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| Sunday, 20 July 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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by A. Abdul Aziz It is not the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) alone who has been sent as a Divine Messenger to call men to God but there had been sent to every people in the past a Heavenly Messenger who preached to them the same Message of truth and righteousness. This great and noble principle leads to the belief in the Divine origin of all religions, and in their Founders as Divine Messengers, and thus it becomes an article of faith with a Muslim to believe in and equally respect and revere all of them. By giving to the world this sublime truth, Islam has sought to create an atmosphere of amity and goodwill among different creeds, and to remove and banish that rancour and bitterness which has embittered relations between the followers of these creeds all over the world. According to the Holy Quran, no people is left without a Divine Messenger (10:48). Every religious community takes its birth from the advent of a heavenly Messenger. Quran also says: "And there is a Guide for every people" (13:8). A Prophet is a Guide and also brings guidance for the people. The Quran mentions by name only 24 Prophets whereas a saying of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) states that as many as 1,24,000 Prophets have appeared in the world (Musnad, v.266). Elsewhere, the Quran says: "There is not a people to whom a warner has not been sent" (35:25). Hinduism is a class in itself in the comity of religions. To find in Hindu literature evidence of revelation as understood in traditional Divine religions is a difficult task. This is so, mainly because on the one hand the concept of revelations is wholly confined to the Vedic teachings, while on the other, God is mentioned to have manifested Himself in human form to instruct mankind. Though in Christianity too, Jesus (peace be on him) is described in a manner somewhat similar to that of Krishna (peace be on him), the similarity however is superficial. In the personification of Jesus Christ, God the Father remains in command of the universe, and a manifestation of His sonship somehow displays itself in the human image of Jesus. Again in the case of Christianity, there is a third person entitled the Holy Ghost who is neither Christ, nor God the Father, but is an integral part of the Trinity in its own right. Hinduism however, is not clear concerning the manifestation of Brahma in the person of Krishna (peace be on him). Did he rule the heavens and the earth from his heavenly seat even when Krishna remained on earth, or was it Krishna who as God personified governed the universe during his human phase? Or was Krishna (peace be on him) merely an aspiration or icon while God remained in command in the heavens like He ever was? Questions such as these remain unanswered. Again as far as revelation is concerned, Christianity is completely at one with the belief of traditional religions concerning the nature of revelation from on high. In Hinduism, however, the mode of revelation is not shared by traditional religions. To fulfil the role of an exemplar, God manifests Himself in Human form. He does not have to employ a messenger to fulfil this task. The case of the ancient rishis who are said to be the recipients of the Vedas is different. "Rishi" is a Hindu term for a religious divine who severs all ties with the material world and submits completely to the will of God. Despite the fact that the Vedas are believed to be Divine teachings, there is no clear account of the rishis having received revelation as a well-defined verbal message. The question whether the inspiration of rishis can genuinely be entitled as revelation will perhaps forever remain moot. What we know from Hindu sources is based entirely on their belief. Although different ages are mentioned by different scholars, they are unanimous in their claim that the rishis are the most ancient of all human beings. This description of Hinduism is in all probability born out of human fancy. Man always interpolates, misconstrues or misappropriates Divine teachings after the prophets have come and gone. No wonder then that the messages of the Hindu prophets were also distorted by the future generations of those who followed. When we suggest that the Vedas must have been interpolated, we do not mean that all the Vedic teachings underwent a complete man-made transformation. This is never permitted to happen to Divine scriptures by God. There is always retained some of the original truth, untouched and unadulterated. It is in the light of this that a careful study of every religion at its source is always rewarding. A careful scrutiny of the source material of Hinduism reveals it to be no different from other Divinely revealed religions in fundamentals. With a slight twist in the kaleidoscope, the perception changes dramatically. Enough evidence can be presented from the Mahabharat and Bhagavad Gita that Krishna never claimed Godhead for himself, nor did he ever claim immortality. Krishna (peace be on him) can easily be identified as just another prophet of God, no different from those who appeared before or after him throughout the recorded history of religion. As portrayed in his authentic biographies, Krishna (peace be on him) is known to have been born on earth, around 1458 BC, like any other human child, to Basudeba and his wife Deboki. They named him Kinai (Kinhai). The name "Krishna" was given to him later, meaning "the enlightened one". He is known to have led an ordinary child's life with an exceptional flare of the supernatural (which is also related concerning many other prophets of God by their followers). He lived like humans, acted like humans and attended the call of nature like humans. During his childhood, he occasionally took childish licences, like stealing a kilo or two of butter, or at least that is what is claimed by the Hindu analysts. We believe however that it was no crime on his part, children who are kind of heart do similar things in their own right for the sake of their poorer playmates. Such a child in the circumstances described generates love rather than abhorrence. All this is but human, in no way different from the birth and lifestyle of other prophets of God. He threw up to a strong adulthood and acquired and displayed outstanding qualities of leadership. In the battlefield he led great armies to epoch-making victories. In ordinary life, he rose to the exalted position of a great spiritual exemplar and performed his role as a reformer, the like of which had seldom been seen in India. He admonished people to become righteous and to eschew evil. To him it is important to destroy evil-minded people who want to wipe out religion and to promote Godlessness. As far as his physical description goes, we do find some oddities. The image of Lord Krishna as portrayed by Hindu artists depicts him as having four arms instead of two and is also shown bearing wings. He is often portrayed standing with a flute pressed against his lips. Again, some comely maidens rather colourfully dressed are shown to throng around him. These are gopis. Gopi is a term applied to such womenfolk who tend the cows. It is a term similar to that of a shepherdess. It should be remembered here that the title of Krishna himself was that of Gao'pal which means "the tender of cows". This, when read together with the Biblical accounts of Israelite prophets as shepherds tending the sheep of the house of Israel, makes the similarity between the two abundantly clear. As India was a country of cows instead of that of sheep, the common people are referred to as cows. Hence of Krishna (Peace be on him) to be entitled a tender of cows, is quite understandable. Likewise, reference to his disciples as gopis presents no mystery either. Other episodes woven around the image of Krishna can also be read as parables and allegories rather than matter-of-fact statements. As regards the image of Krishna possessing four arms and wings, it can be symbolically interpreted to mean that highly ranked servants of God are gifted with extra faculties. The Holly Quran too, mentions wings in relation to the Holy Prophet" of Islam. He is enjoined by God to lower his wing of mercy over the believers. Similarly, when angels are mentioned as bearing different numbers of wings, it is their attributes which are referred to, and not physical wings. But it often happens that religious allegories and parables are taken too literally by the followers of religions and thus their underlying significance is altogether missed. The image of Lord Krishna and what is shown to be around him, is no exception. Krishna (Peace be on him) is also called Murli Dhar which means a flute player. The flute here, is evidently a symbol of revelation because the tune that the flute emits is not emitted by the flute itself. It only transmits that which is being breathed into it. Hence, it was Lord Krishna himself who has been depicted as a flute played by God. Whatever true God played into him he most faithfully transmitted to the world. Thus the reality of Krishna (Peace be on him) can be seen as no different from that of any other messenger of God who, as a faithful custodian of Divine messages, passes them on to the world unchanged. The flute thus becomes a most expressive symbol of the integrity of prophets assuring the world that they say nothing from themselves, other than what has been revealed to them from on high. Moreover, Holy Prophet (PBUH) also said: "Kanna filhindhi nabiyyun asvadhul lavni ismuhoo Kahina - A Prophet appeared in India. He was black in complexion. His name was Kahina". This saying (Hadith) is found in the book 'Firdowsul Akbar' by Hazrat Thylami. The word Kahina denotes to Sri Krishna who is also called as 'Kanayya' and 'Kannan'. |
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