An Indianised version of the Bible with references to the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and drawings of a turbaned Joseph and a sari-clad Mother Mary with baby Jesus in her arms is making waves in Kerala.
The holy scripture has references from the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita KOCHI: An Indianised version of the Bible with references to the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and drawings of a turbaned Joseph and a sari-clad Mother Mary with baby Jesus in her arms is making waves in Kerala.
This is an unprecedented venture as the Indian scriptures have been used to interpret biblical passages for the first time, Catholic Church spokesman Paul Thelekat says.
There are 24 line drawings, including those of mosques, temples and churches with slippers outside, by the late Christopher Coelho.
Mumbai-based publishing house St Pauls has come out with the new Indian Bible, which also has references to Meerabai, Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore,” Thelekat says.
Thiruvananthpuam archbishop Sosa Pakiam says in his preface a unique feature of the new Bible is, it has many references to the biblical values found in scriptures of other great Indian religions.
Thelekat says Indian texts have been used to interpret not only the New Testament, but also the Old Testament. For example, the deluge story of the Book of Genesis is interpreted with reference of similar stories in Mesopotamia and Satapatha Brahmana (1.8.1-10) and the Mahabharata.
In passages where biblical interpretations differ from Indian scriptures, the fact has been made clear, he says.
Over 70 such references to non-Christian texts have been made in the Bible and 30 scholars participated in making the commentary.
“An attempt has been made to give a Bible which is more relevant to India. There is nothing added or subtracted from the text of the Bible, which has been reproduced as such,” Thelekat says.
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