Subject: Meeting with Bha'skara'nanda
Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 17:29:26 +0530 (IST)
From: narayan panda
To AM-GLOBAL
Baba
Namaskar,
This is the story of a meeting with one of our senior-most Dadas, Ac Bhaskarananda Avt. Read to see what has transpired in a series of fateful interactions.
Once in 2008 or so, Ac Bhaskarananda Avt telephoned me, Narayan Panda (BP, Vishakapatnam), and kindly requested me to arrange food for his lunch in Vishakhapatnam station during his journey from Howrah to Yashvantpur.
I gladly accepted his request & went to the railway station to hand over the food packet.
At that meeting, Bhaskarananda Dada immediately started telling me why he joined the Kolkata Administration. Dadaji wanted to justify his allegiance.
Bhaskarananda explained: "Ba'ba' gave Proutist Bengal because He wanted that Prout should first be established in Bengal and then in other areas."
That was respected Bhaskarananda's claim.
Before continuing on with this story, let's evaluate Dada Bhaskarananda's opening claim. Namely that, "Prout should first be established in Bengal and then in other areas."
As we know, Baba has come for the development and growth of the entire humanity. That is why He has given AM ideology and that is the essence of His Proutistic teachings and samaj platform. Baba's chief aim is that all should progress and none should lag behind. Toward this end, one of the key campaigns which Baba has dharmically launched is His samaj system. About this we are well aware.
Specifically it is through this samaj system that Baba encourages everyone to rise up and do great things. This is His way of reminding one and all of their inherent qualities and immense potential.
Baba has carefully delineated that the globe is currently composed of 241 samajas, or regional socio-economic communities. And He graciously looks upon them all with equal concern and love; they are all designed to work in a self-supportive and cohesive fashion for the growth of the entire humanity.
Here are some reminders about the principles of Baba's samaj program.
Baba says, "The socio-economic movements advocated by PROUT are founded on the ideological base of neo-humanism." (Prout-13, p.23)
So the entire Proutistic movement of the various socio-economic units - or samajas - is grounded in the universal feeling of cosmic fraternity. There is no scope for dogma, groupism or elitism in Baba's samaj teachings.
In this next guideline Baba guides us how the samaj system works for a unified humanity.
Baba says, "Those sentiments which are conducive to human unity should be encouraged, rejecting the sentiments which create a rift in human society. This is the approach adopted by PROUT's socio-economic groups." (Prout, p. 21)
By His above guideline it is evident that Baba's samaj system is for the whole humanity to move together - He does not favour one samaj nor does He think that Amra Bengali samaj must be the first to advance Prout. You will not find any discourse that states this - only those wedded to a particular group make such false and outrageous claims. Baba Himself never talks like this.
In His dharmic manner, Baba clearly emphasizes that our samaj system must be based on this slogan:
Baba says, "Universal in spirit but regional in approach" (PNS-13, p.24)
By this way each locale has the requisite capacity to function independently yet be simultaneously linked with that common goal. That means Prout should be propagated in all areas.
Thus who can believe Bhaskarananda's claim that Prout should first be established in Bengal and that the whole globe should concentrate on A'mara' Bengali samaja - by giving money and human resources - and disregard their own samaj.
Baba Himself never set such an outrageous quota in His samaj meetings. Baba never asked margiis, "How much support have you given to A'mara' Bengali samaj." And Baba never scolded anyone from another samaj for not supporting A'mara' Bengali.
Rather Baba would inquire with everyone about their activities and participation in their own local samaj - not A'mara' Bengali.
Plus when Baba traveled around India and to other sectors, He always talked about that local samaj. He never traveled around the globe to propagate the cause of A'mara' Bengali samaj.
So then how did some get this faulty notion that Baba wants that A'mara' Bengali samaj must be established first. That is the question we must ask ourselves.
Generally speaking, when any guru leaves their physical body then those disciples in power create all kinds of cock and bull stories in the name of that guru. In turn, simple, naive, and foolish people accept such tales as being true. Whereas those who are rational always disregard such stories and stick to the original teachings.
We see this trend in our Ananda Marga as well.
All in all it is illogical, unideological, and just plain silly to think that Baba wants that Prout should first be established in A'mara' Bengali samaj. No rational thinking margii can think like this; that is why it is so surprising - indeed shocking - that such a senior Dada like Bhaskarananda has fallen into such a dogma.
Let's pick up the story where we left off. As you recall Bhaskarananda's last words were: "Ba'ba' gave Proutist Bengal because He wanted that Prout should first be established in Bengal and then in other areas."
Then Dada went on to say, "What Bengal thinks today, India & others think tomorrow. So PROUT will be established in Bengal first and then it will be spread to other areas."
He then told, "After all, Ba'ba' supported Bengal so much. Shabda Cayanika was given in Bengali, Baba lived in Bengal after 1980 when the organisation was big, Prabhat Samgiita was given in Bengali."
Such were the justifications given by Dada.
Here we have to remember that when anyone's mind is affected by any narrow sentiment like Bangalistan etc, then they paint the whole world in that colour.
To set the record straight it should be understood that Shabda Cayanika is not about the Bengali language. We all know that Shabda Cayanika is Baba's special series of topics centered around Sanskrit grammar. This is the well known fact. Baba is purely focused on the development and explanation of the Sanskrit language.
Certain group leaders often proclaim: "Shabda Cayanika is a series devoted to the linguistics and philology of the Bengali language".
Yet this could not be further from the truth. In Shabda Cayanika Baba is making a careful and precise elaboration of the Sanskrit language, not Bengali. Only because Sanskrit has no script of its own was it first printed in Bengali - but the subject matter is that of the Sanskrit language. And anyone who has even an ounce of familiarity with these discourses knows this to be the case.
So that is one point. Next we should consider this:
The majority of the discourses given by Baba were in Hindi. Regarding the total number of discourses: 75% are in Hindi and 25% in other languages including Bangla; i.e. in terms of hours and time. This is a well-researched fact - not hearsay. Plus, Baba spent most of His physical life in Hindi speaking areas.
About Prabhat Samgiita, by giving these songs primarily in Bengali, Baba is teaching devotees to write songs in their own mother tongue. It is not about which language is great and which is not great. That is not Baba's message. Rather in 1984 DMC, Baba explained that human beings may know 1, 2, 4, or even 10 languages, but all languages are the language of Parama Purusa. Baba then told that every sadhaka should try and learn more and more languages. So there is no question of any language like Bengali being better than any other language.
Baba put forth this same idea in this below discourse.
Baba says, "All languages must be given equal respect. One should remember that all languages are the languages of Parama Puruśa. I may master perhaps one, two, three or maybe 100 or 300 of these languages, but it does not mean that the languages I do not know are not the languages of Parama Puruśa. Hence, it is absurd to divide humanity on the basis of language." (Prout Nutshell, part 7, Human Society Is One and Indivisible – 3)
And top of all, Baba Himself is a Supreme Neo-Humanist. There is no question of Baba being partial to Bengal or liking Bengal more. To make such an erroneous claim is to undermine Baba's grand stature. No true bhakta can think in this way.
This type of narrow-mindedness undermines Baba's personality. Any person claiming as such is low-minded and lowly. With their narrow outlook, they contravene Baba's magnanimity. They are trying to prove Baba as being partial as if He supported Bangla more than any language. Such a misguided approach puts for the notion that Baba was externally preaching universality but internally preaching Bangalisation. This is a very, very hurtful insinuation.
All I can say about this is that usually when human beings come in contact with animals then those animals think that those humans are also animals. When a dog sees its master that dog thinks that its master is also an animal. I think you understand that analogy.
Suffice to say that only those prone to groupism will try to justify their dogmatic outlook by tainting Guru's teachings in this way. Again, no neo-humanistic margii or worker can think in that negative manner.
Here we again pick up the story.
Bhaskaranandji continued: "I took the side of 'B' group during the division to satisfy Ba'ba'."
Then Dadaji quoted one proverb in Hindi. Its meaning is: You can dissatisfy God / Ba'ba' but if you dissatisfy Guru, your position will be in danger. Bhaskarananda concluded by saying that he didn't want to be Gurudrohii (traitor to Guru), so he joined Kolkata group.
All I can say here is that it is just plain sad to see the lowly state of Dadaji's mind. Here Bhaskarananda is openly proclaiming that he joined a group. Does he really think that he can please Baba by advocating groupism.
Baba says, "Motivated by socio-sentiment, one group harms and exploits another group in the social, economic, cultural and religious spheres." (NH-LOI: Disc #7)
When Baba is propagating neo-humanism then how can anyone think that Baba is guiding them to follow groupism.
Indeed when Baba Himself has declared that groupism is the cause of so much torture and bloodshed, then who can think that one can please Baba by falling into groupism. It is nothing short of a tragedy that Bhaskarananda has fallen in this manner. We should all try and revive him. Because really he has so much more to give to the world.
Tragically, hypocritically people do all kinds of misguided and malicious things in the name of God: The crusades, jihad, killing and torturing. Indeed there has been so much spilling of blood and destruction in the name of God.
And now Bhaskarananda is singing the same tune and adding another chapter to this awful story. If he were courageous he would say that all this was his idea; only cowardly people say such things in the name of God.
Baba says, "When the advocates of dogma and the followers of isms lacked sufficient charisma to convince people through the power of their personalities, they tried to persuade them by taking the name of God. They openly exploited others in the name of the Supreme. Sometimes they said, “I have received certain instructions in a dream. God’s commandments are that you should follow these instructions“." (Prout Nutshell, part 16, Religious Dogma – Section A)
Similarly, Bhaskarananda lacks the requisite strength and dynamism to convince others that following groupism is admirable, so he puts forth this dogma in Baba's name. I do not think that any right-thinking margii will be duped by this shameful approach. We all know that Baba is cent-per-cent against all kinds of groupism.
Hearing all this I told Bhaskarananda:
"With all due respect, so many Da'da's (sannyasiis) say Ba'ba' told this, or Ba'ba told that. They fabricate so many stories and make margiis look like fools for believing in such concocted stories. So I don't believe your words that Ba'ba' wanted this or that, or Baba told this or that. Kindly show me Ba'ba's statements in black & white."
Such was my response and there was no time to say more because his train was about to leave.
We all know that this is the first time that Taraka Brahma has put all His divine teachings in a clear, cohesive ideology that has been written down and published. If anyone sadhaka or interested person wants to know Baba's teaching or perspective on any topic, they should consult Baba's published scripture and not rely on hearsay from this or that Dada.
Six months later, in January 2009, I happened to meet Bhaskarananda again - this time in Pundag Railway Station (Purulia) when I was returning from DMS.
After initial greetings, Bhaskarananda began advocating why all Baba's discourses should be based on the so-called original Bengali. Here the term so-called is employed because as well all know Baba delivered discourses in so many languages including Hindi and English.
Bhaskarananda told: "Maniis'a'nanda opposed having "Translated from original Bengali" printed on the title page of each book. But you know that Ba'ba' has formulated so many rules & regulations in Publication Department. Accordingly, it is customary to translate the original discourse into Bengali & then to Hindi / English."
Such was Bhaskaranandji's claim.
Dada continued, "When Ba'ba' used to deliver His discourse in DMC time, He used to see the average standard of the people, therefore He used to speak in very simple English language. Therefore it was necessary to translate to Bengali & then to good English."
I was surprised to hear such things from such a senior Da'da' & thought it was meaningless to hear anything further from him because his statements are illogical & irrational.
Internally, I got annoyed with Da'da' because who is he to comment whether Ba'ba' was thinking that He would speak standard English, or poor quality English. If it is so, let us examine Baba's first discourse on microvita in Kalikata on 31st Dec '86 which He delivered in English. That discourse was so complex that even up till today, it could not be understood by so many philosophers, doctors, scientists, yet Baba spoke in that manner before so many common margiis like us who were present on that day.
At that time my train arrived in the station, and was forced to leave by bidding "Good Bye & Namaskar" to Da'da'.
In his above series of statements, Bhaskarananda is making a few false claims:
1) That it is the rule for Publications Dept to translate all discourses first into Bengali and use that as the original.
His claim is that a discourse originally given by Baba in English should be translated into Bengali and then retranslated back to English and then printed. But by this way the originality of Baba's discourse is gone. Best is to simply transcribe Baba's spoken English into written English. What is the need to translate an English discourse to Bengali when the goal is to first print it in English.
Another scenario is for that same English discourse to be translated into Bengali and then translate that Bengali into Spanish. Rational people will easily understand that it should be translated directly from English into Spanish. Whereas people suffering from the dogma of Bangalisation will want the English discourse translated into Bengali first and then into Spanish.
That is Bhaskarananda's first claim - that always Bengali should server as the "original" or "master" language for all publications. And this point shall be discussed in greater detail below.
Now here is Bhaskarananda's second outrageous claim:
2) That those who attended DMC were of a lowly standard so Baba used peasant English to communicate with them. Hence it was necessary to put English discourses into Bengali and then translate that Bengali back into proper English.
Anyone can easily understand that Bhaskarananda's above two claims are utterly erroneous. All of Baba's discourses should be printed "as is" in the original language in which Baba spoke. There is no "rule" that Bengali should be treated as the original language.
Secondly, Bhaskarananda is seriously insulting all non-Bengalis by saying that their mental standard (i.e. intelligence) was so low - i.e. Baba had to employ "dumb English" so those in attendance could understand. Hence it was needed to change Baba's spoken English at DMC to Bengali and then translate that into respectable English.
All these justifications given by Bhaskarananda are silly. He may think he can dupe all Ananda Margiis with his rhetoric, but that is not so.
We know that all Baba's discourses should first be transcribed in the language in which Baba spoke. And that transcription should be treated as the original discourse. So if Baba delivered the discourse in Hindi than that Hindi transcription should serve as the original. And same is the case with English as well as any other language. This every margii and acarya now understands. So no one can believe what Bhaskarananda is telling.
Again let me reiterate that irrespective of the language, what Baba spoke should be transcribed "as is" and that should be treated as the original. Because in the process of translation 20% of the idea gets lost. To minimize this, all His discourses - irrespective of any language - should always be directly translated from the original language, not via any 3rd language.
For example, if a Hindi discourse published in Subhasita Samgraha needs to be translated into Hungarian then it should be translated directly from the original language, i.e. Hindi, into Hungarian. If someone says that the Hindi should be translated first into English and then translated from English into Hungarian, then that will be very bad. It will be a poor translation as much of the content and meaning will get lost.
So the translation must always be from the original language - not via any other language. None then can claim that all Baba's discourses should first be translated into Bengali and then use the Bengali as the original. This is not the right approach.
Finally, in their heart of hearts, the Publications Dept also knows that Baba's discourses are to be printed "as is" in the languages in which they were originally given. Here is the proof.
Throughout the 1990's, Sarvatmananda and his B group cohorts committed a lot of sins by attempting to permanently destroy and alter Baba's divine words. They ruined created the Fake BP Manual, inserted "translated from the original Bengali" at the beginning of every book, plus they invented the Fake Ananda Vaniis and countless other dogmas like Mahaprayan etc. In short, they made a black stain on our Marga.
In the wake of all the protests to these crimes, they felt they needed to respond to margiis appeals not to distort Baba's words. They had to prove themselves to the margiis.
So they ordered Acyutananda to create one book that was true to Baba's words. And that book was Ananda Vacanamrtam part 34 (2000). In that publication, Acyutananda wrote every word down "as is" and what could not be heard, he wrote "inaudible". In a phrase, he transcribed everything perfectly from the original cassette and they did not impose any of their Bangalistanisms.
Why did team Tiljala do like this? Why did they create book "as is" from the original cassette. Because they KNEW-- they knew in their heart of hearts-- that this was Baba's system and in order to get back the trust and faith of margiis, they felt they had to follow Baba's system-- at least once. So they did it.
This printing in 2000 of AV-34 indeed proves that they know what this is the proper way to publish an AM book. They did not invent this approach themselves. This is the way given and approved by Baba Himself. That is why team Bangalistan adopted this "as is" technique. Because they knew it was Baba's system and they needed to get themselves out of "hot water" and earn back the trust of margiis.
Plus they did the same thing with Subhasita Samgraha Part 24.
By all this it is quite clear that Bhaskarananda's claims are utterly false and will fall on deaf ears - after all who is naive and gullible enough to believe those outrageous claims.
As you can see, this senior-most Dada has unfortunately fallen into some serious dogmas. As is the case when one falls into dogma, the person involved does not know that it has happened. So they tell their dogmatic views to anyone and everyone, without realising that they are inadvertently telecasting how their mind has become grossly dogmatic. Unfortunately this is what has happened with our senior worker, Dada Bhaskarananda. We should all try and help Dadaji.
I do not know why Dada fell in this way it is very painful to think of all this. It could be that when Dada came to know that the people of Kerala migrated from Bengal then due to this socio-sentiment he became prone to Bengalis.
Many may know that Baba has explained that Bengalis migrated south to Kerala and ruled there. That is why the female custom of making the sound "Ullu" is practiced in Kerala. And Malayam (the language of Kerala) is about 92% Sanskrit like Bengali. Baba describes all this in Shabda Cayanika. All know that Dadaji hails from Kerala and that could be why he fell and started blindly supporting Bengal. Otherwise what could be the reason.
Regardless, we all know Dada Bhaskarananda to be a senior Dada whose intention is basically good, so we should all try and help Dadaji. After all he has many dharmic qualities.
Namaskar,
Panda
[B] This below letter discuss more about this critical issue of sanctity of scripture and Baba's published discourses.
Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 17:29:26 +0530 (IST)
From: narayan panda
To AM-GLOBAL
Baba
== MEETING WITH BHA'SKARA'NANDA ==
Namaskar,
This is the story of a meeting with one of our senior-most Dadas, Ac Bhaskarananda Avt. Read to see what has transpired in a series of fateful interactions.
STORY: PART 1
Once in 2008 or so, Ac Bhaskarananda Avt telephoned me, Narayan Panda (BP, Vishakapatnam), and kindly requested me to arrange food for his lunch in Vishakhapatnam station during his journey from Howrah to Yashvantpur.
I gladly accepted his request & went to the railway station to hand over the food packet.
At that meeting, Bhaskarananda Dada immediately started telling me why he joined the Kolkata Administration. Dadaji wanted to justify his allegiance.
Bhaskarananda explained: "Ba'ba' gave Proutist Bengal because He wanted that Prout should first be established in Bengal and then in other areas."
That was respected Bhaskarananda's claim.
RESPONSE #1:
NATURE OF SAMAJ MOVEMENT-- UPLIFTMENT OF ALL
NATURE OF SAMAJ MOVEMENT-- UPLIFTMENT OF ALL
Before continuing on with this story, let's evaluate Dada Bhaskarananda's opening claim. Namely that, "Prout should first be established in Bengal and then in other areas."
As we know, Baba has come for the development and growth of the entire humanity. That is why He has given AM ideology and that is the essence of His Proutistic teachings and samaj platform. Baba's chief aim is that all should progress and none should lag behind. Toward this end, one of the key campaigns which Baba has dharmically launched is His samaj system. About this we are well aware.
Specifically it is through this samaj system that Baba encourages everyone to rise up and do great things. This is His way of reminding one and all of their inherent qualities and immense potential.
Baba has carefully delineated that the globe is currently composed of 241 samajas, or regional socio-economic communities. And He graciously looks upon them all with equal concern and love; they are all designed to work in a self-supportive and cohesive fashion for the growth of the entire humanity.
Here are some reminders about the principles of Baba's samaj program.
Baba says, "The socio-economic movements advocated by PROUT are founded on the ideological base of neo-humanism." (Prout-13, p.23)
So the entire Proutistic movement of the various socio-economic units - or samajas - is grounded in the universal feeling of cosmic fraternity. There is no scope for dogma, groupism or elitism in Baba's samaj teachings.
In this next guideline Baba guides us how the samaj system works for a unified humanity.
Baba says, "Those sentiments which are conducive to human unity should be encouraged, rejecting the sentiments which create a rift in human society. This is the approach adopted by PROUT's socio-economic groups." (Prout, p. 21)
By His above guideline it is evident that Baba's samaj system is for the whole humanity to move together - He does not favour one samaj nor does He think that Amra Bengali samaj must be the first to advance Prout. You will not find any discourse that states this - only those wedded to a particular group make such false and outrageous claims. Baba Himself never talks like this.
In His dharmic manner, Baba clearly emphasizes that our samaj system must be based on this slogan:
Baba says, "Universal in spirit but regional in approach" (PNS-13, p.24)
By this way each locale has the requisite capacity to function independently yet be simultaneously linked with that common goal. That means Prout should be propagated in all areas.
Thus who can believe Bhaskarananda's claim that Prout should first be established in Bengal and that the whole globe should concentrate on A'mara' Bengali samaja - by giving money and human resources - and disregard their own samaj.
Baba Himself never set such an outrageous quota in His samaj meetings. Baba never asked margiis, "How much support have you given to A'mara' Bengali samaj." And Baba never scolded anyone from another samaj for not supporting A'mara' Bengali.
Rather Baba would inquire with everyone about their activities and participation in their own local samaj - not A'mara' Bengali.
Plus when Baba traveled around India and to other sectors, He always talked about that local samaj. He never traveled around the globe to propagate the cause of A'mara' Bengali samaj.
So then how did some get this faulty notion that Baba wants that A'mara' Bengali samaj must be established first. That is the question we must ask ourselves.
Generally speaking, when any guru leaves their physical body then those disciples in power create all kinds of cock and bull stories in the name of that guru. In turn, simple, naive, and foolish people accept such tales as being true. Whereas those who are rational always disregard such stories and stick to the original teachings.
We see this trend in our Ananda Marga as well.
All in all it is illogical, unideological, and just plain silly to think that Baba wants that Prout should first be established in A'mara' Bengali samaj. No rational thinking margii can think like this; that is why it is so surprising - indeed shocking - that such a senior Dada like Bhaskarananda has fallen into such a dogma.
STORY: PART 2
Let's pick up the story where we left off. As you recall Bhaskarananda's last words were: "Ba'ba' gave Proutist Bengal because He wanted that Prout should first be established in Bengal and then in other areas."
Then Dada went on to say, "What Bengal thinks today, India & others think tomorrow. So PROUT will be established in Bengal first and then it will be spread to other areas."
He then told, "After all, Ba'ba' supported Bengal so much. Shabda Cayanika was given in Bengali, Baba lived in Bengal after 1980 when the organisation was big, Prabhat Samgiita was given in Bengali."
Such were the justifications given by Dada.
RESPONSE #2:
AFFECTED BY DOGMA OF BANGALISATION
AFFECTED BY DOGMA OF BANGALISATION
Here we have to remember that when anyone's mind is affected by any narrow sentiment like Bangalistan etc, then they paint the whole world in that colour.
To set the record straight it should be understood that Shabda Cayanika is not about the Bengali language. We all know that Shabda Cayanika is Baba's special series of topics centered around Sanskrit grammar. This is the well known fact. Baba is purely focused on the development and explanation of the Sanskrit language.
Certain group leaders often proclaim: "Shabda Cayanika is a series devoted to the linguistics and philology of the Bengali language".
Yet this could not be further from the truth. In Shabda Cayanika Baba is making a careful and precise elaboration of the Sanskrit language, not Bengali. Only because Sanskrit has no script of its own was it first printed in Bengali - but the subject matter is that of the Sanskrit language. And anyone who has even an ounce of familiarity with these discourses knows this to be the case.
So that is one point. Next we should consider this:
The majority of the discourses given by Baba were in Hindi. Regarding the total number of discourses: 75% are in Hindi and 25% in other languages including Bangla; i.e. in terms of hours and time. This is a well-researched fact - not hearsay. Plus, Baba spent most of His physical life in Hindi speaking areas.
About Prabhat Samgiita, by giving these songs primarily in Bengali, Baba is teaching devotees to write songs in their own mother tongue. It is not about which language is great and which is not great. That is not Baba's message. Rather in 1984 DMC, Baba explained that human beings may know 1, 2, 4, or even 10 languages, but all languages are the language of Parama Purusa. Baba then told that every sadhaka should try and learn more and more languages. So there is no question of any language like Bengali being better than any other language.
Baba put forth this same idea in this below discourse.
Baba says, "All languages must be given equal respect. One should remember that all languages are the languages of Parama Puruśa. I may master perhaps one, two, three or maybe 100 or 300 of these languages, but it does not mean that the languages I do not know are not the languages of Parama Puruśa. Hence, it is absurd to divide humanity on the basis of language." (Prout Nutshell, part 7, Human Society Is One and Indivisible – 3)
And top of all, Baba Himself is a Supreme Neo-Humanist. There is no question of Baba being partial to Bengal or liking Bengal more. To make such an erroneous claim is to undermine Baba's grand stature. No true bhakta can think in this way.
This type of narrow-mindedness undermines Baba's personality. Any person claiming as such is low-minded and lowly. With their narrow outlook, they contravene Baba's magnanimity. They are trying to prove Baba as being partial as if He supported Bangla more than any language. Such a misguided approach puts for the notion that Baba was externally preaching universality but internally preaching Bangalisation. This is a very, very hurtful insinuation.
All I can say about this is that usually when human beings come in contact with animals then those animals think that those humans are also animals. When a dog sees its master that dog thinks that its master is also an animal. I think you understand that analogy.
Suffice to say that only those prone to groupism will try to justify their dogmatic outlook by tainting Guru's teachings in this way. Again, no neo-humanistic margii or worker can think in that negative manner.
STORY: PART 3
Here we again pick up the story.
Bhaskaranandji continued: "I took the side of 'B' group during the division to satisfy Ba'ba'."
Then Dadaji quoted one proverb in Hindi. Its meaning is: You can dissatisfy God / Ba'ba' but if you dissatisfy Guru, your position will be in danger. Bhaskarananda concluded by saying that he didn't want to be Gurudrohii (traitor to Guru), so he joined Kolkata group.
RESPONSE #3:
CAN ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE THIS
CAN ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE THIS
All I can say here is that it is just plain sad to see the lowly state of Dadaji's mind. Here Bhaskarananda is openly proclaiming that he joined a group. Does he really think that he can please Baba by advocating groupism.
Baba says, "Motivated by socio-sentiment, one group harms and exploits another group in the social, economic, cultural and religious spheres." (NH-LOI: Disc #7)
When Baba is propagating neo-humanism then how can anyone think that Baba is guiding them to follow groupism.
Indeed when Baba Himself has declared that groupism is the cause of so much torture and bloodshed, then who can think that one can please Baba by falling into groupism. It is nothing short of a tragedy that Bhaskarananda has fallen in this manner. We should all try and revive him. Because really he has so much more to give to the world.
Tragically, hypocritically people do all kinds of misguided and malicious things in the name of God: The crusades, jihad, killing and torturing. Indeed there has been so much spilling of blood and destruction in the name of God.
And now Bhaskarananda is singing the same tune and adding another chapter to this awful story. If he were courageous he would say that all this was his idea; only cowardly people say such things in the name of God.
Baba says, "When the advocates of dogma and the followers of isms lacked sufficient charisma to convince people through the power of their personalities, they tried to persuade them by taking the name of God. They openly exploited others in the name of the Supreme. Sometimes they said, “I have received certain instructions in a dream. God’s commandments are that you should follow these instructions“." (Prout Nutshell, part 16, Religious Dogma – Section A)
Similarly, Bhaskarananda lacks the requisite strength and dynamism to convince others that following groupism is admirable, so he puts forth this dogma in Baba's name. I do not think that any right-thinking margii will be duped by this shameful approach. We all know that Baba is cent-per-cent against all kinds of groupism.
STORY: PART 4
Hearing all this I told Bhaskarananda:
"With all due respect, so many Da'da's (sannyasiis) say Ba'ba' told this, or Ba'ba told that. They fabricate so many stories and make margiis look like fools for believing in such concocted stories. So I don't believe your words that Ba'ba' wanted this or that, or Baba told this or that. Kindly show me Ba'ba's statements in black & white."
Such was my response and there was no time to say more because his train was about to leave.
RESPONSE #4:
BABA HAS PUT ALL HIS TEACHINGS IN WRITING
BABA HAS PUT ALL HIS TEACHINGS IN WRITING
We all know that this is the first time that Taraka Brahma has put all His divine teachings in a clear, cohesive ideology that has been written down and published. If anyone sadhaka or interested person wants to know Baba's teaching or perspective on any topic, they should consult Baba's published scripture and not rely on hearsay from this or that Dada.
STORY: PART 5
Six months later, in January 2009, I happened to meet Bhaskarananda again - this time in Pundag Railway Station (Purulia) when I was returning from DMS.
After initial greetings, Bhaskarananda began advocating why all Baba's discourses should be based on the so-called original Bengali. Here the term so-called is employed because as well all know Baba delivered discourses in so many languages including Hindi and English.
Bhaskarananda told: "Maniis'a'nanda opposed having "Translated from original Bengali" printed on the title page of each book. But you know that Ba'ba' has formulated so many rules & regulations in Publication Department. Accordingly, it is customary to translate the original discourse into Bengali & then to Hindi / English."
Such was Bhaskaranandji's claim.
Dada continued, "When Ba'ba' used to deliver His discourse in DMC time, He used to see the average standard of the people, therefore He used to speak in very simple English language. Therefore it was necessary to translate to Bengali & then to good English."
I was surprised to hear such things from such a senior Da'da' & thought it was meaningless to hear anything further from him because his statements are illogical & irrational.
Internally, I got annoyed with Da'da' because who is he to comment whether Ba'ba' was thinking that He would speak standard English, or poor quality English. If it is so, let us examine Baba's first discourse on microvita in Kalikata on 31st Dec '86 which He delivered in English. That discourse was so complex that even up till today, it could not be understood by so many philosophers, doctors, scientists, yet Baba spoke in that manner before so many common margiis like us who were present on that day.
At that time my train arrived in the station, and was forced to leave by bidding "Good Bye & Namaskar" to Da'da'.
RESPONSE #5:
DADAJI'S TWO CLAIMS
DADAJI'S TWO CLAIMS
In his above series of statements, Bhaskarananda is making a few false claims:
1) That it is the rule for Publications Dept to translate all discourses first into Bengali and use that as the original.
His claim is that a discourse originally given by Baba in English should be translated into Bengali and then retranslated back to English and then printed. But by this way the originality of Baba's discourse is gone. Best is to simply transcribe Baba's spoken English into written English. What is the need to translate an English discourse to Bengali when the goal is to first print it in English.
Another scenario is for that same English discourse to be translated into Bengali and then translate that Bengali into Spanish. Rational people will easily understand that it should be translated directly from English into Spanish. Whereas people suffering from the dogma of Bangalisation will want the English discourse translated into Bengali first and then into Spanish.
That is Bhaskarananda's first claim - that always Bengali should server as the "original" or "master" language for all publications. And this point shall be discussed in greater detail below.
Now here is Bhaskarananda's second outrageous claim:
2) That those who attended DMC were of a lowly standard so Baba used peasant English to communicate with them. Hence it was necessary to put English discourses into Bengali and then translate that Bengali back into proper English.
RESPONSE #5 (CONT):
MORE ABOUT DADAJI'S TWO CLAIMS
MORE ABOUT DADAJI'S TWO CLAIMS
Anyone can easily understand that Bhaskarananda's above two claims are utterly erroneous. All of Baba's discourses should be printed "as is" in the original language in which Baba spoke. There is no "rule" that Bengali should be treated as the original language.
Secondly, Bhaskarananda is seriously insulting all non-Bengalis by saying that their mental standard (i.e. intelligence) was so low - i.e. Baba had to employ "dumb English" so those in attendance could understand. Hence it was needed to change Baba's spoken English at DMC to Bengali and then translate that into respectable English.
All these justifications given by Bhaskarananda are silly. He may think he can dupe all Ananda Margiis with his rhetoric, but that is not so.
We know that all Baba's discourses should first be transcribed in the language in which Baba spoke. And that transcription should be treated as the original discourse. So if Baba delivered the discourse in Hindi than that Hindi transcription should serve as the original. And same is the case with English as well as any other language. This every margii and acarya now understands. So no one can believe what Bhaskarananda is telling.
Again let me reiterate that irrespective of the language, what Baba spoke should be transcribed "as is" and that should be treated as the original. Because in the process of translation 20% of the idea gets lost. To minimize this, all His discourses - irrespective of any language - should always be directly translated from the original language, not via any 3rd language.
For example, if a Hindi discourse published in Subhasita Samgraha needs to be translated into Hungarian then it should be translated directly from the original language, i.e. Hindi, into Hungarian. If someone says that the Hindi should be translated first into English and then translated from English into Hungarian, then that will be very bad. It will be a poor translation as much of the content and meaning will get lost.
So the translation must always be from the original language - not via any other language. None then can claim that all Baba's discourses should first be translated into Bengali and then use the Bengali as the original. This is not the right approach.
Finally, in their heart of hearts, the Publications Dept also knows that Baba's discourses are to be printed "as is" in the languages in which they were originally given. Here is the proof.
Throughout the 1990's, Sarvatmananda and his B group cohorts committed a lot of sins by attempting to permanently destroy and alter Baba's divine words. They ruined created the Fake BP Manual, inserted "translated from the original Bengali" at the beginning of every book, plus they invented the Fake Ananda Vaniis and countless other dogmas like Mahaprayan etc. In short, they made a black stain on our Marga.
In the wake of all the protests to these crimes, they felt they needed to respond to margiis appeals not to distort Baba's words. They had to prove themselves to the margiis.
So they ordered Acyutananda to create one book that was true to Baba's words. And that book was Ananda Vacanamrtam part 34 (2000). In that publication, Acyutananda wrote every word down "as is" and what could not be heard, he wrote "inaudible". In a phrase, he transcribed everything perfectly from the original cassette and they did not impose any of their Bangalistanisms.
Why did team Tiljala do like this? Why did they create book "as is" from the original cassette. Because they KNEW-- they knew in their heart of hearts-- that this was Baba's system and in order to get back the trust and faith of margiis, they felt they had to follow Baba's system-- at least once. So they did it.
This printing in 2000 of AV-34 indeed proves that they know what this is the proper way to publish an AM book. They did not invent this approach themselves. This is the way given and approved by Baba Himself. That is why team Bangalistan adopted this "as is" technique. Because they knew it was Baba's system and they needed to get themselves out of "hot water" and earn back the trust of margiis.
Plus they did the same thing with Subhasita Samgraha Part 24.
By all this it is quite clear that Bhaskarananda's claims are utterly false and will fall on deaf ears - after all who is naive and gullible enough to believe those outrageous claims.
EPILOGUE
As you can see, this senior-most Dada has unfortunately fallen into some serious dogmas. As is the case when one falls into dogma, the person involved does not know that it has happened. So they tell their dogmatic views to anyone and everyone, without realising that they are inadvertently telecasting how their mind has become grossly dogmatic. Unfortunately this is what has happened with our senior worker, Dada Bhaskarananda. We should all try and help Dadaji.
I do not know why Dada fell in this way it is very painful to think of all this. It could be that when Dada came to know that the people of Kerala migrated from Bengal then due to this socio-sentiment he became prone to Bengalis.
Many may know that Baba has explained that Bengalis migrated south to Kerala and ruled there. That is why the female custom of making the sound "Ullu" is practiced in Kerala. And Malayam (the language of Kerala) is about 92% Sanskrit like Bengali. Baba describes all this in Shabda Cayanika. All know that Dadaji hails from Kerala and that could be why he fell and started blindly supporting Bengal. Otherwise what could be the reason.
Regardless, we all know Dada Bhaskarananda to be a senior Dada whose intention is basically good, so we should all try and help Dadaji. After all he has many dharmic qualities.
Namaskar,
Panda
Note 1: MORE ON THIS CRITICAL TOPIC
[A] The below letter contains the 1995 circular written by a member of Amara Bengali samaj, and he is making that dogmatic claim that our entire Marga should be based on the Bengali language. This gives proof of the dogmatic linguistic sentiment adopted by certain group members.
[B] This below letter discuss more about this critical issue of sanctity of scripture and Baba's published discourses.
