--- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yes, I had seen it.
> Did you see this brilliant analysis of the
> "King" hymn (verses 4-5 of hymn 173) of the
> 10th Mandala of the Rig Veda from Barry?
>
> "In the translation provided by cardemeister, the verse
> says,
The translation is *provided* by cardemeister, but its of course
neither *by* him nor by MMY. Its an ancient hymn used to install kings.
'Firm is the sky and firm the earth, and steadfast
> also are these hills. Steadfast is all this living world,
> and steadfast is this King of men. Steadfast, may Varuna
> the King, steadfast, the God Brhaspati, Steadfast, may
> Indra, steadfast too, may Agni keep thy steadfast reign.'
>
> "I find this verse -- and the choice of it, presumably
> by Maharishi -- fascinating because as a Buddhist it
> strikes me as 100% *opposite* to the way the universe
> actually works.
As I said its an ancient hymn used to install Kings. MMY's choice here
was simply referring to the situation. It probably was used to install
Nader Ram. When I read the second part of the last sentence my stomach
turns 180°. To comment on a vedic verse, and the say, 'as a Buddhist
it strikes me as 100% opposite the the way the universe actually works.'
First of all it assumes, that you can use a Buddhist axiom of
'reality' and apply it on a different religion. The validity of the
Vedas was actually rejected by the Buddha. As a practising Buddhist,
one could know this.
Second, it implies that as a Buddhist you know, how the universe
actually works, and that this is an *absolute* truth. ('how the
universe *actually* works)
Third, it assumes that the translation is actually correct and
exhaustive. It is very well known that many Hindus, and that includes
MMY, but not just him, think that the Vedas are virtually not
translatable, and indeed many even think until today that they should
have never been translated. Partly the reason is in RV I. 164
Fourth, it interprets MMY, that nothing in the relative is unchanging
wrongly. Where the Vedas speak of the immutable, they speak of the
absolute, not the relative. The notion of an absolute, unchanging is
rejected by the Buddhists as is very well known. It strikes me
somewhat as odd, that a student of Buddhism wouldn't be aware of this
major difference between Buddhism and Vedanta, which assumes the
Brahman as an Absolute.All this is of a certain philosophic or
religious naivity, if it is not straight Hindubashing.
Fifth, it twists the argument from a general difference between
Hinduism and Buddhism and applies it to MMY having missed the whole
point (the Buddhist point here). While this may be said about the
Rishi of the verse, or maybe the translator, Barry applies it to MMY.
What shall I say.
And then of course its a wrong english interpretation of steadfast.
Steadfast can be relative. It just means going to last for a long
time, not eternal. Even the Rishis knew that the king would die, but
they wanted him to live long. So the whole thing is hyperbole. Hot air.
>'Steadfast' means firmly fixed in place,
> not subject to change. Well, as I understanding things
> (and as I remember Maharishi himself saying in the past)
> *nothing* in the relative world is steadfast. Not the
> sky, not the earth, not the 'gods,' and *certainly* not
> the kings of men. To believe -- and celebrate -- the
> notion that they *are* fixed and not subject to change
> seems to me tantamount to having Missed The Whole Point,
> big-time. It's like having one's students meditate on
> 'My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings, Look on my works,
> ye Mighty, and despair!' and ignore the fact that all
> that's left of Ozzy's Empire and the statue he built to
> mark his greatness are two trunkless legs of stone in
> the desert."
>
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