Tag: judaism

How can Krishna and Allah be the Same Person?

How can Krishna and Allah be the same person, when so many Muslims see the followers of Krishna as “kafirs” or non-believers worthy of being put to death?

Sri Krishna with Srimati Radha
Sri Krishna with Srimati Radha
Allah, the primary name of God from the Quran, written in Arabic script

Question

Hare krishna prabhuji!
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada and Sankarshana Das Adhikari Maharaj have said time and again that Krishna and Allah are the same. I do understand both of them have dedicated all of their time to Bhakti yoga and hence have reached this understanding, however I don’t think I am able to wrap my head around this.

The thing is, the Quran talks about how all kafirs(non muslims) should be killed and so many things. Personally, I don’t believe that those fanatics who so-call kill in the name of Allah go to Jannah. I don’t think those people who destroyed a location of ISKCON Bangladesh and harassing the devotees there will get a place even in heaven. They also talk about eternal damnation for kafirs. I don’t believe in eternal damnation just cause you don’t follow this and that. Isn’t our karma that decides the country and religion we are born in? Those people who act like this are just fanatics ( religion with no philosophy). Krishna in BG says He is our friend, well wisher and more. He even sits in our heart even if we are demons. But in Quran, Allah is someone who would rather choose a sinful muslim than a pious kafir. How can we say Krishna and Allah are same? I am just not able to find any answer that puts me at ease. Why are there different religions in this world? Sorry to say, but wouldn’t the world be a better place if there was only Sanathana Dharma? This entire Allah and Krishna topic drives me crazy..

I would like to get the answers to my questions. Kindly forgive me for my offenses that I have inadvertently done 🙏.

Your confused servant…

Answer:

Hare Krishna!

I have read the Quran. It is a delightful text. Yes, there are some verses which can cause misunderstanding, but this is true also of Vedic scriptures… so therefore we have the GPS of Guru (spiritual master in disciplic succession), Sadhu (community of saintly souls), Shaastra (scripture)… in the Abrahamic cultures, only Shaastra – scripture is remaining… the Guru (disciplic succession) and Saadhu (communities of saintly souls) pillars have been destroyed by thousands of years of violence.

We need to understand this on the level of our highest understanding… for example, someone might think that Krishna is a “Hindu god”… but we know that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Similarly, we have a better understanding of Allah than most Muslims… we understand that Allah is an impersonal name for Krishna.

In general, if we are talking of a Supreme Person, and they are talking of a Supreme Person, then they must be the same person, because there cannot be 2 Supremes. Otherwise we end up with the 6 blind men situation… https://dasadas.com/2022/07/28/the-ultimate-synthesis-of-advaita-dvaita-achintya-bheda-abheda/

If someone regards the devotee of Krishna as a kafir (non-believer), then that person is in ignorance because they don’t know who is a kafir and who is not. An atheist is a kafir… but we can’t expect everyone to understand… According to the Abrahamic traditions, we see that Muslims, Christans, and Jews are all called “brothers of the book” because their scriptures are practically all the same… and still they fight like cats and dogs. This is not the fault of their respective religious traditions or scriptures but that they have lost the context and culture that comes from Parampara – disciplic succession. For example the one of the ten commandments is “Thou Shalt Not Kill” and all the Christians do morning, evening, and night is kill, kill, kill, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Simply scripture alone can be easily weaponized… “Shastra” (weapon) and “Shaastra” (scripture) can be used in similar ways. Both of these can be used to protect or to destroy… recall that a knife in the hands of a surgeon is different from a knife in the hands of a criminal.

Now, as far as the Quran (scripture followed by Muslims) is concerned, it was taught to people who were not very advanced… for example the Quran contains instructions that from this day henceforth, no Muslim shall have a sexual relationship with his mother. Why is such an instruction given? Because such things were happening back then!

But it is not that the Quran does not contain the pathway to the highest instructions… In the conversation between Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Chand Kazi (See https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/adi/17/), they argued on the basis of the respective Vedic and Islamic scriptures, and a common understanding was reached by mutual loving enlightened discussions. I have met many many advanced Muslims, who see Krishna as Allah Himself. In particular I have met at least 2 “Muslim Brahmins” in Hyderabad myself, and have interacted with many such saintly souls.

As far as Bangladesh goes, many more people have been killed in their recent riots, of all religious backgrounds, and to be honest, their sufferings are unfortunately going to be heavy… we should be compassionate upon them and not be caught up in the cycle of hatred. It is 100% sure that everyone gets their just dues. The low-class rascals who destroyed an ISKCON temple in Meherpur, Bangladesh will face the wrath of Allah, because know it or not, Lord Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) is Allah Himself, and ignorance of the law is no defense.

Also, you should know that I have met foolish so-called adherents of Sanatan Dharma also… they are no better than animals in human form… Such people, whether they called themselves Sanatan Dharmis or Muslims or Christians or Sikhs or any other designation does not matter, because they are still in animal consciousness… however, they can follow whatever they can manage to follow and gradually they will be elevated – we cannot judge the value of the tradition they are claiming to follow just by seeing that they are not very advanced.

So, in conclusion, as Srila Gurudeva has said, the perfectly Krishna Conscious person is simultaneously the best Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Jew, and whatever other bona fide system of religion exists… Sanatana Dharma is not outside of these traditions… the perfection of those traditions is in Sanatana Dharma.

Don’t think that the average “Hindu” is properly following Sanatana Dharma (The Eternal Nature), most of them don’t even understand the meaning of Sanatana Dharma! 🙂 They think Sanatana Dharma is some sectarian religion followed only by Hindus!

I have written many articles on this subject matter, in general:

Allah is not your God? Krishna is not your God?
Satan as Competitor to God, what an absurdity!
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?
Taj Bibi – Mughal Queen, Pure Devotee of Krishna
God has no shortage of sons (and daughters)
Dear Pope Francis, how many apologies to go?
Muslim Brahmin in Hyderabad
What do we call persons who don’t recognize their own suffering?
Enrollment alone will not help us progress to perfection
No eternal damnation

My humble request to you is to get fully immersed in Krishna Consciousness, so that we all can have the same vision as Srila Gurudeva Sankarshan Prabhu and Srila Prabhupada have. Are you already initiated in the disciplic succession of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples and grand-disciples? If not, what is your personal plan to get to that point?

Make full use of the context and culture which we still do have available!

I hope this helps.

Enrollment alone will not help us progress to perfection

Many of us are enrolled in various programs… the program is designed to help us progress… but most of those enrolled don’t make any progress. Is enrollment alone sufficient to make progress?

My dear reader… consider this… suppose a student enrolls in a course of study at a prestigious university… Everywhere our student friend goes, they advertise… “I’m a student of such-and-such-course in so-and-so university”. Our student friend is met with pats on the back, and nods of approval… “yes”, everyone seems to say “that is a fantastic program at a great university”, and our student friend is quite pleased at this.

That’s it, our student friend is content with enrollment. Post-enrollment, apart from the bragging about the program they are enrolled in, we find that our student does not do anything else…

  • Attends no classes
  • Reads no textbooks
  • Does no research
  • Submits no assignments
  • Works on no projects
  • Does no practical work
  • Learns nothing about what they’re supposed to learn in that program
  • …

Now, my dear reader, would you expect our student friend to graduate, or even be allowed to stay on in the program?

Not at all! At minimum, our friend the student would forfeit their fees, potentially be kicked out of the program, and most definitely not get to see graduation!

We all would agree that this kind of enrollment in a program with no work done is of no real benefit.

And yet, the world is full of such students, enrolled in various Universities…

  • Hinduism
  • Christianity
  • Islam
  • Judaism
  • Buddhism
  • Jainism
  • Sikhism
  • this-ism
  • that-ism
  • …

Yes, my dear reader, all of these are universities… meant to teach us most important things:

  1. Who we are, Be who we are
  2. Know God, Love God
  3. Know that everything and everyone is God’s, to love, cherish, and engage in the service of God

Each of these “universities” was created to cater to a particular set of persons, in a particular time, place, and circumstance.

And yet, there are so many who are “enrolled”, but are not doing any of the work needed to actually graduate.

What is graduation? Graduation means spiritual perfection, which is an eternally ever-increasing thing, there is no limit to perfection. Perfection is a journey.

yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3)

According to this Vedic injunction, simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa one understands Brahman, Paramātmā, prakṛti, the illusory energy, the spiritual energy and everything else. Everything will be revealed.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/16/53-54/

Such a person who has graduated from their “university” manifests love and compassion at every moment and acts for the benefit of the whole world.

What is that ultimate benefit?

तव कथामृतं तप्तजीवनं
कविभिरीडितं कल्मषापहम् ।
श्रवणमङ्गलं श्रीमदाततं
भुवि गृणन्ति ये भूरिदा जना: ॥ ९ ॥

tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ
kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ śrīmad ātataṁ
bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūri-dā janāḥ

The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/31/9/

Alas, despite the world being filled with people professing all kinds of faith, there are so few who broadcast the glories of the Lord in this way.

We see persons of all kinds of faith lacking the basic qualities that their tradition aims to inculcate… persons of “faith” but without compassion, without tolerance, without understanding, without knowledge, without purity, without simplicity, without love, without care, without human qualities even!

So what is to be done, my dear reader?

Go deep, deep, deeper into the University you are enrolled in.

In general, you may find you are at one of these levels:

  • Atheism – the school of blind faith regarding God
  • Agnosticism – the school of blind doubt
  • Gnosticism – the school of unclear knowledge about God
  • Impersonalism – the school of detailed knowledge, mixed with envy of God
  • Fear of God – where God is known, and feared, out of ignorance
  • Fruitive Religion – Where God is treated as an Order Supplier
  • Dutiful Religion – Where God is adored and worshipped out of Duty
  • Pure Love of God – Where God is Loved and Served in Loving Devotion

Different “Universities” cater to different profiles of students… you have the ones for really bright students, the ones where you can get a sports scholarship, ones where the standards aren’t that high, the ones meant for rich people, and so on… ultimately, you need to decide how far your University can take you.

If you find that your institution is a vocational college and not really very deep in terms of giving you full spiritual perfection, then, search out that deeper place, where all the information about God is fully available, and you get the pure unadulterated knowledge… and you get theory, practice, and examples of role models actually practicing perfection.

But, coming back to the original point, simply labeling yourself as a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or any other “ism” is not sufficient. You need to actually go deep into your tradition and learn everything there is to learn, experience everything there is to experience, serve in every possible way, and strive for spiritual advancement at every step. You cannot afford to be complacent, because human life is rare, and human life is short.

Here are some humble suggestions from this servant of the servant of God…

  • Know that Religion, singular, is one… Religions, plural, is another name for politics
  • Read your scripture
  • Understand it deeply by discussion, don’t be lazy about it
  • Follow your religious tenets carefully, pragmatically, not fanatically
  • Read scriptures from other traditions
  • Observe the principles, don’t get hung up on the details of the differences
  • Be tolerant, patient, enthusiastic, and compassionate to others
  • Practice your faith, every moment, every day
  • Try and understand other traditions by principles
  • Focus on the common denominator in spiritual life
  • Know that God is the God of all creatures, not just people, not just your faith tradition
  • Proof of the pudding? Do you love God? Do you love all that is God’s?

Are you just enrolled, or are you on your way to graduating?

Hare Krishna!

Satan as Competitor to God, what an absurdity!

On Easter Friday, reflecting on Jesus’ sacrifice, compassion, and forgiveness fills us with hope. While beliefs about Satan vary, turning inward reveals our own role in turning away from God – the cause of all problems. Instead of blaming external forces, let’s embrace personal responsibility and reconnect with God’s boundless love and grace. No one else can thwart our journey to knowledge and bliss. Hare Krishna!

I write this on Easter Friday. I reflect on the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I reflect on his deep compassion, humility, and grace. I reflect on his wonderful quality of forgiveness. I reflect on his instructions in the Bible.

Specifically, I reflect on this prayer of Jesus Christ, while he was being crucified, and the men in charge of this ghastly deed were gambling to divide his clothes amongst themselves… “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”.

One of my spiritual master’s favourite prayers is “not my will, but thine, be done.”.

Jesus is the Son of God, and we are all meant to be sons and daughters of God.

In the Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, there is the idea of Satan.

Wikipedia says this about Satan… “”Satan, also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara, or “evil inclination”. In Christianity and Islam, he is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God, who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons. In the Quran, Shaitan, also known as Iblis, is an entity made of fire who was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam and incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with waswās (“evil suggestions”).

The most accurate Abrahamic idea about the concept of Satan is the one accepted in Judaism.

However, too many people around the world actually believe that Satan is some sort of a competitor to God. This is quite foolish.

Christians routinely denounce anyone who does not accept their particular sectarian view of God and His creation as “Satanic”. One intelligent agnostic lady, after asking uncomfortable questions sincerely, was labeled by some Christians as Satan!

It is not that asking questions and being inquisitive is bad! When one does not know things as they are, then one feels threatened by any question or idea that is not covered in one’s limited understanding.

But rest assured, God has absolutely NO competition!

God is known as “asamaurdhva” which is a combination or “asama” and “urdhva” which means He who has neither equal nor superior.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, describes His own opulences in great detail. But even Krishna acknowledges that it is impossible for us to understand all of His opulences because they are limitless.

अथवा बहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन ।
विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ॥ ४२ ॥

atha vā bahunaitena
kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna
viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam
ekāṁśena sthito jagat

But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/42/

Then why does this idea of Satan exist?

It is tempting to blame some other personality for all the ills in the world, all the troubles we face. It is quite convenient to concoct the idea that somehow Satan is the cause of our ills.

But really, we have to look inward, and look at ourselves.

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি’ সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসার-দুঃখ ॥ ১১৭ ॥

kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha

“Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy [māyā] gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/20/117/

It is us, with our own free will, who have chosen to turn away from God. It is not that someone else has incited or influenced us, it is our own individual personal decision.

When we decide to turn towards God again, and gradually purify our consciousness, we will see that God has absolutely no competitors.

The closest parallel from the Vedic tradition to the idea of Satan is “Maya”.

Maya is the illusory energy of God. And this energy does not affect anyone who is turned towards God in every thought, word, and deed. In fact, the very same Maya, who is acting as “Mahamaya” in the illusory aspect, now transforms into “Yogamaya”, or one who is diligently engaged in connecting the living entity and God’s energies in harmony with God.

The energy of the Lord called avidyā is the bewildering factor of the conditioned souls. The material nature is called avidyā, or ignorance, but to the devotees of the Lord engaged in pure devotional service, this energy becomes vidyā, or pure knowledge. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. The energy of the Lord transforms from mahā-māyā to yoga-māyā and appears to pure devotees in her real feature. The material nature therefore appears to function in three phases: as the creative principle of the material world, as ignorance and as knowledge.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/10/17/

But Maya is not any kind of competitor… she is a most dear servitor of God…

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā
chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā
icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi


The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bs/5/44/

So, dear souls, there is absolutely no one else holding us back from an eternity in full knowledge and bliss, except ourselves. Questions?

Hare Krishna!

Overcoming Dr. Frog Mentality

Why does anyone try to measure God against themselves?

I heard this example from my spiritual master Sri Sankarshan Das Adhikari several times. Once upon a time, Dr. Frog lived in a well. He was the authority on the well. He knew all its inhabitants, he knew the varying water levels. Dr. Frog was born in the well, and knew that of course, his well was the greatest water body in the world.

One day, a little visitor came to his well, hop hop hop. This visitor had just come from the ocean’s edge. Dr. Frog welcomed his little guest, and they got talking. Dr. Frog told him all about his well. The little one said all that was fine but that he had seen a water body much bigger than the well. Dr. Frog couldn’t believe his ears. He decided to humour his little visitor.

He puffed up his chest a little. “This much bigger?” he asked. The little one said, “No Dr. Frog, much bigger”. Dr. Frog was a master puffer. So he puffed himself up some more. And more. And more. Until his chest burst. And that was the end of Dr. Frog.

Similarly, the Dr. Frogs of this world are trying to measure the glory of God in relation to themselves. When they hear Krishna drank deadly poison as a newborn and sucked out the life of Putana the child-killing demoness, they think, surely this is a fairy tale. When they hear how Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill for 7 days and 7 nights on the little finger of his left hand without a break to protect the citizens of Vrindavan, they think this is surely a myth. When they hear Krishna danced with 3 Billion Gopis and made each of them feel that she was the only one, they say, surely this is a male fantasy. When they hear Krishna married 16,108 wives and each of the wives thought she was the only one, they may think surely Krishna must refer to a tribe of men.

Each materialist, atheist, and pseudo-spiritualist tries to measure God against Himself. This is Maya, that which is not, trying to measure God against one’s own puny little self.

But we little fellows, recovering atheists, are going around telling the little Dr. Frogs of the world, sir, there is a God, and God is very very great, much much greater than you, and they simply puff up their chests. We also say God is very very sweet, not an angry old man, and they think we are fools. We tell them we know what God looks like and they think we are idol worshippers.

But everyone should remember that a frog who croaks too loud attracts his own death in the form of a hungry snake.

The snake of time will devour us all, but those of us in a compact of Love with God, death is simply taking a nap and waking up in our eternal form.

Please read the books of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Please strive to understand and follow them. Please chant Hare Krishna, serve the Krishna Consciousness Movement directly or in any of its many branches like Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, and continue your progessive journey home.

If I may serve you on your journey please reach out!