[Advaita-l] Brahmins census

[Sunil Bhattacharjya]

Dear Venkateshji,

The Vedas cannot be taught to anybody as that needs the preparation of the disciples. The old gurukul system was ideal in the ancient times but these days one does not find many Veda pathshalas. One has to know the grammar, chandas, etymology and jyotish and above all a sharp brain to understand the verses as the Vedic verses have paroksha meanings and not just what meets the eyes. Being called the fifth Veda even the puranas have verses which require paroksha insight. For getting a child who would be able to  acquire all  the Vedas the pregnant mothers were allowed to eat even veal, though the eating of beef was forbidden (please see Brihadaranyak). Such was considered the need for preparation for the study of the Vedas, right from the stage of conception (in mother's womb).

Now coming to the Atharva Veda there has to be restrictions as it can be misused if the disciples do not have the required integrity. Permit me to give an example to illustrate the point, though no example can be a perfect example. During one of my visits to Australia I learnt Tai Chi, which appears to be very gentle art form ( some call it dance form) and the popular notion is that it is good for health and particularly favoured by the older people. That is what just meets the eye. Tai Chi  is a very serious art and probably the most effective of  all the martial arts, when combined  with the original teaching of the strikes at the Vital points (or DimMak points), which are the same as the Marma sthanas mentioned by Sushruta (Marma sthana literally means Death zones or points). The Tai Chi master is never aggressive but he knows how to thwart the aggressor's designs.  With one lightening strike he can immobilise the aggressor and can even give a
 fatal strike if that is called for. The training on striking at the vital points was traditionally given only to the advanced students, particularly to those, who were past 55 years of age. My teacher was good to explain to me the martial aspects of the art and that made the training very interesting..

Regards,

Sunil K. Bhattacharjya

--- On Tue, 11/16/10, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Brahmins census
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Date: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 9:18 PM

All must follow Dharma but there must be sufficient protection in case
some do not follow it. A concrete example can be given. It is well
known there are very few followers of Atharvana Veda .  There was only
one good Atharvana Vedi in whole state of Gujarat. He had three sons.
First two sons were not interested in learning the Veda. The father
could not do anything but he could teach the last son. If the father
had only one son and he does not learn Veda what can the father do?
This is current pathetic situation in many families. There is no
protection of Dharma because there are not enough followers.

Regards

-Venkatesh

On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:24 AM, srikanta <srikanta at nie.ac.in> wrote:
> I read an Email from sri.Venkatesha murthy,which says Brahmins population
> is declining and expresses concern that what will happen to Dharma if it
> is not followed?He is right in expresing the concern.He also says that in
> Grandfather's time,there were more children,if others donot follow the
> dharma,
> only one or two followed.
> I would like to say that the rest of the Brahmins should follow the
> dharma,irrespective of the Gender,and take pride in it.On no account they
> must leave the dharma.
>
>                                                        N.Srikanta.
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>
_______________________________________________
Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita

To unsubscribe or change your options:
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l

For assistance, contact:
listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org