The Epics as a Reference

The Mahabharata is the final referance point of our village people - the stories they quote from it are sub plots that i had not heard of even. Eashwaramma's son-in-law, almost blind, poorer than poor, holds the people rapt as he tells stories from the Bharatam into the night, sitting on a mat spread before his hut.

Ratnakka tells me, referring to the Mahabharatam, "The gods themselves had to go through all this, what about us humans". The people say as they hear the stories, "what was difficult even for the gods will be difficult for us also ...", and find strength to struggle. 

The Pandavas practiced goodness and still suffered - so the worth of goodness was questioned by some, someone asked. But the question is whether the Pandavas themselves had felt that goodness had been worthless. It was Eashwaramma's logic again, that the reward of goodness is always given - and the reward is manashanthi. Peace. At having let belief and act harmonize.

And then the scriptures say that there is peeda - which is part of life, which comes and goes. And dukham which is different and which one needs to transcend. Peeda, pain, cannot and need not be avoided. In the village Ratnakka said, 'If we are born as people, there will be sufferings. Even the Gods suffered, see."

The scriptures talk of  the Kunti stotram ... where Kunti begs the god to keep her cup of sorrows full - as that keeps her thoughts close to God. Annasamy Anna told me the same thing - how the mendicant who begs for his daily meal is most fortunate because he remembers god all the time.

Everything that is in the Geeta or the Mahabharatha, I am able to find echoes of in the words and stories of the common, illiterate people of the villages.

Prasad Krishnan .. I think it is wrong to say that 99% don't have a clue about what the Upanishads say. Every Hindu has some understanding of the underlying understanding. For instance, 99% Hindus would probably intuitively believe in (a) Aandavan being everywhere (immanence) unlike Abrahamics (b) Rebirth (c) Karma and the rule (d) Value of following ahimsa-satya.

They may not phrase it in the same language, but doesn't mean they don't understand it intuitively (and hence doesn't mean they are not motivated by it if they really believe it).

One has to merely look at works (especially the lyrical/puranic) of the the various saints of this land in their own vernaculars to understand how much this level of understanding was quite common.

These are the ABCs of Hindu Dharma. Anyone who believes in these is Hindu. And nearly every Hindu has an understanding of these, in my somewhat-uninformed opinion. I don't know of any evidence to the opposite.

Not everything any Brahmin says can be slotted into "Brahminism" as defined by the left.

 
 Religion anchors an Indian village, its perspectives, its deepest behaviors. Therefore many of the deepest social reforms and changes have been acheived on this land by those rooted in religion. Narayana guru, Kabir, Brahmayya garu, Gandhiji.

"Lakshmamma says, “Gangamma is greater than even the sun god as she is Ganga, water itself ”.

Annasamy also says that Gangamma is the greatest of gods, as water is the source of all. All are born of Gangamma as all are born in water and if the water were to disappear, there would be no life. Various stories interweave in a tapestry. There are stories of Gangamma being the first goddess and the creator of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The Mahabharatam story of Gangamma marrying Shantanu, and throwing their new born into the river eight times is also part of the lore.

Various details from the Mahabharata are part of the tapestry of common stories. Yudhishtra’s greatness is repeated and shared. How when the yaksha asked him which of the brothers he wished to have restored to life, he selected Sahadeva, sayng that Kunti had one son alive in himself, and one of Madri’s sons should also be alive. How when despite all the injustices done to him, finally he only asked for peace, ‘santhi’.

In the story of Hidimba , the rakshasi met and wished to marry Bheema, and Yudhishtra advised Bheema that a woman not be refused and that a gandharva marriage be performed. And how Gatothgacha was born to Hidimba. There is the story of how Bheema falls on a rock and it becomes powder, indicating his strength. And how when food would be given to the brothers, Kunti would give half to Bheema, as his need was that much more than the others.

There are versions where it is said that Draupadi is a rakshasi and was used to sneaking out at nights to eat corpses. And how Krishnamurthy made her promise while holding her hand over a lamp flame that she would not eat her husbands.

There are many versions of stories in local lore. As they say, ‘Oke ooruki enno daarilu unnayee’, meaning there are any number of paths to a village. These stories anchor their dharmam and philosophy. These stories give them strength as in the stories they find echoes of their own life, “Even the gods went through all situations, what about us humans?”. The Mahabharatam stories are a very integral part of the heritage, ... "