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The End of Indra's Worship

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Dear Anthanarik,

 

As you probably will know Sri Krsna descended on the earth at the end of

Dvapara-yuga, 5,000 years ago. When He was seven years old and lived with

His father, Nanda Baba, and mother, Yasoda Mata, in Vraja His father was

busy with the arrangement of the annual yajna (fire sacrifice) for Lord

Indra, King of the Heavenly Planets. Up to that time in Dvapara-yuga Indra

was worshipped as the istadeva, the giver of rainfall and wealth. By the

rainfall the grass becomes lush and the cows are fed. This was the idea

behind the worship of Indra in the cowherding communities of that time.

However, Krsna advised His father to disregard the worship of the demi-god

Indra and instead worship Sri Govardhana Hill and the cows. Govardhana Hill

is the play ground for Krsna's conjugal pastimes and for grazing the cows.

Govardhana is the best 'Haridas' (servant) of Krsna, according to Srimati

Radharani. He serves Krsna with all of his body. Nanda Baba followed the

advise of His little son upon which Indra became upset out of pride and

anger. He sent a torrential of rains in order to drown the inhabitants of

Vraja as a punishment for the disregard of his worship. To protect the

inhabitants of Vraja Krsna lifted Govardhana Hill as an umbrella on His left

little finger and remained staying like that for seven days until Indra

realized that the little boy in Vraja was the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Himself. Then Indra stopped the rainfall. From that time on in the Vedic

history of mankind Lord Krsna is being worshipped as the Supreme Lord

whereas the worship of Indra gradually waned. Govardhana Puja and Go Puja

(cow worship) are annually performed at the end of the month Karttika,

October, in Vraja and other places in India. Sri Krsna is both, a historical

'figure' and a divine personality. To help humanity understand His

activities He acted on both, the mundane (historical) platform and on the

esotheric platform (to please His devotees).

 

 

Kind regards,

Indira dasi

 

 

 

 

 

-

Anthanarik <anthanaric

<vediculture >

Friday, September 08, 2000 6:55 AM

[world-vedic] Vedic Culture

 

 

>

> Greetings Hare Krsna devotee,

>

> You do have a sense of humor. Thats good. I am actually interested in

> your sect of Santana Dharma. Regarding Vedic culture, it really a

> matter of historical investigation inorder to ascertain its nature.

> It seems like ownership is an ex-post facto debate where rationality

> wanes. I have found that comparative religions holds clues. BTW, I

> have often wondered why Indra's support has waned?

>

> Anthanarik

>

>

>

>

>

> This is an information resource and discussion group for people interested

in the World's Ancient Vedic Culture, with a focus on its historical,

archeological and scientific aspects. Also topics about India, Hinduism,

God, and other aspects of World Culture are welcome.

>

>

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On 9 Sep 00, at 23:14, Oroboros Catilyne wrote:

 

> At 07:13 PM 9/8/00 +0200, Indira dasi wrote:

>

> >As you probably will know Sri Krsna descended on the earth at the end of

> >Dvapara-yuga, 5,000 years ago.

>

> Could you please be so kind as to cite your sources for this? In studying

> the Vedas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas, and Upanishadic materials I'm finding no

> mention of Krsna. I was under the impression that he really didn't make

> an appearance in the corpus of materials until the Mahabarta/Bhagavad

> Gita.

 

Krsna, the son of Devaki, is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanisad

(3.17.6). He is the disciple of Ghora Angirasa in that Upanisad.

Although this Krsna has been identified as the Krsna of the later

epics by some the connection must be said to be very doubtful.

 

In the Ujjvala-nilamani by Rupa Gosvamin there is a reference to a

passage in an appendix of the Rgveda (Rk-parisista) where the

name Radha is mentioned in connection with the name Madhava

(considered a name of Krsna). The passage where Rupa

Gosvamin mentions this is Ujjavala-nilamani 4.4. However, Rupa

Gosvamin seems to ignore the context in which this passage

occurs in the Rk-parisista. This context dictates that Radha is the

constellation Visakha, and Madhava is the month in spring (now

known as Vaisakh) that coincides with that constellation.

 

 

> I'm trying to ascertain whether your assertions are a matter of faith or

> historical documentation. I must add that either is fine, but I'm just

> trying to get the histories straight.

 

If one accepts doubtful interpretations of isolated passages in the

Sruti one may make a case that Krsna appears in these texts.

However, such passages are rare and one has to offer real forced

readings to get them to point to Krsna. So you are right, Krsna

does not appear in these oldest texts. The Krsna legend first

appears full-fledged in the literature in the Hari-vamsa, which as far

as I recall is considered pre-500 C.E.

 

Sincerely,

Toke Lindegaard Knudsen

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On 9 Sep 00, at 23:14, Oroboros Catilyne wrote:

 

> At 07:13 PM 9/8/00 +0200, Indira dasi wrote:

>

> >As you probably will know Sri Krsna descended on the earth at the end

> >of Dvapara-yuga, 5,000 years ago.

>

> Could you please be so kind as to cite your sources for this? In

> studying the Vedas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas, and Upanishadic materials I'm

> finding no mention of Krsna. I was under the impression that he really

> didn't make an appearance in the corpus of materials until the

> Mahabarta/Bhagavad Gita.

 

Krsna, the son of Devaki, is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanisad

(3.17.6). He is the disciple of Ghora Angirasa in that Upanisad.

Although this Krsna has been identified as the Krsna of the later

epics by some the connection must be said to be very doubtful.

 

In the Ujjvala-nilamani by Rupa Gosvamin there is a reference to a

passage in an appendix of the Rgveda (Rk-parisista) where the

name Radha is mentioned in connection with the name Madhava

(considered a name of Krsna). The passage where Rupa

Gosvamin mentions this is Ujjavala-nilamani 4.4. However, Rupa

Gosvamin seems to ignore the context in which this passage

occurs in the Rk-parisista. This context dictates that Radha is the

constellation Visakha, and Madhava is the month in spring (now

known as

Vaisakh) that coincides with that constellation.

 

 

> I'm trying to ascertain whether your assertions are a matter of faith or

> historical documentation. I must add that either is fine, but I'm just

> trying to get the histories straight.

 

If one accepts doubtful interpretations of isolated passages in the

Sruti one may make a case that Krsna appears in these texts.

However, such passages are rare and one has to offer real forced

readings to get them to point to Krsna. So you are right, Krsna

does not appear in these oldest texts. The Krsna legend first

appears full-fledged in the literature in the Hari-vamsa, which as far

as

I recall is considered pre-500 C.E.

 

Sincerely,

Toke Lindegaard Knudsen

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