Hello folks i am taking Comparative Religion as one of my class. In one of my assignment i have to write about "Sati" practices. Have anyone wrote/debated about this sati ritual: The burning of Widows.

please give me a hand to it.
Do you consider the "sati" ritual expression of the true sacrifice or not?
Would you be for or against the legislation that would allow the sati ritual?
How would you react if the Indian/Hindu woman would do the sati ritual here in the United States?
Would this action be illegal or the expression of the freedom of belief (First Amendment)?

Also is this practice done in Nepal too?
When was the last recorded practice done in Nepal?
How did this practice ended up in Nepal that seems to have originated among the Rajput caste in Rajasthan.

Historically, sati is not unique to India. In the north Indian state of Rajasthan, it came to be associated with  the people of the warrior Rajput caste, who viewed sati as the extreme expression of marital valor (Harlan 1994: 80).  Although the practice of sati has been virtually non-existent elsewhere in India after the British banned it in 1829, about forty cases have taken place since India's independence in 1947.  Twenty-eight of these cases have occurred in Rajasthan, mainly around the Sikar district (Oldenburg 1994: 191).

The last recorded was on 4 Oct, 1987 in the village of Deorala near Jaipur in Rajasthan, Roop Kanwar, a 18 year old bride of less than 8 months mounted the funeral pyre of Maal Singh, her 24 year old husband who died after committed suicide after repeatedly failing his medical school entrance examination. 

Much appreciated

Coming to yr questions Crazyhorse, there must be plenty of chronological details about Buddha available in web. The verbal history, i remember reading as a kid is, Kirants used to rule Nepal. Hows the relation between then Nepal and Siddhartha Gautam's Dad king Suddhodhan is still a debatable subject. Buddha visited kathmandu valley around the time of 7th kiranti king. I think Jitedasti was the king of Nepal then. Kirantis ruled was over in the time of 14th kiranti king, Gasti. India was not an unified, greater india in the times of Buddha. It was ruled by different rulers and divided into different territories from Persia in the west to Bramhaputra River in east. Most powerful indian king was the king of Patliputra (near to patna). Alexander has not ascended to thorne in macedonia.

After Buddha, history got excited and statrted walking in faster paces(hahaha). Alexander(called sikkandar in india) defeats persian king and invades india. Alexander establishes his people as care taker in kandhar( present day kandhahar in afganistan) and moves to eastern part of india. In America's war in afghanistan, u have heard analysts saying afghanistan as a country where no invaders have won in the history. Kandhar was the place for great education then. Ancient economist chanakya had earned his SHIKHYA there and was a teacher there. He built a coalition of indian kings from different territories to fight against Alexander. The head of that coalition was ChandraGupta. After the demise of Alexander, ChandraGupta unites India with the help of Chanakya. Chandragupta's grand-son is King Ashok. Probably, u have seen the movie Ahoka. King Ashoka converts into Buddhist after kaling's war. He visits Lumbini and we still see that monument there in Lumbini. He visits Kathmandu too and leave her daughter charumati in Patan. Licchavis have already taken over Nepal.

For your religion class....have u ever wondered about Polythenisian Civilizations vs Monothenisian civilizations ( I hope, i have spelled them correctly)?

I had read somewhere Jung Bahadur's 3 wives committed sati in 1877. Chandra Shumsher abolished the practice in 1924. The practice might have been a little more common among high-profile upper caste families but it could be just that only the high-profile cases remained recorded in historial accounts.

Can someone help me give me some major events during the life of Buddha please?
Please also help me with the life and teaching of lord buddha.
If you have done research on Buddhism and life of Buddha care to share with me. That would be much appreciated.

crazyhorse

1. Madri, 2nd wife of Pandu, becomes Sati after the death of King Pandu in Mahabharat.

2. Sati Devi in Swasthani becomes a Sati when she could not tolerate her husband's (Shiva) insult by her own father.

3. Was not there a "Sati Ko Shrap" by a widow who becomes a Sati after her husband (a martyr) was executed by Ranas?

Back to your original questions:

Do you consider the "sati" ritual expression of the true sacrifice or not? - No! It was social evil rule established by devil leaders who thought the women have no place in society after the death of their husbands. So they made these widows to commit suicide.  These "pundits" wrote Sati incidents as normal ritual in religious books like Mahabharat, Swasthani, and different Purans to brainwash Hindu women so they kill themselves when they became widows.

Would you be for or against the legislation that would allow the sati ritual? - Most definitely. Sati tradition is evil.

How would you react if the Indian/Hindu woman would do the sati ritual here in the United States? - If a woman is coerced by others to become a Sati, the responsible people should be treated like murderers.  If the woman becomes Sati volunteerily, she was probably mentally too depressed.  People commit suicide for several reason ..

Now i found out Sati tradition existed even during Ramayan era, which existed even before Mahabharat time. When Vaali (Brother of Sugriv) dies in a battle with God Ram, Vaali's wife Tara wishes to become Sati.  

http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/sati-discussion-contd-946122.htm

Are there any christian nepalese here in sajha? could you please give me the significance of the following events in Jesus' life to Christian theology.(How are these events interpreted theologically or symbolically?)
a. Jesus's birth in Bethlehem
b. the virgin of birth
c. Jesus' visit to the temple at age 12
d. Jesuss baptism by John the Baptist
e. the miracles of Jesus
f. the temptations of jesus
g. Jesus's association with women and with sinners.

crazyhorse

Hello Obama it is so far understood that Siddhartha Gautama before he became “Buddha” or the enlightened one was born in about 563 BCE in Lumbini, Nepal. He was born into King Suddhodana Gautama and his queen Mayadevi, rulers of the Shakya tribe of Kapilavastu region near Lumbini.  The fact was that the life of Buddha was
not a myth but reality also comes from one of the inscriptions in the pillar erected by King Asoka in 239 BCE in Lumbini. The inscriptions read “Here was the Enlightened One born”.Now coming back to your views. I learned some of the facts which you said regarding Siddharta Guatama visit to the Kathmandu valley during the rule of the Jitedasti whom you told he was a 7th Kirati king. But you said that Gasti was a 14^th and last king of Kirat ruling the
  Kathmanduvalley.

But while working with the research I found that it was King Sthunko who were 14^th Kirat king and it was during his rule that the Indian Emperor Ashoka came to the Kathmandu Valley with his daughter princess Charumati. It is also mentioned that it was during his stay in the valley, he had built four stupas in four directions and one in the centre of Patan. He had arranged his daughter Charumati's marriage with a local young prince named Devpal. The website on the other hand claimed that Gasti was 29^th Kirat King, the last one before the Kirats were overthrown by the Licchavis in around 330AD. Now is this true that Asoka also has visited the valley and built the stupas as claimed?  The fact is that he reached Lumbini with the inscriptions from the pillar. So did Asoka also came to the valley and built the stupas, and arranged his daughter marriage with Devpal? And was it during Gasti or Sthunko that Asoka came to the valley?

Anyone please help me if you have any inputs/information about these.

This is getting quite interesting cause then I can explain to the class about Siddharata Gautama visit to Nepal and the Asoka commemorating the stupas that evidently will reveal that Buddha was not a myth. This will also help me to explain to the class on how Nepalese shape this religion which is one of the dominant religion in Nepal but hardly cease to exist in India, the very place where Lord Buddha gaining enlightenment had preached his doctrines before he died.
here’s my source:
“Kirat Period.” Kirat Rai Association Hong Kong. 24 Feb. 2010
<http://www.kiratrai.org/hp_period.php>

In his teachings, the Buddha retained many elements of the vedic teachings of India of his time, including the concepts of samsara and karma. However, the Buddhist differed from the vedic teachings in a sense that Buddha opposed the animal sacrifices. In addition the Buddha taught that anyone regardless of caste who followed the Eightfold Path could achieve nirvana. During his lifetime, the Buddha institutionalized his teachings by forming the sangha.  It is written that the Buddha lived till nearly eighty years and died under the sal tree in Vaishali.  It is also believed that the Lord Buddha died at the same day he was born.

Is this true?

The last sermon before he died was quoted “decay is inherent in all component things; work out your salvation with diligence!” Nelson, 148.
Do you think that one of the reasons why Buddhism flourished in Nepal was due to the Kirat king?
This was one question by my lecturer.

Deeply looking Buddhism did not survived today as in the case of India due to Hindu and Muslim rulers. Beside Kirat I understood are not Buddhist.  They have their own religion called "Mundhum" based on nature & ancestors worship or the “Indigenous religion” as the religion of the World called it.

 

I'm beginning to hate Hinduism and vedic culture: Please read the article below:

Young couple get death threats for inter-caste marriage

A young couple who had an inter-caste marriage was forced to leave
their home following death threats from the angry members of the girl's
family.

Laxya Bahadur Biswakarma, 21, who had to leave his home
in Bardiya district just because he married a girl from a so-called
high caste, has requested authorities, human rights activists and
concerned individuals in the district for protection for him and his
newly-wedded wife from possible attacks from his in-laws.

Laxya belongs to Dalit community who are ostracized in the society as people of "low caste".

"Due to repeated death threats from my in-laws, we were forced to leave the district," reports quoted Laxya as saying.

Laxya,
a resident of Motipur-6, Bardiya, had eloped with 20-year-old Sirjana
Bastola of the same village on March 3 to get married following their
two-year old love affair.Nepalnews.com

So many questions comes to me after reading this article.
First when did this caste system started in Nepal? We all know that it was in ancient India which it was originated. But how did it find it's way to Nepal?

anyone thanks.

Now this is what i found out. The Vishnu Purana(an ancient Hindu texts that was written around 3rd century BC) mentioned that the chatur-varna or four class social system was absent among the Kiratas in Kiratdesa in the east and the Yavanas(Greek) and Kambojas(Iranian), etc. in the pashchima or west. (Vishnu Purana, 2.37).

This tells us that Nepal did not used to have the caste system.
So what was the reason behind the existence of caste system one may ask?

After studying some early history of Nepal, i have to say that the caste system arrived in Nepal with the arrival of Lichchhavi from northern India who overthrew the Kirat dynasty. The Lichchhavi promoted the Hindu religion by constructing many temples. They adoptedSanskrit as the official language and promoted sculpture system. When the Mallas superseded Lichchhavi dynasty, they made every attempt to promote Hinduism. With the help of Brahman priests, the Malla rulers introduced Varna system and stratified people on the basis of caste structure. Theyassumed that enforcement of caste hierarchy would promote social cum political stability. They expected lower caste group and non-Hindu communities gradually adopt the rituals and ideology of high caste Hindu. Furthermore, Jayasthiti Malla (1360-95) started promoting social reform activities on the threshold of Hindu doctrines. He invited 5 Brahmins from India by requesting them to make the rules as they wished. There after, he formulated a religious code named Manav Naya Shastra in 1380 AD, which is the oldest law of the world, where various discriminative laws had been included.

what do you thins folks? i'm gonna discuss this with my lecturer.

hello folks is there any celebration relating to Nepal festival that is different from Indian.
One such festival that comes into my mind is the Tihar and Deusi-Bhailo festival  celebrated in Nepal.
do you know anything about the origin of this festival. I am trying to relate Nepal's festival with the religions.

Any other festival in Nepal that origins in Nepal you could think of. please let me know.

crazyhorse

anyone wants to help me give some examples of Nepali festival that originated in Nepal.
explain to me the origin and significant of it please. this is for my class assignment.

thank you.

Is there anyone who knows the origin of tihar, deusi-bhailo festival in Nepal?
trying to write a paper on festival of nepal.

thanks

buddy there might be different version in other cultures regarding the originatio of deusi, but as per kirati mundhum it is as follows,

Origin of Tihar festival:



The tihar festival came into vogue to commemorate the good name of
the Kirat king, Balihang. The king Balihang was sick. When he became
seriously ill, all his subjects were very sad. Seeing the gloomy faces
of his subjects the king told them to pray to almighty if they wanted
his recovery. All the subjects prayed to the almighty for their king's
recovery.



Fortunately, the king became well. So they all lit lamps making the
dark night bright and took parts in the rejoicing. The king Balihang
sent the youth through out his kingdom to spread the good news of his
recovery. As there was no modern medium of communication, the youth went
house to house singing and dancing.



As there was no modern medium of communication, the youth went
house to house singing, dancing and spreading the news. Thus a tradition
of Bhaileni and Deusi Bhailo was commemorated every year.



It is proven by historical and cultural practices in Nepal: That's
why you never see Tihar & Deusi Bhailo in India which Hinduism is
supposed to have started. This festival, Tihar & Deusi Bhailo
belongs exclusive to Nepal.



Even today they say on the deosee-ray’s song, "we did not come on
our own, on the command of the king Balihang, we have come here".



When the youth returned to their own homes, they celebrated and
rejoicing the sisters gave tika to their brothers. After that night (new
moon) the Mongol, Naywars celebrate their New Year.

yakthung bro ,i dont agree with u.

Tihar comes from persian/urdu word ``Tyohaar`' which means lightening of houses with lamps and candles.

``we did not come on
our own, on the command of the king Balihang,´'

Its the daani raja bali who is mentioned here and not kirat raja balihang.They r just provoking the host by mentioning name of bali raja who was so spendious and was thus able to get  the throne of swarga for 1 day.

The tradition of bhaitika is also present in india and it is called ``bhaiya bhoj``.Rakhi is also a similar tradition .

i didnt write it up bro, it was interpreted by iman singh chemjong from the kirati mundhum and mundhums r old religious scripts of kratis like gita of hindus n bible of christians. we call deusi 'balihang tangnam' in our local dialect. yes, i agree with u, that is how hinduism explains the origination of deusi n tihar but irony is why dont we see deusi being celebrated by other hindus say in india that has more hindus than in nepal but again anywhere with nepalese origination does play deusi wether in hk, uk, aus, america or india. also, in kirat theres a word called 'tiyaha' meaning 'jai' literally in nepali praising the great king n his wellness. n we dont refer bali as the moneky god close to hanuman, it is the english spelling that has distorted it to pronounce that way. 'hang' means king in kirat. i am only talking about tihar n deusi in particular that kirat mundhum explains. if u get a chance go to dharan in next deusi n u can witness the diferent way kiratis celebrate deusi or balihang tangnam from other communities.

It could be true that the deusi tradition was imported from the kirants or so on by other nepali ethnicities.Nepalese traditions,although being hindu have always been a bit different than the corresponding indian  traditions.

And with Bali raja i dont mean Baali(elder brother of sugreev).There was a bali raja who is considered as one of the most ``daanveer`` of all kings and he was even enthroned indras throne for 1 day.

 my personal analysis is that hinduism at the belt of himalayas has bit mixture of animism or nature prayers like kirats. the most idols of god n godesses in our temples does not have distinct hands, legs or other facial features, they just give the essence of related god either in stone,  rock or wood. like in animism all they worship is mother nature, soil, rocks, air, water, etc. also, the tradition of sacrifising animals has elements of animism in it.  i believe most hindus in indias r traditionaly vegeterians so theres no question of animal scarificial in festivals. and not to forget the 'dhamis' or shamans. this could be one of the major reason that many festives, rituals, cultures n traditions practised in nepal are distinct n different from hindus of other regions, that is due to fusion between hinduism and traditional animism. in ktm we can even see the fusion between hinduism and budhism in newari culture.

Well,  the bulk of nepalese population(including Khas,kham, kirats and newars )are not original vedic hindus.they took over hinduism from the displaced hindus(licchivis,mallas,rajputs and maithali priests)and saints from india in late 10. or 11. century.

so there has always been a big influence of animistic traditions and shamanism.but  hinduism is essentially a mixture of all these animistic traditions combined together.thus come the followers of mother goddess,shiva,  indra ,vishnu and all other gods together.The rishis and yogis later formed the philosophical basis of this ``sanatana dharma`` in which they accepted the existence of all these heavenly forces and still put forward  the existence of the one single timeless lord.

shiva_linga bro. if deusi bhailo originated in india than why don't they celebrate it?