tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442555339667770589.post6019299824343735761..comments2024-03-18T22:56:06.696+05:30Comments on Jayasree Saranathan: Orissa connection to Rishya Shringa or Unicorns?Jayasree Saranathan http://www.blogger.com/profile/01048252011566427834noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442555339667770589.post-65560939091494144272009-11-06T18:23:19.017+05:302009-11-06T18:23:19.017+05:30Dear Mr jayendra,
This topic is posted as a separa...Dear Mr jayendra,<br />This topic is posted as a separate article.Jayasree Saranathan https://www.blogger.com/profile/01048252011566427834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442555339667770589.post-89822983312132980282009-11-05T17:19:50.283+05:302009-11-05T17:19:50.283+05:30(continuation)
Yajna means worship done by give a...(continuation)<br /><br />Yajna means worship done by give and take.<br />You offer something in a yajna to get back something.<br />What you offer is related to what you want to get.<br />It is like supplementing a deficiency.<br />If you have weak bones, you gulp calcium tablets.<br />If your blood count is low, you take food to improve blood count.<br />In this way sacrifices were done to get back a specific thing.<br />This is the way Nature works.<br />This was captured by Vedic wisdom and done for common welfare.<br /><br />The body is identified on the basis of basic Dhathus (elements) that are localized in specific parts. For instance fats stand for Jupiter and for pushti and growth. One wanting growth, will offer fats in the yajna. If one wants to reap benefits of Jupiter or the lord of Jupiter, he will have to offer fats specifically meant for that.<br /><br />The Vedic sacrifices are fashioned on this basis and the offering was done connected with the specific goal desired . So many items of that dhatu were offered in vedic fire and the related body part is also one among them. That is how animal sacrifice came into practice.<br />Certain animals were identified as “Yajna pashu’ whose specific body parts were offered in fire for specific results. <br /><br />These are for kaamya phalan – to fulfill mundane goals.<br />The Vedas are a body of knowledge that recorded everything under the sun.<br />Ishtam manishana Sarvam manishana – says Purusha sooktham.<br />‘What ever you desire can be achieved.<br />Everything can be achieved.’<br />The methods are all recorded in Vedas.<br /><br />But beyond all these, there is the ultimate goal – that of attainment of the Supreme Consciousness variously called as Sat, God, Ishwara, Brahman, Satyam etc.<br />It can not be attained by the above means of yajnas.<br />Those who desire mundane pleasures, are shown the ways through such yajnas.<br />Those who desire Supreme communion, are also shown the way which is by means of mental yajna – meditation, japa etc. <br />The Choice is yours.<br />In the former, the good and bad karma connected to that yajnas attach to you and make you reborn. <br />In the latter, you sacrifice even your punyam and all dharmas so that you have zero balance and you are not reborn.<br /><br />This is the essence of Vedas given in 2 parts – the former told through Poorva mimamsa – on methods of doing yajnas to attain desired goals and the latter told through Uttara mimamsa which is about soul’s search about the ethereal Truth so that one rises above mundane searches and meditate towards attaining Final Emancipation.<br /><br />This is the gist of Vedas.<br />If some one goes the mundane way and does this or that sacrifice, that is not the mistake of Veda dharma.<br />But Veda Dharma’s aim is to see that all rise above the mundane searches and reach Him.<br /><br />Einstein’s discovery can be used to make an atom bomb to destroy the world. It can also be used to cure a remote disease. It depends what use we put into.<br /><br />We must look at the yajnas and sacrifices and Ashwa medhas etc in this paradigm.<br />Just for having discovered his theory, Einstein could not be faulted for the drop of atom bomb.<br />In the same way, for recording the ways of ashwamedhas etc, Vedas and Hinduism can not be faulted.<br /><br />Everything is recorded and dealt with in Veda matham. Veda matham also tells what we must aspire for – through teachers, gurus, rishis, Upanishads, Brahma sutras and numerous texts such as Gita. It depends on the mental make up of the person in choosing.<br /><br />I don’t want to get into the nitty gritty of ashwamedha yajna. We don’t how much is interpolated. I say like this because the 44 th chapter of Brihat samhita deals with a yajna for horses done before a war or for victory. Varaha mihira gives all details of how this yajna was done including the stars which are ideal for this yajna. He also says that at the end of the yajna, the king rides on the horse for which the yajna was done and marches to the battle field for the fight. This is the way Ashwamedha yajna was done in the times prior to Varahamihira .Jayasree Saranathan https://www.blogger.com/profile/01048252011566427834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442555339667770589.post-36343849027690956702009-11-05T17:19:17.667+05:302009-11-05T17:19:17.667+05:30Dear Mr Jayendra,
You have raised a vital issue ...Dear Mr Jayendra, <br /><br />You have raised a vital issue which I have long wanted to write about.<br /><br />Violence is not supported by Hindu Dharma.<br />The Ultimate Dharma is “Ahimsa” – “Ahimsa ParamO dharma:”<br />The only place where violence is supported is in the last verse of Chandogya Upanishad, that says that Violence is not permitted except in the cases where it is done for Vedic dharma.<br />There is a saying – Vaidee himsa, na himsa – meaning violence done in the process of Vedic purpose, is not violence. But this does not hold good in Kali yuga and no animal sacrifice is authorized in Kali yuga. <br /><br />Coming to your question,<br />killing cow is adharmic. But killing a cow that charges towards you to kill you is dharmic.<br />Killing a life is adharmic. But killing a life for the sake of a dharma of Vedic nature that is done for the benefit of many is not adharmic.<br />This is the rationale behind sacrifices in Vedic yajnas.<br /><br />Before going into further details, let me quote from the foreword (Urai peru katturai) of Silappadhikaram, where Ilango adigal says that the Pandyan king who came after Nedumchezhiyan, performed a shanthi pooja to pacify Kannagi to get relief for the people who were suffering form the after effects of the fire and for getting rainfall to cool Madurai. Adigal says that the king sacrificed 1000 goldsmiths in this pooja!!<br /><br />Why were 1000 goldsmiths killed in the pooja?<br />If the wrong doer were to be punished, he must have punished the goldsmith who did the deceit. Why sacrifice other innocent ones also?<br />But then Kannagi also did an unjust act of killing many innocent citizens in the fire who were not at all connected with the wrong done to Kovalan.<br />Is what Kannagi did right?<br /><br />But the rationale is hat to bring down the heat and anger of her, the sacrifices were done. It resulted in a downpour that wiped off the heat, drought and sufferings of people!<br />This is rationale of Yajna.<br /><br />(continued)Jayasree Saranathan https://www.blogger.com/profile/01048252011566427834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442555339667770589.post-46864201208417121122009-11-05T08:55:08.719+05:302009-11-05T08:55:08.719+05:30Dear Madam,
Request you to throw some light on the...Dear Madam,<br />Request you to throw some light on the Ashwa Medha yagam that was conducted during ancient times. Did it really involve the killing of a horse and sex with it as described in Wikipedia?It is tough for me to accept that as I see that it is very tamasic to do that!!Lord Krishna who has clearly distinguished the faith and rituals according to 3 gunas states that "Ashastra vihimtam ghoram" meaning the gory pagan rituals are not enshrined in Vedas. Please clarify this point as the Valmiki Ramayan online edition also suggests the same process (under Bala Khandam)<br /><br />Regards,<br />Jayendrajayuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02095625028247450479noreply@blogger.com