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Millions upon millions. What they say is always respected. These include the five Sankaracharyas, the system began with the First Sankaracharya in the 8th Century.
Share what? My religion. I would certainly not do that. And my views will not be palatable to the Abrahamic religions. I deny even the possibility of existence of God and soul. Even Hindus balk at it. I am good only with Hinduism or Buddhism.
What do you mean by Vedas being true? Do you mean whether the Gods and Goddesses mentioned in it are real or not? They are certainly not real. But that is what the Pre-Indo-Europeans (PIE) believed. Myths of the people speaking Indo-European languages are derived from them. Vedas are the only surviving lore of the PIE when they lived in their original homeland within the Arctic Circle before the ice-age maximum, which forced them to migrate to Yamnaya region in the Volga delta, from where they spread around the world (The Kurgan Hypothesis of Marija Gimbutas). The oldest of them, RigVeda, is mostly concerned with climate, herding, agriculture and internecine skirmishes. They are very useful as a historical record.
I didn't realise the RigVeda held a historical relevance, although the migration of peoples and their oral traditions is human nature after all.
Being born into a lineage that is said to trace back many thousands of years is impressive, and up until now I had only come across in the Hebrew scriptures. Thanks for sharing..
1. What the PIE (Aryans for India) were most concerned about was reappearance of sun after a difficult two-month long Arctic night.
I do not claim that it is true, but this is what the tradition of 'Gotras' says.I certainly do believe that the PIE to be the most prominent group of peoples that moved/migrated in a general direction away from the equator, and therefore a north-south movement, instead of most migration movements which tend to be east-west. I think the changing of daylight hours on the human brain would have been a positive, and it is what separates their intellectual experience of the world from other groups.
I read this be a prayer for a good night, relating mostly to the moon but light in general. Asking for the perfect balance of being dark enough to quiet the howls of wolves speaking to each other, but bright enough to make a theif think twice about getting caught.
As it is a prayer, I read this to describe not the sun, but a more auspicious rising and sighting of Venus the morning. This would have been seen as sign of coming harmony, peace, fertility, or some other urgent blessing that could not be delayed.
I find the use of dragon slayer interesting, especially as the depiction of a dragon would represent a more eastern location. This reads to me as the Himalayan peaks or Tibetan plateau, the "roof" of the world, where snow and ice turns to a flood the runs from the roof to the ocean. Giving the sun his life allows Indra to slay the Dragon/the roof of the world with the sun's heat, and seek out the cattle with the sun's light, the works complete once the sun goes down and night begins.
I can only say from what the Gotras say too .2.
Dragon's lair was the kingdom of Varuna (Ouranos), the netherworld.
Dragon's lair was the kingdom of Varuna (Ouranos), the netherworld.
Vritra Triumphant, Vritra Slain (The Vedic Concept): Click for larger images.
I’m not jumping on you, I know you’re just passing it on. I’ve seen this before and it annoys me because it’s always some westerner (said by the Sicilian-American Hindu convert) who tries to mash and conflate religions into one.
They should leave the fruitcake and bring the cannoli instead perhaps..
Yes
I think there is some disconnect. I am not in favor of Brahma Abraham. So, if you are also not in favor of this identification, then I would not want you to take the fruitcake factor. Yes, I will not. Thank you.
I do not believe that Rama was aware that he was an incarnation of Vishnu. I have read the Valmiki Rama and quite thoroughly, and there is no indication whatsoever. Perhaps I have not read Tulsidas Ramayana with that seriousness and perhaps here he is portrayed as Vishnu. But that would be about 3500 years after Rama was born, and about 1500 years after Rama was deified
I agree. I don’t believe he knew he is Vishnu. As I remember it, when Kausalya prayed for a son, Vishnu appeared in his four-arm form. Kausalya said she wanted a son, not a God, so he took birth as a human. If I recall correctly he “gave up” his divine knowledge in order to be fully human.
I still fascinates me immensely how even the simplest of understandings can be shaken. We I picked up the Ramayana it was because I was told this was a story about Vishnu's avatar, and coming from a Christian society I have applied my own assumption to Rama so as to make the bold claim that "Rama was aware!" when I am the sheepishly unaware one.
Perhaps as you say it is not such much a rejection, the better description could be that the linga and the concept of Shiva are adversarial to Abraham's God (a source of his jealousy). I think Jacob's action as you describe does "bridge" the understanding of "Godliness" somewhat, and the way I now see the story of the stones is the circumcised Jacob pacifying Shiva with oil.
The basic question is whether one is born as incarnation of Vishnu. I do not think so. If you read yoga vashishta, Ram had taken pilgrimages and been unsatisfied. He returned and wanted to quit the world. At this point, sage vashishta give him the sermons of Yoga Vashishta. It is at this point; I think that Ram understood that he is Vishnu. I would add that all of us are Vishnu and all of us are gods. The difference is that Ram recognized it at the age of 18 or so, whereas we do not recognize it. The whole idea that God incarnates has to be re understood in terms of a human being developing affection for God and God responding. It is not as if God jumps into a human body.
I do not think that the Lingam and Shiva are adversarial to Abraham's God. Abraham's god is a psychic entity and we can see it more explicitly in the Exodus narrative that he is very active and how does God become active? He has to act through human beings. Now, between God and human beings there can be either a direct connection, such as that attained by Abraham and Moses or there can be intermediaries like Moses’ Tabernacle or Hindu lingam. So, they don't have to be adversarial. It is rather that for certain individuals who cannot grasp the concept of God directly, they can grasp him through the intermediaries.
I am totally with you that we need to go back to our Hebrew and Sanskrit and Arabic scriptures. However, it is important to set the objective clearly. If we want to read the scriptures to divide, we can do so if we read the scriptures to unite, we can do so. I am for you clearly and certainly for unity because I believe that the same God is worshipped by all religions. So, I think time has come for all the religions to read the scriptures of others and through Hegelian dialectical process to arrive at a common consensus. That would be a great achievement because it will eliminate so many unnecessary conflicts through which we are going today.
What is the connection between Mandore and Ravana?
In which direction did Ravana take Sita?
Where is the Pampa river mentioned in the Ramayana?
Was Pushpak Vimana actually a ship?
Where is Kishkindha of Ramayana located?
Hanuman’s journey: Towards south or north-west?
Sindhu of Valmiki Ramayana could be the Indus River falling into the Rann of Kutch
What is Dholavira famous for?
Where is Ravana's Lanka actually located?
Where is Ravana's Lanka actually located?: The page is about where the original is actually locatedwww.commonprophets.com