Baba
This email contains three sections:
1. Posting: Woman's Mahaprayan in Rajasthan: MPD #16
2. End Quote: Who Is Intelligent
3. Links
WOMAN’S MAHAPRAYAN IN RAJASTHAN:
MPD #16
Namaskar,
Here is the scene from my Rajasthan where they are performing the
mahaprayan (death ceremony) of one woman. In the Jain tradition,
they parade the person through town to the cremation ground whereby
the deceased is in an upright, seated position. That way the
townspeople can see who died.
As you can see, they carefully wrap white cloth around the body of
the deceased - including the forehead - in order to ensure she
remains seated upright. No one should think this person is merely
injured, and still breathing. She is dead; this is the occasion of
her mahaprayan, and the white cloth is used to keep her propped up
in one grand chair so all can see her.
This is in stark contrast to most traditions were the deceased is
carried in a lying position with their face to the sky. One other
point of note is that people are said to acquire virtue for touching
/ carrying the dead body and that is one reason why many rally
around and are eager to participate.
Finally, family, friends, and well-wishers are paying their last
respects prior to bringing the deceased to the cremation ground.
Final preparations are being done.
And the newspaper announces this as a mahaprayan - as that is the
second to last word in the heading of the article. So the mahaprayan
program is common for ordinary citizens in my Rajasthan. But in my
Rajasthan nobody does the mahaprayan of Lord Shiva or Lord Krsna.
So no one should naively think that the mahaprayan program is
something glorious only to be used in a very special manner - for
Taraka Brahma. The mahaprayan program is for the death of any common
or unknown person who has made his departure from this world. That
is why this mahaprayan is not used for Taraka Brahma because He did
not depart - He is the eternal Parama Purusa. This is never done for
Lord Shiva and Lord Krsna. So the mahaprayan program is just for
ordinary humans, i.e. mortals. About this there should not be any
confusion.
And as we know, in our Ananda Marga, there is no such thing as a
yearly death ceremony or annual mahaprayan program.
"The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days."
(Caryacarya-1, Shraddha Ceremony)
Sadguru never dies - even those getting initiated today in Ananda
Marga will accept Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji as Guru. So we must
think deeply - must contemplate this matter. Baba is Sadguru and
eternally present. We must think how far it is just to observe the
mahaprayan (death) of that entity?
Namaskar,
in Him,
Champalal Sethi
Note: Search it on Google
Regarding the scene at this mahaprayan ceremony - to learn more
about this tradition you can search in Google:
“आज निकलेगी
महाप्रयाण यात्रा”
== Section 2
==
The section below demarcated by asterisks is
an entirely different topic,
completely unrelated to the above material. It stands on its
own as a point of interest.
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Who Is Intelligent
"Undeveloped human beings consider themselves to be very intelligent
and thus at every step they invite innumerable obstacles in the
material world. Later on, after climbing some rungs up the ladder of
evolution, they realize form the core of their hearts the hollowness
of their psychic capabilities. It is the natural rule of the
universe that those who possess immense knowledge are quite
conscious of their intellectual limitations, whereas people with
superficial knowledge think just the opposite. The genuine way of
learning for seekers of knowledge is to consider always that they
know nothing." (AMIWL-10, The Cardinal Spirit of Action and the
Supreme Stance of Devotion)
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