Outrageous Agenda of Kolkata Group: (d́ambaru) Connected With Traitors, Not With Gayasura

Date: 17 Jul 2013 23:17:43 -0000
To: ananda-marga-discourses-1@yogasamsthanam.net
From: "H Sharma" <hsharma@inifinity...>
Subject: Connected With Traitors, Not With Gayasura

Bábá

Outrageous Agenda of Kolkata Group

(d́ambaru) Connected With Traitors, Not With Gayasura

Namaskar,


Writing on behalf of the AMPS Kolkata Publications Dept, Kiritji has expressed that in the discourse "The Lord's Feet", it was proper for the Kolkata Publishers to remove the portion where Baba says 1971 Central dadas' traitorous activity against Baba, is akin to how Gayasura blindly went against Lord Visnu, the very Entity who had given him power. About Baba's mention of 1971 Central dadas traitor group, Kiritji writes--

Removing that portion does not harm the discourse and makes it clearer. (bold added)

Removing Traitors' Story Makes Discourse Unclear

Logic says rather the opposite: it makes the discourse unclear if this critical portion is removed. You see, in this discourse Baba mentions two stories: (1) the story of Gayasura; and (2) the story of the Central dadas' traitor group of 1971. And in the discourse, Baba has given the example of the drum (d́ambaru) Lord Shiva holds in His hand. Baba says people come to do prańáma to Lord Shiva, and the d́ambaru blinded by its own small ego, thinks they are coming to do prańáma to it. Here Baba explains that the d́ambaru is a good illustration and is "just like the story". The question is, which story does Baba liken the d́ambaru example to: the story of Gayasura, or the story of the traitor Central dadas? Below is the quote from the "as is" discourse:

Quote from "As Is" Discourse

"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]"

Dambaru Example Not Working With Gayasura Story

So the question is, which story is the d́ambaru example being likened to-- the story of Gayasura, or the story of the traitor Central dadas? Well, seeing as the Kolkata Publishers removed the traitor group story from the discourse, that leaves only the Gayasura story for Baba's d́ambaru example to be likened to. But here there is a serious problem, which in Kolkata Group's published discourse makes Baba's entire analogy very unclear. Because in the tale of Gayasura nobody was coming to do prańáma before Gayasura, who was an asura (demon) and disrespected in the then society because of that. In Baba's Lord Shiva d́ambaru example, the whole point is that devotees come to do prańáma to Lord Shiva and the blind d́ambaru wrongly thinks they are coming to do prańáma to it. So the focal point of the d́ambaru story is that of the d́ambaru's blindly thinking devotees are doing prańáma to it. And there is nothing like that happening in the Gayasura story. In short: Baba's d́ambaru example is not working with the Gayasura story.

Dambaru Analogy: Does Work With Story of Traitor Dadas

In contrast, many Ma'rgiis came before the 1971 Central dadas to do prańáma. And those blind Central dadas thought Ma'rgiis were coming to do prańáma because of their own greatness, not because of Baba's greatness.  So Baba is likening the case of the egotistical d́ambaru to the story of the Central dadas: both the d́ambaru and Central dadas were blind, because they thought people who were coming to do prańáma to Lord Shiva and Baba respectively, were coming to do prańáma instead to them.

Kolkata Group Removes Traitor Group Story

Forces Dambaru Example to link with Gayasura Story

By the Kolkata Publishers' removing the story about the traitor group, it leaves only the Gayasura story for the d́ambaru example to be likened to. And as we have seen, the d́ambaru example is not analogous to the Gayasur story. And because of the failed analogy, in the printed discourse the d́ambaru example is not working. In sum, removing the traitor group story forces the d́ambaru example to become linked with Gayasur's story when it isn't at all analogous, and therefore makes it falsely look like Baba cannot give a proper analogy.

Traitor Group Story Critical To Discourse

Forced Link of Dambaru Example with Gayasura Story: Scriptural Distortion

The bottom line here is that the d́ambaru example can only link with the "traitor group" story and not with the Gayasura story. This shows how the traitor group story is critical to the discourse, and is in fact the main teaching of the discourse. Removing the traitor group portion of the discourse represents scriptural distortion, and makes the discourse unclear.

Having wrongly supported the removal of the traitor group story, the Kolkata Publications representative Kiritji then concludes--

Now having said that, let me tell you that I am NOT in favor of changing or removing the text from original in general. And in fact we have to err on the side of keeping the text rather than removing it.

It is painful to say, but for the Kolkata Publishers to make a contradictory statement like this and at the same time to remove the traitor group portion of the discourse, could not be described as anything short of a sort of hypocrisy. 

 

Volunteers Needed

As always we welcome your thoughts and comments on this 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. Márgii volunteers are needed from all countries around the world, to help with translating the “as is” discourses into the various languages, and also to help with translating postings about distortions so that all Márgiis around the world can be made aware. Comparing the “as is” discourses to the discourses published by AMPS is big job, and help here is also needed. We welcome a hand from any and all who are inspired and interested to serve in the protection of the discourses of Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji.


In Him,
Harihar Sharma


Note 1. I very much believe there is a vital need to repair our Ananda Marga scripture, and make it a perfect rendition of what Baba actually said during His pravacans. As someone quoted a few weeks ago from Baba--

"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."

To read brother Divyadarshana's full posting on the Ananda Marga Discourses blog site, click here.

Note 2. I feel the moderator's note from a few postings ago is quite important.

Moderators' Note: It should be clear to all that of all the different splinter groups in Ananda Marga today, only the Kolkata group publishes Baba's books. All the sound files of Baba's discourses are at their Tiljala ashram, and no other group has sound files. So only Kolkata group is doing any publishing work; other groups like Ranchi group merely copy the books and reprint them. Because of that, Kolkata group is responsible for what is being published.

For that reason, these letters are being addressed to Kolkata group. Additionally, the Kolkata group has via their representative issued a policy statement which was printed a few days ago on this googlegroups. The whole letter has been published on our blog for any who would like to review it. (1)

This forum has no alliance with any group, and actively disapproves of all groups and group sentiments.

Note 3.  Ranchi Group's Negligent Publishing Practices

It should be added that firstly, it is true Kolkata group does all the publishing of Ananda Marga books today, and as such is responsible for the distortions they publish. And because of that Margiis have been writing in expressing their concern and even outrage over Kolkata group's irresponsible publishing practices.

But because of this, some Margiis get confused, thinking that there is a "leaning" in this network against Kolkata group. However that is not at all the case. Margiis have also written letters about the irresponsible publishing practices of H group. Please see below excerpt from previous postings on this forum:

"H/EC group acquired B group's distortion-ridden printed discourses, and took credit for the discourses by reprinting them in their own name...Of note, the current H group Publications Secretary Ác. Mŕtyuinjayánanda Ávt., has not done anything to change this status quo. The books continue to be taken from B group and reprinted point blank, with no editing or proof checking involved. And the 2004 Edition of this Hindi discourse continues to be sold today with the same critical error. If Ác. Mŕtyuinjayánanda Ávt had read the discourse, he could have immediately detected the nonsensical paragraph and created an errata page for the book. But that has not been done."

"We cannot assume to know why Ác. Mŕtyuinjayánanda Ávt behaves the way he does; only he knows the reason. Nonetheless, the result of his work is in view for all to see."

"Nothing is ever changed or fixed; the books he receives from B group he turns around and sends to a printing company for printing, with his name as AMPS Publisher. From longstanding habits such as these it does not seem unfair to conclude that our H group AMPS publications department is verily and unfortunately located in the plastic bag where Ác. Mŕtyuinjayánanda Ávt holds the B group books to bring to the printing company."

"It should be added that the Ánanda Vacanámrtam series is the easiest to read and most popular, and Hindi is the most common language version read and purchased, of all our AMPS publications. Even then as popular and in demand as this series is, still the Hindi edition of this discourse in Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part Three, with its distorted nonsensical paragraph, remains unchanged after all these years both in the B group and H/EC group publications."

Note: To read the full posting about H group's dealings in this matter, on the Network's blog, please click here.