Sri Radha Madhav Iskcon Temple in Rohini, Delhi, organised and held in its precincts an interfaith meet to celebrate the Holy Name Week. MONA MEHTA reports
Talking in fluent Hindi, Divyaroopa Devi Dasi, Iskcon member from Ukraine, took us around the Sri Radha Madhav Temple in Rohini, Delhi. As she guided us towards the altar with murtis of the wide-eyed Jagannath, his sister Subhadra and brother Balarama,she sang,“Jai Jagannath, Jai Jagannath… Jagannath Swami nayana patha gami, nayana patha gami bhavatu me” — ‘May Sri Jagannath Deva be the object of my vision’.
Members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) believe that constant remembrance of the Lord, and chanting of His holy name, purify both body and environment. The chanting of the holy name worldwide is a week-long celebration that happened from September 17-24,2019.
It was in this connection that the Rohini chapter of Iskcon, administered by Keshav Murari Dasa, organised an interfaith dialogue session within their premises on September 23, with spiritual leaders participating from diverse faiths.
“We have seen that God is one but we call him by different names.
Every holy scripture — be it the Quran or the Guru Granth Sahib — recommends that devotees chant the holy name. Hence, we invited people from different religious denominations to glorify the name of the Lord according to their holy scriptures. This is also an effort to create public awareness about the fact that leaders of all religions stand together and maintain good relations, for though they follow different schools of philosophy and invoke different gods, the goal is one and the same,” said Keshav Murari Dasa.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhakti Madhurya Gobind Dasa, a senior Iskcon member and direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada, said that God is neither Hindu nor Muslim, for the Supreme is transcendental; so is Krishna. God, he said, can be called the Supreme Controller. It is the ‘I and mine’ concept which is at the root of all problems. We often think ‘I am the controller of all’. We cannot even control our own mind, how can we lord it over others, he wondered. “Accepting God as the controller of everything — is the formula for world peace,” he said.
“And what is the problem in acknowledging that Parmatman is our controller,” asked C L Gulati from Sant Nirankari Mission. “No one can claim that he has come in this world of his own accord, nor can he say that he will die when he likes, so the controller is Parmatman. We are just trustees of our tan, mann and dhan — body, heart and wealth — and we must use them for the welfare of all. All conflicts come to an end when you realise that we all are children of God,” he said.
Using the cow as metaphor, Gyani Vichitar Singh, head granthi of Gurdwara Nanak Piao, Delhi, said that while cows may be of different colour, the milk they yield is always white and has same properties; similarly, our sharira, body, can be different, but the soul is the same in all. “If we know as well as understand that God is one, then no mosque or temple will be brought down. If you can see this connection, all religious conflicts will come to an end,” he said.
All religions, said Buddhist scholar Lama Chosphel Zotpa, essentially show the same path, that of sukha and shanti — happiness and peace — and if we understand the true essence of our respective religions, we will definitely usher in world peace.
Brahma Kumari Lata took to the microphone chanting “Om Shanti”. Aum, she said, stands for aacharan, conduct; uchaaran, speech and mann, heart. “It tells us to look at ourselves, our conduct, speech and mann. All religions prescribe that you must know yourself; by knowing yourself as a formless entity, you can know That formless Parmatman, the Supreme Soul,” she said.
Sanskrit scholar Professor Hanif Khan Shastri said that the sanatan tattva jnana — knowledge of the eternal element — is the same in Islam in Arabic. Islam mean samarpan, to abide by directives of your Prabhu, with the feeling of samarpan, surrender; in the Bhagwad Gita’s ninth chapter, the same thing has already been prescribed. Although there is a gap of 3,500 years between the two scriptures, even that of a yuga, the Gita belongs to the Dwapar Yuga and the Quran is a product of Kali Yuga.
“But when you see the similarities between their messages, it proves that Param Prabhu Parmeshwar has tried to explain to the people at different times, through different messengers — be it avatars, saints, nabi or sages — the same message that there is only one Supreme, not two.
“Look at Creation. In the Gita, verse 14:4, Krishna says that the human body is made of natural elements and the soul tattva is imparted to it by him. The Quran too states the same thing. Sura 32, ayat 8, says that everything from nail to the tip of the hair was first perfected and then Allah put his rooh, soul, in it.”
Mohammed Firoz Ahmed Naim, president, Ahmedia Muslim Society, said that the main purpose of religion is to help man purify himself of all imperfections and to bring about such transformation that he attains to heavenly life in this world itself. There are three ways to do this: work as much as possible to come out of impure life; pray and always be in surrender to Allah; and third, always stay in satsang, in the company of evolved masters. He concluded his talk by reciting the following poem:
“Mein hoon Muslim, tum ho Hindu, Dono hain insaan;
Laa mein teri Gita parh loon, Tum parh lo Quran;
Meri toh hai aek hi ichha, Aek thali mein khana khaye sara Hindustan” —
‘I am Muslim, you are Hindu,
We are both human beings, Get me your Gita,I will read it,and you can read the Quran,
In my heart, my friend, I have only one desire,
That from one plate partakes food the whole of Hindustan.’