[Advaita-l] Allegorical interpretation of PurANAs

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Hari Om Jaladhar Vyas ji,

I am not responding to all comments.

I wish to know - do you see it as a historical event? Indra killing some
Tripurasur (who had three mouths - by one mouth, he was drinking soma, by
second - wine and by third, he was eating food) and getting sin and then
distributing one fourth of sin to women AND that is why women get monthly
periods.

I mean - do you / can you really believe this as an event that has happened
in past?

Regards.



On Sat 14 Mar, 2020, 09:51 Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On Thu, 27 Feb 2020, Sudhanshu Shekhar via Advaita-l wrote:
>
> >
> > How do we really ascertain as to whether a particular description in
> > PurANas is allegorical one or factual one.
>
> This is a question of pramanas.  Why do you think an allegory is not a
> fact?
>
>
> > For eg, how do we understand BhAgvat 6.9.9? Should we really believe it
> as
> > a historical event or just ignore or give allegorical meaning.
>
> Ok so you are defining factual as "historical."  Is that the only possible
> definition?
>
>
> > Allegorical interpretation seems impossible here. Factual one absurd.
> > Ignoring it appears the only option left.
> >
>
> Shastras teach that what happens in the divine realm corresponds to events
> in the material world and vice versa.
>
> There were four things that flow.  The Earth through which rivers flow.
> Plants through which sap flows.  Women through which menstruation flows,
> and the sea through which waves and foam flow.  These are material facts.
>
> Indra committed Brahmahatya and to rid himself of it he divided them
> amongst those four things. This is a fact based on shastra.
>
> Science says that coal is principally made of the element carbon.  That is
> a fact.  Science says that the human body is principally made of the
> element carbon.  That is also a fact.  Society says it is ok to burn coal
> for warmth but if you burn a human being for warmth it will send police to
> arrest you.  That is a fact.  And the reason for your arrest will not be
> that your actions were "unscientific."
>
> On Fri, 28 Feb 2020, Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l wrote:
>
> >
> > This is the message of the Bhagavata Sloka. They say the sex appetite of
> > many women is very high. Why they are like that even though they know
> there
> > is a risk of sin? There is no answer.
>
> I'm afraid that you have misunderstood what the shloka is saying.  Indra
> gave women the ability to feel pleasure from sexual intercourse as a
> _reward_ for taking the burden of one quarter of Indra's brahmahatya which
> manifests as the monthly period (which is often painful for women.)  There
> is nothing sinful about kama and artha in unison with dharma.  In fact
> guides to dharma shastra insist that seeing to his wifes satisfaction is
> one of the duties of a male grhastha.  Her needs may be very high or very
> low that is up to the individual couple.
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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