Woman in India Marries Dog to Ward Off Evil

[tks]

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Shri tks,

Where does the line gets drawn , and by whom or what? Certainly not people like us but the parties involved. "Live and let live"? Dear sir, you do have a sense of dark humour (no offense intended). The quoted phrase indicates understanding and acceptance, with all parties concerned willing to undergo the act. Not forced rituals, for fear of society, superstition or simply, a case of an iron fisted father.

Since superstition and fear ties up the individual from head to toe, I guess, the mudicchu is right on intentions...

Regards & cheers

Sri Auh

There is only an imaginary Mudicchu Perhaps it may be tough to untangle.. Let me try -

"Live and Let Live " is a statement for me from making judgement of other cultures unless I see explicit harm.
If anyone care to listen they can take this as a motto also.

Most of humanity (and this may include even you if you care to introspect and it includes me) is caught in a web of superstitions - it is human being's way of dealing with unknown. Some may seem 'over the top' and some are more sophisticated. ALL religions (including all vintages of Hinduism) promote superstitions in the form of a glorified idea of 'faith'.

Therefore my yardstick is not to consciously judge unless there is quantifiable harm. If someone is forced to go on with a ritual then that constitutes harm. The degree has to be assessed based on how an individual's desire for freedom is limited by collective needs for a perceived order of a society/tribe etc.

It then becomes a judgement as to the threshold of harm that a given practice may be causing to an individual and society at large.

If the threshold is not reached accepting others the way they are is the mature thing to do in my view.

Live and let live does not mean one is simply out there 'showing the other cheek' when there is a gross violation. It is not about being an Ilicchavaay!

Now if someone causes harm to others even in words then it is our duty to at least speak up. There had been Brahmin bashing culture with some members and they had to be called out in the past. There are others who indulge in bashing other things and based on a threshold we set for ourselves we speak up. At least I do...

The video in this thread is staged, silly and may have caused some harm. But in my mind it has not reached the threshold to go beyond the 'live and let live' policy. Your threshold may be different

Regardless the Mudicchu need not bring in snakes, lizards and Acharyas at the same time

 

[Naina_Marbus]

Dear tksji:

Very thoughtful response.

 

[tks]

Dear tksji:

Very thoughtful response.

Thank you !

 

[auh]

Shri tks,

You have articulated well indeed, I concede, on certain points, but fallen short of addressing my query. The only point that I would draw attention to, is the "threshold" you have so rightly explained. And the right person for judging it is the girl who had supposedly married one from the canine species. If she is not happy, as is purported, then it is clearly a case of "mudicchu" becoming real...

Otoh, if you contend that the video is staged, it is an entirely different ground for debate, and one that I am not making now.

Thinking aloud : Btw, isn't tat tvam asi applicable for snakes & lizards? What is "tat" and what is "tvam" here?

 

[tks]

Shri tks,

You have articulated well indeed, I concede, on certain points, but fallen short of addressing my query. The only point that I would draw attention to, is the "threshold" you have so rightly explained. And the right person for judging it is the girl who had supposedly married one from the canine species. If she is not happy, as is purported, then it is clearly a case of "mudicchu" becoming real...

Otoh, if you contend that the video is staged, it is an entirely different ground for debate, and one that I am not making now.

Thinking aloud : Btw, isn't tat tvam asi applicable for snakes & lizards? What is "tat" and what is "tvam" here?

Sri auh

The lady getting married seems happy in my view (more likely staged) -
Or someone like her could be happy witha stupid show since it means a curse is getting lifted in their superstition .
There are far more serious issues like sex slavery in large proportion that is worthy of our consideration than this freak show.

I assume the Maha-vakya is not part of this mudicchu ..Looks like you want to have some fun

OK!


This like all other Mahavakyas are least understood and often incorrectly used. While the Maha-vakya is simple to state it requires enormous infrastructure to understand what is being taught much like the Vakya E=MC**2


The Mahavakya as you may know occurs in Chapter 6 of Chandogya Upanishad where the father Uddalaka says to his son Svetakethu as part of his teaching - Tat (that Brahman, whatever it is ) Asi (is) Tvam (you), Svetakethu. That is a short answers to your question.

In its literal form this will be meaningless. Here is a Vakya that is asserting equality of two items of different dimension.
It is like equating "cow is water"..

By definition whatever Brahman is it is supposed to be limitless while Tvam is Svethakethu who was finite and limited (but obviously not here). But one may say what is referred to is Svetaketu's soul whatever that is.


Also how can such a statement be useful?

The Maha Vakya says You or your soul whatever that is equals Brahman whatever that is.

Many people have this idea in their mind that they have a body which houses a mind. The mind houses a piece of 'divinity' whatever that word means like a pulsating star encased within the body and mind . So they may think 'tat' (That) is that divinity in them.


So you could go and tell a snake - 'Tat Tvam Asi, Oh Snake' - why should'nt it have that pulsating star of divinity.
After all a cow or snake has a mind and makes instinctive decisions. So why should'nt the snake have divinity.

So svetaketu's soul = Brahman
A man's soul = Brahman
Dog's soul = Brahman

So a Man = Dog

So the Dog can marry the girl...

You are right the Mahavakya blesses the married couple ;-)

 

[auh]

...the Mahavakya blesses the married couple ;-)

Only the mahavakya can bless this couple... !!!

I sign off this discussion now... thanks for engaging.

Regards,

 

[tks]

Only the mahavakya can bless this couple... !!!

I sign off this discussion now... thanks for engaging.

Regards,

Sri Auh

Thanks for the engagement too . I did not notice earlier that you had responded .

Rather than end with silly 'conclusion' in my previous post let me end with something more meaningful (at least to my thinking).

In post #55 there were some serious points.

Tat Tvam Asi - is a statement of an equation without condition.
You already are that and it is said to an actual human character by name Svetaketu.

Now the equation is 'dimensionally' incorrect as is often understood and used. Absurd results will emerge with incorrect understanding.

I think of any and all historical figures including Sri Sankara as human beings and therefore capable of making mistakes.
I also do not try to learn from any of these Mahavakyas by assuming that they are true as a starting point. In fact my learning approaches has been to refute it and see if it can be proved wrong. I then discover the Sruthi and such teachings are profoundly right. My shraddha then is then higher when I come across something else.

My guess from your past writing is that you have been exposed to and influenced by the interpretations of Sri Ramanuja. It is just a guess.

I understand that he interpreted this Mahavakya by applying rules of grammar in a manner that is not accepted (and also ignored the context where it comes in the Upanishad (being spoken to Svetakaetu)) in order to force fit the truth of this Mahavakya to his other teaching. Obviously this was explained to me by someone who is an expert in Sankara Bhashya. I do not want to get into specifics on this anymore.

When you introduced this Mahavakya ideas into the knot (Mudicchu) I thought you wanted some discussion on this.

Anyway such a discussion does not belong in this thread. Let us let the dog rest in peace if it is still alive

 

[sarang]

The dog, leading a dog's life has no rest. It is in great demand and is busy solemnizing more weddings, without caste bias. Only the media has lost interest.

Let us let the dog rest in peace if it is still alive