The Hidden Glory of India [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION In the 1950s, an Austrian scholar named Walther Eidlitz published a book called Unknown India. He writes of his quest for truth and of his subsequent relationship with Shri Maharaj—his guru, whom he met in the Himalayas in the 1930s. The story is familiar: a Western seeker finds an Indián teacher and decides to adopt a traditional form of Eastern spirituality. Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, guru of Sadananda. But the story continues. As the years pass( Eidlitz finds himself in an India beset by World War II and is placed in a prison camp for nearly six years. During his internment he meets Sadananda, a Germán gentleman in Indián dress, who is alsó a prisoner. They forge a friendship, and Sadananda introduces Eidlitz to Vaishnavism ("the worship of Vishnu, or Krishna"). Sada nanda hacl been initiated into this esoteric tradition by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, a saint and scholar from Bengal, and vvas anxious to share his knowledge with others, specifically with Eidlitz. Eidlitz comes to call Sadananda's zealous-ness "aggressive grace." Impressed by Sadananda's knowledge and wisdom, Eidlitz feels that Sadananda has aug-mented the knowledge received from Shri Maharaj, and consequently accepts Sadananda as his new guru. Thus, "the unknown India" that Eidlitz writes about is not the exotic land itself, nor is it the teachings commonly associ-ated with Hinduism. Rather, Eidlitz comes to see Vaishnavism as the hidden glory of India. Stiií, one wonders why Vaishnavism would be considered "hidden." The 1996 Britannica Book of the Year asserts that Vaishnavas make up 70% of the 800 millión Hindu constituency (25% are Shaivites, worshipers of Shiva; 2% are neo-Hindus or reform Hindus of various leanings; and the balance is made up of adherents to other Indic faiths). Thus, Vaishnavism constitutes the majority of the Hindu world. Nonetheless, the West is unfamiliar not only with the term "Vaishnavism" but with the tradition it denotes. The obscurity of Vaishnavism is in part due to the 1893 World Pari i áment of Religions Conference in Chicago, which hosted Swami