tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62428213518696856272024-03-19T04:18:38.271-07:00The New RevolutionA large number of people can be seen in the recent times who are trying their best to denigrate Vedas, ancient scriptures of rishis(sages) and Hinduism. This blog space is the contribution in refuting the false claims with the help of collection of articles and books written by scholars. Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-17528570800776171732019-03-06T07:26:00.000-08:002019-03-09T02:04:28.878-08:00शूरता की मिसाल – पंडित लेखराम आर्य मुसाफिर (डॉ विवेक आर्य)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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शूरता की मिसाल – पंडित लेखराम आर्य मुसाफिर</div>
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(6 मार्च को पंडित लेखराम जी के बलिदान दिवस के अवसर पर प्रकाशित)</div>
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डॉ विवेक आर्य</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_olAex8xmjmeleTMi8TxAI5nWpYGKFQzpcn2-lN_VUDCx1Wly8PE8KwZIdfP2imEv4Bu-SIAjtUwSxkkCMCJzEi22X687fgYtEIWYebo11cTs_TElcjLMO_AJgp3KqdfWUMLd4oHk48e/s1600/pandit+lekhram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_olAex8xmjmeleTMi8TxAI5nWpYGKFQzpcn2-lN_VUDCx1Wly8PE8KwZIdfP2imEv4Bu-SIAjtUwSxkkCMCJzEi22X687fgYtEIWYebo11cTs_TElcjLMO_AJgp3KqdfWUMLd4oHk48e/s1600/pandit+lekhram.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pandit Lekhram</td></tr>
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पंडित लेखराम इतिहास की उन महान हस्तियों में शामिल हैं जिन्होंने धर्म की बलिवेदी पर प्राण न्योछावर कर दिए. जीवन के अंतिम क्षण तक आप वैदिक धर्म की रक्षा में लगे रहे.. आपके पूर्वज महाराजा रंजित सिंह की फौज में थे इसलिए वीरता आपको विरासत में मिली थी. बचपन से ही आप स्वाभिमानी और दृढ विचारो के थे. एक बार आपको पाठशाला में प्यास लगी. मौलवी से घर जाकर पानी पीने की इजाजत मांगी. मौलवी ने जूठे मटके से पानी पीने को कहाँ. आपने न दोबारा मौलवी से घर जाने की इजाजत मांगी और न ही जूठा पानी पिया. सारा दिन प्यासा ही बिता दिया. पढने का आपको बहुत शोक था. मुंशी कन्हयालाल अलाख्धारी की पुस्तकों से आपको स्वामी दयानंद जी का पता चला. अब लेखराम जी ने ऋषि दयानंद के सभी ग्रंथो का स्वाध्याय आरंभ कर दिया. पेशावर से चलकर अजमेर स्वामी दयानंद के दर्शनों के लिए पंडित जी पहुँच गए. जयपुर में एक बंगाली सज्जन ने पंडित जी से एक प्रश्न किया था की आकाश भी व्यापक हैं और ब्रह्मा भी , दो व्यापक किस प्रकार एक साथ रह सकते हैं ? पंडित जी से उसका उत्तर नहीं बन पाया था. पंडित जी ने स्वामी दयानंद से वही प्रश्न पुछा. स्वामी जी ने एक पत्थर उठाकर कहा की इसमें अग्नि व्यापक हैं या नहीं? मैंने कहाँ की व्यापक हैं, फिर कहाँ की क्या मिटटी व्यापक हैं? मैंने कहाँ की व्यापक हैं, फिर कहाँ की क्या जल व्यापक हैं? मैंने कहाँ की व्यापक हैं. फिर कहाँ की क्या आकाश और वायु ? मैंने कहाँ की व्यापक हैं, फिर कहाँ की क्या परमात्मा व्यापक हैं? मैंने कहाँ की व्यापक हैं.फिर स्वामी जी बोले कहाँ की देखो. कितनी चीजें हैं परन्तु सभी इसमें व्यापक हैं. वास्तव में बात यहीं हैं की जो जिससे सूक्षम होती हैं वह उसमे व्यापक हो जाती हैं. ब्रह्मा चूँकि सबसे अति सूक्षम हैं इसलिए वह सर्वव्यापक हैं. यह उत्तर सुन कर पंडित जी की जिज्ञासा शांत हो गयी. आगे पंडित जी ने पुछा जीव ब्रह्मा की भिन्नता में कोई वेद प्रमाण बताएँ. स्वामी जी ने कहाँ यजुर्वेद का ४० वां अध्याय सारा जीव ब्रह्मा का भेद बतलाता हैं. इस प्रकार अपनी शंकाओ का समाधान कर पंडित जी वापस आकार वैदिक धर्म के प्रचार प्रसार में लग गए.</div>
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शुद्धि के रण में</div>
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कोट छुट्टा डेरा गाजी खान (अब पाकिस्तान ) में कुछ हिन्दू युवक मुस्लमान बनने जा रहे थे. पंडित जी के व्याखान सुनने पर ऐसा रंग चड़ा की आर्य बन गए और इस्लाम को तिलांजलि दे दी.इनके नाम थे महाशय चोखानंद, श्री छबीलदास व महाशय खूबचंद जी ,जब तीनो आर्य बन गए तो हिन्दुओं ने उनका सामाजिक बहिष्कार कर दिया.कुछ समय के बाद महाशय छबीलदास की माता का देहांत हो गया. उनकी अर्थी को उठाने वाले केवल ये तीन ही थे. महाशय खूबचंद की माता उन्हें वापस ले गयी. आप कमरे का ताला तोड़ कर वापिस संस्कार में आ मिले. तीनो युवको ने वैदिक संस्कार से दाह कर्म किया. पौराणिको ने एक चल चली यह प्रसिद्ध कर दिया की आर्यों ने माता के शव को भुन कर खा लिया हैं. यह तीनो युवक मुसलमान बन जाये तो हिन्दुओं को कोई फरक नहीं पड़ता था परन्तु पंडित लेखराम की कृपा से वैदिक धर्मी बन गए तो दुश्मन बन गए. इस प्रकार की मानसिकता के कारण तो हिन्दू आज भी गुलामी की मानसिकता में जी रहे हैं.</div>
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जम्मू के श्री ठाकुरदास मुस्लमान होने जा रहे थे. पंडित जी उनसे जम्मू जाकर मिले और उन्हें मुसलमान होने से बचा लिया.</div>
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१८९१ में हैदराबाद सिंध के श्रीमंत सूर्यमल की संतान ने इस्लाम मत स्वीकार करने का मन बना लिया. पंडित पूर्णानंद जी को लेकर आप हैदराबाद पहुंचे. उस धनी परिवार के लड़के पंडित जी से मिलने के लिए तैयार नहीं थे. पर आप कहाँ मानने वाले थे. चार बार सेठ जी के पुत्र मेवाराम जी से मिलकर यह आग्रह किया की मौल्वियो से उनका शास्त्राथ करवा दे. मौलवी सय्यद मुहम्मद अली शाह को तो प्रथम बार में ही निरुत्तर कर दिया.उसके बाद चार और मौल्वियो से पत्रों से विचार किया. आपने उनके सम्मूख मुस्लमान मौल्वियो को हराकर उनकी धर्म रक्षा की.</div>
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वही सिंध में पंडित जी को पता चला की कुछ युवक ईसाई बनने वाले हैं. आप वहा पहुच गए और अपने भाषण से वैदिक धर्म के विषय में प्रकाश डाला. एक पुस्तक आदम और इव पर लिख कर बांटी जिससे कई युवक ईसाई होने से बच गए.</div>
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गंगोह जिला सहारनपुर की आर्यसमाज की स्थापना पंडित जी से दीक्षा लेकर कुछ आर्यों ने १८८५ में करी थी.कुछ वर्ष पहले तीन अग्रवाल भाई पतित होकर मुस्लमान बन गए थे. आर्य समाज ने १८९४ में उन्हें शुद्ध करके वापिस वैदिक धर्मी बना दिया. आर्य समाज के विरुद्ध गंगोह में तूफान ही आ गया. श्री रेह्तूलाल जी भी आर्यसमाज के सदस्य थे. उनके पिता ने उनके शुद्धि में शामिल होने से मन किया पर वे नहीं माने. पिता ने बिरादरी का साथ दिया. उनकी पुत्र से बातचीत बंद हो गयी. पर रेह्तुलाल जी कहाँ मानने वाले थे उनका कहना था गृह त्याग कर सकता हु पर आर्यसमाज नहीं छोड़ सकता हूँ. इस प्रकार पंडित लेखराम के तप का प्रभाव था की उनके शिष्यों में भी वैदिक सिद्धांत की रक्षा हेतु भावना कूट-कूट कर भरी थी.</div>
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घासीपुर जिला मुज्जफरनगर में कुछ चौधरी मुस्लमान बनने जा रहे थे. पंडित जी वह एक तय की गयी तिथि को पहुँच गए. उनकी दाड़ी बढ़ी हुई थी और साथ में मुछे भी थी. एक मौलाना ने उन्हें मुस्लमान समझा और पूछा क्यों जी यह दाढ़ी तो ठीक हैं पर इन मुछो का क्या राज हैं. पंडित जी बोले दाढ़ी तो बकरे की होती हैं मुछे तो शेर की होती हैं. मौलाना समाज गया की यह व्यक्ति मुस्लमान नहीं हैं. तब पंडित जी ने अपना परिचय देकर शास्त्रार्थ के लिए ललकारा. सभी मौलानाओ को परास्त करने के बाद पंडित जी ने वैदिक धर्म पर भाषण देकर सभी चौधरियो को मुस्लमान बन्ने से बचा लिया.</div>
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१८९६ की एक घटना पंडित लेखराम के जीवन से हमें सर्वदा प्रेरणा देने वाली बनी रहेगी. पंडित जी प्रचार से वापिस आये तो उन्हें पता चला की उनका पुत्र बीमार हैं. तभी उन्हें पता चला की मुस्तफाबाद में पांच हिन्दू मुस्लमान होने वाले हैं. आप घर जाकर दो घंटे में वापिस आ गए और मुस्तफाबाद के लिए निकल गए. अपने कहाँ की मुझे अपने एक पुत्र से जाति के पांच पुत्र अधिक प्यारे हैं. पीछे से आपका सवा साल का इकलोता पुत्र चल बसा. पंडित जी के पास शोक करने का समय कहाँ था. आप वापिस आकार वेद प्रचार के लिए वजीराबाद चले गए.</div>
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पंडित जी की तर्क शक्ति गज़ब थी. आपसे एक बार किसी ने प्रश्न किया की हिन्दू इतनी बड़ी संख्या में मुस्लमान कैसे हो गए. अपने सात कारण बताये. १. मुस्लमान आक्रमण में बलातपूर्वक मुसलमान बनाया गया २. मुसलमानी राज में जर, जोरू व जमीन देकर कई प्रतिष्ठित हिन्दुओ को मुस्लमान बनाया गया ३. इस्लामी कल में उर्दू, फारसी की शिक्षा एवं संस्कृत की दुर्गति के कारण बने ४. हिन्दुओं में पुनर्विवाह न होने के कारण व सती प्रथा पर रोक लगने के बाद हिन्दू औरतो ने मुस्लमान के घर की शोभा बढाई तथा अगर किसी हिन्दू युवक का मुस्लमान स्त्री से सम्बन्ध हुआ तो उसे जाति से निकल कर मुस्लमान बना दिया गया. ५. मूर्तिपूजा की कुरीति के कारण कई हिन्दू विधर्मी बने ६. मुसलमानी वेशयायो ने कई हिन्दुओं को फंसा कर मुस्लमान बना दिया ७. वैदिक धर्म का प्रचार न होने के कारण मुस्लमान बने.</div>
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अगर गहराई से सोचा जाये तो पंडित जी ने हिन्दुओं को जाति रक्षा के लिए उपाय बता दिए हैं, अगर अब भी नहीं सुधरे तो हिन्दू कब सुधरेगे.</div>
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पंडित जी और गुलाम मिर्जा अहमद</div>
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पंडित जी के काल में कादियान , जिला गुरुदासपुर पंजाब में इस्लाम के एक नए मत की वृद्धि हुई जिसकी स्थापना मिर्जा गुलाम अहमद ने करी थी. इस्लाम के मानने वाले मुहम्मद साहिब को आखिरी पैगम्बर मानते हैं, मिर्जा ने अपने आपको कभी कृष्ण, कभी नानक, कभी ईसा मसीह कभी इस्लाम का आखिरी पैगम्बर घोषित कर दिया तथा अपने नवीन मत को चलने के लिए नई नई भविष्यवानिया और इल्हामो का ढोल पीटने लगा.</div>
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एक उदहारण मिर्जा द्वारा लिखित पुस्तक “वही हमारा कृष्ण ” से लेते हैं इस पुस्तक में लिखा हैं – उसने (ईश्वर ने) हिन्दुओं की उन्नति और सुधर के लिए निश्कलंकी अवतार को भेज दिया हैं जो ठीक उस युग में आया हैं जिस युग की कृष्ण जी ने पाहिले से सुचना दे रखी हैं. उस निष्कलंक अवतार का नाम मिर्जा गुलाम अहमद हैं जो कादियान जिला गुरुदासपुर में प्रकट हुए हैं. खुदा ने उनके हाथ पर सहस्त्रो निशान दिखये हैं. जो लोग उन पर इमान लेट हैं उनको खुदा ताला बड़ा नूर बख्शता हैं. उनकी प्रार्थनाए सुनता हैं और उनकी सिफारिश पर लोगो के कास्ट दूर करता हैं. प्रतिष्ठा देता हैं. आपको चाहिए की उनकी शिक्षाओ को पढ़ कर नूर प्राप्त करे. यदि कोई संदेह हो तो परमात्मा से प्रार्थना करे की हे परमेश्वर? यदि यह व्यक्ति जो तेरी और से होने की घोषणा करता हैं और अपने आपको निष्कलंक अवतार कहता हैं. अपनी घोषणा में सच्चा हैं तो उसके मानने की हमे शक्ति प्रदान कर और हमारे मन को इस पर इमान लेन को खोल दे. पुन आप देखेगे की परमात्मा अवश्य आपको परोक्ष निशानों से उसकी सत्यता पर निश्चय दिलवाएगा. तो आप सत्य हृदय से मेरी और प्रेरित हो और अपनी कठिनाइयों के लिए प्रार्थना करावे अल्लाह ताला आपकी कठिनाइयों को दूर करेगा और मुराद पूरी करेगा. अल्लाह आपके साथ हो. पृष्ठ ६,७.८ वही हमारा कृष्ण.</div>
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पाठकगन स्वयं समझ गए होंगे की किस प्रकार मिर्जा अपनी कुटिल नीतिओ से मासूम हिन्दुओं को बेवकूफ बनाने की चेष्ठा कर रहा था पर पंडित लेखराम जैसे रणवीर के रहते उसकी दाल नहीं गली.</div>
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पंडित जी सत्य असत्य का निर्णय करने के लिए मिर्जा के आगे तीन प्रश्न रखे.</div>
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१. पहले मिर्जा जी अपने इल्हामी खुदा से धारावाही संस्कृत बोलना सीख कर आर्यसमाज के दो सुयोग्य विद्वानों पंडित देवदत शास्त्री व पंडित श्याम जी कृष्ण वर्मा का संस्कृत वार्तालाप में नाक में दम कर दे.</div>
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२. ६ दर्शनों में से सिर्फ तीन के आर्ष भाष्य मिलते हैं. शेष तीन के अनुवाद मिर्जा जी अपने खुदा से मंगवा ले तो मैं मिर्जा के मत को स्वीकार कर लूँगा.</div>
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३. मुझे २० वर्ष से बवासीर का रोग हैं . यदि तीन मास में मिर्जा अपनी प्रार्थना शक्ति से उन्हें ठीक कर दे तो में मिर्जा के पक्ष को स्वीकार कर लूँगा.</div>
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पंडित जी ने उससे पत्र लिखना जारी रखा. तंग आकर मिर्जा ने लिखा की यहीं कादियान आकार क्यों नहीं चमत्कार देख लेते. सोचा था की न पंडित जी का कादियान आना होगा और बला भी टल जाएगी.पर पंडित जी अपनी धुन के पक्के थे मिर्जा गुलाम अहमद की कोठी पर कादियान पहुँच गए. दो मास तक पंडित जी क़दियन में रहे पर मिर्जा गुलाम अहमद कोई भी चमत्कार नहीं दिखा सका.</div>
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इस खीज से आर्यसमाज और पंडित लेखराम को अपना कट्टर दुश्मन मानकर मिर्जा ने आर्यसमाज के विरुद्ध दुष्प्रचार आरंभ कर दिया.</div>
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मिर्जा ने ब्राहिने अहमदिया नामक पुस्तक चंदा मांग कर छपवाई. पंडित जी ने उसका उत्तर तकज़ीब ब्राहिने अहमदिया लिखकर दिया.</div>
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मिर्जा ने सुरमाये चश्मे आर्या (आर्यों की आंख का सुरमा) लिखा जिसका पंडित जी ने उत्तर नुस्खाये खब्ते अहमदिया (अहमदी खब्त का ईलाज) लिख कर दिया. मिर्जा ने सुरमाये चश्मे आर्या में यह भविष्यवाणी करी की एक वर्ष के भीतर पंडित जी की मौत हो जाएगी. मिर्जा की यह भविष्यवाणी गलत निकली और पंडित इस बात के ११ वर्ष बाद तक जीवित रहे.</div>
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पंडित जी की तपस्या से लाखों हिन्दू युवक मुस्लमान होने से बच गए. उनका हिन्दू जाती पर सदा उपकार रहेगा.</div>
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पंडित जी का अमर बलिदान</div>
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मार्च १८९७ में एक व्यक्ति पंडित लेखराम के पास आया. उसका कहना था की वो पहले हिन्दू था बाद में मुस्लमान हो गया अब फिर से शुद्ध होकर हिन्दू बनना चाहता हैं. वह पंडित जी के घर में ही रहने लगा और वही भोजन करने लगा. ६ मार्च १८९७ को पंडित जी घर में स्वामी दयानंद के जीवन चरित्र पर कार्य कर रहे थे . तभी उन्होंने एक अंगराई ली की उस दुष्ट ने पंडित जी को छुरा मर दिया और भाग गया. पंडित जी को हस्पताल लेकर जाया गया जहाँ रात को दो बजे उन्होंने प्राण त्याग दिए. पंडित जी को अपने प्राणों की चिंता नहीं थी उन्हें चिंता थी तो वैदिक धर्म की. उनका आखिरी सन्देश भी यही थे की “तहरीर (लेखन) और तकरीर (शास्त्रार्थ) का काम बंद नहीं होना चाहिए ” .पंडित जी का जीवन आज के हिन्दू युवको के लिए प्रेरणा दायक हैं की कभी विधर्मियो से डरे नहीं और जो निशक्त हैं उनका सदा साथ देवे.</div>
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Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-5079324011984098482013-04-11T02:32:00.000-07:002013-04-11T02:32:44.814-07:00जीव तू सिद्धि के लिए पैदा हुआ है <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: orange; font-size: small;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Source: http://www.aryasamaj.org/newsite/node/1491</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">ओउम् | वृषा ह्यसि राधसे जज्ञिषे वृष्णि ते शवः |</span><br />
<span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">स्वक्षत्रं ते धृषन्मनः सत्राहमिन्द्र पौंस्यम् || </span><br />
ऋग्वेद 5|35|4<br />
शब्दार्थ -<br />
हे इन्द्र................हे ऐश्वर्य्याभिलाषिन् जीव ! तू<br />
हि.....................सचमुच<br />
वृषा...................बलवीर्त्तयुक्त, समर्थ<br />
असि..................है, तू<br />
राधसे.................सिद्धि के लिए, ऐश्वर्य्य के लिए<br />
जज्ञिषे................उत्पन्न हुआ है,<br />
ते......................तेरा<br />
शवः...................बल<br />
वृष्णि.................सुखवर्षक है<br />
ते.....................तेरा<br />
स्वक्षत्रम्..............घाव भरने का अपना सामर्थ्य है, अपनी त्रुटियों को पूरा कराने का अपना बल है |<br />
ते.....................तेरा<br />
मनः..................मन<br />
धृषत्..................प्रौढ़ है और<br />
पौंस्यम्...............पुंस्त्व, शौर्य्य<br />
सत्राहम्...............सत्याचरणादि है |<br />
व्याख्या -<br />
संसार में मतमतान्तर जीव को निर्बल, हीनवीर्य्य मानते हैं | वेद जीव का
वास्तविक स्वरूप बताता है | निस्सन्देह भगवान् की रचना अत्यन्त अद्भुत है,
परन्तु जीव की कृति भी बहुत विलक्षण है | आग जलाना, कूप खोदना, नदियों से
नहरें निकालना, कृषि करना, मकान बनाना आज साधारण से कार्य्य प्रतीत होते
हैं, किन्तु सोचिये, जब पहले-पहल ये कार्य्य किये गये होंगे, तब ये कितने
कष्टसाध्य, मस्तिष्क को थका देने वाले हुए होंगे, रेल, तार, जहाज, वायुयान,
बेतार का तार, बिजली के प्रदीप, वनस्पति तेल, घृत, अन्न से भोजन पकाना,
गुड़-शक्कर, खाँड, चीनी, फलों के आचार मुरब्बे, सुवर्ण आदि धातु के आभूषण,
मोटर, पैट्रोल, मिट्टी का तेल, पीतल, ताम्र आदि के पात्र, लोहा आदि के
उपकरण, शस्त्र-अस्त्र तथा अन्य उपयोगी पदार्थ, विविध धातुओं के भस्म, पानी
से बर्फ, पत्थर से सीमेंट बनाना आदि कार्य्य कहाँ तक गिनाएँ ! युद्ध के
उपयोगी आयुध इनसे पृथक हैँ | मनुष्य ने इतने पदार्थों की सृष्टि कर डाली
है कि उसे छोटा मोटा विधाता मानने में कोई दोष नहीं है | प्रतिदिन हमारे
व्यवहार में आनेवाले विद्युत्प्रदीप आदि आज सरल प्रतीत होते हैं किन्तु
उनके निर्माण में मनुष्यों को कितना परीश्रम करना पड़ा, इसकी कल्पना करना भी
आज कठिन है | ये सारे के सारे पदार्थ जीव ने अपने और अपने जैसों के सुख के
लिए बानाये हैं, अतः वेद कहता है - <span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">हि असि वृषा </span>=
सचमुच तू वृषा है, सुख बरसाने वाला है | तेरा स्वभाव तो सुखी होने तथा
सुखी करने का है | तू संसार के लिए सुख के साधन जुटा, सबको सुखसम्पन्न बना |
यदि मनुष्य केवल अपने सुखसाधन को ही जीवन का लक्ष्य मान लेता है तो भयंकर
संघर्ष उत्पन्न हो जाता है | जब वह दूसरे के सुखों का भी विचार करता है तब
उसका परिवार बढ़ता है और उससे उसकी समृद्धि की भी वृद्धि होती है | मनुष्य
के लिए यह आवश्यक ही है कि वह सिद्धि के साधनों का अवलम्बन करे, क्योंकि
वेद में उसे सम्बोधन करके कहा है कि तू - <span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">राधसे जज्ञिषे </span>
= सिद्धि के लिए उत्पन्न हुआ है | तुझे नरतन मिला ही इसलिए है कि तू संसार
की सुख सामग्री उत्पन्न कर और बढ़ा | पूर्वजों के बुद्धि-वैभव तथा हस्तकौशल
का लाभ हमने उठाया है | हमारी सफलता इसी में है कि आगे आने वाली सन्तान के
लिए पूर्व की अपेक्षा अधिक सम्पत्ति छोड़ जाएँ | मनुष्य और पशु में यह भारी
भेद है, पशु में सामाजिक जीवन की झलक अवश्य होती है किन्तु जिस प्रकार
मनुष्यों में एक दूसरे के सुख-दुख में सम्मिलित होने तथा सन्तान के लिए
सुख-सामग्री छोड़ जाने की स्वाभाविक भावना है, पशुओं में उसका सर्वथा अभाव
है |<br />
मनुष्य जन्म सिद्धि के लिए हुआ है, असफलता के लिए नहीं हुआ है | वैदिक तो दृढ़ विश्वास से कहता है - <span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">अजैष्माद्य </span>
(अ. 16|6|1) = आज ही हमारा विजय है | कल तक की प्रतीक्षा सह्य नहीं है |
जाने कल क्या हो जाए ? सिद्धि के लिए, कार्य्यसिद्धि के लिए, बल चाहिए |
बलाभिलाषी को वेद कहता है - <span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">वृष्णि ते शवः </span> = तेरा बल भी प्रबल है, सुखदायी है | यदि कोई विघ्न आये तो घबराने की आवश्यक्ता नहीं, क्योंकि तेरा बल जहाँ <span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">वृष्णि </span> है, वहाँ स्वक्षत्र अपनी त्रुटि पूर्ण करने में समर्थ है | तेरा मन भी <span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">धृषत् </span> = प्रौढ़ है, और - <span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">सत्राहं पौंस्यम् </span>
= वीरता सदाचरण आदि है | इस अन्तिम वाक्य में जीव के सामर्थ्य को मूल
बताया गया है | इसे कभी विस्मरण न करना चाहिए | सत्यस्वरूप आत्मा यदि सत्य
से विरहित हो जाता है, तो अपने स्वरूप का आप विघात करता है | सत्य से
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">स्वामी वेदानन्द तीर्थ सरस्वती </span><br />
(स्वाध्याय-सन्दोह से साभार उद्धृत)</div>
Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-3177756300642365172011-12-09T06:17:00.000-08:002011-12-11T01:44:03.349-08:00गोरक्षा आदि विषयों पर आचार्य आर्य नरेश का व्याख्यान<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">व्यख्यान की विशेषताएं<br />
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(१) वेदों में गोहत्या निषेध |<br />
(२) वेदों की गलत व्याख्याओं का सप्रमाण खंडन |<br />
(३) भारतीय सविंधान में गोरक्षा का उपदेश |<br />
(४) गोपदार्थों के वैज्ञानिक लाभ |<br />
(५) नेताओं का स्वार्थ, आदि |<br />
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</div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-64938736604767051892011-11-23T08:07:00.001-08:002011-11-23T08:17:31.899-08:00कर्मफल विवरण<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <style>
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<tr> <td id="INCREDITEXTREGION" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 12pt; position: relative;" width="100%"><div id="INCREDI_TEXT_AREA" style="padding-left: 2px;"><div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div><div><div></div><div> कर्मो का फल कब , कैसा , कितना मिलता है , यह जिज्ञासा सभी धार्मिक व्यक्तियों</div><div>के मन में होती है । कर्मफल देने का कार्य मुख्य रूप से ईश्वर द्वारा संचालित</div><div>व नियंत्रित है , वही इसके पूरे विधान को जानता है । मनुष्य इस विधान को कम</div><div>अंशों में व मोटे तौर पर ही जान पाया है , उसका सामर्थ्य ही इतना है । ऋषियों</div><div>ने अपने ग्रंथो में कर्मफल की कुछ मुख्य – मुख्य महत्वपूर्ण बातों का वर्णन</div><div>किया है , उन्हे इस लेख में व संबंधित चित्र में प्रस्तुत करने का प्रयास किया</div><div>गया है ।</div><div></div><div>कर्मफल सदा कर्म के अनुसार मिलते है । फल की दृष्टि से कर्म दो प्रकार के</div><div>होते है -</div><div></div><div>१. सकाम कर्म</div><div>२. निष्काम कर्म</div><div></div><div>सकाम कर्म उन कर्मो को कहते है , जो लौकिक फल ( धन , पुत्र , यश आदि ) को</div><div>प्राप्त करने की इच्छा से किए जाते है । तथा निष्काम कर्म वे होते है , जो</div><div>लौकिक फलों को प्राप्त करने के उद्देश्य से न किए जाए बल्कि ईश्वर / मोक्ष</div><div>प्राप्ति की इच्छा से किए जाएँ ।</div><div></div><div> सकाम कर्म तीन प्रकार के होते है - अच्छे , बुरे व मिश्रित ।</div><div>अच्छे कर्म – जैसे सेवा ,दान , परोपकार करना आदि । बुरे कर्म – जैसे झूठ</div><div>बोलना , चोरी करना आदि । मिश्रित कर्म – जैसे खेती करना आदि , इसमें पाप व</div><div>पुण्य (कुछ अच्छा व कुछ बुरा ) दोनों मिले – जुले रहते है ।</div><div> निष्काम कर्म सदा अच्छे ही होते है , बुरे कभी नहीं होते । सकाम कर्मो</div><div>का फल अच्छा या बुरा होता है , जिसे इस जीवित में या मरने के बाद मनुष्य पशु ,</div><div>पक्षी , आदि शरीरों में अगले जीवन में जीवन अवस्था में ही भोगा जाता है ।</div><div>निष्काम कर्मों का फल ईश्वरीय आनन्द की प्राप्ति के रूप में होता है , जिसे</div><div>जीवित रहते हुए समाधि अवस्था में व मृत्यु के बाद बिना जन्म लिये मोक्ष अवस्था</div><div>में भोगा जाता है ।</div><div> जो कर्म इसी जन्म में फल देने वाले होते है , उन्हे</div><div>"द्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय" कहते है और जो कर्म अगले किसी जन्म में फल देने वाले होते</div><div>हैं , उन्हे "अद्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय" कहते है इन सकाम कर्मो से मिलने वाले फल तीन</div><div>प्रकार के</div><div>होते है - १. जाति २. आयु ३. भोग । समस्त कर्मो का समावेश इन तीनों</div><div>विभागों में हो जाता है । जाति अर्थात मनुष्य , पशु , पक्षी , कीट , पतंग ,</div><div>वृक्ष , वनस्पति आदि विभिन्न योनियाँ , आयु अर्थात जन्म से लेकर मृत्यु तक का</div><div>बीच का समय , भोग अर्थात विभिन्न प्रकार के भोजन , वस्त्र , मकान , आदि साधनों</div><div>की प्राप्ति । जाति , आयु व भोग इन तीनों से जो ' सुख – दुख ' की प्राप्ति</div><div>होती है , कर्मो का वास्तविक फल ही तो वही है । किन्तु सुख – दुख रूपी फल का</div><div>साधन होने के कारण ' जाति , आयु , भोग ' को फल नाम दे दिया गया है ।</div><div> द्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय कर्म किसी एक फल =आयु व भोग को दे सकते है । जैसे</div><div>उचित आहार – विहार , व्यायाम , ब्रह्मचर्य , निद्रा , आदि के सेवन से शरीर की</div><div>रोगों से रक्षा की जाति है तथा बल-वीर्य , पुष्टि , भोग सामर्थ्य व आयु को</div><div>बढ़ाया जा सकता है , जबकि अनुचित आहार , विहार आदि से बल , आयु आदि घट भी जाते</div><div>है ।</div><div> द्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय कर्म 'जाति रूप फल ' को देने वाले नहीं होते हैं</div><div>क्योंकि जाति (= योनि ) तो इस जन्म में मिल चुकी है , उसे जीते जी बदला नहीं जा</div><div>सकता , जैसे मनुष्य शरीर की जगह पशु शरीर बदल देना । हाँ मरने</div><div>के बाद तो शरीर बदल सकता है , पर मरने के बाद नई योनि को देने वाला कर्म</div><div>"अद्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय" कहा जाएगा न की द्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय ।</div><div> अद्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय कर्म दो प्रकार के होते है - १. ' नियत विपाक '</div><div>२. 'अनियत विपाक ' । कर्मो का ऐसा समूह जिनका फल निश्चित हो चुका हो और जो</div><div>अगले जन्म में फल देने वाला हो उसे ' नियत विपाक '</div><div>कहते है । कर्मो का ऐसा समूह जिसका फल किस रूप में व कब मिलेगा , यह निश्चित न</div><div>हुआ हो उसे ' अनियत विपाक ' कहते है ।</div><div> कर्म फल को शास्त्र में ' कर्माशय ' नाम से कहा गया है । ' नियत विपाक</div><div>कर्माशय ' के सभी कर्म परस्पर मिलकर ( संमिश्रित रूप में ) अगले जन्म में जाति</div><div>, आयु , भोग प्रदान करते है । इन तीनों का संक्षिप्त विवरण निम्न</div><div>प्रकार से जानने योग्य है –</div><div>१. जाति - इस जन्म में किए गए कर्मों का सबसे बड़ा महत्वपूर्ण फल अगले</div><div>जन्म में जाति – शरीर रूप में मिलता है । मनुष्य , पशु , पक्षी , कीट , पतंग</div><div>स्थावर – वृक्ष के शरीरों को जाति के अंतर्गत ग्रहण किया जाता है । यह जाति भी</div><div>अच्छे व निम्न स्तर की होती है यथा मनुष्यों में पूर्णांग , सुंदर , कुरूप,</div><div>बुद्धिमान , मूर्ख आदि , पशुओं में गाय , घोडा , गधा सूअर आदि ।</div><div>२. आयु – नियत विपाक कर्माशय का दूसरा फल आयु अर्थात जीवनकाल के रूप में</div><div>मिलता है , जैसी जाति (शरीर = योनि ) होती है , उसी के अनुसार आयु भी होती है</div><div>। यथा मनुष्य की आयु सामान्यतया १०० वर्ष ; गाय , घोडा आदि पशुओं की २५ वर्ष ;</div><div>तोता , चिड़िया आदि पक्षियों की २- ४ वर्ष ; मक्खी , मच्छर , भौरा , तितली आदि</div><div>कीट पतंगो की २–४-६ मास की होती है । मनुष्य अपनी आयु को स्वतंत्रता से एक सीमा</div><div>तक घटा – बढ़ा भी सकता है ।</div><div>३. भोग – 'नियत विपाक कर्माशय ' का तीसरा फल भोग (=सुख –दुख को प्राप्त</div><div>कराने वाले साधन ) के रूप में मिलता है । जैसी जाति (शरीर=योनि ) होती है उसी</div><div>जाति की अनुसार भोग होते है । जैसे मनुष्य अपने शरीर , बुद्धि , मन , इन्द्रिय</div><div>आदि साधनों से मकान , कार , रेल , हवाई जहाज , मिठाई , पंखा , कूलर आदि साधनों</div><div>को बनाकर , उनके प्रयोग से विशेष सुख को भोगता है । किन्तु गाय , भैस , घोडा ,</div><div>कुत्ता , आदि पशु केवल घास , चारा , रोटी आदि ही खा सकते है , कार – कोठी नहीं</div><div>बना सकते है । शेर , चीता , भेड़िया आदि हिंसक प्राणी केवल माँस ही खा सकते है ,</div><div>वे मिठाई , गाड़ी , मकान , वस्त्र आदि की सुविधाएँ उत्पन्न नहीं कर सकते है ।</div><div>जैसा की पूर्व कहा गया की ' नियत विपाक कर्माशय ' से मिली आयु व भोग पर</div><div>'द्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय कर्माशय' का प्रभाव पड़ता है , जिससे आयु व भोग घट-बढ़ सकते</div><div>हैं , पर ये एक सीमा तक (उस जाति के अनुरूप सीमा में ) ही बढ़ सकते है ।</div><div></div><div> 'अद्रष्टजन्मवेदनीय कर्माशय' के अंतर्गत ' अनियतविपाक' कर्मो</div><div>का फल जाति , आयु भोग के रूप में ही मिलता है , परंतु यह फल कब व किस विधि से</div><div>मिलता है , इसके लिए शास्त्र में तीन स्थितियां ( गतियां ) बताई गई है ।</div><div>१. कर्मो का नष्ट हो जाना , २. साथ मिलकर फल देना ३. दबे रहेना ।</div><div></div><div>१. प्रथम गति - कर्मों का नष्ट हो जाना – वास्तव में बिना फल को दिए कर्म</div><div>कभी भी नष्ट नहीं होते , किन्तु यहाँ प्रकरण में नष्ट होने का तात्पर्य बहुत</div><div>लंबे काल तक लुप्त हो जाना है । किसी भी जीव के कर्म सर्वांश में कदापि समाप्त</div><div>नहीं होते , जीव के समान वे भी अनादि – अनंत है । कुछ न कुछ मात्र संख्या में</div><div>तो रहेते ही है । चाहे जीब मुक्ति में भी क्यों न चला जावे । अविद्या ( राग</div><div>– द्वेष ) के संस्कारों को नष्ट करके जीव मुक्ति को प्राप्त कर लेता है , जितने</div><div>कर्मो का फल उसने अब अक भोग लिया है , उनसे अतिरिक्त जो भी कर्म बच जाते है ,</div><div>वे मुक्ति के काल तक ईश्वर से ज्ञान में बने रहेते है । इनहि बचे कर्मो के आधार</div><div>पर मुक्ति काल पश्चात जीव को पुनः मनुष्य शरीर मिलता है । तब तक ये कर्म फल</div><div>नहीं देते , यही नष्ट होने का अभिप्राय है ।</div><div>२. दूसरी गति – साथ मिलकर फल देना – अनेक स्थितियाँ में ईश्वर अच्छे व</div><div>बुरे कर्मों का फल साथ – साथ भी देता है । अर्थात अच्छे कर्मो का फल अच्छी जाति</div><div>, आयु और भोग मिलता है , किन्तु साथ में कुछ अशुभ कर्मों का फल दुख भी भुगा</div><div>देता है । इसी प्रकार अशुभ का प्रधान रूप से निम्न स्तर की जाति , आयु , भोग</div><div>रूप फल देता है , किन्तु साथ में कुछ शुभ कर्मों का फल सुख भी मिल जाता है ।</div><div>उदाहरण के लिए शुभ कर्मों का फल मनुष्य जन्म तो मिला , किन्तु अन्य अशुभ कर्मों</div><div>के कारण उस शरीर को अंधा , लूला , या कोढ़ी बना दिया । दूसरे पक्ष में प्रधानता</div><div>से अशुभ कर्मों का फल गाय , कुत्ता , आदि पशु योनि रूप में मिला , किन्तु कुछ</div><div>शुभ कर्मों के कारण अच्छे देश में अच्छे घर में मिला , परिणाम स्वरूप सेवा ,</div><div>भोजन आदि अच्छे स्तर के मिले ।</div><div>३. तीसरी गति – कर्मों का दबे रहेना – मनुष्य अनेक प्रकार के कर्म करता है</div><div>, उन सारे कर्मो का फल किसी एक ही योनि – शरीर में मिल जाए , यह संभव नहीं है ।</div><div>अतः जिन कर्मों की प्रधानता होती है , उनके अनुसार अगला जन्म मिलता है । जिन</div><div>कर्मों की अप्रधानता रहती है , वे कर्म पूर्व संचित कर्मों मे जाकर जुड़ जाते है</div><div>और तब तक फल नहीं देते , जब तक की उनही के सदृश , किसी मनुष्य शरीर में मुख्य</div><div>कर्म न कर लिए जाए । इस तीसरी स्थिति को कर्मों का दबे रहेना नाम से कहा जाता</div><div>है ।</div><div> उदाहरण – किसी मनुष्य ने अपने जीवन में मनुष्य जाति ,</div><div>आयु , भोग दिलाने वाले कर्मों के साथ साथ कुछ कर्म सूअर की जाति , आयु , भोग</div><div>दिलाने वाले भी कर दिए , प्रधानता – अधिकता के कारण अगले जन्म में मनुष्य शरीर</div><div>मिलेगा और सूअर की योनि देने वाले कर्म तब अक दबे रहेंगे , जब तक की सूअर की</div><div>योनि देने वाले कर्मों की प्रधानता न हो जाए ।</div><div></div><div> उपयुक्त विवरण का सार यह निकलता की इस जन्म में दुखों</div><div>से बचने तथा सुख को प्राप्त करने के लिए तथा मोक्ष की प्राप्ति के लिए हमें सदा</div><div>शुभ कर्मों को ही करते रहना चाहिए और उनको भी निष्काम भावना से करना चाहिए ।</div><div></div><div>आभार :- आचार्य ज्ञानेश्वरार्य , दार्शनिक निबंध.</div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-34984752894349555282011-05-11T06:18:00.000-07:002011-05-11T06:27:51.971-07:00Essays on Manusmriti - मनुस्मृति पर निबंध<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Today, a misleading notion is being circulated among masses by some people that Manusmriti discriminates with low castes and women, which is far from truth. You can read the two book below, which will tell you the truth. आज जनसामान्य को भ्रमित करने वाले एक विचार का प्रचार कई लोगों द्वारा किया जा रहा है कि मनुस्मृति में निम्नवर्ग तथा स्त्रियों से भेदभाव किया गया है, जो कि सत्य से परे है | कृपया नीचे दी गयी दो पुस्तकों का अध्यान करें जिससे आपको सत्य का पता चलेगा | </div><br><br><br />
<a title="View ManuSmriti Essays on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/54496732/ManuSmriti-Essays" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">ManuSmriti Essays</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/54496732/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-1qbdavqxri27m06vvu9a" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.772727272727273" scrolling="no" id="doc_83965" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();</script><br><br><br />
<a title="View Manu Ka Virodh Kyon Why Oppose Manu Hindi on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/17695304/Manu-Ka-Virodh-Kyon-Why-Oppose-Manu-Hindi" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Manu Ka Virodh Kyon Why Oppose Manu Hindi</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/17695304/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-2mt28lv8t65e9i7n7r2l" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="" scrolling="no" id="doc_23254" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-29650657034189349262011-05-03T22:09:00.001-07:002011-05-03T22:09:45.430-07:00Manu Smriti and Women<HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="IncrediMail 1.0"> <STYLE>v\:* { BEHAVIOR: url (#default#vml) } </STYLE> <!--IncrdiXMLRemarkStart> <IncrdiX-Info> <X-FID>FLAVOR00-NONE-0000-0000-000000000000</X-FID> <X-FVER></X-FVER> <X-CNT>;</X-CNT> </IncrdiX-Info> <IncrdiXMLRemarkEnd--> </HEAD> <BODY style="SCROLLBAR-ARROW-COLOR: ; SCROLLBAR-FACE-COLOR: ; MARGIN: 5px 10px 0px; SCROLLBAR-DARKSHADOW-COLOR: ; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; SCROLLBAR-HIGHLIGHT-COLOR: ; SCROLLBAR-SHADOW-COLOR: ; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; SCROLLBAR-3DLIGHT-COLOR: " background="" scroll=yes bgColor=#ffffff> <TABLE id=INCREDIMAINTABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="POSITION: relative; DIRECTION: ltr; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" id=INCREDITEXTREGION width="100%"> <DIV style="PADDING-LEFT: 2px" id=INCREDI_TEXT_AREA> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Source: <A href="http://agniveer.com/4276/manu-smriti-and-women/">http://agniveer.com/4276/manu-smriti-and-women/</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" dir=ltr id=IncrediOriginalFontSize> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt" dir=ltr id=IncrediOriginalMessage> </DIV> <DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: 140%; MARGIN: 0px 2em; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 13px" id=emailbody xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <TABLE id=itemcontentlist> <TBODY> <TR xmlns=""> <TD style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.4em; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"> <P style="MARGIN: 1em 0px 3px"> </P> <P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 140%; MARGIN: 9px 0px 3px; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; COLOR: #555; FONT-SIZE: 13px"><A href="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/savita_women_priest_20080121.jpg"><IMG class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4279" alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/savita_women_priest_20080121-300x223.jpg" width=300 height=223></A>Continuing our evaluation of Manu Smriti, let us now review the third allegation on Manu Smriti – that Manu Smriti is grossly anti-women and denigrates the Matri Shakti (motherly force).</P> <DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: 140%; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 13px"> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">We have already discussed how Manu Smriti has been grossly interpolated. However it is very easy to identify the fraud verses and separate them from the original Manu Smriti.</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">If we review this original Manu Smriti, one can proudly assert that there is perhaps no other text in world (except Vedas of course!) that accords so much of respect and rights to women. <STRONG>Even the modern feminist books would have to seek further amendments to match up to Manu Smriti.</STRONG></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">I am yet to read a text that so unambiguously proclaims that women form the foundation of a prosperous society.</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><STRONG><EM>3.56. The society that provides respect and dignity to women flourishes with nobility and prosperity. And a society that does not put women on such a high pedestal has to face miseries and failures regardless of howsomuch noble deeds they perform otherwise.</EM></STRONG></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">This is not merely a flattery of womenfolk. It is a truth – very harsh for those who denigrate women and the sweetest nectar for those who glorify the motherly force. This law of nature is applicable to a family, society, cult, nation or entire humanity.</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><STRONG>We became slaves despite all our greatness because we neglected this advice of Maharshi Manu. </STRONG>We did not heed to this advice for centuries even after invasions, and hence our situation turned from bad to worse. In late nineteenth century, thanks to efforts of reformers like Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Dayanand Saraswati, we started considering the Vedic message seriously and hence observed a gradual upturn.</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Many conservative Muslim countries of today consider women as half-intelligent and unworthy of equal rights at par with men. Hence these places are worse than hell. Europe followed the derogatory Biblical concept of women for ages and hence was among most superstitious places in world. Then, thanks to reformation era, things changed and Bible ceased to be taken seriously. As a result rapid progress happened. But now women is typically stereotyped as a sensual object of pleasure and not as a respectful motherly force. And hence, despite all the material progress, Western world is still inflicted with insecurity and lack of inner peace.</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Lets review some more shlokas from Manu Smriti and attempt to imbibe them in our society:</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Importance of happy women</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>3.55. A father, brother, husband or brother-in-law should keep their daughter, sister, wife or sister-in-law happy and pleased through gentle words, respectful behavior, gifts etc. <STRONG>Those who desire prosperity should ensure that women in their family are always happy and do not face miseries.</STRONG></EM></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>3.57. A family where women remain unhappy due to misdeeds of their men is bound to be destroyed. And a family where women are always happy is bound to prosper forever.</EM></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>3.58. A family- where women feel insulted or discriminated against and curse their menfolk- is destroyed in same manner as poison kills all those who eat it.</EM></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>3.59. One desiring glory should ensure that he keeps women in the family by giving them respect and pleasing them with good ornaments, dresses, food. <STRONG>Women should always be revered under all circumstances.</STRONG></EM></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>3.62. A person who does not keep her wife happy causes misery for entire family. And if wife is happy, entire family appears as happiness incarnate.</EM></P> <P><EM>9.26. Women give birth to next generation. They enlighten the home. They bring fortune and bliss. Hence women are synonymous to Prosperity. </EM></P> <P>This shloka forms the basis of women being called <STRONG><EM>Ghar ki Laxmi</EM></STRONG> or '<EM>Goddess of Fortune in Home</EM>' in India even till today.</P> <P><EM>9.28. Woman is the source of all kinds of happiness in all generations – be it from children, or from noble benevolent deeds or through conjugal bliss or through service of elders.</EM></P> <P>In other words, woman is the primary source of bliss in many forms – sometimes as mother, sometimes as daughter, sometimes as wife and sometimes as a partner in spiritual deeds. <STRONG>It also means that participation of women is necessary for conduct of any religious or spiritual activity. </STRONG></P> <P><EM>9.96. Man and Woman are incomplete without each other. Hence the most ordinary religious duty would demand participation of both.</EM></P> <P><STRONG>Thus, those who deny Vedas or Vedic rituals to women are anti-Hindu and anti-Humanity.</STRONG></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>4.180. A wise man should not indulge in fights and arguments with his family members including mother, daughter and wife. </EM></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>9.4. A father who does not marry his daughter to a deserving groom deserves condemnation. A husband who does not fulfill just demands of her wife deserves condemnation. A son who does not take care of her widow mother deserves condemnation.</EM></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Polygamy is a sin</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><EM>9.101. Husband and Wife should remain together till death. They should not approach any other partner, nor commit adultery. This, in summary, is the Dharma or religion of all human beings.</EM></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Thus those societies which justify polygamy or sex-slavery or temporary marriage are bound to suffer miseries because they neglect the core tenet of Dharma.</P> <P></P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Autonomy of Women</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P><EM>9.11. Women should be provided autonomy and leadership in managing the finances, maintaining hygiene, spiritual and religious activities, nutrition and overall management of home.</EM></P> <P>The shloka clearly puts aside false claims that women do not have right to conduct religious rituals of Vedas. On contrary, women should lead such rituals. Thus all those people who suggest that women do not have right to study or practice Vedas are against Manu and Vedas. <STRONG>Such bigoted people are the cause for misery of the nation. We should simply not tolerate such mindsets that demean women.</STRONG></P> <P><EM>9.12. A woman who is kept constrained in a home by noble men (husband, father, son) is still insecure. Thus it is futile to restrict women. Security of women would come only through her own capabilities and mindset.</EM></P> <P>This shloka explains the futility to attempting to restrict a woman to home in name of providing her security. On contrary, to secure her, she should be given the right training so that she can defend herself and avoid getting misled by bad company. <STRONG>The prevailing notion of cornering women within a small home is against Manu's ideology.</STRONG></P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Protection of Women</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P><EM>9.6. Even a weak husband should attempt to protect his wife.</EM></P> <P><EM>9.5 Women should keep themselves away from vices. Because when women lose character, the entire society is destroyed.</EM></P> <P><EM>5.149. A woman should always ensure that she is protected. It is duty of father, husband and son to protect her.</EM></P> <P><STRONG><EM>Please note that this protection does not imply restriction as clear from verse 9.12 cited in previous section. But a society that does not protect its womenfolk from attacks of perverts writes its own destiny of doom.</EM></STRONG></P> <P><EM></EM>It is because of this inspiration that many a brave warriors laid their lives to protect the dignity of their women when butchers from West and Central Asia invaded our nation. The sacrifices of Alha-Udal and valor of Maharana Pratap brings a gush of glory in our blood.</P> <P><STRONG>Its a shame that despite such a chivalrous foundation of our culture, we have women either oppressed in backyard of homes or commoditized as sensual-items instigating lust. When we ourselves have turned invaders instead of protectors of dignity of women, who can help us!</STRONG></P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Marriage of Women</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P><EM>9.89. It is better to keep the daughter unmarried than force her to marry an undeserving person.</EM></P> <P><EM>9.90-91. A woman can choose her own husband after attaining maturity. If her parents are unable to choose a deserving groom, she can herself choose her husband. </EM></P> <P>Thus the concept of parents deciding the groom for their daughter is against Manu. A mature daughter has full rights to choose her husband. Parents act as facilitators for the marriage and not final decision makers, as wrongly practiced in many societies.</P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Property Rights of Women</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P><EM>9.130. A daughter is equivalent to a son. In her presence, how can any one snatch away her right over the property.</EM></P> <P><EM>9.131. A daughter alone has the right over personal property of her mother. </EM></P> <P>Thus, as per Manu, while daughter has equal share as her brothers over property of her father, she has exclusive rights over property of her mother. The reason for this special treatment of women is to ensure that women are never at mercy of anyone. After all happy dignified women form the foundation of a happy society!</P> <P><EM>9.212-213. If a person has no kins or wife, then his wealth be distributed equally among his brothers and sisters. If the elder brother refuses to give due share to other brothers and sisters, he is punishable by law.</EM></P> <P>To further ensure safety of women, Manu recommended harsh punishments for those who rob away wealth of a woman, even if they are her relatives.</P> <P><EM>8.28-29. If a woman is alone because she has no children, or no men to provide for her security in her family, or is widow, or whose husband has gone abroad, or who is unwell, then it is duty of the government to ensure her safety and security. If her wealth is robbed by her relatives or friends, then the government should provide strict punishment to the culprits and have her wealth returned back. </EM></P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Prohibition of Dowry</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P><EM>3.52. Those relatives who rob away or thrive on wealth, property, vehicles or dresses of a woman or her family are wiliest of people.</EM></P> <P><STRONG>Thus any kind of dowry is a strict NO NO as per Manu Smriti. No one should dare attempt to take away the property of a woman. </STRONG></P> <P>The next shloka takes this concept further and states that even slightest exchange of tangible items amounts to sale/purchase and hence against principles of noble marriage. <EM><STRONG>In fact Manu Smriti suggests that a marriage along with dowry is marriage of 'Devils' or Asuri Vivah.</STRONG></EM></P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Strict Punishment for harming Women</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P><EM>8.323. Those who abduct women should be given death sentence.</EM></P> <P><EM>9.232. Those who kill women, children or scholarly virtuous people should be given strictest punishment.</EM></P> <P><EM>8.352. Those who rape or molest women or incite them into adultery should be given harshest punishment that creates fear among others to even think of such a crime.</EM></P> <P>Interestingly, a judge of sessions court suggested today that castration seems the best punishment to prevent alarming increase in rape cases. Refer <A href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Castrate-child-rapists-Delhi-judge-suggests/articleshow/8130553.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Castrate-child-rapists-Delhi-judge-suggests/articleshow/8130553.cms</A></P> <P><STRONG><EM>We are in agreement with such a law.</EM></STRONG></P> <P><EM>8. 275. One should be punished if he puts false allegations or demeans mother, wife or daughter.</EM></P> <P><EM>8.389. Those who abandon their mother, father, wife or children without any reasonable reason should face severe punishments.</EM></P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><STRONG>Ladies First</STRONG></SPAN></P> <P>The concept of Ladies First seems to originate from Manu Smriti.</P> <P><EM>2.138. A man in a vehicle should give way to the following – aged person, diseased person, one carrying burden, groom, king, student and a woman. </EM></P> <P><EM>3.114. One should feed the following even before feeding the guests – newly married women, girls, and pregnant women.</EM></P> <P><EM><STRONG>May we all work together to implement this true Manuvaad by showering respect and ensuring dignity of the motherly force. How else can prosperity be restored in the society, nation and world?</STRONG></EM></P> <P><EM>References: Works of Dr Surendra Kumar, Pt Gangaprasad Updhyaya, and Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-69520139404503856702011-05-02T23:51:00.001-07:002011-05-03T00:00:58.929-07:00Manu Smriti and Punishment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <style>
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</div><div style="color: #555555; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 9px 0px 3px;"><a href="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Manusmriti11.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4274" height="224" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Manusmriti11.jpg" width="288" /></a>In this brief article, we shall review the second popular allegation on Maharshi Manu – that he legalized harsh punishments for Shudras and special penal provisions for upper-castes and especially Brahmins.</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0px;">As we have reviewed in previous article <a href="http://agniveer.com/3308/manu-smriti-and-shudras">http://agniveer.com/3308/manu-smriti-and-shudras</a>, around 1471 out of 2685 shlokas have been proven to be later adulterations.<br />
Thus all those shlokas that recommend special provisions for upper-castes and harsher punishments for Shudras are part of these bogus adulterations that are very easily identifiable.<br />
If we review the original Manu Smriti, that is based on Vedas, the situation is completely opposite. <i>As per Manu, penal system takes into account the education, social influence, designation, nature of crime and impact of crime while recommending punishments.</i><br />
Manu offers greater respect and status to Brahmins – the educated ones. Dwijas or twice born or those who completed their education are provided heightened standing in society so far they conduct noble deeds. <b>But when it comes to crimes, they also have to face more severe punishments. </b>With greater potentials, come greater responsibilities and stricter punishments when one fails to fulfill those responsibilities.<b><br />
</b><br />
(Here, I would like to emphasize once again that Brahmin or Dwija has nothing to do with birth. Its all about education.) <b><br />
</b><br />
<b>If such a penal code be adopted in our nation, bulk of the crimes and corruptions would cease to exist and politics will become a field where any Tom, Dick or Harry does not dare to enter and pollute like it is happening today.</b><br />
For a more detailed coverage, please refer Chapter 6 of Satyarth Prakash or Light of Truth by Swami Dayanand Saraswati which is available at <a href="http://agniveer.com/2037/satyarth-prakash/">http://agniveer.com/2037/satyarth-prakash/</a> and <a href="http://agniveer.com/2092/light-of-truth/">http://agniveer.com/2092/light-of-truth/</a><br />
Also review Chapter 8,9 and 10 of Manu Smriti edited by Dr Surendra Kumar (Aarsh Sahitya Prachar Trust, Delhi)<br />
We reproduce a few shlokas that are relevant in the current discussion.<br />
<i>8.335: Be it the father, mother, teacher, friend, wife, son or priest, one who conducts a crime is punishable by the ruler.</i><br />
<i>8.336: When the punishment for an ordinary citizen is 1 cent, the punishment for those in ruling class should be 1000 cents. <b>In other words, the punishment for those in legislation, executive or judiciary should be 1000 times that for ordinary citizens.</b></i><br />
<b>The concept of immunity to MPs and Judges from impeachment and legal framework is shamelessly against Manu Smriti.<br />
</b><br />
Swami Dayanand adds here – Even a peon in any department of government should have a punishment that is 8 times that for ordinary citizens. And all other office bearers should have a punishment proportionate to their designation till it is 1000 times for the topmost designation. Because unless government officials have a punishment that is significantly harsher compared to ordinary citizens, the government would destroy the public. <b>Just as taming a lion demands harsher control and a goat much lesser control, similarly to ensure safety of public, government officials should have extremely harsh punishments. </b><br />
Deviation from this penal code is the root cause of all these corruption stories. Unless this is rectified, all other efforts to transform the nation would fall flat.<br />
<i>8.337-338: If one conducts a theft willingly and in full senses knowing the implications, he should be penalized 8 times that of ordinary thief if he is a Shudra. The penalty should be 16 times if he is a Vaishya, 32 times if he is a Kshatriya and 64 times if he is a Brahmin. The punishment can be even 100 times or 128 times if he is a Brahmin. In other words, <b>the punishment should be directly proportional to knowledge and social status of the criminal. </b></i><br />
Thus contrary to popular perceptions, when it comes to punishments, Manu Smriti is most lenient on Shudras because of their lack of education, significantly harsher on Brahmins and harshest on the government officials. In current context, the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Chief Justice, Leaders of National Political Parties deserve harshest punishments if they do something wrong. The Ministers, MPs, MLAs, Governors, Judges come the next. Then comes the turn of Bureaucrats and Government Officials. And even a peon of a Government Department deserves much harsher punishment compared to ordinary citizens.<br />
Among ordinary citizens, the educated class and those with influential social status who neglect their duties deserve harsher punishments.<br />
As we said, with greater responsibilities come greater punishments. This is the real penal system of Manu Smriti.<br />
And if so-called birth based Brahmins indeed want to claim supremacy over so-called birth-based Shudras, then they should also be ready to accept stricter punishments for themselves. Most birth-based Brahmins do not know about Vedas. Now Manu says that those Brahmins who put efforts in other areas except Vedas are Shudras. Refer 2.168. This is insult to Brahmins. As per fake verses of Manu Smriti, the minimal repentance for harming a Brahmin even verbally is to remain hungry for a day (11.204 as per fake Manu Smriti). Thus, those who claim birth-right to Brahminism based on fake verses of Manu Smriti should remain hungry for at least 64 days continuously unless they are masters of Vedas and completely free of any vices including harsh language! (Punishment for Brahmins is 64 – 128 times that of ordinary mortals).<br />
You cannot have <b><i>"Heads I win and Tails you lose"</i></b>. Either be logical and honest, follow the real Manu Smriti and reject birth-based caste-system totally OR be prepared for a minimum of 64 days hunger strike until you master Vedas. And then continue the strike for another 64 days if you still do not master Vedas in 64 days!<br />
<b>The bottomline is that birth-based caste system does not even vaguely fit in Manu's scheme of society.</b> Those who support it or recommend special treatment of birth-based Brahmins in matters of punishments are shamelessly against Manu, Vedas and humanity in general. And as per Manu, such persons who cause harm to society deserve extremely severe punishments.<br />
The notion of Shudras deserving harsher punishments is simply a hoax.<br />
<i><b>May we all adopt the penal system proposed by Manu Smriti to save the nation from claws of corrupt politicians, judiciary and other pseudo-intellectuals.</b></i><br />
Manusmriti 7.17-20:<br />
<i>A powerful and rational penal system (Dand) is the true ruler. Dand is the propagator of Justice. Dand is the discipliner. Dand is the administrator. Dand alone protects the 4 Varnas and 4 Phases of life. </i><br />
<i>Dand protects the public and Dand keeps the nation awakened. That is why wise people proclaim that Dand is the Dharma.</i><br />
<i>When Dand is used with wisdom and responsibility, it brings prosperity and bliss among public. And when Dand is used recklessly, it destroys the ruler.</i><br />
<b>It seems that time has come that the corrupt leaders and officials are destroyed because they have misused the <i>Dand</i> a bit too much! Its also time that we use Dand to punish those who support birth-based discrimination in any manner. </b><br />
<b>This alone can save society, nation and humanity. There is no other way!<br />
</b><br />
<i>References: Works of Dr Surendra Kumar, Pt Gangaprasad Updhyaya, and Swami Dayanand Saraswati. </i></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-28547052619064257742011-05-01T02:10:00.000-07:002011-05-02T23:59:09.093-07:00Manu Smriti and Shudras<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <style>
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<tr xmlns=""> <td style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div style="margin: 1em 0px 3px;">Source: <a href="http://agniveer.com/3308/manu-smriti-and-shudras/">http://agniveer.com/3308/manu-smriti-and-shudras/</a></div><div style="margin: 1em 0px 3px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/manusmriti.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4266" height="300" src="http://c484123.r23.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/manusmriti-e1304171084997-218x300.jpg" width="218" /></a>If Agniveer were to list the top two nuisances in India, it would undoubtedly be <b>birth-based caste system</b> and <b>gender discrimination</b>.<br />
Yes, India is plagued by a plethora of challenges today – corruption, fundamentalism, terrorism, conversions, moral degradation, lack of education, health issues, sanitation problems and so many more. But despite all these problems and threats, <b>the top two – by a wide margin – would remain casteism and gender discrimination.</b><br />
This is because all the rest of the problems can be attributed in one way or the other to these two core disgraces of our otherwise glorious culture. And till these two problems – that remain the primary causes of almost all our miseries of past and present – are eradicated from root, <i>the hope of a glorious future would remain nothing more than hallucinations of an insane.</i><br />
<b>In other words, a prosperous and powerful society cannot co-exist with casteism and gender-discrimination.</b><br />
Please note that casteism and gender-discrimination are not specifically Hindu issues. On contrary, they are more of cultural issues. Gender discrimination has been a global phenomenon for ages. And casteism seems like a South Asian nuisance affecting all societies and religions that breed here.<br />
However Hinduism being the oldest culture and fountainhead of all other religions has to accept the blame of polluting the source. Because these two nuisances were tolerated, the society was weakened and deluged with so many different cults and religions leading to further weaknesses. All leading to the present mess and all the messes of past that we know from history.<br />
It is surprising to find even today, many a defenders of these two nuisances from otherwise intellectual and educated backgrounds. <b>The virus of birth-based superiority is so strong that it renders even the most rational insane.</b> Many of these virus-affected patients are considered among scholars and leaders of contemporary Hinduism!<br />
They would innocently point to ancient scriptures that justify these nuisances and then attempt to prove the 'science' behind consuming this trash. The most popular scripture that is used as scapegoat is the Manu Smriti – <i>the oldest text on social systems.</i><br />
Some also attempt to allege casteism in Vedas as well. However we have already debunked these fake claims and established the Vedic view in the series on Vedas and Caste System. Refer <a href="http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/">http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/</a><br />
In this series of articles, we shall evaluate the Manu Smriti.<br />
Now, Manu Smriti is among the most controversial texts of Vedic culture. It is not only known as the first codified text on ethics and laws in the world, but also as a text promoting blatant casteism. The entire Dalit movement of modern times is based on foundations of protesting against <b>'Manuvaad'</b>.<br />
While Manu is hero for casteists, Dalit leaders typecast Manu as a great villain. Copies of Manu Smriti are burnt en masse to showcase love for backward sections of society by likes of Agnivesh, Mayawati and many more. Films have been made depicting Manu as a horned devil in guise of scholar forcing brutal atrocity on lower caste people to fulfill his perverted fetishes. Manu Smriti has become the favorite pasture for scavengers keen on bashing Hinduism and Vedas. This becomes among the most potent tools for promoting conversion away from Hinduism. And interestingly most of these Manu bashers perhaps never ever gave Manu Smriti a serious reading!<br />
On other side, for <b>sadist forces within Hinduism</b> who want to fool themselves and others on basis of their so-called birth superiority, Manu Smriti is a religious text that gives them the divine authority to deny fair treatment to one section of population merely because they were not born special. They would quote from fake adulterated verses of Manu Smriti that smell of casteism and gender discrimination, conveniently ignoring plethora of shlokas that speak exactly the opposite.<br />
The tussle between these two forces has not only shaped the current cheap politics of Bharat but has been a major factor leading to foreign invasions of last 1000 years. This wretched caste-system was the prime reason why we could not defend our nation against barbaric invaders. This illogical caste-system was the prime reason why India had to be partitioned in 1947. And this disgusting caste-system is the prime reason why despite so much of talent and intellectual treasure, India is still a sluggish meek spineless snail in the race towards prosperity and power.<br />
Thus it becomes utmost necessary to review Manu Smriti and check what it actually stands for.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Three allegations on Manu Smriti</b></span><br />
There are 3 major allegations on Manu Smriti:<br />
1. Manu founded the caste-system based on birth.<br />
2. Manu legalized harsh punishments for Shudras and special provisions for upper-castes and especially Brahmins.<br />
3. Manu was anti-women and condemned them. He accorded inferior rights to women.<br />
Let us now review these allegations using evidences from Manu Smriti itself.<br />
<i>In this article, we shall review the first allegation – that Manu was founder of birth-based caste system.</i><br />
<b>We would strongly recommend that the readers review our series on <a href="http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/" target="_blank">Caste System in Vedas</a> to understand the context and definitions of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra as per Vedas. Please review the series at <a href="http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/">http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/</a></b><br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Manu Smriti and Caste System</b></span><br />
1. Manu Smriti hails from an era when even the concept of birth-based caste system did not exist. Thus Manu Smriti nowhere supports a social system based on birth. Maharshi Manu took inspiration from Vedas (refer Rigveda 10.10.11-12, Yajurveda 31.10-11, Atharvaveda 19.6.5-6) and proposed a <b>social system based on qualities, actions and nature of the individual. </b><br />
<br />
2. This is called <b>Varna System.</b> Now the very word Varna derived from root word <i><b>"Vrinja"</b></i> means "<b>Choice</b>". A similar usage happens in common used word "Varan" meaning "choosing" or "Var" meaning a husband chosen by the girl. <b><i>This also shows that in Vedic system the girl had complete rights to choose her husband.</i></b><br />
<br />
3. The biggest proof of Manu Smriti proposing Varna System and NOT Caste System is that in the first Chapter of Manu Smriti, <b>there is mention of origin of 4 Varnas and no mention of castes or gotras.</b><i> Had caste or gotra been important, Manu would have mentioned which castes belong to Brahmins, which to Kshatriyas, which to Vaishyas and which to Shudras.</i><br />
This also means that those who feel proud in calling themselves Brahmins or upper-caste by birth have no evidence to prove so. They can at best prove that a few generations of their forefathers used to also call themselves upper-caste. But there is no way to prove that they were upper-castes since inception of civilization. <b>And when they cannot prove so, what right do they have to allege that a so-called birth-based Shudra was also not a Brahmin several generations ago? And that they themselves were not Shudras a few generation ago!</b><br />
<br />
4. In fact Manu Smriti 3.109 clearly states that <b>one who eats by glorifying his Gotra or Family is considered an eater of his own vomit</b>. Thus, as per the Manu Smriti that the self-proclaimed birth-based Brahmins or upper-castes believe in, <i>the very act of glorifying their lineage or gotra to demand special privileges makes them deserving of condemnation.</i><br />
<br />
5. Manu Smriti 2.136 states that one earns respect due to wealth, company, age, actions and knowledge in increasing order. <b>There is no mention of family, gotra, caste, lineage and other non-factors to demand or earn respect.</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Migration within Varnas</b></i><br />
6. Manu Smriti 10.65 asserts that <i><b>Brahmin can become Shudra and Shudra can become Brahmin</b>. Similarly Kshtariyas and Vaishyas can also change their Varnas.</i><br />
<br />
7. Manu Smriti 9.335: <i>If a Shudra (uneducated) serves the educated ones, is polite, devoid of ego and stays in respectful company of knowledgeable ones, he/ she is considered as having a noble birth and stature.</i><br />
<br />
8. There are several shlokas in Manusmriti that state that a person belonging to high Varna falls down to level of a Shudra (uneducated) if he does not conduct noble deeds. For example,<br />
<i>2.104: A person who does not worship the Supreme Lord twice daily should be considered a Shudra.<br />
</i><br />
<i>2.172. He who has not been initiated with teaching of the Vedas is a Sudra.</i><br />
<i>4.245: A Brahmin acquires brilliance through company of noble persons and avoiding bad company. On contrary, if he indulges in bad company, he becomes a Shudra.</i><br />
<b>Thus clearly, Brahmin refers to a scholarly person who conducts noble deeds. And Shudra refers to an uneducated person. This has nothing to do with birth in any manner.</b><br />
<i>2.168: A Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya who puts efforts in other areas except understanding and following the Vedic precepts becomes a Shudra and his future generations also suffer from ignorance of Vedas. </i><br />
<b>Thus, as per Manu Smriti, almost the entire population of India today, barring few exceptions, is Shudra because we do not abide by the Vedic concepts and are indulged in anti-Vedic activities – corruption, casteism, selfishness, superstitions, irrationality, gender-discrimination, sycophancy, immorality etc.</b><br />
<i>2.126: Even if he is a Brahmin otherwise, a person who does not politely respond to a greeting is actually a Shudra (uneducated person).</i><br />
<br />
<b><i>Even Shudras can teach</i></b><br />
9. Though Shudra means an uneducated person, a Shudra can also become a teacher for specific knowledge that he has. For example,<br />
<i>2.238: One should acquire knowledge even from a person born in a low family otherwise. Similarly, one should accept a noble woman as wife even if her family is otherwise not up to mark.</i><br />
<i>2.241. If needed, one may acquire knowledge from one who is not a Brahmin; and that he shall follow and serve such a teacher, as long as the instruction lasts.</i><br />
<br />
<i><b>Status of Brahmin is acquired by deeds and not by name</b></i><br />
10. As per Manu Smriti, one has to earn the qualification of Brahmin. During childhood, parents are supposed to send their children for specialized education of Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya depending on observed nature of children. So many Brahmin parents may desire that their children also become Brahmins. However that is not sufficient. One becomes Brahmin only if he completes the education and not merely by taking birth in a Brahmin family or taking admission in Brahmin course of a gurukul.<br />
<b><i>2.157: A Brahmin devoid of education is equivalent to an elephant made of wood or a deer made of leather. They are merely namesake and not real.</i></b><br />
<i>2.28: The body is made fit to be called Brahmin only through study of scriptures, discipline, noble selfless deeds, study of duties, science and meditation, charity and goal oriented actions. </i><br />
<br />
<b><i>Education is true birth</i></b><br />
11. As per Manu, actual birth happens after completion of education. All human beings are Shudras or uneducated when born. Those who complete their education are supposed to have a new birth. Thus they are called <i><b>Dwija </b></i><b>or Twice Born. </b>Those who were unable to complete the education remain Shudra. This has nothing to do with birth or heredity. This is pure meritocracy.<br />
<i>2.148: When a teacher who is well-versed in Vedas teaches a student the science of Gayatri (that summarizes all principles of Vedas and rational living), then the actual birth of the student takes place. This birth is free from risks of death or destruction and leads the student to immortality. </i><br />
<b>Thus, forget about being a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya, one is not considered even a human unless he/she receives education.</b><br />
<i>2.146: The teacher who provides education is a father who is much greater than the father who gave birth. The knowledge provided by the teacher remains with the soul even after the death and leads him to immortality. But the body provided by father destroys when death comes. </i><br />
<i>2.147: The birth that happens from womb of mother after parents desire for procreation is an ordinary birth. Real birth happens when the person completes his education.</i><br />
<b>Thus, citing lineage to showcase casteist superiority is an extremely foolish act as per Manu Smriti. Instead of quoting the clan, one becomes superior by showcasing that he is more educated.</b><br />
<i>10.4: Brahmin, Kashtriya and Vaishya take second birth after education. Shudra who could not complete education is fourth Varna. There is no fifth Varna among Arya or noble people.</i><br />
<b>This also means that merely because a person did not complete education does not make him a villain. He is still regarded as a noble person if his deeds are noble.</b><br />
And if he completes the education, he can become a Dwija as well. <b>Thus Shudra is an adjective and NOT a nomenclature for any castes</b>.<br />
<div><b><i>Never insult anyone born in lower family</i></b></div><div>12. To further ensure that one is not insulted or denied opportunities merely because he/she was born in a family where others did not excel in education, wealth or other parameters of success in society, Maharshi Manu laid the rule very clearly:</div><div><i>4.141: Never deny respect and/or rights to a person who is handicapped, uneducated, aged, not handsome, not wealthy or coming from a lower family. <b>These are NOT the parameters to judge a person. </b></i></div><br />
<i><b>Examples of Varna migration in ancient history</b></i><br />
13. The concept of Varnas – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra – being merit based and NOT birth based is not merely a theoretical concept. It was practiced in ancient era. The greatest misery befell on us when our misguided ancestors converted this scientific meritocracy into a foolish birth-based system causing all the miseries we face today.<br />
Here are some examples:<br />
a. Aitareya Rishi was son of a Daasa or criminal but became a Brahmin of highest order and wrote Aitareya Brahman and Aitareyopanishad. Aitareya Brahman is considered critical to understand Rigveda.<br />
b. Ailush Rishi was son of a Daasi, gambler and of low character. However he researched on Rigveda and made several discoveries. Not only was he invited by Rishis but also made an Acharya. (Aitareya Brahman 2.19)<br />
c. Satyakaam Jaabaal was son of a prostitute but became a Brahmin.<br />
d. Prishadh was son of King Daksha but became a Shudra. Further he did Tapasya to achieve salvation after repenting. (Vishnu Puran 4.1.14)<br />
<i><b>Had Tapasya been banned for Shudra as per the fake story from Uttar Ramayan, how could Prishadh do so?</b></i><br />
e. Nabhag, son of King Nedishtha became Vaishya. Many of his sons again became Kshatriya. (Vishnu Puran 4.1.13)<br />
f. Dhrist was son of Nabhag (Vaishya) but became Brahmin and his son became Kshatriya (VP 4.2.2)<br />
g. Further in his generation, some became Brahmin again (VP 9.2.23)<br />
h. As per Bhagvat, Agniveshya became Brahmin though born to a king.<br />
i. Rathotar born in Kshatriya family became a Brahmin as per Vishnu Puran and Bhagvat.<br />
j. Haarit became Brahmin though born to Kshatriya (VP 4.3.5)<br />
k. Shaunak became Brahmin though born in Kshatriya family. (VP 4.8.1). In fact, as per Vayu Puran, Vishnu Puran and Harivansh Puran, sons of Shaunak Rishi belonged to all four Varnas.<br />
Similar examples exist of Gritsamad, Veethavya and Vritsamati.<br />
l. Matanga was son of Chandal but became a Brahmin. (Mahabharat Anushasan Parva Chapter 3)<br />
m. Raavan was born from Pulatsya Rishi but became a Rakshas.<br />
n. Pravriddha was son of Raghu King but became a Rakshas.<br />
o. Trishanku was a king but became a Chandal.<br />
p. Sons of Vishwamitra became Shudra. Vishwamitra himself was a Kshatriya who later became a Brahmin.<br />
q. Vidur was son of a servant but became a Brahmin and minister of Hastinapur empire.<br />
r. Vatsa became a Rishi though born to a Shudra (Aitareya Brahman 2.19)<br />
s. Many verses of adulterated Manu Smriti (10.43-44) state that <b>certain castes were earlier Kshtariya but became Shudra later</b>. These verses are adulterated but prove that concept of Varna migration did exist. The castes mentioned are: Paundrak, Audru, Dravid, Kamboj, Yavan, Shak, Parad, Palhava, Cheen, Kirat, Darad, Khash.<br />
t. Mahabharat Anushasana Parva 35.17-18 adds the following to above list: Mekal, Laat, Kanvashira, Shaundik, Daarva, Chaur, Shabar, Barbar.<br />
<b>u. Several gotras are common across Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Dalits implying that all of them hailed from same family but rather got entrapped in the stupid casteism. </b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Respect for Shudras</i></b><br />
14. Manu was a great humanitarian. He knew that not all Shudras miss their education deliberately. He also understood that just because one ignored education in early part of his life does not mean that he should be penalized for that mistake for entire life. Thus he ensured that even Shudras get their due respect in society. Thus he never used any insulting adjective for Shudras. On contrary their are several instances of Manu using respectful adjectives for Shudras.<br />
Being vulnerable due to lack of education, Shudras deserve greater sensitivity in treatment from rest of the society as per Manu. We have seen some examples of these earlier.<br />
Here are some more:<br />
3.112: If a Shudra or Vaishya comes as a guest, the family should feed him with due respect.<br />
3.116: <b>A householder should eat from remaining food only after he has fed the scholars and servants (Shudras) to their satisfaction.</b><br />
2.137: A very old Shudra deserves more respect than anyone else regardless of their wealth, company, age, actions or knowledge. This special provision is accorded only to Shudra.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Vedas are foundation of Manu Smriti</b></i><br />
15. No text apart from Vedas is free from potential for interpolations. To understand why Vedas are immune to tampering, please review <a href="http://agniveer.com/2697/why-vedas-cannot-be-changed/">http://agniveer.com/2697/why-vedas-cannot-be-changed/</a><br />
That is why Vedas are accorded such high importance in our culture. Vedas form the foundation of everything else and hence if Vedas are conserved, other texts can be derived by seers in future as well.<br />
16. Thus the benchmark for interpreting any other scriptural text is the Vedas. They are to be interpreted and accepted only to extent they comply with Vedas. This is true for ALL texts including Smritis, Brahmans, Mahabharat, Ramayan, Geeta, Upanishads, Ayurveda, Neeti Shastra, Darshans etc.<br />
17. Manu himself announces in the Manu Smriti that Vedas alone form the foundation of Dharma. Refer 2.8-2.11<br />
<i>(Manu 2.8: A learned man after fully scrutinising all this with the eye of knowledge, should, in accordance with the authority of the Vedas, intent on the performance of his duties.)</i><br />
<b><i>Thus, it becomes clear that Manu Smriti has to be interpreted ONLY in lines with Vedas.</i></b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Shudras have right to study Vedas and conduct Vedic rituals</b></i><br />
18. Vedas very clearly provide right to Shudras (and women) – in fact entire humanity – to study Vedas and conduct Vedic rituals like Yajna. Refer Yajurveda 26.1, Rigveda 10.53.4, Nirukta 3.8 etc. Also refer our series on Vedic Caste System at <a href="http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/">http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/</a><br />
Thus Manu Smriti also supports the same Vedic truth. That is why nowhere in the context of Upanayan (education initiation) does Manu forbid Upanayan or sacred thread for Shudras. On contrary, one who refuses to accept Sacred Thread of education is called a Shudra!<br />
19. In lines with Vedas, Manu also orders the ruler to ensure that the salary and perks of Shudras be never reduced in any circumstance. (7.125-126, 8.216)<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Summary:</b></span><br />
To summarize, the assumption of Manu formulating a birth-based caste system is baseless. On contrary, Manu Smriti is vehemently against any reference to family or birth to judge a person. The Varna system of Manu is a pure meritocracy.<br />
Each human has all the 4 Varnas – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. <b>Manu attempted to organize the predominant Varna of each individual in social context in a manner that aids individual and collective uplift.</b><br />
We shall review the other two allegations on Manu prescribing harsh punishments for Shudras and preferential treatment for Brahmins; and being anti-woman in subsequent articles.<br />
But we would like to conclude this part from what Manu himself said about fraud and wrong practices.<br />
<i><b>He says in 4.30 that frauds, wrong practices, deceit, perversion and falsehood should not be respected even by words.</b></i><br />
Caste system based on birth is one of the most disgusting fraudulent deceitful perverted and false practices to exist among civilized human beings. And thus, as per Manu and as per Vedas, one should work to destroy this criminal practice by all means – harshest words and strongest actions. <b>To show soft corner to birth-based caste system even in words is against Manu.</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Wait Wait Wait Agniveer! </b></i><br />
<i><b>Before you end, I demand you to explain those perverted verses of Manu Smriti that are quoted everywhere to justify birth-based casteism and gender discrimination. I can provide hundreds of such shlokas from Manu Smriti.</b></i><br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
That is the point my friend. How can the same Manu Smriti have both verses defending as well as rejecting birth-based casteism? This means that Manu Smriti demands a closer scrutiny. We shall also do the same in a future article. But in summary:<br />
a. The current Manu Smriti is full of interpolated/ adulterated verses that were added much later for various reasons. Almost 50% of Manu Smriti is actually fake.<br />
b. Interpolation is not a problem with Manu Smriti. Apart from Vedas – that are preserved through a unique Patha and Swara method – all other texts of almost all belief systems are prone to modifications, interpolations and deletions. These include Ramayana, Mahabharat, Bible, Quran. Not to talk of texts like Bhavishya Puran that continued to be modified till printing press arrived!<br />
c. Three editions of Ramayan are available today – Dakshinatya, Pashchamottariya and Gaudiya which are different. Even Geetapress Gorakhpur has indicated many chapters as adulterated (Prakshipta). Most scholars agree that Balkanda and Uttarkanda are grossly adulterated.<br />
Similarly Mahabharat is known to be a grossly interpolated text. Garud Puran Brahmakanda 1.59 states that in Kaliyuga many frauds are posing as Brahmins to remove certain shlokas and add new ones in Mahabharat.<br />
Mahabharat Shantiparva 265.9, 4 itself states that Vedic texts clearly prohibit alcohol, fish and meat. All these have been propagated by frauds who have added such verses in scriptures through deceit.<br />
Original version of Bible does not exist today! We only have translations of translations of some translations of the original Bible which no one has ever seen.<br />
Quran also is claimed to be a modified version of original teachings of Muhammad. Refer <a href="http://satyagni.com/3118/miracle-islam/">http://satyagni.com/3118/miracle-islam/</a><br />
Thus no wonder Manu Smriti – the oldest text on social systems – is also prone to modifications. More so because Manu Smriti historically had the greatest influence in day to day life of each citizen as well as politics of the nation. After all it was like the constitution for centuries. Thus the incentives for a crooked one to interpolate Manu Smriti were very high.<br />
d. When we review Manu Smriti, we find 4 kinds of interpolations: to bring completeness, for selfish reasons, to exaggerate and to bring defects. <b>Most of these interpolations are blatantly obvious.</b> Dr Surendra Kumar has written a detailed translation of Manu Smriti in Hindi that analyzes each shloka on various parameters to weed out those verses that are obviously interpolated.<br />
<b>He has deduced that of the 2685 shlokas of Manu Smriti, at least 1471 shlokas are adulterated.</b> He has classified the adulterations as :<br />
- out of subject<br />
- out of context<br />
- contradictory<br />
- repetition<br />
- difference in usage and style<br />
- blatant contradiction with Vedas<br />
We recommend all keen students of Vedic texts to procure a copy of Manu Smriti by Dr Surendra Kumar (published by Aarsh Sahitya Prachar Trust, Delhi) from <a href="http://www.vedicbooks.com/">www.vedicbooks.com</a> which would make this point as transparent as air.<br />
e. Dr Surendra Kumar is not the only person to point out adulterations in Manu Smriti. Even many a western indologists like Macdonnell, Keith, Buhler etc have expressed the same.<br />
f. Even BR Ambedkar accepted that ancient scriptures have been adulterated. He has alleged adulterations in Ramayan, Mahabharat, Geeta, Purans and even in Vedas. He cited contradictory verses from Manu Smriti. But he tactfully desisted from calling these verses of Manu Smriti as adulterated.<br />
This myopic act of Ambedkar did make him a hero of Dalit movement. It did stir up an anti-Manu movement and created political careers for many a politicians including Ambedkar himself. But this selective honesty only worsened the caste-based hatred and made Manu – a true hero – a popular villain.<br />
Even so-called Arya Samaji Sanyasis like Agnivesh burnt copies of Manu Smriti and disgraced the great Rishi only to score political brownies. Though he very well knew that Swami Dayanand himself had asserted that Manu Smriti has been interpolated but the unadulterated verses of Manu Smriti form the foundation of his Vedic ideology.<br />
And now people expect such enlightened people to be instrumental in eradicating corruption from the nation by being masterminds of Anna Hazare movement! We seem to never learn from history! But thats a different story.<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Conclusion:</b></span><br />
Manu Smriti has been subject to significant adulterations. However the adulterated verses are easy to identify and trash. The rest of the Manu Smriti is an excellent text that establishes the foundations of a meritocracy based rational society that values each individual and ensures collective success.<br />
Vedas form the foundation of original Manu Smriti.<br />
The existing movement against Manu Smriti is purely a political game led by those who never reviewed Manu Smriti in first place.<br />
<b>True Manuvaad refers to complete outright rejection of birth-based caste system and heavy punishment for those who justify discrimination on basis of birth.</b> It also refers to refusal of word 'Dalit' or 'crushed one' for certain people who are completely equal to rest of the humanity in all aspects.<br />
<i>Let us all work to install this Manuvaad in our society by working towards a completely casteless and merit-based society. This is the only way to save humanity and the nation.</i><br />
<i>Let us follow the true Dharma – that is same for all human beings regardless of caste, birth, gender, geography, religion and other baseless parameters.</i><br />
<b><i>Manu Smriti 8.17: </i><i>Dharma or noble deeds is only one true friend that accompanies one ever after death. All others desert one as soon as death has overtaken.</i></b><br />
<i>References: Works of Dr Surendra Kumar, Pt Gangaprasad Updhyaya, and Swami Dayanand Saraswati </i></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-13967924825732070362011-04-25T10:59:00.000-07:002011-04-25T11:00:00.001-07:00धर्म की परिभाषा<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
दर्शन योग महाविद्यालय के आचार्य ज्ञानेश्वर जी आर्य द्वारा धर्म की परिभाषा - भाग १ और २ .</div><br><br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/URJg6Z1AEuA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><br><br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/59u05dGjKVM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-52083406263245006692011-04-21T14:57:00.000-07:002011-04-21T15:00:10.222-07:00Buddhism and Vedas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <style>
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<tr> <td id="INCREDITEXTREGION" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 12pt; position: relative;" width="100%"><div id="INCREDI_TEXT_AREA" style="padding-left: 2px;"><div><div> Source: <a href="http://agniveer.com/4020/buddhism-and-vedas">http://agniveer.com/4020/buddhism-and-vedas</a></div><div></div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" id="IncrediOriginalFontSize" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><div id="emailbody" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0px 2em;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><table id="itemcontentlist"><tbody>
<tr xmlns=""> <td style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div style="margin: 1em 0px 3px;"><a href="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/BUDDHA_OM_by_VISHNU108.gif"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-4022 alignleft" height="220" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/BUDDHA_OM_by_VISHNU108-300x220.gif" width="300" /></a>Buddhism is often considered to be an anti-Vedic atheist philosophy. While today there are huge number of schools and sects within Buddhism (exceeded perhaps only by Islam in terms of number of divisions, sects, sub-sects within), if we review the original teachings of Gautam Buddha, we find that he was only trying to teach the concepts of Vedas to best of his understanding.</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Vocabulary of Buddhism</b></span><br />
1. The vocabulary of Buddhism is adopted from prevailing literature.<br />
The word Buddha comes in Mahabharat Shantiparva 193/6 to mean 'intelligent'.<br />
Bodhisatva has been used for Sri Krishna in Shishupal Vadh 15/58 and its commentary by Vallabhdeva.<br />
Bhikshu again is a word denoting certain sage in Mahabharat Shantiparva 325/24 and Gautam Dharmasutra 3/2.<br />
Shraman comes in Brihadaranyak Upanishad and Gautam Dharmasutra<br />
Nirvana comes from Deval Dharmasutra<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And</span> so on.<br />
2. The famous Buddhist chant of <i><b>Om</b> Mani Padme Hum</i> speaks for itself on glory of <b>Om</b> – that originates from Vedas and is integral part of Hinduism.<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Vedas in teachings of Mahatma Buddha</b></span><br />
3. In Sutta Nipat 192, Mahatma Buddha says that:<b> </b><br />
<b>Vidwa Cha Vedehi Samechcha Dhammam Na Uchchavacham Gachhati Bhooripanjo.</b><br />
<i>People allow sense-organs to dominate and keep shuffling between high and low positions. But the scholar who understands Vedas understands Dharma and does not waver.</i><br />
4. Sutta Nipat 503:<br />
<b>Yo Vedagu Gyanarato Sateema …….</b><br />
<i>One should support a person who is master of Vedas, contemplative, intelligent, helpful if you desire to inculcate similar traits.</i><br />
5. Sutta Nipat 1059:<br />
<b>Yam Brahmanam Vedagum Abhijanjya Akinchanam Kamabhave Asattam……</b><br />
<i>One gets free from worldly pains if he is able to understand a Vedic Scholar who has no wealth and free from attraction towards worldly things.</i><br />
6. Sutta Nipat 1060:<br />
<b>Vidwa Cha So Vedagu Naro Idha Bhavabhave Sangam Imam Visajja…..</b><br />
<i>I state that one who understands the Vedas rejects attraction towards the world and becomes free from sins.</i><br />
7. Sutta Nipat 846:<br />
<b>Na Vedagu Diththia Na Mutiya <span style="font-family: Arial;">As</span> Manameti Nahi Tanmayoso….</b><br />
<i>One who knows Vedas does not acquire false ego. He is not affected by hearsay and delusions.</i><br />
8. Sutta Nipat 458:<br />
<b>Yadantagu Vedagu Yanjakaale Yassahuti Labhe Taras Ijjeti Broomi</b><br />
<i>I state that one who acquires Ahuti in Havan of a Vedic scholar gets success.</i><b> </b><br />
These are just a few examples from works of Mahatma Buddha.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Why Mahatma Buddha rejected Vedas</span></b><br />
9. Mahatma Buddha did not reject Vedas per se, but the malpractices happening in name of Vedas. For example, if you call someone – <i><b>He is a Neta of India</b></i> – today, he may get offended and feel as if you have called him corrupt and manipulative. This is not because Neta word in itself means 'corrupt', but because this is what we see of the so-called Netas today.<br />
Similarly, when Mahatma Buddha questioned birth-based casteism, animal sacrifice and other nonsense practices, he was answered that Vedas sanction so. Thus, like any sane morally upright person would do, Mahatma Buddha stated that: <b>"If Vedas sanction these evil practices, then I reject Vedas."</b><br />
<i>Had Gautam Buddha obtained an opportunity to study the actual Vedas and not go by the false notions prevailing, he could no way have issued such a statement. </i><br />
<b>And the country + entire world would have been strong enough to counter barbaric attacks of West/ Central Asian tribals that has resulted in the greatest problem of last 1000 years – terrorism.</b><br />
10. If you review the basic precepts of Buddhism, they are simply Vedic teachings reworded.<br />
- For example, the 4 cardinal truths on life, suffering, desire, cessation is straight from Yoga and Nyaya Darshan. In fact Nyaya Darshan 1.2 echoes almost the same essence in as many words.<br />
- The 8 fold path is adequately covered in a variety of ways in all ancient texts – Vedas, Manusmriti, Mahabharat and Yoga Darshan for example.<br />
- The emphasis on Ahimsa is adapted from Yoga Darshan that puts Ahimsa as the first essential discipline for progress in Yoga- the process of realizing self and God.<br />
- Theory of rebirth and Law of Karma that Buddhism is built upon finds its foundation in mantras of Vedas. Refer examples in <a href="http://agniveer.com/3203/islam-vedas/">http://agniveer.com/3203/islam-vedas/</a><br />
- Rejection of birth-based caste-system is also in lines with Vedas. Refer <a href="http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/">http://agniveer.com/series/caste-system-3/</a><br />
- Emphasis on meditation is straight adopted from the Yoga Darshan that itself is based on Vedas.<br />
- The 5 commandments for Buddhists and especially monks are from Yoga Darshan 1.2.3<br />
<b>In summary, one can state that Buddhism, as preached by Gautam Buddha, was a system of morality based on Vedas. </b><br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Why was Mahatma Buddha atheist?</b></span><br />
11. <b>Mahatma Buddha was not atheist.</b> Atheism developed later. At best, Gautam Buddha can be said to be agnostic. He believed that first and foremost duty is to raise one's intellect level through practice of moral code of conduct and mind control.<br />
12. Mahatma Buddha did not believe in arguments or debates. He had a very practical approach. He thus refused to either deny or acknowledge presence of God or a supreme entity. He was content with teaching self-control and self-constraint and did not take trouble of attempting a solution of the great problems of Universe: How it began? Is it everlasting? Have I existed in past? Will I exist forever? etc.<br />
Later philosophers of Buddhism did attempt to solve these mysteries through their own analysis and that is how Buddhism developed so many branches and sects.<br />
In <i>Kula Mayukyaovad Majjhama Nikaya</i> there is a reference where someone asked Gautam Buddha whether the world is everlasting. He replied, "Did I ever promise that I shall teach you whether the world is everlasting or not? If not, then do not press the inquiry."<br />
In <i>Sabbasava Sutta</i>, he suggests that such inquiries into self and universe are meaningless.<br />
Thus Mahatma Buddha focused on practical aspects and neglected the theoretical or metaphysical aspects. This was perhaps because he wanted to ensure that ritualistic malpractices do not overshadow the core essence of his teachings.<br />
However these are natural questions in any human being and thus later Buddhists had to make up for this deficiency in a variety of ways.<br />
But if we review the original philosophy of Mahatma Buddha, there is no evidence of he being atheist or anti-Vedic.<br />
His attitude towards Vedas and Theism was that of indifference rather than rejection. In this indifference lied his Vedic foundation. Because he eventually adopted only from the Vedas to form his ideology and strived to be an honest practitioner of "Accept truth, reject the rest." to best of his capability and intent.<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Impact of Buddhism</b></span><br />
13. Buddhism had a great impact during its times. It paved way for rejection of distortions and external symbols towards nurture of morality. Since Buddhism did not challenge any of the key philosophical foundations of existing way of life – rebirth, law of karma, emphasis on morality – it became popular not only in India and across Asia. But soon it declined especially in India.<br />
14. As Mahatma Buddha himself said, <i>"The body contains within itself the power to renew its strength but also the causes that lead to its destruction."</i><br />
In case of Buddhism, the cause lied in its incompleteness. While it adopted the moral precepts of Vedas, it ignored the metaphysical foundations. Thus while a whole generation of Buddhist philosophers did spring up later, they could not address the key metaphysical questions convincingly and cohesively – On Self, Universe and Unchangeable Laws. This may work for pragmatics but not for the truly philosophical minds.<br />
<b>A mind tired with illogical ways of life may find great reprieve in focusing purely on moral precepts and meditation. But for someone who hails for a culture having a vast legacy of philosophical richness in every mundane and not-so-mundane aspect of life, there are more questions needed to be explored to quench the intellectual thirst.</b><br />
Acharya Shankar debated with Buddhists of his era and proved that whatever Buddhism (of that era) argues by denying existence of God can also be explained by Adwait (One singular entity everywhere). Thus for centuries the debate between atheists and Vedics continued giving rise to a vast number of philosophical texts in India.<br />
15. Later Buddhism tried to deny more clearly the existence of God and even that of soul but could not give a satisfactory substitute. They believed in eternal immutable law and never ending chain of cause and effect. <b>But in absence of an entity ensuring that the laws work smartly and for our benefit, it was a blind alley: A religion without a deity! A worshipper without an object of worship!</b><br />
This forced Buddhists to evolve their own set of ceremonies, rituals, idols, chants and practices, but this only brought them in rift with the original concepts. And split it into so many branches that are startlingly different at times. The religion supposed to be based on logic, intellect and mind-control, developed loads of superstitions, blind beliefs, tantra practices, witchcraft and myths of miracles. Today the divine Dalai Lama superstition has become foundation of popular Buddhism.<br />
<b>16. The rift widened so much that the religion, which is said to have been based on foundation of Non-Violence or Ahimsa, and which is said to have rejected Vedas because Vedas were perceived to sanction animal-sacrifice, is the largest consumer of meat-products today! </b>In many Buddhist places, they hang a board outside meat-shop that says: "Believe Us, This meat is not for you." Now the monks are guilt-free in eating meat in these shops!!<br />
When someone asked Dalai Lama while he was helping himself with a serving of meat, he said, <i>" I am Buddhist. I am not vegetarian!"</i><br />
<i>Ironically, what is taught today across world is that Mahatma Buddha got perturbed when he saw people carrying animals for sacrifice and hence rebelled! </i>Very few people perhaps know that the cult that had its very origin in Animal Rights is the largest killer of animals today! All for taste!<br />
And followers of Vedas – which were alleged to endorse animal killing – are today the greatest proponents of Animal Rights!<br />
<i>In fact, many sects of Buddhism believe that Mahatma Buddha died due to indigestion from consumption of pork offered as charity. (as per these sects whatever provided in charity must be consumed.)</i><br />
<i>Similarly, while Buddhism (which started with rejecting man-made caste system) is now divided into so many sects/ sub-sects with its own sectoral practices that are necessary to adopt to be one of them, it is followers of Vedas who reject all man-made divisions and appeal for oneness of entire humankind regardless of man-made rituals and beliefs.</i><br />
<i><b>The roles are completely reversed today. </b></i><br />
<i><b>Coming back to the roots – Vedas – seems to be the best way to emulate Gautam Buddha today!!</b><br />
</i><br />
17. While Buddhism could create appeal among other regions and can impress Christians today (Christianity derives its philosophical foundation in Buddhism and hence it is the next logical bridge for Christians to an evolved and more matured view of life), but for India – that has been home to a whole chain of eminent thinkers, the vagueness of Buddhism could not hold its appeal for long.<br />
Today, whatever Buddhism prevails in India is primarily a reaction to the birth-based caste system and related rituals which are wrongly attributed to Vedas.<br />
18. The final blow to Buddhism came from Islamic invasion in medieval era. The Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan are mute spectators of that gory period of history. Buddhism, by its very rejection of other aspects of life except moral precepts, became most vulnerable to Muslim attacks. This has been the greatest damaging gift of Buddhist ideology to present era. <b>The escapist Buddhist view that preferred to be neutral to all that happens with us in world, coupled with a damaging caste-system among Hindus, made sure that barbaric uncivilized tribals could decimate us and establish their dominance.</b> Hinduism could still survive due to its inherent emphasis on realism, but Buddhism perished. And this untimely perish had further adverse outcomes on future of India in the form of philosophical downtime.<br />
19. Ask any weight-trainer and he would tell you that if you need to build big biceps, you need to focus on leg-squats as well. Lop-sided development does not work. Similarly mere focus on moral precepts do not work for society. One has to dwell into other aspects – society, politics, science, philosophy, metaphysics, etc – for things to work out. That is why Vedas emphasize and train on a vast variety of subjects.<br />
While Buddhism adopted the moral precepts from Vedas, it made a blunder by ignoring the fuller picture. And that changed the path of history forever.<br />
In fact Buddhism was not supposed to be a distinct sect in first place. It was merely supposed to be a philosophy focusing on moral aspects of life. Mahatma Buddha did not gave any preachings on other aspects at all. The blunder was that his followers took his narrow focus as complete recipe of life.<br />
Often we get so enamored by personalities that we lose the big picture. We consider fullness in whatever attracts our attention for long. For example, we witnessed the cricket drama for a month and now there seems nothing more patriotic than winning a World Cup and recommending Bharat Ratna for a cricketer! Similarly, most cults sprang up because the followers failed to consider the deeds and views of their role models as a critical PART of a bigger picture and instead considered completeness in that small PART.<br />
Mahatma Buddha considered eradication of misery as the Mission. While this is true, he took it to a narrow extreme and hence created a philosophy that was too pessimistic for common man to be motivated enough for worthwhile actions. This coupled with absence of any discussions on the key questions that initiate spiritual thinking – who am I, will I die forever, will this world end etc – left no incentive for a layman to extend his efforts beyond sitting in an isolated place trying to control the mind. Why would then one make sacrifice for nation, fight the enemies and work for smiles on face of his fellow-beings when he does not know clearly why he is doing so?<br />
<b>Today, psychologists would tell you that running away from miseries cannot bring the same level of motivation for worthwhile actions than desire for greater happiness.</b><br />
Avoidance of miseries because world is full of miseries implies that one would naturally escape from worldly duties because even these performance of these duties would cause indulgence and hence miseries.<br />
After all, Buddhist philosophy asserted that our misery began the moment we were born. To deny even the Self (Anatma) to become indifferent to pain becomes goal of life. <b>How can then indifference generate actions when there is even no vaguely clear end-goal to be reached? </b><br />
Mahatma Buddha talked of 4 right beliefs: Knowledge of misery, Knowledge of origin of misery, Knowledge of cessation of misery and knowledge of path leading to cessation of misery.<br />
But when even 'I' does not exist, who will work for getting these right beliefs? And what would be obtained? <b>This incompleteness led to rank pessimism.</b> The philosophies that emerged to counter this blinded belief system of Mahatma Buddha also suffered from the same pessimism and inertia against vigorous actions.<br />
Buddhism was doing bicep curls but not squatting sufficiently. It took only one part of Vedic message but ignored the rest.<br />
Thus nationalism and reformist zeal could not co-exist prominently with Buddhism (even though Mahatma Buddha himself was an extremely dynamic man). It left Buddhism defenseless against savage attacks and created '<b><i>Parable of Boiled Frog</i></b>'. If you put a frog in hot water, it would jump out immediately. But if you put it in a beaker and gradually increase the temperature of water from cold to warm to hot to boiling, the frog does not jump out. It dies instead. This is because the nervous system of frog is unable to detect gradual changes in temperature.<br />
<i>Lack of focus on proactive action</i> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">plus</span> <i>view of life being a misery in either case – action or no action</i> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">plus</span> <i>belief in everything being futile because everything is temporary</i> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">plus</span> <i>refusal to look into bigger picture and focussing only on a narrow set of precepts</i>, turned Buddhism into a frog. It offered little resistance to invaders and virtually opened the doors for savages to India.<br />
And whatever Buddhism survived is far from original thoughts of the founder – a countless number of sects/ subsects with extremely diverse view and having only image of Gautam Buddha in common.<br />
<b></b><br />
It is true that there is suffering in world. But to say that it is unalloyed pure suffering, with no iota of pleasure is a dangerous generalization. Absolute unalloyed pessimism cannot goad man to action. The world is not an abode of misery. The Benevolent God could not have made such a nasty world where suffering reigns. Even the most miserable in the world has some sort of joy which keeps him up. Even stoics had to summon up exceptional resolve when they prepared themselves for suicide. <b>No sane being wishes to die because behind all miseries there is a hope that the all-blissful God will not leave us in lurch. </b>Whether one believes in God or not, in this hope for a better future lies the bliss and acceptance of Supreme power. To deny this is to deny reality. And a philosophy that denies realism cannot face the challenges of real world.<br />
Kapila states in Sankhya 5.113 that at least during Sushupti (deep slumber), Samadhi (deep meditation) and Moksha (Salvation) soul gets an experience of Supreme bliss.<br />
Swami Dayanand succinctly explained the flaw in lines of Vedas: <i><b>"If you compare the pleasure and pain of the world, pleasures many times exceed the pain. And many pure souls earn the bliss of salvation by constant practice of virtuous actions."</b></i><br />
<i>(If Agniveer were to pick the most inspiring quote from entire Vedic teachings it has ever come across, it would undoubtedly be this one.</i>)<br />
This makes the Vedic philosophy distinctly optimistic and invigorating. It assuages the rigor of present life and makes the future hopeful. It illumines our present as well as future.<br />
We wish if someone could have made this statement during times of Mahatma Buddha! History would have been different. But alas!<br />
In absence of this, Buddhism turned to escapism (even though Mahatma Buddha himself was a man of action). When the savages attacked, we were occupied with our meditations to ignore the self and cause of misery through indifference. We neglected built up of strong armies, regular training, and R&D on defense. We were indifferent to need for reformist zeal to break the very roots of caste-system and gender discrimination, we refused to look into the Vedas to discover what the original teachings were. We were simply practicing indifference to real challenges around.<br />
And today, while Buddhism does not prominently exist in India (except in Dharmashala where Dalai Lama is forced to have asylum after Chinese aggression), the philosophy and the myriad of other philosophies that emerged to amend or counter it, turns us into a fatalistic society. <b>We have developed high inertia, resist the urge to face challenges, attempt to use philosophy as a tool to justify our escapism and have gradually moved towards becoming indifferent to whatever does not pinch us too much. Ahimsa has become just an alibi for laziness and cowardice.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Conclusion</b></span><br />
No, we don't mean that Buddhism is to be blamed for all this. Not at all. Buddhism was a natural reaction to the prevailing ironies in the society of those times. And an essential one. We believe that people have different needs and level of evolution and hence for many include Mahatma Buddha this was the most optimal view of life. For a society that was focusing too much on blind rituals and irrational social practices, Buddhism gave the right shock to spur up more rational and logical thinking. The roots of the problem lay much earlier and Buddhism was merely a logical and necessary outcome.<br />
<b>Teachings of Mahatma Buddha are based purely on moral aspects of Vedas. His teachings also showcase his respect for Vedas. His vocabulary and usages were derived from Vedic texts. Thus he was in summary a Vedic preacher to best of his abilities. </b><br />
<i>Thus there is NO WAY that Buddhism of Gautam Buddha can be termed as separate from Vedic Dharma. It is as much an offshoot attempting to reach the source – Vedic wisdom – as other sects. </i><br />
However the adaptation of the narrow focus of Buddhism into a complete philosophy in its own right (which it never meant to be in first place) was detrimental to national interests.<br />
Had Buddhism been a more informed and complete philosophy based on a more thorough and rigorous study of Vedas instead of its paradoxical apparent rejection based on extremely superficial grounds, history would have been different.<br />
Had Buddhists spent efforts to reform the society the way Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Swami Dayanand attempted, instead of attempting to split into a separate sect (which it never was), history would have been different.<br />
Similarly, if all other sects and cults would have not been based on bounded rationality of a few well-intentioned men and had instead attempted to grab the complete picture of the concepts in their original source, the Vedas, world would have been a much more sensible place today. Much more tolerant, broader in outlook and rational.<br />
Whatever good that we see in any cult or sect is already existing in Vedas. However because most of these founders were addressing their imminent short-term needs and the followers believed in exclusivity of their sect, the holistic view got missing.<br />
<i><b>The key lesson is that any incomplete or temporary solution for today would eventually become a problem tomorrow. </b></i><br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">The only way is to adopt the complete solution.</span><br />
Swami Dayanand suggested a way to approach this issue of so many sects and cults and religions touching one part of the elephant each. Let all the common points in all these sects be brought together that are acceptable to all. For example, non-violence, morality, nationalism, truthfulness, non-stealing etc. Then eliminate all assumptions, beliefs and practices unique to each sect that is not otherwise explainable. This becomes the Universal Dharma for all human beings and this is exactly what Vedas teach.<br />
Agniveer respects all the great men of history who attempted to bring society closer to Vedic living. And aspires that we evolve to get to the original source that all these great legends were attempting to reach – The Vedas. Instead of viewing completeness in our own silo, let us attempt to integrate all the silos together into One. Lets get back to the roots instead of holding on too each branch as the source. No we don't mean that all branches be cut-off and only root of the tree should remain. We only desire that each branch knows that we form a tree only when all the branches are together and supported by the root. A branch detached from rest of the branches and root would only be a dry piece of wood. So lets all be One Tree and strengthen the roots of the Tree that would then strengthen us all.<br />
This is the only way to pay our homage to their legacy. Our failure to do so brought us the miseries we faced till today.<br />
<i><b>Our success would ensure Shantih (peace, bliss, happiness) everywhere.</b></i><br />
ॐ द्यौ: शान्तिरन्तरिक्षँ शान्ति:<br />
पृथिवी शान्तिराप: शान्तिरोषधय: शान्ति: ।<br />
वनस्पतय: शान्तिर्विश्वे देवा: शान्तिर्ब्रह्म शान्ति:<br />
सर्वँ शान्ति: शान्तिरेव शान्ति: सा मा शान्तिरेधि ॥<br />
ॐ शान्ति: शान्ति: शान्ति: ॥<br />
<i>References: Works of Pt Gangaprasad Updhyaya, Justice Gangaprasad, Pt Dharmadeva Vidyamartanda and several other scholars</i><br />
<i>Note: The views expressed are supposed to be a perspective to stir up thoughts, discussions and introspection. They may be viewed in context of the Agniveer's stand and not otherwise.</i></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-80305071638921986092011-04-21T14:55:00.000-07:002011-04-21T14:55:24.470-07:00Response of Agniveer Admin and Others<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">In response to my post "<a href="http://aryaamitdua.blogspot.com/2011/04/did-alaxender-really-give-defeat-to.html">Did Alaxender really give defeat to Porus??</a>", Agniveer admin responded with a wonderful message. I am posting that response, as well as other responses in this blog post.<br />
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<b>Agniveer</b></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="sfalt"><div class="sfuserrank rank-admin sftype-admin">Admin</div></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td class="sfalt">posts 8</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="sfposticonstrip sfalt"><div class="sfposticoncontainer"><div class="sfposticon"><img alt="" class="sficon sfonlinestatus" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/offline.png" title="Member is Off-Line" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#p5" id="sfshowlink5"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/link.png" title="permalink to this post" /></a></div><div class="highslide-html-content" id="link-content5" style="width: 300px;"><input class="sfcontrol" id="sfclosevalid2" type="button" value="Close" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a class="sficon" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6242821351869685627" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/print.png" title="Print This Post" /> Print this Post </a></div><div class="sftoplink"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#forumtop" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/top.png" title="go to top" /></a></div><div class="sfposticon sfpostNumberOnPage">2</div></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="sfpostcontent sfalt"><div id="post5">The history of India has been written by its enemies. If you read Greek history, you will not find such fantasy stories they we love to discuss about failures like Alexandar or criminals like Babur and Akbar.<br />
I sometimes feel that poets and artists create history. Those events become history which get popularly depicted in a poetic/ romantic fashion regardless of they being true or false. For example consider the following hoaxes:<br />
a. Alexandar defeated Porus<br />
b. Alexander was great<br />
c. Akbar was great<br />
d. Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan<br />
e. Jehangir had famous love stories with Anarkali and Noor Jehan<br />
f. Babur was noble Muslim<br />
g. Sher Shah Suri was great builder<br />
h. Mohandas Gandhi brought us freedom<br />
i. Sita was exiled by Ram<br />
j. Shabuk was killed by Ram<br />
k. Krishna had 16000 wives<br />
l. Krishna had affairs with some lady called Radha<br />
m. Islam was spread by peace<br />
n. Akbar was fond of Hindus<br />
o. Muslim rulers were great architects<br />
p. Red Fort was built by Shah Jahan<br />
q. Fatahpur Sikri was built by Akbar<br />
r. Rahul Gandhi took degree from Harvard<br />
s. Arya was a race that invaded India from West Asia<br />
t. Aryans were originally looters and rapists<br />
u. Dravid is name of native inhabitants of India<br />
v. There has been a single Muslim ruler who was true to Islam or was compassionate to Hindus or any less than Osama in brutality<br />
w. Aryans were beef eaters<br />
x. Aryans used to denigrate women<br />
y. Krishna was a lecherous person<br />
z. Vedas are creations of shepherds</div></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="sfposticonstrip ">2:44 PM<br />
October 6, 2010</td></tr>
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<b>sanatanaakki</b></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="">Bharat</td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="">posts 5</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="sfposticonstrip "><div class="sfposticoncontainer"><div class="sfposticon"><img alt="" class="sficon sfonlinestatus" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/offline.png" title="Member is Off-Line" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#p6" id="sfshowlink6"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/link.png" title="permalink to this post" /></a></div><div class="highslide-html-content" id="link-content6" style="width: 300px;"><input class="sfcontrol" id="sfclosevalid3" type="button" value="Close" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a class="sficon" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6242821351869685627" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/print.png" title="Print This Post" /> Print this Post </a></div><div class="sftoplink"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#forumtop" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/top.png" title="go to top" /></a></div><div class="sfposticon sfpostNumberOnPage">3</div></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="sfpostcontent "><div id="post6">These people has used such a brain to brainwash every hindu from his birth….<br />
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We hindus from birth see cartoons which shows non veg tasty than veg……<br />
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We see that we were ruled by great mughals for 1000's of years..<br />
<br />
We Study wrong in our history books…<br />
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This is called intellectual Terrorism by western countries…<br />
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JAI SHREE RAM…<img alt="Yell" class="sfsmiley" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/forum-smileys/sf-yell.gif" /></div></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="sfposticonstrip sfalt">11:22 PM<br />
October 6, 2010</td></tr>
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<b>Agniveer</b></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="sfalt">posts 8</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="sfposticonstrip sfalt"><div class="sfposticoncontainer"><div class="sfposticon"><img alt="" class="sficon sfonlinestatus" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/offline.png" title="Member is Off-Line" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#p9" id="sfshowlink9"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/link.png" title="permalink to this post" /></a></div><div class="highslide-html-content" id="link-content9" style="width: 300px;"><input class="sfcontrol" id="sfclosevalid4" type="button" value="Close" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a class="sficon" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6242821351869685627" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/print.png" title="Print This Post" /> Print this Post </a></div><div class="sftoplink"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#forumtop" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/top.png" title="go to top" /></a></div><div class="sfposticon sfpostNumberOnPage">4</div></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="sfpostcontent sfalt"><div id="post9">Things would change now. Its time to get to action brother! And shape the next 100 years as per our own Will guided by truth.</div></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="sfposticonstrip ">10:35 PM<br />
October 7, 2010</td></tr>
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<b>sanatanaakki</b></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td class="">Bharat</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="sfposticonstrip "><div class="sfposticoncontainer"><div class="sfposticon"><img alt="" class="sficon sfonlinestatus" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/offline.png" title="Member is Off-Line" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#p11" id="sfshowlink11"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/link.png" title="permalink to this post" /></a></div><div class="highslide-html-content" id="link-content11" style="width: 300px;"><input class="sfcontrol" id="sfclosevalid5" type="button" value="Close" /></div><div class="sfposticon"><a class="sficon" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6242821351869685627" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/print.png" title="Print This Post" /> Print this Post </a></div><div class="sftoplink"><a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/#forumtop" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-forum/styles/icons/default/top.png" title="go to top" /></a></div><div class="sfposticon sfpostNumberOnPage">5</div></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="sfpostcontent "><div id="post11">Well said brother…….<br />
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Together we all can bring a change!!<img alt="Cry" class="sfsmiley" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/forum-smileys/sf-cry.gif" /><br />
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JAI SHREE RAM!!</div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-35422878201837940282011-04-08T11:50:00.000-07:002011-04-09T04:08:01.521-07:00Did Alaxender really give defeat to Porus??<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;"><div></div><div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Alexander is recognised as first invader in Bharatvarsha. According to the history which is being tought to us, he defeated several Kings of India, then met Porus (Indian name – Paurav or Parvateshvara) in tough war but defeated him. He (Alexander) asked how he (Porus) should be treated and Porus gave brave reply to treat him as one king treats with other king. No doubt that Porus was a brave emperor. But, according to some researchers it was Porus who defeated Alexander. A book named "Alexander, the Ordinary" by Prof. Dinesh Aggarwal is in the limelight in this regard. I am copying and pasting a review on that interesting book. This post was originally published here: <a href="http://www.sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13225593" title="http://www.sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13225593">http://www.sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13225593</a> . But this link has been broken now, but still it is available on several other websites like this: <a href="http://getreadytofail.blogspot.com/2011/01/porus-defeated-alexander-1.html" title="http://getreadytofail.blogspot.com/2011/01/porus-defeated-alexander-1.html">http://getreadytofail.blogspot.com/2011/01/porus-defeated-alexander-1.html</a>. Prior from posting the story here, I posted it in agniveer forum here: <a href="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/" title="http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/">http://agniveer.com/forum/history/did-alaxender-give-defeat-to-porus/</a> . I am reposting it here again for the information of readers.</span></div><div dir="ltr"><div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Alexander, The Ordinary</span></b> <br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Prof. Dinesh Agrawal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Address: 156 Aberdeen lane, State College, PA 16801 USA</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Tel: (814)-234-3558 (Home), (814)-863-8034 (Office)</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The facts narrated below will expose the popular myth about the so-called world-conquerer "Alexander, The Great(?)". I am sure your readers will be interested to learn the truth about the mis-adventures of Alexander in India. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Alexander did not win any war on the Indian soil, he in fact lost to Porus, the king of Punjab, and had to sign a treaty with Porus in order to save his diminishing band of soldiers who were grief-stricken at the loss of their compatriots at the hands of Porus`s army, and expressed their strong desire to surrender.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Alexander after winning many battles and defeating the Persian king, invaded India and crossed Indus. Here he was joined by Ambhi, the king of Taxila. Ambhi surrendered himself to Alexander. He was enemy of Porus and wished to defeat Porus with the help of Alexander.<br />
<br />
The facts of Alexander`s miserable defeat and his shattered dream at Indian soil have been avoided consistently by Greek historians and the same was perpetuated during British regime. But the truth which is documented in many narratives of the Europeans themselves presents a totally different picture. The depictions by Curtius, Justin, Diodorus, Arrian and Plutarch are quite consistent and reliable in concluding that Alexander was defeated by Porus and had to make a treaty with him to save his and his soldiers` lives. He was a broken man at his return from his mis-adventures in India.<br />
<br />
In the Ethiopic texts, Mr E.A.W. Badge has included an account of "The Life and Exploits of Alexander" where he writes inter alia the following:<br />
<br />
"In the battle of Jhelum a large majority of Alexander`s cavalry was killed. Alexander realized that if he were to continue fighting he would be completely ruined. He requested Porus to stop fighting. Porus was true to Indian traditions and did not kill the surrendered enemy. After this both signed treaty, Alexander then helped him in annexing other territories to his kingdom".<br />
<br />
Mr Badge further writes that the soldiers of Alexander were grief- stricken and they began to bewail the loss of their compatriots. They threw off their weapons. They expressed their strong desire to surrender. They had no desire to fight. Alexander asked them to give up fighting and himself said, "Porus, please pardon me. I have realized your bravery and strength. Now I cannot bear these agonies. WIth a sad heart I am planning to put an end to my life. I do not desire that my soldiers should also be ruined like me. I am that culprit who has thrust them into the jaw of death. It does not become a king to thrust his soldiers into the jaws of death."<br />
<br />
These expressions of `Alexander, The Great!` do not indicate from any stretch of imagination his victory over Porus? Can such words be uttered by a `World Conquerer"?<br />
<br />
I am sure many readers will find in the history texts, an account of Alexander`s exploits and conquests which totally contradict what is quoted above. And most of us have been taught in the school that Alexander defeated Porus and he wept because he had no more worlds to conquer, and that is what made him `Alexander, The Great`. These myths and beliefs will receive a rude shock by these facts which show that Alexander was not that great after all, but in fact he was `Alexander, The Ordinary`.<br />
<br />
Another myth is propagated by the Western historians that Alexander was noble and kind king, he had great respects for brave and courageous men, and so on. The truth is other-wise. He was neither a noble man nor did he have a heart of gold. He had meted out very cruel and harsh treatment to his earlier enemies. Basus of Bactria fought tooth and nail with Alexander to defend the freedom of his motherland. When he was brought before Alexander as a prisoner, Alexander ordered his servants to whip him and then cut off his nose and ears. He then killed him. Many Persian generals were killed by him.<br />
<br />
The murder of Kalasthenese, nephew of Aristotle, was committed by Alexander because he criticised Alexander for foolishly imitating the Persian emperors. Alexander also murdered his friend Clytus in anger. His father`s trusted lieutenant Parmenian was also murdered by Alexander. The Indian soldiers who were returning from Masanga were most atrociously murdered by Alexander in the dead of night. These exploits do not prove Alexander`s kindness and greatness, but only an ordinary emperor driven by the zeal of expanding his empire. </span></div></div></div></div></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-1076647488690847522011-04-04T05:58:00.001-07:002011-04-04T06:02:15.997-07:00Sikh Gurus and Vedas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><style>
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</div><div style="color: #555555; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 9px 0px 3px;"><a href="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/guru_har.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3986" height="231" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/guru_har-300x231.jpg" width="300" /></a>Sikhism represents a tradition that every Indian is proud of. The Sikh Gurus have inspired us in an era that was perhaps the most challenging phase of our history. One cannot forget the contributions of Sikh Gurus and their selfless sacrifices to consolidate the society, provide them direction and overthrow the rule of invaders. That is why the Sikh Gurus are revered not only by Sikhs but all nationalists in general as role models.</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0px;">The medieval era represents the darkest phase of our society. Internally we were being eroded by termites of casteism, gender discrimination and overt ritualism dissociated from Vedas. And externally, we were being butchered by a tribe of most uncivilized society of west Asia – read the Ghaznis, Khiljis, Mughals, Slaves, Tughlaqs etc.<br />
The Sikh gurus, in these turbulent times, lit the lamp of Vedic wisdom and steered the society towards the fundamental tenets of our culture – rationalism, actions and compassion.<br />
Often their is dispute over whether Sikhism is part of Hinduism or a separate religion. In our view, this is a meaningless debate. Because the word Hinduism has different connotations. From a western Mindset, Hinduism represents a mix of very specific rituals associated with casteism, gender discrimination and idol worship. If this be Hinduism, then Sikhs are definitely not Hindus.<br />
However, if Hinduism is considered to mean the culture that is inspired from the philosophy of Vedas, then perhaps not many sects are more Hindu than Sikhs. Sikhism represents the message of Vedas in simple language of layman.<br />
Let us see what makes Sikhism an extremely pure representation of Vedic wisdom (We shall ignore later day aberrations and focus on the key message of the noble Gurus):<br />
- Sikhism rejects birth-based casteism and believes in equality of all<br />
- Sikhism believes in gender equality<br />
- Sikhism believes in protection of cows because it is one of the most useful gifts of God to humans<br />
- Sikhism believes in actions as means to achieve God. Thus they reject withdrawal from life.<br />
- Sikhism believes in one single timeless shapeless omnipresent God whose best name is Onkaar (Om + Kaar). This is almost verbatim translation of Yajurveda 40.8.<br />
- Sikhism believes in theory of Karma and rebirth<br />
- Sikhism refuses the concept of Heaven/ Hell and believe in salvation as ultimate goal<br />
- Sikhism believes in Nama Smaran or understanding the names and properties of God as way to achieve Him<br />
- Sikhism considers Maya or ignorance as obstacle to salvation and urges to eradicate it through devotion, noble actions and knowledge<br />
- Sikhism takes it as our utmost duty to fight against injustice of any kind. The lives of Sikh gurus exemplify this.<br />
- Sikhism considers entire humanity as one family and refuses to have different treatments for people of different beliefs and religions.<br />
The list can continue further. Note that if you replace Sikhism in above lines with 'Vedic Dharma' you would realize that the points still hold valid.<br />
Further, the Guru Granth Sahib very clearly elucidates on the glory of Vedas:<br />
1. God created Vedas (<b>Onkaar ved nirmaye</b>- Rag Ramkali Mahla 1 Onkar Shabd 1)<br />
2. With order of God Vedas were created so that humans can decide what is virtue and sin (<b>Hari aagya hoye Ved paap punya vichaariya</b>- Maru Dakhne Mahla 5 Shabd 17)<br />
3. No one can value the importance of Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda (<b>Sam Ved, Rig, Yajur, Atharvan brahme mukh maaiya hai traigun, taakee keemat kah na sakai ko</b>….- Marusolahe Mahla 1 Shabd 17)<br />
4. God created day, night, forests, greenery, water and 4 Vedas that are like 4 treasures (<b>Chaar Ved chaare khaani</b>- Rag Maru Mahla 5 Shabd 17)<br />
5. How can glory of Vedas be stated whose knowledge is without end (<b>Ved vakhaan kahahi i kahiye, oh ve ant ant kin lahiye</b>- Vasant Ashtapadiyan Mahla 1.3)<br />
6. Of the infinite texts, Vedas are the best (<b>Asankh granth mukhi Ved paath</b>- Japuji 17)<br />
7. All the Shastras, Vedas and ancient texts describe the Supreme Lord (<b>Smriti sastra Ved puraan paar brahm ka karahi vakhiyaan</b>- Gaund Mahla 5 Shabd 17)<br />
8. Noble persons elucidate the glory of Vedas but unfortunate people do not understand (<b>Ved bakhiyaan karat saadhujan bhaagheen samjhat nahi khalu</b>- Todi Mahla 5 Shabd 26)<br />
9. Study of Vedas enhances knowledge by blessings of God (<b>Kahant Veda gunant guniya</b>…- Sahaskriti Mahla 5.14)<br />
10. Analysis of Vedas, Shastras and ancient texts enriches the entire family and makes them lucky (<b>Ved puran saasatr vichaaram…. Badbhaagi Naanak ko taaram</b>- Gatha Mahla 5.20)<br />
11. Vedas describe the glory of one God (<b>Kal mein ek naam kripaanidhi … ih vidhi Ved bataavai</b>- Rag Sortha Mahla 9 Shabd 5)<br />
12. Do not say that Vedas are false. False are those people who do not analyze (<b>Ved katev kahahu mat jhoothe jhootha Jo na vichaare</b>- Rag Prabhati Kabirji Shabd 3)<br />
13. Those who studied Vedas were called Vedis. They initiated noble virtuous acts. Listening to Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharveda destroyed all sins. (<b>Jinai Ved padhyo suvedi kahaaye… Padhe Sam Vedam Yajur Ved Kattham Rigam Ved paathayam kare bhaav hattham… Atharav Ved pathayam suniyo paap nathiyam</b>…- Dasham Guru Granth Sahib Vichitra Natak Adhyaya 4)<br />
To check more examples of glory of Vedas in Guru Granth Sahib refer the following:<br />
14. Chauth upaaye chaare Veda- Rag Bilawal Mahla 1 Thiti<br />
15. Chache chaar Ved jin saaje chaare khani chaar juga- Rag Asa Mahla 1 Pati Likhi Shabd 9<br />
16. Oordh mool jis saakh talaaha chaar Ved jit laage- Gujri Ashtapadiyan Mahla 1.1<br />
17. Chare Ved hoye sachiyaar- Asadi Var Mahla 1 Var 13<br />
18. Chaturved mukh vachni uchre- Rag Gaudi Mahla 5 Shabd 164<br />
19. Chaturved pooran hari naai Ramkali Mahla 5 Shabd 17<br />
20. Chaar pukaarahi na tu maane Ramkali Mahla 5 Shabd 12<br />
21. Chaar Ved jihwa bhane- Rag Sarang Mahla 5 Shabd 131<br />
22. Brahme ditte Ved Rag Malar Var Mahla 2 Var 3<br />
23. Chaare Ved Brahme kau diye padh padh kare vichari- Rag Asa Mahla 3 Shabd 22<br />
24. Chaare Ved Brahme np furmaayia- Maaru Solahe 3.22<br />
25. Chaare deeve chahu hath diye eka eki vaari- Vasant Hindol 1.1<br />
26. Vedu pukaare vaachiye vaani brahm biaas- Shreeraag Ashtpadiyan 1.7<br />
27. Vedan ganh bole sach koi- Maajh Vaar Mahla 1 Vaar 12<br />
28. Deeva jale andhera jaai Ved paath mati paapan khaai- Raag Suhi<br />
29. Ved pukaarai punn paap surag narak ka veeu- Raag Saarang Vaar 1.16<br />
30. Gurumukhi parche Ved vichari- Raag Ramkali Sidh Gosht Shabd 28<br />
31. Puchhahu Ved pandatiyaan muthi vin maane- Rag Maaru Ashtpadiyan 1.6<br />
32. Man hath kine na paaiyo puchhahu Vedaam jaai- Shri Raag Vaar 3.10<br />
33. Smriti saasat Ved vakhaanai bharmai bhoola tat na jaanai- Rag Maajh Ashtpadiyan 3.18<br />
34. Veda mahi naam uttam so- Rag Ramkali Mahla 3 Aanand 19<br />
35. Hari jeeu ahankaar n bhaavai Ved kook sunaavahi- Rag Maaru 3.9<br />
36. Jugi jugi aapo aapna dharm hai sodh dekhahu Ved puraan- Rag Vilaaval 3.4<br />
37. Saasat Ved puraan pukaarahi dharam karahu shat karam dradaiya- Vilaaval Mahla 4.2<br />
38. Naanak vichaarahi sant jan chaar Ved kahande- Rag Gaudi Vaar 4.12<br />
39. Vaani brahm Ved dharam dradahu paap tajaaiya bal raam jeeu- Suhi Chhant 4.2<br />
40. Das ath chaar Ved sabh poochhahu jan naanak naam chhudaai jeeu- Maaru 4.8<br />
41. Smrat saasat Ved vakhaane jog gyaansidh sukh jaane- Rag Gaudi 5.111<br />
42. Ved puraan smrat bhane- Gaudi 5.144<br />
43. Saasat smrat Ved vichaare mahaapurushan iu kahiya- Rag Gaudi 5.162<br />
44. Ved saasat jan pukaarahi sunai nahi dora- Rag Aasa 5.152<br />
45. Saasat Ved smriti sabhi….- Gujri 5.2<br />
46. Chaar pukaarahi na tu maanahi- Ramkali 5.12<br />
47. Kahant Veda gunant guniya- Salok sahaskriti Mahla 5.14<br />
48. Ved puraan saasatr vichaaram- Gatha Mahla 5.20<br />
49. Ved puraan saadh sang- Rag Gaudi 9.6<br />
50. Ved puraan padhai ko ih gun simre hari ko naama- Rag Gaudi 9.7<br />
51. Ved puraan jaas gun gaavat taako naam hiye mein dhar re- Gaudi 9.9<br />
52. Ved puraan smriti ke mat sun nimash na hiye vasaavai- Rag Sorath 9.7<br />
Now Guru Granth Sahib also consists of several verses that appear to be condemnation of Vedas. These are often cited to prove that Sikhism is a separate cult.<br />
However, this is a very childish argument. How can Guru Granth Sahib condemn Vedas when it also praises it to an extent that it calls Vedas divine and that those who do not appreciate Vedas as foolish?<br />
In reality, the condemnation of Vedas relate to those people who only mug up Vedas but do not live their lives accordingly. Or those people who distort the message of Vedas by claiming to have expertise. The likes of western indologists and communist historians who see beef and wine in Vedas perfectly exemplify the target of this condemnation.<br />
And why Guru Granth Sahib, Vedas themselves condemn such hypocrites. Rigveda 1.164.39 very clearly announces – <i><b>"What can the Richas of Vedas do for a person who does not possess intellect"</b></i>.<br />
Upanishads and Geeta also condemn a person who claims expertise in Vedas but do not preach.<br />
If one reviews the Guru Granth Sahib dictionary by renowned Sikh scholar Tara Singhji, you would find a striking similarity between what he wrote on Vedas and what was written by Swami Dayanand.<br />
Thus we see that Sikhism represents the essence of Vedic wisdom in simple language of common man and rejects all those external features that are wrongly associated with Hinduism.<br />
Our humble reverence to the great Sikh Gurus who saved the society by lighting the lamp of Vedic wisdom when there was utter darkness. Lets now work to carry forward their noble legacy by living by this wisdom and bringing transformation in self, society and world through service, devotion and actions. </div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-85737347697322131812011-03-31T06:32:00.001-07:002011-03-31T06:38:46.219-07:00Soma, Alcohol and Vedas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" id="INCREDIMAINTABLE"><tbody>
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</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Halos8.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3968" height="225" src="http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Halos8-300x225.jpg" width="300" /></a>This is a rebuttal on the most frivolous claim that Vedas talk about alcoholism or intoxication by use of some narcotic called Soma. As mentioned in a previous article, the growing popularity of Vedas in recent months seems to be the catalyst for a sudden surge in this allegation.<br />
We received a challenge few days ago to explain our stand on this issue. We would get straight to work, explore the truth and address some of the allegations.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Allegation:</b></span><br />
All leading scholars have asserted that Vedas speak of merits of consuming Soma or intoxicants. All Vedic Rishis were addicts of Soma.<br />
<h2><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Agniveer:</b></span></h2><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b></b></span>The above statement is not at all an allegation. On contrary its a fact. And its a fact that makes us admire Vedas so much. Its a fact that has compelled renowned intellectuals of the world to admire Vedas in awe. Its a fact that drives us to put our best efforts to spread the culture of Soma consumption across the world.<br />
What needs to be understood is that this intoxication of Soma is no ordinary intoxication. It is that intoxication which inspires noble souls to relentlessly pursue the vision of universal well-being and even face harshest of miseries with a peaceful smile.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Multiple meanings of Soma</b></span><br />
Soma has multiple meanings. However the core essence is that Soma refers to something that produces happiness, peace, relaxation and enthusiasm. Probably that is why in later era, its usage as synonym of alcohol or intoxicant got popular. After all, a hungry dog sees only meat in every body! Same goes for perverted beings.<br />
Let us now review some alternate meanings of Soma:<br />
- Soma refers to Moon because moonlight provides peace. That is why Mo(o)nday is Somvaar. Now is Moon a wine-shop that it is so called (assuming that Soma means alcohol or narcotic)?<br />
- A peaceful and amicable person is called <b>Saumya</b>. Now if Soma means an intoxicant, then why people across different parts of India name their children Saumya? One is invited to read any dictionary to know what Saumya (सौम्य) means. Refer dictionaries of Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Bengali, Malayalam etc and you would find scores of words derived from Soma that mean friendliness.<br />
- The famous temple of Gujarat (that was plundered by a butcher called Mahmud Ghazni) is called Somnath. If Soma means intoxicant, then perhaps the temple should have allowed it! But as referred earlier, it means a gentle lord or lord of the moon.<br />
- Soma also refers to certain medicines that promote longevity and act as relaxant. For example, Giloya which is very useful in heart diseases and provides a cooling effect on body.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Primary meaning of Soma in Vedas</b></span><br />
In Vedas however, in most places, Soma refers to God or Ishwar focusing on those qualities of Ishwar that provides us with peace, bliss, satisfaction and global vision. In few places ESP in Atharvaveda, it has come to mean certain medicines. But nowhere can it be termed to mean a mundane intoxicant.<br />
Thus, Rigveda 1.91.22 states that:<br />
<i>"O Soma, You alone create the medicines that heal us. You alone create the water that quenches our thirst. You alone create all moving objects, sense organs and living beings and also give us this life. You have provided expanse to this universe and you alone enlighten the world to eradicate darkness."</i><br />
Now only a fool would claim that Soma refers to any intoxicant or alcohol when Soma is said to be creator of universe, stars, life, objects etc. Very clearly Soma refers to the Supreme Lord – the Ishwar or God.<br />
And hence, Soma intoxication implies entrenching oneself completely in devotion to that Supreme Lord. To see Him everywhere and guide oneself solely by His inspiration is Soma intoxication. To follow only the inner voice that communicates with us every moment and rejecting all worldly and sensory pressures is Soma intoxication. To rise completely above the old habits, past tendencies and false ego is Soma intoxication. To surrender totally to Him is Soma intoxication.<br />
A rough analogy would be with Superconductivity. Once a material is taken below a certain threshold temperature, suddenly resistance becomes zero. Similarly when we have practiced following our inner voice sufficiently, suddenly the world seems to different – so enlightening, so refreshing, so blissful and so blessed by Him everywhere. This stage of heightened association with Ishwar is the stage of Soma intoixcation that Vedas describe in detail.<br />
And yes, it is only when Rishis have reached this stage that they get Vedic inspirations and are able to comprehend meaning of Vedic mantras. It is then that the Rishis 'see' the Vedic mantras through the eyes of intellect. In fact, one is called Rishi only after she or he has reached this enlightening stage of Soma intoxication.<br />
Ayurveda very clearly defines what an intoxicant is:<br />
<i>Sharngadhar 4.21: A substance that destroys intellect is called an intoxicant.</i><br />
To understand Soma better and see why it cannot refer to any material/mundane chemical even closely related to alcohol, intoxication or narcotics, let us review a few more mantras on Soma.<br />
Rigveda 9.24.7:<br />
<i>Soma is not only pure in itself but also purifies everything else. Some is extremely sweet and promotes noble qualities. It destroys sinful tendencies.</i><br />
Even a dumb person that understand that Soma refers to something intellectual and spiritual and not something as disgusting as alcohol or narcotics<br />
Rigveda 9.37.36:<br />
<i>O Soma, purify us from everywhere. Enter us with excitement and strengthen our speech. Inculcate a sharp intellect within us.</i><br />
Thus while alcohol or narcotics is taking to dumb the mind, Rishis yearn for Soma because it sharpens the mind and gears them into noble actions.<br />
Rigveda 9.108.3:<br />
<i>O Soma, You purify everything. You are the best source of enlightenment. You lead us towards immortality</i>.<br />
Should we say more!<br />
Atharvaveda 14.1.3:<br />
<i>Ordinary people consider that as Soma which is used as medicine. But the enlightened ones seek the Soma of intellect which materialistic minds cannot even comprehend!</i><br />
If we review the Pavamana Parva of Samaveda Purvarchika, we can get a wider glimpse of the Vedic Soma.<br />
It is described as something that brings enthusiasm, tolerance and valor.<br />
1.2: <i>O Soma, purify me.</i><br />
<i>1.3: O Soma, you are source of vitality and bliss.</i><br />
<i>1.4: O Soma, your intoxication is worth imbibing.</i><br />
<i>6.5: O Soma, you give birth to our intellect.</i><br />
<i>6.8: Use Soma to produce intellect.</i><br />
<i>9.2: Soma provides us with intelligence.</i><br />
<i>7.12: Intelligence seeks Soma.</i><br />
<i>9.6: Soma enhances intellect.</i><br />
Thus while Soma produces intoxication, this intoxication actually strengthens our intellect and reduces dumbness.<br />
2.5 of Pavamana Parva describes <b>Soma as Chetan or living</b>. Thus Soma is not something inert. It is a living force that enhances intellect. It is the Supreme Lord!<br />
How can thus a sensible person relate it with a mundane narcotic?<br />
This Parva of Samaveda provides some more adjectives of Soma:<br />
<i>3.2: One who sees everything actively (Vicharshani)</i><br />
<i>5.9: Extremely intelligent (Vipra)</i><br />
<i>5.9: Best of the scholars (Angirastamah)</i><br />
<i>9.1: Expert (Vichakshanah)</i><br />
<i>8.4: Knows self (Swarvidah)</i><br />
<i>2.10: Sees everything clearly (Kavi)</i><br />
<i>3.6: Knows his duties perfectly (Kratuvit)</i><br />
<i>11.1: An intoxication that inspires us to perform duties perfectly (Kratuvittamo Madah)</i><br />
<i>8.4: One who knows the path clearly (Gatuvittamah)</i><br />
<i>1.7: Adept (Daksha)</i><br />
<i>1.8: Source of adeptness (Dakshasadhana)</i><br />
<i>4.2: Adeptness that provides happiness (Daksham Mayobhuvam)</i><br />
<i>5.11: Provides strength (Vajasatam)</i><br />
<i>6.7: Protector of world (Bhuvanasya Gopaa)<br />
</i><br />
If this be not enough, the Parva also states Soma to be:<br />
<i>5.1: One seated on the home of immortality</i><br />
<i>6.3: One who inspires noble minds towards fundamental truth (Rita)</i><br />
<i>6.2: Speaks to us (Inner voice)<br />
</i><br />
<i>2.3: Destroys hatred</i><br />
<i>4.12: Inspires towards friendship and solidarity</i><br />
<i>4.14: Destroys meanness and violence</i><br />
<i>10.11: Destroys corrupt mindset</i><br />
<i>8.4: Devoid of sins</i><br />
<i>6.6: Provides whatever is worth obtaining</i><br />
<i>6.1: Greatest donor</i><br />
<i>7.4: Carrier of life force</i><br />
<i>4.3: Desired by non-violent minds</i><br />
This is merely a small sampler from the copious references from Vedas that very clearly establish Soma as the pure blissful Ishwar and its intoxication as complete surrender to the Supreme Lord.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Vedas and intoxication</b></span><br />
Almost every other mantra of Vedas yearn for enhancement of intellect/ health and repulsion towards all those tendencies and articles that destroy these. Be it the Gayatri Mantra or the Mrityunjaya, all exemplify this.<br />
To conclude the discussions, let us provide a few references from Vedas that condemn intoxication.<br />
Rigveda 10.5.6:<br />
<i>One becomes sinful if he or she crosses even one of the 7 restraints. Yaskacharya defines these 7 sins in his Nirukta as: Theft, Adultery, Murder of a noble person, Abortion, Dishonesty, Repeating misdeeds and consumption of alcohol. </i><br />
Rigveda 8.2.12:<br />
<i>Those who consume intoxicants lose their intellect, talk rubbish, get naked and fight with each other. </i><br />
<i></i>Rigveda 7.86.6:<br />
<i>An action performed as per the inner voice does not lead to sins. Dumb arrogance against inner voice, however, is source of frustration and miseries in same manner as intoxication and gambling destroy us. Ishwar inspires those with noble elevated thoughts towards progress and propels down those who decide to think lowly. Lowly acts performed even in dreams cause decline.</i><br />
Atharvaveda 6.70.1:<br />
<i>Weak minds are attracted towards meat, alcohol, sensuality and womanizing. But O non-violent mind, you focus your mind towards the world in same manner as a mother cares for her child.</i><br />
In summary, intoxication is considered as recipe for weakness, failure and destruction!<br />
<b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Allegation:</span></b><br />
Even Vivekananda has asserted that Vedas justified alcoholism. How do explain: <i>"The old gods were found to be incongruous — these boisterous, fighting, drinking, beef-eating gods of the ancients — whose delight was in the smell of burning flesh and libations of strong liquor. Sometimes Indra drank so much that he fell upon the ground and talked unintelligibly. These gods could no longer be tolerated." </i>This is taken from <a href="http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_2/jnana-yoga/maya_and_the_evolution_of_the_conception_of_god.htm">http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_2/jnana-yoga/maya_and_the_evolution_of_the_conception_of_god.htm</a><br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Agniveer:</b></span><br />
If this is indeed written by Swami Vivekananda, it only shows that he had not studied Vedas properly and his thoughts on Vedas were influenced by western indologists. It also shows that every human being, howsomuch great may have imperfections. So one should not accept anyone blindly and instead apply her own analytical faculty to discover the truth.<br />
While we respect Swami Vivekananda as a charismatic personality, powerful orator and impressive writer on neo-Vedanta, he is not an authority for us in matters of Vedas. It seems that Swami Vivekananda due to his lack of study of Vedas coupled with bias towards meat made this statement, if at all he stated so.<br />
We have provided with specific references from Vedas that beef and alcohol have no place in Vedic dharma. Instead of quoting personal views of Swami Vivekananda or any person for that matter, one should quote from Vedas to refute the stand that has been taken by us as well as all sages from inception of Vedas till date.<br />
<i>By the way, another interesting point to think about is that if indeed Vedas recommend beef and alcohol, why have been the traditional Vedic Brahmins farthest from these vices for ages? Just food (not beef or alcohol!) for thought.</i><br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Allegation:</b></span><br />
Vedic scholars like Radhakrishnan and K M Munshi – founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan – have also stated that Vedic rishis used to drink alcohol and eat beef.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Agniveer:</b></span><br />
We are not sure about Dr Radhakrishnan, but we agree that K M Munshi held such views that he expressed in his novel Lopamudra. We would only say that many works of K M Munshi have been derogatory to our ancient heritage and role models as well as are completely baseless. Several of his novels are full of vulgarity. His series on Krishna was extremely offensive. Same goes for Lopamudra. He was a political person and it is unfortunate that he treaded into an area that he shouldn't have unless he had the right competence. The works of Bharati Vidya Bhawan in this area have been most damaging and misleading. Please refer "Vedon ka Yatarth Swaroop" by Pt Dharmadeva which comprehensively addresses false allegations of Vedic Age, Lopamudra and other derogatory texts. You can obtain it from <a href="http://www.vedicbooks.com/">www.vedicbooks.com</a><br />
But regardless of views of personalities howsomuch famous or influential – Dr Radhakrishnan, KM Munshi, Swami Vivekananda or whosoever – we would seek specific and logical references from Vedas instead of empty quotes.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Allegation:</b></span><br />
If Soma means a medicinal plant that no one knows, then all the verses of Vedas that talk of Soma become useless today.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Agniveer:</b></span><br />
We have already shown earlier that Soma means bliss-providing Ishwar. But even if Soma means a medicine that no one knows today, that does not make Vedas irrelevant. That only imply that humanity should strive to explore such useful medicines. A book like modern Quran that demands blind acceptance without having even the time to understand it (there is only one life as per modern scholars of Quran!) has huge number of verses that are supposed to be Gaib or incomprehensible for humans. Then what is the problem with having a vast number of verses in Vedas that are not understood by dumb minds today? After all Vedas provide you with a long cycle of rebirths to finish your homework! It also does not demand that one should complete the course of Vedas or even believe in Vedas to achieve some Heaven and escape some permanent Hell.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Allegation:</b></span><br />
If Vedas do not talk of alcohol or intoxication, why do we have words like Soma, Mada, Madhu in Vedas that relate to intoxication.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Agniveer:</b></span><br />
This is most stupid argument.<br />
1. Vedas offered the first words that depicted root essence. Based on that later vocabularies were built. For example, Soma means bliss giving. Intelligent people used it to depict friendly people etc. But for people on path of decline, even alcohol is apparently bliss giving. Same for other words.<br />
2. Don't we have similar examples in other languages? Gay means a happy person. But what it means today is known to all of us. Interestingly older dictionaries would not even have homosexual as a meaning for gay. Meat not only means flesh but also substance of a point. In fact almost all words have multiple meanings. Only dumb people would try to distort meaning of a sentence through wrong usage.<br />
In conclusion, the only reasons why one would see alcohol in Vedas are either they have not studied Vedas or have an antipathy towards Vedas.<br />
For rest of us, Vedas only encourage for enhancement of intellect and knowledge. And thus condemn anything that diminishes these.<br />
The Soma Ras of Vedas is the divine devotion of the Supreme that elevates us from all miseries, all frustrations, all doubts, all sins and galvanizes us towards virtuous actions with unimaginable enthusiasm and ultimate bliss.<br />
May we all work together to spread pursuit of this Soma in entire universe and pray for immortality of all.<br />
<i>The call of Soma is for the brave. The call of Soma is for the Yajna (noble selfless actions). The call of Soma is for those warriors who have glorified themselves through constant struggle and relentless efforts. O Soma seekers, destroy the dogs of lust and greed and listen to the most beautiful melody of Soma. (Rigveda 9.101.13)</i><br />
References:<br />
Works of Pt Chamupati, Prof Rajendra Jijnasu and Prof Dharmadeva Vidyamartanda.</div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span id="IncrediStamp"><a href="http://www.incredimail.com/?id=606430&rui=127887084&sd=20110331"><span border="0" name="imgCache"><img alt="FREE Animations for your email - by IncrediMail! Click Here!" border="0" src="cid:07F806AC-E7C6-4275-9BDF-564FDA9B7EDA" /></span></a></span></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-89142162468438469732011-03-25T06:37:00.000-07:002011-03-31T06:38:10.758-07:00No Beef in Vedas – 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" id="INCREDIMAINTABLE"><tbody>
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<div class="wp-caption-text">No Beef in Vedas</div></div>We had published an analysis of the allegation that Vedas have references of beef-eating and animal sacrifice in <a href="http://agniveer.com/68/no-beef-in-vedas/">http://agniveer.com/68/no-beef-in-vedas/</a> . We provided ample evidences in this work that:<br />
A. Vedas are completely against animal killing and violence on innocent creatures<br />
B. Vedic Yajna is by definition non-violent and animal sacrifice is against Vedic precepts<br />
C. Contrary to claims of beef consumption in Vedas, there are references that call for protection of cows and destruction of those who kill this most productive and harmless animal.<br />
Thankfully after the publication of this work, the slanderous campaign against Vedas has lost its teeth significantly and no reasonable rebuttal to the content of the work ever surfaced. However, a few minor voices have continued to mislead people on this issue using splinter quotes from translations of Vedic literature by incompetent western indologists and juxtaposing them with their own agenda. In this work, we would attempt to address some of those allegations and make the two part work a reasonable single point reference to counter any such misled campaign in future. For those desiring a more detailed exposition, we have already provided a list of references at the end of Part 1 of the work.<br />
So lets begin:<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
It is well-known that animal sacrifice was necessary in Yajna. Vedas are full of praise of Yajnas.<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
Yajna word is derived from root 'Yaj' by adding Nan pratyaya. Yaj root has three meanings : Devapuja (behaving appropriately with the entities around- worshipping Eeshvar, respecting parents, keeping the environment clean etc are few examples), Sangatikaran (Unity) and Daan (Charity). As per Vedas, these form the primary duty of human beings and hence Yajna is so emphasized not only in Vedas but in almost entire Indian literature of ancient era.<br />
What is important however is the fact that Yajna has no reference to animal killing whatsoever. In fact, Nirukta (Vedic vocabulary) clearly states in 2.7 that Yajna is called <b>Adhwara. Dhwara</b> means violence and hence it is totally banned in Yajna.<br />
In other words, forget about animal killing, any kind of violence – through mind, body or voice – is completely banned in Yajna.<br />
Adhwara is used to imply Yajna in a large number of mantras in the Vedas. For example, Rigveda 1.1.4, 1.1.8, 1.14.21, 1.128.4, 1.19.1, Atharvaveda 4.24.3, 18.2.2, 1.4.2, 5.12.2, 19.42.4. Around 43 mantras in Yajurveda refer to Adhwara.<br />
In fact Yajurveda 36.18 clearly states that "May I look upon everyone – Sarvaani Bhootani (and not only human beings) with friendly eyes."<br />
Thus, Vedas, nowhere justify animal sacrifice and on contrary condemn any form of violence on innocent beings.<br />
Historically, there may have been prevalence of animal sacrifice, but that has nothing to do with content of Vedas. Many Muslim girls and boys have been working as vulgar models and actresses in film industry. In fact in Bollywood, most top actors and actresses have been Muslims. This does not necessarily mean Quran justifies vulgarity. Similarly, adultery and pre-marital sex is widespread in Christian countries. This does not mean Bible demands them to indulge in these vices.<br />
In same vein, while animal sacrifice may have been an historical phenomenon due to decadence of Vedic values, we openly challenge anyone to cite even one single reference from Vedas that talk of animal sacrifice in Yajna.<br />
<b>Allegation: </b><br />
If that be so, what about Ashwamedha, Naramedha, Ajamedha, Gomedha yajnas? Medha means killing and Vedas even justify Naramedha (human sacrifice).<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
We have already discussed in Part 1 that the word medha does not necessarily mean slaughter. It denotes an act done in accordance to the intellect. Alternatively it could mean consolidation or nurturing, as evident from the root meaning of medha I.e. Medhru San-Ga-me (refer Dhatupath)<br />
When we already know that Yajnas are supposed to be Adhwara or non-violent, why should we take Medha to mean violence? Don't we call an intelligent person – Medhaavi or name our daughters Medhaa. Do we imply they are violent people or intelligent persons?<br />
Shatpath 13.1.6.3 and 13.2.2.3 clearly states that:<br />
<b>A Yajna dedicated to the glory, wellbeing and prosperity of the Rashtra the nation or empire is known as the Ashwamedh yajna.</b> Thus likes of Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaq, Netaji, Shivaji, Tilak etc performed Ashwamedha Yajna.<br />
<b>To keep the food pure or to keep the senses under control, or to make a good use of the rays of Sun or keep the earth free from impurities[clean] is called Gomedha Yajna.</b> The word Gau also means the Earth and the yajna dedicated to keep the Earth the environment clean is called Gomedha Yajna. (refer Nighantu 1.1, and Shatpath 13.15.3).<br />
<b>The cremation of the body of a dead person in accordance with the principles laid down in the Vedas is called Naramedha Yajna.</b> Dedicated efforts for training and productivity of people is also Naramedha Yajna or Purushmedha Yajna or Nriyajna.<br />
Aja means grains. So <b>Ajamedha Yajna refers to increasing agricultural productivity or in a very narrow sense : using grains in Agnihotra. </b>Refer Shantiparva 337.4-5.<br />
Vishnu Sharma in Panchatantra (Kakoliyam) clearly states that those who perform animal sacrifice in Yajna are fools because they do not understand Vedas properly. If one goes to Heaven by animal sacrifice, what could be the path to go to Hell!<br />
Mahabharat Shantiparva has two shlokas in Shantiparva that those who state that Yajna contain alcohol, fish or meat are frauds, atheists and devoid of knowledge of Shastras. (263.6, 265.9)<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
What about Yajurveda 24.29 which uses words 'Hastina Aalambhate' that means sacrifice of elephants?<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
Who told you that <b>Alambha</b> derived from Labha root means sacrifice or killing? Labha means to acquire or gain. While Hastina has a deeper meaning beyond elephant, even if we take it to mean elephant in this mantra, it only says that the king should acquire elephants for nurture of his kingdom. What is so violent about it?<br />
Alambha is used in several places to mean 'acquire' or 'gain'. For example, Manusmriti prohibits indulging in women for Brahmacharis by saying " Varjayet Streenam Alambham".<br />
Thus this conjecture is completely out of place. May be those who concocted Aalambhate to mean killing in Vedic mantras were themselves addicted to killing animals for food and hence their first instinct of deriving benefits from animals was to imply killing them.<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
But what about 'Sanjyapan' used in Brahmana and Shraut texts to mean sacrifice?<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
Refer Atharvaveda 6.10.94.95 which says that we should do Sanjyapan of mind, body and heart. Does it mean we should commit suicide! Sanjyapan simply means unity and nurture. The mantra says that we should strengthen our mind, body and heart and ensure they work in unity. Sanjyapan also means 'to inform'.<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
You are escaping every time from being trapped. But no more. What do you have to say about Yajurveda 25.34-35 / Rigveda 1.162.11-12 which states that:<br />
<i>"What from thy body which with fire is roasted, when thou art set upon the spit, distilleth,— Let not that lie on earth or grass neglected, but to the longing Gods let all be offered."</i><br />
<i>"They who, observing that the Horse is ready, call out and say, The smell is good; remove it; And, craving meat, await the distribution,—may their approving help promote our labour."</i><br />
Very clearly there is explicit description of horse sacrifice.<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
We believe you have quoted from the trash works of Griffith.<br />
The first has no reference to horse. It simply means that when people are suffering due to high temperatures/ fever, the doctors should care for them and provide them treatment.<br />
In second mantra, all he did was to assume that <i><b>Vaajinam</b></i> word means 'horse'. However, 'Vajinam' means a brave/strong/ dynamic/ fast entity. Thus horse is also known as Vaajinam. There can be many interpretations of the mantras, however none lead to horse sacrifice.<br />
In fact, even if we mean that Vaajinam means horse, still the very verse in fact means that those who attempt to kill horses (Vajinam) should be prevented from doing so. We strongly recommend reviewing the translation by Swami Dayanand Saraswati for these mantras.<br />
Also, refer to huge number of mantras provided in Part 1 of the article (<a href="http://agniveer.com/68/no-beef-in-vedas/">http://agniveer.com/68/no-beef-in-vedas/</a> ) that explicitly prohibit animal killing and severe punishment for animal killers – especially killers of horses and cows.<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
What about reference to Goghna or killing of cows in Vedas? What about Atithigva/ Atithigna or a person who served beef to guests?<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
In Part 1, we gave ample references of cow being Aghnya or Aditi – not worthy of being killed. We also gave references of strict punishment in Vedas for those who destroy cows.<br />
Gam root means 'to go'. That is why planets are also called 'Go' because they move. Atithigna/ Atithigva means one who goes towards the guest or serves his guests sincerely.<br />
Goghna has several meanings. Even if we take 'Go' to mean cow, Goghna means Go+Han : Approaching cow. (Han root means Movement and Knowledge apart from Violence).<br />
There are many references in Vedas where Han is used for approaching and not killing, For example, Atharvaveda states "Husband should Han-approach the wife."<br />
Thus these allegations are equally baseless.<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
Vedas talk of not killing young cows. But old barren cows (Vashaa) are supposed to be killed. Similarly, Uksha or bulls should be killed as per Vedas.<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
This hypothesis was popularized in recent times by yet another pseudo-scholar D N Jha to defend his assertion of beef-eating in Vedas despite obvious contradictions that come up because of verses in Vedas that state the exact opposite. With home-grown defective pieces, who needs enemies from outside!<br />
The fact is that Uksha refers to a medicinal herb, also known as Soma. Even someone like Monier Williams in his Sanskrit-English Dictionary states the same.<br />
Vashaa refers to controlling powers of God and not a barren cow. If Vasha is used to mean a barren cow, then many Vedic verses will make no sense.<br />
For example, Atharvaveda 10.10.4 uses Sahasradhara or Thousand flows in relation with Vasha. How can a barren cow be compared with Sahasradhara used to denote ample food, milk and water.<br />
Atharvaveda 10.190 states that Vashi means controlling power of God and is recited twice daily in Vedic Sandhya.<br />
In other verses, Vashaa is used also as productive land or a good wife with children (Atharvaveda 20.103.15) or a medicinal herb. Monier Williams also uses the word to mean a herb in his dictionary.<br />
We fail to understand which divine inspiration prompted these pseudo-scholars to concoct that Vashaa means a barren cow.<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
Brihadaranyak Upanishad 6.4.18 clearly states that if a couple desires a noble son, they should eat Meat with rice (Mansodanam) or Bull (Arshabh) or Calf (Uksha).<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
1. Now that there is nothing to show in Vedas, focus of allegation has shifted to Upanishads. But even if one is able to prove beef eating in Upanishads, that still does not prove that there is beef in Vedas. And the foundation of Hinduism is that Vedas are supreme. Refer Purva Meemansa 1.3.3, Manusmriti 2.13, Manusmriti 12.95, Jabalasmriti, Bhavishya Puran etc which clearly state that if there is discrepancy between Vedas and other Shastras, then Vedas are considered supreme and the rest is rejected.<br />
2. Having said this, we will show that the particular references from Brihadaranyak has been misinterpreted.<br />
3. Let us take Mansodanam first. There are 4 more verses just before this verse that recommend eating particular edibles with rice for having a child with Vedic wisdom of different types. The other edibles are: Ksheerodanam (Milk with rice), Dadhyodanam (Yogurt with rice), Water with rice and Tila (a pulse) with rice for experts in other Vedas. Thus it is ONLY for mastery of Atharvaveda that Mansodanam or meat with rice is recommended. This itself shows that the particular reference is an anomaly.<br />
4. <b>In reality, the right word is Mashodanam and NOT Mansodanam.</b> Masha means a kind of pulse. Hence there is nothing fleshy about it. In fact, for pregnant women, meat is completely prohibited as per Ayurveda. Refer Sushruta Samhita. There is also a verse in Sushrut Samhita that recommends Masha for husband and wife for a good son. Thus it is obvious that Brihadaranyaka has also explained the same concept as elucidated in Sushruta Samhita. There is no reason why the two texts would differ in Masha and Mansa.<br />
5. Even if someone asserts that it is not Masha but Mansa, still Mansa means pulp and not necessarily meat. There are ample usages of Mansa as pulp in ancient texts. Thus Amramansam means pulp of mango. Khajuramansam means pulp of date. Refer Charak Samhita for such examples. Taittriya Samhita 2.32.8 uses Mansa for curd, honey and corn.<br />
6. We have already seen that Uksha means a herb or Soma, even as per Monier Williams Dictionary. The same dictionary also lists Rishabh (from which Arshabh is derived) to mean a kind of medicinal plant (Carpopogan pruriens). Charak Samhita 1.4-13 lists Rishabh as a medicinal plant. Same is mentioned in Sushrut Samhita 38 and Bhavaprakash Purna Khanda.<br />
7. Further both Arshabh (Rishabh) and Uksha mean bull and none means 'calf'. So why were synonyms used to mention the same thing in the shloka from Brihadaranyak. This is like saying, one should eat either curd or yogurt! Thus, obviously the two words mean two different things. And considering that all the other verses mention herbs and pulses, these words also mean the same.<br />
<b>Allegation:</b><br />
What about Mahabharat Vana Parva 207 that explicitly states that King Rantideva used to have Yajnas where huge number of cows used to be killed?<br />
<b>Agniveer:</b><br />
Again, as mentioned previously, if there is dispute between Vedas and any other text, then Vedas are considered supreme. Further, Mahabharat is a grossly interpolated and adulterated text and hence not considered authority in itself.<br />
The allegation of cow-killing at Rantideva's palace is a fraud allegation refuted decades ago by several scholars.<br />
1. <b>Anushasan Parva 115 lists Rantideva as one of the kings who never consumed meat.</b> How can that be possible if beef was amply available at his palace?<br />
2. We have already proven that Mansa does not necessarily mean meat.<br />
3. The particular shloka alleges that each day 2000 cows were killed. This means more than 720,000 cows were killed each year. Is it logical to take such a shloka seriously?<br />
4.<b> Mahabharat Shantiparva 262.47 asserts that one who kills cows or bulls is a great sinner.</b> The same Mahabharat calls King Rantideva a great saint and pious person. How can there be such a blatant contradiction in same text?<br />
5. In reality, the shlokas have been distorted by misled scholars like Rahul Sankrityayana who are known for their Vedas bashing. Rahul Sankrityayana deliberately quoted only 3 lines of the verse and left 1 line from Dronaparva Chapter 67 first two shlokas. He misinterpreted Dwishatsahasra to mean 2000 when it actually means 200 thousand. This itself shows his competence in Sanskrit.<br />
None of these lines have any reference to beef. And when combined with 4th line that he deliberately missed, it means that Rantideva had 200,000 cooks in his kingdom who used to serve good food (rice, pulses, cooked food, sweets etc) day and night to guests and scholars.<br />
Then the word 'Masha' from the next shloka was changed to 'Mansa' to imply that it talked of beef.<br />
6. On contrary there are ample verses in Mahabharat which talk of non-violence and condemn beef eating. Further they praise charity of cows and their nurture.<br />
7. Fools have interpreted Badhyate to mean killing. However this is not so as per any Sanskrit text on grammar or usage. Badhyate means to control.<br />
Thus, there is no way that one can prove that King Rantideva used to have cows killed.<br />
To conclude, all allegations of beef or meat in Vedas or Vedic texts are merely desperate attempts by perverted minds to project their own vices on the most noble texts of the world.<br />
May the light of wisdom enlighten their minds and may we all together make the world a sensible place.</div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span id="IncrediStamp"><a href="http://www.incredimail.com/?id=606430&rui=127887084&sd=20110325"><span border="0" name="imgCache"></span></a></span></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-36937655087856620842011-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:002011-01-28T10:15:05.851-08:00There is no Beef in Vedas by Agniveer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMllqBpR07bIDp0i6m2hXXmHnuzU5jiCTzLGyEEiMSzoWkO1gOAVs9-LWM6Tzvi0LKMGUMKfkJNi1OPreU7Rvgjws_p67-qAFE1zaTOmr9j9Bk_YIOioGZmVbQdK2NzSuaHfzPiJKOV3I-/s1600/cow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMllqBpR07bIDp0i6m2hXXmHnuzU5jiCTzLGyEEiMSzoWkO1gOAVs9-LWM6Tzvi0LKMGUMKfkJNi1OPreU7Rvgjws_p67-qAFE1zaTOmr9j9Bk_YIOioGZmVbQdK2NzSuaHfzPiJKOV3I-/s1600/cow.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Source: <a href="http://agniveer.com/68/no-beef-in-vedas/">http://agniveer.com/68/no-beef-in-vedas/</a> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The material presented here is based on a thorough and objective analysis of roots of Vedic words, the context in which they appear, Vedic Vocabulary, Philology, Grammar and other tools critical for correct interpretation of the Vedic mantras. Thus this research series does not merely rely on blind reproduction of works of Max Muller, Griffith, Wilson, Williams and other indologists on Vedas and Vedic language. While they are more popular in contemporary western academia, we have objective reasons to conclude that their works are far from authoritative. We shall explore this facet in more detail in this research series.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Welcome to this first part of the research series on critical evaluation of Misconceptions surrounding the Vedas – the first books of knowledge on earth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For centuries aspersions have been cast upon the Vedas; the primary holy scriptures of the Hindus of having unholy contents. If one really started believing in those aspersions, the entire Hindu philosophy, culture, and traditions would reduce to nothing but savagery, barbarism and cannibalism.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Vedas – the very roots of Hinduism, rather the first source of knowledge on earth – are meant for guiding the actions of human being in order to lead a blissful life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This slanderous campaign has been unleashed by different vested interests to embarrass Hindus around the world citing specific references from the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This also comes handy in convincing poor and illiterate Indians to give up their faith on the grounds that their fundamental holy books – the Vedas – contain all the inhuman elements like denigration of women, meat-eating, polygamy, casteism and above all – beef eating.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Vedas are also accused of animal sacrifice in sacrificial ceremonies popularly known as the YAJNA. Interestingly a section of home-bred intellectuals claiming to have deep study of ancient India has also come up, who cite references from works of western indologists to prove such unholy content in the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Saying that the Vedas permit beef-eating and cow-slaughter amounts to striking a lethal blow to a Hindu’s soul. Respect for cow forms a core tenet of Hinduism. Once you are able to convince him of flaws in the foundation of this core tenet and make him feel guilty, he becomes an easy prey for the predator faiths. There are millions of ill-informed Hindus who are not empowered to counter argue and hence quietly surrender.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The vested interests that malign the Vedas are not confined to foreign and home-bred indologists alone. A certain class among Hindus exploited the rest of the population including the socially and economically weaker sections by forcing them to believe and follow what they said in the name of Vedas or else face the wrath.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">All the slanders heaped upon the Vedas can be attributed mainly to the interpretations of commentaries written by Mahidhar, Uvat and Saayan in the medieval times; and to what Vam-margis or the Tantra cult propagated in their books in the name of the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In due course the falsehood spread far and wide and they became even more deep rooted when western scholars with their half baked knowledge of Sanskrit transliterated these interpretations of commentaries of Sayan and Mahidhar, in the name of translating the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">However, they lacked the pre-requisite understanding of Shiksha (Phonetics), Vyakarana (Grammar), Nirukta (Philology), Nighantu (Vocabulary), Chhanda (Prosody), Jyotish (Astronomy), Kalpa and so on that are critical for correct interpretation of the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The purpose behind this series of videos is to objectively evaluate all such misconceptions about the Vedas – the foundation of human knowledge and establish their piety, sanctity, great ideals and philosophy that cater not only to Hindus but to every human being without bars, bias or discrimination of any kind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1: No violence against animals<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">——————————————<br />
<i>Yasmintsarvaani bhutaanyaatmaivaabhuudvijaanatah<br />
Tatra ko mohah kah shokah ekatvamanupasyatah<br />
Yajurveda 40.7</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Those who see all beings as souls do not feel infatuation or anguish at their sight, for they experience oneness with them”.<br />
How could people who believed in the doctrines of indestructibility, transmigration dare to kill living animals in yajnas? They might be seeing the souls of their own near and dear ones of bygone days residing in those living beings.<br />
———————————————<br />
<i>Anumantaa vishasitaa nihantaa krayavikrayee<br />
Samskartaa chopahartaa cha khadakashcheti ghaatakaah<br />
Manusmrithi 5.51<br />
</i>Those who permit slaying of animals; those who bring animals for slaughter; those who slaughter; those who sell meat; those who purchase meat; those who prepare dish out of it; those who serve that<br />
meat and those who eat are all murderers.<br />
———————————————<i><br />
Breehimattam yavamattamatho maashamatho tilam<br />
Esha vaam bhaago nihito ratnadheyaaya dantau maa hinsishtam pitaram maataram cha<br />
Atharvaveda 6.140.2</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">O teeth! You eat rice, you eat barley, you gram and you eat sesame. These cereals are specifically meant for you. Do not kill those who are capable of being fathers and mothers.<br />
——————————————–<br />
<i>Ya aamam maansamadanti paurusheyam cha ye kravih<br />
Garbhaan khaadanti keshavaastaanito naashayaamasi<br />
Atharvaveda 8.6.23<br />
</i><br />
We ought to destroy those who eat cooked as well as uncooked meat, meat involving destruction of males and females, foetus and eggs.<br />
——————————————-<br />
<i>Anago hatya vai bheema kritye<br />
Maa no gaamashvam purusham vadheeh<br />
Atharvaveda 10.1.29<br />
</i><br />
It is definitely a great sin to kill innocents. Do not kill our cows, horses and people.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How could there be justification of cow and other animals being killed when killing is so clearly prohibited in the Vedas?<br />
———————————————<i><br />
Aghnyaa yajamaanasya pashoonpahi<br />
Yajurveda 1.1</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“O human! animals are Aghnya – not to be killed. Protect the animals”<br />
———————————————<i><br />
Pashunstraayethaam<br />
Yajurveda 6.11 </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Protect the animals.<br />
———————————————<i><br />
Dwipaadava Chatushpaatpaahi<br />
Yajurveda 14.8</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Protect the bipeds and quadrupeds!<br />
———————————————-<br />
Kravy da –kravya[ meat obtained from slaughter] + Ada [ the eater]—the meat eater.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Pisacha — pisita [meat] +asa [eater]—the meat eater.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Asutrpa — Asu [breath of life] + trpa [one who satisfies himself on]—one who takes others life for his meals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Garba da and Anda da – the foetus and egg eaters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mans da – the meat eaters</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Meat eaters have always been looked down in Vedic literature. They have been known as Rakshasas, Pisacha and so on….All these words are synonyms of demons or devils that have been out-cast from the civilized human society.<br />
——————————————–<i><br />
Urjam no dhehi dwipade chatushpade<br />
Yajurveda 11.83</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“May all bipeds and quadrupeds gain strength and nourishment”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This mantra is recited by Hindus before every meal. How could the same philosophy which prays for well-being of every soul in every moment of life, approve of killing animals?<br />
———————————————–<br />
<b>Section 1: No violence in Yajna</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yajna never meant animal sacrifice in the sense popularly understood. Yajna in the Vedas meant a noble deed or the highest purifying action.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">————————<i>—————–<br />
Adhvara iti Yajnanaama – Dhvaratihimsaakarmaa tatpratishedhah<br />
Nirukta 2.7</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">According to Yaaska Acharya, one of the synonyms of Yajna in Nirukta or the Vedic philology is Adhvara.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dhvara means an act with himsa or violence. And therefore a-dhvara means an act involving no himsa or no violence. There are a large number of such usage of Adhvara in the Vedas.<br />
———————————————</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the post-Mahabharata period, misinterpretation of the Vedas and interpolations in other scriptures took place at various points intime. Acharya Shankar reestablished the Vedic values to an extent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the more recent times, Swami Dayanand Saraswati – known as the grandfather of modern India – interpreted the Vedas as per thecorrect rules of the language and authentic evidences. His literature, which includes commentary on the Vedas, Satyarth Prakash loosely translated as Light of Truth, An Introduction to the Vedas and other texts led to widespread social reformation based on Vedic philosophy and dispelling of myths surrounding the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Let us discover what the Vedas have to say on Yajna.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">————————————–<br />
<i>Agne yam yagnamadhvaram vishwatah pari bhuurasi<br />
Sa id deveshu gacchati<br />
Rigveda 1.1.4</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">O lord of effulgence! The non-violent Yajna, you prescribe from all sides, is beneficial for all, touches divine proportions and is accepted by noble souls.<br />
—————————————-</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Rigveda describes Yajna as Adhvara or non violent throughout. Same is the case with all the other Vedas. How can it be then concluded that the Vedas permit violence or slaughter of animals?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The biggest accusation of cattle and cow slaughter comes in the context of the Yajnas that derived their names from different cattle like the Ashwamedh Yajna, the Gomedha Yajna and the Nar-medh Yajna. Even by the wildest stretch of the imagination the word Medha would not mean slaughter in this context.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It’s interesting to note what Yajurveda says about a horse<br />
——————————————————–<br />
<i>Imam ma himsirekashafam pashum kanikradam vaajinam vaajineshu<br />
Yajurveda 13.48</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Do not slaughter this one hoofed animal that neighs and who goes with a speed faster than most of the animals.<br />
———————————————————-</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Aswamedha does not mean horse sacrifice at Yajna. Instead the Yajurveda clearly mentions that a horse ought not to be slaughtered.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In Shathapatha, Ashwa is a word for the nation or empire</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The word medha does not mean slaughter. It denotes an act done in accordance to the intellect Alternatively it could mean consolidation, as evident from the root meaning of medha i.e. medhru san-ga-me</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Raashtram vaa ashwamedhah<br />
Annam hi gau<br />
Agnirvaa ashwah<br />
Aajyam medhah<br />
(Shatpath 13.1.6.3)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Swami Dayananda Saraswati wrote in his Light of Truth:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A Yajna dedicated to the glory, wellbeing and prosperity of the Rashtra the nation or empire is known as the Ashwamedh yajna.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“To keep the food pure or to keep the senses under control, or to make the food pure or to make a good use of the rays of Sun or keep the earth free from impurities[clean] is called Gomedha Yajna”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“The word Gau also means the Earth and the yajna dedicated to keep the Earth the environment clean is called Gomedha Yajna”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“The cremation of the body of a dead person in accordance with the principles laid down in the Vedas is called Naramedha Yajna”.<br />
———————————————–</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Section 3: No beef in Vedas</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Not only the Vedas are against animal slaughter but also vehemently oppose and prohibit cow slaughter.Yajurveda forbids killing of cows, for they provide energizing food for human beings</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">———————————<i><br />
Ghrtam duhaanaamaditim janaayaagne maa himsiheeh<br />
Yajurveda 13.49</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Do not kill cows and bulls who always deserve to be protected.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—————————————-<i><br />
Aare gohaa nrhaa vadho vo astu<br />
Rigveda 7.56.17</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In Rigveda cow slaughter has been declared a heinous crime equivalent to human murder and it has been said that those who commits this crime should be punished.<br />
—————————————–<br />
<i>Sooyavasaad bhagavatee hi bhooyaa atho vayam bhagvantah syaama<br />
Addhi trnamaghnye vishwadaaneem piba shuddhamudakamaacharantee<br />
Rigveda 1.164.40 or Atharv 7.73.11 or Atharv 9.10.20</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Aghnya cows – which are not to be killed under any circumstances– may keep themselves healthy by use of pure water and green grass, so that we may be endowed with virtues, knowledge and wealth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—————————————<i><br />
</i>The Vedic Lexicon, Nighantu, gives amongst other synonyms of Gau[ or cow] the words Aghnya. Ahi, and Aditi. Yaska the commentator on Nighantu, defines these as-<br />
<b><i>Aghnya</i></b><i> the one that ought not to be killed<br />
<b>Ahi </b>the one that must not be slaughtered.<br />
<b>Aditi</b> the one that ought not to be cut into pieces.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">These three names of cow signify that the animal ought not to be put to tortures. These words appear frequently throughout the Vedas in context of the cow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">——————————————–</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Aghnyeyam saa vardhataam mahate soubhagaaya</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Rigveda 1.164.27<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cow – The aghnya – brings us health and prosperity</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Suprapaanam Bhavatvaghnyaayaah<br />
Rigveda 5.83.8<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There should be excellent facility for pure water for Aghnya Cow</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yah paurusheyena kravishaa samankte yo ashwena pashunaa yaatudhaanah</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yo aghnyaayaa bharati ksheeramagne teshaam sheershaani harasaapi vrishcha<br />
Rigveda 10.87.16</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Those who feed on human, horse or animal flesh and those who destroy milk-giving Aghnya cows should be severely punished.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Vimucchyadhvamaghnyaa devayaanaa aganma<br />
Yajurveda 12.73<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Aghnya cows and bulls bring you prosperity</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Maa gaamanaagaamaditim vadhishta<br />
Rigveda 8.101.15<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Do not kill the cow. Cow is innocent and aditi – that ought not to be cut into pieces</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Antakaaya goghaatam<br />
Yajurveda 30.18</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
Destroy those who kill cows</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yadi no gaam hansi yadyashwam yadi poorusham<br />
Tam tvaa seesena vidhyaamo yatha no so aveeraha<br />
Atharvaveda 1.16.4</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If someone destroys our cows, horses or people, kill him with a bullet of lead.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Vatsam jaatamivaaghnyaa<br />
Atharvaveda 3.30.1</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
Love each other as the Aghnya – non-killable cow – loves its calf</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dhenu sadanam rayeenaam<br />
Atharvaveda 11.1.34</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
Cow is fountainhead of all bounties</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The entire 28th Sukta or Hymn of 6th Mandal of Rigveda sings the glory of cow.<br />
<i>Aa gaavo agnamannuta bhadramakrantseedantu</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Bhooyobhooyo rayimidasya vardhayannabhinne</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Na taa nashanti na dabhaati taskaro naasaamamitro vyathiraa dadharshati</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Na taa arvaa renukakaato ashnute na samskritramupa yanti taa abhi</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Gaavo bhago gaava indro me achhaan</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yooyam gaavo medayathaa</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Maa vah stena eeshata maaghanshasah</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1. Everyone should ensure that cows are free from miseries and kept healthy.<br />
2. God blesses those who take care of cows.<br />
3. Even the enemies should not use any weapon on cows<br />
4. No one should slaughter the cow<br />
5. Cow brings prosperity and strength</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">6. If cows keep healthy and happy, men and women shall also keep disease free and prosperous</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">7. May the cow eat green grass and pure water. May they not be killed and bring prosperity to us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">———————————————-</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What more proofs does one need to understand the high esteem in whichnot only the cow but each living being is held in the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The learned audience can decide for themselves from these evidences that the Vedas are completely against any inhuman practice… to top it all the Beef and Cow slaughter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There is no Beef in Vedas.</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">——————————————<br />
Bibliography:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1. Rigveda Bhashya – Commentary on Rigveda by Swami Dayanand Saraswati</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">2. Yajurveda Bhashya – Commentary on Yajurveda by Swami Dayanand Saraswati<br />
3. No Beef in Vedas by BD Ukhul</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">4. Vedon ka Yatharth Swaroop (True nature of Vedas) by Pt Dharmadeva Vidyavachaspati<br />
5. All 4 Veda Samhita by Pt Damodar Satvalekar</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">6. Pracheen Bharat me Gomamsa – Ek Sameeksha (Beef in Ancient India – an analysis) by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur<br />
7. The Myth of Holy Cow – by DN Jha<br />
8. Hymns of Atharvaveda – Griffith<br />
9. Scared Books of the east – Max Muller<br />
10. Rigveda translations by Williams/Jones<br />
11. Sanskrit English Dictionary – Monier Williams<br />
12. Commentary on Vedas by Dayanand Sansthan<br />
13. Western Indologists – a study of motives by Pt Bhagvadutt<br />
14. Satyarth Prakash by Swami Dayanand Saraswati<br />
15. Introduction to Vedas by Swami Dayanand Saraswati<br />
16. Cloud over understanding of Vedas by BD Ukhul<br />
17. Shathpath Brahman<br />
18. Nirukta – Yaska Acharya<br />
19. Dhatupath – Panini<br />
————————————————————</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Addendum on 14 April 2010:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After this article, there was severe reaction from various sources who cannot live with the fact that Vedas and ancient culture of our nation could have been more ideal than their current communistic ideals. I received several mails that tried to refute the articles by citing additional references that support beef-eating. These include 2 mantras from Rigveda, and some Shlokas from Manu Smriti and a few other texts. An example is the comment from Avtar Gill on this page itself. On these, I have to say the following:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">a. The article has given evidence from Manu Smriti itself which states that even one who permits killing is a murderer. Thus all these additional shlokas are either from adulterated Manu Smriti or misinterpreted by twisting of words. I recommend them to read Manu Smriti by Dr Surendra Kumar which is available from http://vedicbooks.com</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">b. A typical example of foul play by those hell-bent on justifying their obsession with beef in ancient texts, is to translate Mansa as ‘meat’. In reality, ‘Mansa’ is a generic word used to denote pulp. Meat is called ‘Mansa’ because it is pulpy. So mere presence of ‘Mansa’ does not mean it refers to meat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">c. The other texts referred by them are among dubious ones not considered authoritative evidence. Their modus operandi is simple – state anything written in Sanskrit as Dharma and translate the way they want to prove whatever they want. This is how they have been fooling us all by filling our textbooks with all unverified demeaning claims.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">d. With regards to Vedas, they could come up with two mantras that supposedly justify beef eating. Let us evaluate them:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Claim: Rigveda (10/85/13) declares, “On the occasion of a girl’s marriage oxen and cows are slaughtered.”<br />
Fact: The mantra states that in winter, the rays of sun get weakened and then get strong again in spring. The word used for sun-rays in ‘Go’ which also means cow and hence the mantra can also be translated by making ‘cow’ and not ’sun-rays’ as the subject. The word used for ‘weakened’ is ‘Hanyate’ which can also mean killing. But if that be so, why would the mantra go further and state in next line (which is deliberately not translated) that in spring, they start regaining their original form.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How can a cow killed in winter regain its health in spring? This amply proves how ignorant and biased communists malign Vedas.<br />
Claim: Rigveda (6/17/1) states that “Indra used to eat the meat of cow, calf, horse and buffalo.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Fact: The mantra states that brilliant scholars enlighten the world in the manner that wood enhances the fire of Yajna. I fail to understand from where did Avtar Gill and his friends discover Indra, cow, calf, horse and buffalo in this mantra!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In summary, I continue the challenge to everyone – cite one single mantra from Vedas that justify beef-eating and I shall be eager to embrace any faith that he or she may decide for me. If not, they should agree to revert back to the Vedas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-29003618356962779852011-01-27T06:02:00.000-08:002011-01-28T04:24:10.780-08:00Rebuttal to the alegations on Hinduism (by Agniveer)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>Following article answers the foolish allegations made by some non-Hindus for sake of promoting their religion. The source of this article is agniveer.com . If you are willing to read it from its original source then you visit:</i> <a href="http://agniveer.com/2006/hinduism-obscene/">http://agniveer.com/2006/hinduism-obscene/</a> <br />
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<h1>Hinduism – an obscene religion?- Know Vedas</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizukPAycO5IKbTrIdyEVj11HD5IMBYRHccQ41fkjqDEJZBuzX1H5dk0ns7qYq6axpW0yZyD-kUTR1Gr3IyhppKD3ZgNMeeQ8VW1iFL45b-XMmbcl6hkRMNZ69J-z1RjOZphWsSW4gHAW41/s1600/Krishna_Lotus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizukPAycO5IKbTrIdyEVj11HD5IMBYRHccQ41fkjqDEJZBuzX1H5dk0ns7qYq6axpW0yZyD-kUTR1Gr3IyhppKD3ZgNMeeQ8VW1iFL45b-XMmbcl6hkRMNZ69J-z1RjOZphWsSW4gHAW41/s1600/Krishna_Lotus.jpg" /></a></div><br />
India today has become the center-stage of conversion virus. China and countries beyond China are too unapproachable for this virus. And in rest of the world on west of India, already whatever conversion had to happen has happened. Now its only a game of jumping from one branch aka Christianity to another aka Islam and its minute sub-branches in those locations.<br />
<br />
But in India, there a good match of Hindu and non-Hindu population so as to offer both an attractive number of potential followers, as well a large number of agents and support-base to carry on the mission of Allah or God. And most importantly, just as India is known to have produced the greatest legends of history, the soil is also very fertile for birth and nurture of traitors who take pride in self-immolation. What else could have ensured that destruction of a symbol of shame erected by a compulsive homosexual pedophile mass murderer and drug-addict called Babur becomes such a great issue in this country instead of being an event of pride! Refer <a href="http://agniveer.com/1817/babri-masjid/" target="_blank">Babri Masjid demolition</a>. And then the impotent leadership coupled with loose controls ensure that any other Ajmal or Afzal can easily siphon in men, money, RDX and everything else needed to reduce proportion of Hindus, very easily. I can keep adding one reason after another. But that is not the purpose of this article.<br />
To summarize, India offers the best climate to grow new followers for any foreign religion. Now religious Conversion is a very smart game. A large number of strategies are used with varied combination to achieve the goal of only one religion. One of the greatest ploys used these days for mass-level conversion activities by those wanting all Hindus to embrace only Bible or only Quran is to showcase that Hinduism is the most obscene religion in world. Not that this ploy was not being used so far. But in recent times, this particular tactic has become much more prominent for a variety of reasons which are not relevant to be discussed here for sake of brevity.<br />
Now when a lover of Bible or ‘Quran+Hadiths combo’ alleges that Hinduism is full of obscenities, for example the sites like <a href="http://truthofhinduism.com/" target="_blank">http://truthofhinduism.com</a>, nothing can be more laughable! Because if one has to rate the most vulgar books being seriously followed to last letter, these two are bound to take the top two positions. One can browse through countless articles on these topics on sites like <a href="http://jesusallah.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">jesusallah.wordpress.com</a> and many other sites to know more on this. But shameless as they are, these conversion viruses would not even wink an eye in duping masses in the delusion that if they bring more and more followers by hook or crook, they would get more and more luxuries/ virgins in Paradise.<br />
But this is a very serious issue today. Huge number of Hindus, ignorant of their true Dharma, and duped by internal as well as external frauds, eventually end up starting to hate Hinduism due to this false propaganda. For them Hinduism is nothing more than vulgar love-making scenes between Radha and Krishna, worship of male organ in form of Shiva Linga, Vishnu and Shiva raping women, Mohini seducing Shiva, Brahma having relation with her daughter Saraswati etc etc. We have come across pamphlets being circulated these days across India showcasing these obscenities in Hinduism and appealing Hindus to embrace foreign religions to worship Only true God and achieve true salvation. More and more Hindus are starting to hate their foundations and even those who love Hinduism are not sure as how to explain these stories and defend their Dharma. And existence of communist sickulars only adds to this mess.<br />
The objective of this article is to put all these allegations in right perspective and offer a toolkit to all Dharma lovers to be able to defend the truth and counter the false propaganda.<br />
1. The very first point to ascertained even before delving into each allegation of obscenity is whether that comes under the purview of Dharma in first place? The concept of Dharma in Hinduism is completely different from blind belief system of Quran or Bible. The universal definition of Dharma accepted across ALL sections of Hinduism is the 11 fold path as propounded in Manu Smriti 6.92: Non-violence, Patience, Forgiving, Self-control, Non-Stealing, Purity, Control of Sense and Work organs, Intellect, Knowledge seeking, Truthfulness, Non-Anger. This has been further elaborated in <a href="http://agniveer.com/1634/vedic-religion/" target="_blank">Vedic Religion in Brief</a>.<br />
<b>ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT TRANSGRESSES OR VIOLATES THIS 11 FOLD PATH IS NOT HINDU DHARMA OR <i>HINDUISM</i>.</b><br />
2. The second touchstone of Dharma is <b><i>Vedas</i></b>. All Hindu texts very clearly and unambiguously mention that Vedas are the ultimate evidence. So <b>ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT IS AGAINST VEDAS IS NOT DHARMA.</b><br />
Basically the above two touchstones are one and same but from slightly different perspectives.<br />
3. The same touchstone is elaborated in a slightly different manner in Yam and Niyam of Yoga Darshan:<br />
Yam – Non-violence, Truth, Non-Stealing, Brahmacharya (Self-control and NON-obscenity), Non-Hoarding<br />
Niyam – Purity, Contentment, Putting strong efforts, Self-study or self-evaluation, Dedication to All Supreme.<br />
So again, <b>ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT IS AGAINST YAM AND NIYAM IS NOT DHARMA.</b><br />
4. Having defined these basic touchstones, which are accepted by all sections of Hinduism, answering these allegations become much simpler. Because now our stand is very clear – <b>We do not defend them, we simply REJECT them.</b><br />
<b>Q: How do you then explain the vulgar stories in our texts as alleged by these conversion activists and sickulars?</b><br />
A:<br />
1. None of these stories appear in <i><b>Vedas</b></i> which form the foundation of Hindu Dharma.<br />
2. Most of these stories appear in Purans or Ramayan or Mahabharat. Now except <i><b>Vedas</b></i>, NO OTHER book is considered to be divine in Hinduism. Further all these Purans or Ramayan or Mahabharat are NOT spared from adulterations in last 1000 years of foreign rule by perverts who had the singular agenda of destroying the cultural foundations of this country. So these texts can be taken authentic ONLY to extent they agree with <i><b>Vedas</b></i>. Rest is simply adulteration and has to be rejected. And it is ACTUALLY rejected by Hindus in practice.<br />
<b>Q: Can you explain how you claim that these texts have been subject to adulterations?</b><br />
A: There are several evidences. For example:<br />
1. Bhavishya Puran contains stories of Akbar, Victoria, Muhammad, Jesus etc. It has shlokas talking of Sunday, Monday etc. However these stories stop in late 19th century when printing became popular. This very clearly shows that shlokas continued to be added in this book.<br />
2. Geeta Press Gorakhpur publishes Ramayan and Mahabharat and has marked a large number of shlokas as adulterated because they appear clearly out of context.<br />
3. Interestingly Mahabharat 265.9.4 Shantiparva even claims that fraud people have added verses that talk of wine, meat-eating, vulgarity to demean the vedic religion.<br />
4. Garud Puran Brahmakand 1.59 states that Mahabharat is being distorted to show vulgarity in Vedic Dharma.<br />
etc etc.<br />
Even a cursory reading of these texts is sufficient to make us realize the amount of adulterations that these books have been subject to. Further many of these stories have been mistranslated to suit the designs of fraud conversion viruses and their carriers.<br />
<b>Q: How can you claim that these texts do not form part of our Dharma?</b><br />
A: I did not say that these texts do not form part of our Dharma. I said that they form part of our Dharma ONLY to extent that they agree with <i><b>Vedas</b></i>. The evidence is in society itself:<br />
1. No one takes the new unabridged Purans seriously (except a very few people who have nothing to do with Hinduism and only want to showcase their supremacy on basis of a fake birth-based caste system. Actually these people are biggest hands-in-glove partners of conversion viruses who destroy from inside). The mainstream Hindu population or even their leaders do not even know the name of all Purans. It is difficult to get complete versions of Purans etc today.<br />
ONLY ABRIDGED VERSIONS or SELECT PASSAGES from these books are available for mainstream population. So ask for Ramayan, and most Hindus will give you Ramcharitmanas. Ask for Mahabharat, and they will give you Geeta. Ask for Purans, and they will at best give you compilations of moral stories from these books. Which means that Hindus agree to these books ONLY to extent that they are moral and as per <i><b>Vedas</b></i>.<br />
They may make mistakes due to ignorance, but goal is always to preach and practice within ambit of Vedic religion.<br />
<b>Q: Then why do Hindus worship Radha-Krishna and Shiva Linga if they reject the vulgar stories behind them?</b><br />
A: No, Hindus don’t worship these entities in the sense that conversion viruses want us to interpret.<br />
1. Hindus are basically simple people who easily trust others. That is why they got fooled by foreign invaders for centuries. So, the first instinct of a typical Hindu is to trust others. Unlike a typical Zakir-type Muslim who is trained to mistrust people unless they follow Quran and Rasul and nomadic Arabic traditions, a typical Hindu would trust any other person merely because he or she is a human being. This trustworthiness is a great strength but also a great weakness, especially when you are living in an area where there are too many mosquitoes flying around spreading dengue and malaria.<br />
So like Agniveer site, Hinduism has been quite vulnerable to hacking and virus attacks. It is time that instead of trying to maintain the same site that has become prone to future virus attacks, we rebuild it from scratch keeping the same content but hardening the security policies to defend ourselves from future attacks and eradicate existing viruses.<br />
2. Due to simple nature of Hinduism, Hindus have traditionally not been over-critical. They adopted and adapted worship methods over a period of time to seek goodness from everywhere. It is a different matter that they did not even realize that in the process they have drifted so far from original source and have become virus prone.<br />
3. Radha means Success. There is a mantra in Yajurveda 1.5 that seeks Radha or Success from Ishwar to be able to stay resolved in accepting truth and rejecting false. Now Krishna was an icon of such a resolve in his life. Someone somewhere down the line symbolized this Radha (or success) in form of idols. The goal was noble, but in process we drifted from core foundations of Ishwar worship. Soon creativity kept being added, the Radha became a woman, stories were written to demean Krishna with a non-wife woman and the game continued. Simple Hindus continue to worship Radha Krishna even today with same pure feeling, completely unaware of the distortions that have happened in the process. Ask any Hindu about the scripture which talks of Radha and he will become silent. Hardly any Hindu knows about it. Now Radha does not appear in either Mahabharat or Harivansh or Bhagwat or any other authoritative text, to cite an example.<br />
To a typical Hindu, Radha is symbol of purity even though he does not know why and how. Had Radha-Krishna relation been obscene in minds of Hindus, that obscenity would have been reflected in lives of Radha worshippers. But Krishna worshippers are monogamous, often Brahmacharis and avoid free mingling with opposite gender. Thus, for all practical matters, HINDUS REJECT ALL FALSE STORIES AND ALL FALSE BOOKS ON RADHA AND KRISHNA.<br />
4. Shiva Linga means Sign of Purity. It started with an attempt to create idol of a Deepak. Now many Hatha Yogi practice concentration on tip of Deepak flame. The flame flickers due to wind. Hence an idol was created to practice concentration. Then some pervert imagined reproductive organs in the idol and created false stories. Gullible Hindus started worshipping this idol as symbol of purity completely unaware of mystery behind. A typical Hindu is not interested to know why and how. He simply accepts things at face value and tries to accept goodness from everywhere. No Hindu has ever read Shiva Puran and other texts associated with Shiva Linga. He simply goes to Shiva temple to offer his pure feelings to Ishwar. Period. Thus, for all practical matters, HINDUS REJECT ALL FALSE STORIES AND ALL FALSE BOOKS ON SHIVA LINGA.<br />
5. Hindus basically believe that same truth is approached by different scholars in different manners. They thus easily admit anyone as scholar and start following him as well in illusion that they are only seeking goodness. So we have Hindus going to Ajmer Sharif to worship even a traitor who sided with Muhammad Ghori to defeat Prithviraj Chauhan. They would worship grave of Afzal Khan who was killed by Shivaji, the Great for his loots and rapes. The basic drive that propels Hindus to every form of worship is very honorable – to seek goodness from all side.<br />
But as I said, unless you apply medical ointment, take pills and carry all precautions of not eating and drinking without being careful, it is very easy to catch Dengue in New Delhi today. The Commonwealth drama is not going to help and in fact make situations worse due to dug-up roads, congestion and dirty-water accumulation. Similarly, despite the hype that variety of small and big cults create, unless we stick to our basics of <i><b>Vedas</b></i>, take strong measures, and be careful it is easy to be infected the way Hindu society has become today.<br />
<b>In summary, Hindus worship only goodness.</b> They seek this goodness in whatever form of worship it comes. They do not care about stories behind it. They do not bother about genesis and conspiracies behind these modes of worship, and simply seek goodness. Hence while Hindus should be very careful, it is also true that these stories and these books DO NOT FORM PART OF PRACTICAL OR THEORITICAL HINDUISM.<br />
<b>Q: What about stories of Brahma having relation with his daughter and Shiva running after Mohini?</b><br />
A: Again, the answer is same. These are NOT part of Hinduism. They appear in no <i><b>Vedas</b></i>. In fact there are no stories in Vedas of this nature. And unlike Islam and Christianity, Hindu Dharma has NO place for stories. Hindu Dharma is based ONLY on concepts and ideas. Stories keep changing from time to time, they may get changed, manipulated, distorted, forgotten, rewritten or whatever. But Dharma is SANATAN which means ETERNAL. It was same always in past and remain so in future.<br />
<b>Q: So you mean Ram, Krishna, Vishnu do not form Hinduism?</b><br />
A: Ram, Krishna, Vishnu, Shankar, Brahma etc are not Hindu Dharma. They were instead FOLLOWERS of Vedic Dharma. They were legends and role models. We admire them because they exhibited great examples worth being followed. They exemplified <i><b>Vedas</b></i> in action. Such role models are necessary to inspire and instill direction in masses. But Dharma is eternal, as explained earlier. Billions of years from now, there may be another set of role models being followed. Before Krishna or Ram took birth, there would have been another set of role models and no one knew about Ram or Krishna. But Dharma was STILL existing. This eternal Vedic Dharma is Hinduism. And because Ram, Krishna, Vishnu followed this Vedic Dharma to perfection, they are integral part of our culture, inspiration, thoughts and resolutions.<br />
<b>Q: You are being tactful. I thought you would analyze each story of obscenity and explain why it is not obscene. You are instead refusing to even accept that these form part of Hinduism.</b><br />
A: I am simply being honest. And Hinduism is not like Islam where a false Quran that contains stories of personal matters of Muhammad are also to be justified. Quran and Hadiths contain stories on why Muhammad married Aisha when she was kid, why he desired to marry his daughter-in-law and in fact had relation with him without marrying (claiming that marriage happened in heaven), why there are special rights for Prophet to marry more than normal Muslim etc etc. Neither are these stories relevant till end of the world to justify being part of what is touted as final book of Allah, nor they contain noble examples. But instead of rejecting these verses as falsehood to safeguard the character of Muhammad, fanatic Muslims try to justify these vulgar verses and in process demean the noble character of Muhammad.<br />
Similarly Christians instead of agreeing that Bible contains fake stories, would justify why Jesus alone is savior of world.<br />
Hinduism is based on much stronger foundations that cannot be shaken by petty stories. Instead of showing us false stories which we already have rejected, show us what is wrong in <a href="http://agniveer.com/1634/vedic-religion/" target="_blank">Vedic Religion in brief</a><br />
<b>You cannot show anything wrong, and that is why we claim that Vedic Religion or <i>Hinduism</i> is the only worthwhile religion to be embraced.</b><br />
<i>Its a pity that despite all this, those justifying every letter of vulgar texts like false Quran and fake Bible are brazen enough to point fingers on eternal Sanatan Vedic Hindu Dharma.</i><br />
<b>Q: What about vulgarity in <i>Vedas</i>?</b><br />
A: Show me a single vulgar verse in <i><b>Vedas</b></i>? Show me one single episode of obscenity in all the 4 <i><b>Vedas</b></i>. Now don’t start citing translations of Griffith or Max Muller who were basically conversion ‘viruses’. Explain with word meanings why any verse in Vedas is to be considered Vulgar. No one has dared to showcase a single verse so far. At best people have copy-pasted some crazy translation by some pervert without going further to explain how they came to such ridiculous meanings!<br />
For clarity of all, there is absolutely no vulgarity or nothing unscientific or nothing irrational in all the 4 vedas.<br />
<b>Q: But Hindus follow festivals from Purans associated with these vulgar stories. How can then to dissociate Hinduism from these vulgar stories?</b><br />
A: Again a childish argument. Festivals is a social phenomenon inspired from Dharma and not Dharma themselves. Festivals and their methods change in every 2 kilometers in India and in fact this diversity is encouraged so far it is as per <i><b>Vedas</b></i>. Hindus follow festivals as social events to showcase respect to great role models and resolve to do good. The form of festival observance has always varied from time to time, place to place and society to society. At times they have even got distorted. But this has nothing to do with Dharma which remains eternal.<br />
When we celebrate festivals, we do not recite any of these vulgar stories. We on contrary to this, observe much more self-control on these days to shower our respect and commitment.<br />
<b>Q: But then why are these stories part of your culture then?</b><br />
A: Who said that these stories are part of our culture? Now traditionally birth-based Brahmins have been closest to religious texts. So if these stories were to be integral part of our culture, how can anyone explain that:<br />
1. These Brahmins (I am referring to birth-based Brahmins here and subsequently in this part of article) have been the most monogamous community of not only India but world.<br />
2. These Brahmins have observed celibacy and self-control to levels that are considered abnormal by Arabic mindsets.<br />
3. No Brahmin ever conducted a single Yajna in Kashi or Mathura that is vulgar, violent or obscene.<br />
4. No Brahmin has kept concubines or performed incest as claimed in these false stories.<br />
Instead these stories have either been rejected, or ignored, or interpreted allegorically within purview of Vedic Dharma as described in first 4 points.<br />
<b>Q: But so many news come of fraud gurus in sex-scandal?</b><br />
A: Had all this nonsense been part of Hindu Dharma, these news would not have been called scandals. The moment a guru is exposed in such deeds, he is subject to harshest condemnation by society as is case with any criminal. If Hindu dharma was or is obscene, then these news would not have hit headlines and would have been most rampant in society!. For example, it does not make a news when an Imam in Iran does Mutah or temporary marriage because Mutah is integral part of the religion there.<br />
Just as one cannot say that Islam justifies women participating in bikini show merely because one Arabic women won Miss America this year, similarly deeds of a fake guru have nothing to do with Hindu Dharma. On contrary, the fact that he is condemned for his misdeeds show that Hindu Dharma has nothing to do with this perversion.<br />
<b>Q: But Muslims also do not follow all that you condemn in your site. Why do you follow double standards then?</b><br />
A: Kindly read my articles carefully. I have never ever condemned Muslims in general or Muhammad. I have only condemned the new Quran and Hadiths. And I condemn those clergies or fanatics who claim that each letter of this new Quran and Hadiths is final and perfect. If these fanatics, instead state that all those verses in Quran or Hadiths which are found to be objectionable (obscene, demeaning to Muhammad, justify sex-slavery, call women as half-intelligent, say that non-Muslims will go to Hell, justify marriage with a woman with whose daughter one had physical relation, do not outrightly ban slavery etc etc) are NOT part of Islam and worth being rejected, then there is absolutely no objection to Islam. In fact, it becomes a branch of Vedic Dharma if all the Hadiths and objectionable Quranic verses are rejected.<br />
<b>Q: Your theory is strange. You justify whatever Hindus do and yet reject all these stories that form basis of what Hindus do.</b><br />
A:<br />
1. I do not justify whatever Hindus do. Had there been no loopholes in practices of Hindus in general, how could barbaric foreign cults have dared to enter Bharat. Certainly there were gaps between the actual Hindu Dharma of <i><b>Vedas</b></i> and what we started following out of ignorance.<br />
2. But these gaps point at faults of the followers and not the Hindu Dharma itself. I agree with <i><b>Zakir Naik</b></i> on one point – do not judge a car by its driver but its engine. Similarly, judge Hinduism by Vedas and its core tenets and not its followers in general or fake stories invented later.<br />
3. Yes, there are loopholes in practices of Hindus (in general) today considering the prevailing situations. Some of them are<br />
- birth-based caste system in whatever broken form it is<br />
- neglect of <i><b>Vedas</b></i> and Vedic Dharma which is our foundation<br />
- tendency to take everyone at face value and trusting them too easily<br />
- tendency to shirk away from fighting falsehood with iron hand<br />
- passive attitude towards rising menace like Love Jehad, conversion virus, sickular mindsets etc<br />
- not spending much time in trying to discover the roots of our Dharma and its essence<br />
etc<br />
We definitely strive to get rid of these to safeguard our religion from virus attacks and approach of Vedic ideals.<br />
4. BUT, regardless of these, one point is clear – THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO VULGARITY IN HINDU DHARMA or even mindsets of Hindus when they observe Dharma in whatever way they do. They may be misled, they may be ignorant, they may be gullible, they may not be overtly critical, they may be bit too straight but THEY ARE NOT OBSCENE. THEY ARE NOT VULGAR in matters of Dharma.<br />
There may be people who get into obscenities – like film stars or their bhakts – but there is nothing Hindu about it.<br />
The challenge from Agniveer to all those who want to showcase obscenity in Hinduism is to prove that <i><b>Vedas</b></i> are obscene. Or the characteristics of Dharma listed in very first 3 points of article are obscene. Trying to highlight isolated stories from obscure texts that no Hindu takes seriously will not work. Because Hinduism itself rejects anything that is vulgar regardless of its source or origin. So these promoters of false propaganda should shut down baseless sites like <a href="http://truthofhinduism.com/" target="_blank">Hinduism Exposed</a> and instead create list of passages from their own religious texts (that they consider to be full and final to last letter) which should be rejected so as to claim their religion as “not obscene”.<br />
<b>Q: Vedas, Vedas, Vedas. You seem to be obsessed with <i>Vedas</i>. What about those cults who do not consider Vedas to be divine. And what about Geeta and Upanishads?</b><br />
A:<br />
1. Please review the <a href="http://agniveer.com/1634/vedic-religion/" target="_blank">Vedic Religion in Brief</a>. And also review the 11 fold Dharma mentioned earlier. These are adopted by everyone including those cults who do not consider <i><b>Vedas</b></i> to be divine.<br />
2. Even the cults whom you would claim to apparently reject <i><b>Vedas</b></i> were actually following Vedas by rejecting malpractices in name of Vedas and not Vedas themselves.<br />
3. Vedas themselves do not force, like Quran or Bible, to consider them as divine texts to achieve some fictitious paradise. All they say is that one should accept truth and reject false and through this process truth will continue to become clearer. I consider Vedas to be divine because I have reasons and justifications for that. But someone who does not believe so is also following Vedas, if he does so to best of his understanding and intentions and free from prejudices.<br />
4. Geeta and Upanishads are marvelous texts. Geeta is basically elaboration of 40th Chapter of Yajurved. The 11 major Upanishads are tonic for intellectual mind. So are 6 darshans and host of other scriptures. We admire them because, and only to extent they comply with Vedas. For example, Allopanishad is considered a fraud Upanishad designed by some conversion virus.<br />
5. In any case, what is obscene that you find about Geeta and Upanishads? Instead of wasting time in proving obscenity in Hinduism someway or the other, study Chapter 2 and 3 of Geeta or 17 mantras of Ishopanishad and you will attain true Paradise here itself. Become Vedic because <i><b>Vedas</b></i> alone is Dharma.<br />
<b>As for Hindus, I repeat the cornerstone of <i>Hinduism</i></b>: <b>ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT IS AGAINST <i>VEDAS</i> IS NOT DHARMA. </b><br />
<b>Hence, <i>Hinduism</i> stands for morality, purity and character alone.</b><br />
All partiotic Hindus should promote this Vedic foundation of Hinduism far and wide so that we can effectively combat the threats of conversion viruses.<br />
Agniveer site was hacked. But we can’t afford to have our Dharma hacked by perverts of foreign crap of intolerance and deceit which was never part of our culture.<br />
Nanyah Panthah Vidyate Anayaya (Yajurved 31.18)<br />
There is no other way!</div></div>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-55729956648089736512010-12-26T06:28:00.001-08:002010-12-26T06:28:57.835-08:00No Caste System in Vedas<a title="View No Cast in Vedas by Agniveer on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/45870025/No-Cast-in-Vedas-by-Agniveer" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">No Cast in Vedas by Agniveer</a> <object id="doc_841501874358577" name="doc_841501874358577" height="600" width="100%" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf" style="outline:none;" > <param name="movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf"><param name="wmode" value="opaque"><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="document_id=45870025&access_key=key-1rlere93xp2okc3cwr8m&page=1&viewMode=list"><embed id="doc_841501874358577" name="doc_841501874358577" src="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=45870025&access_key=key-1rlere93xp2okc3cwr8m&page=1&viewMode=list" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="600" width="100%" wmode="opaque" bgcolor="#ffffff"></embed> </object>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6242821351869685627.post-11034566630749822212010-12-22T11:53:00.000-08:002011-01-27T00:12:06.158-08:00Manu Ka Virodh Kyon? (Why to Oppose Manu)<a title="View Manu Ka Virodh Kyon Why Oppose Manu Hindi on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/17695304/Manu-Ka-Virodh-Kyon-Why-Oppose-Manu-Hindi" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Manu Ka Virodh Kyon Why Oppose Manu Hindi</a> <object id="doc_88585986713439" name="doc_88585986713439" height="600" width="100%" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf" style="outline:none;" > <param name="movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf"><param name="wmode" value="opaque"><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="document_id=17695304&access_key=key-2mt28lv8t65e9i7n7r2l&page=1&viewMode=list"><embed id="doc_88585986713439" name="doc_88585986713439" src="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=17695304&access_key=key-2mt28lv8t65e9i7n7r2l&page=1&viewMode=list" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="600" width="100%" wmode="opaque" bgcolor="#ffffff"></embed> </object>Amit Duahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649149002879199875noreply@blogger.com0