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Indra
13 May 2008, 11:45 AM
Maybe its just prejudices other religions spread about hinduism but as far as i read and saw on TV, there are some hindus who worship animals like cows, and even snakes and rats.

1.Is that even true?

2.Why they do that? Is that superstition or part of pure vedic philosophy? Is that even part of sanatana dharma or are that just superstitious traditions and weeds that grow in hinduism?

Frankly, im very very pro-hindu and think its a great philosophy but find it disgusting when i see such pictures

Forgive me my questions, maybe i find it disgusting because im from a christian background and maybe because i hate rats and snakes and other ugly animals. I can comprehend that all creatures including animals are creations of the supreme god and that divine presence is everywhere therefore show respect to the holy nature, respect the holiness of the creation because its holy since god created it, thats also christian teaching, that the divine presence is in every creature and that god created every living being on earth and therefore treat the nature with respect, but why worship the creation and not the supreme god? Forgive my words, i dont want to offend anyone, im very pro-hindu.

Maybe someone can enlighten me.
I look forward to your responses

satay
13 May 2008, 03:07 PM
Namaskar Indra,



Forgive me my questions, maybe i find it disgusting because im from a christian background and maybe because i hate rats and snakes and other ugly animals.


Yes, it is due to your Christian background. Christian mythology is meant for the peasants and anything that is beyond the comprehension of a peasant would seem ‘disgusting’ from their narrow low mental capability. What is strange is that most if not all christians stick with this narrow comprehension as I will explain later. However, it is nice to see that you are starting to question the dogma of your background; this as my Buddhist friend would say is ‘due to your good karma ripening’. J



I can comprehend that all creatures including animals are creations of the supreme god and that divine presence is everywhere therefore show respect to the holy nature, respect the holiness of the creation because its holy since god created it, thats also christian teaching, that the divine presence is in every creature and that god created every living being on earth and therefore treat the nature with respect, but why worship the creation and not the supreme god?


Yes, this is due to lack of comprehension that most if not all Christians have. Also this is due to ignorance of Hinduism in general. But that’s understandable. You see, when I first visited a church I was really disgusted to see people worshipping a dead man hanging on a wooden cross. What a pathetic way to worship I thought. Then at the end of the sermon, the priest drank ‘blood’ and ‘ate from the body’. To me these were all disgusting things and I thought how barbaric these peasants are!

Later, I found that the ‘blood’ priest was drinking was just some tap water with perhaps some sugar in it and the ‘body’ he was eating was just some piece of bread! Then I realized that these were all symbols these peasants were using to worship the dead hanging man on the two wooden pieces.


Hindus, however, are not ‘worshipping’ in the Christian sense of the word. You see, the person bowing down to an animal or stone is not actually ‘worshipping’ that animal or stone, they are bowing down to the divine in it. This is the symbolism that exists in all (?) religions including Christianity and mohhamadeans.


Specifically for the snake, shiva is the bearer of snake, so bowing down to the snake is like bowing down to shiva himself. I noticed that you have recently changed your avatar to ‘shiva’. If you simply look at it, there are snakes around his neck.

In the case of rats, rat is a vehicle of ‘Ganesha’ without whose worship first, any vedic ritual or yagna does not bear any fruit. So it is good to give respects to the vehicle of Ganesha and offer him milk.



its really disgusting to see worship of such ugly animals and people on knees praying to snakes. Forgive my words, i dont want to offend anyone, im very pro-hindu.


Yes, like I said, earlier, it was also very disgusting for me to see people worshipping a dead man on a wooden cross and drinking blood and eat bodies but when I understood the symbolism it made sense to me of what they were doing.

What surprises me is that any uneducated indian villager working in cow dung all day long when he bows down in front of a statue of hanuman, he knows that he is bowing down to the divinity in him yet any so called scholars with double phds from west, especially if they have Christian background cannot fathom this simple act of worship. Yet, they will happily drink the blood and eat the body and worship a dead man in their own church!

Amazing.

devotee
13 May 2008, 08:41 PM
Namaste Indra,


Maybe its just prejudices other religions spread about hinduism but as far as i read and saw on TV, there are some hindus who worship animals like cows, and even snakes and rats.

Frankly, im very very pro-hindu and think its a great philosophy but find it disgusting when i see such pictures


You see, the person bowing down to an animal or stone is not actually ‘worshipping’ that animal or stone, they are bowing down to the divine in it. This is the symbolism that exists in all (?) religions including Christianity and mohhamadeans.


Satay has answered it correctly & nicely. However, it may take some time for you to understand the philosophy because of your conditioned way of thinking.

Hindus believe that everything around in this universe is just a manifestation of Him. This concept of "One-ness" has been proved by actual realisation of the Truth by the enlightened souls irrespective of religions ... be it Hinduism (Advait), Islam ( Sufism), Christianity(gnosticism), Buddhism (Non-duality) etc.. The Supreme Being is just One & only one without a second. There is no separate God sitting above all of us. God is in you, , He is in every human being, He is in the tree that you see, He is in the Cow, the serpent, the rat, the water, the air, the Sun, the Earth .... there is nothing, not even space which is not He Himself. ... and that is not just a belief ... my dear friend, that is the Supreme Truth which has been proved beyond doubt & you too can realise that !

God has no form & yet He is in all forms. He has no name & yet all names are but His.

To verify the truth in the words of my post, try to find answer to the question .... "Who are you" ? Are you the label, "Indra" .... Are you this "body" .... Are you this "mind" .... Are you just One or many at the same time ? You can also try to understand this too ...

In the begining, there was nothing except God, right ? "Nothing", here, means, really nothing, not even space ... because if space was there independent of God's existence that means something could exist & be maintained irrespectgive of God's wishes ... and that would challenge the Omnipotence of God. So, that is not possible. Therefore, there was just God without a second. Now, any "creation", thereafter, can only be manifestation of same God because there was no other raw material except God. So, everything in this universe cannot be anything except God & within God Himself.

Therefore, it hardly matters what form or no-form you worship. You cannot worship anything except God. The difference is in "bhavana" ( the mixture of "feeling", "devotion", "desires" etc. while worshipping). If your "bhavana" is not correct then whatever form or name you choose to worship will take you to your downfall. If your "bhavana" is correct, then whether you worship the formless God's concept or a cow, or a serpent, or a stone, or the river, or the tree ... it will lead to your spiritual upliftment.

In Hinduism we say, "Jaaki Rahi Bhaavana jaisi, Prabhu Murat dekhi tin taisi" ===> Everyone sees God in different manner depending upon his "bhavana".

OM

aumprakash
13 May 2008, 10:40 PM
1.Is that even true?

2.Why they do that? Is that superstition or part of pure vedic philosophy? Is that even part of sanatana dharma or are that just superstitious traditions and weeds that grow in hinduism?

Frankly, im very very pro-hindu and think its a great philosophy but find it disgusting when i see such pictures1. yes

2. superstition, blind belief, you have to note that majority have Hindus never read Vedas,Upanishads etc, they just follow tradition, thank god , the current generation reading atleast Bhagawad Geeta..

I been to snake temples ( my family diety is snake goddess- Nagamma) the murti mostly represent like the one below

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9904/3212257535d2cf81319vg0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9904/3212257535d2cf81319vg0.e4a981188c.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=223&i=3212257535d2cf81319vg0.jpg)


note that the image basically represents Kundalini , so i think it is mostly misunderstanding the symbolism and praying to real snakes..

TatTvamAsi
13 May 2008, 11:25 PM
Aumprakash,

Good to see you on here bro! I've been following your YouTube videos and of course our discussions on HYA.

This is a great source for discussion of (usually) like-minded people.

Are any of the other HYA members on here? We should perhaps invite more of them (?).

Subham.

TatTvamAsi
13 May 2008, 11:31 PM
Indra,

Your misunderstanding is quite simple, albeit offensive, it is also understandable given your background.

The easiest way one can explain the quintessential message of Sanatana Dharma ("Hinduism") is this:

The creator (GOD=BRAHMAN) is NOT separate from its creation! Brahman IS! There is nothing, absolutely nothing, else!

Other religions, especially the Abrahamic faiths (christianity/islam/judaism) believe that the creator and "his" creation are separate! That is the fundamental dichotomy between Sanatana Dharma & the Abrahamic faiths.

Therefore, getting back to your question, if one worships an "animal" such as a snake, rat, cow, etc., one worships Brahman (GOD)! Capiche?

Subham.

Indra
14 May 2008, 07:05 AM
namaskar,

Thanks for your good explanations to all. In theory it sounds good but for me its disgusting seeing worhsip of reall snakes and rats. Im limited in thinking due to my christian background (first commandment) and due to my perception and bias.

I like the answer of aumprakash the best, that it is just superstition and blind belief and misunderstanding of worhsip of real snakes. I think i will follow his attitude.;)

satay
14 May 2008, 09:56 AM
Namaste Indra,



namaskar,

Thanks for your good explanations to all. In theory it sounds good but for me its disgusting seeing worhsip of reall snakes and rats. Im limited in thinking due to my christian background (first commandment) and due to my perception and bias.

Again, no one is forcing you to 'worship' anything. If you find snakes disgusting so be it. A lot of us find worshipping dead bodies and drinking blood disgusting but there are actually tribes in africa that have a cup of blood (drawn from an anmial) every morning as we have our regular coffee or tea in the morning.

What makes us feel disgusting is due to what is called 'ethnocenterism'. As humans we are only used to and comfortable with the 'norms' of our own culture and religion.

Like I said, bowing down in front of a snake or in front of the shiv lingum or in front of a statue of hanuman or in front of statue of ganesh are 'norms' of hinduism and of indian culture. To an outsider like yourself it is not the norm because you guys are used to worshipping dead bodies so that is disgusting for a regular hindu.

Get my drift?;)

Indra
14 May 2008, 11:47 AM
namaskar satay,




Get my drift?;)

I got your point. but i think there maybe some regular hindu indians who dont like rats or snakes too.

aumprakash
14 May 2008, 02:31 PM
thank you, i am taking a break from Youtube , donno when i will be active again , same goes with HYA, yes we can sure invite them here ( i think fourm is better then Yahoo group Emails)

dhruva023
14 May 2008, 03:13 PM
thank you, i am taking a break from Youtube , donno when i will be active again , same goes with HYA, yes we can sure invite them here ( i think fourm is better then Yahoo group Emails)


what is hya?

ohmshivaya
14 May 2008, 04:07 PM
Maybe its just prejudices other religions spread about hinduism but as far as i read and saw on TV, there are some hindus who worship animals like cows, and even snakes and rats.



Namaste,

The answers to many of the questions you ask on this forum, not just on this particular thread, may be found in this website:

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/contents.htm (http://www.hinduwisdom.info/contents.htm)

This website provides basic, and well illustrated, background information to all those wanting to learn about hinduism, or understand the philosophy more clearly. On the left side of the screen, you'll find the category 'Nature worship.' Perhaps you will find answers to some of your questions from above. There is also whole array of topics under Sanatana Dharma, history of India, art, culture, etc., to choose from, to enhance your understanding of India and Sanatana Dharma.

Since you say you would like to learn more about your Indian/Hindu roots, then perhaps, it would be worth your while to go patiently through this website to gain preliminary understanding.