Testimony
of Br. Aravindaksha Menon as given to Divine Retreat Center - Potta, Kerala, India
My
dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Introduction - Early Life
My
name is Aravindaksha Menon. As the very name suggests, I am hailing
from a very orthodox semi Brahmin Hindu family.
As my family was of a
Brahmin culture, I was bound to study the Hindu scriptures, Ramayana,
Mahabharatha,
Bhagavat Gita
from very early childhood.
I was brought
up in my family in a most religious way studying all these
scriptures, chanting hymns and attending the pooja ceremonies in the
temple every day. At the age of 18, after completing my normal
education, I entered into central government service in an office
under the ministry of commerce. Since then for a period of over 20
years I led a very happy and cheerful life. Having the effect of this
spiritual training in abundance in my mind, I could love others, I
could always think for others, I could always work for others and I
could lead a life without any selfish motives. Thus everybody around
me, my colleagues, became my friends. Through them I could become the
leader of the service organisation of the establishment in which I
was working. Through this politically motivated organization I could
into contact with Indian Communist party. Within no time I became a
staunch worker of the communist party. I could become a leader of the
Communist party in my locality. Through this political work, being
loved and respected by my natives, through this organizational work,
being loved and respected by my colleagues and friends, I could lead
a very happy and cheerful life for over 20 years.
Losing my Job
After
this very happy period of twenty years, one day most unexpectedly, I
lost my job. Citing ever so many political reasons; my relationship
with the Communist party, my work for the Communist party, an
agitation, a big strike that occurred in my office, the leadership
given by me to this strike; citing ever so much political reasons, my
authorities dismissed me from the service. Always being engaged in
these political and organizational work, financially I was not at all
sound ever in my life. I need not explain what will happen to such a
family, which is already financially unsound, when its income itself
is unexpectedly stopped. Within a few days, the total life of my
family and myself was put into so much financial hardships.
More Difficulties
When
financial hardships come to us, we begin to think about God. It was
easy for me to think about God, because my family is of such a great
spiritual background. My family owns three temples. Three big temples
in the family compound itself. The Gods incarnated in these temples
are called Bharadevatas. I went to the temple of these Bharadevatas
and began to pray with all my heart. Giving all sort of offerings to
these temples, I spent days, weeks and months in the temple in
fasting and prayers. But nothing happened to my life; nothing changed
my life; nothing lessened the hardships in my life. Normally and
naturally when God’s blessings are denied to us, we the Hindus
go to an astrologer and consult him; to find out what is the trouble
with our lives. I also went to a very famous astrologer in our state.
Four times I went to him. All the four times he found out different
reasons for my hardships. Curses of a God, curses of Goddesses,
curses of birth stars and so on. All the four times he suggested very
expensive avoidance’s (penance’s). I did not have any money
with me. I borrowed every money I could get and attended to all these
avoidance most promptly. Still nothing happened to my life.
Lost total faith in GOD
Nothing
lessened the distress in my life. I lost my faith in God; I became an
atheist. I was so convinced, there is no such God. God is only a myth
created by man, for the welfare of the priests, astrologers and
temples. As you know, there is very eminent atheist in our state.
They have got their own association, their own movement. The
Rationalists Association of India. I happened to meet some of the
leaders of the association at this time. After hearing my story they
told me “You are a man of experience, nothing is to be taught to
you now. It’s your social duty to go around and tell others that
there is no God.” Most happily I took up this assignment and for
the next three years I went around the state of Kerala, Tamilnadu,
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh; I went to almost all cities of India and
preached ‘There is no God. God is only a myth created by man for
the exploitation of man by man.’
Even
though I was preaching against God for all these three years, this
period of three years turned out to be a blessing in disguise as far
as I am concerned. Because I could read a lot of books during this
period; I could come into contact with so many intellectual giants,
big writers during this period. And one of the friendships cultivated
by me on those days, while I was preaching against God, changed my
life totally.
Encounter with a Brahmin
One
day, in a South Indian city, I was giving a lecture on atheism.
After hearing my preaching a man came to meet me. He was a Hindu
Brahmin by birth. Born to a very poor family. With his own efforts he
studied and became an advocate. Then he became a Judge. A judge of
the High Court. Finally he became the Chief Justice, then retired. He
was a great scholar in English and Sanskrit. Such a great man, he
was.
Two Questions
After attending to my talk, he came to me and told me “My
dear son, you have gone wrong twice. Once when your life was put into
so much hardships, thinking that you are turning to God, you did not
turn to the real God. But you did turn to idols and temples, it was
wrong.” I was rather astonished because these comments came from
a Brahmin. He is from such a race which makes a livelihood out of
their worship of the idols in the temples and he tells me when I went
to the temple and worshipped the idols, it was a mistake.
“And
secondly when you did not get benefited out of your worship of the
idols in the temples, you turned to become an atheist; that is also
wrong. You are a born Hindu. And should be proud of being a Hindu. To
be proud of being a Hindu you have to go through the scriptures of
Hinduism.”
Very proudly I told him
“ I have not only gone
through the scriptures, I have studied them by heart. Ramayana,
Mahabharatha, Bhagavath Gita, I have studied by heart. Nothing is to
be done in that respect.”
Then he laughed at me.
He called me a
fool and told me
“These books, Ramayana, Mahabharatha and
Bhagavath Gita are not the religious scriptures.
Those are only
storybooks.
- Ramayana is the story of Sri Rama, the king of Ayodhya,
historical man
- Mahabharatha is the story of Sri Krishna, the prince
of Madhura, another historical figure
- Bhagavath Gita is compiled of
eighteen chapters just selected from Mahabharatha
These are not the
religious scriptures.
The official religious books of Hinduism are
the Vedas.
The written four Vedas;
the Rigveda,
Yajurveda,
Samaveda,
and the Adharva Veda
You have to go through these Vedas. Then you
will get light, you will find the truth, you can see the real God and
the God will give you peace.”
He advises me. Out of his advice,
I did not get any faith in God. But there may be some point in this
advice. To know that point, I went to a library, got a copy of the
Rigveda, the first and foremost one of the four Vedas and began to
read from the Veda.
After
going through some passages, I got convinced of one thing. One thing
he told was correct. I started getting the light. The very first
light I could get from Rigveda, the religious book of Hinduism was
that, to whomsoever Gods I went in the days of my hardships, gave
offerings and prayed to, are not Gods. There are no such Gods. In the
official religious book of Hinduism, the Rigveda, there is the
mention about only one God. He is the creator of all creations in
this universe. He is the creator of all creations in this universe.
He is the creator of all mankind the world over; he is the heavenly
father, the only God. This only God is omnipresent; He fills this
universe. As the Lord almighty is Omnipresent and as he fills this
universe, nobody can see him in a particular body or form. As the
Lord Almighty is formless and bodiless, nobody can make an idol of
God and worship an idol; it is worthless and it is useless.
A fool
who is worshipping an idol gains nothing but pain and he never
attains salvation. I was convinced. As there are 73 books for the
Holy Bible, there are 10 books for the Rigveda. Ten mandalams. From
first to nine mandalams, in several places it is clearly said who is
the real God, who is man and why should man worship the God and how
should he worship him. In the tenth mandalam, besides this Lord
Almighty, there is the mention about a man.
Son of God
The first born and only
born son of the God. His name is ‘Prajapathy’. Prajapathy,
the son of the God comes to this world at the appropriate time. After
coming to this world he travels around advising mankind, what is sin
and what is not sin; what is to be done and what is not to be done;
what is wrong and what is right. To those human beings, which accept
his advises and obey his orders, he offers prosperity and peace in
this worldly life and salvation at the time of their death. And being
the completion of his venture to redeem mankind from sin, he gets
sacrificed at the end his specified period on earth.
In verse 7
chapter 90 of the 10th book of the Rigveda, the sacrifice of
Prajapathy the Son of God, is well explained. ‘At the time of
sacrifice, the son of God will be tightly tied to a wooden
sacrificial post using iron nails by hands and legs, he will bleed to
death and on the third day he will regain his life in a resurrection.
Praise the Lord!
I
was totally confused. Who is this Prajapathy, who is the Son of God?
As per Hindu mythology, there are 10 incarnations of God. Ten times
God comes to this world.
“Matsya,
Koorma, Varahascha
Narasimhascha
Vamana,
Ramo
Ramascha Ramascha,
Krishna,
Kalki.
These
are ten incarnations.
First I thought, the reference about
Prajapathy, the son of God, will be about one among those
incarnations. But it was not. Because each incarnation has got its
own attributes. None of these attributes suit those attributes of
Prajapathy as given in the Rigveda and as given in Sathapadha
Brahmana, a supplement to Yajurveda. Then I went to some scholars in
my neighbourhood and asked them, who is this Prajapathy, who is the
son of God?
Concept of Praja (Man) Pathy (Saviour)
One of them told me “Yes, there is a concept of
Prajapathy. Praja means man. Pathy means saviour.
There will be a man
coming from God being the saviour of mankind; he has not yet come; we
are still expecting him.”
All this time Jesus was in my mind.
But I being a staunch Hindu, I could not even think like that. But
again I am not only a Hindu, I am an atheist, I am a rationalist.
I
asked him “Can this reference be about Jesus Christ?. That
scholar asked me “No. It can’t be. Because it happened in
some Western countries, in Jerusalem or so, not here. Again I told
him “It need not be here. The mention is only earth, man and the
God, so it can be anywhere.” Now this scholar scolded me.
“You fool, don’t make such foolish arguments with me; this
is a religious matter, a godly affair, get out!’
With all these
confusions in my mind I went to that noble Brahmin who advised me to
go through the Vedas and asked him “Who is this Prajapathy, who
is this Son of God?” Then he asked me “It’s written in
Malayalam, why don’t you understand? I told him “I could
understand, but I have my own doubts.”
My dear brothers and
sisters, even though a scholar, a born Brahmin, even though a
scholar, a born Hindu, he told me
“My dear son, there is nothing
to be doubted, the only one sent by God, came to this world, tried to
redeem mankind form sin and got sacrificed at the end is nobody else,
but Jesus Christ!” Praise the Lord!
Reading the Holy Bible - THE Word of God
Then
he asked me “Now its time you go through the Bible. You’ll
get further truth.” I came back to my house. I borrowed a Bible
from the nearby Christian house and I began to read the Bible. When I
read some passage from the very first book of Genesis itself,
stronger wonders than I could find Jesus Christ in the Holy
Scriptures of Hinduism began to appear before me in the Holy Bible.
The same verses or the verses with the same meanings or verses being
the answers to the questions, doubts and prayers in the Vedas,
Upanishads and even in Bhagavath Gita. All connected verses.
I
cannot go in detail about such verses now, but only give a few
examples, just for your conviction and faith. The very first book in
the Holy Bible, is the book of Genesis.
Genesis is the history of
creation. It’s said that the heavenly father created this
universe in six days.
The first day, Genesis 1:3 “ The God said
let there be light and there was light.” In 16:1 God creates the
sun, the moon and the stars, which were created on the fourth day
only. Then which was the light, which emanated from God on the first
day?
Answer to this question we get from verses 1 to 14 of St. John
chapter 1. In the beginning was the word. This word from God came to
this world in the form of light. The word that came to this world as
light became flesh and made his dwelling among us and that’s our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Now verse 1 of chapter 121 of the 10th book of
Rigveda says: -
“Hiranyagarbha:
samavarthaagre
Bhuuthasya
jaatha: pathireka aaseeth
Sadaadhaara
Prudhwivim dyaamuthemam
Kasmai
devaaya havisha vidhemam.”
In
the beginning, God and his supreme spirit alone existed. From the
supreme Spirit of the God proceeded Hiranya Garbha, alias Prajapathy,
the first born of the God in the form of light. As soon as born, he
became the saviour of all the worlds.
(Rigveda
X:90:2)
“Purusha
evedam sarvam
Yadbhutham
yachabhavyam
Uthaamruthathwasya
esaana
Ya
daannenathirohathi”
This
man, the first born of the God is all that was, all that is and all
that has to be. And he comes to this world to give recompense to
everybody as per his deeds.
Revelation
1:8
Says
the Lord God “Who is, who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation
22:12
“Behold,
I am coming soon, I bring with me the recompence I will give to each
according to his deeds.”
Rigveda
X:90:7
“Tham
yajnam barhishi proukshan
Purusham
jaathamagratha
Thena
deva ayajantha
Sadhya
rushayaschaye”
This
man, the first born of the God, was tied to a wooden sacrificial
post and the gods and the Kings along the seers performed the sacrifice.
All
the four Gospels say-
Jesus
was crucified on a wooden cross by the Rulers (Jerod and Pilate) and
the seers (Annas and Caiphas)
Yajurveda
XXXI:18, Rigveda X:90:16.
“Thamevam
Vidwanamrutha
iha
bhavathy
Nanya
pandha ayanaya vidyathe”
This
(sacrifice) is the only way for redemption and liberation of
mankind. Those meditate and attain this man, believe in heart and
chant with the lips, get liberated in this world itself and there is
no other way for salvation too.
Romans
10:9
“If
you confess with your lips that Jesus is the Lord and believe in
heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.”
When
I could come across all these verses, I got confused once again. I
went to that Brahmin Guru again and told him “It’s
wonderful.” Again he told me “There’s nothing to be
wonderstruck. Every ancient scripture was one and the same. Hindus,
Christians and Islam were all categorized later, all man made. The
word of God was one, because God is only one. He asked me “Do
you believe that God is only one?” I told him “ Yes, I do
believe God is only one” Again he asked me “If God only one
how can the Son God be several? It is also one.”
27th June 1992
I
came back to my house. That day became an unforgettable day in my
life. 27th June, 1992. All the day time I was restless. There was a
strong fight going on in my mind. The fight between the culture I was
born and brought up in and the truth I found out now from the ancient
scriptures of the very same culture. I became totally restless. In
the night, on my bed, I thought about Jesus Christ. Of course I knew
I knew him before; there was a picture of Jesus Christ in my mind
too. Jesus the son of Joseph and Mariam, born in Bethlehem, brought
up in Nazareth, studied the scriptures of Jew religion till the age
of twenty nine and a half, who tried to hold a riot against the King
and the priests with the help of poor fishermen, caught the soldiers
of the King, faced trial and killed on the cross. This was the image
of Jesus Christ in my mind. This was the communist line of thinking
about him.
Jesus - the Son of Living God
But on that night, for the first time in my life, I
thought about Jesus in a different way; Jesus, the Son of God, who
got sacrificed for the sins of the world. The result was wonderful.
There were hymns in the Rigveda, the meanings of which I could not
understand in spite of repeated readings. But when I could ascribe
Jesus as the sacrificial victim and his crucifixion as the sacrifice,
the meanings of those verses came so clear to me. Then I could
understand what my Guru told me was correct. Jesus is the only Son of God.
Praying the Lord's Prayer
I
sat up on my bed. For the first time in my life, I, a staunch Hindu,
prayed to Jesus Christ. I didn’t know how to pray. I didn’t
know the narration of prayers as given in the Bible. “Oh! Our
father thou art in Heaven!” I didn’t know any such prayers.
I just prayed oh! Jesus, come to me. I am in distress. Come to me,
save me.
From Vedas to Christ
When
I prayed to Jesus, of course I don’t hesitate to confess before
you now I kept my prayers to myself. So secretly and silently I
prayed so that no one should hear. Especially my wife, who is lying
beside me, sleeping, should not hear. It was rather shameful for me
to pray to Jesus Christ. But one thing is there. I have come to the
faith of Jesus Christ studying the Hindu scriptures. Not inspired by
the Bible, not inspired by any Christian priest or friend. So what if
my wife knows, she should know. But I could not think so at that
time. Not because my wife also belonged to a Hindu family. No, that
was not the reason.
My Wife Loved Jesus
On the day of our marriage, my wife had made a
peculiar request tome. She also belonged to a Hindu family like mine.
But all her neighbors were Christians. Very orthodox Roman Catholics.
In each and every family there is one priest and two or three nuns.
So many of her classmates and friends are now studying for priesthood
or to become sisters. Due to her close acquaintance with these
families, from early childhood, she believed in Jesus Christ. Every
day she prayed to Jesus. Every Sunday she goes to the church and
attends the mass. I, being a staunch Hindu, should not object her
practice; that was her request to me. I told her “ I am a
communist, an atheist. I don’t have such faith. I don’t go
either to the church or to the temple. But in my practice, I never
object or question the faith of others. So you can have your own
faith. I don’t mind.” She continued to be in that faith.
She brought up our children also in the very same faith. She was
telling me also to have faith in Lord Jesus. But I didn’t care.
When i lost my job and when my family was put in to so much of
distress, then again my wife told me “Believe in Jesus Christ,
our family will be saved.” I didn’t pay any attention to
her words; instead I went to the temples and worshipped the idols.
When I come back from these idols, most disappointed, then again my
wife would tell me “Believe in Jesus Christ, our family will be
saved.” Again I didn’t care; I went on being an atheist and
I began to preach against God. Now on my own, studying the
authoritative Hindu scriptures, I have come to the faith of Jesus
Christ. What my wife has been telling me for the last eighteen years
has become true, yes, but how can I admit it before her, because I am
the husband and she is my wife.
First Family Prayer to Jesus Christ
So I kept my prayers to Jesus to
myself and secretly prayed to him. After praying for some time I
retired to sleep. When I lay down to sleep, my wife who was supposed
to be sleeping beside me stood me. She was not sleeping she was
watching me. Silently she stood up and to the nearby room. There she
had kept a small wooden cross for her prayers. She lit the candles,
knelt down on the floor and tears running down her face she began to
praise Jesus Christ. I got the meaning of that praise immediately.
For the last 18 years this poor woman was praying for me and at the
fulfillment of her prayers, why she is praising her Lord now, I need
not go to any astrologer to find out. I could not lie don any more. I
also went to my wife, knelt down beside her, and joining hands, we
began to pray to Jesus. That happened to be the first family prayer
in my house. Praise the Lord!
The
result of this prayer, answer to this prayer was instantaneous. In
the same night I received the answer to my prayers. You believe it or
not, I am a man who spent sleepless nights for over six years. Since
I lost my job, since my family was put into so much of hardships, I
cold not sleep for even a single night. Whenever I close my eyes for
sleeping, the images of my two daughters come to my eyes. Then I
could not sleep. Like some psychological problem this phenomenon
haunted me every night, and I could not sleep even a single night.
But on that night, when I prayed to Jesus for the first time in my
life, I could get a long deep uninterrupted sleep for over 14 hours.
Praise the Lord! What is the big thing about it? To get sleep for a
night. Is it a big boon or blessing? No. But that sleep I got that
night has some relevance and importance in my life. Before that I
went to ever so many temples, I went to ever so many gods, I gave
thousands and thousands of rupee as offering to them and I prayed to
them. But none of these gods heard any of my prayers and gave me an
answer. But on that night, when I prayed to Jesus for the first time
in my life, Jesus immediately answered; “Relax, I am going to
bless you.” I relaxed I slept. That’s the special relevance
and importance of that sleep I got in that night.
Since
then, till now, what all blessings Jesus showered on me, I cannot
explain everything in detail now. On 27th June,’92, in the last
week of June I prayed to Jesus for the first time in my life. In the
first week of July, next week, without my appeal, without any sort of
follow up from me, even without my knowledge, the Govt. of India took
a policy decision. All those who were dismissed from services by the
former Govt. on political reasons, should be reinstated in service. I
was reinstated in my old service, which I lost six years ago. My
income was restored. The days of starvation in my life are over.
Praise the Lord!
Verse
no. 31 chapter 16 of the Acts of Apostles tells us “You believe
in Jesus Christ, you and your family will be saved.” I was
convinced. I believed in Jesus Christ and I was saved, automatically
my family will also be saved. Enough. God kept his promise, I was
convinced. But within a few days, God convinced me one more thing.
God keeps his promises letter by letter. If he has promised that you
and your family will be saved , he means you and each member of your
family will be saved. The second member of my family is my wife. As
she was educationally much backward, she could not get a job. She was
a simple housewife till the age of 36. As I lost my job, on somebody
else’s advice and persuasion she took an agency of the L.I.C.
Very well she knew she could not work because she was practically
illiterate, and she expected me to work for her. But I did not attend
to that work at all. It was against my prestige to go around and
before others because everybody now knew I was jobless. My wife also
could not work and we could not make any income out of it and we were
living by selling out material possessions. Then everything was over,
nothing was left behind for selling out. I told my wife “You
start the work of L.I.C., I'll help you.” Jointly we began to
work. But we began to work only after accepting Jesus as our Lord and
Savior. Jesus was with us in each and every step of ours. Every bit
of business we attempted to, turned out to be a success.
My
dear brothers and sisters, this is the wonderful experience, that
Lord Jesus gave me on my prayers to him, which I had to share with
you. I pray to Lord Almighty to give you also that wonderful touch of
the blessed hand of Jesus Christ during this retreat itself.
Thank
you. Praise the Lord! And the Attainment.. God is one and absolute.
The omnipresent and the omnipotent. The creator, Sustainer and
Guardian of this universe. Everyone has concurred to this eternal
truth, And then differ in vain? Why is it ‘Your God’ and
‘My God’? This dilemma of the novice, the wavering, Just at
the threshold of faith, Remains sadly unsolved. And those who have
taken possession of God As their exclusive right, Would dismiss you
for a dullhead, Immature and ignorant.
Think not, contemplate not!
Take shelter under unconditional belief. And trust!
In
whom? “In what I say. In the path I usher you unto.” Here,
confusion becomes worst confounded. It is this predicament that has
instigated me to set out And seek my God on my own. Here, let me
submit myself, mind, body and soul, to my Lord Almighty, who had
revealed me His magnanimity and graciousness in all its splendour
whenever I invoke Him.
Let
me acknowledge the God’s grace showered on me. To be born in an
orthodox Hindu family which facilitated me to learn the Vedas And
Mythologies, Which in turn have guided me like a beacon towards this
accomplishment of comparison.
