From: mvishnu@sunee.uwaterloo.ca (m vishnu)
Subject: Re: Forgeries of Hindu Texts
Originator: mvishnu@sunee.waterloo.edu
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 22:11:50 GMT


> 
> 
> This `communalist liberal' is happy to present to you some more
> food for thought:
> 
> The following is from Benjamin Walker: The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic
> Survey of Hinduism, 1968.
> 
> FORGERIES: The fact that the Hindu Scriptures bear evidence of consider-
> able tampering need come as no surprise to anyone acquainted with the his-
> tory of priestcraft the world over. The scientific criticism of ancient



I too feel that at least some parts of the popular hindu texts are 
not authentic, they are too simple-minded, and are disgustingly
bramin-praising.

In the book "Bhagavad Gita As It Was", the auther (an Indian) condemns
the Bramins for the downfall of the great country that was India.
He says that bramins helped the Muslim invaders thinking that the new moslem
kings (as opposed to the then present Buddhist kings) would support the
Bramins and their sacrifices. The details can be found in the indroductory
part of this book.  

Even in Bhagavatam, it is said that, the Asuras and Devas, before churning 
the milk ocean for ambroisa, gave away cows and other wealth to the Bramin,
because no effort would be successful if done otherwise. 

I feel bramins did the greatest damage to my mother tongue, Tamil.  Even 
now, if you go to a South Indian temple, no non-bramin can go anywhere
near the shrine.  Milk, and other foodstuff are poured on the idol in great
quantity and are wasted.  We can excuse such acts if it is done in a plentiful
country, but in India, just outside the temple the people are starving.
They only use sanskrit for all communications with the idol.

When the great bhakthi movement swept TN, the nayanmaars (ironically more than
70% of the nayanmars were bramins!), wrote vast numbers of
hymns to Siva in beautiful Tamil.  Sambandhar (a bramin), one of the nayanmaar
is said to have composed more than 65000 hymns, but only 600 has survived
today.  These hymns were composed around 7 century A.D.  The bramin
priests, fearing that popular use of Tamil hymns would harm their unique
position as bridge between gods and people, locked away the hymns till 
12 century A.D.  Thanks to the effort of the great Tamil king Raja raja 
chOzan, some of the remain of these precious work was recovered and made
to be sung in every temple in Tamil Nadu.  But unfortunately a large number
of these works are lost forever!.

> 
> It is suspected that in spite of their reverence for the sacred hymns, the
> priestly scribes like their counterparts of other faiths, were not above a
> little textual manipulation if it served to enhance their prestige. In all
> likelihood the Purusha-sukta and certain other verses were interpolated into
> the text long after the canon of the Rig-Veda was finally closed. 
> 
> According to Colebrooke, `That remarkable hymn, is in language, meter and
> style, very different from the rest of the prayers with which it is
> associated.
> It has a decidedly more modern tone.'
> 
> To this Max Muller adds, ` There is little doubt that it is modern both in its
> character and its diction.'

> 
> And in most cases it debased what it influenced. The noble early poetry of
                                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Tamil, characterized by simplicity and realism, never recovered its freshness
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> after contact with Sanskrit, and Tamil literature was thereafter subjected to
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> the artificialities of the northern tongue. Practically every vernacular
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> literature has suffered in like manner as long as it lay under the influence
> of Sanskrit influence.


Thevaneyar, in his translation to the Tamil Veda (Thirukkural) has a lot 
more details regarding this.

> 
> Books:
> Ambedkar,B.R., Who were the Shudras ? , Bombay, 1946.
> Bhandarkar, D.R., Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture, Madras, 1940.
> Keith, A.B., A History of Sanskrit Literature, Oxford 1928.
> Panikkar, K.M., Hinduism & the Modern World, Allahabad, 1938.
> Pargiter, F.E., Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, 1922.
> Theertha, Swami Dharma, The Menace of Hindu Imperialism, 2nd Ed., Lahore,1946
> ***
> 

> (ii) Even the Kamasutra was tampered with, in my opinion. For example,
> on methods of increasing the size of the male `lingam', several herbal
> and other presciptions are given -- about twenty or so. Then, the last
> line reads: The blessings of venerable Brahmins, well propitiated, have
> the same effect.    !!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> The original RigVedic hymn is that after a wife lays down beside her
> deceased husband, (and is done mourning), she is to be led back to her
> dwelling. This has been changed to `led to the fire'. That it is a
> forgery is apparent because subsequent verses deal with the widow's
> remarriage (which she can hardly do if she's been barbecued.)
> 
> ***
> 
> Anyway, I leave the reader to ponder on all this.
> -arun gupta
> ag3L@andrew.cmu.edu
> 
> 
 
Meenan Vishnu