"The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they come from lack of understanding."
On VijayDashmi, when we recreate the killing of Ravan ( and not Ravana as most kids read know it today), some introspection is required by Hindus and the world at large, What did Ravan do wrong ? , he had his ego hurt when he couldnt marry Sita so as a King would have managed in those days, kidnapped Sita and requested her to accept his plea for marriage and for just that he got killed.So in today's parlence , every Hindu with "ego" is Ravan ...that would surely make it a extreme minority religion....If you like somebody's wife, dont request for marriage ....what happens to the zillions of Extra Marital affairs....If you have brothers who give you bad advise ...you are doomed .... Btw, I took my kids to a Ramlila on Saturday (on insistence by a builder friend of mine, whose son was participating as Hanuman..the live telecast ones with projectors and the works)...what surprised me was the frequent use of Urdu words in it ...Tanhai ...Tadap..Roz ....everyone sees the story , no one gets the message ...all wars in this world are caused by an EGO...whether it was Ramayan, partition of India , Iraq War or Indo- Pak conflict...it is all about ego.
Indeed, it often is. Not merely because of the short staying power of goodness but because there may be no comprehension that it is good to begin with...
Manish:
Excellent points.
1. Ravan and the ego are very important ideas and I wish people saw him as less evil and more a product of a certain vision. There are several treatises about his intellectual brilliance. The reason he pales in significance before Rama is because the latter was seen as the perfect man.
And you are right about wars and the ego too.
2. The Ramleela is fascinating and I am not surprised by use of Urdu words. I am sure they must have emulated the TV serial format, given that you went to one of the better ones.
I had attended one a few years ago at the Chowpatty beach. This is real stuff and the audience was primarily UPites and Biharis - domestics, drivers, cabbies, milkmen and the like....we got VIP seats bang in front, but whoa, the language of the audience was so colourful. Great fun.
3. The spelling of Ravana is not an anglicised version. It is in fact sanskritised and not meant to be pronounced as Rava-nA, but Ravan-uh. Same for Rama.
4. :-) at your comment on extra-marital affairs...
FV You are right about the explanation for writing Ravana as unlike Sanskrit, English lacks the sound of 'half vowel', hence Rama, Krishna etc. 2. I read somewhere that between the god incarnates ( Rama and Krishna), Krishan is more complete as a person (perfect man) than Rama as Krishan has more human traits than Rama. Go resesrch? 3. Whereas there is ample archelogical proofs of Mahabharat in India there is no archelogical evidence that Ramayan ever occured in India. Supposedly when Aryans came down to the North, they brought this story with them and it must have happened in their life earlier. There are fragments of Ramyan names such as Dhasrath in Tutkey.
2. Heard about Maryada Purshottan - the ideal man? That is what Rama is referred to as. But you can choose whatever god floats your boat. I know my marbles. Check out yours.
3. Where is the archaeological proof? Send it to Ayodhya.
FV 1.First of all I don't have to choose a god as it is for those only who don't beleive that it is Man's creation. 2.About Archeological proof: I visited Dome of the Rock in Jersulaem where, from where supposedly, Prophet Mohammd ascended to heaven. Later on it was a surprise to discover that the Prophet never visited Jersulam and it was only in his dream that it happened. So it is one's belief whether it is the temple in Ayodhya or Dome of the Rock- The third holiest shrine- I suppose if you believe in your faith. So there nothing to be cynical about people's faith. As far as I remember there are hundreds of small darghas and temples erected right in the middle of roadways in India and are all holy. 3. It is true that Rama is called Maryada Purshottan, but there are some aspects of his life which make him less perfect that Krishna- May be with your resources you can unearthe this too. Good luck
FV About Ayodha, there was a team of eminent shcholars who examined the artifacts from the digs of the Ayodha site and there is ample evidence that a temple did exit at that site. And it should come as no surprise to anybody familiar with the Indian History that during Islamic time very few indian temples was spared- except in the South of India or those which were out of the way or buried because of neglect such as Khajurao,Konark and one Jain Temple near Udaipur.
So ignorance is the problem :)
ReplyDeleteYep, good deed done out of ignorance are useless, they wont stay for long :)
On VijayDashmi, when we recreate the killing of Ravan ( and not Ravana as most kids read know it today), some introspection is required by Hindus and the world at large, What did Ravan do wrong ? , he had his ego hurt when he couldnt marry Sita so as a King would have managed in those days, kidnapped Sita and requested her to accept his plea for marriage and for just that he got killed.So in today's parlence , every Hindu with "ego" is Ravan ...that would surely make it a extreme minority religion....If you like somebody's wife, dont request for marriage ....what happens to the zillions of Extra Marital affairs....If you have brothers who give you bad advise ...you are doomed ....
ReplyDeleteBtw, I took my kids to a Ramlila on Saturday (on insistence by a builder friend of mine, whose son was participating as Hanuman..the live telecast ones with projectors and the works)...what surprised me was the frequent use of Urdu words in it ...Tanhai ...Tadap..Roz ....everyone sees the story , no one gets the message ...all wars in this world are caused by an EGO...whether it was Ramayan, partition of India , Iraq War or Indo- Pak conflict...it is all about ego.
Khalil:
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it often is. Not merely because of the short staying power of goodness but because there may be no comprehension that it is good to begin with...
Manish:
Excellent points.
1. Ravan and the ego are very important ideas and I wish people saw him as less evil and more a product of a certain vision. There are several treatises about his intellectual brilliance. The reason he pales in significance before Rama is because the latter was seen as the perfect man.
And you are right about wars and the ego too.
2. The Ramleela is fascinating and I am not surprised by use of Urdu words. I am sure they must have emulated the TV serial format, given that you went to one of the better ones.
I had attended one a few years ago at the Chowpatty beach. This is real stuff and the audience was primarily UPites and Biharis - domestics, drivers, cabbies, milkmen and the like....we got VIP seats bang in front, but whoa, the language of the audience was so colourful. Great fun.
3. The spelling of Ravana is not an anglicised version. It is in fact sanskritised and not meant to be pronounced as Rava-nA, but Ravan-uh. Same for Rama.
4. :-) at your comment on extra-marital affairs...
FV
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the explanation for writing Ravana as unlike Sanskrit, English lacks the sound of 'half vowel', hence Rama, Krishna etc.
2. I read somewhere that between the god incarnates ( Rama and Krishna), Krishan is more complete as a person (perfect man) than Rama as Krishan has more human traits than Rama. Go resesrch?
3. Whereas there is ample archelogical proofs of Mahabharat in India there is no archelogical evidence that Ramayan ever occured in India. Supposedly when Aryans came down to the North, they brought this story with them and it must have happened in their life earlier. There are fragments of Ramyan names such as Dhasrath in Tutkey.
2. Heard about Maryada Purshottan - the ideal man? That is what Rama is referred to as. But you can choose whatever god floats your boat. I know my marbles. Check out yours.
ReplyDelete3. Where is the archaeological proof? Send it to Ayodhya.
FV
ReplyDelete1.First of all I don't have to choose a god as it is for those only who don't beleive that it is Man's creation.
2.About Archeological proof: I visited Dome of the Rock in Jersulaem where, from where supposedly, Prophet Mohammd ascended to heaven. Later on it was a surprise to discover that the Prophet never visited Jersulam and it was only in his dream that it happened. So it is one's belief whether it is the temple in Ayodhya or Dome of the Rock- The third holiest shrine- I suppose if you believe in your faith.
So there nothing to be cynical about people's faith. As far as I remember there are hundreds of small darghas and temples erected right in the middle of roadways in India and are all holy.
3. It is true that Rama is called
Maryada Purshottan, but there are some aspects of his life which make him less perfect that Krishna- May be with your resources you can unearthe this too.
Good luck
FV
ReplyDeleteAbout Ayodha, there was a team of eminent shcholars who examined the artifacts from the digs of the Ayodha site and there is ample evidence that a temple did exit at that site. And it should come as no surprise to anybody familiar with the Indian History that during Islamic time very few indian temples was spared- except in the South of India or those which were out of the way or buried because of neglect such as Khajurao,Konark and one Jain Temple near Udaipur.