Text 193] The Residents of Varanasi Become Vaisnavas 403

TEXT 193

Ml Afacs Siew, ale WETS Poa |
BCA Tag Alfa Sta FA CSM I spo |

str? marite cahe, raja sankate padila
karonydra pani tara mukhe deoydila

SYNONYMS

stri—the wife; marite cahe—wants to kill Subuddhi Raya; raja—the King; san-
kate padila—became very perplexed; karonydra pani—water from a pitcher
especially used by Mohammedans; tara mukhe—on his head; deoydila—forced
to be sprinkled.

TRANSLATION

This became a perplexing problem for him because his wife kept
requesting him to kill Subuddhi Raya. Finally the Nawab sprinkled a little
water on Subuddhi Raya’s head from a pitcher that had been used by a
Mohammedan.

PURPORT

More than five hundred years ago in India, the Hindus were so rigid and strict
that if a Mohammedan would sprinkle a little water from his pitcher upon a Hindu,
the Hindu would be immediately ostracized. Recently, in 1947, during the parti-
san days, there was a big riot between Hindus and Muslims, especially in Bengal.
The Hindus were forcibly made to eat cow's flesh, and consequently they began
crying, thinking that they had become Mohammedans. Actually the Moham-
medans in India did not come from the country of the Mohammedans, but Hindus
instituted the custom that somehow or other if one contacted a Mohammedan,
he became a Mohammedan. Rupa and Sandtana Gosvami were born in a high
braéhmana family, but because they accepted employment under a Mohammedan
government, they were considered Mohammedans. Subuddhi Raya was sprinkled
with water from the pitcher of a Mohammedan, and consequently he was con-
demned to have become a Mohammedan. Later, Aurangzeb, the Mohammedan
emperor, introduced a tax especially meant for Hindus. Being oppressed in the
Hindu community, many low-caste Hindus preferred to become Mohammedans.
In this way the Mohammedan population increased. Later the British government
made it a policy to divide the Hindus and the Muslims, and thus they maintained
ill feelings between them. The result was that India was divided into Pakistan and
Hindustan.

From early histories it appears that the entire earth was under one culture,
Vedic culture, but gradually, due to religious and cultural divisions, the rule
