\|/ DKDM Episode Discussion Thread \|/ - Page 46

Originally posted by: rsnarula67

Whoa there, I go on a short break and come back to such a lively discussion.

Sad to have missed it.

Here's my two bits worth, based on stuff I have read, this is just a general view :

From what I gather the Vedas are the real and only fount of knowledge, the Purans are like animated versions, according to which God is the primary in each particular Puran the stories bend that way.

The Vedas acknowledge the primacy of all, animate, inanimate, irrespective of the gender, size etc. Also there is no gender assigned to God (here I am not very clear about how God is actually approached, I am just starting to learn ...)

The Purans are apparently a way to put the ideas of the Vedas in a more simplified manner - which is understandable to us very dense human beings. Also, it is perhaps the most tampered with, in the sense that each generational change gears the stories towards the attitudes of that time depending on the mind set of the orater. As the society became more Patrichial, the standing of women was downgraded. This is reflected in these stories of Tulsi, Lakshmi, Parvati etc. The petty jealousies etc - where it is always the female who seem to be ... and are also attributed to be later writings or rewritings

It is like the various versions of the Ramayan - the original Valmiki Ramayan is said to be more balanced, whereas the later day versions are more 'progressively regressive' (is that an oxymoron?)

My op is also that the advent of the invaders, who after conquering the land went on a spree of undermining local belief systems (as has been done throughout history, by invaders all over the world - Mexico is another prime example), had a lot to do with the stopping of the evolution of thought in the right direction.

Without the invaders, I think that the regressiveness would not have been so enshrined and in true Indian tradition of being argumentative - things would have evolved more positively with better understanding.

DT Sahiba, way off the topic I know, but just had to put in my thoughts. 😊