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Thread: Humour in Hinduism

  1. #1
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    Humour in Hinduism

    Hello all:

    I for one feel humour and self-deprecation should be a part of every one's life. Life and religion are not just meant to be all serious and frustrating and boring and sad, etc.

    I happened to be reading the Chandogya Upanishad [source The Principal Upanishads - S. Radhakrishnan] and came across a humourous passage whose import according to Radhakrishnan is that some dogs are making fun of external ritualization in the interests of an inward spiritual life.

    I quote the translation below.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chandogya I 12
    Now, next, the udgitha of the dogs. Baka Dalbhya or Glava Maitreya went forth for the study of the Veda.

    Unto him there appeared a white dog. Other dogs gathered round this one and said - "Obtain food for us by singing. Verily, we are hungry."

    Then he said to them: "Come to me here tomorrow morning." So Baka Dalbhya or Glava Maitreya kept watch.

    Just as the priests, when they are about to chant with the bahispavamana hymn of praise, move along, joined to one another, so did the dogs move along. Then they sat down together and made the noise 'him'.

    They sang, "Aum, let us eat, Aum, let us drink, Aum, may the god Varuna, Prajapati and Savitr bring food here. O Lord of food, bring food here, yea, bring it here, Aum."
    No need for our sensibilities to be hurt here or get ourselves all worked up. I found the passage quite fun actually in a humourous and innocent way.

    Please feel free to use this thread to quote other funny/humourous passages from Sruti/Smriti.


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    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    Quote Originally Posted by wundermonk View Post
    Hello all:

    I for one feel humour and self-deprecation should be a part of every one's life. Life and religion are not just meant to be all serious and frustrating and boring and sad, etc.

    I happened to be reading the Chandogya Upanishad [source The Principal Upanishads - S. Radhakrishnan] and came across a humourous passage whose import according to Radhakrishnan is that some dogs are making fun of external ritualization in the interests of an inward spiritual life.

    I quote the translation below.



    No need for our sensibilities to be hurt here or get ourselves all worked up. I found the passage quite fun actually in a humourous and innocent way.

    Please feel free to use this thread to quote other funny/humourous passages from Sruti/Smriti.

    Dear wundermonk,

    Not all humor are humorous, some are contemplative!!!

    "This might mean that speech and the rest which partake of food when praana vibrates, spoke to the vital air in the mouth. In as much as the speech and the rest, being much pleased with study, would help the vital air in the mouth, assuming the form of a Dog, the way it is interpreted above is but proper." 1:12:2 Sankara Bashya Love

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    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    hari o
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    It seems to me that before one can appreciate the humor ( or irony) of a story, one needs to know the insight being offered. The question to be considered is what is the meaning of the story ?

    The supporting story that helps one understand the dog story found in the chāndogyopaniṣad section 1.12 is the prior section 1.11. In this section uṣasti-ji talks of performing yajña-s in the proper manner i.e. singing sāman chants with full knowledge of what he sings and of the devatā in question. That is, doing yajña-s with knowledge ( jñāna ) is preferable and more rewarding then the yajña-s of going though the motions with little knowledge of its limbs and deeper meaning.

    This then is taken as the subject for the story of the dogs in the chāndogyopaniṣad section 1.12. Who is the white dog ? The priest. The other dogs, as a symbol, can be considered people who are hungry, people in need.
    Who is Glāva ? He is leaving his village to go and learn the veda-s, hence the symbol of an ignorant man. Yet too we must make note that the white dog even though a priest and ~white~ is also ignorant.

    The priest is requested by the other dogs to sing (chant) so they may be fed.
    During the yajña-s final stage all join hands and the udgātṛ preist sings the hymn from the ṛg ved (bahiṣpavamāna). As one would suspect the dogs hold each other tail-to-tail via their mouths. Yet they cannot sing this bahiṣpavamāna hymn , but makes the sound hiṁ .

    The secret to this śloka and story resides in the understanding that hiṁ represents stobha. Stobha is a chanted interjection , used to round out the meter or verse.

    The story suggests to us the dogs copied, with little knowledge of what they were doing and its significance. They missed the deeper meaning and value of the yajña, yet still could perform it externally. How then are people like this ? What can I preform, not really knowing , but in expectation of the fruits that may come ?

    Now if one is really interested, even these stobha which assists in rounding out a chant can have significance and deeper meaning. This is brought out in the chāndogyopaniṣad's section 1.13.

    praām
    Last edited by yajvan; 10 June 2012 at 02:08 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    Quote Originally Posted by wundermonk View Post
    Hello all:

    I for one feel humour and self-deprecation should be a part of every one's life. Life and religion are not just meant to be all serious and frustrating and boring and sad, etc.
    As part of my journey towards Hinduism, I briefly stopped off at Osho's (Bhagavan Shree Rajneesh's, back then) teachings for a while which eventually led me onto the path of Advaita Vedanta through the Tao.

    The general 'spontaneity' of it all had me intrigued with all of that 'goose is out' stuff, which sorta wound up with me studying the actual 'meaning' (if there was one) behind the Ko'an. I have always loved conundrums and try to solve them.

    Zen Buddhist monks are the greatest clowns in history (yes, I realise they are not Hindu, but we could really learn a lot from them).

    My teachings are not 'rigid' in that I follow one religious path/book or another. I learned Sanskrit in my late teens/early twenties and read most of the major scriptures (favouring the Upanishads, Vedas and the Shiv Puran).

    I have obtained a little bit of 'this and that' and from 'here and there' to structure my whole belief system, even though I call myself a 'Hindu' now.

    People don't take me seriously a lot of the time and especially when I go into my 'humour mode' (like now). Who said I couldn't have fun and laugh about it? and it will show up sometimes in my posts as well, so I am warning you all NOW. lulz

    Yeah...people are afraid of that - what others think about them, but that's not one of my fears. Somehow, I remain ironically detached from it, even though I do get angry sometimes when people actually say/do stuff.

    People are all caught up in the seriousness of 'getting there' and can't appreciate how nice it is to be just 'here' for a brief moment and have a good laugh at yourself and the world (even though it really pisses you off sometimes).

    Always remember this - Even God has a sense of humour because He created the platypus.

    Aum Namah Shivaya

  5. #5

    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    I have found humour in the scriptures; but it is very subtle. Rather like a smile rising up the corner of your mouth; than a guffaw. True to the depth of the insightful thoughts of the Rshis; their humor although subtle will work through you gently and steadily.

    Considering the passage quoted as a “play on ritualization“ as suggested by the original poster; would make it appear a crude sort of humor to me.
    Last edited by harih; 08 November 2013 at 08:09 AM. Reason: Changed the color of the text

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    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    Admin Note
    Please change the color of your text. Currently it is not easily readable.

    Quote Originally Posted by harih View Post
    I have found humour in the scriptures; but it is very subtle. Rather like a smile rising up the corner of your mouth; than a guffaw. True to the depth of the insightful thoughts of the Rshis; their humor although subtle will work through you gently and steadily.

    Considering the passage quoted as a “play on ritualization“ as suggested by the original poster; would make it appear a crude sort of humor to me.
    satay

  7. #7

    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    In the Mahabharata King Yudhishtira couldn't sleep well for the full 13 years of Vanavasa and Ajnatavasa. Reason? He was afraid of the prowess of Karna whom he believed to be better than Arjuna in Archery (as he saw in the tournament where Karna made his dramatic entrance). No matter that Arjuna performed many superhuman feats lateron.... his fear remained. Karna on his part didn't endear himself to Yudhishtira in any way...Karna was the root cause of Panchali's discomfiture in the Sabha and even otherwise tried to insult the Pandavas whenever he got an opportunity.

    Yudhishtira's lack of sleep due to fear of Karna...continued through the great war...until the day of Karna's death.

    The next day the war effectively ends with the death of Duryodhana. Yudhishtira comes to know from Kunti devi that Karna was none other than his elder brother. At once Yudhishtira's anger and hatred for Karna evoporated and he became the ocean of kindness. And once again he lost sleep...throughout the next 36 years until his Mahaprasthana. Every night, he was kept awake, thinking how he was instrumental in the killing of his own elder brother.

    I wonder, wasn't Rshi Vyasa smiling a bit, and making us smile, at the too-good Yudhishtira?

  8. #8

    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    Dear Satay,

    At present my posts are moderated, so I am unable to verify how they would look like. Hope the font color comes up correctly now.

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    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    Quote Originally Posted by harih View Post
    Dear Satay,

    At present my posts are moderated, so I am unable to verify how they would look like. Hope the font color comes up correctly now.
    Vannakkam: It's good and thanks from all of us.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Humour in Hinduism

    Namaste,

    EM has already given his feedback, how ever you can use the preview button before posting.

    "Preview post" button is a part of advance editing feature.

    In case you using quick reply link, click the "Go Advanced" button which will open up an advance editor.

    Hope this helps.
    Hope the font color comes up correctly now.
    Anirudh...

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