Is there a shiva-linga at the Kaba?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
question is there a shivalinga in the kaba answer in general controversial claims which are not coming directly from guru sadhu shastra and which are we always have to take with a pinch of salt. Now, in our tradition, Guru Sadhya Shastra has not talked about specific cultural forms at the various places such as the presence of Shiva Linga at the Kaaba or anything like that.
So, in general, if our Acharya has not talked about it, that means we don’t have any authoritative source for it. So, of course, apart from shakta, pratyaksha and anumana are also sources of knowledge, but they are not reliable or conclusive sources of knowledge. So, now, the knowledge that comes from pratyaksha and anumana, that we will have to evaluate when we want to use it.
Now, such claims often come from people who have some agenda to prove their own national state superiority. That means there are many hardline Hindu nationalists who often use religion as an agenda for political power and this is not just there in Islam, but it’s also there in Hinduism. So, there are people who try to reconstruct history in such a way as to prove that everything good everywhere has come from India.
Now, mainstream historians completely reject this kind of claims because they find that the evidence of the reasoning is not adequate for such things. So, of course, there are some devotees, especially those devotees who come from such nationalistic religious backgrounds, who may find such claims very exciting, very sensational even. And somehow this becomes a tool for proving the superiority of our religion over their religion.
But in general, our acharyas have not resorted to things like this too much. So, for example, generally the way we see our acharyas working, they focus primarily on the universal principle of developing love for God. And I’m talking about the purity, the selflessness of that love as the standard of the highest religion.
So, now, if we look at the specific claim, whether there is a Shiva Linga at the heart of the Islamic place of worship. So, how will we determine it? We don’t have to accept that. If you go to Patek Sharma, the opinions are widely conflicting with most scholars not accepting it.
And hardline Hindu nationalists championing this idea. So, normally depending on what we speak, we attract that kind of people. And people categorize us depending on what we speak.
So, these sorts of claims are sensationalist, they are attention grabbing. And from the perspective of sharing our philosophy, they are actually distracting. Because whether at the Kaaba there is a Shiva Linga or not, that in and of itself is not going to really lead to any raising of consciousness of people.
People’s consciousness will rise when they committedly practice a process of purification. Some form of yoga, preferably Bhakti Yoga, that is the easiest. But now we can say that, or some people can argue that, if people understood that all the Vedic religions originally came from Vedic religion, and then when people understand this, then their faith in the Vedic culture will increase and then they will practice Vedic culture more seriously.
That is possible. But how probable is it? Possible means something can happen. Probable means something is likely to happen.
We say that, okay, it’s a Shiva Linga over there. But then there are so many Shiva Lingas in India. Just that, seeing that Shiva Linga, are people becoming Krishna devotees? Are people producing the path of pure devotional service? No.
So, even if we prove that it’s a Shiva Linga, that does not necessarily mean that people will focus on the path of pure devotional service. And the important principle to recognize is that when we focus too much on specific historical or controversial issues, then we distract people from the universal and experientially verifiable practices and principles of Krishna consciousness. That means, for ordinary people, it is very difficult to go into exhaustive historical research.
Now, we may see some photos and some photos if they are developed in a particular way, taken from a particular angle, then something can be made to appear something like this. So now, the fact that there might be a trishul, so that is okay. But a trishul in and of itself does not do anything.
Because it’s just simply three lines. One line below that. And that is something which is not necessarily a uniquely Hindu symbol.
So, people in general are not equipped to do the kind of critical historical research to determine whether particular historical claims are right or wrong. On the other hand, everyone in one sense is equipped to do internal spiritual research. They can actually chant Hare Krishna and they can experience the purification of heart that comes by chanting Hare Krishna.
Therefore, it is far far better to focus on these universal principles of Krishna consciousness rather than on such controversial cultural claims. And now, if some devotees want to believe this, that is okay with them. They don’t need to go for a big campaign against it, saying that it’s not true and they are wrong.
But then there is no need to make a campaign for this either. That this should not become a part of our mainstream preaching. Some devotees who have that kind of passion may incidentally in their talks mention this.
But we are not here to try to prove the cultural superiority of one religion over another religion. Our goal is to actually raise the consciousness of people. And that will happen by encouraging people to understand the philosophy and take up the practice.
So, this sort of claim is very different from the research to show that a historical Dwarka existed. That Krishna is not a simply mythological figure, there is a historical Krishna. So, why is it different? Because these are much more important principles which are talked about directly in our scripture.
So, for example, Krishna’s historicity and Dwarka is the capital of Krishna, the historicity of that. Historicity is historical authenticity. This is something which is talked about by gurus of Shastra.
And therefore, doing empirical research to try to confirm it will increase people’s faith in Shastra. But controversial claims like these are best kept at a distance because of, again, I will give three reasons. First is, they are not mentioned in Guru Sadhu Shastra.
That means they are not especially important or central to our mission which our Acharyas want to share. And the mood in which they want to share that. Secondly, they are, because they are controversial, with no very strong evidence from the point of view of historical research to support them.
So, what happens is, we often, by intelligent people, we get lumbered with hardline religious nationalists who often are interested not in spiritual elevation of people, but they are interested more in political expansion. Where they simply want to prove that India is the greatest. And therefore, everybody should follow what we are doing.
So, when we get, Prabhupada is very careful that we don’t get lumbered with Hindu nationalists like that. And, of course, it’s not that we want to deny our roots, but it’s simply that Krishna consciousness is universal and non-sectarian. It is not something which is either political or social, something like that.
It’s not a political conflict. So, that is the second thing. Third thing is, unnecessarily we create enemies.
So, we don’t have to go about creating enemies. Naturally, if tomorrow there have been historically Christians who tried to claim that actually the story of Krishna has come from the story of Jesus. So, they say Krishna is much, Jesus is older and Krishna is later.
And, because there are some similarities in their stories. So, they say Krishna is a story which is imagined by Hindus based on the story of Jesus. Now, of course, this is historically not true, but just such an idea is so distasteful for people who are Hindus.
So, what is it? It’s simply a tactic by Christians to try to subordinate and trivialize the Hindu beliefs. Similarly, if you try to prove like this. So, what is going to happen? Muslims are going to get alienated, anger driven.
The general Hindu people are going to feel that we are simply hardline Hindu nationalists. And, some devotees may have their faith a little bit increased. But, if this becomes a discussion topic among devotees.
Overall, this is sensationalist controversial topic. It will distract people from the main focus of Krishna Consciousness. And, that’s why there is no need to get angrily excited by such religious themes.