Hidimba Mata !

[Guest guest]

Hidimba was born in Rakksha Kula (lower species). She lived in the

deep forest with her brother Hidimb and both would kill and eat any

human being passing by that forest.

 

One day Pandvas passed by that jungle and Hidimba when saw Bhima's

beautiful body, she fell in love with him and helped him kill her

brother Hidimb who wished to eat Pandavas. Bhima then married

Hidimba and stayed with her till their son Ghatot-kutch was born.

Bhima came back to his brothers and forgot Hidimba.

 

Hidimba, looked after her son very well and made him a Mahaveer.

During the war of Mahabharata, Krishna asked Hidimba to allow her son

to get sacrificed for the sake of Arjuna (to waste the energy of

Karan, which he specially had to kill Arjuna). Hidimba readily

agreed and sent her son, who later got killed by Karan.

 

Hidimba was born in a lower species, but her sincerity, her love

and devotion for her husband and her son, and her taking a vow to

leave all lower deeds of that species, took her on the heights of

womanhood.

 

she knowing fully well that her son would be killed by Karan,

and even though she was not given status of a queen by Pandavas, she

decided to fight for the truth and this sacrifice of hers made her a

DEVI.

 

There is an ancient temple of Hidimba in Manali. It is a 3 Kms

hike from main Manali bus stand. The temple is very very old and has

a black stone image of Hidimba. It is said that the temple was the

place where Hidimba brought up her son. Hidimba devi is worshipped

by local tribals who treat her as their Kula-devi. Many miracles

said to have been performed by that temple.

 

 

love and blessings

 

baba

[Guest guest]

Namaste _/\_ all.

 

Thanks for the good, inspiring story from Mahabharata.

Not only Hidimba, but any great souls have also taken the low birth

in the family of demons.

Srimad Bhagavatam tells about the great Bhaktas born in Asura family

such as Prahlada, Maha Bali, Vrita-asura and so on.

The demoness Putana was Ratnamala, the daughter of Bali maharaj, in

her previous life. She was attracted to Lord Vamana in parental-mood,

so she was blessed to become the foster mother of Lord Krishna in

theDivine Abode.

 

Demon Ravana's sister Shurpanaka of Treta yuga came back as Kubja in

Dwapara yuga and was blessed with intimate devotion to Sri Krishna.

 

Bhakti Yoga, Devotion to the Lord accomplishes all that is possible.

Lord Krishna declares this fact in Bhagavad Gita 4.11 -

 

'ye yathA mAM prapadyante

tAM stathaiva bhajAmyaham,

mama vartmAnu vartante

manuSyAH pArtha sarvazaH'

 

'According to the MANNER in WHICH they SURRENDER to ME,

I FAVOR them in that VERY SAME manner.

O son of Pritha, ALL human beings always FOLLOW MY PATH

in EVERY WAY!!'

 

This is also remembered by the great devotee Prahlada

in Srimad Bhagavatam:

 

naisa paravara-matir bhavato nanu syat

jantor yathatma-suhrdo jagatas tathapi

samsevaya surataror iva te prasadah

sevanurupam udayo na paravaratvam

 

[sB 7.9.27]

 

"Like the ordinary living entity, my Lord,

You have no such discrimination,

thinking like 'He is my friend; he is my enemy;

he is favorable; he is unfavorable.'

Such conception of low grade and high grade You have not got.

But according to one's level of attachment and dedication,

You offer them benediction exactly like the desire tree offers

fruits according to the desire of the person.

 

The desire tree has NO distinction of LOW grade and HIGH grade

position of the recepient but simply fulfills his wish."

 

 

Jaya Sri Radhey!

 

, "Baba ji" <beirut_ka_baba>

wrote:

 

> Hidimba, looked after her son very well and made him a Mahaveer.

 

> During the war of Mahabharata, Krishna asked Hidimba to allow her

son

> to get sacrificed for the sake of Arjuna (to waste the energy of

> Karan, which he specially had to kill Arjuna). Hidimba readily

> agreed and sent her son, who later got killed by Karan.

>

> Hidimba was born in a lower species, but her sincerity, her love

> and devotion for her husband and her son, and her taking a vow to

> leave all lower deeds of that species, took her on the heights of

> womanhood.

[Guest guest]

This negates a commonly held impression about Sanatan Dharm that once

one is born in a "lower" category, they are stuck there. This

impression is not only held by those outside of the religion, but by

people themselves, who resign themselves to their birth circumstance

and make no effort to make changes.

 

Perhaps such inspiring stories need to be made more available to

people in general. Perhaps we can post all such stories here in our

satsangh. In actual practice people born in "low birth" are still

looked down upon, and there is more focus on blame and condemnation,

than encouragment and self-development opportunities here and now in

the present moment.

 

Any ideas on how this shift in focus can be achieved?

 

_/\_ Tat twam asi

 

Uma

 

 

, pyari_h <no_reply> wrote:

> Namaste _/\_ all.

>

> Thanks for the good, inspiring story from Mahabharata.

> Not only Hidimba, but any great souls have also taken the low birth

> in the family of demons.

[Guest guest]

, "Tatwamasi" <tatwamasi> wrote:

> This negates a commonly held impression about Sanatan Dharm that

 

Surprisingly, no authentic Shastra of our Dharma, tells us that

those born in lower caste must be hated and that they are not fit to

progress on spirituality. This was spread by the so called parrots

of shastras who mislead the society in the name of religion.

 

In Gita, the most authentic and accepted book of our Dharma, shri

Krishna himself has declared that the path to attain truth is open

for all, be it low women, or low-caste people, anyone who is purified

and who surrenders himself to HIM, becomes englightened.

 

Manu-Smriti, which is abused too much by politicians to spread

hatered against our religion, has no single word which says that a

person is low if he is born in a low caste. Manu has clearly written

there will be four type of people in our society- the service class,

the business class, the warriors and the teachers.....and this is

true about any society...any country.

 

The soul has to pass through all castes, to get away from body, to

get away from mind, to get away from heart and finally merge into the

Truth.

 

In Yaksha Prashan, the Yaksha asks Yudhishtra," What is imminent

for the one who is born as human?"

 

Everyone would obviously guess the answer is "Death"

 

But wise Yudhishtra replied," Moksha is imminent for every human

being...be it in this birth or next or next".

 

Human is a cross road, where we have four roads ahead to

chose,one going back to animal, another to Asura, third to Heaven and

the fourth to Moksha. That z why even demi gods wait anxiously to be

born as human beings and gain Moksha!!

 

So let us not waste this precious birth and disappoint our Mother

who is waiting anxiously that we Wake up...we wake up from our

dreams, where we are busy in fighting demons, busy in playing and

singing with Apsaras...our dreams of our life which are keeping us

away from the truth.

 

The mother is waiting...with breasts full of milk...sweet milk of

spiritual ecstacy ...that we wake up and drink that nectar and live

in bliss.....

 

Let us all Wake up...let us do Sadhna NOW !!!

 

Love and blessings

 

baba

[Guest guest]

Namaste _/\_ all.

 

A beautiful verse I recall about the invaluable but transient nature

of human life. Sri Kripaluji Maharaj melodiously recites the exquisite

Sanskrit poetry of Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada:

 

manujadeham imaM bhuvi durlabhaM

samadhigamya surair api vAJchitam

viSaya lampaTatAm apahAya vai

bhajata re! manujAH kamalApatim

 

- Sri Kamalaapatya Ashtakam. 4

 

Human body in this world is very difficult to obtain,

even yearned for by the celestial beings in heaven.

Knowing this fact well, removing yourself

from the indulgence of worldy pleasures,

O dear fortunate men (and women)!

Please adore the Beloved Lord Sri Krishna!

 

We are also reminded of many more scriptural quotes in this regard

stating that the human life and Divine association of a Saint are

precious treasures and not to be lost nor wasted by our lack of faith

and wholehearted surrender.

 

durlabho mAnuSo deho

dehinaM kSaNa-bhaGguraH

tatrApi durlabhaM manye

vaikunTha-priya-darzanam

 

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.29:

 

For the conditioned souls, the human body is most

difficult to achieve, and it can be lost at any moment.

But I think that even those who have achieved human life

rarely gain the association of pure devotees,

who are dear to the Lord of Vaikuntha.

 

>From Sri Shankara's 'Bhaja Govindam':

 

naliniidalagata jalamatitaralam

tadvajjiivitamatishayachapalam

viddhi vyaadhyabhimaanagrastam

lokam shokahatam cha samastam

 

bhajagovindam bhajagovindam

govindam bhaja mUDhamate

sampraapte sannihite kaale

nahi nahi rakshati dukrijnkarane

 

A dewdrop trembling from a lotus petal

So uncertain is the life...not known for how long!

The entire world that you see around, know,

Is full of dole, discease, and conceit. (4)

 

Worship Govinda, worship Govinda,

worship Govinda, Oh fool!

Rules of Grammar will not save you

at the time of your death.

 

Other than remembering Lord Krishna,

I do not see any way to cross

the ocean of life and death.

 

>From Sri Shankara's 'Viveka Chudamani':

 

These three things are hard to achieve, and

are attained only by the grace of God -

human life, the desire for liberation,

and finding refuge with a great sage. 3

 

He is a suicide who has somehow achieved human birth

and even manhood and full knowledge of the scriptures

but does not strive for self-liberation,

for he destroys himself by clinging to the unreal. 4

 

Who could be more foolish than the man

who has achieved the difficult attainment

of a human body and even manhood

but still neglects his true good? 5

 

>From 'Rama Carita Manas' of Sant Tulasi das:

 

baDem bhaag maanusha tanu paavaa

suradurlabha saba granthanhi gaavaa

saadhanadhaam moksha kara dwaaraa

paayi na jehim paraloka samvaaraa

 

so paratra dukha paavayi

siru dhuni dhuni pachitaayi

kaalahi karmahi eeshvarahi

mithyaa dosha lagaayi

 

It is great good fortune that you have secured a human body,

which - as all the scriptures declare - is difficult even for

the celestial beings to attain.

It is a tabernacle suitable for spiritual endeavours,

the gateway to Liberation;

and he who receives it and still wins not world Beyond,

reaps torment in the next life and beats his head in vain remorse,

wrongly attributing the blame to time, fate, and God.

 

phirata sadaa maayaa kara preraa

kaala karma subhaava guna gheraa

kabahumka kari karunaa naradehee

deta eesa binu hetu sanehee

 

nara tanu bhava vaaridhi kahum bero

sanmukha maruta anugraha mero

karanadhaar sadguru dhriDha naavaa

durlabha saaju sulabha kari paavaa

 

Driven by illusion of My deluding potency and encompassed by time,

destiny, innate tendency and mode of nature, it ever drifts along.

 

Sometimes God out of His Mercy and without any reason for the

affection bestows on him a human body, a raft to carry him across the

ocean of mundane existence,

 

with My Grace for a favourable wind and a worthy Saint, realized

Preceptor for a helmsman to steer the course of this strong boat-

a combination of which, though hard to win, has been made easily

available to him.'

 

jo na tarai bhava saagar nara samaaj asa paayi

so kritanimdaka mamdamati aatamahana gati jaayi

 

'The man who, though equipped with such means as these, fails to

cross the ocean of birth and death, is an ungrateful dull-witted

wretch, bent on his own destruction.

 

Same words of Sri Rama were also spoken by Sri Krishna to devotee

Uddhava:

 

SB 11.20.12: The residents of both heaven and hell desire human birth

on the earth planet because human life facilitates the achievement of

transcendental knowledge and love of Godhead, whereas neither

heavenly nor hellish bodies efficiently provide such opportunities.

 

SB 11.20.13: A human being who is wise should never desire promotion

to heavenly planets or residence in hell. Indeed, a human being

should also never desire permanent residence on the earth, for by

such absorption in the material body one becomes foolishly negligent

of one's actual self-interest.

 

SB 11.20.16: Knowing that one's duration of life is being similarly

cut down by the passing of days and nights, one should be shaken by

fear. In this way, giving up all material attachment and desire, one

understands the Supreme Lord and achieves perfect peace.

 

nRdeham AdyaM su-labhaM su-durlabhaM

plavaM su-kalpaM guru-karNadhAram

mayAnukUlena nabhasvateritaM

pumAn bhavAbdhiM na taret sa Atma-hA

 

SB 11.20.17: The human body, which can award all benefit in life, is

automatically obtained by the laws of nature, although it is a very

rare achievement.

 

This human body can be compared to a perfectly constructed boat

having the spiritual master as the captain and the instructions of

the Personality of Godhead as favorable winds impelling it on its

course.

 

Considering all these advantages, a human being who does not utilize

his human life to cross the ocean of material existence must be

considered the killer of his own soul.

 

Jaya Sri Radhey!

 

, "Baba ji" <beirut_ka_baba>

wrote:

 

> But wise Yudhishtra replied," Moksha is imminent for every human

> being...be it in this birth or next or next".

>

> Human is a cross road, where we have four roads ahead to

> chose,one going back to animal, another to Asura, third to Heaven

and

> the fourth to Moksha. That z why even demi gods wait anxiously to

be

> born as human beings and gain Moksha!!

>

> So let us not waste this precious birth and disappoint our

Mother

> who is waiting anxiously that we Wake up...we wake up from our

> dreams, where we are busy in fighting demons, busy in playing and

> singing with Apsaras...our dreams of our life which are keeping us

> away from the truth.

>

> The mother is waiting...

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

Originally this useful post was made by a Vedic scholor 'zev' about

caste discriminations, (higher and lower birth) in Hinduism on

beliefnet.com discussions board:

......................

 

however, these books are smriti, or tradition, and are subject to

change or disposal over time. the rules that govern society today

can't be those of two thousand years ago. besides that, there is a

principle that wherever a smriti contradicts the sruti, or vedas, it

is to be rejected. and nowhere in the vedas does it say some are

higher than others, or deserve to be treated better than others. in

vedic religion, people are divided into four varnas that are supposed

to contribute in different ways to the society, and its not something

that depends on birth. varna is from the root 'vrn', to choose. you

choose what duty you perform in your society.

 

some verses from ved -

 

Samjnana Sukta (Rigveda X.191.2-4):

 

Walk together in harmony, speak in harmony

Let your minds be of one accord,

As the wise men of old, being of one mind,

Accepted the share of sacrifice

(so may you share your belongings). ||2||

 

May your counsel be common, your assembly united,

Common the mind, and the thoughts of these- united.

A common purpose do I lay before you,

And worship with your common oblation. ||3||

 

Let your aims be common,

And your hearts of one accord,

And all of you be of one mind,

As you may live well together. ||4||

 

Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya Samhita) III.30:

 

The union of hearts and minds

and freedom from hate I bring you.

Love one another as the cow

loves the calf that she has borne. || 1 ||

 

Common be your water-store, common your share of food;

I bind you together to a common yoke,

United, gather around the sacrificial fire

like spokes around the nave of a wheel. || 6 ||

 

With your common desire I'll make you all

have one aim, be of one mind, following one leader,

like Devas who preserve their immortality.

Morn and eve may there always be a loving heart in you. || 7 || the

fact that varna was not birth based can be seen in the smritis

themselves.

 

manu smriti says a shudra attains the status of a brahmin and becomes

entitled to his privileges if he possesses qualities of the latter

such as complete knowledge and learning and a calm temperment etc..

and in the same way, a brahmin who has qualifications of a shudra,

dullness of intellect, ignorance of ved, dependence on service of

others etc. he descends to the position of a shudra (shudro

brahmagaataameti brahmanashchaiti shudrataam...)

 

and apastamba sutras further say 'by acting according to truth and

virtue, a shudra becomes fully entitled to by degrees to the rights of

a vaishya, kshatriya and brahmin and the acts prescribed for these

varnas.. similarly a brahmin belonging to the highest varna by acting

against dharma goes to the status of the varnas below him and has to

observe the duties laid down for them.. that conduct which is opposed

to dharma causes a man to fall to the status of a lower varna' -

(dharmacharyya jadhanyo varnah etc...)

 

explains the saying - janmane jayate shudra, karmane jayate dvijah.

we are all born shudras, and by actions we become dvija, twice-born.

it's terrible hindus have allowed foreigners to rewrite their history

for them. in the past, bharat never had these divisions of aryan and

dravidian even when the caste system had deteriorated into birth-based

discrimination. in the ved, arya is never ever used in the sense of

race, tribe, caste or color.

 

there's a verse that goes:

 

om vi jaaniihyaaryaan ye cha dasyavo barhishmate randhayaa

shaasadavrataan I

 

oh almighty god, [vi jaaniihi] you alone know those who are [aaryaan]

righteous [ye+cha] and those who are [dasyavah] wicked. may you

[shaasat] chastise [avrataan] the irreligious and [randhaya] set them

right [barhishmate] for the sake of those that perform the noble

deeds.

(rgved 1.51.8)

 

in the rgved, arya is used in two senses - that of progeny (apatya)

and 'one fit to be approached' (gamaniiya), derived from the root 'r',

to go. when the person approached is agreeable then 'arya' refers to

one who is noble or good, but in disagreeable sense, it means one to

be encountered or assailed, an enemy or great foe. this is clear in

the ved coz the word is used as an adjective not only for 'indra' etc

but also dasa and vrtra (rig 6.25.2, 6.22.10, 6.60.6).

 

it's said in nirukt (6.26.1) that an 'aarya' is 'ishwaraputra' - or a

son of god ie. one who takes god as his creator and faithfully follows

his commandments. valmiki ramayana describes sri raam as 'aryah

sarvasamashchaiva sadaiva priyadarshan' - an arya, one who cared for

equality to all and was dear to everyone.

 

as for dasa or dasyu, the word 'dasa' is derived from two words in

chhandas - 'dasu' - to destroy, and 'daasr' - to give. in the former

case, there are two senses, one in the passive and one in the

causative, either meaning 'to be destroyed' or 'causing destruction'.

in the second sense of 'give', it denotes a person who is paid or

given something - a servant.

 

dasyu's also from the root 'dasu', meaning 'one who destroys' or is

harmful. according to nirukta (7.23.1) dasyu is derived from 'das', to

perish, 'one who through his inferior actions impairs the social

strength of the masses'. it refers to those who are degenerate - the

wicked, the evilminded, robbers and thieves, unbelievers etc.

in ved, almighty god is praised for protecting the good and chastising

the evil. yo dasyuumradharaam avaatiran - it is he that keeps the

wicked in despicable state.

 

so those who say 'aryans' are a foreign race that came into india and

subjugated the native dravidians are totally wrong. human society was

originally divided between aryas and dasyus, and then we have the

division of four classes/varnas so that society can function properly.

btw in india we have pancha dravida brahmins (from tamil nadu, kerala,

andhra, karnataka, maharashtra, gujerat) and pancha gauda brahmins who

are located in the north. dravida desha is a geographical term for

south india, and that's all.

 

Please read more at the link for - Caste and Varna

 

http://www.beliefnet.com/boards/message_list.asp?boardID=383&discussionID=19807

 

Swami Vivekananda on Caste system

 

http://www.beliefnet.com/boards/message_list.asp?boardID=383&discussionID=7460

 

 

, "Baba ji" <beirut_ka_baba>

wrote:

> , "Tatwamasi" <tatwamasi> wrote:

> > This negates a commonly held impression about Sanatan Dharm that

>

> Surprisingly, no authentic Shastra of our Dharma, tells us that

> those born in lower caste must be hated and that they are not fit

to

> progress on spirituality.

[Guest guest]

If shastras don't prescribe it then its surprising even more how many

including so called sadhaks follow this kind of behavior. How come

people know so much about the sexual practices of Tantra and so little

g about how to treat each other?? Whether it is the bhakta lost in love

land, or the gyani lost in his/her land of maya, or the Raja Yogi lost

in his bright lights, every one seems to have a reason to not bother

about taking responsibility for community and society. Karma Yogi has

the opportunity to do something, but he is faced with being called the

lowest on the path him/herself!! Sounds like something is very wrong in

the way Sanatan Dharm is being taught, directly or inidrectly!

 

Sure we hear big names like Ammachi donating huge ammounts of money for

victims of catastrophies. But where are the people taking there share

of responsibility?

 

_/\_ Tat twam asi

 

Uma

 

 

, "Baba ji" <beirut_ka_baba> wrote:

> , "Tatwamasi" <tatwamasi> wrote:

> > This negates a commonly held impression about Sanatan Dharm that

>

> Surprisingly, no authentic Shastra of our Dharma, tells us that

> those born in lower caste must be hated and that they are not fit to