Bábá
Cowardice
Approach: Traitor Example Left Out
Namaskára
Respected Márgii Brothers and Sisters,
Introduction
Lord Shrii Shrii
Ánandamúrtiji has given a discourse in Hindi in Patna, in December
1971, printed by AMPS Publishers in English under the name “The
Lord's Feet” in the Electronic Edition. In this discourse a very
big distortion has occurred, namely that the publishers left out a
critical teaching Bábá has given about traitors.
How They
Printed It
Here is the excerpt from
the printed discourse, “The Lord's Feet” published in the 2009
Electronic Edition. The way it is printed:
- - - - - - - - - -
"But as the saying
goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Gayásura, who had received his power from Lord Viśńu, thought
to defeat the Lord Himself. Is not the tamboura [a musical instrument
used by Shiva] a fool if it thinks that the persons bowing before the
Lord are, in fact, paying respect to it? Gayásura started thinking
that the great power he possessed was actually his power. He finally
challenged Lord Viśńu, and since Viśńu Himself had granted
the boon, how could it fail? Viśńu was defeated by Gayásura.
Gayásura bound Viśńu to a tree and then went all over the world
with a very bloated ego."
- - - - - - - - - -
Same
Passage from Printed Discourse,
with
Distortions in Red & Omissions in Purple
The way it is printed in
the Electronic Edition. Here we are presenting the passage again.
Please pay special attention to the sections in purple, which were
omitted entirely from the printed discourse. Also note the words in
red, where distortion has occurred.
- - - - - - - - - -
"But as the saying
goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Gayásura, who had received his power from Lord Viśńu, thought
to defeat the Lord Himself.
[Márgii
laughter.] Just like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá
continues—] Attack was carried out against the very entity from
whom all the power was received. And it happened just like that with
Gayásura as well. Is not the tamboura
[a musical instrument used by Shiva]
a fool if it thinks that the persons bowing before the Lord
are, in fact, paying respect to it? Gayásura started thinking that
the great power he possessed was actually his power. He finally
challenged Lord Viśńu, and since Viśńu Himself had granted
the boon, how could it fail? Viśńu was defeated by Gayásura.
Gayásura bound Viśńu to a tree and then went all over the world
with a very bloated ego."
- - - - - - - - - -
About
above passage
Color Key:
- Serious errors from the published discourse appear in red.
- Sections highlighted
in purple are missing entirely from the printed
discourse.
Explanation
ONE
Here
in this paragraph there are some sentences highlighted in purple.
Those are very significant sentences in which Bábá has explained
about Central dádás inside our own AMPS organization who rebelled
and became traitors to Bábá. And these sentences were left out by
our AMPS Publishers. The left out section's detailed meaning and
significance is given below. The portion highlighted in red reflects
a serious distortion which will be described in the following
posting.
History:
What was Situation in AMPS Organization at Time of This Discourse
Why
this Discourse is Very Important for Historical Reasons
In the discourse Bábá is
giving an important teaching directly related with the events of the
time. He is teaching that even if Parama Puruśa gives one a
position of power in the world, one should always remember that the
power is really Parama Puruśa's alone.
The discourse was given by
Bábá at a critical time in Ánanda Marga history, just after a
group of then Central dádás committed the treacherous act of
forming a secret coalition and rebelling against Bábá. They went
into cahoots with the CBI, launched a false murder case against
Bábá, and attempted to start their own breakaway organization
designed to make Smt Sarkar the Guru and steal all the members of
AMPS. Shortly after in 1971, due to this very false murder case, Bábá
was put in jail for seven years. So indeed Bábá has given this
discourse at a critical juncture in Ánanda Marga history.
In the discourse, Bábá
tells the story of Gayásura, a devotee of Lord Viśńu, who
wanted revenge for the killing of his father. (1) In this effort for
revenge he received a boon from Lord Viśńu that he would be
invincible in battle; no one on earth or even in heaven or hell would
be able to stand against him. Due to this boon, Gayásura's ego
became bloated and thinking he was great, developed a false sense of
self-importance, and ultimately went against Viśńu Himself. Here
Bábá explains that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely. Gayásura was nothing, all his power was from Viśńu's
boon. And his blindness to the truth of the situation became his
downfall.
In the discourse, Bábá
uses the fateful tale of Gayásura as an analogy to illustrate how
the Central dádás of 1971 themselves developed the very same
blindness that they were great. Gayásura had foolishly gone against
Lord Viśńu, who had given him all his power—and this caused his
own ultimate destruction. In the same way these Central dádás, in
commiting the treacherous act of rebelling against Bábá, had
forgotten that it was only Bábá's hand that had made them powerful
Central dádás and the respect they received from Márgiis was only
due to Bábá.
These Central dádás
thought they should run the organization themselves, and that Bábá
could not run it as they could and should be relegated to a sort of
mere figurehead. As a result of their blind self-intoxication, they
could not understand that Bábá was the underpinning of their entire
prowess and stature. So power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely—they revolted against Bábá, created a separate
organization, and started a false murder case against Bábá together
with the CBI. This blind self-intoxication was their downfall—after
leaving the organization and creating another parallel organization,
they could not do anything and their new organization went nowhere.
Their lives were in the dust.
Bábá
gave the story of Gayásura to illustrate what happens to those who
become intoxicated with their small “I”, and to give the teaching
that this had happened right in our own organization. But our AMPS
Publishers deleted this very section from the discourse. They deleted
that very part in which Bábá explains that just as Gayásura went
against his benefactor and Iśťa Lord Viśńu, so our Central
dádás of those days had done the same. Here is the section which
they deleted—Bábá utters it right in the middle of Gayásura's
story: “Just
like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá continues—]
Attack was carried out against the very entity from whom all the
power was received. And it happened just like that with Gayásura as
well.”
Aside
from this discourse “The Lord's Feet”, there is only one instance
where Bábá openly discussed these matters, and that was during
Bábá's trial when He gave witness before the court. Otherwise in
all Bábá's other discourses He never spoke about the defectors.
So these three sentences—the three sentences deleted by the
Publishers—are very unusual and significant.
“As Is
Version” of what Bábá Speaks
This discourse “The
Lord's Feet” has been given by Bábá in
Hindi, but it was never published in Hindi. Here the relevant section
has been translated word-for-word into English to give you a sense of
what Bábá actually said that day. The entire discourse was first
typed in the original Hindi, and then this section of it translated
into English. Here then is a translation of this very section, so you
can see the “as is” of what Bábá has spoken:
- - - - - - - - - -
Then,
as the saying goes— power corrupts, absolute power absolutely
corrupts. After receiving so much power from Lord Viśńu, what
happened with Gayásura—what occurred in his mind? He thought, “I
will no longer support Lord Viśńu.” [Márgii laughter.] Just
like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá continues—]
Attack was carried out against the very entity from whom all the
power was received. And it happened just like that with Gayásura as
well. What is the story similar to? Lord Shiva keeps a ďambaru [a
type of drum] in His hand, and the people come to do prańáma to
Lord Shiva. [Bábá, smiling] And the ďambaru thinks the people are
coming to do prańáma to it (the ďambaru). [Márgii laughter.] In
the market there are loads of ďambarus—the people hardly do
prańáma to those ďambarus. [Bábá laughs, and Márgiis laugh]
Yes, so it happened just like that with Gayásura as well. He
challenged Lord Viśńu. And Lord Viśńu had already granted him
the boon that, “With whomsoever battle will be done, Gayásura will
be victorious.” So Gayásura challenged Lord Viśńu, and Lord
Viśńu had to protect the prestige of His boon! As a result, after
tough physical battle between the two, Lord Viśńu was defeated.
After all, Lord Viśńu had to protect His boon. Then Gayásura
tied Lord Viśńu firmly to a tree. And proceeded to praise [do the
stuti of] the defeated Lord Viśńu. After that Gayásura went
everywhere on earth, heaven and hell attacking and marauding over
everyone with whom he came in contact. And so it is that power
corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts.
- - - - - - - - - -
Printed
Discourse & “As Is” Version cover Exact Same Segment
The first thing you may
notice is that this passage is significantly longer than the section
shown above printed in the 2009 Electronic Edition. Yet it is the
exact same section of the discourse: both begin and end in exactly
the same places in the discourse. The section in the printed
discourse starts from where Bábá
says in Hindi that “Then, as the saying goes— power corrupts...”
and ends where Bábá says in Hindi that after defeating Lord
Viśńu, Gayásura “went everywhere on earth, heaven and hell
attacking and marauding over everyone...so it is that...absolute
power absolutely corrupts.”
Printed
Discourse: Merely a Summary
So
the section printed by the AMPS Publishers and this “as is”
version are the exact same segment of the discourse—and yet you see
the difference in length. The printed version is mere brief summary
of what Bábá spoke in Hindi—not a translation of it.
AMPS
Publishers Removed Where Bábá Tells About Traitors
The
second very notable thing is that our AMPS Publishers have completely
removed the part where Bábá completes the analogy, saying that our
Central dádás have commited the same mistake as Gayásura: “Just
like the traitor group, you know? [Laughing, Bábá continues—]
Attack was carried out against the very entity from whom all the
power was received. And it happened just like that with Gayásura as
well.”
Actual “As
Is” Hindi Version of What Bábá
said That Day
For those of you who know
Hindi, here is the actual “as is” transcription of exactly the
same portion of the discourse. It starts from the very same place and
ends in the very same place as the above translated passage. So these
are the exact words Bábá
uttered during the above quoted section, that day in December 1971 in
Patna. Nothing has been changed or left out. Every letter, every
comma, every period—just as Bábá uttered the words that very day.
- - - - - - - - - -
अब
कि क्या है कहानी ?
न,
power corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts | हाथ
में उतना power
आ जाने
के बाद फिर गयासुर का क्या हुआ
? तो,
मन में
हुआ क्या ?
न,
"विष्णु
को हम नहीं मानेंगे |"
[हँसी
|]
जैसा
traitor group है
न ? हाँ
|
[बाबा
हँसते हुए बोले—]
जिससे
शक्ति मिली है,
उसी के
ख़िलाफ़ बदला हुआ |
तो गयासुर
का वही हुआ |
आँ ?
यह क्या
है ? यह
कहानी किस प्रकार की ?
न,
शिव के
हाथ में डम्बरु है |
और लोग
शिव को प्रणाम करते हैं |
[मुस्कराते
हुए] और
डम्बरु सोच रहा है कि—"लोग
उनको प्रणाम कर रहा है |"
[मार्गियों
की हँसी |]
डम्बरु
तो बाज़ार में ढेर ही है,
हज़ार-हज़ार
| लोग
थोड़े प्रणाम करता है |
[बाबा
हँसे |]
[मार्गियों
की हँसी |]
हाँ
| तो
ठीक वैसा ही गयासुर का हुआ |
तब वह
विष्णु को challenge
कर दिया
| और
विष्णु तो वरदान already
दे दिया,
कि---"जिससे
लड़ाई होगी,
गयासुर
की जय हो जाएगी |"
तब challenge
कर दिया
| अब
क्या है ?
अपना जो
वरदान है,
उसकी
इज़्ज़त बचानी है |
तो,
लड़ाई
होते-होते-होते
विष्णु की हार हो गई |
क्योंकि
विष्णु का वरदान था तो |
तो जब हार
हो गई तब गयासुर क्या किया ?
विष्णु
को एक पेड़ से अच्छी तरह से बाँधा
| बाँधकर
ख़ूब तब स्तुति किया |
अब विष्णु
तो defeated |
इधर हुआ
क्या ?
स्वर्ग,
मर्त्य,
रसातल,
एकदम |
Power corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts | वह
एकदम चारों तरफ़ {माने
क्या}
तहस-नहस
करना शुरू कर दिया |
तो लोग
विष्णु जी के पास आए,
विष्णु
बोले---"यह
देखो तो हमारी हालत देखो !
| हम तो
बँधे हुए हैं |"
- - - - - - - - - -
Of note, although this
discourse has been given by Bábá in Hindi, but it was never
published in Hindi. Printing a discourse in the language in which it
was delivered is of course the most logical, most important, and
indeed easiest path to publish a discourse. Because, the words have
already been given by Bábá; all one has to do is listen to the
recording and type what one hears. Whereas to publish the discourse
in another language means first typing out the discourse in the
original language it was given, and then going back and translating
the whole thing.
So publishing a discourse
in a different language is a big job: one has to first do the work of
transcribing the original language discourse, and then there is the
added work of translation. Yet despite this, many, many discourses
given by Bábá in Hindi, have been published only in translation and
never in the original language.
Although Bábá gave so
many discourses in Hindi, but they were often published only in
Bengali or sometimes English. And it is well-known that there is
always something lost in translation. Most importantly, Bábá has
given the Shivokti, “Mantramúlaḿ Gururvákyam”: The words
of Guru are mantra. But that only goes for the original language i.e.
those words actually spoken by Guru.
The truth of the matter is
that the AMPS Publications Department has always been run by Bengali
dádás, and they took great care with the discourses given by Bábá
in Bengali. Indeed, discourses given by Bábá in Bengali and
published in Bengali, are in the best condition of all the printed
discourses. In contrast the discourses given by Bábá in Hindi are
in the worst condition of all. Many were never published in the
original Hindi, and those that were, were generally carelessly done
with very poor quality and many distortions. (2)
The current discourse,
“The Lord's Feet”, is an example of a Hindi discourse which was
never published in the original language, but was instead published
in a different language and is fraught with serious distortion.
As always we welcome your
thoughts and comments on the 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. Comparing
the “as is” discourses to the discourses published by AMPS is a
big job requiring line-by-line review. We would welcome the help of
any and all who are inspired and interested to serve in the
protection of the discourses of Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji.
And that includes an appeal to those whose mother tongue is other
than English. These explanations about discourse distortion—as well
as all the discourses themselves—need to be translated into all the
languages of the world. For that, help is needed from Márgiis around
the globe.
In His
service,
Divyadarshana
Ánanda Márga Discourse network Editors
Divyadarshana
Ánanda Márga Discourse network Editors
(1) Bábá recounts a
mythical tale from the Puráńa in which Tripurásura, the father of
Gayásura and a great devotee of Lord Viśńu, was being pressured
by devotees of Lord Shiva to become a devotee of Lord Shiva. This led
to physical fighting over the matter with Tripurásura attacking
devotees of Lord Shiva, and Lord Shiva ultimately killing
Tripurásura. Tripurásura's son Gayásura, also a devotee of Lord
Viśńu, was determined to get revenge for the killing.
(2) This relative high
quality of printed Bengali discourses versus low quality of printed
Hindi discourses is in large part due to the work of dádá
Sarvátmánanda, who as AMPS (B) publications in-charge for years,
has demonstrated a special interest in promoting the supremacy of
the Bengali language, and in contrast has shown an allergy to other
languages, in particular Hindi. Here our purpose is not to favor any
language. In whatever language Bábá has given a discourse, the
printed version should be made a perfect transcription of what Bábá
said on the recording. And in this way all the discourses—every
single discourse whether in Bengali, Hindi, or English—should be
perfected. Our purpose is not the language but the discourse.
Everything Bábá has said should be transcribed perfectly and
published, in the original language in which Bábá gave it.
(3) For those not having
the Electronic Edition, click here to go to the discourse “The Lord's Feet” published by the AMPS Publishers.
