I am all for HINDU UNITY, but a UNITY, which springs from positive aspects and dosent' depends on negative aspects(like hate or fear of other religions). We should all strive hard to totally eliminate caste and gender discrimination from the HINDU SAMAJ. I dream of a day when a tribal woman (from BASTAR or MAYURBHANJ ) or a dalit woman(from Tamilnadu or Kerala) armed with the knowledge of VEDAS and UPANISADAS, will conduct a DURGA PUJA in the heart of KOLKATA or a GANESH PUJA in the HEART of MUMBAI. I am sure that day, heart of BHARAT MATA will overflow with tears of joy. We all must honestly strive hard to make this dream a reality. I would like hear the comments of my fellow sisters and brothers on this. With love/regards, Monodeep Chakraborty, Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, INDIA. monodeep@iopb.res.in
RE:HINDU UNITY
by Surajit Dash on Feb 12, 2007 03:19 AM Permalink
Dear Brother Monodeep,
The "Dalit" will no longer be "Dalit" when she performs the DURGA Puja or the GANESH puja, being armed with the knowledge of Vedas Or Upanishads. One who raises himself to that level can never be a Dalit. "Dalit" is a state when he does not. BTW, Dalit is a symbol of the social status rather than knowledge of Vedas or Upanishads. You can't elevate a Dalit by teaching him Vedas.
There was never any Gender discrimination in Hinduism. Have you heard of great women in Hindism such as - GARGI, ANUSUYA, AHALYA and do you realize that Hinduism is the only religion that has Godesses along with Gods ?
Castes will always be there... Castes that you are talking about are based on birth. Castes in a Hindu social structure are actually based on one's nature of work and intellect level. Can you ensure that you will never be served by anyone? The moment some one serves you He becomes a "Shudra". How can you eliminate that? Krishna in the Bhagwat Geeta has said -- "Catur Varna Maya Shrushtwa" (The Four Varnas - castes have been created by me). Thats truth and you have to live with that.of course by having respect for the lower castes and not hatred...(I Dont think that you'll salute the security at your gate instead of he saluting you!!)
RE:RE:HINDU UNITY
by priya on Feb 12, 2007 04:17 AM Permalink
Mr Surajit Dash,
Krishna may have created caste, but people only remembered to follow caste not Krishna. He placed the castes horizontally, none upper or lower than others, but stupid wicked people chose to give it a vertical structure, destroying the essence of what Krishna meant.
RE:RE:RE:HINDU UNITY
by Surajit Dash on Feb 12, 2007 05:27 AM Permalink
Krishna himself did not belong to a higher caste... Didn't he belong to a "Dalit" community? Was there a forum like this to support him? He was a champoin in his own right. The greatest politician of his time... who made him that?
Its not the matter of "Dalits" or superior castes. Anyone who has the capabilty like Krishna, can't be stopped. Krishna, being a "Yadav", was respected by the Kshatriyas and brahmins too!!
No one knows Krishna defined the castes - Horizontally or Vertically. How do you know that? (I'd request the references to the horizontal definition). But, I know that the castes have been defined by nature of work and not by birth. We have many in respected professions who are Dalits... are they not respected in profession? Why the insistence is only on performing Pujas in temples? If Dalits, then why not Muslims?
Caste system was never horizontal, because the division of work can never be horizontal. A teacher can't be treated equally in any society as a sweeper. If that happens, no one will work hard to be a higher official, teacher, Doctor, Engineer.. Everyone will leave studies to become sweepers. There will be a social instability, which I see has already begun.
I have said in my earlier response that, we have to live with the caste system but with respect for other castes.
RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:HINDU UNITY
by Surajit Dash on Feb 12, 2007 05:45 PM Permalink
Dear Borat,
Dont Be mistaken. You to would be having a servant at home. You to would be having a Security Guard who salutes you every day when you reach your office. You too would be surrounded by several people who serve you. Crying at the Caste system is your hipocricy. Can you live without all these people?
What do you know about Hinduism? Where do you see oppressed lower caste people? The Sati System is not a characteristic of Hinduism, rather its a feature of a particular class of people belonging to a particulr place... thats their social tradition and Hinduism has nothing to do about it. I have never heard of a single case of Sati in states like Orissa, bengal, Bihar, MP, Maharastra and the southern states. Have you? Or you think there are no Hindus here? Treatment for Widows and dowry, I too accept as a Bad practice. But dont you think them to be more of a social stigma than religious? Do you think that these treatments are pravelent only in the Hindu society?
People who do not understand the essence of Hinduism, and dont have the courage to practice it in life. need to learn from the hollow culture of the west. The West leads the world in the number of AIDS patients, Divorce rate, Crime. What has the west got to provide to a country like India, which has always taught everything to the world including the concept of "Zero"?
Please refer The "Manu Samhita" the oldest treatise on Rules to lead a life. There is everything.. the people must be taught to learn these facets of Hinduism and abolish th inhuman pracices. I agree. But when 60 years of reservation could not uplift the down trodden, can you suggest any better measures for that? If you advocate equal treatment, Then lets abolish reservation for all. Lets implement family planning for all. Lets provide equal edulational opportunities and job opportunities for all. No Hindu will ever have any opposition towards it. But, I know Muslims and the lower castes will oppose this - becase it has been easy to live with reservations. I am for the equality, why only among Hindu castes? It should be between all human races. And I would be happy to see marriages in your community being performed by Hindu or Christian priests. When will that happen?
RE:RE:HINDU UNITY
by Monodeep Chakraborty on Feb 12, 2007 03:32 AM Permalink
I agree with your concept of caste. That was the defination of caste created by our Vedic sages and was followed during the Early vedic period. I also agree with your comment on Gender. But these high ideals of caste system is unfortunately not followed today. Even today there exits temple in this country, where dalits are not allowed inside the temple. We need to address these issues and understand the origin of our caste system. If you ponder about reality, there are places where a dalit armed with vedic knowledge wont' be allowed to perform puja.
RE:HINDU UNITY
by Gajanan Mohite on Feb 12, 2007 06:23 AM Permalink
This is already happening in Kerala. Mata Amritanandamayi born in fisherwoman/man family has been performing pujas all over the globe , why India alone. She has made atheists like Karunanidhi and the DMK elk to praise her as a pearl. It is happening and it has started in Kerala, which is great Sankara's birthplace. It will happen , in all places.
RE:RE:HINDU UNITY
by chaitanya kumar on Feb 12, 2007 06:54 AM Permalink
Kerala BTW, has 55% Hindu population. It's the lowest after Kashmir and Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya which are Muslim or Christian majority states. Hindus of Kerala need to wake up and do some hard thinking. And yes, Sankara was born there, the Advaita Vedanta guru, but that was more than thousand years ago. Hindus were ruling India at that time in Kerala. Now communists. Whither Kerala?
RE:HINDU UNITY
by bharath hindu on Feb 12, 2007 03:34 AM Permalink
Yes my friend...you are right....only our HINDU unity irrespective of castescreedlanguageregion will protect our nation and our religion in the future...
