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Why I am a believer inJesus A Story of a Hindu Devanga Brahmin
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About Notion Press
Notion Press is a Self-Publishing platform to write, publish &
sell Print books and eBooks around the world. To learn more,
visit www.notionpress.com
Why I am a believer in Jesus is a product of the Notion Press
Author Incubation Program.
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Why I am a believer inJesus
A Story of a Hindu Devanga Brahmin
Devaprakash R. Shampur
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NotionPress
5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane, Chennai - 600005
First Published by NotionPress
Copyright © Devaprakash R. Shampur 2013
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN: 978-93-83185-26-9
This book is sold subject to condition that it shall not by way of trade or
otherwise, be lent, resold or hired out, circulated and no reproduction in
any form, in whole or in part (except for brief quotations in critical articles
or reviews) may be made without written permission of the publishers.
This book has been published in good faith that the work of the authoris original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free.
However, the author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility for any
inadvertent errors.
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"Why is light given to him who suffers, and life to the bitter of soul?”
(Job 3:20)
This book is dedicated to the Light of the world, Jesus Christ.
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CONTENTS
iPREFACE
1PRELUDE
18MY PERSPECTIVE
21IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH
41COMPLEXITIES OF VEDAS53EPICS, MYTHOLOGY AND GODS
73PARALYTIC CASTE STRUCTURE
82MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND TRUTH
88COMMUNISM AND CONFUCIANISM
92RITUALS, TRADITIONS AND DEVIATIONS
107DOCTRINAL ABERRATIONS
117PRESENT ZIONIST ISRAEL
128SPIRITUAL GROWTHS IN RELIGIONS
133COMPARISON AND CRITIQUE
140BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
144MINISTRY OF JESUS159MY VISION AND MISSION
164CONCLUSION
179 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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PREFACE
This book has been written with an intention of making an
honest attempt to know the unbiased, universal and ‘Absolute
Truth’ that holds good for all peoples of the world. In doing
so, some statements may appear either appealing or repulsive
depending on the religious and cultural background of readers!
Nevertheless, truth will be known only when other distractions
from it are made known without any prejudices even when
they sound harsh and offensive! Such statements are meant
for introspection by the people concerned for the truth; they
are not meant to deride or condemn the beliefs that are held
commonly by various communities.
My sincere apologies to all those who feel that they are hurt
and that their sentiments have been affected by this book! Truth should not become a casualty in the process! I sincerely
urge them to keep an open mind for the sake of the truth,
freed from selfishness and self-centeredness, being confined to
a small world of their own!
There is a well known adage in Kannada language: “Iddid
iddange helidere, eddbandu edege oddha” which maybe translated tomean that‘for telling the truth as it is, listener got angry; he
rose and kicked the chest of the narrator’! I hope, with my
frank discussions, I will not be at the receiving end! Truth is
not always palatable!
With the background of Hinduism, from the land of Buddha
and the ministry of St. Thomas in India about 2000 years ago,
I believe, I have the right perspective to dispassionately discussmatters related to sublime spiritual matters which are generally
taken for granted in their diluted conditions by many! In a
fast paced world, people are too busy to pause and rethink on
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many issues that affect them whether they like it or not! These
are days when people prefer easy and customized salvation
for convenience. Routine religious trends seem to offer that
against any demand, business-wise! The religious environment
appears to encourage sale of spurious spiritual packages made
to any order!
Primarily, both Hinduism and Buddhism encourage everybody
to verify the truth before acceptance. It is the case with
Christianity too.
“And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and
for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures”
and “Now these were more noble-minded than those in
Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were
so” (Acts 17:2 & 11).
I have not stopped learning about the truth with this book. I
have continued to grow in the knowledge of the Supreme God
with His infinite attributes.
To quote from Rig Veda:
"Let noble thoughts come to us from all directions, " and "Let us live in harmony, let us share the harvest let our thoughts and deeds create synergy
to illuminate the Globe."
My work is meant to embolden the spirit of the above verses!
I pray for Godspeed in my humble and sincere effort!
Devaprakash R. Shampur
(March 2,2013)
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†.†.†
PRELUDE
I was born on March 25,1944 at Dodballapur, Bangalore
Rural District, Karnataka, India, to a rich Hindu Devanga
Brahmin family. By caste, we were weavers of cloth. Our
family had obtained a knowhow of dying of fabrics from
Germany before World War II. This technique brought richesto the joint family along with the traditional weaving. The war
ended in 1945. My personal struggles started after my birth. I
was born with an ulcer in my right ankle. There were no
effective antibiotics available in Bangalore where I was taken
for treatment since my grandfather’s brother was the chief
medical officer in a government hospital there. The doctors
had decided to amputate my leg as they were not able to
control the infection. This information was conveyed secretly by the medical officer’s daughter to my mother who was her
cousin. My mother ran away with me back to our native place,
unable to bear the condition of seeing her only baby son about
to be made physically handicapped for the rest of his life!
What was found incurable by expert allopathic doctors was
cured by a less recognized Ayurvedic native doctor in our town
with his herbal medicines! I should remain ever grateful to thesystem of Ayurvedic practice that saved my leg! Nevertheless,
my right leg remained weak, slender and little shorter than
my left leg. However, the difference was hardly felt till my
middle age, except for a mild limping effect. I remained a good
sportsman participating in many outdoor games. The game of
cricket was my favorite, and I was representing our engineering
college in Mysore as a student later in volleyball! I was the
winning captain both in Cricket as well as in volleyball in
hostel annual sports!
My mother was a pious woman, a second wife to my father
whose first wife had passed away leaving four sons and two
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daughters. The loss of his beloved wife was unbearable to him,
so being very rich, he handed over the affairs of the estate
to his brother-in-law and left on world tour in 1932 taking a
friend who was well versed in English at his expense.
After his return from the foreign tour, which was
something extraordinary at that period and in that small town,
he was welcomed back to the caste and community with
traditional cleansing process arranged by my grandfather’s elder
brother who was a highly respected and reputed leader of the
town. My mother who was unmarried at that time participatedin that function. Observing a shy and modest approach of
my mother who was pretty with fair complexion, my father
decided to marry her. Though my mother’s joint family was
highly respected for social works in the community and also
for its leadership, they were not that rich compared to my
father. The marriage took place, in a way, satisfying the
demand of a rich bridegroom! At that time, the first son of my father from his earlier marriage was about the same age as
that of my mother!
My mother started living in a house with her husband
along with six children of his first marriage. She had been
brought up in a joint family known for charity of helping
poor students in their education. In fact, their home was like a
hostel accommodating students from nearby villages with food
and shelter as a part of a charitable work. A few elders of the joint family were teachers. The environment now in her
husband’s home was totally different. It was business driven.
Her stepchildren, as if by nature and right, became hostile
to her. One of the stepsons played a dirty trick of stealing
her necklace that she had forgotten to take back from the
bathroom after bathing, accusing her of transferring that to her
parents’ home for money! Of course, the truth came out tothe open subsequently with enquiries.
My mother bore three daughters first. This did not affect
the psychology of her stepchildren because the civil law did
not grant inheritance to daughters after marriage in Hinduism
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in those days. So, naturally, it did not affect their share of
immense property. However, the moment I was born as a son,
they immediately shifted to another house taking all important
cooking utensils and other items expecting my mother to
manage and build her family from scratch! I still remember
earthen pots my mother was using to cook our food since the
metal pots and pans had been taken away by the stepchildren
to their separate house!
The stepsons, being well educated, started scheming on
how best my mother and her children would be deprivedof the share in the vast property. Meanwhile, my father had
become a theosophist and handed over the business affairs of
managing our power-loom factory to the care of his first wife’s
sons. And I was too young at that time. I was a primary target
for them, and they hoped and wished that I would not rise up
well in life!
Devaprakash R. Shampur
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AS A HINDU BEFORE THE SUMMER OF 1977
(Summer season: June to September in the U.S.A.)
The author is at the extreme right in the front row with his
kith and kin. Occasion: a happy sendoff to his maternal uncle
(wearing suit and tie) a few days before his departure to USA
for higher studies in Civil Engineering at Lehigh University,Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Photographed in Bangalore (August
4,1955). Baby Shalini, who became my wife, is in the arms of
her mother seen near my uncle
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The group that visited Pikes Peak, Colorado, (USA) Interaction
with people belonging to different races (White and Black
people) The author is at the extreme left of the front row
(September 6,1975).
Devaprakash R. Shampur
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AS A CHRISTIAN AFTER THE SUMMER OF 1977
With the Bible study group and other acquaintances of the
Church at Corvallis, Oregon, USA, before leaving for India.
Author standing at left in the second row (January 3,1980).
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Outside of Shanti Church, Tumkur. The author is at the
extreme right with his wife, Shalini, to his right (February
3,2013).
Devaprakash R. Shampur
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Meanwhile, influenced very much by mother, I tended to
be orthodox in my relationship to god. I used to worship our
gods joining her in singing devotional songs in the evenings. I
used to listen to her supernatural experiences in awe!
One incident was about when she left home to commit
suicide by falling to an open-well because of ill-treatment
meted out by her stepchildren when they were living together.
It appears an angel like person caught hold of her and led
her back home! She also had seen a vision of angels speaking
to her in upstairs-room when she went up on one of theevenings! With these experiences and with my birth as her
only son, she clung on to life barely managing the family! We
had become second class members of my father’s big family!
The stepsons’ children started to boss over us whenever there
was an opportunity! However, my eldest half brother’s second
daughter and eldest son of my half sister were great friends to
me! We got on really very well together!In my middle school years, I used to arrange worship
to goddess Saraswati (of knowledge) in a cradle with special
lightings to the photo of the goddess, and the distribution of
prasada (eatable offered to the deity) to the invitees present.
I was much concerned about acquiring knowledge right from
my young age. Later I became a frequent visitor to Sringeri
Sharada peetam established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the
proponent of advaita philosophy. As if to bless this devotion,my first son was born on Saraswati Pooja day that is celebrated
especially during Dasara festivities in Karnataka.
My mother was not happy with primary public schools
of our town. Consequently, first five years of my primary
education was arranged at home by employing a private tutor
who was a Brahmin. Consequently, much to my dislike, I was
made to study Sanskrit. Later on in high school I studied thesame as second language, not because I liked it but for getting
easy pass in the examination! It was difficult to score good
marks in our native language, Kannada!
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Reading through regularly ‘Life’, ‘Time’ and ‘Reader’s
Digest’ magazines published in America—subscribed by us--
and with good family library of our own, I began to write
short poems and articles to both Kannada and English dailies
during my high school years. My uncles recognized my talent
and encouraged me whenever there was an opportunity!
During high school final examination, I fell ill. I was
thinking of taking the examinations later on thereby losing one
year. But my teacher who was coaching me privately wanted to
appear anyway. So I went to take the examinations in a tanga (2-wheel horse carriage) and with a hurriedly packed lunch.
I managed the morning examination, but vomited the food
I had eaten by coming out of the hall during the afternoon
session. However, I managed to write the remaining part of
the examination. By God’s grace, I passed the examination in
first class clearing all subjects!
My mother had firmly decided that I should study furtherand not join the rich business of the family that required
interaction with my half brothers. All her brothers and cousins
on her father’s side were well educated and had become
engineers and doctors of good repute. Our small town offered
only education up to high school level. So I decided to
join reputed St. Joseph College in Bangalore to continue my
studies. I also stayed in its hostel even though my eldest
married sister was staying in Bangalore. My father preferredthat I should stay outside and get exposed to the world,
developing interactions with people from different places.
Our Devanga communities have their own temples
managed by their people. Devanga means organ of god, so our
caste people think that they are superior to other Brahmins
because they have simply come out of the mouth of god
whereas Devangas are a part of an organ of god! My father’srelatives had priests amongst them, not so in case of my
mother’s side. This made the stepchildren feel superior over
my mother and her children irrespective of character and
conduct!
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My eldest half brother was absorbed by politics during
country’s independence movement. The second one remained
a bachelor and had become a kind of a recluse. Therefore, the
third one was put in charge of running the family business.
The fourth one had some psychological problems, and he went
to the U.K. for higher studies in commerce, and he married
my maternal uncle’s daughter, and, therefore, became close to
us to a certain extent!
Mahatma Gandhi had visited our town before
independence. It was made possible by my father’s friend, who was taken on the foreign tour by my father and who had
become the first president of the congress party of our state.
My grandfather’s elder brother, who was a leader in the town
municipality, was also responsible in inviting Gandhi to our
native town. Gandhi gave audience to many freedom fighters,
(based on non-violence) volunteers et al sitting at an open
place that belonged to our family. Many very young children were taken to him for getting his blessings. He would bless
them and suggest names for them. My mother remembered
those names and christened us with what she had heard in that
meeting. My name now at that time was common with North
Indian boys.
The half brother who was looking after our factory was a
believer, to an unusual extent, in sorcery and witchcraft. He
along with his wife and children used to wear all kinds of talismans and magic bands. They used to visit sorcerers and
astrologers frequently.
My stay in St. Joseph’s College hostel just for a year of pre-
college courses helped me a great deal in developing all round
abilities both in sports as well as in studies. Undeterred by
my short stature, I used to lead others in sports, especially in
tennis-ball cricket in the hostel. After one year, I got admissionto an engineering course in Mysore. This was too much to bear
for my jealous half brother’s second son who had discontinued
his studies after high schooling to take care of the lucrative
joint family business. He remarked to my sister that I might
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have passed high school in first class, but no way can I manage
an engineering course! His sister who had studied high school
with me had passed with a second class and had discontinued
her studies.
My poor physique and health were of great concern to my
mother. To her great delight I passed clearly the first year of
engineering while other relatives in Bangalore had failed. I took
a first class in second year that surprised and embarrassed my
half brother’s son with his caustic remarks about my ability
for progress in engineering studies! It was ironic that insteadof feeling happy on the success of his near relative, he was
harboring envy: a typical mindset of worldly and unspiritual
people!
Unfortunately, when I was in the final year of mechanical
engineering degree course, most unexpectedly, my father
passed away. It was a bolt from the blue! While dying, he
expressed his anguish to my mother who was looking afterhim in the hospital that he was leaving with nothing in her
hands to manage the family! She had one younger daughter to
be married and still studying in a college, so also her only son.
Much of the property that belonged to us had been sold away
by stepsons in the guise of business loss. We had no proper
place to stay since the house we were staying with father
had been given to stepsons in the divisions of the property.
The stepsons were not even prepared to pay the medical billsof their deceased father to the doctor at Dodballapur who
was attending him before he was admitted to the hospital in
Bangalore though they were enjoying the major part of the
inherited property!
My father after handing over the business interests to
his sons was engaged in money lending transactions with
reasonable interest to keep himself busy. To my mother’s surprise, she found my father wearing
talisman when the body was bathed before cremation. Perhaps,
he was all along been under the bad spell of the talisman,
and he would listen to her stepsons out of the way that were
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Why I am a believer inJesus A Story of a Hindu Devanga Brahmin
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