== WHEN ROAD SIGNS ARE WRONG ==
Namaskar,
"“I am that Vireshvijay Vasumallik,” he replied. Saying this, he threw
himself into the water. The rapids flung his body around violently and
carried him off towards a deep cavern. After that his body sank and
disappeared from sight. A sudden strong gust of wind blew at my back
from the direction of the forest. Then the gust of wind started blowing
towards the mountain in front of me. All around me I could hear the
sound; son, son, son. If someone else had been there they would not have
heard anything else, but in the middle of this son-son sound I could
hear Vireshvijay’s last words ma'-ma'-ma' go [mother, mother, oh my dear
mother]. With steadfast eyes I looked at the rapids. Unknowingly, my
eyes lighted on a few drops of water. In all directions one could hear
the hills reverberating with the sound – ma'-ma'-ma' go." (SC-1, Disc: 4)
The above is the concluding paragraph of Baba's dramatic story about the
great revolutionary Vireshvijay Vasumallik in Shabda Cayanika part 1.
Baba, being the supreme storyteller extraordinaire, narrates this
history about Vireshvijay's epic confrontation with the British invaders
in riveting fashion.
Anyone not familiar with the story should certainly take time to read it.
"SON, SON, SON"
Unfortunately there is one serious mistake in the translation and
publication of this story, and in particular in the last paragraph,
noted above.
At one point, Baba is describing how the wind is blowing.
The publishers wrote: "A sudden strong gust of wind blew at my back from
the direction of the forest. Then the gust of wind started blowing
towards the mountain in front of me."
Baba narrates the scene further.
And the publishers wrote, "All around me I could hear the sound; son,
son, son."
According to this translation, it appears to the reader that the sound
or word reverberating in the wind is "son, son, son", which of course
would refer to the male child of a mother or the cherished son of one's
homeland.
And since Vireshvijay is the courageous native son of that land, and
since Vireshvijay is about to meet his tragic death, and since in that
final moment Vireshvijay himself calls out, ma'-ma'-ma' [mother, mother,
oh my dear mother], then it certainly seems like someone or something is
crying out for her son - whether it be some type of spirit, a ghost or
goddess of that land, or mother nature; and in response, our tragic hero
is replying back: Mother, mother, oh my dear mother. It might even seem
to the reader that Vireshvijay leaped to his death in response to the
call of some ghostly or ethereal motherly figure. That is the way the
story reads.
But that is not at all what is going on. Due to a critical error in
translation / publication, the entire meaning is skewed, altered and the
reader is led astray.
WHAT IT REALLY MEANS
In that culminating scene of this most dramatic story, Baba is artfully
describing the sound of the wind.
The publishers wrote: "A sudden strong gust of wind blew at my back from
the direction of the forest. Then the gust of wind started blowing
towards the mountain in front of me."
That part is ok.
But then the publishers wrote: "All around me I could hear the sound;
son, son, son."
This is where the problem lies.
When the publishers wrote, "son, son, son," it seems that a ghost or
mother nature or some ethereal mother is calling out to her native son,
Vireshvijay. That is the impression that any reader would get based on
what the publishers printed.
But in reality, something entirely different is going on.
In His colourful manner of narration, Baba is making and describing the
sound of the wind itself.
In Hindi or Bengali, the phonetic spelling of the sound a large gust of
wind makes when it is rushing through the mountains or forest is: shon',
shon', shon' (with a nasal "n" at the end).
Or there may be a better way to write it, perhaps shoun', but the sense
is that Baba is actually making the sound of the wind as one would do in
Hindi or Bengali. That is what is meant and indeed stated.
In which case the translators / publishers should have written:
"Whoosshh, whoooshh, whooshh", or some other term or phrasing in English
that would denote that Baba is describing or emulating the sound of the
wind as it rushes through the forest. And then the word could be
italicised as well, further indicating that Baba is describing an actual
sound.
But the translators missed this point entirely. They misunderstood
Baba's divine way of storytelling. And they took it literally that the
wind was speaking the English word "son, son, son", as in the case of a
male child of one mother.
Thus any reader will be terribly confused and led astray.
Because again, in reality, Baba is describing the way the fast blowing
wind is howling through the forest landscape, rustling all the leaves.
We have all heard such sounds before. And the phonetic way of writing
that sound in Hindi would be something like: shon', shon', shon', with
nasal sounding "n" at the end.
So that sound is not at all the English word "son", as in "son" or
"daughter" or "male offspring".
Unfortunately, our publishers - albeit their intentions were innocent in
contrast to their blatant and manipulated distortion in AM Revolution
discourse about margii rights - could not properly nor accurately depict
what Baba was telling.
In result, this great story from Shabda Cayanika about the revolutionary
hero Vireshvijay is tainted and ends in confusion as if some ghost or
other-worldly being is crying out for her lost native son to commit
suicide etc. And that Baba is glorifying such acts.
Such is the extent of the misportrayal of the current English edition of
this book, Shabda Cayanika part 1.
A truly dharmic and unique history has been severely tainted.
CORRECTING THE WRONG
Needless to say, this error in translation or publication should be
corrected at the earliest. If those publishers wait for the publication
of the next edition of Shabda Cayanika part 1 in order to correct the
error, then that may take decades and over that time the correction will
ultimately be forgotten. And the book will be reprinted in its current
faulty state - leading readers astray.
Best then is if an errata page is made today itself and a formal
statement issued by the Publications Dept in order to clarify the error.
Then everyone will be properly informed and there will no longer be
confusion about this wonderful passage.
AM SCRIPTURE IS OUR ROAD SIGN
We must remember that our AM sha'stra or scripture is like a divine road
sign, clearly indicating to us where to go and how to proceed in life.
In our AM books, Baba tells us so many things: How to take a bath, what
food to eat, the cycle of brahmacakra, what is sin and what is virtue,
the history of so many lands, and yes, so many beautiful stories like
that of the great ideological revolutionary Vireshvijay.
In turn, we believe and follow those divine precepts: Paragraph by
paragraph, sentence by sentence, and word by word, thinking them to be
true to Baba's spoken discourse.
His printed teachings - the books of A'nanda Ma'rga - are our road sign
in life. By following the word and spirit of His every teaching we are
able to progress.
Baba says, "Do this, don’t do this – to prescribe these dos and don’ts
of life is the duty of sha'stra. And why does the sha'stra prescribe
those things? For salvation and liberation sha'stras prescribe these dos
and don’ts of life." (SS-21)
It is Baba's boundless grace on us that He has given us the pathway to
success in the form of a written scripture. Now it is the duty of those
at the helm to ensure our AM publications are done properly. Because
when our AM books are not proper, then our entire Marga society will get
the wrong road sign in life and be led astray, even harmed.
In the notes below the signature are further examples where those in
charge have wrongly printed our AM scripture, thereby misguiding readers
and sadhakas alike.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace He has beautifully recounted the life and history of the
spirited revolutionary Vireshvijaya. That epic story is told with so
much passion and force - the reader can tangibly feel the efforts,
trials, and courage of this great young man who bravely gave his life
for ideology. It is a great story for us all.
Yet it is undermined by the fact that in the culminating last paragraph,
the story is wrongly printed thereby sending a confusing if not
misguiding message to the reader. This mistake must be corrected at the
earliest.
Baba says, "The scriptures containing spiritual injunctions must be
totally flawless." (NSS, Disc: 14)
Namaskar,
Seshagiri
Note 1: MUST TRANSLATE FROM THE ORIGINAL TEXT
Each and every AM discourse must be perfectly transcribed from the
original audio file into the original language and from there translated
into other languages. So a discourse originally delivered by Baba in
Hindi should be perfectly transcribed into Hindi directly and then from
that source document be translated into other languages.
At present, often times the English edition is looked upon as source
material for translation work. And that is fine when the original
discourse has been given by Baba in English. But when when the original
is in Hindi, Bengali, Telgu, or Spanish, then English should not be used
as the source. But it happens. This might be because no one is able to
translate directly from Hindi to Japanese or Swahili etc. Thus the
English edition is used as a stepping stone. So the English edition has
a big role to play at present. Unfortunately, when the English version
is incorrect, distorted or wrong, then that error will be transferred to
so many other editions. That is a major problem.
Again, the ideal manner is to have every book translated directly from
the original language. That should be our aim. Otherwise when there are
mistakes in translation into English, then those mistakes will multiply
and grow when other translations are made from the English text.
Note 2: OTHER MISTAKES IN THE AM BOOKS
Tragically, there are countless publication mistakes and errors in our
AM books. The above problem with the last paragraph about the story of
Vireshvijay is not at isolated incident. Here are other grave problems
to be aware of:
DELETING PARA ABOUT MARGII RIGHTS
A) In Baba's historic AM Revolution discourse, Baba has clearly declared
that family margiis are to be respected and given equal right. Yet this
special paragraph has been deleted by Publications personnel.
SCARED TO PRINT THAT AM IS 1ST PHILOSOPHY OF YOGA
B) Baba has clearly stated in English that AM is the first time that the
philosophy of yoga has been given. But this historic proclamation was
deleted from the printed discoruse.
FALSE CLAIMS OF WAR
C) Baba has clearly guided us that we are to be involved in all kinds of
noble deeds and high-minded work, yet the Publication department wrongly
printed that we are to be engaged in war, not work.
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Unique Quality of Human Beings
Baba says, "The human mind has two functions--thinking and memorizing.
The more the thinking capacity increases the more the power of memory
develops. The nerve cells also change, leading to a corresponding change
in the nerve fibres. These changes create a stir and a revolution in the
world of thought." (PNS-8, p.17)
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