Why The Agnipariksha?

Hi Gauri, Rihana, Kamala ma'am

Apologies for the delay in posting the links. Will ensure to paste links below each post from now on!

Thanks for reminding

The reson why I had to post from other posts than writing was because I was trying to make the same point as was written in the posts but mine was a bigger version. I found the posts mostly to the point and crisp.

I sourced most of my material for Women; reference in Vedic culture from these websites given below. The authors did a wonderful job of explaining it beautifully. If anybody can spare some time, please do read it!

Women in Vedic Culture
Women in Hinduism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A little history about Stephen Kapp can be found here:
About Stephen Knapp

I need to mention sreenivasarao s here who wrote the below article. He did a beautiful job. It was through this post that I realized about Hermeneutics. I was trying to say the say thing by talking about detachment and reading the epic keeping in mind the society at that point of time.

Rig Veda Position of women Part One | Sulekha Creative Inside Outside - Home And Garden Contest
Rig Veda Position of women part Two | Sulekha Creative Inside Outside - Home And Garden Contest

Gargi - the Brahmavadini

I came to know about this person Gargi through Sreenivasarao's writing and Stephen Kapp's article. I am pasting the wiki link to read more about her:

Gargi Vachaknavi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Well, all said, there is just one explanation which just made me feel so so happy. It talked about everything I felt, inshort it echoed my views on the topic but explained in such a beautiful manner. I couldn't help but order his books to enjoy more of his writing. Please read the author's website - all his posts if possible. I specially took out the Rama's way of living by rules from this website. Such an amazing article. Had it been up to me, I would made a mess while trying to explain the same. Anyway....here is the article for you! Do read and enjoy!

Infact, the question that the author asked his sister, is a statement that I used to hear from my mom.

I would rather have Krishna as a husband than Rama. This one statement for me, influenced my beliefs. It was not until I got married, that I knew the actual meaning of the statement and relate to it. Not surprisingly, my views changed.

Hearing Sita’s Silence

Sati system was a topic which did a lot of research on. I found a lot of websites for it too. I never gave Sati system much thought. IT was a practice that was followed way before I was born and was wrong and hence abolished. That's it. But after doing a deeper research into this, I had to check so many websites to verify and check if what the speaker told was true as well. The post from Quora very nicely explained the history.

Indian Tradition: What are the origins of the practice of sati in India? - Quora
Rani Padmini - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Life in India: The Practice of Sati or Widow Burning - Kashgar Tribal Artifacts - Life for the Modern Nomad | Handmade Jewellery, ethnic handicrafts, antique furniture

And that story on Sita and the parrot was sourced from this website:

http://www.kukuznest.com/bloody-parrot-reason-behind-existence-ramayana/

So, that's it for now. Oh yes, there one more website left, where I found the entire Rigveda slokas along with the meanings. I thought I bookmarked it but unable to find it now. Will keep searching and put it up when I find that website again.

 

Thanks Dr. S. That's what I was trying to say. But you really do a better job at explaining than me. Sometimes, I really do have trouble phrasing the sentence the way I want to convey what I feel.

 

My understanding or takeaway is that:

Rama lived before Krishna, if we are to follow the Dasavatharam. Rama lived his life following rules in every walk of his life just to set an example for the people who rule after him.. His intention, I feel, was to set an idealistic society which adheres to rules at all walks of life. So he did just that. While doing this, he hurt a few people, if not many like Sita. I think or feel, he thought he was following his concept of dharma when he asked Sita to undergo agnipariksha.

Krishna who comes after Rama in the order of Dasavatharam, lived in a society which followed the rules. But the problem here was the rules by then were twisted and bent by the society to serve their selfish purposes. Like In that context where Duryodhana follows the rules of trying to take Draupathi as a maid since he won her in a dice game. So, the concept of Dharma is lost here when it is misused. It is the same reason why Bhishma, Vidura don't talk anything. On the face of it, it looks like every act that the Kauravas did is as per the rules that the society is following, but in the essence, it is not doing what it is supposed to do - to stand by the truth. Hence, Krishna talks about breaking rules which do not serve for the betterment of society.

I feel, he is indirectly telling us to let go of those practices or customs which turn evil if it comes in the way of betterment of society.

Rama followed what he thought was right. Krishna followed his Dharma. Each of them had their own versions of Dharma. Each of them followed what they thought was right. IT might not be right by our standards now. But their actions show that they believed in it.

At the end, to me, it feels that no society is perfect. Be it the strictly rule following society like Rama's or the relaxed society of Krishna's. Each society has its own share of evils. So, to fight that which is evil is what is needed.

 

Hi Kamla ma'am, Thank you! Thanks to Vaidehi for the nomination!!

It was great learning experience for me as well. I learnt a lot in my quest to answer the questions that other posters asked.

Yes ma'am. Very true. I don't intend to force my opinion on anybody or say that my way is the right way. Though my posts somehow tend to make other posters feel this, it is not really what I am trying to convey.

I intend to show them another view of looking at the epic. That is all. I love to have a healthy discussion too. I will ensure to maintain it at the same pace, as much as possible.

Ma'am, my intention in not posting the links was not to hide the orinigal writer or to pass off their comments as mine. Mine was more of a time constraint issue.

The only time I can access IL freely is in my office. Having written a long and lengthy post for various posts on Monday, along with office work was very very stressful. It honestly didn't strike me to add the links while replying since I was intent on replying/ answering.

Tuesday and Wednesday was filled with back-to-back meetings and trainings and conf calls. So didn't have time to spare.

I have now posted another comment with all the links. Here after, I will ensure to follow this. If I do forget, I will add another post for the same.

Sure ma'am, I do tend to maintain my calm most of the time. But some posts do test my patience and my irritation seems to somehow flow into my comments here. I have really made a conscious effort to respond than react. However, in the interest of what you said, I will ensure, to avoid arguments. Thanks you!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Very true.

I typed out the entire text in a word document initially. I didn't realize that the word 'vastra-apaharanam' was getting autocorrected to 'vastrabaranam'.

By the time I realized this error, the thread was already in its fourth page. so I didn't think of inserting a note inbetween as I felt it would be lost in the discussions. So just left it as such.

thanks for mentioning about this!