[Advaita-l] Re: Bhutas and Tantra

[M. S. Ravisankar]

Dear Bhaskar,

I should have avoided the word bashing and I am sorry for that.  And you
need not stop the discussion.

But in one message you pointed out that the vinayaka shankara referred to is
ganesha, because shankara hails from south and the worship of ganesha is
popular in south. I dont think that is a fair statement, especially when you
are drawing a conclusion that worship of ganesha is tamasic. I dont think
you can ever make an objective estimate what the landscape was and what
greatly practiced south at shankara's timein an objective manner. After all
we are not so certain at all about his date in the 1st place. When one draws
such a conclusion, I dont think it is an objective discussion of truth.

Second, someone else was saying ganesha is also a tantra shaastra deity. I
understand that "also"  gives him a cover. I can say vishhNu also is a
tantra shaastra deity. That only helps to bias the understanding. A same
deity can be worshipped in variety of ways, either based on purana or tantra
or shruti.


I am not for twisting your arm or anybody else's to stop *this* discussion.
But for the record, I have stopped many discussions. I will continue to do
so (as long  I am an administrator of this list) when I find that
discussions are not going within the guidelines of this list. But that is
done quite openly in this list.

 And it does matter how truth is presented. When you know it is truth, and
it going to affect a lot of people's sentiments, it has to be expressed in
such a way that it is stated as objectively as possible. When you are not
sure  whether it is true or not, and especially when it goes against the
tradition, and can hurt the sentiments of the people, I am concerned about
how it is expressed, more importantly  whether it should be expressed at
all.


Ravi

[you can skip this]
(Personally, I am not afraid of truth and I do not like to live in denial
when it is unpleasant. And it not about me, as I read many vaishhNava list
and even books of other religions to enrich my understanding. I still
remember the day that when one christian friend told me that the Gods I
worship are Satan, and those who worship Satan to go to be with Satan in
hell. Even though it agitated me for a while, in a long run it really helped
to understand many things.  ]



> -----Original Message-----
> From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
> [mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org]On Behalf Of
> bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com
> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 10:45 PM
> To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
> Subject: RE: [Advaita-l] Re: Bhutas and Tantra
>
>
>
> When trying to understand complex statements in shaastra-s be careful
> before bashing ganesha, devii etc. All shankara maTha-s worship them and
> aacharya-s of these maTha-s have composed works on them.  And more
> importantly you will be hurting the sentiments of other bhakta-s who
> traditionally follow shankara maTha-s.
>
> >  praNAm Ravi prabhuji,
> >  Hare Krishna
>
> >  Thank you very much for your detailed note on sapta mAtruka-s prabhuji.
> Kindly pardon me prabhuji, my intention was not to hurt anybody's
> sentiments nor bashing any hindu mythological gods.  Infact, I am
> regularly
> offering *prathama pUja* to Lord gaNEsha & reciting devi, duga & Sri sUkta
> & doing shodoshOpachAra pUja to dEvi mAta in panchAyatana pUja strictly in
> accordance with smArtha sampradAya.    I thought we can have a *open*
> discussion on shankara's commentary on tAmasi pUja.  I definitely didnot
> know that it is disturbing the peace of mind in gaNEsha & dEvi bhaktas.  I
> am stopping this discussion at once.  I once again sincerely offer my
> apologies prabhuji.
>
> >  Hari Hari Hari Bol!!
> > bhaskar
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> want to unsubscribe or change your options? See:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
> Need assistance? Contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>
>