Muslim man wins online18 Days Bhagavad Gita course by ISKCON Ayodhya.
Abdul Hasan Abdul Nisar, a native of Akot in Maharashtra’s Akola, has became the first person to ace ISKCON Ayodhya’s 18-day Bhagvad Gita online course by answering all 50 questions correctly.
The 27-year-old said, “All religions offer different paths to reach the same goal of oneness with an Almighty. I want to imbibe the best from the teaching of Lord Krishna which he gave to Arjuna on battlefield"
Nisar’s feat offers hope in the current environment of religious animosity.
The course titled Bhagavad Gita 18 days 18 Chapter(Gita me Diploma)organized by ISKCON Ayodhya is open to learners from around the world, and only requires an understanding of Hindi. For 18 days, two speakers—Devsehkhar Vishnu Das(B.E Information Tech.) who is Project Director and Sadbhuj Gaur Das(B.E Aeronautical Engg.) who is Temple President —walk participants through the 18 chapters of the Bhagvad Gita, which forms the core of the epic Mahabharata.
Each session is one hour long and accompanied by power point presentations that run into an average of 70-80 pages. After the end of 18 days, participants are given 18-20 days to go through the learning. Both speakers remain available to clear any doubts or queries that the learners might have. They are then put through a 50 multiple choice question format test. Only those who get at least 40 percent of the answers correct are given a certificate.
The first such course took place in November 2020 and had 7,000 participants. The second course in June 2021, when the pandemic was raging through the world, attracted 4.5 lakh participants. This was the fifth season of the course which attracted a total of 3000 participants. Till now more than half a million people have attended this free course and have benefited.
Devsehkhar Vishnu Das said, “There are many misconceptions regarding the Bhagvad Gita. The biggest of these is that it is a religious book whereas it offers a path to living and tackling life’s challenges. We have people of different religions taking our course.We are simply trying to follow the instructions given by our spiritual master H.H Gopal Krishna Goswami and walk on the path laid by our founder acharya H.D.G A.C Bhaktivedant Swami Prabhupada.“
Sadbhuj Gaura Das said, "The course was delivered in simple Hindi and in a manner that would enable the learners to connect it to everyday living. There is great inquisitiveness about Bhagavad gita and we at ISKCON Ayodhya are trying our best to preach the message of Supreme Lord Krishna from the Land of Shri Ramchandra”.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded in 1966 in New York by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It is a movement that preaches the practice of Bhakti. Its adherents transcend geographical and cultural barriers. A recent example of its universal appeal was an Ukrainian soldier chanting ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare’—the movement’s defining mantra, for calm and strength during the ongoing war against Russia.
Nisar said “There should be no hesitation to learn the best, no matter where it comes from. Sri Krishna’s lessons to Arjuna are lessons for all of us”, he said that the underlying aim of all religions was to bring man’s soul closer to that of the supreme soul, no matter how that was named. “All souls are different, but can be purified through karma (action)”, he said.
Nisar said that it’s ‘unfortunate’ that people trust religious teachers blindly or allow themselves to be used by politicians for their aims.
“The aim should be to be an individual who reads and listens to all, but finds his own true path”, he said.