Srimathe Rangaramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha
Srimathe Sri Varaha Mahadesikaya Namaha
Sri Velukkudi Krishnan Swamy Thiruvadigaley Sharanam
Sri:

With Anugrahams of poorvAchAryAs adiyen attempt to decode above narrative.

Our yugAs are cyclic. PurANams are very old. It could have happened in any chathuri yugAs

Also only sAthvika purANams classified by Veda VyAsA are followable.

PurANams are too old like dinosaurs 🦖🦕 a species considered to be extinct. The relevance of its acceptance could not be closely relatable to us as of today.

That’s why ithihasAs takes precedence over purANAs.

In movies what they say, you can relate to movie. A life incident of yours would have matched. So you will like it

Same way ithihasAs have more relatable elements.

What’s the point in digesting Deva Asura yuddhas when we want moksham?

Dasanudasan

Srivats swamy, namaskaram. nice question.

Let me try and add to Vikram swamy’s answer.

First let us ponder this: Why do we tend to accept the Ithihasams and the unparalleled Bhagavad Gita? Is it because we can easily perceive the message in these scriptures? Or is it because we have received this knowledge from saints who are pure and do not deviate from Truth?

Obviously, it is not because we can perceive the message in these scriptures. There are many things in Ramayanam and Mahabharatham which are beyond my ability to conceive. I can’t even imagine how something so tiny as a soul can control a huge body (as described in Bhagavad Gita). The Tri-gunams (satva-, raja-, tamo-) that are said to control us is beyond my understanding. Yet we readily accept all these now because we hear this from our acharyas who are pure.

To give a layman example, to my normal perception the earth looks flat. But when I learn from sastram that “bhoo” is “golam”, now with this knowledge when I perceive the earth, it is easy for me to conceive that it is indeed a sphere, not flat.

With knowledge received from acharyas when we observe our lives, we can begin to understand the influence of the Trigunams, the greatness of the soul, and some of the hither-to inconceivable events/ concepts in Ramayanam and Mahabharatam.

So, the first thing we have to realise is that we accept things because pure acharyas / sastram say so. Gradually even things that are not understandable now will become understandable.

Second, let us ponder why we are hesitant to accept puranams? This is because, there are more things in Puranic stories that seem to contradict our current perception of the world around us. Also puranas describe events across time scales and across multiple universal locations or even across multi-verses. The purana stories leave out the technical details of these and retain only the core message essential for us to understand our life: our eternal life, temporary lives, influence of the material nature on the soul; the focus is on the principles (which are relevant) and not the technical details (which are not relevant). 

Although these are beyond the stretch of our imagination, we should accept it simply because they are passed on through pure acharyas in “Oor AAn vazhi”. We can not say “I’ll accept ithihasas and Bhagavad Gita because acharyas say so, but I will not accept puranas even if acharyas say so.” This is the real danger of not accepting the puranas.

When a ‘great’ scientist proposes existence of black hole, multiverse, dark matter, gravitational wave, time travel, teleportation, relativity, 4th and higher dimensions of spatial existence, and other such fantasies, we too tend to easily accept it along with the common public.

Can we not accept the Puranas (even if they seem to be fantasies to us now) just because we hear about these from pure acharyas seeking Truth and not highly fallible scientists ?

Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on this topic.

adiyen dasan.

Srimate Raamanujaya Namaha,

Heard in a recent audio , where swamy explained that vedas are afraid that we may misunderstand the principles in vedas , if we don’t understand puraanas. Itihaasas and Puranaas are the examples on how to interpret and apply different Vedic principles at different time place and circumstances.
Applied lessons are easier and clear than vague abstract concepts.

Adiyen

Thanks for taking out time to share your views, all swamis!

Kambandasan swami is right. My question was not about denying the wisdom instilled by (at least select portions that we get to read and able to absorb) purAnams, but rather whether to accept them all as an actual incident in the past?

This is because many of the incidents mentioned in each purAnam are beyond our wildest imagination. Even if we assume that we cannot measure their authenticity with our limited knowledge, there are so many questions like a few mentioned herein.

1. Why so many purAnams for a unique (single) event?
2. What does it mean by Brahma devan wrote them when he was in Satvika, Rajasika, and Tamasika moods? Does that mean he wrote different and falsified narratives, say, like in an intoxicated condition? Even in that case, can’t there be a quick realization of the correct version to be passed on to the creation?
3. Why even devas/goddesses(consorts)/so-called rishis are not spared in Puranas and shown as jealous and quarrelsome people? 

Maybe we can find answers to such questions only in silence and devotion!

– Adiyen

Srimate Raamanujaye Namaha

Swamy in addition to above replies please find additional possible answers to your questions.

• Why so many purAnams for a unique (single) event? 
• ” in the earlier analogy of a human narrating to ant, lets us take the the example of one event of a child getting ready to school and reaching, when narrated to the ant the same event will have different emphasis and details when narrated by the child, parent and grandmother. Also the same event after many days will take up a different version. But all are true. In some cases if it is different it means it is a different day but about same action of going to school.( like same or similar events may have repeated and different puraanas describe the different events)

• What does it mean by Brahma devan wrote them when he was in Satvika, Rajasika, and Tamasika moods? Does that mean he wrote different and falsified narratives, say, like in an intoxicated condition? Even in that case, can’t there be a quick realization of the correct version to be passed on to the creation?
• ” Different people need different paths to progress, and different people play a different role in society ex, kshatriyas have to have Rajas or rather they naturally have Rajas and that quality is engaged in service of protecting the country. so different people have different needs and Vedas satisfy all.

• Why even devas/goddesses(consorts)/so-called rishis are not spared in Puranas and shown as jealous and quarrelsome people?
• ” difficult to understand, there is no one answer for this depends in individual case to case, in some cases it is karma, in some cases a pastime to teach a lesson for humanity, in some cases as per Krishna’s plan to glorify a devotee or to fulfill a larger plan”

Swami logically we cannot come to this conclusions, rather I have already decided it is true based on faith , then finding answers to justify my faith.

Adiyen

Mikka Nandri, Enpanifan Swami !

Almost every theological societies in this world have its own stories about its god, first creation, svargam, narakam, etc. In fact, Bible and Quran are full of such stories based in the mediterranean region with their heroes and legends, and fable stories.

However, what is so unique about Sanatana Dharmam (Hinduism) is Vedantam and Bhagavad Gita because none of the other religions have parallels to this literature.

Though we might defend that everything put together constitutes Hinduism, had these two pieces of literature not been part of our dharmam, we might have easily fallen prey to the rest of the religions.

This is the reason why all other religions are in awe of Hinduism, in adiyen humble opinion!

– Adiyen

If we explain our daily life story to an ant, it would appear complex and appear like a puraana and would need tremendous faith on part of the ant to believe that our narration is infact real.From enpanifan

This was a wonderful explanation, Enpanifan Swami! I do agree!

– Adiyen

Srimate Raamanujaya Namaha,
Dhanysomi swami, it was not my own example or explanation…it was based on what I have heard from my teachers.

Regarding your earlier post regarding Bhagavat Geeta and Vedantam, I also have huge respect regard and liking for these literatures, but not sure if that is the reason for sanatana dharma to survive..may be possible, but many parts in tamilnadu most people are not familiar with Vedantam and Bhagavat geeta but followed tamil literatures and still Santana dharma survived.( perhaps the tamil literatures also have the same crux as these literature)

Thanks
Regards

Thanks for sharing this opinion, Enpanifan Swami !

I meant, in a hypothetical tatva vAdam, if we talk about purAnams, every other religion can talk about their own gods, hell, heaven, the appearance of the universe, connected stories, etc.

But no other religion can talk about ‘Atma Tatvam’ except our Santana Dharmam because metaphysics is only our contribution to this society.

Yes, as I understand, even Divya Prabandham is also the essence of vedantam only.

– Adiyen