is being totally stupid and ridiculous...even if it is not possible for humans to exist 17 million years ago, i think it still matters that 1 billion people belive in it now!! for the sake to a country's values and emotions they have, govt can work ouit a another route to buiilt this project...i cannot see how it is so tough to do it?
RE:government
by Jai Tiwaree on Sep 13, 2007 11:38 AM Permalink
The student of the RAMAYAN should be primarily an historian. The centre and core of all the RAMAYAN is history. Everything else that the RAMAYAN contains is fitted into an historical framework and leads up to an historical climax. The RAMAYAN is primarily a record of events. That assertion will not pass unchallenged. The modern MAN is impatient of history. History, we are told, is a dead thing. Let us forget the Amalekites, and fight the enemies that are at our doors. The true essence of the RAMAYAN is to be found in eternal ideas; history is merely the form in which those ideas are expressed. It makes no difference whether the history is real or fictitious; in either case, the ideas are the same. It makes no difference whether Abraham was an historical personage or a myth; in either case his life is an inspiring example of faith. It makes no difference whether Moses was really a mediator between God and Israel; in any case the record of Sinai embodies the idea of a covenant between God and His people. It makes no difference whether Lakshan really lived and died and rose again as He is declared to have done in the Ramayan; in any case the Gospel picture, be it ideal or be it history, is an encouragement to filial piety. In this way, religion has been made independent, as is thought, of the uncertainties of historical research. The separation of Hinduism from history has been a great concern of modern theology. It has been an inspiring attempt. But it has been a failure. Giv
RE:RE:government
by Anurag Shrivastava on Sep 13, 2007 11:43 AM Permalink
Very true - formlessness provides enduring value. It gets challenged when someone tries to provide a form to is as a reaction to contemporary events. In India - the greatest source of insecurity is the "M-factor" which clouds our judgment on how we tackle such issues and the immediate reaction is to create a mirror image of the problem "M-factor" which one is trying to tackle. This alas destroys the essence baring open the fissures that already exist in the fragmented Hindu society.
RE:government
by Seshadri on Sep 13, 2007 12:04 PM Permalink
read the upanishads... one cannot concentrate on the abstract... formlessness is only a residual clause used to covert the ignorants as you cannot question it...!
RE:government
by SSCD on Sep 13, 2007 11:58 AM Permalink
Like everyone has a different choice of clothes, every one has different preference to the forms of worships. Including so-called educated/intellectual, people want to worship the god in some or the other form. You can't enforce one on all.
Hinduism accepts this and gives freedom, saying all those paths lead to the same destination. Like any mechanical machinery, the social setup/system needs to be upgraded/maintained. So if there are fissures, they need to be taken care of. But there are some ideals that cut across all these fissures, Ram is one of them. Govt has no right to play around with sentiments of it's majority, in fact, in this case it hasn't done *any* good to the govt.
RE:government
by Shambhu Mehta on Sep 13, 2007 12:43 PM Permalink
Hinduism did not give freedom to untoucchable before '47. It is true even today in rural area of the country.
RE:government
by Anurag Shrivastava on Sep 13, 2007 11:36 AM Permalink
The government will follow science and evidence as it exists. In your personal life - you free to follow whatever religion you want to. India can't be governed by sentiments of people ( 40% can't read and right , another 40% have not studied beyond 5th Standard and another 10% have not studied beyond 10th standard ). The main worry for people is their daily bread and ho to survive - and here we are trying to impose a mainly North Indian upper caste agenda on people .
RE:government
by sridhar gorantla on Sep 13, 2007 11:51 AM Permalink
Your modern science cannot explain everything. its still evolving and cannot be trusted for everything.
RE:government
by Anurag Shrivastava on Sep 13, 2007 12:15 PM Permalink
Its not "my modern science" . There is a lot still to be discovered , proved and disproved else scientists will be out of job. So what is your point ? Ancient people did not understand natural phenomena and hence gave it supernatural powers and attached a god to each one of them. Even today the invention of new gods is happening - like in Nepal last week these jokers killed two goats on Kathmandu runway to place some obscure god responsible for air safety. The plane took off and landed safely thanks to the sacrifice.
RE:RE:government
by thokka on Sep 13, 2007 11:55 AM Permalink
But mister Anurag. They are Indians and it is they who need it not ppl like You. WHo doesnot even know where the ration shop of your area is...
RE:RE:RE:government
by Anurag Shrivastava on Sep 13, 2007 12:17 PM Permalink
Yes they need it - and disturbing the government and making it do silly things takes the attention away from problems of the real Indians. I don't know where the ration shop is - and btw even the poor do not care about ration shops.
RE:government
by SSCD on Sep 13, 2007 11:44 AM Permalink
How myopic vision, you've been blessed with (in fact a bunch of pseudo-seculars like you, with self-denigrating attitude):
This very govt went overboard and condemned the Danish cartoonist, wrote to the Danish govt saying sentiments of people shouldn't be hurt.
