My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher - Self-PublishedGenre - Theology
Publishing year - 2021
Language - English
ASIN - B09KRQHDH8
Pages - 202
Book Review -
Nectar of All World Religions is the second book written by Ishwar Joshi Awalgaonkar. It is based on the eleven religions worldwide and notable quotes from their holy books with fascinating information about the religion itself.
The author includes these religions in his book - Bahai, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism. However, there are more than four thousand religions globally, and it's hard to know about them all, but a few of these eleven holds a leading position.
For the past few years, this genre piqued my interest. Then, a few months ago, I read a book, Jesus and Muhammad: 2 Rays of the Same Light depicting the similarities between Christianity and Islam, and while I was reading this book by Ishwar Joshi, I noticed some similarities between the teachings of all these religions and came to the conclusion that God is one, the crux is always the same, no matter whatever the story/branches/names are; they all talked about enlightenment and to surrender yourself to the creator.
India is a diverse country, and I knew about six religions out of eleven, but Jainism stood out for me as I'm a Jain. This book allowed me to discuss this topic with my maternal grandmother as I had some doubts. Most people think that the 24th Trithankara Lord Mahavira is the founder of Jainism; in truth, it starts with the first Tirthankara Rishabh Nath.
After the death of Lord Mahavir, Jains were divided into two major sects, but there were sub-sects also. The author defines religious symbols, but the one in Jainism is messed up; the wheel and the word Ahimsa (non-violence) are nowhere visible, maybe the kindle version is messed up, but it will be great if the author looks into it.
The author shares quotes from the Acharanga Sutra, which is not our sacred book. We have Agam and Non-Agam literature that consists of various sutras. Some people also believe that Kalp Sutra is our holy book which is also not true. So, these are the things you'll discover when you start exploring this genre, which is exhilarating.
Now enough about Jainism, I learned a lot from this book, and one more example I'm going to share. It is from Judaism, the Star of David. Ishwar Joshi states that this star represents 12 tribes of Israel, but which ones? He didn't tell, but I'm a curious soul and did my research on it and love the result. It increases my knowledge, and the same goes for other aspects of this novel.
One can read this book slowly while doing their own research or rapidly get concise but crucial information. The language is lucid, and the narrative is unbiased, like in Ishwar's previous book, Sri Sai Sat Charitra for Kids.
Recommended to - This book does not analyze religions but provides little information about their literary composition, foundation, symbols, and preaching. It is suitable for those who want to start from somewhere and dive into this genre but have no idea. I highly recommend it.
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