FieryOpal
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Kirata
quote:
ORIGINAL: FieryOpal
It is noteworthy that the regenerative Hindu Solar god Shiva is the Destroyer of Worlds.
With respect, I need to correct you. Shiva is not the "Destroyer of Worlds." In Shaivism, Shiva is the Ultimate Reality, hence Truth, the destroyer of illusion and falsehood. Vedanta views the world as an illusion, so the equivocation is easy to come by. But in Shaivism, the world is vibrantly real.
Shiva is not, in fact, a Vedic god at all. And Vishnu is only a minor Aditya in the Vedas, most certainly not the deity incarnate as Krishna. For example, returning to the "Destroyer of Worlds" theme, consider this verse from the Bhagavad Gita, in which the speaker is Krishna.
Bhagavad Gita XI:32 - I am the mighty world-destroying Time, now engaged in destroying the worlds...
The accomodation of these religions into the Vedic tradition was accomplished by the simple expedient of associating their worship with Vedic gods, i.e., Shiva was "really" the Vedic Rudra, worshipped under a different name, and Krishna an incarnation of Vishnu. But while this likely avoided much unpleasantness at the time, and came to be incorporated into later religious literature, it has no basis in historical fact.
Even today, both Saivism and Vaishnavism continue to regard their deities as the Supreme Reality, complete and without equal, not as mere "components" in the process of creation, preservation, and destruction.
K.
Thanks for the clarification. Quite frankly, it's been a good 30 years since I've read the Bhagavad Gita and studied Joseph Campbell. Was it not Oppenheimer or some renowned scientist or astronaut who uttered similar words?
As to origin, I can hardly keep track of Vedic or Aryan origin; I have heard that Krishna is a later incorporation, perhaps more around the time of Persian Zoroastrianism and the codification of the Avestas, circa 600 B.C.E?
The Roman pantheon for instance, of early Etruscan origin, borrowed so heavily from the scattered Greek city-states in and around Asia Minor, who themselves worshipped ancient Phoenician and Sumerian-Babylonian deities. Due to the proliferation of (Great Goddess) Mystery Cults, none of us can ever know for sure what the Initiates knew or did as part of their devoted worship, Tiger. 
(I'm sure somebody else will be along at some point to enlighten me about Neitzsche's intent or interpretation, or that Apollonian signifies harmony and order, and that Dionysus signifies chaos, i.e. the irrational mind, and so forth.)
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Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu
There is no remedy for love but to love more. - Thoreau
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