Hindus upset at Bhagavad Gita ban attempt by Russian city

Nevada (US), Nov 29 (ANI): Hindus are upset over reported attempts to ban their ancient scripture Bhagavad Gita in Russian city of Tomsk.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement today, said that Bhagavad Gita was one of the holiest scriptures of Hinduism and attempts at banning it would hurt the devotees.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. No faith, larger or smaller, should be maltreated.

Rajan Zed argued that it was apparently an attack on religious freedom and belittling of the entire community. He urged leaders of other world religions also to strongly protest this ban attempt, as Bhagavad Gita was a world treasure.

Zed pointed out that this philosophical and intensely spiritual poem, often considered the epitome of Hinduism, was highly revered by Hindus. Besides being the cornerstone of Hindu faith, Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Lord) was also one of the masterpieces of Sanskrit poetry and had been commented by hundreds of authors and translated into all major languages of the world.

It was a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, just before the beginning of the great Mahabharata war, in which Lord Krishna gave spiritual enlightenment to the warrior Arjuna, who realized that the true battle was for his own soul. Its 700 verses in 18 chapters considered the nature of action, the religious and social duty, the human relationship to God, the means of liberation, and the nature of sacrifice, etc., Rajan Zed added.

Established in 1604, Tomsk, one of the oldest towns in Siberia (Russia), is a major center for Russia's IT industry and houses Siberia's oldest university Tomsk State University. Nikolay Nikolaychuk is reportedly the Mayor. (ANI)