Суд над Бхагавад-гитой / Attempt to ban Bhagavad-gita

Translation from Russian into English
Based оп соurt records in relation to the "Bhagavad-Gita'' iп Tomsk
In the Leninsky district court of the city of Tomsk the federal judge Galina Butenko considers
tAhse Icta Isse" iwnirtiitatteend ЬЬуу Аt.hСe. sBtahtea kptrivoesdeacunttoa r Sinw aTmomi sPkra fbohru rpeacdoag n1iрziunЬgГ istпhеed bЬoуo kth 'e'B Bhhaagkatvivaedd-aGnittaa
Book Trust) to Ье ап extremist material.
The prosecutor stated in the affidavit: "Ассоrdiпg to the report of Тоmsk State (Jпiчеrsiф's
rceolmigpioreuhse Пhasitvree de, xapbeurts eе хoаf mhiuпmаtаiопп diсgопmiфm isоsпiо tПh ea ib aoifb 2 o5f/ 1g0e/п2d0e1r0, irharcrec, sпiаgtпiоs пoаfl iфiп,s tliаgпаgtiuоапg еo, f origiп, religioп iп the teпets of the religious betief as ехрtоцц4"4 iп the book.
pRrеaсbоhguпpitaiоdпa otof tЬhеe ebxotorekm "iBsth aisg aпyеaеdd-еGdi ttao рArsе vIеtп Its "iп'wstriigttaetiпo пЬ уo Дf s,Сoc iBahl asktrtiiyfee doarп ctali scSowrda,m аiпd its
further spread.
Mass distributioп of this book аmопg ап uпrestricted пumЬеr of people mау lead to the iпstigаtiоп of social hatred or discord, апd its further ехtепsiоп also violates the prohibitioп of the extremist activiф uпdеr the сurrепt laws of the Russiaп Fеdеrаtiоп.
Based оп the аЬоvе, Ьеiпg guided Ьу the Articles 45, Part 2, Art. 2б2 of the Ciyil Procedural
Code of the Russiап Federatioп, Articles 27, 35 of the Federal Law ''оп the Prosecutor's
Office of the Russiап Fеdеrаtiоп''
I KINDLY дSК to;
PLr aRbehcuopgaпdizae ttoh eЬ еb oeoxtkr e"mBhisat.gavad-Gita As It Is" writteп Ьу Д.С. Вhаktiчеdапtа Swami
J2u sDtiecleiy etor itпhсel uсdоер уt hoef аthьeо vjuе dbicoioakl iyпetоrd tichte fteo dteher bfle dhestr aolf еeхxеtrсeumtiчisеt а*u,othjrоrriiiФtr .iп the field of
3, Notifu the Tomsk prosecutor of the datb апd time of the claim сопsidеrаtiоп.
прOфq({и*нfiJ.lьньD{
пер8вOдсвD
The Prosecutor explained his statement, in particular, Ьу the following
First, the Vedas апd the соrrеsропdiпg age are уоuпgеr thап assumed iп the Вrаhmапiсаl
traditioп. Моdеrп scieпtific datiпg of the Vedas refers to ХХ-ХТПI сепturiеs ВС.
Sесопdlу, the Krishпa's сult iп the Vedic era сап Ье attributed tofraud, because по Кrishпа
dеiф's паmеfоuпd iп the Vedas.
Thirdly, Krishпaism dепiеs the iпviоlаЬlе life рriпсiрlе established Ьу the Vedas апd developed
withiп Нiпduism - Vаrпаshrаmа, or the system of vаrпаs, iпvоlviпg dерепdепсе of religious
rights апd duties of the mап оп his birth iп а particular Vаrпа.
Prabhupada always tried to show апd prove compatibility of Krishпaism апd Сhristiапiф, but
these attempts haye поt lead to апу "ecumeпical" result, siпсе the iпcompatibility Ьеtwееп the
Christology апd Krishпaism оп mапу key priпciples is obyious.
Krishпaism represeпts the world as Krishпa's pastime (Lila). Krishпa is everythiпg, Therefore
eYil has the Dеiф as its source. Diуiпе eyil is поt eyil апу mоrе. Eyil becomes а relative
сопсерt: we take sеmЬlапсе for rеаliф, what we thiпk to Ье eyil is iп reality поthiпg else but
the same dеiф. Еvil iп its real mапifеstаtiоп is krishпa. The christiaп yiew iп this case is
iпсоmраtiЬlе with that of the Krishпafollowers.
KrishПa is persoпified iп the Ьеliф of MOSK (ISKCON, traпslator'sfootпote) as the dеiф of
death апd destructioп: "Дmопg those who rепdеr justice I аm Yаmа, the Lord of death
"("Bhagavad-Gita as it is", chapter l0, text 29). "I аm the аll-сопsumiпg death ..." (ibid., text
34).
Such idепtфсаtiоп of God with death is uпimаgiпаЬlе апd uпthiпkаЬlе iп the biblical
f;fs 7 ttlieнTpЧ \,
l; .] {
проф*i;о,ffltальньifi
} i
1,?\ }*р.оýOдOр} /ý
ч"
the opposite of the God ("God's Мопkеу"), always hostile to the world а
The word 'fool" iп the sепsе of "stupid mап" reflects the reality пegatively perceived Ьу the
public сопsсiоusпеss. This word апd other words with пеgаtiуе semaпtics deriyed from the
same root with words as well as their sупопуms ("igпоrапt", etc.) that characterize those who
are поt gепuiпе, true folloluers of Кrishпа, that is, represeпtatives of other Ьrапсhеs of the
same religioп, people of other religioпs or atheists are also fоuпd iп the followiпg coпtexts:
"Iп this age of Kali most people are too stupid апd igпоrапt to Ье able to uпdеrstапd the
philosophy of Vеdапtа (BG 2:46, р. 136). (stupid, igпоrапt, to Ье able to uпdеrstапd)
"Those who repudiate Му iпstruсtiоп because of malice апd епчу are deпied all
kпowledge, hopelessly stupid, апd all their attempts to achieve рефсtiоп are doomed to fail"
(BG 3.32). (repudiate, dепiеd, stupid, doomed)
"Д fool апd ап igпoramus does поt uпdеrstапd that the Supersoul, while iп his heart,
directs all its actioпs" (BG 1В:]б, р. 73а). (does поt uпderstaпd)
The iпfеriоriф of those who are поt followers of Кrishпа is declared: they are stupid
mеп апd iпferior mеп.
"Similarly, the sacred duф of а Kshatriya is to fight, апd he must execute it, еvеп if he has to
fightwithfrieпds or relatiyes." (BG 2:15, р. 99). There is а callfor уiоlепt асtiоп - the battle
with епеmiеs.
The lexemes "песеssаrу" апd "should" сопtаiп iпсепtivе semaпtics апd соmЬiпе gепrе
features of advise, appeal, rесоmmепdаtiоп, guidапсе, directiye, Iп these сопtехts апу of these
mеапiпgs сап Ье sееп, iп particular, the mеапiпg of "calliпg Ltроп".
The defending lawyer in his speech pointed out the noncompliance of the prosecutor's
accusation with the provisions of the Constitution and the international law, there was а failure
to prove their claims the prosecutor for the recognition of the book to Ье "the extremist
material".
The Court was presented with the speech of the ex-Prime Minister of India АВ Vajpayee's
speech at the opening of the cultural center "Glory of India" in Delhi, where the Prime
Minister praised ISKCON and "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" translated and commented Ьу the
Society's founder Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In addition, during the court proceedings,
different opinions of scholars from around the world with positive respons9r-.tflgbЦ@Rlation
were attached to the case materials. }.оý|.:/,У -" " \,4\\б\\
rзр*фе{ilнmfiаJ,Iьfrь!х
m*$iеýýдФвý
V.N. Svistunov being questioned in the court as ап expert, stated that he does not support the
conclusion of the philosophical part of the expert assessment that the Prabhupada's statements
indicate sectarian orientation of his philosophy, including intolerance of other religions, the
idea of chosenness, denigration of апу other form of social and religious commitment. In his
opinion, there аrе no extremist statements in "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is", it only contains
polemical statements.
During the court proceedings expert S.S. Avanesov testified that he had not directly
participated in the study of the book in question "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" and answered по
questions asked of experts. His function was to edit and assess the quality of conclusions.
According to the expert's opinion, the reasoning and structuring of the text were performed
satisfactorily, with references to the source, in а scholarly style. Не has no objections to the
findings of scholars V.N. Svistunov and V.G. Naumov. Не confirmed that the idea of
chosenness and exclusiveness of followers of this denomination occurs throughout the text of
the commentary, in some cases quite rigidly, and that there are рrеtф strong statements that
mау Ье perceived as insulting. In this case, everything depends on perception.
According to the testimony of expert V.G. Naumov, the text studied Ьу him contains
statements in the form of assertions in which there is negative information, and information of
hostile, derogatory, defamatory nature. In the study he used contextual analysis, while he did
not investigate everything assooiated with the interpretation of the text, with its conceptual
apparatus, with clarification of the meaning of individual words, phrases, since such studies
fall under the title of psycholinguistics.
At the same time, during the court proceedings, in accordance with Art. 56 of the Civil
Procedural Code of the Russian Federation the interested persons presented the expert opinion
of S.I. Ivanenko on scholarly level of the assessment of Tomsk State University's
comprehensive expert examination commission of 25.10.2010, in which he states that the
assessment of 25.10.2010 is of а паrrоw linguistic nature, it does not meet the level of modern
scholarly analysis of religious studies. Experts substitute the analysis of "Bhagavad-Gita As It
Is" with subjective assessments of the International Society for KTishna Consciousness.
According to S.I. Ivanenko's findings, "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" does not contain information
of hostile, humiliating, insulting nature in relation to persons of any nationality, ethnicity,
social and religious groups. The book does not contain any condemnation of other forms of
religious practice, as well as апу specific religions. It is recognized that апу authoritative
religion seeks to worship опе God, the source of а11 things. "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" does not
contain апу expressions of propositional nature related to calls for hostile оr violent acts
against people of а certain nationality, of one social, religious group against another, calls for
Specialist E.S. Elbakyan, having assessed from the perspective of аса
the ехреrt assessment of the Tomsk State University's comprehensi
commission of 25.10.2010, indicated in her rероrt dated 15.08.
.q{0€
ilЁffiФв$в
i. }л\
\?r}*
examination does not contain any analysis of religious studies and that its attempts to build а
declared "contextual" analysis are of а purely "linguistic-sophistic character" and are not
convincing in most cases.
Specialist N.V. Serebrennikov, who was questioned during the court proceedings, explained
that the book "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" does not contain anything offensive, aggressive, no call
for violence, hostility. As ап expert in style and phraseology, he pointed out that it is
impossible to judge the meanings of words and their perception within this text in isolation
from the context.
Explanations Ьу а specialist N.N. Karpitsky maintain that the book "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is"
does not contain any negative information, апу information of hostile, humiliating, insulting
nature in relation to persons of any nationality, ethnic, social, religious group, i.e., does not
contain any elements of extremism.
The court was presented with the conclusions of а number of Moscow scholars in religious
studies, which categorically denied any extremist ideas in the book.
After listening to the parties, the соurt, rrpon the prosecutor's request commissioned а judicial
comprehensive psychological, theological and linguistic expert examination which shall Ье
performed Ьу the Кеmеrочо State University's experts. In connection with the appointment of
the expert examination, the соurt proceedings оп this matter are suspended until December 1,
201 1.
Address: Moscow, Р1. TverskayaZastava bld.3, office |5217
Т е|: +7 (495) 649-6 8- 89, +7 (499)7 04-1 5 -49
fi рs* g{tl,,iff нýJ,ihжь!х
fтgрgýфдýý}}

http://gita-tomsk.ru/sites/default/files/BG%20Court%20ENG.pdf