It has mostly been the misfortune of this blog to be met with comments from religious adherents, who make hardly any attempt to read the posts properly or understand them, but are yet ready with their irrelevant and discursive responses.
The comment that I am quoting below appeared as a response to one of my previous posts: Genesis of Hindu Irrationality and power of ideas over scriptural content
It will be obvious to anyone who read that post that this comment has very little to do with any of ideas expressed in that post. But what is remarkable is how these responses expose the hollow and shallow nature of Hindu religious pride about their scriptures and rituals. These rants are so typical and dripping with so much vanity, conceit and delusive pride that it is very predictable. It is astonishing how Hindus so confidently sales-pitch their religious wares when they do not have the slightest clue about the content and history of their scriptures and traditions.
I have as I typically attempt in my earlier posts, highlighted the more ridiculously vain and conceited parts of the comment-response. While I have been gracious in correcting some of more egregious textual errors of the commenter, I have retained the original narrative structure of the comment.
Please if you can, laugh and cry out loud at the state of understanding of blind Hindu bigotry.
Here goes the pitiable comment:
"the vedas and the puranas are not a mere books which contain verses. these are the essence of our internal life which is difficult to understand in this modern world as we are more inclined towards material gain. the vedas and puranas are the books which contain informations which helps us to understand from within all the yagnas and sacrifice mentioned in these are not for performing outside by pouring ghee and other materials in fire but on the other hand it is instructing us pour all our selfishness jealousy hatred desire etc and burn it in the fire of internal happiness which is hidden within us which we are unable to understand. I agree with u partly as some of the people in this society has misinterpret the above said book and spread the wrong notion for the benefit of thier material gain.
Because the vedas cannot be understood just by literal meaning it has to be understood by applying the concepts in our life with respect ourself.
If i had to explain the vedas i would just say understand yourself completely (keeping aside all your your desire of worldly affairs) you will understand the vedas which is not easy to do in this competitive world.
The fundamental principles remains the same but the understanding is individual.
the layman cannot understand the intricacies of the software in the same way we are not grown up to understand the intricacies of the Vedas"
Now here below I reproduce my riposte to the above kind of nonsense that is the staple of stock Hindu bigotry:
This is exactly what I meant by the bigotry of most Hindu intelligentsia. By bigotry I meant this kind of false pride and exaggerated sense of the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads that you are parroting and playing like a broken record player.
You are not the first to voice this worn-out sales pitch about the high essence of the Vedas and other samhitas, nor will you be the last.
Unless you define and frame them properly, terms like essence, internal life and internal happiness are meaningless. Also there is nothing absolute about them. Happiness whether internal or external is dependent on many things that are external to ourselves.
This bogus theory that all happiness and satisfaction is within us, just waiting to be discovered and realized has been around for eons. But it is still a bogus theory, no matter how many Vedas and Upanishads may imply that and how many ever swamis and sankaracharyas may rubber-stamp this with their boring lectures and commentaries.
There is simply no evidence to show that happiness and truths/maxims of life are eternal or internal or permanent. And the votaries of these fancy theories have only the word pile of Vedas/Puranas and Upanishads and the self-serving slogans of the swamis and sankaracharyas to show for it and little else.
To make a bonfire of your vanities why do you Hindu Yuppies need to waste ghee and firewood and fuel?. Why are these symbolisms needed in this day and age. Why are you hanging on these useless symbolisms?
Why should concepts of life be applied to Vedic content in order to understand it? Are not Vedas supposed to explain the concepts of life. So which comes first? the chicken of the 'Concepts of Life' or the egg of the Vedas?
I have read translations of many verses of the Rig Veda and Yajur Veda. To understand them, I have not felt the need to set aside my desires for worldly things and matters. To understand the Vedas or any work, you have to at least attempt to see and read what is in there.
There is no need to be a Saint or Mahatma (or sacrifice the world or your desires) to analyze the contents of Vedas and Samhitas.
I am sure you have neither attempted to read the Vedas nor made any effort to go thru some of its renditions by Indologists and historians. Still you have the cheek to assume and trumpet that it is beyond understanding, that its literal meaning cannot be taken and that a busy or 'competitive' lifestyle comes in the way of appreciating the greatness of the Vedas/Samhitas.
Most conservative Hindus like you have no idea, knowledge or understanding of the history and evolution of the Vedic scriptures and how subsequent commentary and analysis of Vedas/Upanishads was disconnected from its actual content and how allegory (non-literal interpretation) and symbolism was used/invented/improvised to elevate the status of these scriptures.
Also please do not insult the intelligence of people who have taken pains to go thru these texts/scriptures and provide them a reasonable social and historical context to determine their real significance or validity by using the term layman or masses.
The problem is neither with 'laymen' and masses (they do not trot out gibberish of a Vedic Sales pitch that you do) nor with skeptic intellectuals, but with ignorant and arrogant bigots like you who have no interest or will in coming out of the cocoon of 'religious fantasy' in which you are trapped.
The comment that I am quoting below appeared as a response to one of my previous posts: Genesis of Hindu Irrationality and power of ideas over scriptural content
It will be obvious to anyone who read that post that this comment has very little to do with any of ideas expressed in that post. But what is remarkable is how these responses expose the hollow and shallow nature of Hindu religious pride about their scriptures and rituals. These rants are so typical and dripping with so much vanity, conceit and delusive pride that it is very predictable. It is astonishing how Hindus so confidently sales-pitch their religious wares when they do not have the slightest clue about the content and history of their scriptures and traditions.
I have as I typically attempt in my earlier posts, highlighted the more ridiculously vain and conceited parts of the comment-response. While I have been gracious in correcting some of more egregious textual errors of the commenter, I have retained the original narrative structure of the comment.
Please if you can, laugh and cry out loud at the state of understanding of blind Hindu bigotry.
Here goes the pitiable comment:
"the vedas and the puranas are not a mere books which contain verses. these are the essence of our internal life which is difficult to understand in this modern world as we are more inclined towards material gain. the vedas and puranas are the books which contain informations which helps us to understand from within all the yagnas and sacrifice mentioned in these are not for performing outside by pouring ghee and other materials in fire but on the other hand it is instructing us pour all our selfishness jealousy hatred desire etc and burn it in the fire of internal happiness which is hidden within us which we are unable to understand. I agree with u partly as some of the people in this society has misinterpret the above said book and spread the wrong notion for the benefit of thier material gain.
Because the vedas cannot be understood just by literal meaning it has to be understood by applying the concepts in our life with respect ourself.
If i had to explain the vedas i would just say understand yourself completely (keeping aside all your your desire of worldly affairs) you will understand the vedas which is not easy to do in this competitive world.
The fundamental principles remains the same but the understanding is individual.
the layman cannot understand the intricacies of the software in the same way we are not grown up to understand the intricacies of the Vedas"
Now here below I reproduce my riposte to the above kind of nonsense that is the staple of stock Hindu bigotry:
This is exactly what I meant by the bigotry of most Hindu intelligentsia. By bigotry I meant this kind of false pride and exaggerated sense of the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads that you are parroting and playing like a broken record player.
You are not the first to voice this worn-out sales pitch about the high essence of the Vedas and other samhitas, nor will you be the last.
Unless you define and frame them properly, terms like essence, internal life and internal happiness are meaningless. Also there is nothing absolute about them. Happiness whether internal or external is dependent on many things that are external to ourselves.
This bogus theory that all happiness and satisfaction is within us, just waiting to be discovered and realized has been around for eons. But it is still a bogus theory, no matter how many Vedas and Upanishads may imply that and how many ever swamis and sankaracharyas may rubber-stamp this with their boring lectures and commentaries.
There is simply no evidence to show that happiness and truths/maxims of life are eternal or internal or permanent. And the votaries of these fancy theories have only the word pile of Vedas/Puranas and Upanishads and the self-serving slogans of the swamis and sankaracharyas to show for it and little else.
To make a bonfire of your vanities why do you Hindu Yuppies need to waste ghee and firewood and fuel?. Why are these symbolisms needed in this day and age. Why are you hanging on these useless symbolisms?
Why should concepts of life be applied to Vedic content in order to understand it? Are not Vedas supposed to explain the concepts of life. So which comes first? the chicken of the 'Concepts of Life' or the egg of the Vedas?
I have read translations of many verses of the Rig Veda and Yajur Veda. To understand them, I have not felt the need to set aside my desires for worldly things and matters. To understand the Vedas or any work, you have to at least attempt to see and read what is in there.
There is no need to be a Saint or Mahatma (or sacrifice the world or your desires) to analyze the contents of Vedas and Samhitas.
I am sure you have neither attempted to read the Vedas nor made any effort to go thru some of its renditions by Indologists and historians. Still you have the cheek to assume and trumpet that it is beyond understanding, that its literal meaning cannot be taken and that a busy or 'competitive' lifestyle comes in the way of appreciating the greatness of the Vedas/Samhitas.
Most conservative Hindus like you have no idea, knowledge or understanding of the history and evolution of the Vedic scriptures and how subsequent commentary and analysis of Vedas/Upanishads was disconnected from its actual content and how allegory (non-literal interpretation) and symbolism was used/invented/improvised to elevate the status of these scriptures.
Also please do not insult the intelligence of people who have taken pains to go thru these texts/scriptures and provide them a reasonable social and historical context to determine their real significance or validity by using the term layman or masses.
The problem is neither with 'laymen' and masses (they do not trot out gibberish of a Vedic Sales pitch that you do) nor with skeptic intellectuals, but with ignorant and arrogant bigots like you who have no interest or will in coming out of the cocoon of 'religious fantasy' in which you are trapped.
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