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.
