Conversion : An Assault On Truth

by S.L. Bhyrappa

India : Her Conquests

The cover photograph is that of the Vishnu temple at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Angkor was the capital of the Khmer or the Kamboja empire. Will Durant describes this temple as " masterpiece equal to the finest architectural achievements of the Egyptians, the Crooks or the cathedral builders of Europe."
(The Story of Clvilization - Vol 1).

Who built this temple and when it got to be built are some of the questions that have remained unanswered. Philip Rawson introduces his book The Art of Southeast Asia with the following

"The culture of India has been one of the world's most powerful civilizing forces. Countries of the Far East, including China, Korea, Japan, Tibet and Mongolia owe much of what is best in their own culture to the inspiration of ideas imported from India. The West too, has its own debts. But the members of that circle of civilizations beyond Burma scattered around the Gulf of Siam and the Java Sea, virtually owe their very existence to the creative influence of Indian ideas. ...No conquest or invasion, no forced conversion Imposed them. They were adopted because the people saw they were good and they could use them... their code of living their conceptions of law and kingship, their rich literature and highly evolved philosophy of life."

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 4, 2009

About the author

Dr S.L. Bhyrappa is a litterateur par excellence. He writes in the south Indian language, Kannada, and has been the bestselling novelist for over 25 years now. His novels are widely translated to pan Indian languages. He is the bestselling novelist in Marathi over the past decade and is among the top-five bestselling authors in Hindi. He is a conscious artist that depicts fundamental human emotions in his novels. In addition to his profound knowledge of Indian philosophical and cultural traditions, Professor Bhyrappa has since his childhood had intense personal experiences in both rural and urban milieu. Consequently, his characters are deeply rooted in Indian soil. Seminars have been and are being held on his novels, and volumes of literary criticism have been published on his works.

His books have found their way to the curriculum of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses of the universities in the state of Karnataka, and have been the subject of about 20 PhD dissertations. He has penned 24 novels and four volumes of literary criticism and books on aesthetics, social issues and culture. Most of his novels are translated into almost all the Indian languages and six into English. He has served as a Prof. of Philosophy over three decades at NCERT.

Dr Bhyrappa is an avid listener of both Indian and Western classical music and has a keen eye for Art. Travelling has been his paasion since childhood and he has travelled across the globe touching the glaciers of poles, forests of Amazon, deserts of Africa, bustling cities of Europe and the United States. He has trekked in the Alps, the Rockies, Andes and in Fujiama, but the Himalayas remain his greatest passion.

Academic Publications in English
--------------------------------------
Values in Modern Indian Educational Thought, 1968 (New Delhi: National Council of Educational Research and Training)
Truth & Beauty: A Study in Correlations, 1964 (Baroda: M. S. University Press)
20 Research Papers published in various Journals like Indian Philosophical Quarterly, Darshana International, Journal of University of Baroda

Research and Fellowship
----------------------------
National Research Professor, Government of India, 2014
One of the five members of the Indian Literary Delegation that visited China on invitation by the Government of China, 1992
Ford Foundation Award to visit the USA to study the cultural problems of Indian immigrants to the USA, 1983
British Council Fellowship tenured at the School of Education, University of London, 1977

Reviews

[Ashish Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conversion: An Assault On Truth is a collection of scholarly essays by Bhyrappa, M. Chidananda Murthy, David Frawley, Navaratna Srinivasa Rajaram, Shatavadhani R. Ganesh and Dayananda Saraswati. Each and every essays is remarkable. Stark and unapologetic about why this book is needed, the authors are clear about the importance of writing this book. Appreciate the research that went into writing bold book as this. Book like this need to read by all. Its high time we need to talk about conversion happening India. Everyone deserves to know the reality. I read this book in English. This book is also available in Kannada ಮತಾಂತರ (Matantara).

[Adarsh ಆದರ್ಶ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collective Articles/ interviews of renowned authors , Historians and spiritual leaders. Articles which were published a decade ago on popular News papers that discusses the various aspects of religious conversion of Hindus to cults such as Islam and Christianity even though articles received tremendous response from readers but received backlash from regular criminals. Authors have given in brief articles on how conversion works and how to counter the argument for conversion, Inception of all the abrahamic cults and it's laws. The violence these satanic religion is creating and how the conversion ghost is destroying the indigenous culture and multicultural environment of Bharata..

A must read book..

[Chaitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conversion, An Assault on Truth is a collection of 8 articles including introduction and conclusion penned by famous Kannada writer Sri S L Bhyrappa. Consisting their opinions and years old studies made on conversion, this short volume involves views by intellectual people like Shatavadhani R Ganesh, Dayanand Saraswati, P P Hegde and others to name a few. Basically, in the beginning itself translator and chief editor H S Sreenath explains what made these articles emerge in the first place. All began when a kannada daily decided to shed light on the illegal conversions held by the missionaries and in return a massive uproar by the conversion apologists set people like Bhyrappa to set few facts laid down clear. What began as a single article led to a large platformed debate and discussion letting the commoners express their opinions and concern. It might have been a story of past however the existence and thriving of conversion of Hindu and other tribal population has been doubled up and is very much visible at the surface level.
The publication house Sahitya Prakashana, based in Hubli has embarked on compiling the articles, interviews and speeches concerning the danger of conversion both by fear and fraud faced by the present Hindu population. Advocate like P P Hegde gives the legal perspective of conversion while Navaratna Rajaram and Chidanand Murthy gives the history of the largest Abrahamic faith, honestly I learnt quite a lot from these two authors. What arrested my mind was how Shatavadhani R Ganesh and David Frawley viewed this concept of conversion. Albeit short I cannot help but press upon how important this book is for everyone. I am so glad I purchased the book and I am so grateful to the publishers, editors and translators for compiling all these articles that would have been gone unread. It's a must read for everyone, especially Hindu, especially metaphorically blind hindus who turn their faces to the other side every time the topic of conversion is brought to the discussion table. A highly recommended worth reading book! There were so many quotations and opinions that are worth highlighting however the one by H S Sreenath, probably, stays in my mind forever and I'd like to conclude with it,

"When a Hindu becomes a convert to any religion, he is, in effect, trading the binoculars to the blinkers, he is forsaking his intellectual freedom for emotional conditioning, and he is exiting from a vast spiritual expanse and stepping into a narrow religious alley. One can only term such an act of extreme folly"

[Abhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books mentioned in this short collection of essays,

Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy - R.D.Ranade
Genocide in the new world: the dark side of columbus' legacy - Henbay Ramsager
The color of law on the pope, Paternalism and purifying the savages - David A Love
Dhammapada, Suttapitaka, Anguttara Niyaka, Samayukta Nikaya, Udana, Deeghanikaya, Khuddanikaya
Brahmana Dhammika Sutta, Sutta Nipaata, Khuddaka Nikaya, Selu Sutta, Brahmana Vagga Dhammapada
Hinduism and Buddhism ; The living thoughts of the Gotama Buddha; Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism - Ananda K Coomaraswamy
Buddhism and Christianity in the light of Hindusim; Ramana Maharshi and the path of self knowledge - Arthur Osborne
A critical survey of Indian Philosophy; The Avdaita tradition in Indian philosophy - Chandradhar Sharma
Gradual sayings; Buddhist India - Ms Rhys Davis
Outlines of Indian Philosophy - Hiriyanna
Indian Philosophy - S.Radhakrishnan
Bouddh dharm ke vikas ke itihaas - J.C.Pandey
Bouddh Darshan - Baladev Upadhyay
Life and teachings of Buddha - Devamitra Dharmapal
History and culture of the Indian people
Bauddhacharya
History of Dharmashastra - P.V.Kane
History of India - H.M.Eliot
The Path of the Buddha - K.W.Morgan
Decline of Buddhism in India - R.C.Mitra
Religions of India - Barth
Vedic Aryans and the origins of civilization
In search of cradle of civilization; Gods, Sages and Kings - David Frawley
Naasadiya Suktapada; Shariraka; Sharira
Gaudapada Karika - Adi Shankara
Malabar and the Portuguese - K.M.Panickar
The Goa Inquisition - A.K.Priolkar
The Supremacy of the Delhi Sultanate - Bharatiya Vidya bhavan history series
Rajatarangini - Jonaraja
Rajatarangini - Kalhana
Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Mahatma Gandhi opposed Conversion.
Complete works of Swami Vivekananda
Satyartha Prakash - Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Hindu Temples: What happened to them; History of Hindu-Christian Encounters - Sita Ram Goel
Vedic Saraswathi - Dr.B.P.Radhakrishna
Politics of History: Aryan Invasion theory and the subversion of scholarship - N.S.Rajaram
Negationism in India; Psychology of Prophetism - Koenraad Elst
Islam: The Arab Imperialism - Anwar Sheikh
Vakya Padiya - Barthruhari (flip flopped between brahminism and buddhism 7 times)
Bible
Koran
Vedas & Upanishads
Yagnavalkya smruthi
Arthashastra - Kautilya
Raghuvamsham - Kalidasa
Ramayana - Valmiki
Mahabharatha - Vyasa
Manusmriti
Aavarana; Bhitti; Daatu; Saartha; Parva - S.L.Bhyrappa
Ramakrishna Vachanamrutha; Vachanaveda - Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Quotes:
Krodhadhbhavati Sammohaha - Gita - anger paralyses the faculties
Niraakara Nirguna Brahman - Vedanta - the concept that the reality that underlies all realities has no form or attribute and is, at once, cosmic and acosmic
Nitya Paroksha - unverifiable beliefs
Yogi Pratyaksha - Prophetic visions - illusory and exclusivist
Ishvarapranidhaana - detached approach to work
Ekam Sat Bahudha Vipra Vadanti - the truth is one, the wise speak of it in different ways

[ShiVam MisHra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conversion: An Assault on Truth
A collection of scholarly essays/articles by Bhyrappa, M. Chidananda Murthy, David Frawley, Navaratna Srinivasa Rajaram, Shatavadhani R. Ganesh and Dayananda Saraswati. Articles which were published a decade ago on popular News papers that discusses the various aspects of religious conversion of Hindus to cults such as Islam and Christianity even though articles received tremendous response from readers but received backlash from regular criminals. Authors have given in brief articles on how conversion works and how to counter the argument for conversion, Inception of all the abrahamic cults and it's laws. What began as a single article led to a large platformed debate and discussion letting the commoners express their opinions and concern. It might have been a story of past however the existence and thriving of conversion of Hindu and other tribal population has been doubled up and is very much visible at the surface level.
The book also contains quotes which are worth penning down, but the one which is going to be etched in mind forever is "When a Hindu becomes a convert to any religion, he is, in effect, trading the binoculars to the blinkers, he is forsaking his intellectual freedom for emotional conditioning, and he is exiting from a vast spiritual expanse and stepping into a narrow religious alley. One can only term such an act of extreme folly" as quoted by HS Sreenath.

[Ajit Vadapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a detailed review in my blog post - https://www.tidesofthoughts.com/2025/...