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Does This Video Show Man Sell Distorted Versions Of Gita? No, Video Is Viral With False Communal Claim
India, 5 May 2023 8:50 AM GMT
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A video is going viral with the claim that Christians and Muslims are selling distorted versions of the Bhagvad Gita.
A video is going viral showing a man in a confrontation with another man carrying what are seemingly religious books. The video is going viral with the claim that Christians and Muslims are selling distorted versions of the Bhagvad Gita.
Claim:
The video shows a man confronting a person holding several books. The man holds the book open to the person filming the incident. The title on the cover of the book reads, 'Gita'. The person then opens the book and inspects it.
Twitter user Surajit Dasgupta shared the video with the claim, "A Christian caught selling fake BhagawadGita: "Gita" written on the cover, chapters inside read "Pavitra Bible, Pavitra Qur'an".
ISKCON Kolkata Vice President Radharaman Das shared the video with the claim, "Beware Hindus! Non-Hindus are printing Hindu scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Vedas etc with modified verses which is meant to show that Sanatan Dharma is bad. Please purchase your books directly from the temple's only. Even books like manu-samhita etc has been altered by Mulla-Marxist-Missionaries to convert Hindus by showing it in bad light. They want to confuse Hindus by pushing these fake books & show Sanatan Dharm in bad light."
Twitter user GV Nair shared the video with the claim, "Fake Hindu dharm books, edited by Anti-Hindus,selling at cheaper rate through out India 2 mislead. Mslms and Xians r editing,as if they are published by Gita Press from Gorakhpur. You can find the videos of edited hindu dharm books at YouTube. Be aware, We have to expose them."
Fact Check:
We first went through the viral video and identified the book seen in the video. We used InVid's Keyframe Analysis tool to break down the video into keyframes. After conducting a keyword search taking a cue from one of the keyframes, we identified that the name of the book is in Telugu titled గీతా నీ జ్ఞాన అమృతం (Geethani Gnana Amrutham.)
Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search and found that the book is available on self-styled godman Rampal Das' official website.
We checked the English version of the same book named 'The Knowledge Of Gita Is Nectar'. In the introduction of the book, Rampal writes, "There are in total 18 (eighteen) Chapters and 700 (seven hundred) Verses in Holy Book Gita. I have taken descriptions from this Holy Book as per requirement, and composed this Text “The Knowledge of Gita is Nectar”. Like, there are herbs in a forest. A doctor takes necessary herbs from that forest and prepares a life-giving medicine from them. The forest still exists."
The author also asserts, "mankind is our religion. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, there is no seperate religion."
The Telugu version of the book can be read here.
We also came across a tweet by the verified Twitter handle of Sant Rampal Maharaj ji posted on April 26, 2023. The Twitter page quotes Rampal saying, "Our Race is Living Being, Mankind is our religion. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, there is no separate religion."
It can be gleaned that Rampal has written about his views regarding Christianity and Islam which he has documented in the book.
Conclusion:
We found that the book seen in the viral video is not written by persons of the Muslim or Christian community to mislead Hindus. The book is written by Rampal Das', a self-styled godman, and is not indicative of any distortion of Hindu scriptures.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
Also Read: Is Arvind Kejriwal Converting Delhi's Schools Into Madrassas? No, Viral Video Is From UP
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