Muslim Devotees of Krishna
Krsna is a mischievous cowherd boy who charms the village girls of Vrndavana with the tantalizing call of His flute. Krsna is sweet, clever, beautiful, playful, compassionate, sometimes frustrating, and sometimes even harsh—yet He is always and in every way completely fascinating. Krsna is also what some people call God. He is not a distant, fearsome God who tortures you forever if you don’t do what He says. Krsna is much nicer than that. The Vedic literature, the most elaborate exposition of spiritual knowledge, affirms that Krsna is the Supreme Being, the Ultimate Reality, the All-attractive Personality of Godhead. He can attract everyone—even persons who are direly warned to never approach Him. Although most of His devotees freely partake in His service, some have had to overcome all kinds of restrictions in order to attain the refuge of His lotus feet. Among the less-known and less-likely of Krsna’s devotees are several from Muslim backgrounds. They too, being irresistibly attracted by Krsna, have craved to sing and dance and play with Him, to go beyond formality and directly experience His being closer than the jugular vein. On my request, Dr. Dipankar Deb, an engineering academician whose heart has also been captured by Krsna, has compiled Muslim Devotees of Krsna, and he has done so very well. Whatever might be the religious, social, or political ramifications of this book, I invite the readers to join Dr. Deb in relishing these vignettes of thirty remarkable persons such as Thakura Haridasa, Rasakhan, Salabega, and Rahim, who have transcended their Muslim backgrounds to delight in the call of Krsna’s transcendental flute.
| Vender | Rasbihari Lal & sons |
Krsna is a mischievous cowherd boy who charms the village girls of Vrndavana with the tantalizing call of His flute. Krsna is sweet, clever, beautiful, playful, compassionate, sometimes frustrating, and sometimes even harsh—yet He is always and in every way completely fascinating. Krsna is also what some people call God. He is not a distant, fearsome God who tortures you forever if you don’t do what He says. Krsna is much nicer than that. The Vedic literature, the most elaborate exposition of spiritual knowledge, affirms that Krsna is the Supreme Being, the Ultimate Reality, the All-attractive Personality of Godhead. He can attract everyone—even persons who are direly warned to never approach Him. Although most of His devotees freely partake in His service, some have had to overcome all kinds of restrictions in order to attain the refuge of His lotus feet. Among the less-known and less-likely of Krsna’s devotees are several from Muslim backgrounds. They too, being irresistibly attracted by Krsna, have craved to sing and dance and play with Him, to go beyond formality and directly experience His being closer than the jugular vein. On my request, Dr. Dipankar Deb, an engineering academician whose heart has also been captured by Krsna, has compiled Muslim Devotees of Krsna, and he has done so very well. Whatever might be the religious, social, or political ramifications of this book, I invite the readers to join Dr. Deb in relishing these vignettes of thirty remarkable persons such as Thakura Haridasa, Rasakhan, Salabega, and Rahim, who have transcended their Muslim backgrounds to delight in the call of Krsna’s transcendental flute.