Yesterday I went to a restaurant and as I was waiting for my parcel, I heard two waiters of the restaurant conversing among themselves about – Religion.
I quote one statement said by one of them in the bengali language, and then I will translate it to English.
“Khawa te ki kichu hoy go, kichui hoyna. Ashol Dhormo hoy sref korme’ – kormo jemon, tar dhormo tamon. Amar nijer thakuma, tini toh roj ek bela bhaat kheten, ki holo tate? Uni ki sorge gelen? Vivekananda toh ilish mach r khasir manghso khete khub bhalo basten, ramkrishna toh go-mangso khete cheyechilen – hain, uni jokhon islam dhorme’r upor sadhona korchilen tokhon go-mangso khete cheyechilen – onara ki dhormo manten na? Rig ved’er kotha boli – okhane amader go-mangso khawar kotha bola ache – age amra khetam, tarpor arya’ra asha por oshob bondho hoye jay – se onek golpo….“
I translate it in English:
Religion (dhormo) is affected not by what you eat, but by what you do (kormo), your deeds define your religion. Speaking of my own grandma – she used to take rice once a day – what happened, nothing, it’s all crap! Vivekananda enjoyed eating Hilsa and Mutton, while Ramakrishna even wanted to have beef while He was meditating in Islam. Did they not follow Religion? Indians, including Hindus used to eat beef – and this is mentioned in the Vedas. This practice stopped after the Aryan invasion…
Somehow, I could not help respecting that person.
He understood (and realized) what Vivekananda had essentially preached long back – “Religion is realisation; not talk, nor doctrine, nor theories, however beautiful they may be. It is being and becoming, not hearing or acknowledging; it is the whole soul becoming changed into what it believes”
Many civilised and well-to-do educated literates fail to understand this simple message.
I quote one statement said by one of them in the bengali language, and then I will translate it to English.
“Khawa te ki kichu hoy go, kichui hoyna. Ashol Dhormo hoy sref korme’ – kormo jemon, tar dhormo tamon. Amar nijer thakuma, tini toh roj ek bela bhaat kheten, ki holo tate? Uni ki sorge gelen? Vivekananda toh ilish mach r khasir manghso khete khub bhalo basten, ramkrishna toh go-mangso khete cheyechilen – hain, uni jokhon islam dhorme’r upor sadhona korchilen tokhon go-mangso khete cheyechilen – onara ki dhormo manten na? Rig ved’er kotha boli – okhane amader go-mangso khawar kotha bola ache – age amra khetam, tarpor arya’ra asha por oshob bondho hoye jay – se onek golpo….“
I translate it in English:
Religion (dhormo) is affected not by what you eat, but by what you do (kormo), your deeds define your religion. Speaking of my own grandma – she used to take rice once a day – what happened, nothing, it’s all crap! Vivekananda enjoyed eating Hilsa and Mutton, while Ramakrishna even wanted to have beef while He was meditating in Islam. Did they not follow Religion? Indians, including Hindus used to eat beef – and this is mentioned in the Vedas. This practice stopped after the Aryan invasion…
Somehow, I could not help respecting that person.
He understood (and realized) what Vivekananda had essentially preached long back – “Religion is realisation; not talk, nor doctrine, nor theories, however beautiful they may be. It is being and becoming, not hearing or acknowledging; it is the whole soul becoming changed into what it believes”
Many civilised and well-to-do educated literates fail to understand this simple message.