Fwd: puranas : an interpretation

[Guest guest]

" Ram Chandran " wrote:

 

Namaste:

 

In chapter 10 of Bahavad Gita, the Glory of the Divine has been

projected through the manifestations of the Brahman in a variety of

forms. The names, forms and heroic stories of the Avatars are to

illustrate the divine attributes embodied through the shapes of

those

Avatars (shape of a human being or an animal or a human-animal

combined form, possessing great and sometimes supernatural powers).

These Avatars of Vishnu appeared in the world are mostly to destroy

the Evil and to protect and preserve the Good. These stories of

avatars are similar to projections of movies on the screen with

specific goals. Some movies are quite realistic and some of them are

not realistic. But every movie provides some useful hints for how

we

proceed with our own lives – some items and characters in the movies

serve us as role models, others help us to avoid certain paths or

certain characters etc. In short, the Puranic stories can be

understood appropriately when understand the undisclosed symbolism

and subtle unwritten messages.

 

The Hindu scriptures could be subdivided into three segments to

simplify our understanding:

First category consists of highest level philosophy suitable for the

spiritual seekers. Upanishads, Brahman Sutras and Bhagavad Gita

belong to category.

Second category consists of part of the Vedas that describe rituals

and their vidhis including agama sastras and dharma sastras (manu).

These are suitable for the families to conduct their Vedic karmas

and

worldly life.

Third category consists of puranas and upapuranas along with the

Idhikasas (Ramayana and Mahabharat) to serve as illustrations for

the

families to follow the Vedic customs and Manu dharma.

 

As Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekandra Saraswati points out in the well

written book with the title, Vedas, the entire emphasis of Hindu

scriptures is on `Dharma.' Also the entire Bhagavad Gita focuses

on `Dharma' and Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna that dharma can be

protected through Yoga. Gita found the right combination - Karma

Yoga

with dharma to cross and go beyond the samsara Sagaram!

 

In conclusion, let us not give importance to the historical and

scientific facts of Puranic stories, instead, focus on the message

that those stories try to convey to help us to grow spiritually.

This ancient religious tradition always tried to emphasize `morals'

through story telling and they were quite effective for the millions

of less philosophically inclined audience.

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran