Guest guest Posted February 26, 2010 Report Share Posted February 26, 2010 Namaskar, I just finished watching the movie Water, which is a fiction based on the sad story of the child widows still subjected to the literal, more oppressive interpretations of the Laws of Manu. I am not going to debate whether this still goes on in India today since every society will have its areas where these things go on (just like domestic violence still exists in the United States). However, the sad story of the people involved aside, there was a rather touching component of the movie I thought was moving. The male lead in the story is named Narayan and even more, he plays the flute. Right when I saw that, the symbolism came to me instantly. Said man had romantic feelings for a female widow and more or less discussed Indian Classical Literature and told stories. He also championed for the widows badly treated in this movie. Even more interesting, one of the female leads in the story worshiped Krishna. This story reminded me of the stories when Krishna helped women in distress. For instance, there was the story where one of the women was about to be taken advantage of by someone, and she cried for help (I feel ashamed I forgot her name) from Krishna. Krishna instantly aided her by making her sari stretch and expand in length to keep a man from removing her clothes. (Please help me remember the names here, I only recall the tale from my classes and it was not in lecture notes). Another example was when the 16100 women captive by Narakasura could not go home because they were defiled. Krishna married them all so they could return home. Then thinking on this movie, and what is classical literature in India, I could not help but wonder...was Krishna meant to be a helper of women in distress? Of all the incarnations of Vishnu, this seemed a very striking theme for him. I first was exposed to him through the Bhagavad Gita, but now I begin to think he was more than just someone speaking the wisdom of bhakta yoga and karma yoga. What does everyone think? I realize some people feel he was a bit of a womanizer to have married all of those women, but I think taking the other classical stories of him in mind, I cannot help but take a more positive message from his tales. Jai Maa! Sincerely, Arya/Christina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2010 Report Share Posted February 26, 2010 Namaste: The woman in question was Draupadi, wife of the Pandava's brothers, after she was lost to their cousins after a game of dice. One of her other names is actually Krishnaa (long a), referring to her beautiful dark skin. (Traditionally she is depicted blue, similar to Krishna.) Krishna's relationships to women and to shakti in general is really fascinating. As I child, I was more of a Krishna-bhakta, and read his stories with delight. When I brought up the same questions you had about his thousands of wives to my grandfather as a youth, he chided me and said it was purely a spiritual union. But my grandfather had the legacy of British India from his own youth, which made many Hindu's bowdlerize our own myths to make them more acceptable to the Western world. A few things I've found when looking into this matter have been: 1) Krishna's status as a complete avatar. Unlike previously Avatars of Vishnu, Krishna was completely aware of his own divinity, and was effectively " outside " of the normal cycles of karma. 2) Krishna is always intimately connected to women, and many of his best devotees are women. In fact his Shakti, Radha is married to another man but in love with Him! 3) I don't have time at the moment to dwell in to the intricacies of the Rasa Lila, the Krishna's dance of creation, that is also connected to Vishnu Maya, the protecting veil of worldly illusions. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of parallels with shakta-orientated theology. 4) Lord Krishna and the goddess Kali are frequently associated in modern times. There is a fascinating book called " The Sword and the Flute " that discusses this relationship. I'm sure others on this list have many more interesting things to say about Him. Jai Maa. -Santo aum shanti shanti shantih. " The world is like the impression left by the telling of a story. " - from the Yoga VÄsiá¹£á¹ha On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 4:41 AM, Amaya Kalarathri < theilluminatedcelestial wrote: > > > Namaskar, > > I just finished watching the movie Water, which is a fiction based on the > sad story of the child widows still subjected to the literal, more > oppressive interpretations of the Laws of Manu. I am not going to debate > whether this still goes on in India today since every society will have its > areas where these things go on (just like domestic violence still exists in > the United States). However, the sad story of the people involved aside, > there was a rather touching component of the movie I thought was moving. > > The male lead in the story is named Narayan and even more, he plays the > flute. Right when I saw that, the symbolism came to me instantly. Said man > had romantic feelings for a female widow and more or less discussed Indian > Classical Literature and told stories. He also championed for the widows > badly treated in this movie. > > Even more interesting, one of the female leads in the story worshiped > Krishna. > > This story reminded me of the stories when Krishna helped women in > distress. For instance, there was the story where one of the women was > about to be taken advantage of by someone, and she cried for help (I feel > ashamed I forgot her name) from Krishna. Krishna instantly aided her by > making her sari stretch and expand in length to keep a man from removing > her > clothes. (Please help me remember the names here, I only recall the tale > from my classes and it was not in lecture notes). > > Another example was when the 16100 women captive by Narakasura could not go > home because they were defiled. Krishna married them all so they could > return home. > > Then thinking on this movie, and what is classical literature in India, I > could not help but wonder...was Krishna meant to be a helper of women in > distress? Of all the incarnations of Vishnu, this seemed a very striking > theme for him. I first was exposed to him through the Bhagavad Gita, but > now I begin to think he was more than just someone speaking the wisdom of > bhakta yoga and karma yoga. > > What does everyone think? I realize some people feel he was a bit of a > womanizer to have married all of those women, but I think taking the other > classical stories of him in mind, I cannot help but take a more positive > message from his tales. > > Jai Maa! > > Sincerely, > Arya/Christina > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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