Jay Shri Krishna.

Krishna (In Devanagari, kṛṣṇa in IAST, pronounced [kr̩ʂɳə] literally "black , dark , dark-blue") is a Hindu deity, regarded as an avatar of Vishnu and in some traditions considered the Supreme Being.

Krishna is often depicted as an infant or young boy playing a flute as in the Bhagavata Purana, or as a youthful prince giving direction and guidance as in the Bhagavad Gita. The stories of Krishna appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophicaland theological traditions. They portray him in various perspectives: a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero and the Supreme Being. The principal scriptures discussing Krishna's story are the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, theBhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana.

Worship of a deity or hero called Krishna, in the form of Vasudeva, Bala Krishna orGopala, can be traced to as early as 4th century BC. Worship of Krishna as svayam bhagavan, or the Supreme Being, known as Krishnaism, arose in the Middle Ages in the context of the bhakti movement. From the 10th century AD, Krishna became a favorite subject in performing arts and regional traditions of devotion developed for forms of Krishna such as Jagannatha in Orissa, Vithoba in Maharashtra and Shrinathji inRajasthan. The Gaudiya Vaishnavism sect of Krishnaism was established in the 16th century, and since the 1960s has also spread in the West, largely due to theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Krishna

Devanagari	कृष्ण
Sanskrit Transliteration	Kṛṣṇa
Affiliation	Avatar of Vishnu, Svayam Bhagavan
Abode	Vrindavan, Gokul, Dwarka
Mantra	ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Weapon	Discus (Sudarshana Chakra)
Consort	Radha, Rukmini, Satyabhama,Jambavati, Satya, Lakshmana, Kalindi, Bhadra, Mitravinda and 16100 wives
Mount	Garuda
Texts	Bhagavata Purana, Bhagavad Gita

Life

This summary is based on details from the Mahābhārata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the narrative are set in north India, mostly in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat.

Birth

Traditional belief based on scriptural details and astrological calculations gives the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, as either 18 or 21 July 3228 BCE. Krishna belonged to the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the Yadavas, to which Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged. The kingKamsa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, Kamsa had the couple locked into a prison cell. After Kansa killed the first six children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh (which was actually a secret transfer of the infant to Rohini as Balarama), Krishna was born.

Since Vasudeva believed Krishna's life was in danger, Krishna was secretly taken out of the prison cell to be raised by his foster parents,Yasoda and Nanda, in Gokula. Two of his other siblings also survived, Balarama (Devaki's seventh child, transferred to the womb ofRohini, Vasudeva's first wife) and Subhadra (daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini, born much later than Balarama and Krishna). According toBhagavata Purana it is believed that Krishna was born without a sexual union, by "mental transmission" from the mind of Vasudeva into the womb of Devaki. Hindus believe that in that time, this type of union was possible for achieved beings.

Childhood and youth

Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth tell how he became a cow herder, his mischievous pranks asMakhan Chor (butter thief), his foiling of attempts to take his life, and his role as a protector of the people of Vrindavana. Krishna is said to have killed the demons like Putana, sent by Kansa for Krishna's life. He tamed the serpent Kāliyā, who previously poisoned the waters of Yamuna river, thus leading to the death of the cowherds. In Hindu art, Krishna is often depicted dancing on the multi-hooded Kāliyā. Krishna is believed to have lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra, the king of the devas and rain, a lesson to protectyes native people of Vrindavana from persecution by Indra and prevent the devastation of the pasture land of Govardhan. Indra had too much pride and was angry when Krishna advised the people of Vrindavana to take care of their animals and their environment that provide them with all their necessities, instead of worshipping Indra annually by spending their resources. In the view of some, the spiritual movement started by Krishna had something in it which went against the orthodox forms of worship of the Vedic gods such as Indra.

The stories of his play with the gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana, especially Radha (daughter of Vrishbhanu, one of the original residents of Vrindavan) became known as the Rasa lila and were romanticised in the poetry of Jayadeva, author of the Gita Govinda. These became important as part of the development of the Krishna bhakti traditions worshiping Radha Krishna.

The prince

On his return to Mathura as a young man, Krishna overthrew and killed his uncle, Kansa, after avoiding several assassination attempts from Kansa's followers. He reinstated Kansa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas and became a leading prince at the court.^[59] During this period, he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins. Later, he took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat) and established his own kingdom there.

Krishna married Rukmini, the princess of Vidarbha, by abducting her from her wedding on her request. According to Bhagavata Purana, Krishna married with only 16,108 wives, of which eight were chief—collectively called the Ashta Bharya—including Rukmini,Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravrinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshana. Krishna subsequently married 16,100 maidens who were being held in captivity by demon Narakasura, to save their honour. Krishna killed the demon and released them all. According to strict social custom of the time all of the captive women were degraded, and would be unable to marry, as they had been under the control of Narakasura, however Krishna married them to reinstate their status in the society.This wedding with 16,100 abandoned daughters was more of a mass women rehabilitation. In Vaishnava traditions, Krishna's wives are believed to be forms of the goddess Lakshmi—consort of Vishnu, or special souls who attained this qualification after many lifetimes of austerity, while his queen Satyabhama, is an expansion ofRadha.

When Yudhisthira was assuming the title of emperor, he had invited all the great kings to the ceremony and while paying his respects to them, he started with Krishna because he considered Krishna to be the greatest of them all. While it was a unanimous feeling amongst most present at the ceremony that Krishna should get the first honours, his cousin Shishupala felt otherwise and started berating Krishna. Due to a vow given to Shishupal's mother, Krishna forgave a hundred verbal abuses by Shishupal, and upon the one hundred and first, he assumed hisVirat form and killed Shishupal with his Chakra. It is said that the blind king Dhritarashtra also obtained divine vision during this time to be able to see the Lord's form. Essentially, Shishupal and Dantavakra were both re-incarnations of Lord Vishnu's gate-keepers Jay and Vijay who had been cursed to be born on Earth and were delivered by the Lord back to Heaven.

Kurukshetra War and Bhagavad Gita

Main articles: Kurukshetra War and Bhagavad Gita

Once battle seemed inevitable, Krishna offered both sides the opportunity to choose between having either his army or simply himself alone, but on the condition that he personally would not raise any weapon. Arjuna, on behalf of the Pandavas, chose to have Krishna on their side, and Duryodhana, chief of the Kauravas, chose Krishna's army. At the time of the great battle, Krishna acted as Arjuna's charioteer, since it was a position that did not require the wielding of weapons.

Krishna displays his Vishvarupa(Universal Form) to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Upon arriving at the battlefield, and seeing that the enemies are his family, his grandfather, his cousins and loved ones, Arjuna becomes doubtful about fighting. Krishna then advises him about the battle, with the conversation soon extending into a discourse which was later compiled as theBhagavad Gita.

Krishna had a profound effect on the Mahabharata war and its consequences. He considered the Kurukshetra war as a last resort by voluntarily making himself as a messenger in order to establish peace between the Pandavas and Kauravas. But, once these peace negotiations failed and was embarked into the war, then he became a ruthless strategist. During the war, upon becoming angry with Arjun for not fighting in true spirit against his ancestors, Krishna had once picked up a carriage wheel and converted it to a Chakra (discus) to challenge Bhishma when the latter injured him. Upon seeing this, Bhishma dropped his weapons and asked Krishna to kill him. However, Arjuna apologized to Krishna, promising that he would fight with full dedication hereafter, and the battle continued. Krishna had directed Yudhisthira and Arjuna to return to Bhishma the boon of "victory" which he had given to Yudhisthira before the war commenced, since he himself was standing in their way to victory. Bhishma understood the message and told them the means through which he would drop his weapons—which was if a woman entered the battlefield. Next day, upon Krishna's directions, Shikhandi (who was a rebirth of Amba) accompanied Arjuna to the battlefield and thus, Bhishma laid down his arms. This was a decisive moment in the war because Bhishma was the chief commander of the Kaurava army and the most formidable warrior on the battlefield. Krishna aided Arjuna in killing Jayadratha, who had held the other four Pandava brothers at bay while Arjuna's son Abhimanyu entered Drona's Chakravyuha formation—an effort in which he got killed by the simultaneous attack of eight Kaurava warriors. Krishna also caused the downfall of Drona, when he signalled Bhima to kill an elephant called Ashwatthama, the namesake of Drona's son. Pandavas started shouting that Ashwatthama was dead but Drona refused to believe them saying he would believe it only if he heard it from Yudhisthira. Krishna knew that Yudhisthira would never tell a lie, so he devised a clever ploy so that Yudhisthira wouldn't lie and at the same time Drona would be convinced of his son's death. On asked by Drona, Yudhisthira declared, “Ashwatthama is dead. May be elephant, may be man". But as soon as Yudhisthira had uttered the first line, Pandava army on Krishna's direction broke into celebration with drums and conchs, in the din of which Drona could not hear the second part of the Yudhisthira's declaration and assumed that his son was indeed dead. Overcome with grief he laid down his arms, and on Krishna's instructionDhrishtadyumna beheaded Drona.

When Arjuna was fighting Karna, the latter's chariot's wheels sank into the ground. While Karna was trying to take out the chariot from the grip of the Earth, Krishna reminded Arjuna how Karna and the other Kauravas had broken all rules of battle while simultaneously attacking and killing Abhimanyu, and he convinced Arjuna to do the same in revenge in order to kill Karna. During the final stage of the war, whenDuryodhana was going to meet his mother Gandhari for taking her blessings which would convert all parts of his body on which her sight falls to steel, Krishna tricks him to wearing banana leaves to hide his groin. When Duryodhana meets Gandhari, her vision and blessings fall on his entire body except his groin and thighs, and she becomes unhappy about it because she was not able to convert his entire body to steel. When Duryodhana was in a mace-fight with Bhima, Bhima's blows had no effect on Duryodhana. Upon this, Krishna reminded Bhima of his vow to kill Duryodhana by hitting him on the thighs, and Bhima did the same to win the war despite it being against the rules of mace-fight (since Duryodhana had himself broken Dharma in all his acts in the past). Thus, Krishna's unparalleled strategy helped the Pandavas win the Mahabharata war by bringing the downfall of all the chief Kaurava warriors, without him having to lift a weapon. He also brought back Arjuna's grandson Parikshit to life, who had been attacked by a Brahmastra weapon from Ashwatthama while he was in his mother's womb. Parikshit became the successor of the Pandavas.

Later life

At a festival, a fight broke out between the Yadavas who exterminated each other. His elder brother Balarama then gave up his body usingYoga. Krishna retired into the forest and sat under a tree in meditation. While Vyasa's Mahābhārata says that Krishna ascended to heaven,Sarala's Mahabhārata narrates the story that a hunter mistook his partly visible left foot for a deer and shot an arrow wounding him mortally.

According to Puranic sources, Krishna's disappearance marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE. Vaishnava teachers such as Ramanujacharya and Gaudiya Vaishnavas held the view that the body of Krishna is completely spiritual and never decays as this appears to be the perspective of the Bhagavata Purana. Krishna never appears to grow old or age at all in the historical depictions of the Puranas despite passing of several decades, but there are grounds for a debate whether this indicates that he has no material body, since battles and other descriptions of the Mahabhārata epic show clear indications that he seems to be subject to the limitations of nature.^[74] While battles apparently seem to indicate limitations, Mahabharatha also shows in many places where Krishna is not subject to any limitations as through episodes Duryodhana trying to arrest Krishna where his body burst into fire showing all creation within him. Krishna is also explicitly told to be without deterioration elsewhere.

Worship

Vaishnavism

Main articles: Vaishnavism and Krishnaism

The worship of Krishna is part of Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the Supreme God and venerates His associated avatars, their consorts, and related saints and teachers. Krishna is especially looked upon as a full manifestation of Vishnu, and as one with Vishnu himself. However the exact relationship between Krishna and Vishnu is complex and diverse, where Krishna is sometimes considered an independent deity, supreme in his own right. Out of many deities, Krishna is particularly important, and traditions of Vaishnava lines are generally centered either on Vishnu or on Krishna, as supreme. The term Krishnaism has been used to describe the sects of Krishna, reserving term "Vaishnavism" for sects focusing on Vishnu in which Krishna is an avatar, rather than as a transcendent Supreme Being.

All Vaishnava traditions recognise Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu; others identify Krishna with Vishnu; while traditions, such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Vallabha Sampradaya and the Nimbarka Sampradaya, regard Krishna as the svayam bhagavan, original form of God, or the Lord himself. Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday also worshipped Krishna as God himself. "Greater Krishnaism" corresponds to the second and dominant phase of Vaishnavism, revolving around the cults of the Vasudeva, Krishna, and Gopala of late Vedic period. Today the faith has a significant following outside of

India

as well.

Early traditions

An image of Bala Krishna displayed during Janmashtami celebrations at aSwaminarayan Temple in London

The deity Krishna-Vasudeva (kṛṣṇa vāsudeva "Krishna, the son of Vasudeva") is historically one of the earliest forms of worship in Krishnaism and Vaishnavism. It is believed to be a significant tradition of the early history of the worship of Krishna in antiquity. This tradition is considered as earliest to other traditions that led to amalgamation at a later stage of the historical development. Other traditions are Bhagavatism and the cult of Gopala, that along with the cult ofBala Krishna form the basis of current tradition of monotheistic religion of Krishna. Some early scholars would equate it with Bhagavatism,^[91] and the founder of this religious tradition is believed to be Krishna, who is the son of Vasudeva, thus his name is Vāsudeva, he is belonged to be historically part of the Satvata tribe, and according to them his followers called themselves Bhagavatas and this religion had formed by the 2nd century BC (the time of Patanjali), or as early as the 4th century BC according to evidence in Megasthenes and in the Arthasastra of Kautilya, when Vāsudeva was worshiped as supreme deity in a strongly monotheistic format, where the supreme being was perfect, eternal and full of grace.^] In many sources outside of the cult, devotee or bhakta is defined as Vāsudevaka. The Harivamsa describes intricate relationships between Krishna Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha that would later form a Vaishnava concept of primary quadrupled expansion, or avatara.

[edit]Bhakti tradition

Main article: Bhakti yoga

Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity. However Krishna is an important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion, particularly among the Vaishnava sects. Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, meaning 'divine play', as the central principle of the Universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the actions of another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."

The bhakti movements devoted to Krishna became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. The earliest works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country.^[98] A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a gopi, is the most famous of the oldest works in this genre. Kulasekaraazhvaar's Mukundamala was another notable work of this early stage.

Spread of the Krishna-bhakti movement

Gita Govinda by Jayadeva.

The movement spread rapidly from northern India into the south, with the Sanskrit poem Gita Govinda of Jayadeva (12th century AD) becoming a landmark of devotional, Krishna-based literature. It elaborated a part of the Krishna legend—his love for one particular gopi, called Radha, a minor character in Bhagavata Purana but a major one in other texts like Brahma Vaivarta Purana. By the influence of Gita Govinda, Radha became inseparable from devotion to Krishna.

While the learned sections of the society well versed in Sanskrit could enjoy works like Gita Govinda or Bilvamangala's Krishna-Karnamritam, the masses sang the songs of the devotee-poets, who composed in the regional languages of India. These songs expressing intense personal devotion were written by devotees from all walks of life. The songs of Meera and Surdas became epitomes of Krishna-devotion in north India.

Krishna (left) with the flute with gopi-consort Radha, Bhaktivedanta Manor,Watford, England

These devotee-poets, like the Alvars before them, were aligned to specific theological schools only loosely, if at all. But by the 11th century AD, Vaishnava Bhakti schools with elaborate theological frameworks around the worship of Krishna were established in north India. Nimbarka (11th century AD), Vallabhacharya (15th century AD) and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (16th century AD) were the founders of the most influential schools. These schools, namely Nimbarka Sampradaya, Vallabha Sampradaya and Gaudiya Vaishnavism respectively, see Krishna as the supreme god, rather than an avatar, as generally seen.

In the Deccan, particularly in Maharashtra, saint poets of the Varkari sect such as Dnyaneshwar,Namdev, Janabai, Eknath and Tukaram promoted the worship of Vithoba,^[25] a local form of Krishna, from the beginning of the 13th century until the late 18th century.^[4] In southern India,Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa of Karnataka composed songs devoted to the Krishna image ofUdupi. Rupa Goswami of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, has compiled a comprehensive summary of bhakti named Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.

The West

Since 1966, the Krishna-bhakti movement has also spread outside India. This is largely due to theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement. The movement was founded by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who was instructed by his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, to write about Krishna in English and to share the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy with people in the Western world.

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Questions From A Muslim With Answers From Khan

August 27, 2009 by khan
Filed under Letters, Religion

25 Comments

I downloaded Bhagvad Geeta from your site and read it. I am extremely impressed and moved by the teachings of Krishana Ji. But being a Muslim, some questions arose in my mind. If you could help me to finding their answers, I will be grateful to you.

Dear sir,
I downloaded Bhagvad Geeta from your site and read it.

I am extremely impressed and moved by the teachings of Krishana Ji. But being a Muslim, some questions arose in my mind.

If you could help me to finding their answers, I will be grateful to you.

1. Why different religions, and I am refering specially to Islam and Hinduism, in contradiction to each other? Is it that some are really from God and others not?

2. If you are of opinion that all religions are from God, then would you please like to explain the reason of contradictions between the religions.

3. Is there any way to act upon the teachings of Krishana Ji, without compromising on the teachings of Islam. For example, being a Muslim I cannot meditate, visualising the image of Krishana Ji.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Muhammad

Lahore, Pakistan

Dear Muhammed

Asalaamulakum and Hare Krishna

My name is Khan and I have visited Pakistan. My parents are both muslims. And they like good muslim parents encouraged me in the islamic way of life. I had a firm belief in God and feared the day of judgement so tried to be good. But sometimes I would fail. Other times I would speculate more about what Allah was like and what heaven is like. But when I asked my elder Muslim brothers and fathers they would often tell me not to think of these things and just take what the Quran and hadith say, full stop.

At this stage in my life I was of the thinking that only Islam, Christianity and Jeudaism were authentic religions since they were all memtioned in the Quran but the Jewish and Christian scriptures had been changed whilst the Quran had stayed the same. But I thought all the other religions were man made idol worship concotions. My muslim upbringing had showed me that Islam was the last and final religion and that Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) was the last Prophet.

But at the age of 17 I, as are you, was most fortunate to come in contact with the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is and Srila Prabhupada’s books. As I read the BHagvad-Gita and many other smaller books I began to realise that all the religions were actually linked. Each religion would come due to time place and circumstance to elevate those particular people to the level of human beings who would begin to engage their minds on God.

“Hinduism” is the oldest then Budhism then Judaism then Christianity then Islam then Sikhism and then Lord CAitanya came. Each had their purpose. You can research each if you want. But when you compare the scriptures of each you will begin to see that there is a common link. Each believes in ONE ultimate God/Reality and each gives processes on how to reach this final goal/reality.

You said in your enquiring message:

1. Why different religions, and I am refering specially to Islam and Hinduism,are in contradiction to each other? Is it that some are really from God and others not?

2. If you are of opinion that all religions are from God, then would you please like to explain the reason of contradictions between the religions.

Well some contradictions that I originally thought of between Hinduism(specifically Bhakti Yoga) and Islam:

1)Reincarnation- I always had a strong inclination that reincarnation occurs even before I came in contact with Krishna consciousness. But Muslims believe that after this life one is judged by God to go into heaven or hell to enjoy or suffer forever onwards. Whereas the Vedic literatures teach us that indeed at the time of death one is judged according to the deeds one has done in that life(ie Karma) and given appropriate next life in either heavenly or hellish body based on qualifications and deire. In fact it is some dear servants of God that look after this process not God directly. Why because in doing so they please God in their service. So if you act righteously and do good deeds and desire to go to heven, after death your soul will be transfered to heaven and you will be born into a heavenly planet. There are different levels of heavenly planets ==7different levels== same as the Islam teaches us in Quran and HAdith that there are 7 levels of heaven. But the real difference in spiritual life of the vedic literatures is that God does not live in the heavenly planets. Even the Quran says that God created the Earth and the Heavens which means that He existed before the Heavens and therfore these are not His eternal abode. So not only do the Vedic LIteratures explain about what the heavenly planets are and how to get there it also explains about Gods abode and how to get there. This is the SPIRITUAL WORLD. In fact there is a HAdith that explains that when Prophet Muhammed ascended to God he penatrated all 7 layers of Heaven. So in fact the aim of life in both religions is to get to God and help serve Him, not simply a paradise were you can enjoy your senses more.

The issue of reincarnation is about realisation really. If you come to the understanding that you are not the body that is constantly changing but rather you are pure spirit soul covered in the materialism then this is a start. (concept of soul is in Islam). But the next stage is to realise that the soul is not the same as the body. It is eternal. But then you may argue that only God is eternal. But God is the eternal master (allah hu akbar) and we are the eternal servants. How can you be a master if there is noone to master over. So the real understanding I have gained is that the soul was not created, we are part and parcel of God. But simultaneously different.

2)Vegetarianism- Now many Muslims almost think that it is faraz(a must) to eat meat to be a muslim. This is simply wrong. At that time remeber the civilisation was quite degraded and the majority of the people would be eating meat, intoxicating on alcohol and gambling and so many other corrupt things. If you study the Quran it will show in the earlier time that the Prophet allowed alcohol in moderation, but later verses do not allow. This is due to at that time place and circumstance to slowly raise the level of the people. Similarly although meat eating is allowed it is not necesarry. In Islam when you kill an animal the halal you must look the animal in the eye and recite Quranic verse and offer 6/7ths of the animal to the poor and eat the rest with your family. Who does this now? In England they have big slaughterhouses. Even Muslim ones and they have a tape player of an Imam saying the payers that recirculates agian and again while the animals are killed one by one in a profit business fashion. I am vegetarian and would only eat meat if necesarry.

Muslims would even ask me about Eid and HAjj, shouldnt you eat meat then? But lets look at the story behind this. When Prophet Abraham was about to sacrife his son due to God asking him in dreams God stopped him and allowed him to sacrifice a sheep instead. But does this really mean that every muslim to celebrate this day should kill a sheep and enjoy and laugh and have party and dress in new fashionable clothes? Or is the moral of the story that on this day we should be prepared to sacrifice something that we are attached too much to(like TV or pop music or so on)?

3)Deity worship- In Prophet Muhammeds time there was an ancient Vedic culture in ancien arabia. But this had become corrupted. And instead of worshipping God people were woshipping stones for some material benefit. MAny idols of many so-called Gods were present. THe general society was degraded—women and men dancing naked around the Kaba and alcohol drinking and gambling and so many other degrading acts.

So at that time place and circumstance a system needed to be introduced to change this society into more of human civilsation. So the Prophet came with Quran and began to win many followers and destroy all these idols and degraded society. Islam would preach no Idol Worshipping, drinking and gave a social structure where women would be honoured.

But Diety worship is not the same as idol worship. Dieties are the authentic forms of God. Just as in the Quran there are many different names of God (for to Him belong all the beutiful names) at least 99 showing His different attributes. So similarly in the VEdic scriptures there are many different forms of God. No one says that since the muslims call Allah by so many different names then they believe in so many different Gods. So if you begin to see Hinduism in this light then you will realise that even the Hindus believe in only one God.

You also asked:

3. Is there any way to act upon the teachings of Krishana Ji, without compromising on the teachings of Islam. For example, being a Muslim I cannot meditate, visualising the image of Krishana Ji.

For me personally it helps me to think of Krishna better when I can see a picture of Him rather than reading a name like Allah or Krishna. But remeber even the names are so spiritually powerful. Because Allah is absolute that means His name, form and voice are non-different. Remember often in the Quran it says that prophets heard God say this or that. So if you can hear God what is the difficulty in seeing God. God is on the absolute platform. So if you can keep the beutiul names of Allah on your lips all the time then you will be spiritually successful.

Even in the Quran there are references of God’s personmal features. These I can give you. Where it mentions that God has eyes,hands, face etc. Remember this is not a material limited body like ours. When a devotee sees a picture of Krishna the picture acts as a spiritual tool because straight away he is reminded of God. So I recommend that you continue to remeber God in the best way you can. If this means keeping His names on your lips then this is also very perfect.

PLease keep reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. They are not ordinary books. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. So many people are converting. But those who convert from Islam, it takes something really powerful to do this. For me I have found this in the Vedic literatures. But remeber you don’t have to give up or throw away anything. You can still pray 5 times a day, go to Masjid and celebrate Eid. But if you want to increase your spirtual life even further then please my Muslim brother take advantage of the knowledge in these books. And distribute it to as many people as you can. After all Muslim means one who submits to the will of Allah.

Please let me know if there are more confusions. Remeber spiritual life is a process of realisation. It may not happen overnight.

Please take care and thank you very much.

Khud Hafiz and Hare Krishna

Khan

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ISKCON published a new version of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s book, ‘Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers’ in 1993.The original book is slashed from 9…
The Story of Haridasa Thakur and Ramachandra Khan
A landholder named Ramachandra Khan was the zamindar of that district. He was envious of Vaisnavas and was therefore a great atheist. Unable to tolerate that such respect was …

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