Moscow/New Delhi: The joke goes that the Biblical saying ‘the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’ translates in Russian as ‘the vodka is good, the meat bad’. Acknowledging that much
is lost in translation, a Siberian court on Wednesday refused to ban a translated version of the Bhagavad Gita, which prosecutors had argued was “extremist” and promoted “social discord”.
The court’s decision brought to an end a six-month-long legal battle that caused anger among believers around the world and forced New Delhi to take up the matter with Moscow. ‘Gita judgment is a sensible resolution of a sensitive issue’
Sadhu Priya Das of ISKCON, Moscow, who is also chairman of newly-formed Hindu Council of Russia said, “We have won the case. The judge has rejected the petition”.
External affairs minister S M Krishna welcomed the judgment and thanked the Russian government for its support. The ministry in a statement said: “We appreciate this sensible resolution of a sensitive issue and are glad to put this episode behind us. We also appreciate the efforts of all friends in Russia who made this outcome possible. This demonstrates yet again that the people of India and Russia have a deep understanding of each other's cultures and will always reject any attempt to belittle our common civilisational values.”
Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had argued that the Russian translation “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” promotes “social discord” and hatred towards non-believers. The text is a combination of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's holiest scriptures, and commentary by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, that is commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, ISKCON.
The prosecutors had asked the court to include the book on the Russian Federal List of Extremist Materials, which bans more than 1,000 texts including Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf ” and books distributed by the Jehovah's Witness and Scientology movements.
Russian lawyers Mikahil Fralov and Alexander Shakhov argued strongly against the petition. “This judge's decision shows that Russia is becoming a truly democratic society,” Shakhov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. “We are very excited about this victory.”
ISKCON members have alleged that the Russian Orthodox Church was behind the court case as it wanted to limit their activities.
Times view
The Russian court’s decision to reject a petition seeking a ban on a translation of the Gita is welcome and indeed the only rational course the court could have adopted. To suggest that the ancient text is ‘extremist’ material and promotes hatred towards ‘non-believers’ is not just a minor misunderstanding of the Gita, it is a patently absurd argument. One does not have to be a Hindu or even a subscriber to religion to recognise that the Gita is one of the world’s great philosophical treatises and part of the cultural heritage of not just India but the world. To ban it would have been an affront to world civilisation.
is lost in translation, a Siberian court on Wednesday refused to ban a translated version of the Bhagavad Gita, which prosecutors had argued was “extremist” and promoted “social discord”.
The court’s decision brought to an end a six-month-long legal battle that caused anger among believers around the world and forced New Delhi to take up the matter with Moscow. ‘Gita judgment is a sensible resolution of a sensitive issue’
Sadhu Priya Das of ISKCON, Moscow, who is also chairman of newly-formed Hindu Council of Russia said, “We have won the case. The judge has rejected the petition”.
External affairs minister S M Krishna welcomed the judgment and thanked the Russian government for its support. The ministry in a statement said: “We appreciate this sensible resolution of a sensitive issue and are glad to put this episode behind us. We also appreciate the efforts of all friends in Russia who made this outcome possible. This demonstrates yet again that the people of India and Russia have a deep understanding of each other's cultures and will always reject any attempt to belittle our common civilisational values.”
Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had argued that the Russian translation “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” promotes “social discord” and hatred towards non-believers. The text is a combination of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's holiest scriptures, and commentary by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, that is commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, ISKCON.
The prosecutors had asked the court to include the book on the Russian Federal List of Extremist Materials, which bans more than 1,000 texts including Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf ” and books distributed by the Jehovah's Witness and Scientology movements.
Russian lawyers Mikahil Fralov and Alexander Shakhov argued strongly against the petition. “This judge's decision shows that Russia is becoming a truly democratic society,” Shakhov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. “We are very excited about this victory.”
ISKCON members have alleged that the Russian Orthodox Church was behind the court case as it wanted to limit their activities.
Times view
The Russian court’s decision to reject a petition seeking a ban on a translation of the Gita is welcome and indeed the only rational course the court could have adopted. To suggest that the ancient text is ‘extremist’ material and promotes hatred towards ‘non-believers’ is not just a minor misunderstanding of the Gita, it is a patently absurd argument. One does not have to be a Hindu or even a subscriber to religion to recognise that the Gita is one of the world’s great philosophical treatises and part of the cultural heritage of not just India but the world. To ban it would have been an affront to world civilisation.
No comments:
Post a Comment