While what I wrote above - which is a small fraction of the most basic of what the Hindoos perceive - isn't to be found explicitly stated in any Hindu writings (well, not in those lame words certainly) it's simply so obvious from Hindu stuffs - including the highly descriptive personal names of the Gods and their rituals even - that there was no need for any Hindu to ever state it and it is just regarded as self-evident. Also, these things are not for stating explicitly in the first place (but to implicitly perceive): if one can't ingest the vision of the Hindu Gods properly - their forms - what can reams of words (and embarrassingly conveyed what's more) covering the mere basics ever do?
I was angry and therefore provoked into being explicit. But at least remained acceptably superficial.
[And Alien Dabblers can gain nothing from explicit explications of Hindooism anyway: as indicated, it has no effect and carries no meaning. At most aliens can regurgitate and imitate Hindoos and try to pass off their regurgitations as their own 'insight' and 'expertise' - which they frequently do BTW: they're great plagiarists though nothing else, which can't serve them in any meaningful way.]
And so, I can continue being superficially verbose (and sound doubly lame in English) -
Sort of related to the previous post:
There are lots of obvious epithets and names of the Gods that tell the Hindoos a lot in regard to the nature of the Gods. E.g. Ayonija as the name of various Hindu Gods (especially familiar as a name of kR^iShNa) - generally translated [loosely] as 'not being born of a womb/not of human origin/without birth', that sort of thing. But in a larger sense it's also a reference to the PuruShottama being beyond the "evolution" of Prakriti (=Yoni), i.e. being beyond the triguNas and what they give rise to. That is, the Hindoo Kosmos is a product of the triguNas of Prakriti, but - like Amman/Prakriti (who is Ajaa) - Bhagavaan is called Ayonija because he is not himself a product of the 3 guNas (not born of them/what arises from them, as he yet exists beyond them) whereas the rest of Hindoo Kosmos *does* get produced from the "evolution" of his Shakti. [I feel such a fraud using such English words. But you know what I mean. I've merely tried to re-use terms that that Hindoo whom I'd quoted had used.]
The word puruShottama is also interestingly employed and intimated. Including in its literal meaning. Hindoos subconsciously or rather superconsiously/supraconsciously - oh whatever - innately ... Again: Hindus *innately* imbibe the meaning/excellences of the puruShottama and also the *identification* of the puruShottama as apparent from the various sacred narratives concerning our various Gods. Since the word's also a literal reference to the superlative male, where the puruSha- prefix further has the implication of human, traditional Hindoos are very adept at instantly absorbing such highly obvious basic realisations out of any narrative concerning the Hindoo Gods' magnificent and sacred exploits. The most basic of all being perhaps the identification of the puruShottama (which is how the Hindoo instantly identifies that an individual Hindoo God centrally featured in each narrative is in turn the Supreme Ultimate described in the Vedas incl. the upaniShads. The Gods never leave it at mere theory/words: their manifestations and exploits are what - by their very nature - impart these realisations).
In all the cases I can think of: every Hindoo God when he appears in his own narrative as the centrepiece is obviously pointed out as the paramapuruSha/the puruShottama. E.g. this is obvious from -
[* DevI however exhibits a slightly different pattern: often, when Amman is the central active character, as she is in her narratives, she often tends to quickly manifest herself as multiple Shaktis. I *think/imagine* this parallels her multiplying/growing/manifesting nature as Prakriti, which becomes vast. In any case, she is well-described as being the Shaktis of all the Devas combined and thus forms the parAshakti. Which seems to me to imply that all the Devas when combined with all their Shaktis - aka the parAshakti - form the paramaatman. Which last is also something literally embodied in the Shivalingam and (Ashwattha) vRikShas: since these are also the embodiment of all the Hindoo Gods (and their Shaktis).]
The above is again clearly not some "secret" either. It's simply an obvious pattern and a very literal truth concerning each God, but it's a pattern/truth which native Hindoos recognise (and ought to recognise/realise at an innate level for it to have any effect at all - this being a heathenism and all) so no Hindoo is likely to ever bother to explain the above explicitly the way I did either. Like Ardhanaareeshwara is perceived correctly only in implicit manner, the same is true in how the Hindoo peruses the sacred narratives about the Divine Gods and Ammans.
Anyway, this is why when the Hindoo worships each God in turn, it intrinsically recognises and remembers how that Hindoo God is the full Paramaatman. Each of these narratives - which all have much more to say, of course, than just pointing out the PuruShottama (they further describe the wondrous individual exploits and Divine Natures of the Hindu Gods besides instilling deep profound realisations in the Hindoos traditionally perceiving/perusing the Hindoo epics/puruNas/etc) - each of these narratives cement that recognition in the Hindoo for that God. So do stotras: they also describe the Gods and teach the Hindoo about the Divine Nature of each Hindoo God being worshipped. [At a deeper level, the Hindoo on contemplating its ancestral Gods via such osmosis and thereby understanding their Divine Natures is drawing its Gods to itself/drawing itself to its Gods. Superglue-ing itself to them, as it were.]
It is very important for Hindooos to innately perceive the moorties of their Gods - and understand their sacred Hindoo narratives, etc - correctly. It is a fundamentally important part of all heathenism. So fundamental in fact that it is that part of heathenism which will allow you - as a Hindoo heathen - to pull your ancestral Gods/your Divine Parents to you, and which will eventually enable you to be able to literally see them. But perceive/understand them wrong and you will Never see them, because you make no connection with who they are. Don't be like the aliens - wandering about so lost and blind that they can't find their way back to their own Gods and have started terrorising others' Gods/religions instead.
Rather, be like the traditional Daoists and Shintos: retain your traditional (i.e. family's/community's ancestral) perceptions of your ancestral Gods. It must be your Primary and your Sole understanding of the Gods. Hindoos [color="#FF0000"]must[/color] ensure this is so. It's also necessary in order to pass on the right perceptions of your Gods to your progeny. Else they will turn out more and more alien with each generation. At which point, does it even matter if they convert to christianism? What is a heathen without its [implicitly ancestral] heathenism?
BTW, I forgot to bring up a question with reference to Rajeev S's statement "homosexuality, transgender etc have not been burning issues in hindu society: note hijras (tolerated), shikhandi (given humane, special treatment), the idea of ardhanariswara etc." -
Do Indians actually refer to transgendered persons (such as those who started off 'female' at one stage) as "shikhandi"? If so, such a usage seems to be related (?) to the character Shikhandin in the MBh. (Otherwise, generally, ShikhaNDin tends to be the name of many a Hindu God. Looking it up: Means something or other to do with hair. Also means a flower or plant or something.) However, why should the MBh character have been the inspiration for the modern use of the word?
I could be wrong, but (IIRC, from reading Rajaji's MBh retelling when I was a cub):
The lady called Amba - sister of Ambika and Ambalika - killed herself after first acquiring a varan that she could be born again as a man to take revenge on Bhishma. And so she was born as a man, but into another family, into another life - where he was named Shikhandin - and Shikhandin did not come across as a man who saw himself as a woman (nor had Ambaa come across as a woman who saw herself as a man back in the Ambaa lifetime.) IIRC, Bhishma was the one to regard Shikhandin as having been a woman once (albeit in another life) and hence refused to fight her. How is either Ambaa or Shikhandin a transvestite/transgendered person then? Why has the Shikhandin name been selected as the term for (once-'female'?) transgendered persons? Are there no better cases? At least Brihannala dressed like a woman... Shikhandin was supposed to *be* a man (biologically), and dressed and lived as a man and viewed himself as one. Am I just misremembering and wrong?
I was angry and therefore provoked into being explicit. But at least remained acceptably superficial.
[And Alien Dabblers can gain nothing from explicit explications of Hindooism anyway: as indicated, it has no effect and carries no meaning. At most aliens can regurgitate and imitate Hindoos and try to pass off their regurgitations as their own 'insight' and 'expertise' - which they frequently do BTW: they're great plagiarists though nothing else, which can't serve them in any meaningful way.]
And so, I can continue being superficially verbose (and sound doubly lame in English) -
Sort of related to the previous post:
There are lots of obvious epithets and names of the Gods that tell the Hindoos a lot in regard to the nature of the Gods. E.g. Ayonija as the name of various Hindu Gods (especially familiar as a name of kR^iShNa) - generally translated [loosely] as 'not being born of a womb/not of human origin/without birth', that sort of thing. But in a larger sense it's also a reference to the PuruShottama being beyond the "evolution" of Prakriti (=Yoni), i.e. being beyond the triguNas and what they give rise to. That is, the Hindoo Kosmos is a product of the triguNas of Prakriti, but - like Amman/Prakriti (who is Ajaa) - Bhagavaan is called Ayonija because he is not himself a product of the 3 guNas (not born of them/what arises from them, as he yet exists beyond them) whereas the rest of Hindoo Kosmos *does* get produced from the "evolution" of his Shakti. [I feel such a fraud using such English words. But you know what I mean. I've merely tried to re-use terms that that Hindoo whom I'd quoted had used.]
The word puruShottama is also interestingly employed and intimated. Including in its literal meaning. Hindoos subconsciously or rather superconsiously/supraconsciously - oh whatever - innately ... Again: Hindus *innately* imbibe the meaning/excellences of the puruShottama and also the *identification* of the puruShottama as apparent from the various sacred narratives concerning our various Gods. Since the word's also a literal reference to the superlative male, where the puruSha- prefix further has the implication of human, traditional Hindoos are very adept at instantly absorbing such highly obvious basic realisations out of any narrative concerning the Hindoo Gods' magnificent and sacred exploits. The most basic of all being perhaps the identification of the puruShottama (which is how the Hindoo instantly identifies that an individual Hindoo God centrally featured in each narrative is in turn the Supreme Ultimate described in the Vedas incl. the upaniShads. The Gods never leave it at mere theory/words: their manifestations and exploits are what - by their very nature - impart these realisations).
In all the cases I can think of: every Hindoo God when he appears in his own narrative as the centrepiece is obviously pointed out as the paramapuruSha/the puruShottama. E.g. this is obvious from -
- Ayyappa in the section of his famous narrative that's described in stotras using refs like "dugdha hantaaram" (i.e. bearing the Tigress milk) being the sole puruSha (male, even human), with the tridasha as Tigresses and Indra himself as the queen Tigress carrying the obvious PuruShottama Ayyappa. (Not even the MahiShI was male - it was an asurI in this case, Ayyappa famously liberated the woman in it - i.e. the jeeva's Atman/the Jeevatman - when he defeated the MahiSha form in which it was trapped.);
- [This next example is explicated using Southern Hindu traditions/views concerning Rama:] Vishnu as Rama and his extension Lakshmana (AdisheSha and the ayudhas of Vishnu manifest with Vishnu), where the tridasha appears as the Vanara-sena and other animals around him, and with Sita being his obvious Shakti at his side. Rama alone [and obvious extension LakshmaNa] is puruSha (male, man) - not to mention that Rakshasas are literally not even human so they don't count - therefore Rama is clearly pointed out as the puruShottama here and is moreover presented as the clear earthly mirror/parallel of the obvious puruShottama in Swarga (i.e. Indra leading the devasenA in victory against the Asuras <-> Rama leading the Vaanara sena in victory against Rakshasas);
- Then Murugan and his Shakti-vel** leading the devasenA (=also the name of his wife, i.e. the entire devasenA collectively is female compared to his captaincy thereof), with some devas even as his initial vahanas, such as the kukkuta and Agni as the meSha before the redeemed rakShasas take over these embodiments. Thus making Murugan the puruShottama (the navaratnas of his Mother's anklet become Veerabaahu and other companions, who are extensions of him just as Rama's brothers are extensions of Rama/Vishnu. ** Murugan's Shakti-Vel is specifically the embodiment of his Mother - consequently worshipped as such in dhyana mantras to the Vel too, e.g. "shakte bhajetvAm jagato janitrIm...namo namaste guhahasta bhUShe..." etc - just as Murugan himself is the embodiment of his Father Shiva: see the Skanda Laharee which addresses him as "Shivastvam, Shaktistvam" - implying again that even in "single, brahmachAri form" Murugan, who is never without his Vel since it is his Shakti, is puruSha+prakRiti/Shiva-Shakti combined as paramapuruSha). Murugan=Shiva embodiment and Vel=embodiment of his Mother Parvati/Shakti, since Murugan - as all Divine Babies and all the Kosmos - is a product or rather full combination of Shiva and his wife Shakti, aka full combination of PuruSha and Prakriti: Murugan is clearly paramaatman, since being that full combination of both Da puruSha and prakRiti himself makes him so. Further, Murugan in married form has 2 Shaktis (Wives) of his own, who altogether combined with him are the Paramaatman. [The way Ayyappa - who is Hari and Hara aatmajam (being born of the essence of both Vishnu and Shiva) - has 2 matching wives: poorNa who is literally described as "LakShmI swaroopam" and puShkalaa who is literally described as "Shakti=Parvati swaroopam", to match with Ayyappa being vishnu-shiva-swaroopam.]
- The most obvious example however is Indra="sureDyam=surashreShTha" etc of all the Devas, head of the devasenA, the Devaraaja (with his Shakti as his raaNI, indraaNI Amman). Undefeatable, who famously always returns unscathed from battle (=his trait), etc etc. Making Indra the obvious puruShottama. Actually, his most famous personal name "Indra" already literally refers to male divine superlative, and so essentially works out as the same as puruShottama;
- Shiva tripurAntaka goes to bring an end to the tripura asuras, with his wife/Shakti on the chariot beside him and the tridasha in the form of his 'inert' arsenal - his weapons and chariot, with brahmA as the only other male form on the scene but he appears as charioteer, making only Shiva the centrepiece <=> clearly indicating Shiva is the puruShottama. Also his famous personal name of Pashupati already indicated that he (Shiva) is the paramapuruSha being the lord of all pashus (pashu being another word that in its literal meaning singles the one who is Pashupati out as the puruShottama). [Of course, like all these Hindoo narratives, the tripurasamhaara moorti and his vanquishing the tripuras has a lot more deep stuff to innately impart to Hindoos.]
- And as Krishna, Vishnu in the MBh via the Gita just explicitly reveals that he's the puruShottama. Actually the fact that he's literally called that by name - i.e. the fact that it's famous as his personal name - already gives it away, so one need hardly mention this as an example at all.
- Etc.*
[* DevI however exhibits a slightly different pattern: often, when Amman is the central active character, as she is in her narratives, she often tends to quickly manifest herself as multiple Shaktis. I *think/imagine* this parallels her multiplying/growing/manifesting nature as Prakriti, which becomes vast. In any case, she is well-described as being the Shaktis of all the Devas combined and thus forms the parAshakti. Which seems to me to imply that all the Devas when combined with all their Shaktis - aka the parAshakti - form the paramaatman. Which last is also something literally embodied in the Shivalingam and (Ashwattha) vRikShas: since these are also the embodiment of all the Hindoo Gods (and their Shaktis).]
The above is again clearly not some "secret" either. It's simply an obvious pattern and a very literal truth concerning each God, but it's a pattern/truth which native Hindoos recognise (and ought to recognise/realise at an innate level for it to have any effect at all - this being a heathenism and all) so no Hindoo is likely to ever bother to explain the above explicitly the way I did either. Like Ardhanaareeshwara is perceived correctly only in implicit manner, the same is true in how the Hindoo peruses the sacred narratives about the Divine Gods and Ammans.
Anyway, this is why when the Hindoo worships each God in turn, it intrinsically recognises and remembers how that Hindoo God is the full Paramaatman. Each of these narratives - which all have much more to say, of course, than just pointing out the PuruShottama (they further describe the wondrous individual exploits and Divine Natures of the Hindu Gods besides instilling deep profound realisations in the Hindoos traditionally perceiving/perusing the Hindoo epics/puruNas/etc) - each of these narratives cement that recognition in the Hindoo for that God. So do stotras: they also describe the Gods and teach the Hindoo about the Divine Nature of each Hindoo God being worshipped. [At a deeper level, the Hindoo on contemplating its ancestral Gods via such osmosis and thereby understanding their Divine Natures is drawing its Gods to itself/drawing itself to its Gods. Superglue-ing itself to them, as it were.]
It is very important for Hindooos to innately perceive the moorties of their Gods - and understand their sacred Hindoo narratives, etc - correctly. It is a fundamentally important part of all heathenism. So fundamental in fact that it is that part of heathenism which will allow you - as a Hindoo heathen - to pull your ancestral Gods/your Divine Parents to you, and which will eventually enable you to be able to literally see them. But perceive/understand them wrong and you will Never see them, because you make no connection with who they are. Don't be like the aliens - wandering about so lost and blind that they can't find their way back to their own Gods and have started terrorising others' Gods/religions instead.
Rather, be like the traditional Daoists and Shintos: retain your traditional (i.e. family's/community's ancestral) perceptions of your ancestral Gods. It must be your Primary and your Sole understanding of the Gods. Hindoos [color="#FF0000"]must[/color] ensure this is so. It's also necessary in order to pass on the right perceptions of your Gods to your progeny. Else they will turn out more and more alien with each generation. At which point, does it even matter if they convert to christianism? What is a heathen without its [implicitly ancestral] heathenism?
BTW, I forgot to bring up a question with reference to Rajeev S's statement "homosexuality, transgender etc have not been burning issues in hindu society: note hijras (tolerated), shikhandi (given humane, special treatment), the idea of ardhanariswara etc." -
Do Indians actually refer to transgendered persons (such as those who started off 'female' at one stage) as "shikhandi"? If so, such a usage seems to be related (?) to the character Shikhandin in the MBh. (Otherwise, generally, ShikhaNDin tends to be the name of many a Hindu God. Looking it up: Means something or other to do with hair. Also means a flower or plant or something.) However, why should the MBh character have been the inspiration for the modern use of the word?
I could be wrong, but (IIRC, from reading Rajaji's MBh retelling when I was a cub):
The lady called Amba - sister of Ambika and Ambalika - killed herself after first acquiring a varan that she could be born again as a man to take revenge on Bhishma. And so she was born as a man, but into another family, into another life - where he was named Shikhandin - and Shikhandin did not come across as a man who saw himself as a woman (nor had Ambaa come across as a woman who saw herself as a man back in the Ambaa lifetime.) IIRC, Bhishma was the one to regard Shikhandin as having been a woman once (albeit in another life) and hence refused to fight her. How is either Ambaa or Shikhandin a transvestite/transgendered person then? Why has the Shikhandin name been selected as the term for (once-'female'?) transgendered persons? Are there no better cases? At least Brihannala dressed like a woman... Shikhandin was supposed to *be* a man (biologically), and dressed and lived as a man and viewed himself as one. Am I just misremembering and wrong?