A Nashik artist who engraves scriptures on copper plates is fighting to preserve the Bhagwad Gita in ‘its original form’. Jamilbhai Mohammed Hanif Rangrej has written to the government through the Nashik district collector, demanding that a particular publisher of the sacred book be banned because some of its content appears to have been distorted.
A Nashik artist who engraves scriptures on copper plates is fighting to preserve the Bhagwad Gita in ‘its original form’. Jamilbhai Mohammed Hanif Rangrej has written to the government through the Nashik district collector, demanding that a particular publisher of the sacred book be banned because some of its content appears to have been distorted.
Rangrej is popularly known as the 'Tamrapatrakar' – the man who engraves scriptures on copper plates. In 2003, he got a place in the Limca Book of Records for engraving all 700 verses of the Bhagwad Gita on copper plates in six months. Thereafter, Jamilbhai has engraved the Dhammpad, Quran, Bhattabar, Khilafat, Bible and other scriptures as well.
While engraving the Gita, Jamilbhai first studied many prints of the book by different publishers. “I have 32 Gitas with me by different publishers. I studied them all in consultation with experts and found the one by Geeta Press, Gorkhpur, to be the most recommended and appropriate and hence engraved that. But while studying, I came across one print which had many differences,” he said.
“I found that the book titled ‘Bhagwad Gita Jashi aahe Tashi’ (Bhagwad Gita as it is) published by the Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust, Hare Krishna Land, Mumbai, has many differences,” Jamilbhai claimed. He said that he found seven mistakes, including the addition of a verse which is not mentioned in any other published versions of the sacred text. “They have maintained the number of verses to 700, but one verse appears new as it is not included in any other publication,” he said.
“No person has any right to make changes or mistakes in the scriptures of any religion. Even the Quran asks its followers to respect the message which has come from the almighty. Gita, Bible, and other scriptures are such messages and need to be respected. If our young generation is not given the original knowledge that has come to us since ages, how will they benefit from it?” asked Jamilbhai.
The artist says that he is fighting against any tendencies to twist or turn facts. “I had gone to speak to the publishers. Instead of hearing me out, they drove me away,” he said. On March 20, he wrote a letter to the district collector demanding that the version of the Gita published by Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust be banned.
When contacted, the Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust said they had not received any objection regarding any mistakes in the Gita they had published. Speaking to dna, Ananta Tritha Das, the trust's general manager, said, “The Bhagwad Gita published by us has in its title the words ‘as it is’. We have been publishing and circulating this book all over the world and in many languages for four and a half decades. Many other authors have published different interpretations of the Gita, but we want people to know it as it is”.
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