Stereotyping in haste!


Sauti said-As the demon saw the infant drop from his mother’s womb, shining like sun, he quitted his grasp of Puloma. The demon fell down & was instantly converted to ashes. The beautiful Puloma picked up her son Chyavana and came back to Sage Bhrigu's abode


Lord Brahma, saw the faultless wife of his son Bhrigu, weeping incessantly & comforted her. Drops of tears rolled down Puloma’s eyes, forming a great river which began to follow her footsteps. Brahma seieing this named the river Vadhusara


As Puloma returned, Bhrigu saw his child Chyavana & his beautiful mother & with its ascetic powers understood what had happened. In rage he asked Puloma, how the demon came to know about her & resolved to carry her away. Who knows the demon, tell me his name & I'll curse him


Puloma replied-O possessor of 6 attributes, I was identified to the demon by the fire god. The demon bore me away & I cried like female osprey, but because of ardent splendor of your son, I was rescued. The demon seeing this infant, shining like Sun, let me go & he himself fell to ground & was turned to ashes


Bhrigu on hearing about the events became exceedingly enraged & in the heat of the moment, cursed Agni saying-From today onwards you’ll eat everything without a thought if it is fit to eat or not


Fire god was enraged at this curse & said to sage-why this rashness towards me? What transgression can be imputed to me, who was laboring to do justice & was speaking truth impartially. Being asked, I gave true answer. A witness, who when interrogated about a fact he knows, if he lies then he ruins his ancestors & descendants for 7 generations. One who is fully cognizant about details of an affair, does not disclose what he knows when asked, is undoubtedly stained with guilt


Fire god said-I can also curse you! But Brahmanas are held by me in high respect. Also let me apprise you that I’m present in various forms in places of sacrifices & holy rites. When butter is poured upon my flames according to injunctions prescribed in Vedas, the celestials & forefathers are appeased, and they eat what is poured upon me. How I can be eater of all things clean & unclean, when I am the mouth of devas & pitris? Your curse is unjustified


The curse will affect all celestials & other beings shortly!


When someone hurts us or our loved ones, we see them as villain, a person whose existence is a curse to the world. Such behavior feels justified in our eyes. If we do this, we contribute, knowingly or unknowingly, to the negative stereotyping of them. And stereotypes sometimes take a life of their own, growing beyond just unflattering to demeaning or even dehumanizing. Consequently, blameless people end up getting attacked for something done even with good intention


When we stereotype someone, we often overlook people’s moral complexity. The same person who hurt us might have helped someone. The root of all this is ignorance & we should not decide in haste


Thoughts? #gameoflife

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Victory! It was early in morning as both sides awaited the rising of Sun, a brisk wind carried drops of water & thunder was heard, although not a cloud was seen in sky. After some time, the wind picked up so that not only was there a dust storm, but even small pebbles were blown here & there. Meteors fell from the sky & earth trembled. When the Sun rose, it lacked its usual splendor. And yet both armies looked magnificent & all warriors appeared jubilant in anticipation When Maharaj Yudhisthira saw the vast Kaurava army with Bhisma in its midst, he became disheartened & his face became pale. He said to his brother Arjun: I don’t think that we have a chance for victory. The vast army containing so many illustrious warriors appears impenetrable Arjun said: Dear brother, you must remain confident, knowing that even though we are inferior in numbers, victory is always with the righteous. You have forgotten that Lord Krsna is protecting us? Sri Krsna is the Supreme Per
Read more
Image
  Principles to fight & die for! Arjun had Uttara halt his chariot at some distance from Kaurav army to survey the opposition. He thought that if he could simply vanquish Duryodhana, other Kauravas would automatically desist. But he noted that Duryodhana was absent. Arjun ordered Uttara: Avoiding the Kaurav army, take the road to Hastināpur so that we can overtake Duryodhana and retrieve the plundered cows   From Arjun’s course, Krpā could understand his intention & so he had ordered the entire Kaurav army to go & protect Duryodhana. Meanwhile as Arjun approached the army, he covered the entire sky with his showers of arrows so that Kaurav soldiers were thrown into confusion   Taking advantage of this, Arjun ordered the creatures on his flagpole to roar more loudly while he twanged his bow & blew his conch shell, causing the earth to tremble. At this time the Kaurav army was stunned with fear & so Arjun took the opportunity to make the cows turn back towards Virāta’
Read more
Image
  Humble! Parasuram laughingly accepted Bhisma's challenge by saying: It is my good fortune that this opportunity to fight has come to me of its own accord. I can assure you that your mother, Ganqa-devi, will weep this very day seeing vultures eating your dead body Bhisma respectfully bowed down before Parasuram & went to inform Satyavati of the impending duel. After receiving his stepmother's blessings, he mounted his silver chariot drawn by white horses & set out. He was dressed completely in white & he wore a white crown. Overhead was placed a white umbrella & he was fanned by white camaras Bhisma & Parasuram soon arrived at Kurukshetra, eager to display their prowess. Seeing Parasuram coming before him, Bhisma blew his great white conch shell. At that time, he noticed how all the chief demigods & sages had assembled in sky to witness the battle. Parasuram was accompanied by numerous sages, & they surrounded the battlefield to watch Just as fighti
Read more