World

Religions
Based on the teachings of
His Divine Grace A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada
Founder Acharya –
International Society for
Krishna Consciousness
How many
If I ask you a
GODS are
question….
there ?
 What does
common sense
say ?
 Then why there
are so many…

• Religions ?
• Scriptures ?
• Gods ?
Some perplexing
questions …
• Whom should I
follow ?
• Whom do I believe ?
• Which God should I
worship ?
 More so when
everyone claims
his path or God

THE BEST !!!

GOD is ONE
 Just like we do not have …

• American Sun
• Indian Sun
• African Sun

But the same sun addressed differently

Likewise we have same
ONE GOD addressed
differently in different
religions…
• “Allah”
• “Father in Heaven”
• “Krishna”
• “The Supreme Personality of
Godhead”
All the bonafide religions
and scriptures being word
of that one God teach the
same truth in essence
 Essence

• God is One.
• Develop love for God.
• Obey God’s laws.
• Sin no more.
 Essence

• Glorify the holy names of

God.
• Render service to God.
• Return to the kingdom of God.
 God gives His message directly
or through His representatives,
according to …

Time Place Circumstances

& capacity of individuals who receive it
Different Level of Mathematics

Elementary
School Student

2 - 5 = ???
Different Level of Mathematics

High School
Student

2 - 5 = -3
Different Level of Mathematics

College
Student

Λ.φ.α=β.δ
Teacher instructs according
to level of understanding
of the student
DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
teach same principles but

according to
TIME, PLACE &
CIRCUMSTANCES
Koran says

“Do not have sex

with your mother
and sister”
- 16th Surah, Kuran
Although Prophet Mohammed
himself was representative of
God & self-realized soul, but
his audience were

TRIBESMEN of DESERT
 For the little that
Mohammed taught,
he had to flee from
Mecca due to
threat to his life
 Christianity
Ten Commandments says

“Thou
shalt not
kill”
To whom shall
you give this
instruction ?
 To those who
indiscriminately kill
 Although Jesus
preached for 3
years, it aroused so
much opposition
that they …
Mercilessly crucified him
Srimad Bhagavatam

Ripened
fruit of
Vedic
Knowledge.
 Srimad Bhagavatam

• Spotless Purana with

uncompromising instructions.
• Exposes harsh reality although
unpalatable.
• Audience are sages, who
have dedicated their lives
for welfare of humanity.
DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
have same message,
but impart instructions
according to audience.
 Jesus Christ to his
followers

“I have yet many

things to say unto
you, but ye cannot
bear them now.”

John 16:12
Lord Krishna to Arjuna
in Bhagavad - gita
“I shall now declare unto you in
FULL this knowledge, both
phenomenal and numinous. This
being known, NOTHING
FURTHER SHALL REMAIN
FOR YOU TO KNOW.”
 Pocket Oxford’s complete
Dictionary dictionary
Words which can be found in both
“hear” “small” “play”
 Words which can be found only in
Oxford’s complete dictionary

“HEDONISM”
“CATACLYSM”
 Similarly basic instructions
in all the religions

• do not steal
• love everyone
• forgive your enemy
 Some high level
instructions only in
Vedic scriptures like
Srimad Bhagavatam
Queen Kunti prays to
Lord Krishna
 “I wish that all those
calamities would happen again
and again so that we could see
You again and again.”
 Lord Caitanya
in His teachings
‘O Lord of the universe, I do
not desire material wealth,
materialistic followers, a
beautiful wife. All I want, life
after life, is unmotivated
devotional service to You.’
 How old are
different religions ?

Sanatana Dharma - Coming from Dawn of Creation

Bhagavad-Gita Spoken to Arjuna
5000 Yrs.
Buddhism
2500 Yrs.

Christianity
2000 Yrs.
Islam 1300 Yrs.

NUMBER OF YEARS
 Bhagavad – gita was
spoken 5,000 years ago
and Lord Krishna said
 “I instructed this imperishable
science of yoga to the sun-god,
Vivasvan, and Vivasvan
instructed it to Manu, the father
of mankind, and Manu in turn
instructed it to Iksvaku.”

Bhagavad - gita 4.1

 “This supreme science was thus
received through the chain of
disciplic succession, and the
saintly kings understood it in that
way. But in course of time the
succession was broken, and
therefore the science as it is
appears to be lost.”
Bhagavad - gita 4.2
 A rough estimate is that
Bhagavad – gita was spoken at least

120 million years ago

& was re-spoken to Arjuna about
5,000 years ago
What is real
religion ?
“The supreme dharma for
all humanity is that by
which men can attain to
loving devotional service
unto the Supreme Lord.”
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.6
Srila Prabhupada
explains
 “Religion means a
culture of the spirit
soul. It may be in
different way
understood in
different countries,
but the whole idea
is to understand the
spirit soul.”
“Our proposition is
that whether you
are a Christian,
Muslim, or Hindu,
simply try to
understand God
and love Him.”
 “Jesus Christ and
Mohammed, two
powerful devotees
of the Lord, have
done tremendous
service on behalf of
the Lord on the
surface of the
globe.”
“So our business is
not that, that we
convert a Hindu to
a Christian or a
Christian to a
Hindu. That is not
our business.”
 “Any religion you
may profess—it
doesn’t matter—I
want to see whether
you have got the
result of religion.
The result of religion
is you will love God.
That is result of
religion.”
 But ...
Why do we have so
much chaos & confusion
due to religion ?
“Religion without philosophy
is sentiment, or sometimes
fanaticism, while
philosophy without religion
is mental speculation.”
It’s a fact that these
days people fight in
name of religion …
 Without proper understanding of
…

• Who is God ?
• Who we are ?
• What is the underlying
purpose of religions ?
 Without proper understanding of
…

• Why so many religions ?

• A common underlying essence
of all religions.
Many suggest let’s do away
with religion !!

After all it has resulted in...

Wars
Communal Tensions
Terrorism & Hatred
Riots
Factions
But the solution is not to do
away with the religion...

...but to preach, propogate &

practice true religious
principles
Just like when eye
develops cataract
What would
a surgeon
do ?

Would
Or would
he
remove
he operate
the
on the
eyeeye
? ?
“Without religion & religious
principles, we are no better
than animals.”
 So to sum up ...
• There is one & only one God.
• All the bonafide religions have
the common essence.
• Lord sometimes sends many
empowered representatives and
sometimes personally descends to
teach the religious principles.
 So to sum up ...
• Religious principles are taught
according to – time, place and
circumstances.
• Vedic literatures like Bhagavat
Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam
give us complete understanding
of God & they contain highest
religious principles.
 So to sum up ...

• Many of present day confusion,

chaos, riots, etc. in name of
religion are due to improper
understanding of religion.
 So to sum up ...
• Solution is not to give up
religion.
• Solution is to seek out a bonafide
spiritual master and practice
genuine, authorized religious
principles & make our life
successful.
The
End