Guyana Politics 4: Desecrating Scriptures
Political power, cut adrift from religion, is a deadly poison; wedded to religion, it is an antidote for all poisons.
Gandhi confirms this: “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.”
How powerful the following poem...shedding light in these dark political times (dark because of the vulgarity, the blatant lies, the racism, the attacks)...
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Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, O God,
let my country awake.
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Salaam All...A few of us are acutely aware of how most people find it easier to blind themselves to political evil, if only to survive, rather than name and defy malignant authority and risk annihilation. In the letter below the dotted line titled Desecrating sacred Hindu scripture for political mileage, the same can be said for the following facebook video with one change... Desecrating sacred MUSLIM scripture for political mileage
The poem quoted at the beginning is from the brilliant mind of Rabindranath Tagore (Gitanjali 35). The Muslim & Hindu people who are using "scripture" for paltry worldly gains are you aware of the slippery slope you're on. From the Quran (2:174) comes this dire warning: "Those who conceal what of the Book God has sent down on them, and sell it for a little price - they shall eat naught but the Fire in their bellies; God shall not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection neither purify them; there awaits them a painful chastisement."
You are FREE to vote for a party of your choice...but do not use scripture CHEAPLY and make the haram, halal.
Watch this extremely short Hamza Yusuf video
And this video...Voting and Political Participation: Halal or Haram?
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and also... The Limits of Political Engagement
The Limits of Political Engagement | Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
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Now let the Muslim be asked a few questions...
If the Prophet (p) had violated the Madinan Constitution
If the Prophet (p) had hidden money from his followers
If the Prophet (p) had lied over and over
If the Prophet (p) had made many empty promises
If the Prophet (p) had encouraged racism
If the Prophet (p) had encouraged favouritism
would you be Muslim; would there be a system called Islam.
But you are using Quranic Scripture & sayings of the Prophet (p) to back a man who violates the Constitution, steals, lies, is racist and gives jobs to his own party members. Reread the warning that God gives in the Quran to such abusers.
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Desecrating sacred Hindu scripture for political mileageDear Editor,
Pandits Ubraj Narine and Deodat Tillack have been making frequent appearances at the APNU/AFC rallies to render Hindu prayers, including the chanting of Sanskrit shlokas (verses). Unfortunately, they have massacred these revered ancient texts by their gross mispronunciations and translations.
Though I am not a scholar of Sanskrit, I read and write the language, and am quite familiar with many of the shlokas. I have stayed in several ashrams and lived in a part of India where folks are inundated with the Sanskrit language and culture.
The pandits ought to know that the Sanskrit language is not merely an old religious language; it is much more than that. Uttering verses in Sanskrit is virtually a spiritual experience, and it ought to be articulated in that mode.
On Jan 31, Pandit Deodat Tillack supposedly recited the shloka Brhadaranyaka Upanishad I.iii.28), the original being:
asato ma sadgamaya (Lead me from untruth to the truth)
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya (Lead me from darkness to light)
mrtyorma amrtam gamaya (Lead me from death to immortality).
The Pandit, however, rendered the following explanations:
‘Asato ma…’ ”Lead us from the falsehood of the PPP propaganda to the truth of the APNU/AFC!”
‘Tamaso ma…’ (in the middle he started to giggle!) “Lead us from the darkness of oppression – from the 23 years of oppressive rule to the light of wisdom – the rule of the APNU/AFC Government!
‘Mrityor ma…’ “And lead us from death and fear of victimisation to the knowledge of immortality, and the knowledge of a bigger, better Guyana.”
Pandit Tillack’s renditions and explanations elsewhere of the Maha Upanishad 6.71–75, and the Bhagavad Gita 2:47 and 4:11 are just as atrocious. The one redeeming feature of Pandit Tillack is that his constructions sound and appear authentic – even though they are far from it.
Pandit Ubraj Narine’s recitation of the Hindu ‘asatoma’ prayer at Bartica rally on Feb 7, 2020, was more scandalous. His mispronunciations were awful, and he ended that prayer with an untrue explanation, saying it meant “And [deliver us] from life to truth”. There’s absolutely no accuracy to that explanation!
The problem with these sanctimonious, authentic-sounding Pandits is that people are in awe because they sound so authentic, and they trust these individuals because they are “Pandits” and because they are uninformed of Hindu chantings – and dare not question them! It is a case of “one-eye man in blind man country”. Unfortunately, the one-eye man dem are deluded to think that they know where they are going and leading themselves and others astray.
Pandits Ubraj Narine and Deodat Tillack have a moral obligation to the Hindustani people in Guyana and elsewhere to apologise for desecrating their sacred scripture by their gross pronunciations, errant translations and politicising of the holy shlokas for political mileage.
Yours truly,
Dr. Devanand Bhagwan
Pandits Ubraj Narine and Deodat Tillack have been making frequent appearances at the APNU/AFC rallies to render Hindu prayers, including the chanting of Sanskrit shlokas (verses). Unfortunately, they have massacred these revered ancient texts by their gross mispronunciations and translations.
Though I am not a scholar of Sanskrit, I read and write the language, and am quite familiar with many of the shlokas. I have stayed in several ashrams and lived in a part of India where folks are inundated with the Sanskrit language and culture.
The pandits ought to know that the Sanskrit language is not merely an old religious language; it is much more than that. Uttering verses in Sanskrit is virtually a spiritual experience, and it ought to be articulated in that mode.
On Jan 31, Pandit Deodat Tillack supposedly recited the shloka Brhadaranyaka Upanishad I.iii.28), the original being:
asato ma sadgamaya (Lead me from untruth to the truth)
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya (Lead me from darkness to light)
mrtyorma amrtam gamaya (Lead me from death to immortality).
The Pandit, however, rendered the following explanations:
‘Asato ma…’ ”Lead us from the falsehood of the PPP propaganda to the truth of the APNU/AFC!”
‘Tamaso ma…’ (in the middle he started to giggle!) “Lead us from the darkness of oppression – from the 23 years of oppressive rule to the light of wisdom – the rule of the APNU/AFC Government!
‘Mrityor ma…’ “And lead us from death and fear of victimisation to the knowledge of immortality, and the knowledge of a bigger, better Guyana.”
Pandit Tillack’s renditions and explanations elsewhere of the Maha Upanishad 6.71–75, and the Bhagavad Gita 2:47 and 4:11 are just as atrocious. The one redeeming feature of Pandit Tillack is that his constructions sound and appear authentic – even though they are far from it.
Pandit Ubraj Narine’s recitation of the Hindu ‘asatoma’ prayer at Bartica rally on Feb 7, 2020, was more scandalous. His mispronunciations were awful, and he ended that prayer with an untrue explanation, saying it meant “And [deliver us] from life to truth”. There’s absolutely no accuracy to that explanation!
The problem with these sanctimonious, authentic-sounding Pandits is that people are in awe because they sound so authentic, and they trust these individuals because they are “Pandits” and because they are uninformed of Hindu chantings – and dare not question them! It is a case of “one-eye man in blind man country”. Unfortunately, the one-eye man dem are deluded to think that they know where they are going and leading themselves and others astray.
Pandits Ubraj Narine and Deodat Tillack have a moral obligation to the Hindustani people in Guyana and elsewhere to apologise for desecrating their sacred scripture by their gross pronunciations, errant translations and politicising of the holy shlokas for political mileage.
Yours truly,
Dr. Devanand Bhagwan
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Shamal...Let the poetic cry of Rabindranath Tagore keep echoing across this land: Let my country awake
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