Hinduism - Other forms of worship

[Anirudh]

Namaste Aspirant,
I myself have done Anga pradakshanam almost 3 or 4 times. And every time I had vomited after the offering. I don't want to force my opinion here but I am with a view that practices which creates physical injury should be verified. Again it s individuals choice and capability. I can agree with fire walking but not sure about the scientific reason behind the the body piercing. Every ritual followed in Hinduism has profound scientific advantage, so propagating those advantage will help the readers to appreciate the rituals.
I know the science behind tonsure but as a OP you ll know better. To know the science behind one has to learn, without it people will not know what and why they are doing. And such a thing will corrupt the practice.

[Viraja]

Namaste Aspirant,
I myself have done Anga pradakshanam almost 3 or 4 times. And every time I had vomited after the offering. I don't want to force my opinion here but I am with a view that practices which creates physical injury should be verified.

It is not actual physical injury here, but a feeling of sickness/nausea -- similar to whole-day fasting. Ofcourse, it may be dangerous for people with certain conditions such as heart-attack to do it, but it is common sense, fasting whole-day isn't advocated to the pregnant lady either, nobody is to clarify these things, we all know by ourselves.

Again it s individuals choice and capability. I can agree with fire walking but not sure about the scientific reason behind the the body piercing. Every ritual followed in Hinduism has profound scientific advantage, so propagating those advantage will help the readers to appreciate the rituals.
I know the science behind tonsure but as a OP you ll know better. To know the science behind one has to learn, without it people will not know what and why they are doing. And such a thing will corrupt the practice.

No, I do not know the scientific reasoning behind various practices. I don't even know the scientific reasoning behind recitation of mantras/shostras - they say they have a certain specific set of vibrations that reaches and pleases the specific deity but I am not reciting mantras for this reason and also I am reciting simple slokas in Tamil. It is just the belief that is guiding me in reciting them, just so as these people are doing, not any convincing scientific fact. But I would like to know the scientific reasoning too, behind these practices, if possible.

[Believer]

Namaste,

'Tamasic practices' -

Practices such as slaughtering of humans (olden days of Kaabaalikas), slaughtering of animals, eating meat, drink, doing anything with cremation ground, dead bodies (such as what Aghoris do), practices involving prostitution (such as 'tantra'), and practices involving untruth, lies, not adhering to dharma are tamasic practices.

Whereas, walk on fire, head shave, adi pradakshinam, anga pradakshinam, and especially Kaavadi, do not involve any of the above. I doubt it that anyone says these 5 practices are 'tamasic' as per shastras, I cannot believe shastras classify these as tamasic at all. They are not, actually, 'self-mutilation' either, as stated elsewhere in this thread.

+1

Pranam.

[Sahasranama]

You only showed some shastra pramana classifying that certain practices are 'tamasic'. Do you have any evidence to show Kavadi, walk on fire, head shave, anga pradakshinam, adi pradakshinam are tamasic?

You forgot to mention some other practices you wrote about in the OP like piercing of Vel and biting live chickens. I don't think pradakshinam or walking Kavadi is tamasik depending on the physical tolerance of the sadhaka. Self mutilation is what makes some of these practices tamasik.

I don't judge anyone for the practices they choose to do as long as they don't hurt anyone innocent. Depending on guna and svabhava people practice different forms of tapas. If you want to shave your head, walk on fire, smear yourself with ashes from the cremation ground, pierce yourself with sharp metals and bite live chickens, more power to you.

[Viraja]

If you want to shave your head, walk on fire, smear yourself with ashes from the cremation ground, pierce yourself with sharp metals and bite live chickens, more power to you.

I am not grouping the worship. Seen in isolation, except for biting live chickens and smearing ashes from the cremation ground, the other practices aren't bad. Shaving head will give humility, piercing with 'Vel' along with fasting - tolerance of pain, walk on fire - simply a form of penance.

Your grouping of them all makes the individual practices look barbaric, however they are not. But, I admire your sense of humour.

[philosoraptor]

Well, I think people who chose to injure or kill animals had better be prepared to demonstrate the shAstric basis for their actions. What gives them the right to inflict suffering on these creatures?

[Anirudh]

Namaste Aspirant,

Common sense is the most uncommon thing to find.
If you are reciting Thiruppaavai without knowing its meaning and dedication, then it might not make sense. Same is the case with the practices, and when done under the shades of ignorance exploitation finds its way in.
So when you had posted an article on Thaipoosam assumed you might have had an insight.
EMji posted a link but won't be able access that a fortnight or so.
Prahallada said Vishnu resides even in the pillar, yet devotees scale 3000+ steps to get a glimpses of Venkateshwara. Its not just blind faith, there should have been a reason. Why a Saint like Raamanuja would have scaled it on his knees? It cannot just be common sense alone, am I right?
To make a positive impact, you may choose to share information. As an affluent Hindu practitioners, aren't we obliged to spread the wisdom behind Kaavadi so that all can take advantage.

Pranaam!

[Anirudh]

Namaste Aspirant

I thought answered you. I disagree with the tag you gave to the folks who practise these rituals. These rituals if were followed since ages, their should have been a science behind them. So scientific practitioners should get their due respect and not a possible racial tag like non-bhramans or what ever you have mentioned.
You have a moral binding to your thread and making things clearer will be a service to the practitioners of these rituals. Can we call our kids as dunce if we don't know the reason behind their perceived low scores. Aren't we insulting our own kids?

[Viraja]

Namaste Aspirant

I thought answered you. I disagree with the tag you gave to the folks who practise these rituals. These rituals if were followed since ages, their should have been a science behind them. So scientific practitioners should get their due respect and not a possible racial tag like non-bhramans or what ever you have mentioned.
You have a moral binding to your thread and making things clearer will be a service to the practitioners of these rituals. Can we call our kids as dunce if we don't know the reason behind their perceived low scores. Aren't we insulting our own kids?

No, it was not meant to be a racial tag at all. My initial motive, being a Brahmin was to announce, "Let us, the Brahmins, while certainly proud of our spiritual accomplishments of various forms, take a moment to recognize the painstaking efforts of other communities, especially the poor people who comprise of the labor class but do hard sadhanas as these" and I chose the topic and worded them in my opening message accordingly. If any more member also feels the same way as you do, please let me know, I can probably inquire Satay ji to change the thread name to something else, maybe like "Hinduism - Other forms of worship".

[Anirudh]

Thanks for the reply. The alternate title you suggested sounds to be a perfect one. I believe our generation has a responsibility to unite Bhaarathvaasis and propagate Hinduism. Hinduism in my opinion is a time tested life science. We need to spread Hinduism to every nook and corner of Bhaarathvarsh. A simple Madi (followed amongst TN Brahmins) during cooking is a Science but a EVR gang will ridicule it. And my gut feeling is Kaavadi should have been practiced by Brahmins as well in the past. You might not know what's happening to Hinduism in TN. Will send you few links a fortnight down the lane, you ll know the real sorry state of Hinduism under the EVR gang of rulers.