ÁV12 Ltr #5: Omission + Unit Misrepresented As Cosmic

From: Bhakti <bhakti@ren....>
To: Ananda Marga Discourses <anandamargadiscourses@sunlink.net>
Subject: ÁV12 Ltr #5: Omission + Unit Misrepresented As Cosmic
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:11:21 +0530

Bábá Náma Kevalam

ÁV12 Ltr #5: Omission + Unit Misrepresented As Cosmic

Namaskár brothers and sisters,

This posting is the fifth of a series of postings about deviations and distortions in the published discourse titled "Towards Noumenal Entity" in the English book Ánanda Vacanámrtam 12. (1) This discourse was originally delivered in Hindi by Bábá on 8th June of the year 1979 in Mumbai. The original Hindi discourse given by Bábá was never published. Tiljala Publishers translated this discourse into English and published it in Ánanda Vacanámrtam part 12 (henceforth, referred to as AV12), first in 1980 and then in a highly touted second edition in 2008.

Tiljala Publishers Wrongly Understood Pivotal Paragraph – Mistranslation Done.

In this posting an important paragraph from the middle of the discourse is presented. The main message of that paragraph was completely missed—misunderstood and mistranslated—by the Tiljala Publishers. The very first job of a translator is to carefully read and understand the discourse to be translated. If the translator does not understand what he is about to translate, the translation will go awry—and that is what happened in this paragraph.

Paragraph Drastically Summarized by Translators

A translator's job is to accurately translate everything Guru has given in the discourse. Everything Guru has said should be found in the translation; the translator has no right to summarize i.e. take a long paragraph with many details, and make it into a short paragraph. Yet that is what the Tiljala Publishers did with this important paragraph. First, as mentioned above, they wrongly understand the main message of the para and passed that wrong message on in their translation. And second, they completely removed the illustrative details Bábá has given in the paragraph, choosing instead to give a brief summary in their own words.

Excerpt from Original As-Is Discourse

Here below is the paragraph from the original Hindi discourse delivered by Bábá. This As-Is version is carefully transcribed from Bábá's original Hindi.

Color Code
Green color denotes text coming from As-Is discourse.

----------------- Excerpt from original Hindi discourse begins here --------------

कहना था यही कि जो कोई भी—एक चोर जो काम किए, एक साधु दान किए, एक अच्छे आदमी दान किए, अच्छे आदमी अच्छे-अच्छे काम किए, तो यह जो काम हो रहा है, हर काम का एक center of action रहता है तो | मन के एक विशेष कोने में वह वस्तु है, जिस के चलते मन में काम हो रहा है—बाहर में काम हो रहा है | जैसे, एक nucleus से प्रेरणा पाकर electron घूम रहे हैं | तो, ठीक वैसा ही जो कर्म होता है, कर्म के पीछे उस का एक चक्रनाभि है | तो, हम को देखना है कि चक्रनाभि कौन है, कहाँ है | अगर हम नहीं देखते हैं, तो हम व्यष्टि के प्रति तथा समाज के प्रति अविचार कर बैठते हैं |

----------------- Excerpt from original Hindi discourse ends here --------------------

Translation of Excerpt from Original As-Is Discourse

Here below is a literal English translation of the above passage for the convenience of non-Hindi speaking Márgiis. Green color is used to denote that the below translated text corresponds to the above As-Is text of the discourse.

----------------- Translation of above excerpt begins here----------------------

“I was saying that anybody – A thief who did his work [stealing], a saint who gave donation, a good man who donated, good men who did noble deeds, all of these works that are happening – each work has its own center of action. In a special corner of mind, that thing [noumenal cause] is there, because of which, some work is happening inside and outside the mind. Just like an electron revolves around its nucleus; behind each action there is its nucleus. So, we must find where and who the nucleus is. If we do not seek [the nucleus], then we do injustice to the individual and to the society.”

----------------- Translation of above excerpt ends here----------------------

Bábá's Message: Each Action A Person Takes Has a Cause

In this paragraph, Bábá is explaining that each and every work that a human being does in their life has a cause. In a corner of each person's mind lies the cause, reason, motivating factor behind each work they perform. That motivating factor in their mind Bábá calls the “center of action”, “nucleus”, and “noumenal cause”. In this discourse, these three terms are synonymous—they refer to the reason a person takes a particular action. For example, a person feels hungry, so they go and take food. Here the “center of action”, “nucleus”, and “noumenal cause” behind the action of taking food, is the person's feeling of hunger in their mind.

The Nucleus or Cause Behind a Person's Action

With the above concept in mind, let us have a look again at the following section from the As-Is discourse and its literal English translation.

मन के एक विशेष कोने में वह वस्तु है, जिस के चलते मन में काम हो रहा है—बाहर में काम हो रहा है | जैसे, एक nucleus से प्रेरणा पाकर electron घूम रहे हैं | तो, ठीक वैसा ही जो कर्म होता है, कर्म के पीछे उस का एक चक्रनाभि है | तो, हम को देखना है कि चक्रनाभि कौन है, कहाँ है | अगर हम नहीं देखते हैं, तो हम व्यष्टि के प्रति तथा समाज के प्रति अविचार कर बैठते हैं |

A literal English translation of the above sentences is provided for the convenience of non-Hindi speaking readers.

In a special corner of mind, that thing [noumenal cause] is there, because of which, some work is happening inside and outside the mind. Just like an electron revolves around its nucleus; behind each action there is its nucleus. So, we must find where and who the nucleus is. If we do not seek [the nucleus], then we do injustice to the individual and to the society.”

Here, Bábá is instructing that every action a person takes has a cause, and we should investigate that cause—called the nucleus here—before making judgment about the person taking the action.

Bábá Gives Thief Example

To illustrate the matter, in this discourse Bábá gives the example of a thief. In some parts of the world, if a thief is caught stealing then it is common for the government to punish the thief by cutting off his hand. This is because they hold an opinion that a severe punishment can deter a thief's action of stealing and set an example for other thieves too to not to commit such acts.

However, Bábá explains that if it is found upon investigation that the thief was without food for several days and was compelled to steal due to hunger, then punishing him by cutting off his hand will not solve the problem.

If the thief has stolen because he has been without food for three days and stole under compulsion to get food—and if we cut off his hand without having found this out, then we do injustice to him and to the society, whose poor social structure is the true cause behind the thief's action.

Society is the True Cause Behind A Hungry Thief's Theft

Bábá says here in the discourse that the actual guilty are society's leaders, who failed to build a society that prevents hunger:

“अगर वे भूखे थे, इसके कारण उन्होंने चोरी की; तब चोरी के पीछे वह चोर जितना बड़ा ज़िम्मेवार है, उससे अधिक बड़ा ज़िम्मेवार हम लोग हैं | क्योंकि हम ठीक से समाज नहीं बना सके, जिसके चलते उनको भूखा रहना पड़ा |”

[Literal English translation]: “If he [the thief] was hungry, because of that reason he committed the act of stealing; then behind the act of stealing we are more responsible than the thief himself. This is because we could not build a society, because of which he [the thief] had to remain hungry.”

Instead of building a social structure which addresses the hunger problem, beating a hungry thief for his stealing action, will only worsen the problem. This leads to further degeneration of an individual who is stealing and thereby the entire society. That is what Bábá means by saying,

“अगर हम नहीं देखते हैं, तो हम व्यष्टि के प्रति तथा समाज के प्रति अविचार कर बैठते हैं |” (“If we do not seek [the nucleus], then we do injustice to an individual and to the society.”)

Society Loses By Beating Thief Instead of Solving Hunger Problem

The real harm to society is that the problem, which gave rise to the need for this person to steal, will remain. And it will cause others—many others—to be lacking food for the same reason, and they will also be forced to steal. So the harm to society is that not only this particular individual, but many other members of society will be put in a similar position. By not fixing the problem which led to lack of food in certain sectors of the society, many others will become similarly afflicted and the problem of thievery will be on the rise. And so long as society's response is to beat the thief, that will only result in the creation of more and more who do not have food and who have no option but to resort to thievery.

Severe punishment such as beating is a quick-fix solution and may temporarily suppress the act of stealing but will not eradicate it. In fact, it may worsen the problem as it may make the person a certified criminal. It is often said that a hungry man can do any sin.

Better Run Societies Have Less Crime

It is a fact that a better managed society has a lesser crime rate. Whereas, in an ill managed society, the crime rate is higher. In today's world Somalia is an extreme example of a society (moderate examples of the same prevail everywhere), which has become a breeding ground for pirates and thieves due to mismanagement or ill governance. Here, it must be said that it is not that the people of Somalia are evil but it is the prevailing situation of abject poverty and desperate hunger that is driving people to crime.

Bábá's Command to Seek “Center of Action” & Seek “Nucleus” Means:
We Must Understand that Cause of Hungry Thief's Theft is Hunger

Many people would not like to think about the root cause behind the action of stealing described above. Bábá is telling that all such unit actions have a cause (referred to as the noumenal cause, nucleus, or center of action) and we must try to find the noumenal cause behind every unit action we see around us. If a hungry thief steals, then it is our duty to find out that he stole because he had no food. If we do not seek this noumenal cause then we end up doing injustice to both the thief and to the society in which he resides.

Blunder by Tiljala Publishers – Unit Misrepresented as Cosmic

It is highly unfortunate that the Tiljala Publishers could not understand this central message given by Bábá in this discourse. Where Bábá is explaining that we have to understand that behind a hungry thief's theft is hunger, the Tiljala Publishers wrongly translated that we have to seek the “Cosmic centre and find out where lies the nave of that Cosmic wheel.” Bábá is explaining about seeking the center of action, the nucleus behind an action—and that means the nucleus in the individual human being's mind. Bábá has not used the word “Cosmic” here. His example is about a thief who steals due to hunger—and the Tiljala Publishers misrepresent the entire section by “translating” that we need to seek the “Cosmic centre and find out where lies the nave of that Cosmic wheel.” This example has nothing to do with the ultimate Cosmic cause behind all things. Here Bábá is discussing the local cause in an individual human's mind, that leads him/her to take an action. The Tiljala Publishers' failure to understand this led to a tragic mistranslation. Let us see what happened below.

Corresponding Excerpt from Tiljala Publishers' AV12

In this section, the corresponding excerpt from English translation as done by the Tiljala publishers is provided. In this section, the Tiljala publishers made an ideological blunder which will be further described below.

Color Code
Red color denotes text coming from the Tiljala translation

---------- Translation of above excerpt by Tiljala Publishers begins here ---------

All activity, good or bad, has a centre of action, and actions are controlled by the mental nucleus in the same manner as electrons move around their controlling nucleus. We have, therefore, to seek that Cosmic centre and find out where lies the nave of that Cosmic wheel. If we do not seek it, we do harm to both individuals and society.

----------- Translation of above excerpt by Tiljala Publishers ends here ---------

Critical Errors Made By Tiljala Publishers

Two critical errors are made in this so-called translation of Bábá's original Hindi:

1. The Tiljala Publishers summarized the first half of the paragraph thereby leaving out essential elements which would have made the section clear.
   
2. The Tiljala Publishers misunderstood the whole meaning of the paragraph, mis-taking Bábá's words to refer to the Cosmic when they refer to the unit i.e. the individual human being.
   

First Error: First Half Para Summarized, Critical Elements Left Out

In this paragraph, Bábá gives several specific examples to make very clear His intent that the paragraph is referring to the actions of individuals, and so the “center of action” refers to the motivating factor in an individual's mind that leads him/her to take a specific action. In the paragraph, Bábá enlists the following actions:

एक चोर जो काम किए, एक साधु दान किए, एक अच्छे आदमी दान किए, अच्छे आदमी अच्छे-अच्छे काम किए, तो यह जो काम हो रहा है

[English translation]: A thief who did his work [stealing], a saint who gave donation, a good man who donated, good men who did noble deeds, all of these works that are happening

On this basis, He goes on to explain that each of these works has a center of action. In place of giving the specific examples Bábá enlisted above, the Tiljala Publishers left them out and gave extremely vague summary in their place:

All activity, good or bad, has a centre of action

So the Tiljala publishers use the phrase “good or bad activity” for which Bábágave examples of stealing, donating, etc. This “good or bad activity” is unclear, undue summary of the specific examples Bábá gave.

Bábá goes on to say:

हर काम का एक center of action रहता है तो | मन के एक विशेष कोने में वह वस्तु है, जिस के चलते मन में काम हो रहा है—बाहर में काम हो रहा है |

[English translation]: Each work has its own center of action. In a special corner of mind, that thing [noumenal cause] is there, because of which, some work is happening inside and outside the mind.

These sentences are completely left out by the Tiljala Publishers. In these sentences Bábá gives the essential link between the examples He has given—the thief stealing, the saint donating—and His ensuing discussion of “center of action” or “nucleus”. Here Bábá makes clear that the “center of action” or “nucleus” refers to the environment in the individual mind which leads to the thief's theft and the saint's donation.

Leaving out specific examples as well as the sentences linking them to the center of action or nucleus—both these lapses lead the Tiljala Publishers to seriously misinterpret what Bábá means by “center of action”. By “center of action” here Bábá means the cause or motivating factor due to which a thief steals, or a saint donates. The Tiljala Publishers mis-attribute the terms “center of action” and “nucleus” to mean the Cosmic, rather than the unit mind about which Bábá is speaking. Let us see just what blunder they made, below.

Second Error: Tiljala Publishers Wrongly Translate “Center of Action”
to Mean “Cosmic Center” Instead of “Individual Human Being's Center”

The Tiljala Publishers removed the individual examples plus the linking sentences in the first half, and this led them to mis-attribute Bábá's whole second half of the paragraph to the Cosmic rather than to the unit.

Bábá says:

जैसे, एक nucleus से प्रेरणा पाकर electron घूम रहे हैं | तो, ठीक वैसा ही जो कर्म होता है, कर्म के पीछे उस का एक चक्रनाभि है |

[English translation]: Just like an electron revolves around its nucleus; behind each action there is its nucleus.

This example of the electron revolving around its nucleus is being used to illustrate how a thief's action of stealing is linked to its cause, the thief's hunger—in the same way that an electron is linked to its nucleus.

Because the Tiljala Publishers condensed and summarized this whole section as seen below, this meaning of the electron example in their version is not clear:

“All activity, good or bad, has a centre of action, and actions are controlled by the mental nucleus in the same manner as electrons move around their controlling nucleus.”

The Tiljala Publishers themselves did not understand this teaching about the electron and its nucleus. This is proved because they go on to misinterpret it as an instruction to find the Cosmic nucleus, which in this case is irrelevant and misguides readers:

“We have, therefore, to seek that Cosmic centre and find out where lies the nave of that Cosmic wheel. If we do not seek it, we do harm to both individuals and society.”

The above sentences in red are the culmination of a huge blunder in which the Tiljala Publishers drove the translation in the opposite direction of what Bábá intended. This type of error—that of ideological nature—is the most serious type of scriptural distortion because it misguides readers about what Bábá is teaching.

Culmination of Poor Translation: Bábá's Teaching Distorted

Instead of the wrongly translated red sentences just above, Bábá says:

तो, ठीक वैसा ही जो कर्म होता है, कर्म के पीछे उस का एक चक्रनाभि है | तो, हम को देखना है कि चक्रनाभि कौन है, कहाँ है | अगर हम नहीं देखते हैं, तो हम व्यष्टि के प्रति तथा समाज के प्रति अविचार कर बैठते हैं |

[English translation]: Just like an electron revolves around its nucleus; behind each action there is its nucleus. So, we must find where and who the nucleus is. If we do not seek [the nucleus], then we do injustice to the individual and to the society.”

The Tiljala Publishers completely misunderstand Bábá's above sentences in green. These sentences are about the unit mind's nucleus, and NOT the Cosmic Nucleus. Here Bábáis summarizing about what He has expressed earlier regarding the thief example in this discourse: when we find that a thief has stolen something, before beating him we should find out what the reason for the theft was.

The Tiljala Publishers are saying that we should seek the Cosmic center whereas here Bábá is clearly instructing to search for the cause of any individual action (e.g., a thief’s action of stealing, when he is caught after stealing) before interpreting that action ourselves.

It can be easily seen that the publishers have not adhered to their task of translating the exact teaching given by Bábá. In doing so, the worst thing that has happened is that the publishers have injected a serious error into the discourse.

The publishers drastically summarized and misrepresented the first half of the paragraph, and that led them to misunderstand the unit for the Cosmic in the second half of the paragraph. Both the distortions have together distorted Bábá's beautiful teaching.

Conclusion

In this posting, a serious distortion in Ánanda Vacanámrtam 12 published by Tiljala publishers is brought to the notice of all Márgiis. The Tiljala publishers have misinterpreted the unit nucleus as the Cosmic nucleus. Here, nucleus means noumenal cause of an action. Bábá is instructing that we should investigate the noumenal cause of any action before making judgment about people taking those actions. For example, if a thief is caught stealing then in some parts of the world, it is common for the government to punish the thief by cutting off his hand.

However, if it is found that the thief was hungry for several days and was compelled to steal due to hunger then beating and punishing him will not solve the problem. By not fixing the problem which led to lack of food in certain sectors of the society, many others in similar situation (i.e., facing poverty) will become similarly afflicted and the problem of thievery will be on the rise. And so long as society's response is to beat the thief or cut off his hand, that will only result in the creation of more and more who do not have food and who have no option left but to resort to thievery.In fact, the actual guilty are society's leaders who failed to build a society that prevents hunger.

The Tiljala publishers did not understand this teaching and misinterpreted it as an instruction to find the Cosmic nucleus, which in this case is irrelevant and misguiding for readers. To make the matter worse, the publishers summarized first few sentences and skipped the examples given by Bábá. Both the distortions have together marred this beautiful teaching.

As Ánanda Márgiis it is our bounden duty to understand, appreciate, internalize, and propagate Bábá’s true teachings. In order to fulfill this duty, that Ánanda Má́rga scripture which we study and propagate, has to be proper. If our scripture itself is distorted, then what we learn and propagate will itself be distorted. So when we see that our shástra is indeed full of errors introduced by our Publishers, then it becomes our duty to point this out and put pressure to get our books fixed. This will prevent people from getting misguided and thereby true pracára of Bábá’s teachings can take place.

Sincerely,

Bhakti


Footnotes.

1. “Towards the Noumenal Entity.” Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 12. 8 June 1979 evening, Bombay.


From the Moderators—

NOTES ABOUT H GROUP— It is regrettable that H and EC groups have no interest in Bábá’s discourses, otherwise they would have become active in publishing them from the original sound track instead of merely reprinting the books which the Tiljala group publishes. The distortions introduced by Tiljala group in their publications of Bábá’s discourses are errors of commissional in nature. But let none make the mistake of thinking that H and EC groups are innocent here; by their failure to take interest in publishing Bábá’s original discourses, they demonstrate a lethargy toward Bábá’s shástra which is highly condemnable. H and EC groups’ failure to publish Bábá’s original discourses is a failure of omission. The omissional error of H and EC is every bit as serious as the commissional errors of Tiljala group. And moreover, H group's publishing department merely reprints the distortion-laden, error-filled books made by Tiljala group, and puts their stamp on it. So they are supporting and participating in the sins of Tiljala group.


Moderators Note 1.

 

Fix Bábá's Discourses Now or Never

If we remain passive onlookers and do not fix the negative trends of introducing distortion into Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji's discourses—if we do not bring the printed discourses up to the proper standard now—it will become impossible to change this in the future. And even if in future some sincere Ánanda Márgiis will try, they will be treated as enemies. Because this is the way religion works: Today one cannot teach the devotees of Lord Krśńa that He has nothing to do with cows; they will never believe it. In the same way, Ánanda Márgiis will become used to the wrong teachings in our AM books and they will not like to give them up. They will think that whatever was there at the end of the twentieth century, that was the gold standard for all time. And it should be kept and maintained.

Ánanda Má́rga is dharma—not religion—but we will face the same opposition from within to change, when wrong teachings get established.

So we don't have any time: it is either now or never. The clock is ticking: If we do not get Bábá's discourses fixed now, it will be impossible to do so later. And that will cause bloodshed and more division on the basis of the various versions of Bábá's teachings and their explanations. History bears testimony to this, that all the religions have similarly broken into multiple factions, groups and subgroups on the basis of differences in scripture interpretations. Bábá wanted to eliminate such problems, and that is why Bábá's discourses are recorded. But unfortunately, those recordings are not being published properly. This matter is very serious.

Moderators Note 2.

 

Request for Volunteers

We 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 our AMPS is a 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.

Moderators Note 3.

 

Need for Audio Recordings

In order to produce “As Is” discourses, there is a need for audio cassettes of Bábá's discourses. These are treated with the utmost of care as we do the job for which the recordings were made: discourse transcription. So any who have recordings of Bábá's discourses are encouraged to contact us in order to get the recording transcribed in “As Is” fashion.

Moderators Note 4.

 

Only Goal of Ánanda Má́rga Discourses Network:

To Protect Bábá's Discourses

This Ánanda Má́rga Discourses Network does not have any agenda against any group. Its only goal is to repair and protect Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji's holy discourses so they will remain for the present and future humanity.