As far as I am concerned scripture is only a guideline. The spiritual portion of it is the core, the rest of the myth and stuff are very secondary. Ultimately the aim of scripture and religion should be to make man more interested in spirituality, and if any religion is going to rely on very harsh rules and disciplining(like enforcing God's commands), it is not going to go to the masses. It will turn man away from God.
The bath etc are intended for purity, and is a beginner level exercise. As you progress in your sadhana, the emphasis shifts into subtle realms, and not on bodily rules - was what I intended to say.
Do you know that practicising proper pranayama along with kumbakam has virtually no equivalent purifier of the body? Take a look at Manusmriti and see how much Pranayama is eulogized even as a parihara for many sins. True bath is the bliss bath of the soul in the sahasrara chakra.
The reason Ramayana is read with considerable reverance is because it is an itihasa. Itihasas are not merely stories, but rather life histories of a Yogi expressed in a story form. For eg, Ramayana is actually Jnana Yoga, and its seven kandas are nothing but seven stages of Jnana Yoga . ( I can elaborate this in detail in another post) Reading of Ramayana is equal to indulging in Jnana Yoga for this reason, though it will lead to self realization in a dormant way. Similarly, Mahabaratha is the itihasa of Karma Yoga. Similarly, the first seven chapters of Bhagavata is Jnana Yoga, and the 10th skanda is Jnana Bhakti Itihasa, where every character in the story is very significant, and even the names of characters have direct relevance to the Yoga. I can post about this in great detail. Devi Bhagavatam is identical in purport to Srimad Bhagavatam.
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