BOOK REVIEW: Understanding other religions

Much of religious hatred and acrimony among the followers of different faiths stem from a lack of knowledge of other religions. In order to create better understanding and mutual respect among the followers of different religions, especially Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Bhudhism, it is imperative that inexpensive religious literature in large quantities be produced to facilitate this process. Messrs.
Book Home, 46 Mozang Road, Lahore seem to have taken upon themselves the onerous duty of publishing Urdu translations of a number of sacred books of different religions in order for the Pakistani readers to understand their teachings and philosophies. They have already published Urdu translations of a number of religious books for the benefit of the readers.
The book under review is the Mahabharata, one of the most sacred books of the Hindus, which has been translated into Urdu by a Hindu, a resident of the Walled City of Lahore in the pre-partition days.
The vast majority of the people of India are Hindus. The name Hinduism is given to their complicated combination of religious beliefs and social customs. Aryan conquerors first appeared in northern India about 1500 B.C. according to The Compton's Encyclopedia, a claim, which is disputed by Hindu scholars and researchers.
Then there gradually arose a series of sacred writings in Sanskrit. They were called the Vedas, which expressed a mystical pantheism. The Vedas show the early Aryan society divided into four social castes - the Brahmans or the princely caste; the Kashatriyas or soldier classes, the Vaisyas or farmer caste and the Sudras or labourers.
Early in their history, the Brahmans gained political and religious supremacy. They established the religion called "Brahamanas", which are commentaries on the old Vedas. Gradually, pantheism gave way to a religion of personal gods. The most important were Brahama, the "father of all"; Vishnu, the 'preserver'; and Siva, the "destroyer".
Today Brahamanism has ceased to exist as a separate faith. It is swamped beneath the mass of popular beliefs and later introductions such as Islam and Christianity. Scores of sects have grown up; some emphasise the worship of Vishnu; some of Siva. Others have set up newer gods and goddesses. At the same time, the old fourfold caste system has split into thousands of sub-castes. Each has its own peculiar rites.
An interesting Hindu belief is the transmigration of souls or 'metempsychosis'. According to this doctrine a person's soul passes into some other creature, human or animal. If the person has led a good life the soul goes upwards on the scale. A low-caste person is re-born as a high-caste. The soul of an evil person may pass in the body of a dog or any other animal. The Hindu gods are supposed to have undergone a series of incarnations or "avatars" similar to those through which men must pass. Lord Krisna is looked upon as a form of god Vishnu.
Mahabharata tells of events leading up to the present Age of Kali. It was at the beginning of this age, some fifty centuries ago, that Lord Krisna spoke Bhagavad Geeta to his friend and devotee Arjuna.
Their discourse, according to the Hindus - one of the greatest philosophical and religious dialogues known to mankind - took place before the onset of a war, a great fratricidal conflict between the hundred sons of Dhrtarastra and their cousins the Pandavas, or the sons of Pandu.
Dhrtarastra and Pandu were brothers born in the Kuru dynasty, descending from King Bharata, according to Hindu beliefs, the former ruler of the earth, from whom the name Mahabharata derives. Because Dhrtarastra, the elder bother, was born blind, the throne that otherwise would have been his was passed down to the younger brother Pandu. When Pandu died at an early age, his five sons - Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva - came under the care of Dhrtarastra, who in effect became the king. Thus the sons of Dhrtarastra and those of Pandu grew up in the same royal household. Both were trained in the military arts and counselled by the revered 'grandfather' of the clan, Bhisma.
Yet the sons of Dhratarastra, especially the eldest, Duryodhana, hated and envied the Pandavas. And the blind and evil-minded Dhrtarastra wanted his own sons, not those of Pandu, to inherit the kingdom.
Thus Duryodhana, with Dhrtarastra's consent, plotted to kill the young sons of Pandu, and it was only by the careful protection of their uncle Vidura and their cousin Lord Krisna that the Pandavas escaped the many attempts against their lives.
According to Hindu belief, Lord Krisna was not an ordinary man but the supreme godhead himself, who had descended to earth and was playing the role of a prince in a contemporary dynasty. In this role he was also the nephew of Pandu's wife Kuntgi or Prtha, the mother of the Pandavas. So both as a relative and as the eternal upholder of religion, Krisna favoured the righteous sons of Pandu and protected them.
Krisna became the charioteer of Arjuna, taking it upon himself to drive fabled bowman's chariot. This brings us to the point at which Bhagavad Geeta begins with the two armies arrayed, ready for combat.
Mahabharata considered a repository of ancient Indian beliefs, customs and wisdom is said to be the creation of Vedvayas, who saw each and every event, which he penned. If this claim is accepted as genuine, the historical incident of Mahabaharat took place 600 B.C. In this sacred book of the Hindus the 18-day war between two cousins for the throne of Histnapore is written.
The translator from Sanskirt to Urdu of Mahabharata is Thakur Sukh Ram Das Chohan, who was a resident of inside Mochi Gate, Lahore before the division of India.
He has tried to keep intact the original philosophy and preaching of Mahabharata. He has also written a number of books on Hinduism in an easily comprehensible diction.