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Re: Ramayana joke
In <4ick9o$7f@babbage.ece.uc.edu> Sankar Jayanarayanan
<kartik@Eng.Auburn.EDU> writes:
>
>
>I just read a translation of the Ramayana by Aubrey wenner. The
introduction was
>toooooo muuuuuuchhh. The book is published by scribner & sons, 1954.
>
In the Kali Yuga, the sudras are giving commentaries on the Scriptures
and the brahmins are working in restaurants. Thank you for not
including all of that idiocy.
Jack
>---
>Introduction
>
>This is the story of Rama, a prince of India, who lived his life
according to
>the best advice. He reverenced his intellectual betters, who were
called
>Brahmins, and did what they told him to do. He took his morals from
the best
>moralists, and his politics from the best politicians. As a result he
was
>ruined, exiled, and disinherited: his wife was stolen from him and
when he got
>her back he very nearly had to burn her alive for the best of motives.
In the
>teeth of the soundest and most reliable guidance from his moral and
mental
>superiors, he finally recovered his country, his throne, and his
common sense.
>He lived more than two thousand years ago but everybody will recognise
his
>experiences.
>
>Twenty-five centuries is a lot of time ago, but the Indians were in
many ways
>as civilized as we are today. There were great cities with immense
bazars in
>which the shopkeeper cheated his customers and was in turn cheated by
the
>merchants. The merchants were robbed by a vast civil service, and the
civil
>servants kissed the big toes of the politicians, who were known as
courtiers.
>The courtiers were brahmins, and the brahmins were the top dogs. They
made the
>laws, taught the ignorant, dictated morals, controlled the temples,
and
>terrified the king. In those far-off days they had not yet become a
rigid and
>hereditary caste. Any man could become a Brahmin provided he set
himself up to
>know better than his fellow men, and was sharp enough to get away with
it.But a
>Brahmin was usually the son of a Brahmin,because the tricks of the
trade took a
>long time to learn, and a man could not start too early.
>
>Besides the Brahmins, there were men of genius. These were usually
thought
>brainy but a danger to the society and they were customarily driven to
live
>in the wilderness, another sign that this ancient civilization was not
much
>below our own. One such man of genius was Valmiki, who wrote the story
that I
>am going to re-tell.
>
>It is said that the tale of Rama's adventures is the first story ever
put
>together. I do not know that this is true; but it is certain that
Valmiki was
>the first human being to be recognised as a literary genius. He was
therefore
>penniless and much disliked. He lived in a thatched hut and had to
grow his
>own food. He could move among his fellow men only if he were heavily
disguised,
>and then at the risk of his life. He was an outlaw.
>
>[rest deleted]
>---
>--
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
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