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Kunal Singh (nnyxsi@swap31-236.ny.ubs.com) wrote:
: In article <ghenE925LK.4Kr@netcom.com> nnyxsi@swap31-236.ny.ubs.com (Kunal Singh) writes:
: I wanted to add that Satyavrata, later known as Trishanku, also killed
: a cow and fed the meat to Vishwamitra's family during the time when
: wild game was scarce. He actually killed Vasistha's cow and Vasistha
: was furious with him for it. Since Vishwamitra wasn't furious with
: him for feeding the meat of cows to his family, we can assume that he
: did not object to the killing and eating of cows.
: --
Hardly so.
Quite so, Mr. Tiwari.
Firstly, I have forgotten the reason, why Trishanku
was rejected by Vashishtha.
It was due to three reasons, one of them being his stealing of several
men's wives before the seventh step that completed the marriage
ceremony -- thus he claimed that he had never stolen anyone's "wife"
as the ceremony had not been complete. Altogether, he had three
charges against him, thus the term Tri-shanku. I think one of the
reasons was eating Vasistha's cow, but I'm not sure.
Secondly, assuming your charge of
his cow killing, is accurate, Vishwamitra's acceptance of Trishanku
does not imply the condoning of Trishanku's acts. The times
when Vishvamitra accepted Trishanku, were when he was quite
arrogant, and felt like that he had to prove a point. That
And yet he was a sage, whether he was arrogant or a challenger to the
system is dependent on the person viewing his acts. Your claim was
that no sage ever condoned the killing of cows. And thus your claim
is disproven.
What do you have to say about the issue of the birth of Magadha where
they ceremoniously sacrificed a cow ? Are you claiming that no sage
was present during the occasion ?
Secondly, you have to know the character of Viswamitra before you
presume that he would object to killing cows! Once Viswamitra asked
his followers to get any food for a sacrifice, and he meant anything!
His disciples/followers returned with a dead dog! So he decided to
offer the meat of the dog to Indra and the Devas. The followers of
the Vaishnava deities naturally objected. It was said that Indra
stole the dead dog, replacing it with nectar so that the other Devas
may not be fed meat! Quite far from being pleased, Viswamitra was
furious, he insisted on using dog's meat! His fury was appeased only
after great trouble. Thus you have to know the personality that you're
dealing with before you presume such nonsense! Please do not ascribe
Vaisnava finickiness to Viswamitra! He was too brilliant to consider
cows sacred or a taxi to heaven!
Here's a story to counter the Vaisnava belief that all the Ikshvakus
were vegetarian. For Vasistha, though he was certainly not as
revolutionary as Viswamitra, was certainly not a pure Vaishnava. He
retained the sacredness of the cow and the four-fold division of
society which are Vaishnava beliefs. But that he offered meat in
sacrifices is quite well known. The first king Ikshvaku himself had
ordered the sacrifice and Vasistha had in preparation asked for
several animals from the forest. One of the king's sons ate a rabbit,
and he was severely censured by Vasistha for it. Vasistha was a
Vaishnava in the regard that he regarded rules quite highly. I
wouldn't be surprised if Ayodhya did set castism and Manuvadism in
motion! It had become politically quite prominent at a certain time,
particularly during Sagara!
is very natural, since he was a new knower of lots of new
things at that times. So, he felt like that he could create
a universe of his own, and put the king in it. His efforts
hardly succeeded, since his plans were against certain cosmic
laws. Finally, he realized his errors. The result was that
the king Trishanku still is said to hang in between the
earth and heavens as Trishanku nakshatra. The story of
Trishanku tells us two things.
Incorrect. You are mis-quoting, not only mis-interpreting, the
story. The story is that Trishanku's raising to the EXISTING heaven
was opposed by all the Devas -- not the first time Viswamitra caused
grave concern to the Devas by his rather novel practices. Thus
Viswamitra said that he would create a heaven around Trishanku and in
that he was said to have succeeded.
a) That betrayal of your own, with a view to get undue
favors from others, is not a good idea.
The story of Trishanku tells us only one thing. That cow-eating kings
can go to heaven while in their material bodies. I don't think having
a nakshatra named after you is all that bad, frankly. Trishanku is
thus immortal! He even regained his rightful throne, thanks to
Viswamitra. At one time Vasistha had taken over the kingdom by
convincing his father to leave for the forest for a period of 12
years! He even maintained the harems! Satyavrata is subsequently
described as quite heroic and an able ruler! Hariscandra was
subsequently born to him.
And lastly, gaining favors of deities, sages and kings is a very
common theme in stories of Vedic times. It is indeed a very good
idea!
b) No matter who you are, no one has been allowed to
bend Dharmic laws of universe. Not even Shiva or Vishnu
have played with these laws. Wheneve, Shiva or Vishnu
have appeared on earth, they themselves have subscribed
to their own laws.
The whole issue is what are the "dharmic" laws of the universe ? If
tomorrow some Vaishnava declare that a goat is sacred does not mean
that Shaivites will accept it! What do you mean that no incarnation
of Shiva or Vishnu has "bent" the dharmic laws ? It could have
something to do with the fact that only those men were given the
status of being their incarnations that agreed with the practices and
beliefs of the respective schools!
Further, Shiva has given boons to all sorts of persons. From
Ravan to all people, whosoeve have prayed him. This does not
mean, that the acts of these folks were condoned by Shiva.
Yes, Shiva has also given boons to Vishnu in the form of the
Sudarshan. Shaivites in general have been less judgemental than
Vaishnavs and that is why they succeeded in attaining to the Brahman
and defeating the Vaishnavas who still held onto their dharmic cows'
tail to get to heaven.
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