Who was Bahubali?

Acc to Jain Scriptures

 

Bahubali was the son of first tiranthakara Rishabha also known as Rishabhdeva. He has an elder brother Bharata. He gave his kingdom to his brother and become a Jain monk. He attained moksha after one year of meditation in posture of kayotsarga (on one leg) for a whole year. When Rishabhdeva left his kingdom for moksh, he gave throne to Bharta as he was the successor after him. But Bharta demanded submission from his brothers which made bahubali to challenge his brother.

 

Both brother were somehow immortal and cannot be killed by any means unless a natural death. It was then decided that dispute must be settled by means of contest between both of them. Those were 1. Eye to eye combat, 2. Jala yudh or water fight, 3. Mala yudha or wrestling

 

Bahubali won all three.

 

Did Bahubali Achieve Enlightenment?

 

Yes. A verbal communication has been found in Jain text where his three sisters asked from their father “Adinath” or the first Tiranthakara or Rishabadev. Adianth said “just moments away from enlightenment, Bahubali could not achieve it because he didn’t realize that he was standing on ‘the elephant’ – Ego”.

 

Now understanding his folly, the sisters approached him and said, Oh my dear brother, at least now get down from the elephant. These words from his sisters led Bahubali to question “Am I really standing on any kind of elephant?” From this question he soon realized that the elephant he was standing upon was his pride and ego. Bahubali realized his mistake and shed his pride and ego, thereby destroying four kinds of inimical karmas and attained omniscience. Source

 

Does Bharat attain same?

 

After becoming undisputed emperor, people were happy under his regime. One day his ring fell off from one of his finger. He looked his finger looked odd without ring. He removed all his rings and felt same for all fingers. Then he took off his throne and all ornaments and looked at mirror. He noticed that he did not look impressive as he used to look. He thus realized that nothing in the world inclusive his body belonged to him. In that case, he thought, “Why not do away with the attachment of all the temporary things and instead focus on something that last forever like my father?”
This led to rise in true enlightenment within and as a result he attained omniscience in that very room. Source

 

Acc to Hindu Scriptures

 

Who was bahubali?

 

There no mention of bahubali in hindu scriptures.

 

Do Rishabhdev have any important role in Hinduism?

 

Yes. Most of you might have not known that Rishaba Deva is believed to be the eighth avatar out of 22 avatars of Vishnu in Bhagvad Purana. Rishabh rishi is mentioned in popular texts such as Skanda and Vishnu Purana as well.

 

According to hindu text, he got 100 sons from his wife Jayanti. Of his hundred sons eldest was jadabharta, who later become chakravartin and since his regime, Indian subcontinent called Bhartavansha.

 

Bharta life as per hindu scriptures?

 

Similar to Jain text, when Rishabha Deva became old he left his throne for Bharta. And similarly, when Bharta turned old, he divided his kingdom between his five sons and went for tapa in forest.

 

Popular Story About Bharta

 

“Bharta love for deer” is a popular story you can recognize if you have ever attended Bhagvata Katha from speaker.

 

One day while offering prayers to the Sun God on the river bank, he saw a lone and heavily pregnant doe coming to quench its thirst in the river. Hardly had it touched the water when the forest echoed with the roar of a lion. The doe became terror-stricken and it just leaped into the water without even quenching its thirst and tried to ford it in a bid to escape to the other side of the river. Shocked by fear and overcome by the effort to negotiate the current, the doe gave birth to a young deer midstream. Without even being aware of it, the doe reached the other bank where it died of exhaustion. The royal sage who saw it all, was moved by compassion at the sight of the motherless infant deer being carried away by the river. He picked the young deer, took it to his ashrama and fed it with tender grass and protected it from wild beasts. Soon he grew very fond of it. In course of time the sage became so attached to it that he could not part from it even for a short while. He feared all sorts of harms to his pet and prayed for their removal. He forgot that he was a sage and behaved like a foolish householder doting over his child. In the end he died with thoughts of the deer in his mind. Source

 

Bharata’s Next Birth

That sage was born as a deer in his next birth. The Vedic scriptures say that a man will be born in his next birth as that thing about which he was thinking most at the time of his death. Therefore wise men advice people to think of Supreme Personality of Godhead (Krishna, or any other Vishnu avatara) so that it will become a habit and thus after death achieve God’s abode. As a result of his tapas and merits and having almost reached perfection the deer that was Bharata, could remember its past by the Lord’s grace.

 

It regretted: “How foolish of me to have forgotten my tapas and become attached to an animal? And now I suffer for it, being born an animal. I shall not repeat the mistake.” Saying this deer left its mother and began living in the vicinity of a Rishi’s ashrama spending all its time thinking of God. When death approached, the deer entered the water of a river and standing there, gave up its body.

 

There was one more birth of bharta after that. Please find the complete story here – jadabharta.

 

Relevancy between Jainism and Hinduism Stories

 

Both Jain and Hindu scriptures proved that the identities of Rishabhadeva and Bharta were true. Both believe that Indian subcontinent is named after bharta (bhartavarsh). Rishabha deva’s mother name was Marudevi.

 

What does not match?

 

According to Jain, Rishabhdeva had 2 wives: sunanda and sumangla. According to hindu only 1: Jayanti.

According to Jain, there were two sons: Bharta and Bahubali. According to Hindu, there were 100 sons from Jayanti. Eldest was Bharta. After him Kusavarta, Ilavarta, Brahmavarta, Malaya, Ketu, Bhadrasena, Indrasprk, Vidarbha and Kikata.

 

Conclusion:

 

None of these stories can be taken for granted but it is concluded that this story is not mere a myth but a truth and our ancient history.

 

Do the bahubali movie is based on this ancient storyline?

 

No. Bahubali movie is a just a work of fiction.

Blind Faith in Religion

To achieve what we meant to be, it is important that we believe in “One” – The Almighty, God, Allah, Parmeshwar, Bhagwan, the omnipresent. But should we follow what has written in books blindly? Should we fear questioning what seems wrong?

I dont want to believe. I want to know!

I am a Deist who believes in God but not in religion. This Blog is not written in order to hurt one;s beliefs but to make them think and differentiate between rights and wrongs.

Does Islam permit a man to hit his wife?

  Qur’an (4:34) – “Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High,

Qur’an (38:44) – “And take in your hand a green branch and beat her with it, and do not break your oath…”    So the Qur’an says that men have a certain ideal job, and so do women. Next, this verse says that this verse is only applicable to a wife that is “disloyal” and acting in “ill-conduct” (cheating, etc). Finally, withholding physical contact is only allowed as a last resort, the Qur’an orders us to talk with them and try to talk sense to them, then deny sex, then finally if all else fails physical contact, however it should be noted that the Arabic word here implies gentleness as well.

What do you think is the way to beat someone gently? Do you think a mature woman would be able to understand and obey you after you beat her gently? And what if she still disobeys you? Dont your gentleness will fade away slowly?

Do Islam and Hinduism teach that a woman is worth less than a man?

Qur’an (4:3) – (Wife-to-husband ratio) “Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four” Inequality by numbers.

But is later followed by this verse

Quran (4:129) – And you will never be able to be equal between wives, even if you should strive [to do so]. So do not incline completely [toward one] and leave another hanging. And if you amend [your affairs] and fear Allah – then indeed, Allah is ever forgiving and Merciful.

So we literally get the message: Yes you can have up to 4 wives if you can treat them all fairly; but you can’t treat them fairly! Why 4 then? Why not more than 4 if it is not a problem? And why there is no such rule for woman to have 2, 3 or 4 husband if she can treat them fairly?

Fellow men answered with a very good example:

Now, let’s assume there are 100 women and 90 men. Now, according to one-man-one-woman philosophy, if only 90 women from 100 get to married to 90 men, 10 women are left unmarried. Now, everybody has their own desires, and for that 10 women will go public. This is one of the biggest sins in Islam. Moreover, there are chances that some of the 10 women are related by blood relation to some of the 90 women or 90 men who are married. Which sister would want her sister or which brother would want his sister to become a public property. Even if you are a female and suppose you are left unmarried and now you have only two choices: to go public or to marry a man who already has a wife with all equal rights?

The example given by him seems interesting but what if there is 90 women and 100 men? Why there is no such rule for women? In such case 10 men will be left as unmarried.

The fellow men referenced a blog http://ask-a-muslim.quora.com/Polygamy-in-Islam where the author tries to justify this point impressively. Remember that there were cultures in place before Islam. It’s important to remember that Islam came into place in an area when polygamy was already incredibly common. So saying polygyny is not allowed wouldn’t have done anything to help the problem. Instead Islam decided to regulate and manage it much more strictly. By setting a limit (no limit was previously imposed) on how many wives, setting strict circumstances( must be fair and treat wives equally ), and giving women the right to choose(previously if a many wanted a new wife he could simply ‘buy one’) Islam created a much much fairer situation for women.

So the above text telling that they tried to add text in quran carefully so it won’t affect the rising of new religion “Islam”. Aren’t those words from Allah? So Allah guided Muhammad to write rules carefully as per the present situation of that era? The author also added some social issues such as inheritance that if there are many fathers and only one mother, who’s child belongs to which father?

The answer is mother. Wasn’t that simple?

It has been also written in one of the verses that sons get a share equal to two daughters. What does the verse say?

Qur’an (4:11) – (Inheritance) “The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females” This verse is not being gradually defended by believers as they believe as per the maintainers a man is responsible for all the wealth and have the bigger responsibility to take care of family. Therefore he deserves double the share of a woman.   I don’t find this answer convincing. What about you? Here is the next one:  

Qur’an (2:282) -… And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses – so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her….

What Believer says:  This verse is not saying 1 man = 2 women, it’s saying that if you are going to be testifying in court you should have someone else who saw what was happening to back you up or correct you. Since two men couldn’t be found, we need two women instead.

So, initially there were supposed to be two men, so that one man could correct the other, but if there are not two men, then they want a man and two women, so that one woman could correct the other. Why not 1 man and 1 woman? Can’t a woman correct a man? Why one woman to correct other woman?  Why needed 3 people instead of 2?

Does only Islam allow marrying many wives?

To some extent, it is yes because no other religion specifies any number to it. However, one can easily refer Shri Krishna here! For the information, there are no teachings of marrying more than one woman in bhagwat geeta or Hinduism. Krishna is not seen as blueprint for marrying 16,000 women by hindu men. He got married to all his wives in similar context as Prophet Muhammad married to his wives to help them. Moreover, this is not about what happened decades ago but what we learn today from our sacred books.

Does women considered of lower birth in “The Bhagavad Gita”?

Here is the verse: bhagvad geeta (9.32) –

māḿ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye

‘pi syuḥ pāpa–yonayaḥ

striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te ‘pi yānti parāḿ gatim

Translation O son of Pṛthā

those who take shelter in Me,

though they be of lower birth

women, vaiśyas [merchants] and śūdras [workers]

can attain the supreme destination.

According to above translation, women is not meant to be declared under lower birth but mentioned with vaisyas and sudras that they can attain the supreme destination equally as men. I would like to remind everyone to the context above mentioned where author talks about the social conditions of the era when Islam was establishing. At that time most women were sold and purchased like objects, a lifetime servant. They were denied access to resources and education and things like that. Krishna here breaking believes of people that your so called lower birth can also achieve supreme destination.

I have a very interesting example by one of the hindu believer below. It proves that woman has always given equal rank to man. There is a wallet on the table Then there are some sweets kept (I just had dinner) There is a pile of books that I haven’t read since months And finally beautiful plants and lovely environment outside my window If we put a little pressure on our brains thinking about the Gods in-charge of these, then we would realize the following:

• Wallet – Goddess Laxmi
• Food – Goddess Annapoorna
• Books – Goddess Saraswati
• Plants, Air, etc – Goddess Prakriti

I go to the temples and read scriptures and find that whenever the Godly couples are mentioned, it is always Prakriti (Female) first – Sita Ram, Radha Krishna, etc. That’s not where the story ends. The ultimate example of equality, if not women superiority that may look like from the above examples, is the Ardhanarishvara avatar, where Shiva and Prakriti (or Parvati or Sati) occupies equal halves.

  However, Hinduism is not perfect either. Quotes like above from the Bhagvat Geeta are certainly taken place as the beliefs by many followers in day to day life. Women are certainly facing inequality from many decades. Animals slaughtering is also one of the practices being done in name of sacrifice for God. However, it has been reduced in recent times.   Recently, it has been made illegal in Himachal Pradesh, state of India where animal sacrifice was a common practice. Most of the villages feel that god will not be pleased with such action and something terrible will happen to them. But many of them support this as well. Thanks to the Indian Govt. Law and flexibility in Hinduism that they take action against what has been practiced so far.

Islam promises it’s followers 72 virgins when they reach heaven. Why do people follow a religion with this type of shallow thinking?

Yes, it promises but there is no mention of specific number such as 72 in Quran.

quran [78:33] And full-breasted [companions] of equal age

quran [56:22] And [for them are] fair women with large, [beautiful] eyes,

quran [56:36] And made them virgins,

The actual number of houri is thus a minor issue and 72 is the number of those houris confirmed in multiple hadith. The hadiths are a crucial part of Islam and certain Muslims ignore them because sometimes they contain uncomfortable details about Islam. Women in Islamic heaven as a reward are talked about frequently in the Qur’an as evidenced by the various places in the Qur’an where their characteristics are talked about. Also if the Qur’an talks about a certain issue only once, it cannot be taken lightly in any way as every word and sentence in the Qur’an is important and holy to Muslims. They get 72 virgins only because they obeyed Allah and his Prophet Mohammad .

What do the ladies get here?

This is one of the main reason which makes me think that this wont be the teaching of allah. It is purely written by the “Prophet Muhhammed”. I have also read that there is no place for women in paradise. To be continued…

होता है ऐसा भी

दिल का दर्द

बड़ा है समय के साथ

पर होता है

ऐसा भी

ये मान लेते हैं

 

रिश्तो की गहराई में

इतना ख़ालीपन है देखा

पर होता है

ऐसा भी

ये भी मान लेते हैं

 

हाँ मिला था एक साथी

जो था मेरे जैसा हे

कुछ तरीके नये सीखा गाया जीने के

🙂

पर होता है

ऐसा भी

ये भी मान लेते है

अब तो हर बात का जवाब ही

रह गया है एक ही

तभी तो अकेला हूँ

होता है

ऐसा भी

ये भी मान लेते हैं

खो ना जाउ यहीं

चला जा रहा हूँ

वक़्त की रफ़्तार से

तू थाम ले मुझे

कहीं खो ना जाउ यहीं

भूले हैं सब हश्र को

मैं भी भूल ना जाउ कहीं

तू थाम ले मुझे

कहीं खो ना जाउ यहीं

कब तक मैं समेटुंगा

कब तक टतोलूँगा

अपना कह के मैं

कब तक मॅन बहलाऊँगा

बँध जाउ ना कहीं

बह जाउ ना कहीं

तू थाम ले मुझे

कहीं खो ना जाउ यहीं

रचनाकार – भूपिंदर ठाकुर राजपूत

Not so Far

People who loves me

People who trust me

Give some time to prove me

But please at this time let me go

Just don’t follow me

Coz reasons i have is not enough to convince you

I hope you will understand it

while it be sooner or later

So, People who loves me

just do this one more thing for me

Please let me go this time

Coz i need time

time to prove me

Nothing Static – Need Last Change of My Life

Under depression

Need some compensation

Better for me to concentrate

And keep my work secret

But why I am going crazy

And besides that too lazy

Nothing looking great in my life

Every minute cutting me like a knife

Don’t have any other choice

So, There is just a wait…..

Until I got something nice from my life..