BÁBÁ
Story—Maniiśánanda’s
expulsion: clash on pure AM books
Namaskar,
From the very beginning of WT life in 1970, Dádá Maniiśánanda had deep interest in Bábá's discourses. Since the time when Dádá Maniiśánanda first acquired an audio recorder and discourse audio files from Shrii Kirit Dave, in his day to day life—while traveling, doing asanas, engaged in nitya karma, and whenever possible—Dádá ji would listen to Guru’s discourses over and over again. Whenever he had the opportunity to attend Guru’s darshana, Dádá would record Bábá's discourses to listen to.
After recording a few bits and pieces of discourses during General Darshans and listening to them exhaustively, Dádá began to share his recordings with various Márgiis and Wts, and, in turn, other disciples shared their audio recordings with him.
Only Bengali books match original Bábá audio
Ultimately, Maniiśánanda Dádá ji felt the need to organize his collection by discourse name, place, and date etc. To that end, he started reviewing the printed books of Ánanda Márga philosophy to (a) find out what discourse was printed in which book, and (b) take note of the discourse name and further identifying information. In this process, one day in December 1990 while listening to a Bengali discourse and following along with the printed version in the Bengali book, Dádá was pleasantly surprised and pleased to find that a high percentage of the recorded Bengali discourse neatly matched the printed version of that Bengali discourse.
English & Hindi Books do not match original Bábá audio
Later on that same day, while listening to a Hindi discourse and simultaneously following the printed version in the Hindi book, to his surprise Dádá discovered that the recorded discourse and printed version did not match. Although it was the same discourse, the printed version had been rewritten entirely and did not reflect Baba’s original words. That was the moment he realised that the printed Hindi books of Ánanda Márga philosophy were not simply a transcription of the original audio recording. The next day while listening to an English discourse and following along with the printed version in the English book, Dádá found that the recorded English discourse and English printed text did not match either. The printed English edition had been completely rewritten.
Dádá was deeply concerned that the Hindi and English printed versions of a given discourse were not accurate renderings of what Bábá spoke. Mahásambhúti Bábá was orally delivering His discourses and Wts in the Tiljala Publications Department were printing them in an entirely different manner. The subject was basically the same, and the discourse date and place were the same, but the actual sentences were drastically different, both in terms of word choice and sequence. And sometimes that made for a different meaning as well.
Centre’s bogus justification: Bangalisation
On this basis, Dádáji began discussing with Márgiis and other WTs, and all were in basic agreement that this was a concerning issue. Ultimately, Dádá Maniiśánanda raised the matter with higher posted avadhútas and purodhas with the authority and responsibility for printing Bábá’s books. Sadly, mostly those Tiljala Publications in-charges and authority figures downplayed the matter and responded with their own logic and reasoning. Far and away however, the key justification Dádá Maniiśánanda heard again and again from those in-charges was that the Hindi and English audio discourses could not be transcribed and printed “as-is” because they first had to be translated into Bengali.
Essentially what those in-charges were claiming was that:
(a) The audio recordings of Bábá’s original Hindi discourses first had to be translated into Bengali; and then that translated Bengali version would be treated as the master file; then that Bengali version would be retranslated back into Hindi in order to print the Hindi edition of the book.
(b) The audio recordings of Bábá’s original English discourses first had to be translated into Bengali; and then that translated Bengali version would be treated as the master file; then that Bengali version would be retranslated back into English in order to print the English edition of the book.
The above processes have come to be known as Bengalization / Bangalisation.
Dádá Maniiśánanda never found their approach or explanations satisfactory. It defied all logic and reasoning to treat audio files of Bábá’s original English and Hindi discourses as being inferior, inadequate, or useless, whereby they had to be first translated into Bengali and then keep that Bengali as the master version.
Why they expelled Dádá M
This fundamental difference in approach became the basis of a long-standing disagreement between Dada Maniiśánanda and certain Tiljala Publications in-charges. Over the years, many conversations ensued. But all along, Dádá Sarvátmánanda held firm to their point and insisted that the audio files of Bábá’s original English and Hindi discourses were inferior in language and expression. To eradicate this issue permanently, the then General Secretary Sarvátmánanda, with the support of all Bengali and Hindi group leaders, expelled Maniiśánanda. The first attempt to expel him in January of 1994 was eventually overturned but Sarvátmánanda gathered the necessary support to permanently expel him on 30th November 1995, just before the arms drop in Ánanda Nagar late 1995.
There was a concerted effort to permanently derail and halt the movement for "as-is" discourses. To that nefarious end, Sarvátmánandanda victimized and ultimately expelled Dádá Maniiśánanda. They also went to the extent of justifying in their audio remembrances, by their saḿsmarańa recordings, that Bábá "wanted" all the discourses kept as "original Bengali". This is just their bogus propaganda. Sadguru Bábá has never said anywhere that such a narrow-minded plan like Bangalisation should be implemented. How could Bábá have ordered to discard all His English and Hindi GD and DMC discourse recordings.
In Him,
Debashish Ghosh
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Mantreshwaranand, Mantreshvarananda, Mantreshvaranand, Mantreshvaránanda, Sarvátmánandand, Sarvatmanandanda, Sarvatmanandand, Sarvátmánandanda, Acyutananda, Acyutanand, Acyutánanda, Hariishanand, Hariishánanda, Rudrananda, Rudranand, Rudránanda
