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Thread: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

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    Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Namaste Forum sangha,
    Wondering what your views on this are...
    படைபோர் புக்கு முழங்கும்அப் பாஞ்சசன்னியமும் பல்லாண்டே
    May your pA~nchajanya shankha which reverberates on the battlefield, last thousands upon thousands of years...
    http://archives.mirroroftomorrow.org...anchajanya.jpg

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    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Namaskar Jaskaran,

    There are some contradictions. For example - Kautilya is described as living in a different era than Chandragupta maurya, which is absurd. Different accounts from Jain litreture, Buddhist literature, Hindu (or Veda related) literatures can confirm that Chankya and Chandragupta lived in same era. Also, Mahavira lived earlier than Buddha.

    Now talking about revelation of vedas, I think its very hard to argue for any definite time-line, though oral tradition could have originated around 2000BC. The dates in the above figure put Vedas a lot later than what I personally believe. However, I am not so bothered about when exactly they were written/composed. What matters to me what was written/composed.
    When the light has risen, there is no day, no night, neither existence nor non-existence; Siva alone is there. That is the eternal, the adorable light of Savitri, - and the ancient wisdom proceeded thence (Svetasvatara Upanishad IV-18). :)

  3. #3

    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Pranam,

    At least she acknowledge that Sarasvati dried up! Even then she puts the date of RV to fit the typical AIT chronology.Btw Aryans were no nomads,they had farming and cities/forts.Also,the dates of Upanishads and Mahabharata in her chronology is rather too late.
    "Only one is the fire,which is inflamed in numerous ways.Only one is the sun, which pervades the whole universe.Only one is the dawn,which illuminates all things. Similarly,all that exists is The One and it has manifested into everything here.”

    ~ Rg Veda 8.58.2

  4. #4

    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Some of the things in there are definitely debatable. AIT is now under attack but when she wrote the book it was still the majority viewpoint among scientists. Especially in archaeology people are known to stubbornly hold on to existing theories. Science is not much different from religion in that respect, people hold on to their views. Even in sciences like physics this is so, or like Max Planck put it: the new ideas will not be embraced before present generations have died. And as science was dominated by westerners this automatically creates a dominance of western views. This will change as more non-westerners take their rightful places.

    I do not however believe that Wendy Doniger is purposely trying to create a wrongful picture. She loves Hinduism genuinely and only gives a personal perspective on it from her own background. Hindus reaction is also coloured by their own wounds of being colonized, creating a tendency to overreact and see an attack were none is intended. But Hindus themselves find it hard to be unanimous about any one idea, so maybe it is nice for them to have a common enemy to unite against. A bit like Jews who can not agree on anything except antisemitism.

    I think People like Wendy Doniger have a true love for Hinduism, and if she sees some things wrong, or uses western viewpoints she is not aware off, we should forgive her and not make her into a Hindu enemy. That is neither justified nor smart. The real danger comes from those groups that want to convert Hindus to their Christian or Muslim beliefs. So lets not paint friends as enemies. I think a bigger problem is Indian government who does not seem very interested in actively researching India's past.

    Wendy Doniger 'On Hinduism'
    Last edited by Avyaydya; 07 February 2014 at 09:23 PM.

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    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Namaste,
    Any logic or reason in learning about 'History of Bharata' from Wendy? or is this thread to just create hostility on the forum?
    satay

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    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Namaste Jaskaran,

    Thanks for the post.

    To me it is not to learn from Wendy or to debate what she publishes with others in the forum, as that has already been extensively done before. What it does bring to the table is an awareness about where the Westerners may get their information from and how should we prepare ourselves to handle situations whereby we run into someone who quotes her and has been fed on a steady diet of her writings about Hinduism. Such information prompts us to do our research and counter any misinformation that people here may have about Hinduism. I hope we can refrain from debating her timeline and her theories and take the post for what it is - a wake up call regarding what we will find ourselves up against out there in the real world. Something to mull over for the newer members!

    Pranam.
    Last edited by Believer; 07 February 2014 at 01:49 PM.

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    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Quote Originally Posted by Jaskaran Singh View Post
    Namaste Forum sangha,
    Wondering what your views on this are...
    Vannakkam JS. If you search on the name, you will get previous threads and our views. No point gong over some of it again.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Quote Originally Posted by satay View Post
    Namaste,
    Any logic or reason in learning about 'History of Bharata' from Wendy? or is this thread to just create hostility on the forum?
    This wasn't to create hostility, although I agree that I honestly don't hate Doniger as much as some people here (even though she has an unnatural obsession with sex, even she dislikes some of the misuses of tantra both in bhArat and the west, and I respect her for that). I just found many of the things which she mentions in her timeline to be funny such as using the phrase "shrIvaiShNava-s split into cats and monkeys" to refer to mArjAlanyAyI bhakta-s and markaTanyAyI bhakta-s or stating things which have nothing to do with Hinduism (like about the life of "bhagavAn rajnIsh" or something about "theosophy"), so I wanted to know your opinions. I could care less about the dates themselves, it's some of the statements which I find a bit amusing.
    Quote Originally Posted by Avyaydya View Post
    Some of the things in there are definitely debatable. AIT is now under attack but when she wrote the book was still the majority viewpoint among scientists. Especially in archaeology people are known to stubbornly hold on to existing theories. Science is not much different from religion in that respect, people hold on to their views. Even in sciences like physics this is so, or like Max Planck put it: the new ideas will not be embraced before present generations have died. And of science was very dominated by westerners which automatically creates a dominance of western views. This will change as more non-westerners take there rightful places.

    I do not however believe that Wendy Doniger is purposely trying to create a wrongful picture. She truly loves Hinduism genuinely and only gives a personal perspective on it from her own background. Hindus reaction is also coloured by their own wounds of being colonized, creating a tendency to overreact and see an attack were none is intended. But Hindus themselves find it hard to be unanimous about any one idea, so maybe it is nice for them to have a common enemy to unite against. A bit like Jews who can not agree on anything either except antisemitism.

    I think People like Wendy Doniger have a true love for Hinduism, and if she sees some things wrong, or uses western viewpoints she is not aware off, we should forgive her and not make her into a Hindu enemy. That is neither justified nor smart. The real danger comes from those groups that want to convert Hindus to their Christian or Muslim beliefs. So lets not paint friends as enemies. I think a bigger problem is Indian government who does not seem very interested in actively researching India's past.

    Wendy Doniger 'On Hinduism'
    Did she just say what I think she said? "But anyway, I am a sort of a horse." LOL!

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    Vannakkam JS. If you search on the name, you will get previous threads and our views. No point gong over some of it again.

    Aum Namasivaya
    praNAm,
    I realize that. I mainly just made this thread because I finished reading Doniger's The Hindus book, and while some parts did agitate me, other areas were quite informative. The timeline was actually broken up into pieces at the beginning of each chapter (as types of summary statements, one could say) and was also attached to the ending. To be honest, her worst book was surely not the Hindus; Shiva: The Erotic Ascetic was far, far more offensive. The Hindus wasn't so much offensive as it was fallacious (although many of the mistakes were quite humorous TBH).
    Last edited by Jaskaran Singh; 10 February 2014 at 01:34 AM.
    படைபோர் புக்கு முழங்கும்அப் பாஞ்சசன்னியமும் பல்லாண்டே
    May your pA~nchajanya shankha which reverberates on the battlefield, last thousands upon thousands of years...
    http://archives.mirroroftomorrow.org...anchajanya.jpg

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    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Namaste
    The book is being pulled out of India.

    The petitioners, however, in their plea had claimed that the book was based on "unreliable and unauthentic and one sided sources" and is full of biases, generalizations and pre-conceived notions. "That it has not only used and misused but abused Indian history and religion in an undignified manner. It is a mis-interpretation of Hindu dharma and its glorious past. That the defendant along with the author have selected scattered events of their choice and given them their own interpretation," the petition had stated.
    http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Peng...w/30240558.cms
    satay

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    Re: Timeline from Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus"

    Quote Originally Posted by satay View Post
    Namaste
    The book is being pulled out of India.



    http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Peng...w/30240558.cms
    If anybody is wondering why-
    Last edited by satay; 12 February 2014 at 12:34 PM. Reason: image removed. Beneath the dignity of HDF.
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