Bábá
Lord
Shiva's Dambaru is Taken Away
Namaskára Respected Márgii Brothers and Sisters,
In the discourse “The Lord's Feet”, our AMPS Publishers have removed the d́ambaru from Lord Shiva's hand and replaced it with a tamboura. Such a description truly appears ridiculous to the millions of people familiar with Lord Shiva and with these two instruments. And yet our AMPS books stand for all future time as the statement of Bábá's teachings. So it is fundamental to our Ánanda Márga shástra that such distortions be rectified.
Indeed Baba says, “The scriptures containing spiritual injunctions must be totally flawless.” (Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 14) So as Ánanda Márgiis, we must take this very seriously and work together to make the printed version of Bábá's discourses perfect.
Introduction
A few days back, distortions in this discourse “The Lord's Feet”, were discussed. It was seen that AMPS Publishers left out three critical sentences, in which Bábá was giving a unique teaching on how power corrupts people and makes them blind so they even forget who their true benefactors are. In this connection Bábá made example of the Central dádás of 1971 who committed treason rebelling against Bábá—and our AMPS Publishers removed that very passage.(1)
In that very posting it was also mentioned that in the same paragraph in which AMPS Publishers left out those three critical sentences, they also made an embarrassing change in Lord Shiva's instrument. Bábá explains that Lord Shiva holds a d́ambaru in His hand. This is a small hourglass-shaped drum which fits in the hand, and due to this drum's link with Lord Shiva, the sounds which emanate from it are associated with the creation of the universe. The drum is also, like the conch shell, used for ushering in auspicious events and inspiring followers to move ahead to victory—it is not used for playing classical music.
In the passage in the discourse “The Lord's Feet”, Bábá explains about how Gayásura became intoxicated with his power and went against Lord Viśńu, and how the then Central dádás had done the same (against Bábá). In the discourse, Bábá then goes on to give an analogy of how just as Gayásura and the Central dádás of 1971 became intoxicated with their small “I” and thought they were the holders of great power, in a similar way the d́ambaru drum in Lord Shiva's hand gets blindly intoxicated by Lord Shiva's followers, thinking they are coming to do prańám to the d́ambaru itself and not Lord Shiva. But in the printed discourse, instead of writing “d́ambaru” here, our AMPS Publishers wrote that in Lord Shiva's hand is a tamboura—which is a large long-necked, stringed, plucked instrument used for playing classical songs. (2) It could not be further from the d́ambaru drum held by Lord Shiva. (3) They are totally different instruments, having vastly different purposes and not to be confused one with the other.
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."
- - - - - - - - - -
About
above passage
Color Key:
- Serious errors from the published
discourse appear in red.
- Sections highlighted
in purple are missing entirely from
the printed discourse.
Explanation
Here in this paragraph, the portion highlighted in red reflects a serious distortion. Here our AMPS Publishers have replaced Lord Shiva's d́ambaru with a tamboura. The d́ambaru is a symbol of Lord Shiva Himself, and the tamboura could not be more unrelated. Any new reader familiar with these two instruments will find it bizarre to see Lord Shiva described as carrying a tamboura.
The sentences highlighted in purple are those in which Bábá has explained about Central dádás inside our own AMPS organization who rebelled and became traitors to Bábá. As mentioned in the previous posting, these sentences were left out by our AMPS Publishers. (1)
“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 d́ambaru [a type of drum] in His hand, and the people come to do prańáma to Lord Shiva. [Bábá, smiling] And the d́ambaru thinks the people are coming to do prańáma to it (the d́ambaru). [Márgii laughter.] In the market there are loads of d́ambarus—the people hardly do prańáma to those d́ambarus. [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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Note: The above section in green is typed exactly has Baba has spoken it that day He gave the discourse.
Day and
Night Difference: Dambaru & Tamboura
Baba explains that Shiva invented music and about the d́ambaru, Baba says, “[Lord Shiva] felt the need for musical metre – without metre and tempo there could be no song. To maintain the rhythm he invented the horn and the d́ambaru [a small drum shaped like an hourglass].” (3)
Baba explains about the use of the d́ambaru in táńd́ava:
“What are the things that find a place in the dancer’s hands? The dancer, may, for instance, hold a human skull in the left hand and a dagger in the right hand. Or in the daytime one may, if one wishes, hold a snake in the left hand. [At night] one may hold a d́ambaru [a small drum shaped like an hourglass] or a mashál [torch] in the right hand. One can recognize everything by the light of a torch and can understand by the sound of a drum. Otherwise at night, neither a skull nor a snake can be recognized. In the left hand, there is the symbol of destruction and death.” (4)
So by this we can understand well that the d́ambaru is not just some ordinary musical instrument used for making sweet sounds in classical song. It's purpose is quite different and it's use unusual: It was held by Lord Shiva, is regarded as a symbol of creation, and can be held in the right hand in place of a dagger during táńd́ava. (5) Such are not the uses of the tamboura, a large stringed instrument which is used in classical song. (6)
Our Ánanda
Márga Shástra Must be Accurate
Here in this discourse “The Lord's Feet”, the AMPS Publishers have removed the d́ambaru from Lord Shiva's hand and replaced it with a tamboura. Such a description truly appears ridiculous to the millions of people familiar with Lord Shiva and with these two instruments. And yet our AMPS books stand for all future time as the statement of Bábá's teachings. So it is fundamental to our Ánanda Márga shástra that such distortions be rectified.
Indeed Baba says, “The scriptures containing spiritual injunctions must be totally flawless.” (Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 14) So as Ánanda Márgiis, we must take this very seriously and work together to make the printed version of Bábá's discourses perfect.
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) Click here to read more on our blog about how our AMPS Publishers removed the very passage in which Bábá made example of the Central dádás of 1971 who committed treason rebelling against Him.
(2) Here you can see the picture of a d́ambaru, and here you can see the picture of a tamboura. They are totally different instruments, having vastly different purposes and not to be confused one with the other.
(3) The Science of Instrumental Music Has Multifarious Expressions , from “Eka to Ekáuṋga” (Discourse 12) Shabda Cayaniká Part 2
(4)Táńd́ava Dance – What and Why? Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 10
(5) To read more on our blog about the d́ambaru, click here.
(6) To read more on our blog about the tamboura, click here.
