Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian wrote: > >=20 > None of shiva's aspects are connected with ganja, bhang or whatever. > There are some people who use this as an excuse to indulge in whatever > they please and that's about it. There is no evidence AFAIK in the > veda-s, purANa-s or the 36 shaiva Agama-s. There may be some dubious > tantrik books which deal with this and these are usually not widely > available in print. >=20
Knut writes:
Namaskar.
Yes, parts of the tantric deal with this. But even if you don=B4t find=20
sanctions in the vedas and puranas, it=B4s worth noting that Shaivism=20
doesn=B4t have its roots in the invading vedic tradition. As I guess you=20
know, Shiva have older roots than vedism in India, and the=20
sadhu-phenomenon. And travelling in India meeting sadhus of the Shaiva=20
tradition definitely confirm that Shankar, one aspect of Shiva, is=20
related to ganja. And in the myths of Shiva, in old mythic material,=20
he is pictured as very stoned indeed. And sadhus, when smoking their=20
chillam, are addressing Shiva before smoking. Bom Shiva. Bom Shankar.=20
And a lot of other sayings. So even if the old =B3official=B2 texts=20
doesn=B4t mention this, it is absolutely a phenomenon inside=20
contemporary hinduism.
Knut
