The Lord's Feet

Below is the discourse "The Lord's Feet" as published by AMPS Publishers in "The Electronic Edition of the Works of PR Sarkar":
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The Lord's Feet
December 1971, Patna


Tripurásura, the father of Gayásura, was a great devotee of Lord Viśńu [a mythological god]. Many devotees of Lord Shiva [a great yogi worshipped as the Lord] wanted him to become a devotee of Shiva instead. But how could Tripurasura go against his Iśt́a [beloved goal of life]? “Though I know that there is no difference between Viśńu and Shiva, for me everything is Lord Viśńu, for He is my Iśt́a. ”


But the devotees of Lord Shiva still put pressure on Tripurásura, in order to see him also become a devotee of Shiva. His conversion might have been possible if the worshippers of Shiva had made a logical appeal to Tripurásura’s understanding that there is actually no difference between Lord Shiva and Lord Viśńu, and that both are only the functional counterparts of Parama Puruśa. But under the pressure put on him by the devotees of Lord Shiva, Tripurásura initiated a crusade against all the devotees of Lord Shiva, until he finally came upon Shiva Himself. But however powerful Tripurásura was, how could he fight against Lord Shiva? He was defeated by Lord Shiva and met his death.


After the death of Tripurásura, his son, Gayásura, became the king. He, too, was a devotee of Lord Viśńu. He worshipped Him with all his heart and devotion, and finally succeeded in attaining a boon of immortality: not to be killed by man, demon or god, in earth, heaven or hell, by day, night, evening or morning. Endowed with such a great power, Gayásura went all over the world conquering people, torturing them and making their lives miserable. None were spared – not even the devotees of Viśńu or Shiva.


But as the saying goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Gayásura, who had received his power from Lord Viśńu, thought to defeat the Lord Himself. Is not the tamboura [a musical instrument used by Shiva] a fool if it thinks that the persons bowing before the Lord are, in fact, paying respect to it? Gayásura started thinking that the great power he possessed was actually his power. He finally challenged Lord Viśńu, and since Viśńu Himself had granted the boon, how could it fail? Viśńu was defeated by Gayásura. Gayásura bound Viśńu to a tree and then went all over the world with a very bloated ego.


When things had become intolerable for the people, they approached Lord Viśńu, still tied to the tree, and recounted their miseries, requesting Him to do something. Viśńu pleaded helplessness, as He Himself was in a precarious condition! Then the devotees reminded the Lord that He had given the boon of immortality to Gayásura in the physical realm only. The devotees urged Lord Viśńu to use His psychic and spiritual power to defeat Gayásura, and relieve the people of their miseries. Lord Viśńu assured them that He would do something in the matter.


When Gayásura returned to Lord Viśńu to offer his prayers, Viśńu said, “Gayásura! I once gave you what you asked, and you have defeated me. You should now give me a boon.” Gayásura readily agreed to it. Viśńu then asked that Gayásura be turned into stone. Gayásura had no alternative but to say, “So be it.”


Gradually Gayásura’s legs started turning to stone. When he was stone up to his waist, he said, “Wait! I have three conditions!” His first condition was that the Lord put His two feet in Gayásura’s heart. The Lord agreed to it, but asked the reason for such a condition.


Gayásura said, “So that people should know that the feet of the Lord are always in the heart of a devotee, good or bad.”


The second condition was that all those who had the Lord’s feet in their hearts would surely get liberation. The Lord agreed to this also.


The third and last condition of the almost petrified Gayásura was, “If even a single person having the Lord’s feet in his heart fails to get liberation, then this petrified Gayásura will again become a living Gayásura.” Lord Viśńu agreed to it. Very soon Gayásura was turned completely into stone.


This story, from one of the Puráńas [ancient scriptures] has the following three lessons for humanity. First, the Lord will seat Himself in the heart of the devotee without bothering Himself about the nature of that person, good, or bad. It is enough to be a devotee, in order to have the Lord inside. Second, all those who have the Lord’s feet in their hearts are bound to get liberation – liberation is a sure guarantee for them. Third, since Gayásura had been turned to stone by the Lord, and since He would again arise if anyone having the Lord inside failed to be liberated, the Lord would have to grant liberation to all such persons for all time to come; it is a matter of the Lord’s prestige!


December 1971, Patna

Cowardice Approach: Traitor Example Left Out

Bábá

Cowardice Approach: Traitor Example Left Out

Namaskára Respected Márgii Brothers and Sisters,

Introduction

Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji has given a discourse in Hindi in Patna, in December 1971, printed by AMPS Publishers in English under the name “The Lord's Feet” in the Electronic Edition. In this discourse a very big distortion has occurred, namely that the publishers left out a critical teaching Bábá has given about traitors.

How They Printed It

Here is the excerpt from the printed discourse, “The Lord's Feet” published in the 2009 Electronic Edition. The way it is printed:

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"But as the saying goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Gayásura, who had received his power from Lord Viśńu, thought to defeat the Lord Himself. Is not the tamboura [a musical instrument used by Shiva] a fool if it thinks that the persons bowing before the Lord are, in fact, paying respect to it? Gayásura started thinking that the great power he possessed was actually his power. He finally challenged Lord Viśńu, and since Viśńu Himself had granted the boon, how could it fail? Viśńu was defeated by Gayásura. Gayásura bound Viśńu to a tree and then went all over the world with a very bloated ego."

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Same Passage from Printed Discourse,

with Distortions in Red & Omissions in Purple

The way it is printed in the Electronic Edition. Here we are presenting the passage again. Please pay special attention to the sections in purple, which were omitted entirely from the printed discourse. Also note the words in red, where distortion has occurred.

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"But as the saying goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Gayásura, who had received his power from Lord Viśńu, thought to defeat the Lord Himself. [Márgii laughter.] Just like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá continues—] Attack was carried out against the very entity from whom all the power was received. And it happened just like that with Gayásura as well. Is not the tamboura [a musical instrument used by Shiva] a fool if it thinks that the persons bowing before the Lord are, in fact, paying respect to it? Gayásura started thinking that the great power he possessed was actually his power. He finally challenged Lord Viśńu, and since Viśńu Himself had granted the boon, how could it fail? Viśńu was defeated by Gayásura. Gayásura bound Viśńu to a tree and then went all over the world with a very bloated ego."

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About above passage

Color Key:

1. Serious errors from the published discourse appear in red.
2. Sections highlighted in purple are missing entirely from the printed discourse.
   

Explanation ONE

Here in this paragraph there are some sentences highlighted in purple. Those are very significant sentences in which Bábá has explained about Central dádás inside our own AMPS organization who rebelled and became traitors to Bábá. And these sentences were left out by our AMPS Publishers. The left out section's detailed meaning and significance is given below. The portion highlighted in red reflects a serious distortion which will be described in the following posting.

History: What was Situation in AMPS Organization at Time of This Discourse

Why this Discourse is Very Important for Historical Reasons

In the discourse Bábá is giving an important teaching directly related with the events of the time. He is teaching that even if Parama Puruśa gives one a position of power in the world, one should always remember that the power is really Parama Puruśa's alone.

The discourse was given by Bábá at a critical time in Ánanda Marga history, just after a group of then Central dádás committed the treacherous act of forming a secret coalition and rebelling against Bábá. They went into cahoots with the CBI, launched a false murder case against Bábá, and attempted to start their own breakaway organization designed to make Smt Sarkar the Guru and steal all the members of AMPS. Shortly after in 1971, due to this very false murder case, Bábá was put in jail for seven years. So indeed Bábá has given this discourse at a critical juncture in Ánanda Marga history.

In the discourse, Bábá tells the story of Gayásura, a devotee of Lord Viśńu, who wanted revenge for the killing of his father. (1) In this effort for revenge he received a boon from Lord Viśńu that he would be invincible in battle; no one on earth or even in heaven or hell would be able to stand against him. Due to this boon, Gayásura's ego became bloated and thinking he was great, developed a false sense of self-importance, and ultimately went against Viśńu Himself. Here Bábá explains that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Gayásura was nothing, all his power was from Viśńu's boon. And his blindness to the truth of the situation became his downfall.

In the discourse, Bábá uses the fateful tale of Gayásura as an analogy to illustrate how the Central dádás of 1971 themselves developed the very same blindness that they were great. Gayásura had foolishly gone against Lord Viśńu, who had given him all his power—and this caused his own ultimate destruction. In the same way these Central dádás, in commiting the treacherous act of rebelling against Bábá, had forgotten that it was only Bábá's hand that had made them powerful Central dádás and the respect they received from Márgiis was only due to Bábá.

These Central dádás thought they should run the organization themselves, and that Bábá could not run it as they could and should be relegated to a sort of mere figurehead. As a result of their blind self-intoxication, they could not understand that Bábá was the underpinning of their entire prowess and stature. So power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely—they revolted against Bábá, created a separate organization, and started a false murder case against Bábá together with the CBI. This blind self-intoxication was their downfall—after leaving the organization and creating another parallel organization, they could not do anything and their new organization went nowhere. Their lives were in the dust.

Bábá gave the story of Gayásura to illustrate what happens to those who become intoxicated with their small “I”, and to give the teaching that this had happened right in our own organization. But our AMPS Publishers deleted this very section from the discourse. They deleted that very part in which Bábá explains that just as Gayásura went against his benefactor and Iśťa Lord Viśńu, so our Central dádás of those days had done the same. Here is the section which they deleted—Bábá utters it right in the middle of Gayásura's story: “Just like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá continues—] Attack was carried out against the very entity from whom all the power was received. And it happened just like that with Gayásura as well.”

Aside from this discourse “The Lord's Feet”, there is only one instance where Bábá openly discussed these matters, and that was during Bábá's trial when He gave witness before the court. Otherwise in all Bábá's other discourses He never spoke about the defectors. So these three sentences—the three sentences deleted by the Publishers—are very unusual and significant.

“As Is Version” of what Bábá Speaks

This discourse “The Lord's Feet” has been given by Bábá in Hindi, but it was never published in Hindi. Here the relevant section has been translated word-for-word into English to give you a sense of what Bábá actually said that day. The entire discourse was first typed in the original Hindi, and then this section of it translated into English. Here then is a translation of this very section, so you can see the “as is” of what Bábá has spoken:

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Then, as the saying goes— power corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts. After receiving so much power from Lord Viśńu, what happened with Gayásura—what occurred in his mind? He thought, “I will no longer support Lord Viśńu.” [Márgii laughter.] Just like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá continues—] Attack was carried out against the very entity from whom all the power was received. And it happened just like that with Gayásura as well. What is the story similar to? Lord Shiva keeps a ďambaru [a type of drum] in His hand, and the people come to do prańáma to Lord Shiva. [Bábá, smiling] And the ďambaru thinks the people are coming to do prańáma to it (the ďambaru). [Márgii laughter.] In the market there are loads of ďambarus—the people hardly do prańáma to those ďambarus. [Bábá laughs, and Márgiis laugh] Yes, so it happened just like that with Gayásura as well. He challenged Lord Viśńu. And Lord Viśńu had already granted him the boon that, “With whomsoever battle will be done, Gayásura will be victorious.” So Gayásura challenged Lord Viśńu, and Lord Viśńu had to protect the prestige of His boon! As a result, after tough physical battle between the two, Lord Viśńu was defeated. After all, Lord Viśńu had to protect His boon. Then Gayásura tied Lord Viśńu firmly to a tree. And proceeded to praise [do the stuti of] the defeated Lord Viśńu. After that Gayásura went everywhere on earth, heaven and hell attacking and marauding over everyone with whom he came in contact. And so it is that power corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts.

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Printed Discourse & “As Is” Version cover Exact Same Segment

The first thing you may notice is that this passage is significantly longer than the section shown above printed in the 2009 Electronic Edition. Yet it is the exact same section of the discourse: both begin and end in exactly the same places in the discourse. The section in the printed discourse starts from where Bábá says in Hindi that “Then, as the saying goes— power corrupts...” and ends where Bábá says in Hindi that after defeating Lord Viśńu, Gayásura “went everywhere on earth, heaven and hell attacking and marauding over everyone...so it is that...absolute power absolutely corrupts.”

Printed Discourse: Merely a Summary

So the section printed by the AMPS Publishers and this “as is” version are the exact same segment of the discourse—and yet you see the difference in length. The printed version is mere brief summary of what Bábá spoke in Hindi—not a translation of it.

AMPS Publishers Removed Where Bábá Tells About Traitors

The second very notable thing is that our AMPS Publishers have completely removed the part where Bábá completes the analogy, saying that our Central dádás have commited the same mistake as Gayásura: “Just like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá continues—] Attack was carried out against the very entity from whom all the power was received. And it happened just like that with Gayásura as well.”

Actual “As Is” Hindi Version of What Bábá said That Day

For those of you who know Hindi, here is the actual “as is” transcription of exactly the same portion of the discourse. It starts from the very same place and ends in the very same place as the above translated passage. So these are the exact words Bábá uttered during the above quoted section, that day in December 1971 in Patna. Nothing has been changed or left out. Every letter, every comma, every period—just as Bábá uttered the words that very day.

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अब कि क्या है कहानी ? न, power corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts | हाथ में उतना power आ जाने के बाद फिर गयासुर का क्या हुआ ? तो, मन में हुआ क्या ? न, "विष्णु को हम नहीं मानेंगे |"

[हँसी |]

जैसा traitor group है न ? हाँ |

[बाबा हँसते हुए बोले—]

जिससे शक्ति मिली है, उसी के ख़िलाफ़ बदला हुआ | तो गयासुर का वही हुआ | आँ ? यह क्या है ? यह कहानी किस प्रकार की ? न, शिव के हाथ में डम्बरु है | और लोग शिव को प्रणाम करते हैं | [मुस्कराते हुए] और डम्बरु सोच रहा है कि—"लोग उनको प्रणाम कर रहा है |"

[मार्गियों की हँसी |]

डम्बरु तो बाज़ार में ढेर ही है, हज़ार-हज़ार | लोग थोड़े प्रणाम करता है |

[बाबा हँसे |]

[मार्गियों की हँसी |]

हाँ | तो ठीक वैसा ही गयासुर का हुआ | तब वह विष्णु को challenge कर दिया | और विष्णु तो वरदान already दे दिया, कि---"जिससे लड़ाई होगी, गयासुर की जय हो जाएगी |" तब challenge कर दिया | अब क्या है ? अपना जो वरदान है, उसकी इज़्ज़त बचानी है | तो, लड़ाई होते-होते-होते विष्णु की हार हो गई | क्योंकि विष्णु का वरदान था तो | तो जब हार हो गई तब गयासुर क्या किया ? विष्णु को एक पेड़ से अच्छी तरह से बाँधा | बाँधकर ख़ूब तब स्तुति किया | अब विष्णु तो defeated | इधर हुआ क्या ? स्वर्ग, मर्त्य, रसातल, एकदम | Power corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts | वह एकदम चारों तरफ़ {माने क्या} तहस-नहस करना शुरू कर दिया | तो लोग विष्णु जी के पास आए, विष्णु बोले---"यह देखो तो हमारी हालत देखो ! | हम तो बँधे हुए हैं |"

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Of note, although this discourse has been given by Bábá in Hindi, but it was never published in Hindi. Printing a discourse in the language in which it was delivered is of course the most logical, most important, and indeed easiest path to publish a discourse. Because, the words have already been given by Bábá; all one has to do is listen to the recording and type what one hears. Whereas to publish the discourse in another language means first typing out the discourse in the original language it was given, and then going back and translating the whole thing.

So publishing a discourse in a different language is a big job: one has to first do the work of transcribing the original language discourse, and then there is the added work of translation. Yet despite this, many, many discourses given by Bábá in Hindi, have been published only in translation and never in the original language.

Although Bábá gave so many discourses in Hindi, but they were often published only in Bengali or sometimes English. And it is well-known that there is always something lost in translation. Most importantly, Bábá has given the Shivokti, “Mantramúlaḿ Gururvákyam”: The words of Guru are mantra. But that only goes for the original language i.e. those words actually spoken by Guru.

The truth of the matter is that the AMPS Publications Department has always been run by Bengali dádás, and they took great care with the discourses given by Bábá in Bengali. Indeed, discourses given by Bábá in Bengali and published in Bengali, are in the best condition of all the printed discourses. In contrast the discourses given by Bábá in Hindi are in the worst condition of all. Many were never published in the original Hindi, and those that were, were generally carelessly done with very poor quality and many distortions. (2)

The current discourse, “The Lord's Feet”, is an example of a Hindi discourse which was never published in the original language, but was instead published in a different language and is fraught with serious distortion.

As always we welcome your thoughts and comments on the vital subject of the preservation of the discourses of Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji. In addition, we would like to make a special request for volunteers to help in this work of producing and reviewing the “as is” discourses. Comparing the “as is” discourses to the discourses published by AMPS is a big job requiring line-by-line review. We would welcome the help of any and all who are inspired and interested to serve in the protection of the discourses of Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji. And that includes an appeal to those whose mother tongue is other than English. These explanations about discourse distortion—as well as all the discourses themselves—need to be translated into all the languages of the world. For that, help is needed from Márgiis around the globe.

In His service,

Divyadarshana
Ánanda Márga Discourse network Editors

(1) Bábá recounts a mythical tale from the Puráńa in which Tripurásura, the father of Gayásura and a great devotee of Lord Viśńu, was being pressured by devotees of Lord Shiva to become a devotee of Lord Shiva. This led to physical fighting over the matter with Tripurásura attacking devotees of Lord Shiva, and Lord Shiva ultimately killing Tripurásura. Tripurásura's son Gayásura, also a devotee of Lord Viśńu, was determined to get revenge for the killing.

(2) This relative high quality of printed Bengali discourses versus low quality of printed Hindi discourses is in large part due to the work of dádá Sarvátmánanda, who as AMPS (B) publications in-charge for years, has demonstrated a special interest in promoting the supremacy of the Bengali language, and in contrast has shown an allergy to other languages, in particular Hindi. Here our purpose is not to favor any language. In whatever language Bábá has given a discourse, the printed version should be made a perfect transcription of what Bábá said on the recording. And in this way all the discourses—every single discourse whether in Bengali, Hindi, or English—should be perfected. Our purpose is not the language but the discourse. Everything Bábá has said should be transcribed perfectly and published, in the original language in which Bábá gave it.

(3) For those not having the Electronic Edition, click here to go to the discourse “The Lord's Feet” published by the AMPS Publishers.