Book Title: Harmony of All Religions
Author(s): Parmahans Maharaj, Veena Rani Howard
Publisher: USA Santmat Society of North America

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Page 365
________________ In each of the religious traditions, the key ideas are expressed in words derived from the language of its cultural origins. For example, the Vedic tradition, based in the Sanskrit language, uses the word prarthana to refer to prayer. Muslims, using Arabic language call their prayer ibadat. Each of these religions speaks of the basic concepts of like heaven and hell in their root languages. For example, Hindus refer to heaven as svarga, hell is called narak, and liberation is called moksha. Muslims call these bahisht, dozak, and nazat in their language. Many foundational religious stories are common to the various religions, and are expressed in words that derive from the root languages of the traditions. An example of this can be seen in the stories about the origin of human beings. In the Vedic tradition, the first human ancestors are Shatrupa and Manu and since humans are children of Manu we are called man. In the monotheistic religions—Judaism, Islam and Christianity—all human beings are considered to be descended from Adam and Eve. In the Arabic language, the word ‘man’ is derived from admi. In ancient Hebrew the word for 'man' was adam. Another example of this type of corresponding ideas found within various traditions is the motif of holy water. For example, in the Vedic tradition the water from the River Ganga is 356

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