''Śāstra-tattva-vinirṇaya'', also transliterated as ''Shastra-tattva-vinirnaya'' ("A Verdict on the Truth of the Shastra"), is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language text written by

Nilakantha Gore Nehemiah Goreh (born Nilakantha Gore; 1825—1895) was a Hindu convert to Christianity in British India. As a Hindu apologist, he wrote the Sanskrit-language text '' Śāstra-tattva-vinirṇaya'' and a Hindi-language synopsis of it, defending Hind ...

(or Goreh, later Neremiah Goreh) during 1844–1845 in

Benares Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges, Ganges river in North India, northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hinduism, Hindu world.* * * * The city ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. It is a Hindu apologist response to the Christian writer

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...

's ''

Mataparīkṣā ''Mata-parīkṣā'' is a Sanskrit-language text by the Christian author John Muir. It criticizes Hinduism, and portrays Christianity as the true faith. It was written in British India in 1839, and revised twice. As suggested by the title ''Mat ...

''.

Authorship

, a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

-speaking

Chitpavan Brahmin The Chitpavan Brahmin or the Kokanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the commun ...

wrote the text at

during 1844-1845, at the age of 19. Around four years later, he later converted to Christianity, and was baptized with the name Nehemiah.

The text comprises 784 ''

anuṣṭubh (, ) is a metre and a metrical unit, found in both Vedic and Classical Sanskrit poetry, but with significant differences. By origin, an anuṣṭubh stanza is a quatrain of four lines. Each line, called a ''pāda'' (lit. "foot"), has eight syll ...

'' verses in 6 chapters: # Repudiation of the Opponent's Way of Examining the Authoritativeness of Religion (''Parokta-mata-prāmāṇya-parīkṣā-prakāra-nirākaraṇaṃ''), 28 verses # Investigation of Faults in the Opponent's Religion (''Para-mata-dūṣaṇa-nirūpaṇaṃ''), 71 verses # Beneficial Instruction (''Hitopadeśa''), 71 verses # Investigation of the Instability of Argumentation in the Previous Narratives and the Necessity of Faith in the Scriptures (''Śāstra-śraddhāvaśyakatā-kathana-pūrvaka-tarkāpratiṣṭhāna-nirūpaṇaṃ''), 59 verses # Investigation into the Scriptures' Self-Validity, which is Independent of Reason (''Śāstrasyopapatti-nirapekṣa-svataḥ-prāmāṇya-nirūpaṇaṃ''), 202 verses # Repudiation of Suspicions About Defects in Our Religion (''Sva-mata-doṣa-śaṅkā-nirākaraṇaṃ''), 186 verses The following sections list Nilakantha's arguments.

Criticism of Christianity

* Why should one believe that the stories of the

miracles of Jesus The miracles of Jesus are the many miraculous deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian texts, with the majority of these miracles being faith healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and control over nature. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to ...

are true and substantiated by the accounts of Christianity's adversaries, as claimed by Muir? If the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

is the source for such claims, why should one trust the Bible as divine and authoritative? If Jesus really restored eyesight to the blind, why do blind people who revere him today remain blind? Is the god no longer compassionate, or no longer willing to act in a way that will make people have confidence in him? * According to the Christian belief, the god created souls (as opposed to the Hindu belief that the ''

atman Atman or Ātman may refer to: Religion * ''Ātman'' (Hinduism), meaning "Self", a philosophical concept common to all schools of Hindu philosophy * ''Ātman'' (Buddhism), ''attā'' or ''attan'', a reference to the essential self ** ''Anattā'' ...

'' is eternally existing). Did the god create souls for his entertainment, because he was alone and sad? If he wants the souls to go to heaven, why did he give them the ability to commit sin, let some of them die as children, or make children who are retarded? Is he not compassionate? If he created humans because he needed them to worship him, he must not be self-sufficient. * According to the Hindu belief, the souls suffer pain and pleasure over several lives, in accordance with their deeds: the sinful suffer only for a limited time, and get a chance to attain

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

in their subsequent lives. According to the Christian belief, the sinful are condemned to eternal hell. Why did the god create souls that do not know about the Christian scripture, and therefore, are condemned to the eternal hell? * Regarding the concept of

original sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...

, how can the god be called just, if he gave the man ability to break his commands, and then punished him for doing so, and if he punishes one person for the sin of another? * Is it not unjust that Jesus makes sinful men pure (''shuddha'') out of mercy? If men can destroy their sins simply by trusting in Jesus, wouldn't they commit sins at whim? * Why do people who trust in Jesus experience suffering? How can they be sure they won't suffer in the

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

? The argument that the god makes them suffer to test their nature does not make sense, as an omniscient god must already know about the nature of his creation. Why does the God make children suffer and die before they reach the age of accountability? * Animals are like humans in many ways; for example, they are creatures of god, and have families. Why is the god not compassionate towards them and does not provide them with a way to salvation?

Defense of Hinduism

* The rituals prescribed in the Hindu scriptures are for the worship of one god (''

Bhagavan The word Bhagavan (; ), also spelt as Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord", "God"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is used to signify a deity or an ''avatar'', pa ...

''). However, the god gives the fruit of various deeds to the doers through various deities, just as a king does through various servants. * All of god's actions are aimed at ensuring that the souls (''jivas'') obtain the fruit of their deeds ('' karman''). The conflict between Hindu deities (referred to in the ''Mata-pariksha'') also happen for this reason. These deities have just one soul (''atman''), but they seem distinct to different people because those people have different viewpoints. * The various Hindu philosophies (''darshanas'') seem contradictory, just like a man asking for directions may get seemingly contradictory answers (such as "Go east" or "Go west") to reach a destination depending on his location. However, all of them provide the same result: leading one to

. * All living beings experience prosperity or pain because of deeds in their past lives. This also explains why certain people are born into the privileged

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

class. God created Brahmins to perform ritual activity which "gives rise to purity of mind". *

Idol worship Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

involves focusing mind on the god, not on the material of the idol. Similarly, repeatedly chanting the names of the god (''Bhagavan'') focuses one mind on the god. There is no harm in practising such rituals. * Those who compare the ''

rasa lila The Raslila (), also rendered the Rasalila or the Ras dance, is part of a traditional story described in Hindu texts such as the Bhagavata Purana and Gita Govinda, where Krishna dances with Radha and the gopis of Braj. Rasalila has also been a ...

'' of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

to sinful activities such as adultery are not intelligent enough to understand it. The god, in form of Krishna, showed favour to the ''

gopi Gopi (, ) or Gopika in Hinduism are commonly referred to the group of milkmaids of Braj. They are regarded as the consorts and devotees of Krishna and are venerated for their unconditional love and devotion (''Bhakti'') to him as described i ...

s'' who rejected attachment to all objects and desired only him. * The Hindu scriptures are "deeply profound" unlike the Christian scripture which can be understood easily even by stupid people, and therefore, cannot be of divine origin. * Multiple

Hindu scriptures Hindu texts or Hindu scriptures are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. Some of the major Hindu texts include the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Itihasa. Scholars ...

exist for the welfare of people of different aptitudes. * The aim of the Puranic cosmography is to glorify the god, so it should not be taken literally and criticized for scientific inaccuracies. Even in Christianity, there is a conflict between

religion and science The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern ...

. * Spiritual faith (''

shraddha Shraddha may refer to: In religion * Śrāddha, a Hindu ritual performed for one's deceased ancestors * Śraddhā, the Sanskrit term used to refer to faith in Buddhism In Buddhism, faith (, ) refers to a serene commitment to the prac ...

'') allows one to see realities beyond what can be perceived with senses and logic. Reason (''tarka'' or ''upapatti'') is subservient to faith: it should be used for understanding the scriptures, but not for contradicting them. A person requires faith to appreciate the content of the scriptures, and a person obsessed with objective verification of their content will become cynical like the

Charvaka Charvaka (; IAST: ''Cārvāka''), also known as ''Lokāyata'', is an ancient school of Indian philosophy, Indian materialism. It's an example of the Hindu Atheism, atheistic schools in the Ancient Indian philosophies. Charvaka holds direct per ...

s. Goreh argues that even Christians require faith, rather than logic, to believe stories such as that of a conversation between a

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

and

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

Critical edition

S.L. Katre prepared a

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range i ...

of the text, based on two fragmentary manuscripts and a complete manuscript owned by Bhau-saheb Katre of Varanasi. It was published by the Scindia Oriental Institute of

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

in 1951. With help of this critical edition, S.L. Katre intended to counteract Goreh's post-conversion critique of Hinduism - '' Shad-darshana Darpana''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{ref end

External links

Shastra-tattva-vinirnaya
19th-century Sanskrit literature Hindu apologetic works 1844 books 19th-century Indian books Indian non-fiction books Books critical of Christianity