Namaste SS.
This is in reference to post #17 dated 13 Aug 2009 wherein your first brought up the question if women (you zoomed out the word) are less intelligent and if sage VyAsa said so.
It seems that the origin of this controversy is the Srimad BhAgavatam verses 1.4.24 and 1.4.25 whose translations are as follows:
SB 1.4.24: Thus the great sage VyAsadeva, who is very kind to the ignorant masses, edited the Vedas so they might be assimilated by less intellectual men.
SB 1.4.25: Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the MahAbhArata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born. (
http://srimadbhagavatam.com/1/4/en)
Please notice that verse 1.4.24 only speaks about the "less intellectual men" and verse 1.4.25 speaks about "women, laborers and friends of the twice-born" without assigning any qualifications to them.
Please also notice that it is in his 'PURPORT' where PrabhupAda gives his own interpretation of the translation, he speaks about women being of the "less intelligent classes", giving an impression that sage VyAsa also thought as he thought about women. This is what PrabhupAda says in the 'PURPORT':
"The less intelligent classes of men, namely women, shUdras and unqualified sons of the higher castes, are devoid of necessary qualifications to understand the purpose of the transcendental Vedas. For them the MahAbhArata was prepared. The purpose of the MahAbhArata is to administer the purpose of the Vedas, and therefore within this MahAbhArata the summary Veda of Bhagavad-gItA is placed. The less intelligent are more interested in stories than in philosophy, and therefore the philosophy of the Vedas in the form of the Bhagavad-gItA is spoken by the Lord SrI KrishNa. VyAsadeva and Lord KrishNa are both on the transcendental plane, and therefore they collaborated in doing good to the fallen souls of this age." (
http://vedabase.net/sb/1/4/25/)
And PrabhupAda reiterates his opinion in his 'PURPORT' to SB 3.23.54. The actual translation of the verse is:
SB 3.23.54: Not knowing your transcendental situation, I have loved you while remaining attached to the objects of the senses. Nonetheless, let the affinity I have developed for you rid me of all fear. (
http://srimadbhagavatam.com/3/23/en)
This is a statement of DevahUti, to which PrabhupAda adds his own interpretation thus:
DevahUti is lamenting her position. As a woman, she had to love someone. Somehow or other, she came to love Kardama Muni, but without knowing of his spiritual advancement. Kardama Muni could understand DevahUti's heart; generally all women desire material enjoyment. They are called less intelligent because they are mostly prone to material enjoyment. DevahUti laments because her husband had given her the best kind of material enjoyment, but she did not know that he was so advanced in spiritual realization. Her plea was that even though she did not know the glories of her great husband, because she had taken shelter of him she must be delivered from material entanglement. Association with a great personality is most important. (
http://vedabase.net/sb/3/23/54/)
Does VyAsa say anything such as that he wrote his epic for the "less intelligent" class of people like "women and laborers"?
The
Adi Parva introduces the epic MahAbhArata thus:
(Kisari Mohan Ganguli's translation, downloadable as a single pdf file
at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14126117/M...-Mohan-Ganguli)
"The Purana, first promulgated by the great Rishi Dwaipayana, and which after having been heard both by the gods and the Brahmarshis was highly esteemed, being the most eminent narrative that exists, diversified both in diction and division, possessing subtile meanings logically combined, and gleaned from the Vedas, is a sacred work. Composed in elegant language, it includeth the subjects of other books. It is elucidated by other Shastras, and comprehendeth the sense of the four Vedas."
Sage VyAsa himself describes his 'composition' to Lord BrahmA thus:
"O divine Brahma, by me a poem hath been composed which is greatly respected. The mystery of the Veda, and what other subjects have been explained by me; the various rituals of the Upanishads with the Angas; the compilation of the Puranas and history formed by me and named after the three divisions of time, past, present, and future; the determination of the nature of decay, fear, disease, existence, and non-existence, a description of creeds and of the various modes of life; rule for the four castes, and the import of all the Puranas; an account of asceticism and of the duties of a religious student; the dimensions of the sun and moon, the planets, constellations, and stars, together with the duration of the four ages; the Rik, Sama and Yajur Vedas; also the Adhyatma; the sciences called Nyaya, Orthoephy and Treatment of diseases; charity and Pasupatadharma; birth celestial and human, for particular purposes; also a description of places of pilgrimage and other holy places of rivers, mountains,, forests, the ocean, of heavenly cities and the kalpas; the art of war; the different kinds of nations and languages: the nature of the manners of the people; and the all-pervading spirit;--all these have been represented. But, after all, no writer of this work is to be found on earth."
Understand that in ancient India, Sanskrit texts were 'composed' and 'passed on' under a great oral tradition. Sage VyAsa wants his 'poem' to be 'written down' which is why he says "no writer of this work is to be found on earth".
Lord BrahmA blesses him thus: "I esteem thee for thy knowledge of divine mysteries, before the whole body of celebrated Munis distinguished for the sanctity of their lives. I know thou hast revealed the divine word, even from its first utterance, in the language of truth. Thou hast called thy present work a
poem, wherefore it shall be a poem. There shall be no poets whose works may equal the descriptions of this poem, even, as the three other modes called Asrama are ever unequal in merit to the domestic Asrama. Let Ganesa be thought of, O Muni, for the purpose of writing the poem."
The story of GaneshA imposing a condition that the sage should never let his pen pause even for a moment while he was writing, VyAsa agreeing to it, and then GaneshA writing down the composition in great speed, breaking one of his tusks to serve as a pen, and sage VyAsa matching his speed in composition, frequently giving the God tough verses to ponder on before he wrote them down is well known, even to the "less intelligent" people like us, let alone women and labourers!
And mind you, MahAbhArata was composed and written down in high Sanskrit. But for the translations in the modern days and the lectures in the ancient days, the populace would never have understood it.
Originally Posted by devotee
Namaste SS,
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