Next year i am planning to go to india, at the moment im in the usa. Anyway, im not a religious hindu but want to know more abt hinduism. My uncle said that when i go over he wants me to bathe in the river ganges which is absolutely filthy. Im scared of getting scabies or something. Is there any hindu on the forum that can tell me more abt the river ganges or if not does anyone know any hindu forums i can go to.
Thanks
in hinduism the river ganges is considered holy and the water is supposed to be purifying for all hindus who bathe in it. if the vedic scriptures consider it to be holy then you as a hindu shouldn't have a prob' with that.
Whilst there are a couple of hindus on Gupshup, I don't think most of them are particularly religious about it....
Re: The river ganges
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by hindu_guy: *
Next year i am planning to go to india, at the moment im in the usa. Anyway, im not a religious hindu but want to know more abt hinduism. My uncle said that when i go over he wants me to bathe in the river ganges which is absolutely filthy. Im scared of getting scabies or something. Is there any hindu on the forum that can tell me more abt the river ganges or if not does anyone know any hindu forums i can go to.
Thanks
[/QUOTE]
go to bahamas unless your sins comitted need punishment you deserve
a dip in ganges
You don't have to go to Banaras to bathe in the Ganges. Go further up north. Rishikesh is quite lovely and absolutely beautiful, int he foothills of the himalayas. It would be a divine experience.
rvikz if your so holy why dont u take a dip in the ganges and catch scabies cos im not going in there even if i am a sinner. Matsui my hindu bro it just shows how religious you are that you love the ganges so much........lol.
Im glad that on my first day posting on gupshup i know who to turn to for hindu advice, matsui and rvikz.
One more thing - Be careful of the high current of the river. Also dont expect Ganges to wash off your sins. It works only for hindus.
putting my thoughts of hinduism as a ridiculous religion, i think there is no reason to label ganges' water as unclean and dirty....
let us not forget that the river is flowing and dirt/filth does not remain accumulated in it as it wud in a stagnant water source....
infact ganges river water is pure enuff for any muslim (too) to make wudoo and pray....
ofcourse if someone can see dirt right in front of him he can move upstream and avoid it....
Since I have all of my Hindu and Indian neighbors here, I have a question, are there any legal codes in the hindu religion? or What I really need to know is how the judicial system worked in your religion?
^ Hinduism is a progressive religion. There are no legalities bound by scripture. THere is no derivation of a contract ala god of abraham. Change is a constant and is recognized and it assumes that hindus have a brain to change the laws they make with the changing times.
I know hindus have brain, other wise they wouldn’t be hindus. As a religion which is deeply rooted in tradition, and where tradition stands for keeping things as they are, its hard to understand the "change". Anyway, my question was about how the judicial system worked in Hindu religion, people must have had some disputes, people would steal and plunder, so how justice was provided.
Eastern religions don;t have a convenant based relationship to god like the abrahamic faiths. Think out of the box Minime bhaijaan. It is more about spirituality to a more fulfulling life in the present which will result in a more fulfilling afterlife, reincarnation, nirvana rather than a legal code.
Int he abrahamic faiths, this life sux. the ultimate goal is to make it to heaven. There is no heavenbly concept in the east. Joh karo voh bharo..common sense is paramount and superbly common.
isn't it kind of impossible to attain a Sidhartha life without a "legal code". Spiritual, reincarnation are all based upon a legal code..if u think about it.
Madhanee sweetheart, it is a lot more than Shiva as Natraj. It is also about Vishnu incarnating as Kalki to bring about the apocaplyse...these concepts were in the human conciousness long before hinduism, islam, chirtianity or any other faith came about. Every religion changes...every relgiion borrows from the mythical or conventional wisdom that has existed before. NOthing is novel...some try to go beyond the call of duty and dilute the spirituality aspect by remaining rigid.
no. Spirituality is vast and unspoken, u need ORDER in order to attain these things. The whole world is about order
Enlightened people need spirituality. Those unable to comprehend this 'vastness' waller in their need for something they can understand - order, laws and everything written in black and white so no individual decisions have to be made.
hindu_guy,
Tell your uncle it is neither neccessary nor useful to bathe in a river to "wash away your sins". If someone really wants to wash away the sins, one has to change internally.
However, if your uncle insists that you bathe in the Ganges, there is a trick you can use: Procure a few millilitres of "Gangaajal" (Ganges' water), and put a few drops of it in your normal bathing water (i.e., if you are willing to take a bath using a bucket instead of a shower). In such small quantities, any pollution in the water cannot really harm you. This method (procuring Gangaajal without going to the Ganges) is a method frequently followed when it is not possible to make the pilgrimage (e.g., due to old age).
Spirituality is an individual need, based on individual needs...it is not a one size fits all scenario. Laws need to be applicable to everyone.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by MiniMe: *
I know hindus have brain, other wise they wouldn’t be hindus. As a religion which is deeply rooted in tradition, and where tradition stands for keeping things as they are, its hard to understand the "change". Anyway, my question was about how the judicial system worked in Hindu religion, people must have had some disputes, people would steal and plunder, so how justice was provided.
[/QUOTE]
Judicial system was in fact the Casteism. Brahmins lorded over everybody; then the lesser caste 'lorded' over the lower caste; then lower caste lorded over the one below it and it carried on till the system reached the untouchables.
The word of one of 'superior' caste was the law for the one of 'inferior' caste.
Something on the lines of big fish eats the small fish; and the small fish eats the one smaller.
^ that is not a legal system but a socio economic order. Much like the guilds of other feudal systems.