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Zakir Naiks Introduction to Hinduism (edited with comments)

December 30, 2009 By Agniveer Fanatics on Hinduism There is a proverb in Sanskrit which states that if one mixes even a little poison in the food, the entire plate has to be rejected. We shall understand the implications of this proverb through a case study. We shall take one of the articles of Dr Zakir Naik, the selfproclaimed scholar of comparative religion for this. We have already seen in previous series how Dr Naik has ably proved that Prophet Muhammad was predicted in Hindu scriptures, even if meant accepting that the Prophet was a ghost, demon, mass-murderer. You can review the analysis of Dr Naiks research at http://agniveer.com/featured/prophet-hindu/ as a three part series. Today, we shall take the excellent research article: Introduction to Hinduism by Dr Zakir Naik. You can review the original article at http://www.irf.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=145&Itemid=128 What we shall do here is to edit the article by strikethrough of certain portions and providing replacement in red color and comments in italics. By the end of the article, you would realize how a little poison makes the entire food deadly. You shall also realize this further when we analyze his next article on Hinduism in future. A REQUEST: KINDLY PROVIDE YOUR COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK SO THAT WE ARE MOTIVATED FOR FURTHER RESEARCH AND IMPROVING UPON OUR WORK. ALSO SHARE THE CONTENT AND SITE WITH FRIENDS IF YOU FND IT USEFUL. KNOWLEDGE THAT IS NOT SHARED EVENTUALLY GETS DESTROYED.

So here we BEGIN: INTRODUCTION TO HINDUISM by Dr. Zakir Naik (Comment: We shall review his medical knowledge in a later post on Science in Quran and Vedas) The most popular among the Aryan religions is Hinduism. Comment: (1. Very smartly, he has started by sowing doubts that Aryan and Hinduism imply different things. Later he says that Hinduism is based on Vedas. 2. Can Dr Naik or his IRF Team name few other religions which are Aryan but not Hinduism? Can they prove that the word Arya did not originate from Vedas? The strategy was Divide and Rule by sowing seeds of differences among smaller groups) Dr Naik: Hindu is actually a Persian word that stands for the inhabitants of the region beyond the Indus Valley. However, in common parlance, Hinduism is a blanket term for an assortment of religious beliefs, most of which are (which is) based on the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. (as final authority and Upanishads and Geeta as other guiding texts) Comment: (Even Upanishads and Mahabharat claim Vedas to be the Supreme authority and clearly state that all other texts including Purans are to be interpreted in lines with Vedas. This is important because, what IRF will do is to twist and try to manipulate the meaning of verses to suit their own agenda of proving Muhammad left, right and center!) Dr Naik: II INTRODUCTION TO HINDU SCRIPTURES. There are several sacred scriptures of the Hindus. Among these are the Vedas, Upanishads and the Puranas. 1. VEDAS: 1. The word Veda is derived from vid which means to know, knowledge par excellence or sacred wisdom. There are four principal divisions of the Vedas (although according to their number, they amount to 1131 out of which about a dozen are available) Comment: (1. This sentence was deliberately put to prove that complete Vedas are not available and hence Hindus should accept Quran as full and final message of God. 2. But the fact is that there are only 4 Vedas and ALL are available in exactly same format as they were first given.

3. The 1131 number of branches being referred is those of explanations/ variants of original Veda Samhitas. The original still remain intact without change of even a single pronunciation or pitch) . Dr Naik: According to Maha Bhashya of Patanjali, there are 21 branches of Rigveda, 9 types of Atharvaveda, 101 branches of Yajurveda and 1000 of Samveda). 2. The Rigveda, the Yajurveda and the Samveda are considered to be more ancient books and are known as Trai Viddya or the Triple Sciences. The Rigveda is the oldest and has been compiled in three long and different periods of time. The 4th Veda is the Atharvaveda, which is of a later date. Comment: (1. All Vedas are considered to be of same age. They were revealed at inception of human civilization. There is no proof whatsoever to conclude that Vedas were written over a long period of time and some Vedas are older, some of later date. 2. Dr Naik has brought forth the baseless conjecture of western indologists and communists to suit his own agenda. 3. Fact remains that there is not one single evidence to support his hypothesis except that it suits the agenda of invaders to prove that even Aryans were invaders and Vedas are not revealed. 4. Dr Naik has been openly challenged officially to come for a debate on this, but he prefers to remain in hiding.) Dr Naik: 3. There is no unanimous opinion regarding the date of compilation or revelation of the four Vedas. According to Swami Dayanand, founder of the Arya Samaj, the Vedas were revealed 1310 million years ago(1.97 billion years ago) Comment: (1. This is not Dayanands calculation but as given in Manu Smriti and Surya Siddhanta and accepted by most traditional scholars irrespective of their philosophical beliefs. 2. Modern science cannot refute this estimate and admits that this is near to their estimates of evolution of life on earth. 3. Swami Dayanand was specifically mentioned to emphasize that he gave such ridiculously large number as age of Vedas. This is because Arya Samaj and Swami Dayanand have been the strongest critics of Islam for last 125 years, starting Shuddhi or reconversion movement to come back to Vedic Dharma and a prime force to combat Islamic Jehad. Even today, Dr Naik and his IRF is scared of facing Arya Samaj directly, despite several official challenges for debate.)

Dr Naik: According to other scholars, they are not more than 4000 years old. Comment: (1. These other scholars are none other than Christian indologists and their followers who have not one single proof to support their claim except that they believe Biblical genesis to happen few thousand years ago! 2. Again this is emphasized to prove Hindus that Vedas may not be as important as they believe, and that Quran is most perfect voice of God. 3. The fact is that Vedas are the only texts in world to have oral traditions running till date and a mechanism to ensure that not even a single syllable or pronunciation can be altered through 10 different Paath Vidhis. (Refer this article) 4. On contrary, Quran was written 20 years after death of Muhammad by those who were fighting against each other and killing each other to prove Islam to be a religion of Peace. 5. A large number of sects of Islam refuse to accept Quran to be perfect or even Muhammad to be final Prophet. Many have thus also developed new Qurans and new Prophets. Click this sentence to refer to this list for 73 divisions of Islam since its inception. Further Islamic hadiths say that only one of them is true and rest will go to Hell! I am not sure where Dr Naik will go!) Dr Naik: 4. Similarly, there are differing opinions regarding the places where these books were compiled and the Rishis to whom these Scriptures were given. Inspite of these differences, the Vedas are considered to be the most authentic of the Hindu Scriptures and the real foundations of the Hindu Dharma. Comment: (1. The first part of the sentence was put to emphasize that Hindu Dharma is on a very shaky foundation, and thus justifying his appeal to come to Islam. But truth is that these differing opinions come from foreign intellectuals and communists alone who have their own agendas. 2. And most importantly, they can cite not one single evidence in support of this claim except names of certain places in Vedas. And this amounts to saying that Mahabharat has been written in last 10 years because it contains words like Lal, Krishna, Atal, Vihari, Rahul, Arjun, Manmohan, Rajiv, Laal, Prasad and even Naik!) Dr Naik: 2. UPANISHADS: 1. The word Upanishad is derived from Upa meaning near, Ni which means down and Shad means to sit. Therefore Upanishad means sitting down near. Groups of pupils sit near the teacher to learn from him the secret doctrines. According to Samkara, Upanishad is derived from the root word Sad which means to loosen, to reach or to destroy, with Upa and ni as prefix; therefore Upanishad means Brahma-

Knowledge by which ignorance is loosened or destroyed. 2. The number of Upanishads exceeds 200 though the Indian tradition puts it at 108. There are 10 principal Upanishads. However, some consider them to be more than 10, while others 18. Comment: (Again the same ploy to seed doubts over authenticity of our beliefs. Fact is that there are 10 Upanishads considered important, but even these are accepted to be authentic so far they agree with Vedas. This is because only Vedas have a mechanism that ensures they cannot be altered, and all knowledge started from Vedas.) Dr Naik: 3. The Vedanta meant originally the Upanishads, though the word is now used for the system of philosophy based on the Upanishad. Literally, Vedanta means the end of the Veda, Vedasua-antah, and the conclusion as well as the goal of Vedas. The Upanishads are the concluding portion of the Vedas and chronologically they come at the end of the Vedic period. 4. Some Pundits consider the Upanishads to be more superior to the Vedas. Comment: (These must be Dr Naiks gang of Pandits. Otherwise, even Upanishads declare that Vedas are final authority. This forms the foundation of Sanatan Dharma which needs to shaken to get more converts to IRF brand of Islam!) Dr Naik: 3. PURANAS: Next in order of authenticity are the Puranas which are the most widely read scriptures. It is believed that the Puranas contain the history of the creation of the universe, history of the early Aryan tribes, life stories of the divines and deities of the Hindus. It is also believed that the Puranas are revealed books like the Vedas, which were revealed simultaneously with the Vedas or sometime close to it. Comment: (1. Very smartly he has inserted tribe with Aryan to demean it. Truth is that if one reads through Hadiths, he would realize what a tribe actually means! 2. No one considers Puranas to be either revealed like Vedas or as old as Vedas. Puranas themselves repeat innumerable times that Vedas are ultimate authority and revelation of God, and Puranas are to be interpreted only as per Vedas. 3. Further, most scholars agree that Puranas contain significant adulterations and/or misinterpretations. That is why, in matters of moral conduct, Puranas are not considered to be the benchmark for Hindu society. And that is why, despite stories of Radha-Krishna, the norm of Hindu society is to emphasize self-control and Brahmacharya in youth. These stories are either rejected by certain scholars or reinterpreted to mean something mystical. But no one takes stories of Puranas literally this is an important aspect of Hindu Dharma.

4. The reason why Dr Naik wants to emphasize on Puranas being revealed is obvious He wants to prove Muhammad in Puranas later. But if you read my article on Prophet in Bhavishya Puran, you would realize that it means Muhammad was a demon, ghost and a great nuisance! This may be 74th sect of Islam that would go to Heaven!) Dr Naik: Maharishi Vyasa has divided the Puranas into 18 voluminous parts. He also arranged the Vedas under various heads. Chief among the Puranas is a book known as Bhavishya Purana. It is called so because it is believed to give an account of future events. The Hindus consider it to be the word of God. Maharishi Vyasa is considered to be just the compiler of the book. Comment: (1. This crazy hypothesis was put to prove Muhammad the ghost and demon in Bhavishya Puran later! 2. But neither do Hindus take Bhavishya Puran seriously nor does it predict anything. It is a forged Purana that continued to be written till late 19th century. Apart from Muhammad the ghost and demon, it also contains stories of Shivaji, Aurangzeb, Mughals, Queen Victoria, her Parliament etc etc. This is the least authentic book of Hinduism and contains lots of stories with questionable authenticity. 3. Most people have not even heard of this Purana, and none consider this important for any religious activity or reading. Far from a word of God, it is considered fake by most. 4. The only word of God Hindus believe in are the Vedas. And Dr Naik should be thankful for this, because Bhavishya Puran calls Muhammad a demon, a ghost and a nuisance!) Dr Naik: 4. ITIHAAS: The two epics of Hinduism are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. A. Ramayana: According to Ramanuja, the great scholar of Ramayana, there are more than 300 different types of Ramayana: Tulsidas Ramayana, Kumbha Ramayana. Though the outline of Ramayana is same, the details and contents differ. Comment: (1. Ramanuj was a communist who insulted Ramayana characters by bringing insulting descriptions from different folklores, most known only to him. The daughter of Manmohan Singh, our PM, introduced his chapter in Delhi University. That caused a big uproar and the matter went to Supreme Court. It is still being contested but the chapter has been withdrawn by Delhi University because the Dean got thrashed for defending this insult of Ramayan characters.!

2. Suddenly, this Ramanuj, who is unknown to all except communists, becomes great for Dr Naik for obvious reasons. 3. All consider only Valmiki Ramayan to be authentic. Further, even in Valmiki Ramayan, all verses are not considered authentic and many seem to have entered later. Thus, scholars conclude that episodes like Sitas Agni Pariksha and entire Uttar Ramayan that contains stories like Sitas exile and Shambooks death are later era figments of imagination having nothing to do with original Ramayan. We shall review this in a separate research.) Dr Naik: Valmikis Ramayana: Unlike the Mahabharata, the Ramayana appears to be the work of one person the sage Valmiki, who probably composed it in the 3rd century BC. Comment: (There is no evidence to date Ramayan to 3rd BC except tales of communist historians! Valmiki is mentioned in several works which are dated much before that!) Its best-known recension (by Tulsi Das, 1532-1623) consists of 24,000 rhymed couplets of 16syllable lines organised into 7 books. The poem incorporates many ancient legends and draws on the sacred books of the Vedas. It describes the efforts of Kosalas heir, Rama, to regain his throne and rescue his wife, Sita, from the demon King of Lanka. Valmikis Ramayana is a Hindu epic tradition whose earliest literary version is a Sanskrit poem attributed to the sage Valmiki. Its principal characters are said to present ideal models of personal, familial, and social behavior and hence are considered to exemplify Dharma, the principle of moral order. Comment: (At last! finally so many lines without significant blunders!) Dr Naik: B. Mahabharata: The nucleus of the Mahabharata is the war of eighteen days fought between the Kauravas, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu. The epic entails all the circumstances leading upto the war. Involved in this Kurukshetra battle were almost all the kings of India world joining either of the two parties. The result of this war was the total annihilation of Kauravas and their party. Yudhishthira, the head of the Pandavas, became the sovereign monarch of Hastinapura. His victory is supposed to symbolise the victory of good over evil. But with the progress of years, new matters and episodes relating to the various aspects of human life, social, economic, political, moral and religious as also fragments of other heroic legends came to be added to the aforesaid nucleus and this phenomenon continued for centuries until it acquired the present shape. The Mahabharata represents a whole literature rather than one single and unified work, and contains many multifarious things.

C. Bhagavad Gita: Bhagavad Gita is a part of Mahabharata. It is the advice given by Krishna to Arjun on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. It contains the essence of the Vedas and is the most popular of all the Hindu Scriptures. It contains 18 chapters. The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most widely read and revered of the works sacred to the Hindus. It is their chief devotional book, and has been for centuries the principal source of religious inspiration for many thousands of Hindus. The Gita is a dramatic poem, which forms a small part of the larger epic, the Mahabharata. It is included in the sixth book (Bhismaparvan) of the Mahabaharata and documents one tiny event in a huge epic tale. The Bhagavad Gita tells a story of a moral crisis faced by Arjuna, which is solved through the interaction between Arjuna, a Pandava warrior hesitating before battle, and Krishna, his charioteer and teacher. The Bhagavad Gita relates a brief incident in the main story of a rivalry and eventually a war between two branches of a royal family. In that brief incident a pause on the battlefield just as the battle is about to begin Krishna, one chief on one side (also believed to be the Lord incarnate), is presented as responding to the doubts of Arjuna. The poem is the dialogue through which Arjunas doubts were resolved by Krishnas teachings. Comment: (As a smart covert hypnotist, Dr Naik ends up the article without seeding further doubts so that it all appears unbiased and normal. This also gives time to plant the ideas that he has previously introduced subtly: a. Aryans were tribals b. Authenticity of Vedas, the primary texts of Hindu Dharma, are questionable c. Vedas are not as old as they are assumed to be d. Swami Dayanand and Arya Samaj make ridiculous assumptions about Vedas e. Bhavishya Puran is most important text of Hindu Dharma f. Other texts apart from Vedas are also considered equally authentic g. Ramayan and Ram may not be authentic Now these subtle suggestions are to serve his future agenda, as also obvious in his research on Prophet in Hindu Scriptures!) This is nothing but a variant of a technique permitted in some schools of Islam which allows you to use deceit and confusion to defeat the enemy. But I hope everyone shall accept truth and truth alone! Because a little poison is a dangerous thing!