Now, the superstitions associated with eclipses. In India even today and even among the most educated people, the beliefs that prevail regarding eclipses are the most ridiculous. One must not eat for the entire duration of the eclipse and some people actually follow it. You must not cook and when the eclipse gets over all the water in the house must be thrown away and replaced with fresh water. Since there is a scarcity of water these days and you can’t afford to throw it all away, there is a way around this one. Put some kind of grass or weed in the water to purify it :). Pregnant women must not venture out so that there are no ill effects on the unborn child. Why? Because, harmful radiations are emitted during the eclipse!
Obviously, this observation has no scientific backing but who cares about science. I have been eating, drinking and doing everything I normally do during eclipses and I haven’t seen any harm coming upon me or my family. But, naturally. I am aware about the scientific reasoning behind eclipses which are natural phenomena which have been happening since there has been earth. But try telling this to the people who follow the ridiculous traditions. And, the best answer they give is — If our elders have been doing it, then there ought to be good reason behind it. Really, I disagree. We have an analytical mind to understand what is right and what is not. So everything that our elders do is definitely not right. The right to reason, understand and then adapt what is sound is the understanding that education offers us and it is the only way we can come out of these ignorant beliefs.
As it is, Hinduism is riddled with all kinds of superstitions, rituals and discriminatory practices (the caste system is a case in point). Unless, educated Hindus open their minds and rid ourselves of these beliefs, we would continue to be backward in a lot of areas no matter how much economic progress we may achieve.
I completely agree 200%. My mom went about with the grass I didn’t stop her because her beliefs are hers, but really, I’ve never done it on my own the past 7 years I’ve lived abroad, and I am just fine. And my mom knows it. And still she thinks she ought to do it. So I let it be.
I agree about the elders bit. I see my mom-in-law with some beliefs which I don’t even dispute. Even if I did, I know she would still go by what she believes in :). I am surprised by seemingly modern people of our age group who indulge in this behavior.
ok try telling the persons who argue with you, they should not use tv mobile or net if their parents had not used it..
i think any belief on its own is fine as long as it doesn’t hurt.
as you pointed out regarding water, its not practical with the shortage..
the problem is science is not perfect. science gave us polycarbonate material, later scientists tell us we shouldn’t use them since bpa is harmful even if used for a month..
i think whats required is sense and balance..
Rachna, why are you suprised by modern people who indulge in these behaviour, have you seen the bhoot and tarot and astro programs on “news” channels..
@wise donkey Both your points are very valid. I remember when I was majoring in Chemistry hydrogention was a wonderful, revolutionary process. It prevented things from turning rancid and it was promoted in a big way. Now so many years later, these hydrogenated fats read trans fats are the biggest evils. Ditto with revolutionary CFCs known to cause ozone layer depletion. So my friend you are absolutely right, we must treat all things scientific all with caution.
Viewing a solar eclipse is beautiful. 🙂 Nice discription of that rare event. 🙂
Thank you, Chandrika for visiting my blog. Hope to see you here regularly 🙂
Educated Hindus …
I guess you meant .. Hindus who went to college , who have important jobs etc.
But in retrospect … are you really educated in your religion ?
How many of us really try to understand it ?
What i am trying to tell you is that often things which appear to be stupid have a deeper meaning to it. Things have been misinterpreted by people for their own advantage for centuries
Nothing is perfect but it is us ” ignorant hindus” who are less than perfect than the actual ism
@scarlet pimpernel Well that is a deeper debate. Are we talking about rituals or mindless following of customs or religion per se? Religion is about faith and I am not about to dispute someone’s belief in God. But, mindless following of rituals, customs and mores which are sometimes harmful is what I am disputing here.
ok
i was a little miffed with your posts ending words i.e hinduism is laced with so and so etc .
I believe, it actually is the most manipulated religion.
Lets not start arguing about it
Peace……
😉
Yes, scarlet pimpernel (This was my favorite story in school, btw:)), Hinduism is manipulated and that is the very reason why we must question the interpretations manifested through countless rituals. I think your point is valid and I actually like to read different POVs. Like I said, keep one’s mind open :).
Nice article..but dear Rachna, one cannot blindly say all these religious rituals are completely wrong. One must keep in mind that these systems were put in to place or practice hundreds of years ago, when there were no technology we could use other than wheels and fire.
At that time people lived in hamlets made of hay and wood. See, all of us knew that during solar eclipse, the radiation is hundreds of times stronger, and at that time there was hardly anything to protect us…So, many of these rituals were like precautions one had to take to avoid harming themselves.
At those ages, science was completely coupled with religion, so that commoner should follow them, whether or not they understood the reason.
As an Indian, one should also knew that Vedas were the only source of scientific knowledge in those ages and the most oldest and most reliable ones.
Western education never gave proper credit to Indians and their knowledge until recent days.
Who knows, in the coming years our ancestors’ credibility would be recognized and many things which we have learned may have to be unlearned to relearn Vedic theories.
@Bala I understand and agree with what you say. But, why would we continue to follow the rituals now that we understand that some things can be managed these days.
If we can shirk these “hand me down” beliefs, may be our country will go up one notch in the progressive direction.
@Haddock Completely agree with you! Do away with some decaying, rotten and senseless rituals, and we will be marching ahead to real progress.