Answers to Riddles in Hinduism - 12

Namaste

Here is an attempt to answer Dr. Ambedkar’s objections in his book - "Riddles in Hinduism".

Riddle # 12:

Why did the brahmins dethrone the gods and enthrone the goddesses??

Ambedkar seems to borrow heavily from the Christian missionary, John Muir’s works:

He says - Christians had problems proving to Jews that Jesus is the son of God as God is unmarried. But Hindus have no qualms as most of their God’s are married.

Further he says - Hindu God can enter a married state and neither the God nor his worshipper need feel any embarrassment on account of the God acting as though he was no better than a common man. The second is that the God's wife automatically becomes a goddess worthy of worship by the followers of the God.

Explanation: According to Vedic Hindu view, God creates by using His mysterious energy or Sakti called “mAya/Prakriti”, which is primarily identified as the material nature. Thus, if God is masculine, His Sakti or the material nature is feminine and they form an inseparable whole. Creation is impossible without this play of Purusha/masculine and prakriti/feminine. The Feminine form of God’s energy in the form of Mother nature with God indwelling in it, is naturally worthy of worship as it unconditionally sustains all beings

Ambedkar segregates Vedic and Puranic goddesses. He says, Vedic Goddesses were worshipped merely based on courtesy as they were wives of Gods while Puranic Goddesses were worshipped based on their own right as they fought wars and killed demons. Vedic goddesses never went to the battle field and never performed any heroic deeds – This is not true. Many Vedic suktas, describe Goddesses as bearers of weapons and also as dreaded killers of Asuras.  

The Varaha purana explanation that Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati are the names of one and the same divinity appears very odd for Ambedkar, as they are wives of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva who are different and fight each other.

According to Vedas, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are manifestations of the supreme God Narayana only. The identification of all gods culminating in Narayana should reconcile all differences.

Ambedkar also writes:

The difference is that while in the Vedic times the wars with the Asuras are left to be fought by the Gods, in the Puranic times they are left to be fought by the Goddess. Why is that Puranic Goddesses had to do what the Gods in Vedic times did? It cannot be that there were no Gods in Puranic times. There were Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva gods who ruled in the Puranic times. When they were there to fight the Asuras why were the Goddesses enrolled for this purpose. This is a riddle which requires explanation.

Explanation: It is wrong to understand that Puranas deal with only Goddesses. Each Purana is dedicated to particular deities, male or female. As expliained earlier,  Goddesses are the energy or Sakti of Gods. They form an inseparable whole like the Sun and its rays. In some places God’s are heralded and in other places their consorts play a major role. In both cases, the credit goes to both. The ultimate purpose is to protect devatas who are embodiments of dharma and defeat the asuras who are personifications of adharma.

Why then Saraswati and Lakshmi not take part in the battle with Asuras and it is always reserved for Shiva’s wives? Even then, it is only Durga who kills asuras and Parvati is always shown as a simple woman?

Explanation: It is said that Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Parvati/Durga are said to control mind, speech and body respectively and so where ever there is physical fighting with the body is described, Durga’s role seems to be prominent. Parvati is the sattvic form of Durga only. The Vishnu purana states that all masculine forms are ultimately Vishnu and all feminine forms are Lakshmi. Lakshmi is the Sakti of Vishnu. This should settle all issues.

Further the Brahmins do not seem to have realized that by making Durga the heroine who alone was capable of destroying the Asuras, they were making their own Gods a set of miserable cowards. It seems that the Gods could not defend themselves against the Asuras and had to beg of their wives to come to their rescue.

Explanation: There is no problem here, as long as the Goddesses remain the Sakti of Gods. A true husband wins by losing to his wife and vice versa also.

 How can such cowardly Gods have any prowess? If they had none, how can they give it to their wives. To say that Goddesses must be worshipped because they have Sakti is not merely a riddle but an absurdity. It requires explanation why this doctrine of Sakti was invented. Was it to put it a new commodity on the market that the Brahmins started the worship of the Goddesses and degraded the Gods?

Explanation: Goddesses are worshipped not just because they “have Sakti” but because they “are Shakti” themselves and Gods reside in them. That Sakti comes to the worshipper also. When God’s are praised their Sakti/Consorts are also praised and vice versa. There is no such thing as degrading anyone at the cost of the other. Ignorant and non-devotees will never be able to understand the Vedic and Puranic symbolism. Gods and Goddesses are the mothers and fathers who are worthy of worship on their own rights. Brahmins never invented them. Instead they recognized their values based the Vedic teaching.

Namaste

Suresh