"Hindu mythology"

[Believer]

I call Hindu holy books mythology, .........
This is not to say that I don't believe them to be true.

This is like sitting on the fence with one leg dangling on either side.

If a person believes them to be true, why in the world would he then say that I call it mythology. We don't owe it to anyone to prove that the scriptural events took place. That is our belief system and it is non-negotiable. Too much of intellectual gymnastics hurt my brain, so I try to keep it simple.

[Sahasranama]

Hindus are too considerate for people who don't believe in Hinduism. We should carry Hinduism with pride. We don't call our own scriptures myth. Period. Okay, so the Christians get laughed at, because they come through for their own beliefs. At least, they are being open about it. They wouldn't call the virgin birth of Jesus a fable. Should we be ashamed for the fact that we believe in gods with animal heads? "Oh, it's just a methaphor, really" or "Oh, the gods are not real, they are just our way of expressing the real god who no one can know." It's no wonder Hindus can be converted so easily to other faiths. The step from believing that your Gods aren't real, to believing in the one and only God, Allah or Jahweh, is very small. So is believing that everyone and his mother is an avatar. In one of his lectures on the bhagavad gita, Swami Chinmayananda was trying to make people aware of missionaries and conversions, he said, "don't let these people tell you that your Gods are not a real Gods."

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam all

I really cringe when ever the word Mythology is applied to our scripture especially so when our own does it.

this was discussed a while back here http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1670

but i am glad it has been brought back, it is good to remind our self that our shastra are not myth but a vibrant history that we read and follow.
as i said before there are thing in them we do not understand or comprehend but there in lies a deep meaning and morals that we learn from them, our culture is built around it.

Jai Shree Krishna

[satay]

Admin Note
Namaste,
This thread is now open. Please keep it on topic.
Thanks for your patience.

[PARAM]

ॐ

Thank You Satay

Continue..

Many Christians have even made a point that before Alexander's invasion Indians were uncivilized barbarians. Alexander spreaded culture and civilization in India, so the civilization described in these texts which seemed to be more advanced in science, technology, culture, philosophy and linguistics could not have existed prior to the arrival of Alexander and hence the texts are mythical.

[Sahasranama]

Many Christians have even made a point that before Alexander's invasion Indians were uncivilized barbarians. Alexander spreaded culture and civilization in India, so the civilization described in these texts which seemed to be more advanced in science, technology, culture, philosophy and linguistics could not have existed prior to the arrival of Alexander and hence the texts are mythical.

Is that relevant to the discussion at hand? This thread has just been cleaned up, because of off topic debates. But if you want to know more about this subject, there is an interesting webpage on the subject of India and Greece: http://www.hinduwisdom.info/India_and_Greece.htm

[Riverwolf]

The word "mythology" doesn't bother me at all; rather, I see mythology as a wonderful thing. But then, I'm a fan of Joseph Cambell's work, so what do I know?

[PARAM]

ॐ

Is that relevant to the discussion at hand? This thread has just been cleaned up, because of off topic debates. But if you want to know more about this subject, there is an interesting webpage on the subject of India and Greece: http://www.hinduwisdom.info/India_and_Greece.htm

As Satay says this thread is open, go with topic there are many sections to discuss, here check it is about our DharmGranths, those are dubbed as Mythology by anti-hindus
You can say how you are trying to spread the word, stop others from using myth word for itihas.

The word "mythology" doesn't bother me at all; rather, I see mythology as a wonderful thing. But then, I'm a fan of Joseph Cambell's work, so what do I know?

This word never bothered many people, but Hindus have to understand what it have effect on truth, Our those texts are Itihas, we translate this word as History, and it belongs to those texts that are discribed Myth.

[Riverwolf]

This word never bothered many people, but Hindus have to understand what it have effect on truth, Our those texts are Itihas, we translate this word as History, and it belongs to those texts that are discribed Myth.

"You are aware, I suppose, that all mythology and poetry is a narration of events, either past, present, or to come?"
-Plato

^_^

I, personally, am skeptical that the Itihasas portray the real events perfectly, because poets and bards, by their natures, exaggerate. This happens in our own Epics in the West; the Trojan War really did happen, but it wasn't over a woman, but taxation of a trade route.

So I don't doubt that there was a King of Ayodhya named Rama who went to save his wife Sita from the tyrant Ravana who ruled in Lanka, or that the Kauravas and Pandavas really did fight a terrible war. But the details of these events are most likely, IMO, lost forever.

To me, just because something is called a "history" doesn't automatically mean it is so. After all, it's called history that Columbus discovered America and befriended the natives there; that's not true at all. In America, our public school history textbooks are less about history and more about installing patriotism in the children, telling only of the glories of American history, while completely omitting or glossing over the shames.

Just my opinion, though.

[sanjaya]

This is like sitting on the fence with one leg dangling on either side.

If a person believes them to be true, why in the world would he then say that I call it mythology. We don't owe it to anyone to prove that the scriptural events took place. That is our belief system and it is non-negotiable. Too much of intellectual gymnastics hurt my brain, so I try to keep it simple.

Well if I'm asked to expand on my beliefs, I do have a halfway decent answer prepared. Like all religious texts, we have to keep in mind that Hindu Scriptures contain a certain amount of figurative language. For example, I don't believe that Hindu creation stories are true according to the literal reading. I do, however, believe that the epics are largely historical, and that there was a historical Rama, Kurukshetra war, etc. As for the stories about Hindu gods, I don't even know how to read those. What does it even mean to say that Lord Shiva literally beheaded his son and replaced the head with that of an elephant? I believe that this story is "true," but I'm unsure as to the definition of truth in this context.

Maybe there's a bit of bias. I grew up hearing stories about the gods and the epics. The creation myths...not so much. For what it's worth, I also think of the Bible and Koran as Western myths, albeit less enlightened ones.