Talk:Akath Kahani Prem Ki (अकथ कहानी प्रेम की)

Current Understanding

For Current Understanding of this series and check of audios, see Talk:Na Kano Suna Na Aankhon Dekha (न कानों सुना न आंखों देखा).

Deliberations

This discussion will waft at times into more metaphysical areas. We (editorial "we") feel this is not inappropriate as ... well, let's see.

All of Osho's Hindi books on Kabir have undergone mergers, perhaps to reflect Kabir's trade as a weaver of cloths. Be that as it may, since there is an odd number of them, one had to merge with a non-Kabir book, if at all, so what better choice than Farid? In the purely Kabir mergers, all follow a pattern of one of the volumes disappearing into the other, ie one of the titles becomes the collective title for both, and the other has little or no independent existence. In this case, neither of the original titles disappears and a brand new collective title is created, Na Kano ..., which becomes this merger's almost-unreal entity.

Osho has told the story of the meeting of Farid and Kabir many times, so many times it has become a fairly iconic story in sannyas lore. He tells it as, among other things, an illustration of what happens when two masters meet, not that it happens often. The major themes are that neither spoke a word for two days, they just had an occasional giggle and hug, and their disciples were very disappointed, as they expected "great" things of this rare encounter between two masters of such stature.

Some interesting questions arise about this meeting. The Baba/Sheikh Farid best known in the West is the one linked to from Akath's main page, who died in 1266. This is the Farid who almost single-handedly began the tradition of Punjabi literature. He died almost two centuries before Kabir came along, thus no meeting was possible. He did have a spiritual tenth successor named Farid who was Kabir's contemporary, and who some say did write poetry of sufficient quality to be included in Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scriptures (this according to Sikhi Wiki [sic!]). But the fact remains that Osho is pretty much the only source for this meeting to be found on the net.

So what happens when their two books meet? A few giggles and hugs and the two books go their separate ways? Perhaps enough on that. Well, one more thing: it should be added that "Akath Kahani Prem Ki" is the first line of one of Kabir's poems and thus deserves to be married to a Kabir book. See Talk:Gunge Keri Sarkara (गूंगे केरी सरकरा) for more on that poem.

Regarding the second edition, the info for that edition is questionable and not abundant. Who is or are "Rajneesh friends' Club" besides the two people "named," which names sound frankly like pseudonyms? And what language was it translated from and/or into? The book is out there, that fact attested to by G**gle Books, but what exactly it has to do with Akath is not clear.

See also Na Kano's discussion page for more. -- Sarlo (talk) 22:41, 11 May 2014 (PDT)