What's so spiritual about Rama or Krishna?

Mahatma Gandhi · Mar 2, 2011

Namaste,

I am being honest here, so I hope no one is offended by this. But I have to admit that I keep wondering whether there's anything remotely spiritual about the Hindu gods even if we assume they're true.

For instance, Rama or Krishna. Rama lost his wife to another man, fought him, and brought her back. It sounds like a Bollywood script, romance and all. Nothing spiritual. Same with Krishna: a clever politician who ensured victory for his favorite tribe.

What I am saying is, I cannot see anything divine about these stories or personalities. They're just too mundane.

Your insights?

Mahatma

Rainbow Mage · Mar 2, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi said:
Namaste,

I am being honest here, so I hope no one is offended by this. But I have to admit that I keep wondering whether there's anything remotely spiritual about the Hindu gods even if we assume they're true.

For instance, Rama or Krishna. Rama lost his wife to another man, fought him, and brought her back. It sounds like a Bollywood script, romance and all. Nothing spiritual. Same with Krishna: a clever politician who ensured victory for his favorite tribe.

What I am saying is, I cannot see anything divine about these stories or personalities. They're just too mundane.

Your insights?

Mahatma

Well in the case of Krishna, he was using the battle to teach yoga, which is spiritual. I agree with the opinion that says the battle likely didn't happen, but was used to put forth the message of the Bhagavad Gita. As for Rama, are myths always literally true?

Madhuri · Mar 2, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi said:
Namaste,

I am being honest here, so I hope no one is offended by this. But I have to admit that I keep wondering whether there's anything remotely spiritual about the Hindu gods even if we assume they're true.

For instance, Rama or Krishna. Rama lost his wife to another man, fought him, and brought her back. It sounds like a Bollywood script, romance and all. Nothing spiritual. Same with Krishna: a clever politician who ensured victory for his favorite tribe.

What I am saying is, I cannot see anything divine about these stories or personalities. They're just too mundane.

Your insights?

Mahatma

Those stories have layers of meaning. On the surface, these are avatars who came to get rid of great evil forces. But on deeper levels, their journeys teach us many things about dharma and about life.
And Krishna especially is deeply spiritual both obviously and also when we take a deeper look at the stories.

Madhuri · Mar 2, 2011

MG, have you read the Ramayana or the Mahabharata?

bhaktajan · Mar 2, 2011

Madhuri said:
MG, have you read the Ramayana or the Mahabharata?

OMG!
When I read this by Ms. Madhuri I . . . LOL continuously for 10 minutes until I ran out of breath . . . and then I fell ROTFLMAO continuously for 10 minutes . . . as I write this I am LOL with tears strewning down my face.

What else does one, prey tell, recommend as the reading material of the cream of society?

___ crying out loud,
Bhaktajan

Mahatma Gandhi · Mar 2, 2011

Madhuri said:
MG, have you read the Ramayana or the Mahabharata?

Of course. Most Hindus have, I guess. That's why I came to the conclusion I did.

Gaura Priya · Mar 2, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi said:
Of course. Most Hindus have, I guess. That's why I came to the conclusion I did.

Most Hindus who have read these epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata still glean much great significance. One can be inspired by Sitadevi's devotion to Her Lord, or the virtues which Yudhishthira gave during his entire lifetime in the epic.

One can see how Krishna in His Bhagavad Gita had expounded some of the greatest philosophy in all of humanity's history, or gather strength when Queen Kunti faced all those adversities from how the Kauravas tried to kill the Pandavas.

Most of all, it shows how our ideas of good and evil are simply limited to the material world. After all, the Kauravas were not 'evil' per se, but put in a bad situation which they only followed, from human desire and human limitation; likewise the Pandavas had their weaknesses and dark parts of themselves, and not strictly the 'good guys' that Western ideas have with their characters of stories.

So the very fact that you couldn't glean even one spiritual ideal in the Mahabharata or the Ramayana makes you a minority among Hindus.

bhaktajan · Mar 2, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi said:
Of course. Most Hindus have, I guess. That's why I came to the conclusion I did.

So that very fact makes you a minority among Hindus.

Ya, very interesting.

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Andal · Mar 2, 2011

If you think the Ramayana is about a guy who's wife was stolen so he fought to get her back, then you've missed the whole thing

. If you think Krishna was merely a politician, remember among politicians he was emperor

. Seriously though the Mahabharat and the Bhagavad Gita are far beyond what is at the surface.

Jacksnyte · Mar 2, 2011

bhaktajan said:
So that very fact makes you a minority among Hindus.

Ya, very interesting.

You bet your sweet bippy!

Vinayaka · Mar 2, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi said:
Of course. Most Hindus have, I guess. .

I am honestly not so sure. Here is one reason: Literacy in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have to remember that those of us who have computers are a small portion of the Hindu masses, and certainly not a random sampling of all Hindus. I'm guessing (just a guess, really) that if you asked the simple questions, 1) are you a Hindu, followed by 2) Have you read the Mahabharata? , the response Yes, Yes, might be significantly lower than we might think. A lot of people are just too busy eking out a living, or practising bhakti without the reading of scripture. I'm just not sure. It would make for an interesting survey though, and I'm sure it would depend also on geography.

Milind2469 · Mar 2, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi said:
Namaste,

I am being honest here, so I hope no one is offended by this. But I have to admit that I keep wondering whether there's anything remotely spiritual about the Hindu gods even if we assume they're true.

For instance, Rama or Krishna. Rama lost his wife to another man, fought him, and brought her back. It sounds like a Bollywood script, romance and all. Nothing spiritual. Same with Krishna: a clever politician who ensured victory for his favorite tribe.

What I am saying is, I cannot see anything divine about these stories or personalities. They're just too mundane.

Your insights?

Mahatma

If you think that in retaliation of your continuous ugly attacks on Hinduism, one of us would not assume 10 Muslim names and create trouble in Muslim forums....

You are absolutely right!

Now that is what Ram and Krishna have done to us! Be nice to others and not call "others" kafirs" or something and hate them.

(You have mentioned Bollywood script. But I think they Ramayan and Mahabharat are too dull. The directors could have added some spice to the stories. Do you think If Sita had been, say, six years old at the time of her marriage, or if Ram had distroyed all the worshipping places in Lanka when he went in there to fight Ravana...or if Krshna had said "I am the last avatar guys...worship me or else" instead of "Yada yada hi dharmasya_____________sambhavami yuge yuge"...i.e. I will always take avatars to help people....

Do you think the plots would have been super hits then?)

YmirGF · Mar 2, 2011

Faux-Mahatma Gandhi said:
I cannot see anything divine about these stories or personalities.

Well, that certainly comes as a shock. So, that begs the question, "Why do you pretend to call yourself a Hindu, in light of this revelation?"

Faux-Mahatma Gandhi said:
They're just too mundane.

It is my feeling that the mundane quality you perceive is merely the reflection of your own thinking.

Riverwolf · Mar 2, 2011

I don't know enough about Krishna to comment on his story, but here's my take on Rama's story:

We're all Sita, stuck in this Lanka that is earth by the Demon King Lust. But by always remembering Rama, the Lord, we will never be touched by that Lust, and will be rejoined with Him.

Sure, you may have read those stories, but have you read Joseph Campbell?

LuisDantas · Mar 2, 2011

MG, what does make one a Hindu by your understanding of that word?

And why do you choose to define yourself as one?

Mahatma Gandhi · Mar 3, 2011

LuisDantas said:
MG, what does make one a Hindu by your understanding of that word?

And why do you choose to define yourself as one?

Born one. That's the only criterion, I suppose, because definitions could vary from individual to individual.

atmarama · Mar 3, 2011

YmirGF said:
It is my feeling that the mundane quality you perceive is merely the reflection of your own thinking.

These feelings closly mirror my own... It is my feeling that the mundane quality you perceive is merely the reflection of your own mundane consciousness...

GabrielWithoutWings · Mar 3, 2011

Riverwolf said:
Sure, you may have read those stories, but have you read Joseph Campbell?

EVERYONE should read Joseph Campbell.

<3 Joseph Campbell

LuisDantas · Mar 3, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi said:
Born one. That's the only criterion, I suppose, because definitions could vary from individual to individual.

Aren't you allowed to simply decide that you don't share the faith?

Mahatma Gandhi · Mar 3, 2011

LuisDantas said:
Aren't you allowed to simply decide that you don't share the faith?

We all need a social identity, right?

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