wrong traditions and rituals

……contd………

So, coming to our question these months we do pooja etc for the Lord thereby working on our knowledge which would finally lead to moksha – liberation.

Look closely and you’ll see how beautifully all’s placed in life by our customs. 2/3^rd of the year to do everything to keep the wheels of life moving forward and 1/3^rd of the year to follow “Moksha Shashtra” i.e., exclusivity is not the backbone of these customs.  It’s perfect time Management between all our needs – physical, emotional, social, financial and spiritual.

Everything’s included in our life – Dharma, Kama, Artha and Moksha! All in the form of rituals and traditions.

So, does that mean we follow every tradition blindly and that all of them are right? No. certainly not! ‘Sati’ – is a tradition that is not age-old tradition of Hinduism. In fact, it’s got nothing to do with Hinduism. But, since it was followed by hindu it came to be associated with it and the ‘bad name’ brunt was borne by hinduism. 

Why did it start and when? When the Moghals started capturing Rajputs, the Rajput women deemed it fit to commit suicide than to be brutally assaulted, molested by the Moghals. It was just a desperate act of saving themselves from the inhuman treatment that was meted on women and children by the victorious army. And as we know Moghal army was a brutal tribal army known for it’s barbaric nature! But, the act was forced on innocent widow even when such need ended! This is no tradition.

Caste system was one more such foolish tradition that ate into the body of Hinduism. ‘Varna Vyavastha’ or caste system which was prescribed by the rishis was structured looking into the occupation of the person. It was never meant to mete inhuman behaviour on a fellow human being.

Rantidev, Guha, Kanappa, Valmiki and scores of such names from ‘so called lowcaste’ shine as guiding stars on the skies of ‘Great Devotees” or “Ideal devotees”.

People in power in later years for their selfish needs manipulated shastras to control and wield their power on these “castes”. So every tradition if the origin is known and as to why it is followed will tell you if it is as per “Dharma” or not.

Likewise, there are many traditions though right are not followed correctly and for the right reasons and hence have ended up being painful to the people who follow and to their fellow human beings. So, don’t blindly follow traditions too!

 

.......contd...........