HOL Reloaded#91(IO) Main waari jaawa - Page 32

Byeee,😆

i would never EVER read them ever. show mein stefan ki saintliness kam hai, ki i have to read the epicness of SE and their greatness in those books 🥱 esp when they sacked LJ smith just because she wanted a damon elena ending instead of spineless epic saga 🥱

The DE quotes were really good though. I saw them on this amazing Delena vm. <3 I still can't believe they sacked LJ Smith. 😔 It's just saaad.

Also the Bamon factor in the book makes me wanna puke. 🤢 That only made me SO antagonistic towards Bonnie in the show. Ab she lets bhatakti aatma's to control her actions. 🥱

I want more Damon. He inspires me to become more funny in real life. You also have Damonish wit. 😉

Dashain is around the corner and Bhagwati temples all over the country will soon be overcrowded with devotees. Despite the rush, there's one idea that I still cannot comprehend'why is Dashain one of the major festivals of Nepal? It seems paradoxical that while we ardently worship Durga and Kali'the ferociously powerful goddesses'we hardly adore such characteristics in women in real life. For women, our idolizations are reserved for the relatively-docile, agreeable deities like Parvati, Laxmi and Sita. Durga and Kali are supposed to be the most powerful goddesses of the Hindu pantheon, but our culture discourages women to idolize them. I see a mismatch between our religious beliefs and our real life practices. If a situation prompts a woman to act as aggressively as Durga in real life, won't it be considered as an act of deviant femininity? Women are supposed to be weak and vulnerable, and there will always be a hero to fight women's battles for them and rescue them from demons. How could gallantry and power'paradoxically associated with Durga (and Kali, who is a manifestation of Durga)'be feminine characteristics in real life?

Most people may not be aware that women are discouraged from taking part in the nine-day Nava Durga and jamara (barley shoots) puja in most Chhettri and Bahun households. Women are also excluded from the tenth, climactic day of Durga Puja. Though women actively participate in other Dashain preparations, they are not supposed to perform the puja on Bijaya Dashami. Even in homes where animal sacrifice is not practised, either a priest or a male family member initiates the puja. What could be the reason behind such an exclusion of women from the rituals of Dashain?

While the mythological Durga symbolises power, in a patriarchal society it is men, rather than women, who have access to socio-political and economic power. Is it due to such proximity with power that men are considered natural puja conductors? In the past, mythical narratives of Durga and Kali were often mobilized to legitimize the power and status of a king. It is possible that the men performing puja are using the same pattern to legitimize their position and power within their families'their individual kingdoms in the modern context.

Bhakti and shakti are major components in Hindu religiosity. Hindu theology defines bhakti as devotion and shakti as power. Bhakti is associated with passive virtues such as reverence and surrender to deities, whereas shakti suggests vigor, energy and potency. Both are tied to each other. People do bhakti to attain divine shakti. It is to become closer to the divine power of shakti that devotees perform acts of bhakti during Dashain. The paradox, however, is in the fact that while the female goddess is considered the source of energy or shakti, it is the males who perform the puja to appease her.

The title of R. Sunder Rajan's essay Is the Hindu Goddess a Feminist? amuses me. I cannot help but smile and agree to some extent that Durga may be a feminist after all. Her disruptive feminine image challenges and subverts the stereotypical concept of submissive womanhood. In the Hindu pantheon, goddesses are divided into two main categories: benign and fierce. Durga and Kali are the two fierce goddesses with their (un)feminine characteristics. Both of them, in their pure forms, are without consorts, and both embody absolute shakti'the cosmic power. Both are projected as individual feminine entities without becoming relative deities to specific male gods. They fight their own battles for the right cause. Riding the lion as her vahan (vehicle) and brandishing ten different weapons in her ten arms, Durga vanquished the buffalo-demon Mahisasura. She is the stree-shakti (feminine power) and the one who triumphs. Unlike the domestic virtues of Laxmi, Sita and Parvati, the warrior-like characteristics of Durga and Kali defy socially-accepted conventions of an "ideal womanhood." This is probably the reason why mortal women are encouraged to idolize goddesses like Laxmi and Sita rather than warrior goddesses like Durga or Kali.

Durga is not only a theological feminist, but also a theological existentialist. Her threefold images (of creator, preserver, and destroyer) refutes the theory that there is a singular womanly nature or essence. Centuries before Sartre's existential philosophy became popular in France, Durga's iconic images suggested the idea that 'existence precedes essence'. Manifestations of Durga amply show that womanliness has no predetermined purpose or essence. Images of Durga are infused with power and freedom that resist conventional gender stereotypes. Her iconic image negates the idea that there is any predetermined destiny for gendered lives; it suggests that women too can be born with the so-called "male essences" like bravery or physical strength. In other words, the iconic image of Durga distorts all signs of fixity and unchanging feminine essentiality.

In the Skanda Purana, Durga is described as Parvati, Shiva's consort. A myth from Devi Mahatmya states that she acquired this name after she killed the demon Durgama. As Uma or Parvati, she is seen as a protective deity, and as Kali, she incarnates as the destructive force. One of her most-known epithets is that of demon-killer, and she is also known as Mahisasur-mardini'the buffalo-demon trampler. Her alternative names are Himavati, Dashbhuja, Bhagwati, and Trinayani Durga. Other texts such as the Kalika Purana also narrate other legends lionizing Durga's bravery and strength. Her victory is the victory of good over evil. Her victory over the demon suggests that femininity could be associated with physical valour and strength as well; an understanding which, in turn, shows that neither femininity nor masculinity is unchanging.

As part of the Hindu pantheon, Durga is known for slaying wrongdoers and demons, and spurring the male gods into action. Her name also means "She who is difficult to go against", which refers to her triumphs against evil. I wonder if the mythological Durga ever follows her stree-dharma (a woman's duty) like many of us are advised to follow in our real lives! Does she follow the laws and the logics of a different stree-dharma? If she could communicate with us mortals, how would she define her stree-dharma to us? Is there a difference in the stree-dharmas of deities and mortals? She is, of course, worshipped for her chivalry and for slaying wrongdoers. At the same time, there is the troubling fact that women are discouraged to idolize her as their shakti. Why are only male bhakts (devotees) entitled to be closer to Durga? Is it because equality and rights are unfamiliar concepts in Hinduism and because people are not encouraged to reinterpret or rewrite the "truths" of religious discourse in a modern context?

Before concluding, I come back to the same concern with which I began'Why are women discouraged or excluded from conducting worship of Durga and Kali in Nepal? My personal view is that this happens due to 'bad faith'. In an existentialist notion, 'bad faith' refers to the ways in which we deceive ourselves in order to pretend that we are not free; we forget the fact that, as humans, we can reflect upon and transcend our given situations. We need to thrust aside the 'bad faith' and understand that, like multiple manifestations of Durga, women (as well as men) can transcend their immediate historical and socio-cultural contexts or situations. As humans, we are bound to our contexts by social ideologies, cultural rituals, and insistence of our pasts. We can "un-bound" ourselves by understanding that femininity, like masculinity, is not an essence but a cultural fact or a social construct. The multiplicity of Durga's existence'as creator, preserver and destroyer'also points to these multiple realities.

Dashain is a celebration of Durga's victory over evil. Let's make this Dashain a victory over our 'bad faiths.' We just need to remember that while an individual is free to choose how she wants to live, no one is free not to choose. For, to not to choose how to live is still to choose not to choose. Power might not have any gender, but gender has power in our contemporary societies. Therefore, may the powerless also have the power to choose! May Durga provide more "power" to the submissive and downtrodden ones! Shakti rupena namo namah.

oh GOD Bamon 🤢 i mean i used to like bonnie till like about the first season, even the start of 2nd season when she helped to capture katherine, i mean i liked how was growing as witch and was determined AGAINST helping the vampires, now all she does is hating vampires, and despite that helping them even more annoying is that how stelena and bamon fans in tumblr etc group up to bash delena 😕 HAIN????

oh, about damon, i wish i cud be half as kickass as him 😆 wat I like about him is the inner rebel in him, tat WHY should he be what others want him to be??? he is himself, however he is, and happy. and another thing which i adore, if a storm goes through him now, the next moment he'll act hillarious and sarcastic as if nothing happened 🤣 i wish i had the i care two hoots wala attitude 🤣

i want the firang version of sadda haq on damon salvatore 🤣

I liked her when she was actually friends with Elena. 🤔 In this season when there was a choice between Abby turning into a vampire or Elena dying, she vehemently didn't want Abby turning into a vampire. So she wanted Elena to die or what? Is that what a best friend wants? 🤢

I agreee. Damon is so indifferent to what people think and that quote which he said (my stat) is so GOLDEEEN. It's my life motto. Damon is the best.

BUT you are. You pwn people just aise. 😆 He has the best sense of humour and he uses sarcasm in arguments as opposed to swearing which is just like me. I believe sarcasm hurts more than f**k f**k f**k. 🤣

Now again I think Elena will choose Damon. Two seasons straight she was with Saint Steffie, all that build up wont go waste.

did you know when kali went berserk, killing demons around her in anger, the gods asked shiva to intervene, and what he did was just lie in the path of kali, and as soon as she stepped on shiva, her tongue came out as a sign of embarrassment and lajja, and she stopped finally 😆 ironical na, a domestic virtue of respecting a husband made her stop?

But yes, durga ma is inspiring, calm and fierce at the same time. it seems that no male god could kill mahisasur, so they created durga ma. Sri Ram, before going on a war with raavan did durga's puja, so you understand now the power she symbolized

One of her most-known epithets is that of demon-killer, and she is also known as Mahisasur-mardini'the buffalo-demon trampler. Other texts such as the Kalika Purana also narrate other legends lionizing Durga's bravery and strength. Her victory is the victory of good over evil. Her victory over the demon suggests that femininity could be associated with physical valour and strength as well; an understanding which, in turn, shows that neither femininity nor masculinity is unchanging.

Mahisasurmardini, infact if you are interested nidz, during mahalaya, in all bengali channels they narrate the the epic fight of mahisasurmardini, my mother used to make me watch since childhood, amazing the valor of ma durga

i wish one day even i can go to kolkata to witness durga puja, once in life kabhi toh hoga 😆

no that is fine. abby is her mother na 😳 so yah its difficult to chose btw mum and best friend. ek toh i dont understand, she is tired of helping the vampires and elena. so for once let her not and stick to it. wats the point in crying baar baar after repeating your mistakes 😕

i hate it how TVD potrays mothers to be selfish and all, abby left bonnie after her powers left her because, she wanted to explore life normally which she cudn't do before as a witch? HAIN??? what kind of selfishness is that? 😕 and ester being one more. ugh. ugh. ugh, all the mother witches in tvd are maha annoying and epitome of ruthlessness. even mother india must have thought a 100 time before killing her son.

its Elena we are talking of you see 😳 no one knows what play in her mind 🤣 i mean if it was stefan, he would support her in all illogical and stupid decisions she takes in the name of "i respect her decisions irrespective of the decision making no sense" 😳 only damon has the guts to actually set her straight and in her face , of course he is then termed as selfish and ruthless 🤔

who will she chose god knows 😕 😕 😕

caro, stefan, damon came from whose bloodline? i'll go for a wacky choice, how abt KOL 😎 🤣 ok, i have a feeling it can be elijah too, but i guess they can make the bloodline of klaus too, maybe because they want to keep him end tak 😆