Ae Malik Tere Bande Hum - Inappropriate for Hindus

[RamaRaksha]

There were some rumblings from some muslims that Vande Mataram was inappropriate for Islam. I am not one to condemn them - they have to follow the tenants of their faith and if they think it is not right, we should respect that view.

This is in no way trying to hit back but I do feel that the word - Malik or Master in this song is inappropriate for Hindus. The song also shows Hindus kneeling as they sing this song - a Hindu should not kneel to God either.

Calling God Master reduces us to a subject/slave/servant level, kneeling before the Murti reinforces this view. A slave blindly obeys orders, takes no personal responsibility, if the master says kill even women and children, the slave must obey. From this mindset arises cults and most terrorists.

Hinduism like Buddhism, is a Teacher faith - God is our Teacher on our path towards Moksha. Karma & Rebirth teach us that we are responsible for our actions. A student must love and respect his Teacher but be prepared to challenge his Teacher if he thinks she is wrong.

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam




. The song also shows Hindus kneeling as they sing this song - a Hindu should not kneel to God either.

if the master says kill even women and children, the slave must obey. From this mindset arises cults and most terrorists.

A student must love and respect his Teacher but be prepared to challenge his Teacher if he thinks she is wrong.

I see where you are coming from, but i can not agree to what you say about not kneeling to God.

It is in our sabiyata, culture to prostrate in front our parents our elders, what to speak of our Guru and Bhagvan.
As the saying goes

Jhukta to vo hai jisamem jan hoti hai
Akad to murde ki pahachan hai

Jai Shree Krishna

[amra]

So you are also against calling God Prabhu, which also means master or lord.

Hinduism caters for all types of human personalities, some prefer a Slave-King relationship with God some others prefer something else.

I think the real problem here is Islamophobia and the arabic roots of the word Malik.

[Shaan]

Ae malik tere bande, is only a song, though a bit popular, but ofcourse it isnt in any league similar to vande matram in any ways.

[Harjas Kaur]

Honestly is it real Islamophobia in the Arabic root of Malik which is found in both Urdu and Punjabi or misunderstanding Hindu teaching when the Sanskrit term prapatti has even more self-surrendering connotation and is the very essence of bhakti marg?


"bhaktyA paramayA vA-pi prapattyA vA mahAmathe
prApyoham na anyathA prApyO mama kainkarya lipsubhihi" ~Ahirbudnya Samhita

Sriman nArAyaNA declares that bhakti and prapatti are the only means to attain moksha. http://www.scribd.com/doc/2575404/VAISHNAVAMSeries-Document
mArga - the path to be chosen for securing salvation. SAttvata samhitA mentions devotion (bhakti) as the mArga - bhakti which is firm (acala), pure (Suddha), constant (nitya), unwavering (avyabhicAriNI). ahirbudhnya samhitA indicates that the mArga is namana (bowing) - involved in the mantra-s which proclaim SaraNAgati (surrender). This refers to total and confident surrender of oneself and all that belongs to oneself to Godheadhttp://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/cgi-bin/kbase/Pancaratra/Visistadvaita

ਆਪੁ ਛੋਡਿ ਚਰਣੀ ਲਗਾ ਚਲਾ ਤਿਨ ਕੈ ਭਾਇ ॥
आपु छोडि चरणी लगा चला तिन कै भाइ ॥
Āp cẖẖod cẖarṇī lagā cẖalā ṯin kai bẖā▫e.
Renouncing selfishness, I fall at their feet, and walk in harmony with His Will. ~SGGS Ji ang 30

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam Amra ji




I think the real problem here is Islamophobia and the arabic roots of the word Malik.

Phobia according to english dictionary,
an irrational or very powerful fear and dislike of something such as spiders or confined spaces
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

If we have fear of Muslim is hardly born out of irrational phobia, unless of course we think they came in peace, their intentions were honourable and we are not kafirs to them.

Fact of the matter is nothing has changed, their design is to change us kafir to Islam, it is in their books.

So no it is not a phobia but a real fear.

But no I have no problem singing this song, In fact I sing everyday, diya tune hame jab janam tu hi lelege ham sabke gum.

Jai Shree Krishna

[sanjaya]

Pranam



I see where you are coming from, but i can not agree to what you say about not kneeling to God.

It is in our sabiyata, culture to prostrate in front our parents our elders, what to speak of our Guru and Bhagvan.
As the saying goes

Jhukta to vo hai jisamem jan hoti hai
Akad to murde ki pahachan hai

Jai Shree Krishna

I was going to say the same thing. I certainly see RamaRaksha's point, though I think this may be a bit of an overreaction to Christianity and Islam. In Abrahamic religions, God is often seen as not only a king, but a tyrant. In ancient Greek culture and literature, tyrants were afraid of losing their power and would do whatever it took to keep it. Abrahamic portrayals of God are very similar. My Christian friends tell me that sin is bad because it constitutes "usurping God's throne," as if God had anything to fear from mortals. God seems to cultivate loyalty with threats of eternal condemnation. In Hinduism, God acts as our teacher and persuades us to obey him with logic and reason, which I think RamaRaksha is correctly identifying as a unique aspect of our faith.

At the same time, I would point us that obedience to God is still one of the end goals here. Parents require obedience from their children; they don't instill obedience by beating them (or rather, they shouldn't), but it's still in the child's best interest to obey his parents. Our parents are God to us, so we obey them and surrender to them, but this doesn't make us slaves of our parents. Only a tyrant would use his position as Lord to treat those under him as slaves. But (again ideally) parents require obedience because it is in their children's best interest. Likewise, God is our Father and we should listen to him. He only makes us obey him because he knows what is best for us. After all, God has nothing to gain if we obey, and nothing to lose if we disobey, except that it pains him to see us do self-destructive things. We often refer to each of the devas as "Lord," because being our teachers it is good for us to obey them. Yes, Hinduism is a teacher faith. But I don't think this excludes calling God our Lord.