Life after death

[Iyyarooraan]

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Reproduced below is a piece received in e.mail.
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
ShvEtakEtu was a young Brahmin student. Initially, he learnt at the feet of his own father at home and later went to the assembly of Paanchaalas.

[FONT=&quot] A kshatriya prince Pravaahana confronted him and asked, " you say you have studied well. Now tell me where do people go after death?"

" I don't know sir" the brahmin boy said.
" How do they return to earth?"
" I don't know, sir.?"
" Do you know the two paths taken by the dead - DEvayaana and Pitryaana?.(paths of light and darkness).
" No sir".
" How is it that the other world does not get overcrowded although people are dying every day?"
" No sir, I don't know."
" How does the elemental matter become purusha/ living person? If you don't know this also, how do you say you are educated?".

ShvEtakEtu felt humiliated. He went back to his father and repeated the questions. The father who also did not know the answers went straight to the prince and requested him to teach him the answers. The prince tried to lure the father and his son by money first trying to avoid answering the questions. When the two did not yield, he started giving the answers.

" O braahmanas, this knowledge was always with the kshatriyas and for the first time I am giving it to you. As a result of the five yajnas the elemental matter is converted into life. Elemental matter is the oblation offered to the fire and the sun. The result is production of sOma which is poured into parjanya (power which brings rain). When rain is poured on earth, food results. When man digests food, rEta is produced which enters a woman's body and a child is born. Thus after the five stages, elemental matter is converted as life."

Continuing he says, " Man's body is made up of five elements which get dissolved after death. Destiny of his soul depends on his actions and knowledge. The one with spiritual knowledge goes by dEvayaana and does not return to the earthly existence. Otherwise, it goes by pitryaana to heaven (if with good deeds), remains there till his punya is exhausted and comes back to the world to live according to general nature of his earlier actions. If with sins and evil deeds, he is born and reborn to go through the cycle of lives of insects and worms and suffers interminably. So, some of those who are born on earth pass on to the world of Brahman and some others go to heaven and numerous others are caught up in the ever recurring cycle of births and deaths. So there is no danger of the other world becoming full"

This is about life, its origin and destiny given to a brahmin for the first time by a kshatriya - Pravaahana Jaivali. [/FONT]

 

[renuka]

I remember reading this story and also the fact that Shvetaketu felt extremely humiilated becos of this episode..the version I read was written in a way the Shevts was saying "That Arrogant Kshatriya fellow etc.." but this version you pasted did not have that.

Anyway coming back to the point..when I 1st read this story long long back...I was wondering that all this while we were under the impression that Brahmanas were dealing with Jnana etc and even Kshatriya rulers used to learn under a Brahmana Guru.

So the question is from where did the Kshatriyas get this knowledge that no Brahmin knew this?

Was it a direct revelation to a Kshatriya sage and he decided to keep it a secret?

Why did he want to keep it a secret?

Or is it that Brahmins were not the only ones dealing with Jnana and others castes too had their school of thoughts and eventually everything was fused into what we call religion now.


Or was it that Brahmins were more into the Ritualistic Karma Kandha and Kshatriyas were more analytical? Lord Buddha(being a Kshatriya) was a perfect example of non ritualistic analytical mind.


So from which caste did analysis start?

 

[renuka]

BTW just to add..Hindu text do stress a lot of importance to Retas(Spermatozoa) as being live producing..they make it sound as if Retas is what makes life and the female is just like a agni kund that receives the retas during coitus.

But I wonder if this is just a male thinking that they are the life giving virulent power and indispensable....but advancement in science has proved that cloning is possible without even the need of Retas.

All we need is DNA and a Ova to sustain the created life form.

Even in some species of bees there is Partenogenesis where new life is created sans mating with the male.

In fact by cloning the male is not even needed anymore..just a female is needed and all cloned beings will be female too.

But at the same time we can also say that the male was needed during the 1st act of coitus during creation of mankind without which no one would be here.

But yet even if all males were extinct cloning can make the world repopulate with all females.

So the question is "Is Retas all that powerful or was it just over rated?"

May be it was DNA that was the powerful life giving force and the Ova is the petri dish that gives substrate for live to develop cos we can remove the DNA containing Nucles of an Ova and inject it with a different DNA from a donor cell and jump start the Ova and then cloning takes place.

So what is all that is needed is just DNA and substrate to grow.

So for all the hype about Retas technically it is not even needed.

 

[krish44]

BTW just to add..Hindu text do stress a lot of importance to Retas(Spermatozoa) as being live producing..they make it sound as if Retas is what makes life and the female is just like a agni kund that receives the retas during coitus.

But I wonder if this is just a male thinking that they are the life giving virulent power and indispensable....but advancement in science has proved that cloning is possible without even the need of Retas.

All we need is DNA and a Ova to sustain the created life form.

Even in some species of bees there is Partenogenesis where new life is created sans mating with the male.

In fact by cloning the male is not even needed anymore..just a female is needed and all cloned beings will be female too.

But at the same time we can also say that the male was needed during the 1st act of coitus during creation of mankind without which no one would be here.

But yet even if all males were extinct cloning can make the world repopulate with all females.

So the question is "Is Retas all that powerful or was it just over rated?"

May be it was DNA that was the powerful life giving force and the Ova is the petri dish that gives substrate for live to develop cos we can remove the DNA containing Nucles of an Ova and inject it with a different DNA from a donor cell and jump start the Ova and then cloning takes place.

So what is all that is needed is just DNA and substrate to grow.

So for all the hype about Retas technically it is not even needed.

well , interesting
I could imagine that ladies were some automobile requiring borrowed fuel [different DNA from a donor cell] and take off at high speed producing cloned humans.
to hell with menfolk and retas..lol
also interesting that kshatriyas distributing gnan instead of brahmins . with reservation policy , gnan is being distributed only by intermediate castes including kshatriyas in academic institutions In some temples also . there are many non brahmin priests and preachers distributing gnan these days.

 

[renuka]

well , interesting
I could imagine that ladies were some automobile requiring borrowed fuel [different DNA from a donor cell] and take off at high speed producing cloned humans.
to hell with menfolk and retas..lol
also interesting that kshatriyas distributing gnan instead of brahmins . with reservation policy , gnan is being distributed only by intermediate castes including kshatriyas in academic institutions In some temples also . there are many non brahmin priests and preachers distributing gnan these days.

Dear Krish ji,

Before that I need to apologize to you cos I decided to ditch Dumb Mode..I could not stand it yaar..my mind would have rusted!LOL

 

[CHANDRU1849]

well , interesting
I could imagine that ladies were some automobile requiring borrowed fuel [different DNA from a donor cell] and take off at high speed producing cloned humans.
to hell with menfolk and retas..lol
also interesting that kshatriyas distributing gnan instead of brahmins . with reservation policy , gnan is being distributed only by intermediate castes including kshatriyas in academic institutions In some temples also . there are many non brahmin priests and preachers distributing gnan these days.

Most of the Jain Monks from earlier period belonged to Kshatriya community.

 

[Iyyarooraan]

Practically speaking may be those two - the student and his father - were less informed. To suppose that every Brahmin knows every thing is wrong. Knowledge is universal and it can never be an exclusive property of a small group. There are umpteen stories to support this. Those who seek knowledge can get it if they are humble; like the father of the student.

 

[krish44]

Dear Krish ji,

Before that I need to apologize to you cos I decided to ditch Dumb Mode..I could not stand it yaar..my mind would have rusted!LOL

no need to be apologitic. if we have been endowed with brains , we cannot help using them. lol

 

[vgane]

Yesterday after the Modi interview to Arnab, Dr Subramaniam Swamy crowned him as a Brahmin, because of his wisdom! LOL!!

 

[renuka]

Yesterday after the Modi interview to Arnab, Dr Subramaniam Swamy crowned him as a Brahmin, because of his wisdom! LOL!!

LOL! Why cant Subramaniam Swamy appreciate wisdom in a person without attaching a varna tag to it? Wisdom is Universal..it does not belong to any one community.

So I guess Subramaniam Swamy is just like any regular person who cant see beyond his varna tinted lenses. What a let down!

 

[sarang]

All genuine hindus accept varna classification; modi too in his interviews has said everyone must be proud of his jati. In the same post swamy said that varnas are not birth based, but guna based. So let down must become let up!!

Many pseudo secular interpretations or refusal to accept varna system are getting rejected. Please understand that this is not the exclusive view of brahmins alone.

Regarding the new controversy raised by the secular congress regarding sri narendra modi's caste (which is unnecessary and irrelevant), a few articles have appeared authored by learned(?) intellectuals assigning his caste from brahmin to most backward and varna/jati mobility was a universal phenomenon. Anyway modi is proud of his birth and lineage. So is swamy.

LOL! Why cant Subramaniam Swamy appreciate wisdom in a person without attaching a varna tag to it? Wisdom is Universal..it does not belong to any one community.

So I guess Subramaniam Swamy is just like any regular person who cant see beyond his varna tinted lenses. What a let down!

 

[renuka]

All genuine hindus accept varna classification; modi too in his interviews has said everyone must be proud of his jati. In the same post swamy said that varnas are not birth based, but guna based. So let down must become let up!!

Many pseudo secular interpretations or refusal to accept varna system are getting rejected. Please understand that this is not the exclusive view of brahmins alone.

Regarding the new controversy raised by the secular congress regarding sri narendra modi's caste (which is unnecessary and irrelevant), a few articles have appeared authored by learned(?) intellectuals assigning his caste from brahmin to most backward and varna/jati mobility was a universal phenomenon. Anyway modi is proud of his birth and lineage. So is swamy.

The guna based classification totally does not make sense.

I dont get it why Varna be it Janma Varna or the so called Non existent Guna Varna needs to be attached to any situation? Cant we Indians just be neutral at least sometimes?

Another word I can not totally understand is the word Proud.

One just have to live in this world..what is there to be proud of anything when nothing is technically ours?

The word Proud limits one intellect and understanding...it just reinforces that we totally identify with our present state and think that totally defines us but in reality the fact is we are not the body but the Atma.

Many people claim to be spiritual but yet sprinkle the word Pride in their daily life.

The closest to the final state is described as Sat Cit Ananda..I do not see Mada(Pride) anywhere in that equation.