Vrindavan

Professor Ulrich THEO 424 12/21/16 Introduction *** In this paper, I will be discussing the history, beliefs and challenges of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) religious movement and how it presents arising issues to Christianity and Judaism. This is an important topic to address because the ISKCON movement has been gaining more followers all over the world since it started in 1966. This movement now has over 600 temples, 60 farm communities, 50 schools and 90 restaurants across the world(ISKCON 2). Since this movement is gaining a larger presence with each passing year, it is important to know what their beliefs are and some of the reactions from well-educated scholars. This will allow us to be able to truly know the devotees of the ISKCON movement before making any rash judgments concerning the movement. The main religion that will be discussed in this paper is Hinduism. This is because the ISKCON devotees devote themselves to their Lord Krishna, who is a one of the major deities in Hinduism. One author that this paper will reference will be Harold Coward who is a Canadian scholar that has written many popular scholarly religious works. The second author that this paper will reference is John Saliba, he is a professor at the University of Detroit-Mercy and a noted writer on religious movements. The first section of the paper will give a background on Hinduism, specifically the Bhagavita Purana and Krishna. The second section will describe the…

like the Native American trickster figure. As Tilo calls him: “Playboy Raven, my American of the party scene” (TMS 287). Like the trickster of Native lore, Raven has seduction written all over his face. Tilo falls for his “silver-edged seductive cloud-smile upon which I could float away so easily and never return” (TMS 110). To draw a parallel, Raven resembles the very attractive Krishna of Krishna Leela; Krishna is both a trickster as well as a seductive lover known for his love and romance…

whose side thou liest. Wifehood with this thy husband was thy portion, who took thy hand and wooed thee as a lover.” (Rig Ved, Mandala 10, Chapter 18, double line 7)this says a widow to rise from the pier of her dead husband and now move on to take the hand of her new husband. When so many widows were burning themselves with their husband’s people started reading this to say “Let these wives first step into the pyre, tearless without any affliction and well adorned” Hinduismglances). What is…

birth to her first seven sons, Kamsa would come to the prison cell and ruthlessly kill the newborns. Soon after Devaki became pregnant with her eighth child Krishna. Since Krishna was the eighth child, he was smuggled out of the prison to be raised by his foster parents, in exchange for their newborn girl. Even though the omen predicted the eighth son would kill Kamsa, Kamsa still took the baby girl and bashed her against a stone. The girl, however, transformed into the Goddess Yogmaya and warns…

named Koly lives in a family that is very poor. When she turns thirteen her mother says that it is time for her to marry. Koly finds a boy but after she gets married she soon realizes that his family lied about his age and that they just needed the money from her dowry (property of money brought from a wife to her husband on their marriage) because her husband, Hari, has tuberculosis. They used the dowry money but Hari’s family was not able to save him. After his unfortunate death Koly’s Sass…

hospital in Pune. Das has earned considerable respect in recent years. Thus, Das is an important figure whose bold and honest voice has re-energized Indian writing in English. Das has attempted to touch and feel life in a meaningful way and there lies a dualism in her writing in English, in which soul is contrasted to body. Her poems are filled with yearning for death which symbolizes calmness in contrast to the conscious mind and the body of the anxious individual. Her realization of the…