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The Nepal Digest Tuesday 24 Jan 95: Magh 10 2051 BkSm Volume 35 Issue 14
Today's Topics:
1. KURA_KANI
Social - Speech
- Mountain Midwife Training
Religion - Ram and Krishna
2. TITAR_BITAR
Help as Paying Guest
Transfering to Different University
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From: psubedi@site.gmu.edu (Purushottam Subedi (CS 555))
Subject: Speech on Nepal Human Rights
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 10:27:07 -0500 (EST)
Following speech was forwarded to me by Bacon Komlenic <gayk@well.sf.ca.us>.
Speech given at the California Institute of Integral studies
Jan 12 1995
By Mr. Samaraje Pratrap Rana
Distinguished guests
Ladies & gentlemen
I am feeling greatly honored to be provided with this
opportunity to speak a few words at this august gathering of-
intellectuals. This gathering symbolizes the representatives of human rights.
Therefore I do not deem it is necessary to elucidate the features and the
characteristics of human rights. HoweverI would like to make a brief sketch of
the human rights in Nepal,theworks of our National Democratic Human Rights
Council which I represent,and our efforts to improve the skills and the living
conditions of the people of Nepal, and finally the hopes we have for a Mountain
Midwifery Training Program in Nepal.
Nepal is a small kingdom which occupies only 147189
sq.km. area on the surface of the earth. It is sandwiched
between the two giant countries of Asia China and India. About 18.49 million
people live in Nepal. It has constitutional king of a Parlimentary
democracy.
Nepal is the land of the most famous,the largest and the most beautiful Hindu
temples of the world. For instance Pashupatinath, Guheswori, Changu Narayan,
Krishna Mandir, Bangla Mukhi, Muktinath, Mankamna Mai, Dakshin Kali etc. The
pagoda architecture of the temples of Hindu gods and goddesses are world
famous.
Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world. Nepal has large and very
beautiful Buddhist Stupas and Monastaries.This land has seen the nativity of
Gautam Budhha, one of the greatest apostle of world peace. This country has
the most gorgeous and tranquilizing panoramic views of the highest Himalayan
peaks of the world.
Until 1950, Nepal remained as a Sangrilla, a
country hardly visited by any foreigner. After the inception of
democracy in 1951, Nepal was exposed to the international arena and the
people were provided with human rights under the name of fundamental rights.
But the people were shrouded in the darkness under the family rule of the
hereditary Rana primeministers for 104 years, that is from 1847 to 1950,
they were not in a position to utilise these rights. On the other hand
the political leaders began to tussle one against another in order
to reach to the power center. Taking this opportunity in hand,
the father of the present king the late king Mahendra took over the entire
nation in his grip on Dec.15,1960. While doing so, he dissolved the
Parliamentary system of government and arrested all of the prominent
ministers of the Nepali Congress government who then were commanding
the majority in the parliament.
With the royal takeover of 1960, King
Mahendra imposed on Nepal a political system of his own choice.
The system known as Panchayat Polity outlawed all the political parties
and de- prived the people of the rights guaranteed to them by constitution.
Although the constitution of the Panchayat system had also made the
provisions for certain fundamental rights those were barely translated
into action. King Mahendra passed away in 1971 and then Crown Prince
Birendra was enthroned. The situation of human rights remained more or
less the same until 1989. Nepali people frustrated of Panchayat system
launched a popular movement in 1990.
It was a successful people's movement. The Panchayat regime collapsed and the
democracy was restored in 1990. Since then we have a constitutional monarch
within Parlimentary democracy. The new democratic constitution has made
explicit provisions for human rights in the name of fundamental rights. The
new constitution has guaranteed the rights to freedom, equality, and justice
etc. The interim government formed after the people's movement signed the United Nation declaration on civic, political, economic, social and cultural rights
and expressed its commitment to them. It was a positive landmark in the sphere
of human rights. Similarly the Govt. deserves the appreciation for signing the
UN declaration on children's rights. Nepalese people remember that the Premier
of the elected Nepali Congress Govt. had participated in the human rights
world conference organized by the UN in Vienna, Austria in 1993.
Now it has been four years since the reinstallment of
democracy for the sake of people's interest. But it looks disappointing
that the democracy could not be utilized to its full extent. The comm-
on people could not enjoy the basic rights practically. The situation of
human rights has not improved satisfactorily in Nepal .Overall the present
conditions are not helping to consolidate the foundation of the democracy in
the country. The reasons are several. Some to be noted are :
1. At present the major political parties engaged in the
people's movement are in power and opposition. How-
ever both the forces have not yet practically shown
expected liberal attitude towards human rights. In
short Nepalese political parties do not seem to
possess
human rights culture within them. They lack in democ-
ratic character and tolerance. At this stage it is
normal
to find it difficult for the realization of such
expectati-
ons from administrative and quasi-judicial sectors.
2. Nepal is a developing nation. It is basically
dominated
by a feudal set up. Human rights violations have not
been always caused by the Govt. machinery. They ha-
ppen also due to social traditions, superstitions,
orth-
odox religious assumptions, casteism, land holder's
pressure, political unawareness, illiteracy, lack of
resources, meagre economy etc.In several cases the
abuses are found to be executed more collectively than
individually.
Sometimes they are targeted to specific ethnic groups.
Now I would like to tell you the common areas where the human rights
violation usually happen in Nepal. They are:
1. Killing of the people by the people in dispute and
fightings etc.
2. Prisons and their poor condition and management.
3. Arrest by Police and Police torture.
4. Fundamental rights which includes :
4.1. Freedom of expression and Freedom in
membership in the different political association.
4.2. Religious
freedom.
4.3. Political
freedom.
4.4. Quick and fair
trial.
5. Landless and Squatters.
6. Women's rights which includes :
6.1 Women
trafficking.
6.2 Rape.
6.3. Polygamy/Forced
and
unequal
marriage.
6.4 Unwanted
masculine
domina-
tion and Dowry
system.
6.5. Jari- Act of a
woman's settle-
ment with the
new
husband
which is not
usually favoura-
ble.
6.6 Tradition of
multi
husbands.
6.7
Adoption of the wife of elder
brother.
6.8 Badi-Badini :
Out
caste music-
ians,singers
and
dancers .
Women become
prostitutes
later for
their
livelyhood.1
6.9 Deuki: Virgin
girls
offered to
god or
godess.
Later they
become
prostitutes for their
livelyhood.
7. Rights against slavery.
8. Indigenous communities:
The discrimination of the
indegenous
communities like Tharu, Chepang,
Musar
etc.
9. Chid rights: Children are being used in Factories
and constuction etc.
10. Social traditions: Casteism and Untouchables.
11. Education.
12. Health.
13. Refugees.
The universal declaration of human rights was made by UN on
Dec.10,1948. All the rights chartered by UN are universal and indivisible.
It is the inherent right of human beings to enjoy them in an unrestricted
manner.
The declaration of human rights in UN charter have been taken as the guiding
principles for human rights by almost all the democratic nations of the
world.
We Nepalese are quite aware of the fact that the UN accompanied by the super
power like U.S has launched a lot of programs in order to safeguard human
rights through the world. It is highly praiseworthy. Back home we Nepali people
wonder how could U.S learn about human rights so well even two and half
centuries before. We learned in American history that the great thinker Thomas
Jefferson who prepared the paper for American declaration of independance
which was declared on July 4,1776 had written much about human rights.
Coming back to my country we are talking about human rights only by the end
of this century.
In reality U.S is a pioneer in establishing human rights. In this context we
look up U.S with respect and commend its every effort towards the establishment
of human rights and installment, restoration and consolidation of democracy any
where in the world. We the people of Nepal can learn many things from this
country of yours.
Ladies and gentlemen may I take this opportunity to let
you know that NDHRC represents one of the temples, which is trying to enshrine
in it the deities of human rights.
Even after the fall of Soviet Union and disintegration
of Warsaw pact countries I would still like to call our part of the world as
the third world. In the third world there are plenty of Human Rights
Associations looking after political human rights abuses in and around.
And Nepal is not an exception. Therefore we do not want to duplicate the same
job. NDHRC never tries to politicise human rights situation in the country.
Our organisation is not related or linked with any political party. It is an
entirely politically neutral and non profit oriented organisation for the
establishment of human rights.
With our previous experiences and research study we
found that the upliftment of the economy and the social status of the
people of Nepal will only help them to create a healthy mind. And the
healthy mind can produce healthy thoughts. Healthy thoughts followed with labour
will practically help to develop the country and to establish human rights.
Finally it will support the consolidation of the democracy in the country.
For this purpose we have to construct the infrastructure to develop and
to strengthen the skills of the Nepalese people. The infrastructure involves
the trainings to develop the skills in the people in the various fields.
Thus NDHRC has targetted to launch several programs of training in the
different areas in the name of Technology Transfer. Here I would like to
tell you that NDHRC is totally devoted in Technology Transfer.Our programs for Technology Transfer are following:
1. Cloth weaving. 2.Sewing. 3. Carpet weaving. 4. Hair dressing.
5. Carpentry. 6. Masonry works. 7. House wiring and simple
electrical works. 8. Simple iron workshop works. 9. Simple
automobile jobs. 10. Adult education. 11.Mid wiffery.
***********************************************************************************************
***********************************************************************************************
Among the above eleven programs we have started only the two
of them namely Hair dressing and Masonry works. We could not begin others
because of the financial handicap. But as our third step we are planning to
implement Mid wiffery training program seriously. It is the most significant one in
the present context of Nepal. Everybody knows birth is the most important
process of life.
Birth gives birth to the new generation of human beings. Hence birth needs
to be easy, comfortable, medically hygenic, and medically successful. For the
successful child birth, survival of the mother and her good health we are in
high demand of trained midwives. Over 90% of women do not have any access to
the health workers during pregnancy, birth or after delivery. Annually there are
about 800,000
pregnancies in the country, 20 % of them i,e. about 160,000 pregnancies are
said to be in high risk category. About 7000 women die during childbirth.
Therefore our maternal mortality rate is 875 per 100000 pregnancies. Our infant
mortality rate is 147.44 per 1000 live births. In Nepal most of the women deliver
their children with the help of a female relative or friend who does not have any
training or qualification regarding midwifery other than her proximity with
a woman in labour. But in some villages we have traditional midwives who are
called Sundeni in our language. But we need to strengthen the skill in them
too.
We can not imagine the Nepalese women to have the knowledge of even First
Aid of Medical science. Because the illiteracy rate for women is 75 %. And the
illiteracy rate rate for men is 44.8 %. It will be surprising to you to know
that we have one medical doctor per 16667 people. And for rural areas we
have one Doctor per 92000 people.While in U.S you have one Doctor per 420 people.
All over the country we have only about 2999 trained Nurses. That means the
population per nurse is 6165. We have 4848 hospital beds in total. That is
we have one hospital bed for every3808 people.We have all together 816 Health
Posts in the country.It means there is one Health Post per 22625 people. The life
expectancy at birth is 53 for women and 56 for men.This is the status of health
services for 9,270,183 women and 9,220,914 men in Nepal.
In the context of the situation of the health
services available in Nepal,our Council was planning to implement the Mid wifery
Training Program as the part of our support to women's rights. But we did not have
any rational access to it. As there is one proverb,"God helps those who help
themselves". God helped us.We met Ms.Patricia Gay Bacon Eagle. Until today
we can not understand, it is a mystic, may be the combination of the positions of the planets in
the solar system worked. She happened to enter in our Secretary General^s house
in Kathmandu on the strongest day of our year known as Astami the day of the
godess Durga in 1993. We all met her there. That day was the real begining of our
Mid Wiffery Training Program. As she knew the statistics of the health services
and the condition of the women giving birth in Nepal, she emphasized, encouraged
and suggested the essentiality, the importance and the implementation of
Midwiffery training Program. Since then the program turned into the project. She
suggested us that the project is more needed and necessary in the villages on the
mountains than in the cities. Therefore she named this project as Mountain
Mid wiffery Training Project (MMTP). In this connection we had organized a
conference in Kathmandu with Ms Mangala Devi Singh the chair of Nepal's
Women"s association on Nov.11,1993. Patricia worked with a group of 20 women
interested in training and developed an overview of the proposed projecrt which could
provide the kind of in depth knowledge base required to develope a core of
Nepali Midwiffery Teachers. In a nutshell the project involves the training
the first wave of Mountain Midwife Trainers who would then disperse and train
the primary care providers,the Mountain Midwives in the villages on mountains.
We would target the students who will be graduating from high school who
already have an ability to read and write in English for the first wave. Thus the
first wave of Mountain Midwife trainers would themselves participate in the
creation of training protocols and themselves become the trainers of the second wave.
The training will be based on the improvement of the traditional method of the
childbirth with the western technology for the natural child birth. I can
only tell you this much about our Mountain Mid wiffery Training Project now.
Because we are still working on it to complete the feasibility report.Our
Secretary General Mr.Ram Krishna Pant will be also coming to U.S to join us
to give the final shape of the report.
Ladies & gentlemen now I have come down almost to the
end of my lecture.Before concluding I on behalf of all the members of
NDHRC and personally myself would like to express our sincere gratitude to
Dr.
Ellinor W. Gadon, Program Director for inviting me and providing me with
this opportunity to speak and sending Patricia to Nepal. NDHRC extend its
thankfulness to Women's Spirituality Program for their kind understanding of
the essentiality of Mountain Mid wiffery Training Project in Nepal. NDHRC is
highly obliged to Ms.Patricia Gay Eagle for her enthusiasm and her keen interest to
uplift the status of the women of Nepal. On behalf of NDHRC I would
personally thank Ms.Maureen Rhodin for her help in making this lecture program
successful.
I am also personally thankful to Mr.Vincent H.Bacon for his geneorisity and
cooperation for me to get adjusted in this new world. I will always remember
the kind American hospitality of Mrs.Maryland Bacon. I would like to thank to
all the CIIS staff for making such a magnificent management for this
lecture. At the last not the least I am highly impressed with you all and
I extend thanks and appreciation to you all for listening to me so attentively.
Finally ladies and gentlemen !
I would like to deliver a lot of love and affection that the
Nepalese people living on the lap of the mighty Himalayas have sent to their
American brothers and sisters living on the other side of the planet.
Om . Nama.
Namaste. Thank you.
Well the spacing seems to have lost a lot in the translation but it look
like the text did make it now lets see If I can mail this to you
once again thank you so much for your intrest and support
gayk@well.sf.ca.us
Subject: Mountain Midwifery Training in Nepal
Posting on Mr. Komlenic request
From: Gay Bacon Komlenic <gayk@well.sf.ca.us>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Subject: midwifery training
I am currently a Graduate student at California Institute of Integral Studies
after spending the last 20 years working in women's health
while in nepal in 1993 I met severalmembers of the National Democratic
Human Rights Council of Nepal and begain working on a proposal to teach
midwiffery in Nepal please see the following. Mr. Samraje Pratrap Rana
has come from Katmandu to promote the project and prepare a feasibility
study about it. I was struck by the meeting mentioned about medical care
by ob's and WHO pledging money. Is our program redundant? We are planning
to train women in techniques used in the home birth movement here as the
technology of hospital birth would not reasonably be avaliable to most
women outside of the cities. We believe that it would be most helpful to
start training in techniques which do not need massive amounts of medical
technology but which will include information and appropriate technology
and expand the knowledge base of the whole population. we are currently
trying to asses what is a reasonable "bag" The equiptment a midwife
carries that could be supplied and restocked or resteralized in the
field (in this case the mountain) of course we also need funding so any
hints as to where to apply would be greatly apperciated
If you would like me to e-mail you acopy of Mr. Rana's Speech on human
rights in Nepal which he gave on jan12 1995 please let me know I woud
be glad to do so
thank you for your time
Mountain Midwife Training
While in Nepal to study indigenous birth practices I was qulte amazed to
learn that there was very little support for women during parturition. In KMT
there is a maternity hospital which I toured but outside of that city I could find no
sign of support for women during child birth. The very word for midwife,
"sunumie" in Nepali, was not even in common usage. Most women I
interviewed had delivered their children with the help of a female relative or friend who
had no training or qualifications other than her sex and close proximity to the
woman in labor. At first I suspected that my research methods were deficient
and that I had just not been able to locate informants who were privy to the
knowledge I was seeking. However after redoubling my efforts, it became apparent that
there was, in fact, little formal support for women during pregnancy or
parturition.
One of my sources, Anne Parker Ph.D., a cultural geographer from the
University of Oregon who has spent many years in Nepal and other parts of Asia,
confirmed my observations and described Nepal as unique in Asia for its lack of
traditional midwifery. In fact this very issue was one which the Democratic
Human Rights Council of Nepal (hereafter to be referred to as the NDHRC) was
hoping to address as part of its support of women's rights.
I had worked with several members of the NDHRC while researching this
issue and was asked to help set up a program to train midwives in Nepal. Our first
task was to develop support for the project within Nepal, and to this end the
NDHRC organized and videotaped a conference in KTM with Mangla Devi Singh, the
Chair of Nepal's Women's Association, who described the need for such a program
and the integral relationship between basic human services such as health
care for women and human rights. We then worked with a group of 20 women
interested in the training and developed an overview of the proposed project which could
provide the kind of in-depth knowledge base required to develop a core of
Nepali midwifery teachers.
Our first task was to describe our area of concern. The hope of this plan
is to provide basic midwifery services to the women of Nepal especially women
who do not reside in large metropolitan areas. These services need to be
tailored to fit the resources available in the area's served. To understand what this
entails one must have an acquaintance with the geography of the country.
Located in the foothills, valleys and peaks of the southern slope of the
Himalayas, it is a very mountainous terrain with an abundance of water as it catches the
rainfall on the wet side of the range. The drainage from the mountains
provides year round flows through the foothills and valleys which have been
terraced for agriculture and produce three crops a year in the mild climate around 30
degrees north latitude.
Most people live a subsistence existence in adobe houses among the fields.
Tourism and technology are advancing into the country side with many
villages having some electricity, and fossil fuel has replaced wood as the
available supply of timber has disappeared. Situated strategically
between the Tibetan border of China and northeast of India, the population of this
country includes many Tibetan refugees and refugees from Kashmire and other troubled
states in the area. Many areas are inaccessible by vehicle and can only be
reached on foot. In many areas this means that most of the accouterments of
modern medicine will be difficult to procure; however, women should not be
denied the support or help that could be available if trained providers
were in attendance.
Western education is available to some children in schools which teach in
English and culminate in grade 10. Graduating students can read and write in
English are competent in basic math and have some grasp of simple scientific
principles from a western perspective. Western concepts of disease theory,
asepsis and infection are not widely held or understood. In fact the
philosophical concepts which have been the underpinning of this very
successful culture for centuries include a strong religious belief which accepts most
disease processes as the results of karma.
The goal of this program is to teach Nepali educators to train local birth
attendants to provide support for women giving birth. We do not wish to
disrupt or discredit a culture that has operated a sustainable economy for
centuries. We also do not intend to assume that we can offer the technology and
supplies of western medicine to the remote areas of Nepal. The problems of
procurement and distribution of massive amounts of medical equipment in a third world
country with the geography of Nepal is beyond the scope of this program. What we do
intend to provide is a sustainable information base that can integrate
modern medical knowledge with the traditional culture and utilize the technology
currently available in appropriate ways. This goal can only be met if the
fundamentals of basic health care are thoroughly understood. This means an
analysis of both western and traditional methods needs to be honored and
integrated into the education.
The very existence of a program such as ours which is designed to help women
during pregnancy and childbirth is a visible validation of the worth and
status of women in the culture. Providing world class training to the
participants is a valuable aid in enhancing the status of women in general and will certainly
provide a sense of worth and esteem to the participants. Therefore it is
imperative that we teach a comprehensive curriculum which will provide a
deep knowledge base that can expand the program as the country continues to
develop.
It is not our goal to provide a simplistic solution teaching a few useful
techniques or procedures that can be performed by uneducated, barely skilled
technicians (although we hope our midwives will indeed be able to teach
in that way when it is appropriate), but that we educate a core of trainers who can
adapt their skills to a variety of settings and assess the needs of women
in a variety of circumstances. The graduates of our program should have the
knowledge base to expand into whatever role becomes necessary and be able to
utilize the tools of western medical technology as they become available in their areas.
This requires a through understanding of parturition and presupposes a good
general knowledge of the principles of biochemistry, physiology, anatomy,
nutrition, asepsis, disease processes and a range of cultural,
geographic, and economic variables. The challenges we face are many and complex; however, we
have developed a model which can address this complexity.
The first 3-5 years of the program would be exclusively devoted to
training of the first wave of MMT's (Mountain Midwife Trainers) who would then
disperse and train the primary care providers the Mountain Midwives (MM's). We would
target students who are graduating from grade 10 who already have an ability to
read and write in English and have proven themselves to be competent scholars.
Preferably they would have a sponsor who would be willing to continue to
support their education. This training should begin with Health Sciences High School
providing grade level 11 & 12 training in fundamentals of biology, asepsis,
nutrition, psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, theology, ecology
communications and geography. Clinical practicums would then be conducted
in the maternity hospitals and indigenous birth practices investigated. A year
of field work attending births at home in villages would then be conducted. Each area
would be assessed to determine year round needs for shelter, fuel, water,
nutrition and preservation of the indigenous culture. After this, the
students
and teachers would jointly develop training protocols for the villages to be
served--individualized to consider the anthropology & geography of the area.
Multimedia-media instructional aids would be procured and created to be
used as teaching aids distributed by the MMT's who would begin attending births and
teaching the program in their geographic areas. Thus the first wave of MMT's
would themselves participate in the creation of training protocols and
themselves become the trainers of the second wave.
First wave MMT's will be required to have graduated from grade 10 and be
literate in English as much of the first wave training will be conducted in
English. The preliminary two year Health Sciences High School would be
structured to qualify students not only for continuation in our Midwifery
program but could help prepare them for admittance to midwifery training
programs in other countries as well. Remembering the goal is to establish a
comprehensive knowledge base, it would be valuable to have some Nepali MMT's
continue their education in more developed countries and return that
knowledge to the collective understanding. All of the participants must also be
sensitive to the cultural conditions and committed to the ideals of cultural and
ecological preservation in Nepal, and honor the various religious practices
indigenous to the area. If we expect good client compliance and
acceptance of the program it is imperative that our MMT's are sensitive to the cultural
mix of Nepal, and exhibit discretion and diplomacy as they will be expected to
train in a variety of settings.
So MMT's will be the trainers of the MM's who will be taught in their own
language and within the geography of their own practice. Since the
implements of western medical technology are not available in Nepal, part of the ongoing
assessment and development function of the MMT's will be to identify and
procure necessary supplies to function in the villages. This should be done
including the traditional implements used whenever they can be integrated into safe
practice. Our MMT's should be ever vigilant to identify and implement
traditional birthing methods whenever possible; they will also have the
responsibility of imparting medical information which is practically useful
where technology is limited. Techniques that need technological support
unavailable in an area should not be offered or relied upon unless that
technology becomes available. It will be extremely important that our
MMT's have excellent assessment skills and that they be able to tailor their
practice to their environment.
In fact MMT's will de facto be conducting research in the field.
Certainly the last 40 years of obstetrical practice has proven there are many iatrogenic
complications in the western model. Our hope is to integrate the best of
western medicine with the best of traditional practice while honoring both. This
approach will produce both increased safety and compliance, and may itself
expand the knowledge base of this most sacred feminine process: women giving
birth. The plural noun is used here because it is imperative that we
comprehend that it is women the collective, not woman the individual, that births our
future, and it is women the collective, not woman the individual, who must
support, educate and nurture the individual woman during single acts of
parturition. Nothing is more specifically a woman's issue than
childbirth. Any attempt to elevate the status of women in general must consider the
safety and circumstances of women during parturition.
from
gayk@well.sc.ca.us
aka Patricia Eagle Aka Patricia Bacon
6 Admiral #473
Emeryville
CA 94608
**************************************************************************
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
From: PRADHAN@stahl1.sb.bauing.th-darmstadt.de
Date: 23 Jan 95 22:33:29 GMT+1200
Subject: Titar_Bitar : Help !
Hi pals !
I am a doctoral student at Darmstadt, Germany and planning
to attend an Earthquake Engineering Conference in San
Francisco during Feb. 8 - 11, 1995.
Conference venue: Sheraton Palace Hotel
2 Montgomery St., San Francisco.
I would appreciate if I could lodge by some Nepali friends as a
paying guest in the West Coast area nearby the conference venue
(reachable by public transport).
Please e-mail: Pradhan@stahl1.sb.bauing.th-darmstadt.de
Thanks,
Amir Man Pradhan
*********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 17:34:34 PST
To: nepal-request@cs.niu.edu
From: Amresh Karmacharya <psu01146@odin.cc.pdx.edu>
Subject: Anyone ?
I am a graduate student majoring in biology here at Portland State
University. I am trying to transfer to one of the following universities.
Therefore if there is anyone studying in any of them please let me
know.
* Washington State University, Pullman
* Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
* California State University, Fullerton
* Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
Date: Jan 19, 1995
To: The Nepal Digest
Subject: Religion
Crossposted from SCN:
--------------------
In article <3fenst$80s@netserv.unmc.edu> dchakrav@netserv.unmc.edu (Dhruba Chak
ravarti) writes:
>Ajay (ajay@portal.vpharm.com) wrote:
>
> [stuff deleted]
>
>Dear Sri Ajay:
>
>I am curious why you would object to the characterization of Lord
>Ram as "Maryada Purushottam". You have mentioned that His sense
>of Maryada did not impress you, therefore, may I ask you to
>elaborate why you are not impressed?
>
>Regards,
>Dhruba.
Well, first of all i have no problems with people accepting anyone
they wish to represent maryada purushottam. It is their choice. My point in
the article i posted earlier was about the reaction of some Phindus i know
to my views of ramayan.
Now, that this is out of the way i can get to answering your question
about my personal beliefs on ramayan and Ram's status as maryada purushottam.
i think i know most of the stories in the ramayan (i will confine
myself to the most popular version in north india). i will mention a few
points, if i miss any please do enlighten me.
1.) He left his kingdom to please his father.
Let us assume that this was an act that falls into the maryada category.
But, i know a lot of people in India today who e.g. get married according
to their parent's wishes. In some cases, this implies a life-long misery,
whereas Ram's was only for 14 years. Now, would you classify all those
people in India today as personifying (at least one aspect) of maryada.
If you do, then Ram loses one aspect of maryada purushottam (remember that
purushottam implies uniqueness). If you do not, then please enlighten me
on the difference.
Let us take two more aspects of Ram's behavior ...
2) Do you think the method used by Ram to kill Bali falls under
the category of maryada?
If so, then Krishna can easily be classified as maryada purushottam too.
Incidentally, he is not.
3) Now, the most common objection: his treatment of sita!
That is no act of a maryada purushottam. Now, the standard apology on this
front is "he was a king, and could not ignore his people's opinions".
Well let me ask you, he obviously did not listen to *all* his people
*all* the time since this is impossible. He clearly did some things which
made some people unhappy while others were pleased. Then why could his
attitude to sita not fall under the principle "you cannot please everyone"?
i have of course ignored the issue of "Ram following maryada purushottam'ness
for his times". Therefore, we cannot critique him based on our present day
values. If i accept this argument, then i will respond with "Well, then
his maryada purushottam'ness is then irrelevant for the present age".
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