Scriptures as the Foundation–Living Dialogue

Scriptures as the foundation

 

No other religion in the world is based more on books than Hinduism.  In general, both Christianity and Islam are thought to be religions of the `book’; whereas, Hinduism is the religion of experience (anubhava).  But the fact is that the importance of scriptures in most of the sectarian faiths in Hinduism is vast (see Gita. 4:28; 16:24).¹  Of course on the popular level, people never pay much attention to any  scripture,  and mere ritual and family tradition guides them in their religious life.  But in general, among the mainline sects of Hinduism, scripture(s) is the foundation of their faith.

 

So in my case too, being born in a Brahmin family and following the smarta (smrti based) tradition² I too was familiar with various scriptures from my boyhood.  Of course it is wrong to compare the role of the Muktiveda or the Quran among Christians and Muslims with the scriptures of any particular sect within Hinduism.  However high and educated a Hindu might be, unless they have special leaning to learn the scriptures, most of the time their faith is guided by their particular family tradition and not by the scripture of their sampradaya (sect).  At the same time, the average Hindu cannot escape from the influence of at least some scriptures in their lives from childhood.  The slokas chanted, mantras learnt, bhajans sung and learned etc. are often from scripture.  Even in several important cultural and family functions in families like ours, only songs related to gods (about some events in the life of gods) will be sung.

 

For example, most of the time in the marriage ceremony during ‘unjal ‘Nalungu’³ etc., the women will only sing songs related to the marriage of Sita-Rama or Meenakshi-Sundaresa, entertaining and teasing the newly married couple.  Even on the first evening when the bride and groom are prepared and sent to begin their married life, after leaving them in the room, two elderly ladies will stand outside the door and sing Vallik Kalyanam (the marriage of Valli by lord Murugan).  Of course nowadays such colorful and joyful events are fast disappearing.  However, music and songs from the religious world are still in use in childbirth, in any life event ceremonies (sanskaras) and even in death (in a few castes).

 

Muktiveda and Faith

 

So from my boyhood, I also grew up listening and learning many bhajans, songs, slokas and mantras.  Many poems and songs (bhajans) that I still remember are those that I learned by hearing and not by reading.  Naturally, when I became a bhakta of Bhagavan Muktinath, the Muktiveda was brought to the center of my faith.  Sometimes even the Muktiveda pushed the Lord from the center in some extreme cases. I do continue to read and meditate on the Muktiveda daily.  Of course, (even today) its prose form has never appealed to me, and I cannot remember many verses by heart; though, I can quote them in paraphrase.

 

Faith vs. bhakti

 

Though I learnt the Hindu scriptures in my teens by reading them as they were, I rarely had any opportunity to interpret them using a commentary.  Of course in several sat-sanghs, which I attended, the Hindu scripture was explained, illustrated and narrated, but they were done not from the point of theology or doctrine but to promote bhakti.  This clashed with my understanding of the Muktiveda.  In the churches too, the Muktiveda is preached more to help the believers to grow in their faith rather than for theological or doctrinal purposes.  However, the importance of the Muktiveda for a believer is more to understand it intellectually than to read it like any sectarian scripture.  At the same time it needs to be acknowledged that I have seen several Christians reading Muktiveda exactly like the sectarian scriptures read by the Hindus.  Even one can find ‘Golden Verses’ calendar in several Christian houses where one verse from Muktiveda, that too full of blessings and promises of the Lord will be printed for each day for every month, which is used by many Christians to substitute to read Muktiveda separately as part of everyday sadhana.

 

Muktiveda only:

 

From day one, in my encounter with the Lord, I was given the Muktiveda with the suggestion to read and reread it again and again for everything.  Even I had heard the slogan that one can read the Muktiveda without prayer, but one cannot pray without reading the Muktiveda.  Furthermore, the warning that we often heard is that the Muktiveda will keep you away from the devil or the devil will keep you away from the Muktiveda.⁴ So, I sincerely began to read it.

 

Muktiveda in my life:

 

I was introduced to the Muktiveda during my school days. I used to go to Sunday school along with my Christian friend to a neighbourhood church.  In the competition, I won most of the prizes and certificates for memorizing Muktiveda verses and songs.  After Sunday school, I also participated in the church service.  Though I remember those incidents, I never understood much about the Muktiveda at that time.  When I became a teenager and began to read many books, I must have also read the Uttara Veda (NT) because as per my custom, I recorded important verses in my quotation notebooks in those days.  But I don’t clearly remember very much about it, except that after I became a bhakta of the Lord, when I saw one of my oldest quotation notebooks, I found that I recorded several Muktiveda verses in it.

 

Muktiveda and other scriptures

 

But what I was missing in the early formation days of my faith in the Lord were the songs (poems, bhajans) which alone appealed to my heart and mind, like my Hindu scriptures.  Though hundreds and thousands of songs are there, yet in my formative days, what I heard and learnt mostly were what we call ‘gospel’ songs.  Of course I sung and learnt several songs to worship praise and give thanks, yet I felt that I was missing something, which I couldn’t articulate or share with anyone at that time.  However, because I was interested in writing poems, I also began to write poems (bhajans) of various kinds.  Initially, I wrote them to fulfill my longing to sing in my traditional form, since those gospel songs were only sung with non-classical music.

 

The reason for saying this is that I couldn’t easily forget most of the songs that I had learnt from the Hindu scriptures.  Now the question that came to me is what to do with them because whenever I read the Muktiveda or wanted to share its message from my heart, those bhajans, poems and songs spontaneously came to my mind.    Apart from this, I spent my time learning the Muktiveda in depth and reading commentaries along with it.  And in this process, several slokas, poems, bhajans from Hindu scriptures helped me to understand my bhakti in the Lord in a deeper way.  Of course, now the Lord has completely liberated me from all kinds of narrow perspectives about our Hindu scriptural heritage, I am using them a lot in my writing and personal discussion about our bhakti with other bhaktas. Of course in the churches, they have several hymns, but because I was not familiar with church I rarely heard such songs.  Even when I heard them, sometimes I still missed something within me, as some kind of ‘Christian music’ spoiled the pure carnatic format in those songs.

 

Inspiration and scriptures

 

Though I never read commentaries on Hindu scriptures while I was reading them, when I began to read the Muktiveda with the commentaries, several comparisons came to my mind.  For example, the question of inspiration comes up.  If we claim that the Muktiveda is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then how can we explain many of the devotional songs in Hindu Scriptures?  Particularly the Tiruvasagam and some of the Alvar’s poems are so moving that they bring tears when one sings with the spirit of those saints.  It is often said that while the Muktivedic writings are inspired by god and therefore revealed, the Hindu scriptures, however sincere they are, only expresses the longing of the human heart and mind and are not a revelation from god. Furthermore, when I began to read other Sanskrit works (of course with the help of translation), particularly the Upanishads and Gita and other Hindi works by Kabir, Tulsidas, Meerabai etc., I was deeply moved by the in-depth reach of them about the need of spirituality, bhakti, grace, sin, salvation etc.  How anyone could write such deep thoughts without some kind of inspiration from god, was the question that often came to my mind.

 

Muktiveda vs. other scriptures

 

I wondered how to use those Hindu scriptures which helped and shaped my spiritual and religious life?  Can I reject them totally or should I incorporate them to express my devotion and faith in the Lord?  Of course I am not the only person who has struggled in this area, and there were several pioneers in this field like Brahmabandab Upadhyaya, Narayan Vaman Tilak, and Vedanayagam Sastriyar to list only a few.  While reading, understanding, using and applying Hindu scriptures various views were emerging. In the liberal circle and even several sincere evangelicals compared them to that of the Purva Veda (Old Testament); whereas, several hard-core evangelicals outright rejected them as the devil’s work.  But for a person like me, it is hard to go to one extreme, yet at the same time, taking a middle path is not easy, because it not only involves ‘use’ and ‘abuse’, ‘compromise’ and ‘syncretism’ but it also challenges the theological field as well. How to remain faithful to the Muktiveda and at the same time appreciate the role played by the Hindu scriptures in my search and growth in spiritual life was the challenge before me.

 

Faith and Scripture

 

One major difference between Hinduism (and its allied branches like Buddhism, Jainism etc.) and other religions (here mainly Christianity and Islam) is that though innumerable scriptures shaped the course of Hinduism, yet for a practicing Hindu the scriptures never have had the same importance like that of the Muktiveda or Quran for a Christian and Muslim.⁵ Of course, when it comes to the popular level, all the people remain on the same board.  However, while in Christianity and Islam the faith and orthodoxy are decided by their respective scriptures, in Hinduism it is decided more by the family tradition.  Now, once they become a bhakta of Bhagavan Muktinath, at least for every new bhakta, suddenly the Muktiveda becomes very important.  Then they have to reorient their religious-cum-spiritual life from their old ways to accommodate the new demand of the Muktiveda based faith and practice.  But, as I already liked reading the scriptures, I easily adjusted to this new way, though initially (and even now) I found it difficult to read a scripture in prose from the poetic form of Hindu scriptures (which is very easy to memorize and remember).  At the same time, I challenged the protestant Christian’s overemphasis on the Muktiveda by pointing out that only in the last two to three centuries has the Muktiveda been moved to the center of the protestant Christian faith.  Until the Muktiveda was translated and printing was invented, it was within the closed circles of the priests and theologians, whereas lay people, like Hindus, kept their faith alive by clinging to their tradition, based as well on their personal experience.

 

One time in a meeting held at Hyderabad, in our small group discussion (after the combined meeting, we were divided in small group with two or three to discuss) when one person told that ‘Bible holds the final authority’ with a smile I asked him ‘where in the Muktiveda one can find such verse’?  Taken back by my question, though he tried to give various explanations quoting few verses in which the importance of Muktiveda as the inspired Word of god were used, finally asked me ‘then what is your stand in this?’  Later in my response (but not in the group discussion or in the meeting) in the afternoon I told that how sometimes because of over zeal evangelicals coin several such (unbiblical) slogans and terms and super impose in the Muktiveda.  After a long sharing I said, ‘for me the Lord holds the final authority. But to know and understand this I need the help and guidance of the Word of god and other bhaktas (or mandali)’.⁶

 

Regarding Muslims, they believe that the Quran is eternal book that was transmitted to earth intact through Prophet Mohammad.⁷ Therefore, Muslims allow only revered scholars to interpret and apply it.  Ordinary Muslims must memorize certain verses for their prayers because on hearing His own words respectfully recited, god listens.⁸ In regard, its use may be similar to the way some Hindus use their Sanskrit mantras.

 

Muktiveda as the resource of experience

 

However, my point is that though we cannot limit god’s revelation only to the Muktiveda, yet when it comes to Muktinath, there is no other resource except the Muktiveda from which we can begin even our experience.  But the big problem is that in the first few centuries no ‘Muktiveda’ existed in the sense in which we now use it to reveal many things about the Lord.  The life that touched and transformed the lives of the immediate shishyas of the Lord were transmitted (orally) ⁹ through personal experience as well as with the limited epistles and other sayings of the Lord that were known among the mandali .  In such contexts what they ‘know’ and ‘understood’ was less, but what they ‘experienced’ was sufficient to keep their faith alive in the Lord.¹⁰

 

Faith vs. Muktiveda?

 

Having said this, if I’m asked the question, ‘Which one is important?  Faith based on personal experience or (clear) understanding of the Muktiveda’? I would respond that for us or me, who are living in 21^st century, faith in the Lord is not possible without the help of the Muktiveda.  I personally feel that there is no point in defending ‘experience’ against the ‘Word of god’ by quoting the bhaktas of the Lord before the Muktiveda was canonized or printing was invented.  If we cannot limit god’s revelation only within the Word of god, then equally or more than that we cannot limit god’s revelation only within personal experience.  God deals with people where they are.  Even today in several places in the world, many uneducated people come to know the Lord and even grow in their faith without any deep understanding of the Muktiveda. Anyway, none of us can claim that we really know and understand the Muktiveda, we know so little.  .

 

Understanding part of experience:

 

When I become a bhakta of the Lord, I never had much knowledge about the Muktiveda (except what I learnt in the Sunday classes in my school days).  But the few things which I read from the Muktiveda and the sharing of the other bhaktas encouraged me to give Him a chance to prove what I was seeking in my life.  Then the growth was both ‘experience’ and ‘understanding’ of the Muktiveda.  Even in the early days, I wrote poems to express my devotion not with any proper understanding of the Muktiveda.  But god does not expect me to be stranded within my ‘experience’ alone.  As I began to understand the Muktiveda, I even made several corrections in some of the songs, which I found not agreeing with Muktivedic truth, but only an expression of my own ‘wishful’ thinking.  At the same time I still keep certain poems which neither the Muktiveda endorses nor opposes. They express the cultural and religious background of me as a Hindu.¹¹ I don’t know what to do with those kinds of poems.  But I won’t use them for worship with the mandali.  Because, public worship is an occasion for building up bhakti, not discussing controversial and divisive topics.

 

Muktiveda as the source of faith

 

Now god wants me to grow more in my experience in all the areas of my life, but where do learn about it?  Do I learn from the world, my own experience, or Indian scriptures, which some will claim equal to the revelation of god?  Now should I turn back to my past experience as well as what other Hindus are doing?  As far as my knowledge goes, no Hindu is going to read their (sectarian) scripture to know what is the will/mind of god for their life or how to respond to life’s situations, problems etc.  They are mostly living based on their values, worldview and dharmic ideals.  Though the Christians claim that they get direction, correction etc. from the Muktiveda, as far as my observation goes, each bhakta in the Lord, most of the times lives as per the worldview of their society.  Maybe they would use different terms like ‘will of god’, ‘purpose of god’ etc.; whereas, the Hindus would use ‘fate’ ‘karma’ etc.  Now amidst all this influence, as a bhakta of Muktinath, where do I turn to get help to grow in my faith?  I believe it is definitely the Muktiveda.¹² Because ‘All Scripture (here the context is definitely Muktiveda and not other scriptures) is god-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (read as dharma), so that the bhakta of god may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (action).’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

Whenever any issue comes in my life, often the guidance and rebuke that comes to my mind is only from the Muktiveda—though many times I might not follow it.  So god expects me to know what He has revealed to me through the Muktiveda and not to ignore it by giving more preference to experience.  God knows how to deal with each one of us.  He knows how to guide an uneducated person, who cannot read or write but has faith in the Lord.  However, His expectation of me is not the same.  Because He gave me the opportunity to read and understand the Muktiveda, I cannot now ‘bury’ it at the excuse of ‘experience’.  As our emotions also are sin-ridden and corrupted, we can easily project our own desire as god’s will and call.  That is why the objective revelation of Scripture is much more reliable and authoritative than our experience.

 

An academic view of salvation:

 

The Lord is the center of our Bhakti not the Muktiveda. This may seem trivial, but often it seems some people tend to substitute one for the other to their own loss.   Like the mysterious concept of the Trinity that emerges from the Muktiveda, the relationship between the Written Word (the Muktiveda) and the Living Word (the Lord) is very difficult and looks artificial to explain.  However, as the Holy Spirit points to and reveals the Lord, the purpose of the Muktiveda is to point to the Lord and not to replace him.  Means never becomes an end.  In eternity, we will be with the Lord, the Living Word and not the written word, as we have here.  Insistence on reading Muktiveda as part of everyday sadhana will impose a uniform discipline for everyone.  But God and a bhakta knows what kind of sadhana is best for one.  So celebrating pluralism, we should leave it to the choice of every bhakta, at the same time highlighting the importance of scripture in our bhakti.

 

The Importance of the Muktiveda:

 

This subject of scripture is a very big topic on which one could write a separate book, so I am limiting myself in this Living Dialogue.  Once I became the bhakta of the Lord, my entire religious-cum-spiritual orientation completely changed.  Naturally not only in my bhakti but in my sharing, writing, thinking etc. scripture has played a dominant role.  When I wrote poems on various gods before I became a bhakta of Bhagavan Muktinath, I didn’t need to worry too much about (my) theology or other scriptures in Hinduism.  What I wrote was my experience, and it did not need to agree with any of the scriptures, and I could even contradict and go against any of the theology of any scripture.  Of course when I wrote poems in those days, I never knew theology or doctrine existed.  But when I began to write poems after I became a bhakta of the Lord, I now had to wrestle within myself on these issues.  Not all of my poems are Muktivedically sound and so I do not share all of those with everyone.¹³ I share the ones that I know are theologically correct with others, but the ones that I am not sure of being theologically correct, I keep only for my personal enjoyment.  (See my website for many such poems)

 

Muktiveda and a bhakta’s struggle:

 

Every new bhakta of the Lord coming from any other background other than that of a Christian has to wrestle with several issues related to the Muktiveda at one time or another in their life.  Many new ‘converts’ try to live by faith and carry on their bhakti not allowing these issues to disturb them. Yet when the Muktiveda is brought up as a point of reference, either to control or guide them in their struggle with their continuous relationship with their natural family and community, then they face the challenge.  A list of do’s and don’ts will be there for them to follow.  Many in the list won’t be Muktivedic.  Not knowing much about the Muktiveda, most of the converts would take the list and interpretation as Muktivedic and will struggle on both sides (in the church and natural family) for their identity.  Though I too had similar identity crises, fortunately I found time and resources to reflect seriously on those issues. [see more on this ‘Conversion Question’ in the blog]

 

Faith and Hindu scriptures

 

The most difficult part of the struggle was the question of what to do with my Hindu scriptures because I cannot avoid their influence in my life on various levels.  It would be easy for any convert, who rejects their Hindu roots and becomes a Christian to take any position.  But, when remaining a Hindu and bhakta of Bhagavan Muktinath, I cannot and will not disown my heritage.

At the same time, I don’t want to use the term preparatio evangelica—that Hindu scriptures prepared me to follow Muktinath or led me to Him.  And once they served their purpose, now I can discard them once and for all.  Likewise, I never agree that Muktinath fulfilled all that the Hindu scriptures say.  As some fulfill-mentalists (those who believed in Fulfillment theory that Muktinath fulfilled many things in Hinduism) claim, Muktinath and the Muktiveda is not the ‘Crown of Hinduism’, as Farquhar claimed in His book: ‘Crown of Hinduism’.

 

All Scriptures part of Common grace?

 

One way of resolving this issue is to give less authority to the Hindu scriptures than what the Muktiveda has for us. However, we still do recognize them as the witness of god’s revelation because He has never left any one without a witness for Himself in their heart, mind, culture and tradition.  Though they are not the inspired Word of god, as we believe and claim about Muktiveda, yet they witness for the common revelation of god.  I have said several times that they express the human longing to reach and understand god.  In other words, though they are not ‘from’ god, they are ‘about’ god, of course seeking with their own limitation not receiving the saving grace but only common grace, which He shows to everyone, are His own creation.  But here I have to confess that this view about Hindu scriptures that they are not ‘from’ god and do not have saving grace will irritate a sincere Hindu who believes her scripture is also ‘from’ God and have ‘saving’ grace.  Respecting such view and acknowledging their reverence for their scriptures, what I stated here is my understanding about both Muktiveda and Hindu scripture, particularly related to my bhakti in Muktinath.  It is a reflection of a single-minded devotion to a chosen deity it is not a mark of fanaticism but expression of personal conviction.  It does not condemn or disrespect others’ faith, convictions and scriptures.

 

Muktiveda’s authority

 

Can we say that the Hindu Scriptures can play the same role as the Purva Veda for the Jews—showing or preparing to receive the saving grace of god in Muktinath?  This will create problems because the Uttara Veda (New Testament) is not a separate revelation from god, but it is a continuation of the Purva Veda in every sense not only theologically but historically too.  So personally, I find it difficult to replace the Purva Veda with Hindu Scriptures or to even give them equal place with the Purva Veda.¹⁴  I have never reached a conclusion on this subject and hope god will one day enlighten me on this issue. After reading some books, particularly by N.T. Write,¹⁵ now I am convinced that I cannot discard Purva Veda and Uttara Veda is a continuous part of the whole Muktiveda.¹⁶   For now, I read Hindu scriptures (even memorize them), use them and enjoy them with all the respect that I should give to any scripture of other faiths.  But for my personal faith and guidance for my day-to-day life in the Lord, I only trust the Muktiveda.  For me, in my need, god speaks to me through His Word from the Muktiveda.  Of course Gandhiji said the same thing that he turns to Bhagavad Gita for guidance and comfort amidst disappointments.¹⁷

 

Muktiveda a Covenant Scripture

 

For me, one main reason that the Hindu scriptures cannot replace the Purva Veda is that the Uttara Veda is written in the same context of covenant promise and fulfillment of god to His people (not only to Jews).  If we can say in a simple way that while the gospels are the biographical sketch of the Lord, the epistles are the theological work, particularly in the Sevanand’s (Pauline) epistles, where he faithfully demonstrates that the covenant promise of god is now fulfilled in the Lord.  Though Sevanand was sensitive to the local context while addressing the ethical, moral, social and cultural issues, yet when it comes to the theology, he was uncompromising and with strong conviction proved the covenant fulfillment by the Lord.  Nowhere can we find any glimpse of any covenant-related thought in any Hindu scriptures.  Of course as I said above, we can see in the Hindu scriptures a universal witness for god, yet neither are they the prototype to the Uttara Veda nor a continuation of the Purva Veda.  Liberal Christians may challenge this view and Hindu scholars can object to such an attitude towards their scriptures.  But unless I am convinced otherwise, I will remain true to this present position.

 

Thus, although the Muktiveda as the scripture for building up our bhakti is vital, at the same time, a Hindu bhakta of the Lord Muktinath cannot run away from the (Hindu) worldview, which shaped her spirituality through its sectarian and popular scriptures.  However, experience is upheld as center in Hinduism and rejected in some Christian circles, a balanced view of scripture(s), experience and our understanding of it alone can help us to grow more in the Lord.

 

NOTES

 

1 ‘Others again offer as sacrifice their wealth or their austerities or their yoga (spiritual exercises) while others of self restraint and rigid vows offer study of the scriptures and knowledge as sacrifice. (4:28) ‘Therefore, let the scripture be the authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done.  Having known what is said in the ordinance of the scripture, though shouldst act there in this world. (16:24)—Gita Press, Gorakhpur.

 

2 …The King desires to participate in the sacred level of the Brahman, but through performing rituals for the King the Brahman becomes entangled in the world and moves away from the ideal of transcendence.  The marvellous myths of the Puranas can be seen as reflecting attempts by a group of Brahmans called Smartas, the followers of secondary revelation (smrti), to bring diversity under a single, overarching and controlling system during the Gupta and post-Gupta period (300-700 CE).— Introduction: Establishing the Boundaries, Gavin Flood, in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Gavin Flood (ed.), UK, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Indian Reprint 2003, p.8.  Generally the smarta Brahmans (also called as Vadama in Tamilnadu) are considered superior to other divisions as noted by Champakalakshmi:

 

…That the Smarta brahmanas (Vedic scholars and performers of Vedic sacrifices) are treated as being superior to the Adi Saivas or the Saiva brahmanas and gurukkals or temple priests is a well known fact of Tamil society….— Champakalakshmi, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance: The Bhakti of the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars’, in Religion, Tradition, and Ideology: Pre-colonial South India, Oxford, New Delhi (2011), 2012, p. 62

 

3 In the morning before tying the mangalyam, the couple will be made to sit on a swing and women will sing songs to bless them with few rituals.  Nalungu is done after the marriage to tease both the bride and groom ask them to play various games with coconut, putting ring in a pot full of water and ask them to take first etc.  These are mostly limited to South Indian marriages.

 

4 In one Youtube message one person (from the West) explains how reading the bible four times in a week will help to overcome so many hardships, vices, evil etc. See Bible Matters at https://youtu.be/wNWvxexMri0.

 

5  However Dr. Hoefer points out that ‘the original language of the Bible is not crucial in Christianity, as it is for the Quran and the Vedas.  The Bible is not the source for chanting or ritual.  Its prime purpose is to bring us in relationship with Him and edify us to become like Him (II Tim 3:16-17).—Personal communication, 3-5-2020

 

6The authority of the Bible arose at the time of the Reformation as the alternative to the authority of the Church and the papacy.  The Bible becomes authoritative for those who have come into relationship with Jesus.  Our faith is in Him, and then the Bible becomes authoritative because it brings us Him.—Dr. Hoefer, Personal communication, 3-5-2020.

 

7 …For Muslims the Quran is the word of God—His very word.  It is more central to Islamic theology than the Bible is for Christians or the Torah is for Jews. It is the divine presence.  It is the mediator of divine will and grace. For instance, as Christian theological discussion might focus on the virgin birth of Christ as the proof of his divine nature, so Islamic theological discussion might focus on the Quran, on its matchlessness, as the guarantee of its divine character ‘Quran’ itself means ‘recitation’, al-Quran, the recitation or the reading out aloud.  It is through being read out aloud that the Quran is realized and received as divine.¹⁰  Pious Muslims strive to learn as much of it as possible by heart….

The Quran was always transmitted orally.   This was how the Prophet transmitted the messages he had received from God to his followers.  When, a few years after the Prophet’s death, these messages came to be written down, it was only as an aid to memory and oral transmission.  This has been the function of the written Quran ever since.  Telling evidence for the essential orality of the Quran and its transmission is that in the 1920s the Egyptian standard edition was produced not from a study of variant manuscript versions but from a study of the fourteen different traditions of recitation.—ibid. Islam and the Impact of Print in South Asia, Francis Robinson. Pp. 62-97, in, Nigel Crook, ed. The Transmission of Knowledge in South Asia: Essays on Education, Religion, History, and Politics, Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 65

10. An outstanding analysis of the essential orality of the Quran is to be found in William A. Grahmam, Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion (Cambridge, 1987), pp. 79-115.

 

8 I am thankful to Dr. Hoefer for sharing this point.  He further adds, ‘In the Islamic view, the Quran is an eternal book, totally perfect.  They would say, “If you can find any untruth in the Quran, our faith is a lie.

 

9 As a digression here I need to bring out the importance of oral tradition in various religious traditions which played a vital place in transmitting the faith to the followers by their acharyas and gurus.  See my Secular song 543 more on my view.

 

10  Of course it was not based only on experience that Christians kept their faith alive.  The church used to teach them using different methods, particularly using symbols.  For example,

 

…when books were still the rare and costly possessions of the privileged because printing had not as yet been invented, walls and windows were used to embody the Christian message.  This use of Christian symbolism flowered forth at its maximum in medieval Europe.   We read much of church walls forming the Bible of the Poor, and of priests leading bands of pilgrims to some stained-glass window to explain a biblical theme or to recount the heroism of some saint…

By the thirteenth century man had come to believe that God intended every created thing to be a symbol of his purposes, and hence churches built by man to his glory could be no less eloquent.  Almost every stone or feature of a cathedral had or was given its symbolic meaning—three portals stood for the Trinity; double door-ways, for the two natures of our Lord; a church resting on twelve pillars recalled the twelve apostles; a bell rope stood for humility because it hung downward.  This result came partly through the conscious use of well-known symbolism, but also as the result of interpretations of what originally were free, artistic impulses following their own bent.

…It is true that this medieval symbolism had its dangerous aspects, some of which will be mentioned in a later chapter.  But the (p.13) underlying supposition was that avenues to the soul need not be limited to the ear or to the printed pages.— Daniel Johnson Fleming, Christian Symbols, In A World Community, Friendship Press, New York, 1940

1. 13-14

 

11  For example, for our need I wrote and composed an Arati song, similar one that is used by most of the Hindus in North India.  In this song I called the Lord as ‘Kaliyuga daivam’, which means Lord of the Kali Yuga, which is the present yuga.  However all that the word Kali Yuga means in Hindu worldview is not compatible with the Muktiveda.  However as the word and tune sets nicely with the song, we still use.

 

12…The advice of a modern Buddhist teacher is very similar.  “A Mahayana Sutra or a Ch’an text,” he writes, “should never be read in a hurry once or twice and then placed in the book-case like a novel or ordinary book.  It should be read again and again …until the reader understands its profound meaning … The more he reads it the more he will comprehend its aim until he will forget all about the printed words and will confront only its deep meaning, which will loom before him to the exclusion of everything else.  He will notice his gradual embodiment of the doctrine taught in it, although he may be unprepared for the startling experience.” {Charles Luk (Lu K’uan-yu), ed. And trans., Ch’an and Zen Teaching, First Series (Berkeley, California: Shambala Publications, 1970, p. 157}— Thomas McEvilley, Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, (2002), First Indian Edition, 2008. p. 179

 

13 As it is very difficult to translate the following Tamil poem, I give as it is, however with my own translation for the benefit of those who cannot understand Tamil:

 

One who is not bound by thought or known by words

The ancient one, who pervades everywhere without any boundary

How am I going to describe him, he knows me

And I know him in the same way.

 

One who is not bound by time or reached by any idea

Who cannot be explained by any worldly knowledge

How am I going to describe him, he knows me

And I know him in the same way.

 

Neither he is a male nor a female; nor has a form or without any form

He is not this world but he is not out of this world

How am I going to describe him, he knows me

And I know him in the same way.

 

As I become one with him like song and music;

Does there exist any difference between us

How am I going to describe him, he knows me

And I know him in the same way.

 

எப்படி எடுத்துறைப்பேன்

 

சிந்தைக்கு அடங்கோனை சொல்லினால் அறியோனை

எல்லைக்கு எட்டாது எங்கும் நிறைந்தோனை-தொல்லோனை

ஏதுமொழி கொண்டு எடுத்துரைப்பேன்–என்னை அவன்

அறிவான், அறிவேன் நானும் அவனை அவ்வண்ணமே

 

காலத்திற்கடங்கோனை கருத்திற்கு எட்டோனை

ஞாலத்தின் ஞானத்தால் நவின்ற இயலோனை–ஏதுமொழி கொண்டு….

 

ஆண் அல்ல பெண் அல்ல அருவல்ல உருவல்ல

அவனியும் அவனல்ல அவனிக்குப் புறம்பல்ல–ஏதுமொழி கொண்டு….

 

நானே அவனாகி நாதமும் கீதமும்போல்

ஒன்றியபின் உண்டோ ஒருபேதமுமே–ஏதுமொழி கொண்டு….

 

14. See the enthusiasm of Dr. Radhakrishnan supporting such view by quoting Milburn:

 

In an article on Christian Vedaantism, Mr.R.Gordon Milburn writes, `Christianity in India needs the Vedaanta.  We missionaries have not realised this with half the clearness that we should.  We cannot move freely and joyfully in our own religion; because we have not sufficient terms and modes of expression wherewith to express the more immanental aspects of Christianity.  A very useful step would be the recognition of certain books or passages in the literature of the Vedaanta as constituting what might be called an Ethnic Old Testament.  The permission of ecclesiastical authorities could then be asked for reading passages found in such a canon of Ethnic Old Testament at divine service along with passages from the New Testament as alternative to the Old Testament lessons,’ Indian Interpreter. 1913– S.Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanisads, Oxford University Press, 5th impression 1992, Delhi,  Introduction, Fn.1, p.19

 

15. N.T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said,: Was Paul of Tarsus the real founder of Christianity, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997; The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. Illinois, IVP Academic. 1999.

 

16 In fact, the Old Testament was the scripture of the early church, before the New Testament canon was established in the 4th century.  Christ was understood as the fulfillment and continuation of that divine revelation.  The early church knew the facts of Jesus life.  But what was the meaning?  The Old Testament scriptures were the authoritative source of explaining why He came and what He did.—Dr. Hoefer, personal communication, 3-5-2020

 

17. ‘…I must tell you in all humility that Hinduism as I know it, entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being and I find a solace in the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads that miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. Not that I do not prize the ideal presented therein, not that some of the precious teachings in the Sermon on the Mount have not left a deep impression upon me, but I must confess to you that when doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately being to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of external tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.’ [The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, New Delhi, The Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, (1968), Reprint 1994 Vol. 27, p. 435]….— Remembering U.G. Krishnamurti, Compiled from conversations in India and Switzerland, 1973 to 1976 (author name, publisher, year is not mentioned.  This is from website I think.  As I read in the Computer, the page number is based on the format in the Computer.), p. 139