Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan

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Chaitanya Charan · How to disagree without disrespecting – Chaitanya Charan Prabhu
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Answer Podcast

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/11-16%20QA/What%20is%20the%20difference%20between%20Arjuna%20fighting%20under%20Krishna%20and%20jehadis%20fighting%20under%20Allah.mp3
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Transcribed by: Anupama Kulkarni (Pune)

Question: What is the difference between Arjuna fighting under Krishna and jehadis fighting under Allah?

Answer: Firstly, even when one is fighting under God’s guidance, there are certain codes of war prescribed by dharma that need to be followed. The war code generally is that you fight against a warrior who is your equal, who is equipped and alert. For example, an elephant warrior will fight with an elephant warrior; a chariot warrior will fight with a chariot warrior. It is not that you fight with a person who is looking somewhere else and you shoot at him.

When the jihadis launch terror attacks, it is completely the opposite. They are trained, well-equipped soldiers whereas their victims are civilians who are not their equal, neither alert nor armed with any weapons.

The jehadis attack civilians in their usual places of living. It is not a situation of war at all. This is against the war codes. Kshatriyas, when they fought, would always fight with war codes. There is no example in the Mahabharata or the Ramayana of Kshatriyas killing civilians. All the wars were fought in designated areas. The Pandavas and Kauravas designated Kurukshetra as the area for war. Even earlier in the Mahabharata, when the Kauravas attacked the Pandavas when they were staying in the kingdom of Virat, Kauravas did not go and disrupt the cities to injure civilians. To indicate that they had come to fight, they took possession of the grazing cows, not wounding them but simply possessing. When Virat got the news, he came out to fight and the war took place.

Another major difference between the two is from the Islamic perspective itself. Islam talks of a holy war which is primarily fought for protecting oneself. A war fought for attacking others is not considered a holy war. When the jihadis attack the civilians, they are not really following the Islamic codes of warfare. Theirs is not a sacred war even as per Islam.

Moreover, jihadis have no inclusive philosophical understanding. Their idea is that we are right because we are devoted to Allah and everyone else is a kafir (infidel) and they deserve to be killed. Their conception of religion is very sectarian. Krishna was on the battlefield and still he was saying – suhrdam sarva-bhutanam (BG 5.29) – I am the well-wisher of all living beings. He meant he is the well-wisher of the Kauravas also. He demonstrated this by himself going as a peace messenger. Krishna was the greatest warrior of his times and for him to go as a peace messenger was an extraordinary act. It is like say Pakistan is attacking India and the Indian prime minister himself goes as a peace messenger. Krishna tried everything for a peaceful resolution. Here, there is an inclusive understanding of spirituality where Krishna says that I am the well-wisher of even these people whom we are fighting against. Krishna does not differentiate that these are […]

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Chaitanya Charan · 199 Focusing on the practical in the scriptural The Monk’s Podcast with Kaustubha P

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Chaitanya Charan · 199 Focusing on the practical in the scriptural The Monk’s Podcast with Kaustubha P summary

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Chaitanya Charan · 198 Presenting Lord Chaitanya to today s world via biography writing The Monk’s Podcast Yogesvara P
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Chaitanya Charan · 198 Presenting Lord Chaitanya to today s world via biography writing-The Monk‘s Podcas…

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Chaitanya Charan · If I Don’t Find Answers By Different Devotees Equally Convincing, Am I Judging Them

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Chaitanya Charan · Texas school shooting were all victims subject to mass karma?

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Chaitanya Charan · 197 Varnashrama for addressing the evolving needs of devotees The Monk’s Podcast with Kamalalochan P
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Chaitanya Charan · 197 Varnashrama for addressing theevolving needsofdevotees The Monk’s Podcast-Kamalal…

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Chaitanya Charan · 196 Systematic outreach for sustainable community development The Monk’s Podcast with Aniruddha P
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Chaitanya Charan · 196 Systematic outreach for sustainable community development The Monk’s Podcast-Anirudd…

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Chaitanya Charan · Can devotees onthe Vyasasana speak something out of parampara eg.all of Bhagavatam is not practical?

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Chaitanya Charan · When Arjuna vowed to kill Jayadratha out of anger, was he violating Krishna’s Gita instructions

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Chaitanya Charan · 195 Pursuing writing as an art in bhakti, The Monk s podcast 195 with Urmila M
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Chaitanya Charan · 195 Pursuing writing as an art in bhakti, The Monk s podcast 195 with Urmila M summary
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Chaitanya Charan · 194 Is the Gita religious or spiritual The Monk s Podcast with Garuda P
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Chaitanya Charan · 194 Is the Gita religious or spiritual The Monk s Podcast with Garuda P summary
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Chaitanya Charan · 193 Thoughts on ISKCON s future The Monk s Podcast with Govardhana P
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Chaitanya Charan · 193 Thoughts on ISKCON s future The Monk s Podcast with Govardhana P summary
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Chaitanya Charan · When different devotees emphasize different things asmost important in bhakti,how to avoid confusion

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Chaitanya Charan · 192 Empathic communication why it is important in bhakti-The Monk’s podcastwith Bir Krishna Maharaja
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Chaitanya Charan · 192 Empathic communication why is important in bhakti The Monk’s podcast-Bir KrishnaM…

The Kashmir Files movie has shocked and enraged Indians — not only because such a horrifying ethnic cleansing occurred in our own country just a few decades ago, but also because the systematic brutality was allowed and concealed. Worse still, the reality was distorted by a nefarious nexus of corrupt politicians, inept law enforcers, negligent media and complicit intellectuals. The movie’s lack of any superhuman stunts makes the story all the more human and hard-hitting, thereby driving home the reality, gravity and brutality of events that happened to people just like us. Actually, such horrors have happened to people just like us, not just once but on many occasions across the world — given that extremist violence has been and continues to be a significant threat to humanity.

One criticism of the movie in some circles is that it may lead to stereotyping of all Muslims as fanatics, extremists or even terrorists. While that is a valid concern, how can that concern be actually addressed? By concealing the truth?

Truth

With regards to the issue underlying the Kashmir files, let’s consider some of the undeniable facts:
● A massive exodus of Kashmiri Hindus happened,
● The exodus was caused by an ethnic cleansing (irrespective of the exact number of people who were killed),
● The Kashmiri Hindus lived for a long time as refugees in desolate and even desperate conditions.
● In India’s mainstream media, the story of their tragedy and trauma remained untold and worse still was often downplayed, denied or even distorted.

Shouldn’t the telling of their experience be a valid concern, even a vital concern? While more may need to be done to avoid negative stereotyping of Muslims, at least something has been done by Bollywood — in fact, entire movies like My name is Khan have been dedicated to this theme. But what has been done to highlight, or even convey, the agony of the Kashmiri Hindus, who were the victims of the ethnic cleansing.

Sacrificing truth for tolerance’s sake?

Once it’s recognized that the truth was concealed, let’s analyze why this might have been done. There could be broadly three reasons:
● Malevolence: The people involved were evil and wanted to harm others or
● Incompetence: Those people just didn’t have the abilities or skills to do the right thing
● Ignorance: Those people didn’t know what was the right thing to do and they did what they thought was right, even if it wasn’t

Let’s consider which of these explanations apply to the denial of the plight of the Kashmiri Hindus. While a few may be malevolent and some may be incompetent, let’s adopt a spirit of charity and assume that they were largely ignorant: they genuinely thought that concealing the truth was the best way to avoid communal violence in India and even in the world at large.

Of course, the way the leftist intellectuals went about concealing the truth was not at all incompetent. The history was not just concealed but also distorted. The movie itself depicts the magnitude of the distortion: a young man whose own parents were killed […]

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Chaitanya Charan · Texas school shooting: A Bhagavad-gita perspective – Chaitanya Charan
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Chaitanya Charan · Do you watch the movies that you comment on? – Chaitanya Charan
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Chaitanya Charan · Is a devotee’s suffering caused by Krishna, not karma? – Chaitanya Charan

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Chaitanya Charan · When the soul is an individual,how can the same soul be manifest asArjuna,Arjuniyagopi&RamanandaRaya

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Chaitanya Charan · What is the meaning of Nirishvarvadi, Brahmavadi, Mayavadi, Shunyavadi, Nirakarvadi, Nirvisheshvadi

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Chaitanya Charan · Is the story of Narasimha real or mythological?
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Chaitanya Charan · Comparing Narasimha-rupa with Krishna-rupa and Vishva-rupa (Narasimha Chaturdashi special)
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Chaitanya Charan · Kali’s brutality & Krishna’s immorality: Understanding Vedic conceptions of divinity

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Chaitanya Charan · How can one who points to the wrongdoer get the same destination as the wrongdoer?

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Chaitanya Charan · Chota Haridasa pastime: What it teaches & what it DOES NOT TEACH – Chaitanya Charan
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Chaitanya Charan · Elon Musk s Twitter Takeover A Bhagavad-gita Perspective
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Chaitanya Charan · As many Hindu temples don’t allow non-Hindus to enter, is the Vedic tradition really inclusive

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Chaitanya Charan · Was Rama’s killing of Vali unfair? Ramayana Ethics – Chaitanya Charan

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Chaitanya Charan · How was Kamsa liberated when he was ill-motivated in his Krishna consciousness
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Chaitanya Charan · Is the RRR movie a contemporary retelling of Ramayana
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Chaitanya Charan · Rama-Navmi special: Relishing Lord Rama’s remembrance & appreciating Ramayana retellings

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Chaitanya Charan · RAMA NAVAMI SPECIAL:Indrajita’s snake attack & the attack of snake-like desires

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Chaitanya Charan · 191 Wars What can’t be prevented can be minimized The Monk s Podcast with Govinda Prabhu
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Chaitanya Charan · 191 Wars What can t be prevented can be minimized The Monk s Podcast with Govinda P summary
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Chaitanya Charan · The Kashmir files reminder: Denying truth for tolerance’s sake destroys both truth and tolerance

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Chaitanya Charan · Rising beyond caste discrimination to effective equality Chaitanya Charan on Kishori Jani M podcast
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Chaitanya Charan · 190 Sannyasa ashrama in the bhakti tradition Overvalued or devalued The Monk’s Podcast-Yadunandana M

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Chaitanya Charan · 190 Sannyasa ashrama in the bhaktitradition Overvaluedordevalued The Monks Podcast- Yadunandana M sy

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Chaitanya Charan · The power of humility and sensitivity – How Mahaprabhu transformed Prakashananda Saraswati
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Chaitanya Charan · 189 The Spiritual Advisors Bhagavata Assembly (SABHA) The Monks Podcast 189 with Nrsimhananda Prabhu
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Chaitanya Charan · 189 The Spiritual Advisors Bhagavata Assembly (SABHA) The Monks Podcast With Nrsimhan…

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Chaitanya Charan · What tangible good does ISKCON do the world – how to explain in universal terms?