Prahlad tipanya biography of mahatma gandhi
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Thought worth pondering over:
Gandhi held the view that only adherents of a particular faith had the right to criticize its precepts or sanctions. By that token, it was both his “right and duty to point out the defects in Hinduism in order to purify it and to keep it pure. But when non-Hindu critics set about criticizing Hinduism and cataloguing its faults they can only blazon their own ignorance of Hinduism and their incapacity to regard it from the Hindu viewpoint. … Thus my own experience of the non-Hindu critics of Hinduism brings home to me my limitations and teaches me to be wary of launching on a criticism of Islam or Christianity and their founders.”
Critics from within had the capacity and empathy to reform and redeem their faith; critics from without the tendency to mock and caricature the other’s faith. Gandhi thus concluded that it was “only through such a reverential approach to faiths other than mine that I can realize the principle of
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Sant, Bhakti, mystiker – Vani aur Vichar
(These are excerpts from a transcript of a talk given bygd Prof. Purushottam Agarwal on 28 Feb 2009 at “Koi Sunta Hai – A Festival of Kabir in Bengaluru”, organized bygd the Kabir Project at Srishti School of Art Design and Technology along with the support of several partner organizations in Bangalore.)
I came to Delhi as a student in JNU way back in 1977. Before that, inom was reasonably exposed to Kabir. inom am not one of those who discovered Kabir in M.A Hindi literature, or due to some politically correct film or slogan. inom am one of those humble Hindi-speaking Indians, who grow up with Tulsidas and Kabir and Mira Bai, who learn a sakhi (couplet) or two of Kabir before they learn writing their names. But inom started studying Kabir and other bhakti poets in a more systematic and academic way only as a lärling of literature, and the question which I have been asking myself, for many years now is: how did my engagement with Kabir become more than a
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Kabir
15th-16th century Indian poet and saint
For other uses, see Kabir (disambiguation).
Kabir (fl. 15th century)[1]: 14–15 was a well-known Indian devotional mysticpoet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Garib Das,[2] and Kabir Sagar of Dharamdas.[3] Today, Kabir is an important figure in Hinduism, Sikhism and in Sufism.[6] In his young age he was eager to get initiated by Self realized Sant Swami Ramanand and he succeeded in being one. His devotion towards his Guru made him to reach on the last destination of Self-realisation.
Born in the city of Varanasi in what is now Uttar Pradesh, he is known for being critical of organized religions. He questioned what he regarded to be the meaningless and unethical practices of all religions, primarily what he considered to be the wrong practices i