Respect of Women

[The_Player]

Re: Respect of Women

@psyah

… and Arlietter is coming with a textual approach which is similar to the approach Muslims use in our discussions.

psyah - the text (Manusmriti) that Arlietter is quoting is often quoted by critics of Hinduism but seldom followed by Hindus. The origins of the text are debated, and unlike scriptures like The Geeta, Ramayana and even Vedas its never used. I have asked Arlietter to substantiate the usage/applicability of the text - lets see what he comes up with.

@psyah

I think one thing has not really been done and that is the classification of Hindu scripture by topic - which is what is done in our scriptures. It was done that way in order to extrude rulings from them - so that ALL narrations about a given topic were in one place. I don’t that has been done with Hindu scripture.

There are multiple Hindu scriptures and they deal with topics based on the context. For example The Geeta, which is the most revered of Hindu texts, deals with issues like duty, righteousness etc. in the form of a conversation between Krishna & Arjuna. The Ramayana on the other hand talks about human relationships through the form of a story. However, none of these books ever take on the shape of laws. At the risk of repeating myself, Hindu scriptures talk about ideal behavior in different contexts and then lets the reader/follower decide how to implement it in his/her daily life. This is in sharp contrast to Islam which goes into specifics of issues.

I am coming at this debate from a practical approach i.e. what Hindus do. What might have been done thousands of years ago is not relevant to this discussion. Hinduism (unlike Islam) has evolved over time to stay relevant in the current context. Whats allowed that to happen is the flexibility in the religion. If there were hard and fast rules laid down, do you think that would ever have happened ?