrated at every holy place of pilgrimage.

 

Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. (Online) Ch. 18, Verses 155 - 212. 4 Jul 2004. Bhaktivedanta VedaBase Network. 12 August 2005. <http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/18/en1>

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Most notable in this encounter is Mahaprabhu's debate with the moulana. In the debate, the moulana tried to establish what is called the brahman feature of the Absolute Truth. Brahman is said to be existence, and consciousness of that existence. In this feature of the absolute the Lord is impersonal, all pervasive, and not in possession of any personality. At least as it is understood by scholars and followers of Mohammed, Islam can be said to be an impersonal religion. That they are forbidden to portray in pictures anyone they recognize as a prophet is a manifestation of this impersonalist tendency.

 

From a Vaishnava theological perspective, it is the impersonalist idea of God that results in a materialistic religion. The reason is simple: if God is impersonal, then He has no desires. Of course, Islam, like other religions, say that God has desires because He asks something of us, but because the idea of God is ultimately impersonal, beyond paying your "religion tax" by doing some namaz and killing some infidels, the center of satisfaction becomes the self. Persons have desires, non-persons do not. By most religious standards in the world's main religions, the reward of being able to enjoy 70-plus virgins for dying in jihad is quite paltry. In fact, any material reward is quite paltry, because being finite beings we have our limitations. And again, the emphasis of the reward is a carnal and selfish pleasure quite detached from any involvement with God at all in Paradise.

 

Indeed, we can say that the Islamic conception of Paradise is the kingdom of God without God; what does God do in His own abode that is of any significance? Surely it would involve non-interference with the post-martyrdom jihadist's enjoyment of 70-plus virgins. Clearly, the Islamic conception of religion is self-centered, not God centered, because pious life is motivated by sensual pleasure. This is not to say that many people throughout all of religious history have not performed religious acts for materialistic purposes, or have performed materialistic and violent acts in the name of religion. But when the core doctrines are defined by materialism and promoted by topmost religious authorities, then you have a necessary ingredient for the creation of a civilization wherein violence and envy are elevated to the level of virtue.

 

So Mahaprabhu's refutation of the moulana's exposition is significant in that Mahaprabhu proposed a higher conception of the Absolute Truth in which the pursuit of selfish-pleasure could never be considered a virtue. The personalist conception, wherein God is a person, presupposes a relationship between the servant and God, and pleasure itself is derived from selfless service. To the degree that the service is motivated for personal gain, there is no pleasure. And because all other living entities, including animals and plants, have a personal relationship with God, just as we have, violence against them becomes anathema since that would constitute envy of something else that is dear to God. Essentially, what Mahaprabhu in his exchange with the Pathans did was reestablish God, the person, in a Godless conception of Paradise.

 

What is important in this exchange between Mahaprabhu and the Pathans is the role theology and philosophy can play in changing people. A secondary role is etiquette, and a tertiary but not unimportant role is knowledge of the other's scripture. The Pathans could listen to Mahaprabhu's refutution of their ideas because they were respectful to Him, and it was also important that Mahaprabhu argued theology on the basis of the Koran. In developing a strategy to deal with the Question of Islam, theology and philosophy must play a significant role. The true conquest is cultural, and it will ultimately be the kind of religion and culture the descendants of Mohammed (and for that matter, ourselves) adopt in the future that will decide whether or not we live in a world without terror.

[Guest guest]

is also that it is ridiculous to claim that muhammad is kalki......and i am muslim

[Guest guest]

MUHAMMAD in the VEDAS and the PURANAS

 

*****

 

 

BOOKS 1,2 AND 3

 

WRITTEN IN HINDI

 

BY DR. VED PRAKASH UPADDHAYAYA

 

RESEARCH SCHOLAR, SANSKRIT

 

PRAYAG UNIVERSITY

 

*****

 

 

BOOKS 1,2 AND 3

 

TRANSLATED FROM HINDI INTO BENGALI

 

AND BOOK 4

 

WRITTEN BY PROF. ASHIT KUMAR BANDHOPADDHAYAYA

 

EX. DIRECTOR, SANSKRIT ACADEMY

 

HOWRAH

 

*****

 

 

APPENDIX COMPILED BY

 

DR. GOURI BHATTACHARYA

 

PROFESSOR,

 

RABINDRA BHARATI UNIVERSITY

 

*****

 

 

TRANSLATED FROM BENGALI INTO ENGLISH BY

 

MUHAMMAD ALAMGIR

 

*****

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 

 

FOREWORD

 

INTRODUCTION

 

BENGALI TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

 

 

Book One - NARASHANGSA and the ANTIM RISHI

 

Chapter One - The Meaning of NARASHANGSA

 

Chapter Two - Qualities of NARASHANGSA

 

Chapter Three - NARASHANGSA as MUHAMMAD

 

Chapter Four - NARASHANGSA in the non-Indian Scriptures

 

Chapter Five - That SAGE

 

Chapter Six. Antim Buddha - Maitreya

 

 

Book Two - Kalki Avatar and Muhammad

 

Chapter One - Prologue

 

Chapter Two - The Meaning of 'Avatar'

 

Chapter Three - Conditions when an Avatar appears

 

Chapter Four - Conditions when the Final Avatar appears

 

Chapter Five - Characteristics of the Final Avatar

 

Chapter Six - The Age in which the Final Avatar will appear

 

Chapter Seven - The Place where the Final Avatar will appear

 

Chapter Eight - The Age of Social and Religious Decline

 

Chapter Nine - Muhammad as the Final Avatar

 

Chapter Ten - Teachings from the Qur'an and the Vedas

 

Chapter Eleven - Conclusion

 

Chapter Twelve - Saraswata Vedanta Publication Society

 

 

Book Three - Religious Unity in the Light of the Vedas

 

Chapter One - Foreword

 

Chapter Two - Unity of God - (Monotheism)

 

Chapter Three - Proof of the Prophets in the Puranas

 

Chapter Four - Jesus Christ in the Puranas

 

Chapter Five - Muhammad in the Bhavishwa Purana

 

Chapter Six - Universal Religion & Conclusion

 

 

Book Four - Muhammad in the Vedas and the Mahabharata

 

Chapter One - Muhammad in the Atharvaveda

 

Chapter Two - Muhammad in the Samveda

 

Chapter Three - Muhammad in the Yajurveda

 

Chapter Four - Muhammad in the Rigveda

 

Chapter Five - Muhammad in the Mahabharata

 

Appendix - Islam in the eyes of the non-Muslims

 

EPILOGUE

 

******

 

FOREWORD

 

On the question of the existence of God, it may seem, that the world is divided into two camps. The minor camp, of those who do not believe in the existence of God, is growing in size rather rapidly. The major camp, of those who do believe in the existence of God, is riddled with an endless variety of mutual rivalry and is shrinking in size faster than ever. Consequently, the squabble goes on and a third camp, that of the agnostics, is growing monstrously and is snatching away control of all aspects of human life from the two older, war-weary camps.

 

The 'news' and description of God, has come to us through men who hold an outstanding position in our spiritual life. These men are known by ordinary men, sometimes as saints, sometimes as sages, at other times as prophets, and yet other times as God Himself in the garb of a man. Obviously, the description of God in each case varies, from a metaphysical, and more correctly, from an ontological point of view. We may thus find that the adherents of each of these great men are busy exhausting all their skills in the defence of their masters, and producing tons of literature to overwhelm those who do not 'toe the line'.

 

Therefore, although it may seem that the fight is to establish which of these descriptions is correct, (or more correct), the real undercurrent is to tell everyone WHICH OF THESE GREAT MEN IS NUMBER ONE. God certainly does not show up in His actual form to us. Even when, for arguments sake, He takes the form of Jesus or Krishna or Rama, no one can deny that He is hiding His real form. Therefore, the beholder has no other recourse but to accept the claim on behalf of this MAN, because the eye has seen nothing but the MAN. So, the man giving the news about God, in a queer sense, occupies a bigger position in our lives than God Himself.

 

We human beings can never come to a conclusion on this matter, on the basis of our limited knowledge and the power of judgement that we can muster. So, in trying to upgrade our MAN, it may turn out to be a case of downgrading our God. God, certainly wouldn't like to be downgraded. He knows we are believers, and as such, He is Merciful to us. He has His own sure way of telling us who among these men is NUMBER ONE. The importance of this question is ever so closely intertwined with the final question of the Essence and Attributes of God. This is the isthmus, the bridge, linking man and God. To wit, if this question is not resolved, the camp of the believers is bound to be denuded even further, in the face of the 'enormous success' of Materialism, supported spiritually by Agnosticism and morally by Existentialism.

 

Dr. Ved Prakash Upaddhayaya's research on this question, and the resulting conclusions he has drawn from the Indian and the Semitic scriptures, will go a long way in enlightening our minds, and in freeing our hearts from all the torments and agony.

 

I want to acknowledge a couple of defects in my presentation of Dr. Upaddhayaya's important work. Firstly, I have not translated it from his original Hindi. My translation is based on its Bengali rendering by Professor Ashit Kumar Bandhopaddhayaya. Secondly, due to lack of resources, I had to leave out the Sanskrit quotations which have been referred to in his work. I have however, made an honest effort to see that the force of his argument is neither lost nor exaggerated. As far as the Sanskrit quotations are concerned, they are only helpful to those who can read Sanskrit. For them, as well as for those who want to cross-check against a genuine translation of the Indian scriptures, the reference number of every verse is included. In this regard there is a total dependency on the accuracy of the Bengali version of his work.

 

 

Muhammad Alamgir

 

Rabiul Awwal 12

 

Hijri 1418

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A strong desire and ambition to undertake research in historical matters has always been close to my heart. It is a proven fact that Muhammad fits the description of the Ultimate Sage, whose coming has been prophesied in the Vedas, the Bible and the Buddhist scriptures. My heart was therefore aroused with the inspiration that TRUTH must be revealed, even though it could be distasteful to some people.

 

In the period prior to Muhammad, Indians and Arabs had the same religion. Many proofs to that still exist. But this is not the right place to go into that. I am not in favour of religious narrow-mindedness. I do not have the audacity to reject truth, regardless of where it comes from.

 

The Vedas have prophesied about the coming of a sage who will ride on camel-back, will have twelve wives and whose name will be Narashangsa. Shayana has given the meaning of Narashangsa as one who is praised by men. But as a result of my analysis I find it difficult to agree with Shayana. In my opinion Narashangsa indicates a person whose very name means 'The Praised'. The Arabic word Muhammad means 'The Praised'. Therefore Narashangsa and Muhammad are synonymous. In the rest of the book I have endeavoured sincerely to reveal this truth.

 

Ved Prakash Upaddhayaya

 

 

Month of Madhav

 

Bright Fortnight, Day 12

 

Shakabda 2023

 

BENGALI TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

 

The Creator and Sustainer of the Universe is One and has no second. Only He is worthy of praise. Only He is worthy of worship. He is the Lord of the Worlds. For the well-being of human beings, in this world and the next, and to give them guidance to the true path, He has sent Messengers in every age and every land. But some ignorant people of India think that the Lord's Messengers, sages and great men are sent only to India, in spite of the fact that the Aryans themselves came from countries outside India and the Vedas are the religious scriptures of non-Indian Aryans. The real truth is, that whenever abominations and irreligious practices get out of hand and previous scriptures become corrupted, God sends new Messengers and reveals new scriptures. Those who reject the new Messengers and the new scriptures and thus follow the superstitions blindly, go headlong towards their doom. On the other hand, those who accept such Messengers and obey the new scriptures, attain the true path.

 

If the current scriptures of the world are examined closely, it will become evident that some of them remained dormant and some others were kept hidden from the eyes of men for hundreds, even thousands of years. The Aryans had forbidden the reading of and listening to the Vedas for the non-Aryans. Under the attack of the enemies, the Bible had disappeared from the face of the earth. That is why the followers of various religions had expressed doubts about the validity of their own scriptures. But the Qur'an is a unique scripture in this regard in that it has never been out of sight for even a day. If the other scriptures of the world are destroyed, it will be impossible to recover them. But millions of those, who have memorised the thirty parts of the vast Qur'an, are available all the time. That is why this book remained intact and uncorrupted for fourteen hundred years. No book in the world can face up to this challenge of the Qur'an. Truly speaking, only the Qur'an can claim to be the immutable and eternal message from the Lord.

 

India as well as the whole world is all ears about the coming of Kalki Avatar - the last great man. Various scriptures have mentioned him in various ways. Many identifications of this great man have been described. He has been mentioned in many places of our own Vedas and the Puranas. Muslims say : this last great man of the Kalki period is Muhammad.

 

According to the research of Dr. Ved Prakash Upaddhayaya, Muhammad has been described in the Vedas and the Puranas in four different ways. Firstly, as Narashangsa or 'the Praised'. This has been described as the meaning of the word Muhammad. Secondly, as Antim Rishi - the Final Sage. The Qur'an also declares Muhammad as the final Messenger. Thirdly, as Kalki Avatar, i.e he will be the sage for the last period. Muhammad has surely arrived in the present Kalki period. Fourthly, Muhammad has been mentioned in the Vedas by name. Therefore, from all four points of view, it is Muhammad, who is being pointed out.

 

In this connection, Dr. Ved Prakash Upaddhayaya has published three research works - (1) Narashangsa and the Antim Rishi, (2) Kalki Avatar and Muhammad, and (3) Religious unity in the light of the Vedas and the Puranas. I have combined the three in my Bengali translation and have named it as 'Muhammad in the Vedas and the Puranas'.

 

Upon my special request the publisher has published the book with great care. I am very pleased to see the book, and consider it as my real manuscript. I bestow all rights to this literature in favour of the publisher.

 

Let there be an awakening for true knowledge. Let there be a closer friendship and amity between the Hindus and the Muslims. May God give everyone the courage to accept TRUTH without hesitation. With these good wishes I want to conclude my views on the matter .

 

Ashit Kumar Bandhopaddhayaya