The Devi And The Demon Within
What might literally be called a devil of a row has been kicked up by a JNU pamphlet which reinterprets the battle between goddess urge and aura, Mahishasur, which cording to tradition symbolises the humph of good over evil. This view has been challenged oath by Vedic scholars and subaltern historian’s. Scholars have pointed out Nat far from being a 'rakshasa', or eon, an aura in Vedic literature was divine being, as much as were the eves, or gods. While devas occupied the celestial regions, auras were chthonic underworld) entities, powerful spirits who inhabit the earth and are central to 1l forms of animism and pantheistic faith systems. Devas and assures share common ancestry, both being ascended from Kashaya. Subaltern history Subaltern history claims that all conventional history is a narrative devised to privilege the rulers over the ruled and seeks to upend this approach by interpreting the past through the prism of social and economic marginalisation. The auras, according to this subaltern interpretation, were the aborigines, or the indigenous tribal who were dominated, and 'demonised', by an ascendant ruling elite. A similar view informs the southern tradition of the 'alternative Ramayana, which treats Ravine as a tragic and noble victim rather than a monstrous villain. However, without ignoring or condemning such socio-historical exegesis of mythology, a metaphysical deconstruction of the simplistic good-versus-evil equation wouldn't be out of order. As distinct from western theology and philosophy, what is often called Indic thought doesn't perceive good and evil as mutually exclusive opposites. The actions of many so-called 'good guys', such as Yudhishthira, are morally questionable, while 'baddies', like Duryodhana, occasionally display a heroic code of honour. Nothing black and white Western philosophy, particularly as an offshoot of Christian theology, has long wrestled with the mutually antagonistic good-evil dichotomy If God, the ultimate principle and primal cause of all good, is omnipotent and omnipresent, where and how can evil coexist with the Divine Being? Why does God allow evil to exist? Such knotty dilemmas led to heresies like the Manichaean proposition that good and evil are two equal and opposing forces, which complement each other, like lighted shadow. One cannot be understood without reference, implicit or explicit, to the other. Though disowned by the orthodox church, Manichaeism has found a surprising analogy in modern astrophysics which describes the universe as a composite of matter andante-matter, energy and 'dark energy ‘Freedom to choose Ethical philosophers have tried to internalise this cosmic chiaroscuro o light and dark, matter and anti-matte Good and evil are not absolutes; each exists only as a counterbalancing possibility to the other. Our capacity to distinguish between good and evil, and to choose one overt other in any act we commit, is what saves from the bondage of predestination The freedom of choice between the two between good and evil, light and dark, the price we pay for being human, Andre-programmed automatons. The battlefield of good and evil is out there, not between devi and demo but within us, who have the freedom choose which we'll be today, in the internal Kurukshetra of everyday life.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Jug Suraiya views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Jug Suraiya and Speaking Tree ,Times of India
The Devi And The Demon Within
What might literally be called a devil of a row has been kicked up by a JNU pamphlet which reinterprets the battle between goddess urge and aura, Mahishasur, which cording to tradition symbolises the humph of good over evil. This view has been challenged oath by Vedic scholars and subaltern historian’s. Scholars have pointed out Nat far from being a 'rakshasa', or eon, an aura in Vedic literature was divine being, as much as were the eves, or gods. While devas occupied the celestial regions, auras were chthonic underworld) entities, powerful spirits who inhabit the earth and are central to 1l forms of animism and pantheistic faith systems. Devas and assures share common ancestry, both being ascended from Kashaya. Subaltern history Subaltern history claims that all conventional history is a narrative devised to privilege the rulers over the ruled and seeks to upend this approach by interpreting the past through the prism of social and economic marginalisation. The auras, according to this subaltern interpretation, were the aborigines, or the indigenous tribal who were dominated, and 'demonised', by an ascendant ruling elite. A similar view informs the southern tradition of the 'alternative Ramayana, which treats Ravine as a tragic and noble victim rather than a monstrous villain. However, without ignoring or condemning such socio-historical exegesis of mythology, a metaphysical deconstruction of the simplistic good-versus-evil equation wouldn't be out of order. As distinct from western theology and philosophy, what is often called Indic thought doesn't perceive good and evil as mutually exclusive opposites. The actions of many so-called 'good guys', such as Yudhishthira, are morally questionable, while 'baddies', like Duryodhana, occasionally display a heroic code of honour. Nothing black and white Western philosophy, particularly as an offshoot of Christian theology, has long wrestled with the mutually antagonistic good-evil dichotomy If God, the ultimate principle and primal cause of all good, is omnipotent and omnipresent, where and how can evil coexist with the Divine Being? Why does God allow evil to exist? Such knotty dilemmas led to heresies like the Manichaean proposition that good and evil are two equal and opposing forces, which complement each other, like lighted shadow. One cannot be understood without reference, implicit or explicit, to the other. Though disowned by the orthodox church, Manichaeism has found a surprising analogy in modern astrophysics which describes the universe as a composite of matter andante-matter, energy and 'dark energy ‘Freedom to choose Ethical philosophers have tried to internalise this cosmic chiaroscuro o light and dark, matter and anti-matte Good and evil are not absolutes; each exists only as a counterbalancing possibility to the other. Our capacity to distinguish between good and evil, and to choose one overt other in any act we commit, is what saves from the bondage of predestination The freedom of choice between the two between good and evil, light and dark, the price we pay for being human, Andre-programmed automatons. The battlefield of good and evil is out there, not between devi and demo but within us, who have the freedom choose which we'll be today, in the internal Kurukshetra of everyday life.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Jug Suraiya views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Jug Suraiya and Speaking Tree ,Times of India