AMPS Publication: Misinformation About “Silákantha”

From: Surabhi Mukherji <s.mukherji21@computech....>

To: Ananda Marga Discourses <anandamargadiscourses@sunlink.net>

Subject: AMPS Publication: Misinformation About “Silákantha”

Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2016 09:36:27 +0530 (IST)

Bábá

AMPS Publication: Misinformation About “Silákantha”

Namaskar,

When Bábá gives a discourse, everything He says is meaningful. And it is the duty of those who have taken charge of publishing the discourses, to confirm that what they print is similarly meaningful. However the following is an example of where what Tiljala Publications has printed, is meaningless.

Bábá has given a discourse “The Great Exceptions” in Calcutta on 9 January 1979. In the discourse He explains how evolution is a case in point of exceptions to the rule, and illustrates this with the example of fish. In the discourse, Bábá reveals the identity of one of the fish kingdom’s main ancestors.

Here is how Tiljala Publications printed Bábá's words--

"Various fishes have evolved from the Silákantha, the original ancestors of the fishes." (1)

Comment: When Bábá has told that a particular creature is the ancestor of many fish, then it would have been the duty of responsible publishers to confirm that what they had understood from the discourse recording is correct. A responsible publisher would confirm the name of this ancestor either by asking Bábá or going to the science department of any of the universities in Calcutta and asking the appropriate science professor. Anyone in the field could have easily given reply. But our Tiljala Publishers did not pursue any such steps, and as a consequence, for the last thirty seven years since the discourse was given, Márgiis have not had access to what Bábá really said. Not only have they not had access, but Márgiis have been misguided by all the editions of our own Ananda Marga books-- that Bábá says the original ancestor of many fish is a word spelled “Silákantha”. And there is no such word in any Bengali or English dictionary. So this word is an obvious source of confusion for anyone who takes interest in the matter.

Seeing the word “Silákantha” in the English Electronic Edition 7.5, it appears like a Bengali word; but looking in the Bengali dictionary there is no such word.

I have the Bangla language edition, and there as well this very word is written, spelled “শিলাকন্থ”. Seeing the word in the Bangla book, gives the impression that it may possibly be an English word. So I checked in the English dictionary but did not get any such word.

Finally I went to the university in my town and asked the professors in the biology department for the name of the creature which is mentioned in Bábá’s book. To know what I found out, click here to view our blog page

Namaskar,

In service to Gurudeva,

Surabhi Mukherji

Note 1: Here is a longer version of the quote from the AV-8 book, published by our Tiljala Publishers:

"Various fishes have evolved from the Silákantha, the original ancestors of the fishes. One would think that, having all evolved from the same source, all fishes would be of the same appearance – but this is not the case. Due to many exceptions along the path of evolution, different species of fishes emerged." (AV8, The Great Exceptions)

Note 2: In Varna Vicitra volume 3, discourse #22, the same problem is there: complete misspelling of the name of this ancient ancestor of fish.

References.

1. The Great Exceptions, Ananda Vacanamrtam part 8, 9 January 1979 Calcutta

2. Printed in the original Bengali with the same mistake, with the discourse title “তোমরাও ব্যতিক্রম”, in AV part 8.

Fishes’ Ancient Ancestor - Real Name As Given By Baba

In actuality, in Calcutta on 9 January 1979, in the discourse "The Great Exceptions",  the name Baba has told for the ancient ancestor of fish is "Coelacanth"; this name comes from the Latin Cœlacanthus meaning "hollow spine". The Coelacanth fish still exists today along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia, and is believed by scientists to have evolved into its current form 400 million years ago. (1) There is no fish named Silákantha, but our Tiljala Publishers never bothered to find this out. Rather they would have us believe that this most ancient of fish has a Bengali name.

So TP has concocted the name Silákantha. But the correct name is Coelacanth. All Margiis should please locate their Ananda Vacanamrtam part 8, and correct the passage.

Here below is a photo of this ancient Coelacanth fish:

References

1. Wikipedia - "Coelacanth"

Useless & Bogus Things in AM Books (B)

From: Gopal Roy Choudhary <grchoudhary@bengalcom...>

To: Ananda Marga Discourses <anandamargadiscourses@sunlink.net>

Subject: Useless & Bogus Things in AM Books (B)

Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2016 10:49:37 +0530

BÁBÁ

Useless & Bogus Things in AM Books (B)

Namaskár,

Táraka Brahma Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti ji has come to this dusty earth and given discourses which are to serve as the dhármika guideline for all human beings. In order for these discourses to fulfill their purpose, they need to be published "As Is", exactly as given by Bábá. Otherwise if mere human beings, with all their imperfections, begin changing the discourses by adding their own additions, then these additions will serve to distort the pure unblemished words of Táraka Brahma.

TP has no clue about the subject matter

For example, on 17 April 1979 Bábá has given the discourse "The History of Ráŕhbhúm", in Kolkata. In that discourse, Bábá has spoken about the grammatical aspects of the Ráŕhii Bengali language. And in that setting, to illustrate the use of the suffix 'ek' [এক্‌] at the end of verbs in Ráŕhii Bengali, Bábá has quoted a poem of Bharatcandra--

Tathástu baliyá Devii dilá baradán,

Dudhe bháte thákibek tomár santán. [Electronic Edition 7.5]

তথাস্তু ৰলিয়া দেবী দিলা বরদান |

দুধে ভাতে থাকিৰেক্‌ তোমার সন্তান || [transcription from audio]

The only reason Bábá has cited this poem, is to illustrate the use of 'ek' [এক্‌] at the verb ending. See in the above poem, the verb 'thákibek' [থাকিৰেক্‌]. Bábá did not discuss the meaning of this poem, and nor does the meaning have anything to do with the subject of Bábá's discourse, which is the use of the suffix ‘ek’ [এক্‌].

It is very painful to see that our Tiljala Publishers are ruining ...

But our Tiljala Publishers have from their own side, printed the English translation of this poem underneath the Bengali version. Bábá did not translate the poem in the discourse, nor did He give any instruction to do so for the published book. This printing of the English translation misleads the readers in a different direction, which Bábá wanted to avoid. But due to ignorance of the subject matter, TP did just the opposite of Bábá’s wishes. And they translated the poem into English. By this approach, they dragged the readers away from the main topic. Because what they have translated, has nothing whatsoever to do with Ánanda Márga ideology. Rather it is a dogmatic poem, the meaning of which goes against AM teachings.

Here is the unnecessary translation TP has printed:

"The goddess Devi granted a boon, saying, 'So be it. Your children will live amidst plenty.'"

So this is one dogmatic poem, conveying the idea upheld by religious Hindus that there are multiple gods and goddesses who give boons to those whom they favor. Bábá had no intention of expressing or highlighting the meaning of this dogmatic poem; He cited it only to illustrate that in Ráŕhii Bengali people append the suffix 'ek' to verbs. By providing the translation, our Tiljala Publishers take the discourse in a completely different direction, misguiding innocent readers by insinuating that Bábá supports the meaning of such dogmatic poems.

It is very painful to see that our Tiljala Publishers translate poems Bábá has given when the meaning has nothing at all to do with Bábá's teachings. The above is only one example; similar examples of poems having irrelevant and dogmatic meanings have been translated by our Tiljala Publishers throughout the published discourses. The irony is that there are hundreds of recorded Hindi discourses yet to be published even the first time. But TP does not publish any of them, hiding under the excuse that they do not have time. And on the other side, by their action it shows they have plenty of time to waste-- they are adding such things to Bábá’s discourses which should not be added. And the nastiness does not end here. Acyutanandji escapes from his publication duties, and runs his website “Right to Life” i.e United States Republican political party agenda, which is a gross misuse of his energy, when Ánanda Márga books are in very bad shape. It shows that he does not have interest in Bábá’s books, rather he has apathy towards them. Otherwise how could he get time to spend all day involved in his private blog on “Right to Life” agenda?

What about other groups of AMPS?

Those who are not aware, “TP” means Tiljala Publications.

What about other factions of AMPS. Are they ok? No, they are equally responsible. Because whatever TP prints, these other factions just reprint it from their own side and append their own name. These other factions do not keep a well maintained publication department. For that reason you see that they are directly selling TP’s books, or are reprinting those very books in their own name and selling them. So in this matter, other factions are equally responsible. So long as these other factions do not come out and express their opinion, it is obvious by their actions that they are 100% in support of the dirty deeds of Tiljala Publications.

Namaskár,

In service to Gurudeva,

Gopal Roy Choudhary

Note: Bábá has given this discourse in Bangla. Those who have deep interest and understand Bangla, if they like they can contact us for the audio.

Note 2: In order to explain the grammar beautifully, Bábá has given more examples along with থাকিৰেক্‌, Bábá has given further examples like ৰললেক্‌, যাৰেক্‌, ৰসিৰেক্‌ in this discourse.