whatrasudeep

[whatrasudeep]

I love characters that are Lawful Good in a negative way. When a character is so keen on following the rules that it actually becomes a hindrance and they can’t see how the rules are faulty or the system is corrupt or how breaking a certain rule could benefit everybody. They can’t do it. It’s not in their nature to see the world outside of the black and white mentality. And then i love seeing these characters slowly learn how to see the world in shades of grey.

#linus baker #hermione granger #damianos of akielos #james potter #castiel #shri ram

[whatrasudeep]

Mahabharat Hot take

Karna didn't struggle nearly as much as Arjun did pass it on.

#hot take #karna is a villain #pass it on

[whatrasudeep]

absolutely criminal how falling into bad habits is the easiest thing in the world while developing positive habits feels like fighting a literal war

[whatrasudeep]

unavoidable that you will be the villain in someone else's story. You will be painted in an unfavorable light. You will be the irredeemable one. and all of this will happen despite how nice you might usually be or how kind or how respectful or how warm. and you will just have to move on.

[whatrasudeep]

I would suggest hounding hindu bloggers with questions lol. There are teeny tiny things that make the daily routine of an average hindu Indian Hindu™. And also our approach and thought processes about major parts of life is also very different. You might wanna know that stuff. Cos a lot of us don't read scriptures and books. Our worship is habitual and intellectual mostly.

Example: my city is in draught and all (serious) Hindus I know have said some version of "Only Indra can save us/ Indra is pissed at us" etc. (Note that we don't worship him overtly anymore). Or we don't kick books, instruments etc. We apologise for being a burden to Mother Earth. We bow to the sun (if we are awake for the sunrise lol).

These tiny things I believe make you hindu. My askbox is always open if needed 😊

Hello, do you have any advice for someone just getting started in following Hinduism? Maybe books to read, videos to watch, general advice, etc. There’s just so much information and as a native English speaker, it’s a bit tricky learning all of the phrases as well.

Hey

So, as you might know, things are lost when we translate something from one language to another and English is a really limited language that doesn't capture the true essence of what's being said in Sanskrit. These people that I'm gonna mention use the primary sanskrit terminology for practices that they discuss in order to make it more familiar to people and prevent any loss of essence. You can always send an ask on anon (given psychos don't start acting up in my inbox again lol) or send an DM where we can discuss things in detail.

Hinduism originally Sanatan Dharma believes in Parambrahama (supreme being) and everything else (deities even you and me) are manifestations of param-brahama. A soul or Atma is eternal - it doesn't die, it takes rebirth over and over in bodies of various organisms, until you balance out your karma by living your life with dharma - you achieve Moksha i.e. becoming one with the parabrahma again.

To give a gist of karma and dharma, my friend @/latent-thoughts on this post explains it rlly well.

According to prominent verse of Shreemad Bhagwad Geeta, Shree Krishna is explaining to Arjun about Karma & Dharma :

(Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana |Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani ||)

Here, the concept of karma is being explained to the great warrior Arjuna by Vasudev Krishna (who is an avtar of God Vishnu/a manifestation of the divine supreme Parabrahma (all Hindu Gods are part of Parabrahma). Here Arjun (one of the Pandavs) was stuck and basically getting cold feet, because he was about to fight his cousins (Kauravs) and his elders in a war (because they refused to recognise the Pandavs' right to a kingdom of theirs--being the sons of the previous king, plus the Kauravs outraged the modesty of their wife, Draupadi). So then Vasudev Krishna had to explain to him the concept of karma and dharma, and why it was important that he act according to what dharma dictates. (Point to be noted here--Dharma here doesn't mean religion, it means one's divine duty and concept of inherent justice.)

Anyway this answer is already so long I'll quickly list some resources :

1. Om Swami He's written well researched, easy to follow books on so many topics, my favourite one is The Ancient Science of Mantras - from introduction of what mantras are (spoiler: it's not what westerners have made it to be, no offence sjwkrjwj) to how to practice them. There are others books you can start with, I have full confidence he won't disappoint. He also has a YouTube channel - most of his older videos are in English but even videos which are primarily in Hindi, they are subtitled really well. (Also his life story is extraordinary 👀)

2. Rajashree Nandy He's done podcasts in English - I'd recommend you to start here. He is also a practicing sadhak (mediator, roughly translating), the thing I really like about him that he always has a unique view on practices, deities etc. he speaks keeping in mind that people from other countries (shoutout to you) watch his video so it's really digestible.

3. Books by Ram Swarup - 1. Meditations, Yogas, Gods, Religions. 2. The word as revelation, names of gods. 3. On Hinduism review & reflection (I haven't read any of these to be very honest but my friend recommends them to me all the time lol)

4. This Hindi podcast but with good English subtitles by Vineet Agarwal 🔥 he narrates the story of Shiv Shakti - plural halves of each other just 🫶🏻 you'll also become familiar with how we see divine and various stories with this podcast.

5. Another advice if you ever decide to buy any ~main books~ like Shreemad Bhagwad Geeta, any Puranas, Shree Durga Saphshathi, make sure you buy from Geeta Press Gorakhpur publication, they have the most accurate texts that we could have right now. I'd hope this interests you enough that you do decide to officially dive in deep soon!

I have so many things to say, but I wouldn't overwhelm you just yet! Hope this was helpful, of anyone else wants to add something to help the anon out , feel free to do so.

[whatrasudeep]

5 AU Headcanons: Rama Accompanies Sita Into Exile

For @marauderstar!

1. There are more than a few similarities between Rama’s first exile and his second.

Sita’s presence at his side is, of course, the most important: a constant of the universe save for those terrible months when it hadn’t been. Even now his stomach rebels at the remembrance; even now he reaches unconsciously for her hand to reassure himself she hasn’t somehow been stolen away once more.

The second is this: the aching, burning necessity to flee before he can be stopped. Before it had been Father’s men and the subjects of Ayodhya. Now it is no less than his own brothers. Already Lakshmana has protested loudly at not being allowed along, but Rama cannot do Urmila such injustice twice. And should he be persuaded to allow her presence, why, then there were Bharat and Shatrughan already cross at having been once left behind, along with their their wives—which didn’t even begin to account what their mothers might say. Before he knows it, Rama is sure, he would find himself housing his entire family in the woods and he doesn’t even want to begin to speculate how enormous a cottage that would require. Surely more than he and Lakshmana could assemble in a single afternoon.

No, Rama decides, and a faint smile flickers across his face (as has been the case every other time he happens to remember the swell of his wife’s stomach; a cottage for three will so quite well enough.

2. So long as he remembers he has wanted to be King.

Wanted, perhaps, is not the right word; expected is better, and expected by everyone else better still—and yet even that doesn’t explain his readiness to give it all up for a single rumor.

Ravana, he knows with bone-deep assurance, had both wanted and expected to be King, craved it to maintain his conception of the world. All too easily Rama could become much the same, and he recoils from it. Ravana was a monster for many reasons, least of which was his ancestry; and Rama would not become his shadow, not for a kingdom that turned on his wife for no fault of her own. 

Not for a kingdom that wants him but does not need him, not the way it believes it does. 

3. As it happens he doesn’t need to build any sort of cottage at all. Rama, who is guiltily remembering that Lakshmana was far more successful at the brothers’ architectural ambitions he last time around is not a little relieved when they stumble, almost literally, upon the hermitage of a worn wary man who calls himself Valmiki.

“I am afraid,” Rama feels the need to confess, almost as soon as Valmiki’s invitation to stay is spoken, “that we—we come bearing scandal.”

Valmiki’s mouth quirks into a sudden grin, one that was once (as Rama will discover) the terror of travelers passing alongside this road. “Rest assured,” he replies, with such good humor Rama cannot refuse him, “that I am no stranger to scandal myself.”

4. Their warm welcome, it soon turns out, is due as much to their host’s kindness as to the fact that he is composing an epic on Rama’s exploits. Rama flushes to hear of it, and all the more to listen to line after line of his supposed virtues, but Sita laughs outright–and takes impish delight in suggesting all the more wilder exaggerations when asked by Valmiki to confirm the facts as she knows them.

“This bow,” Valmiki says, “by which your husband won your hand–”

“Six feet long,” Sita replies promptly, sketching out unrealistic dimensions with her hands, “and twice a man’s weight to draw.”

Rama groans. “Half a man’s. If that much.”

“Did I say six feet?” Sita very nearly manages not to giggle. “Surely I meant eight.”

“Eight?”

“Perhaps, dear daughter,” says the poet, straight-faced; “you might be mistaken. Ten seems far more likely.”

By the time that afternoon’s composing is complete, the bow is twelve feet and Rama utterly mortified–but Sita is laughing, and Valmiki humming with satisfaction, and Rama can bear a bit of mortification for that.

5. There are two boys, not one; the first already boasting a head of dark hair that stands upright like spikes of kusha grass, the second golden and grasping for his father’s finger.

Rama reels with the wonder of it, and all the more with the knowledge that he has a lifetime with them, years to watch them grow into the men they are meant to be. This must be what his father had always wanted for him, Dasharatha who had performed a thousand prayers for just that life. He would give up a hundred kingdoms for that, a thousand; he is certain–no matter how much news might trickle out from Ayodhya that its citizens still mourn their lost son, that its King swears to perform the Aswamedha Yagna in twelve years’ time, should he be reunited with its brother by its end. 

There are two boys, not one; and they are both perfect. Sita is well, and happy, and they have a home. 

Rama wants nothing more.

[whatrasudeep]

Ram duare tum rakwaare

Hotha na aagna bin paisaare ✨

Prabhu mudrika meli mukh mahi

Jaladhi langhi gye achraj naahi ✨

[whatrasudeep]

I'll get so much hate for this but idc. Just read through before spewing brain rot. Open to discuss obviously.

I need y'all to stop with this cultural appropriation shit with bharatanatyam.

For people who don't know the discourse,

"Bharatanatyam is a culturally appropriated and sanitised form of Sadir-attam, a dalit art form".

Wrong on many levels.

1. Bharatanatyam is not the same as sadir. Sadir is considered a precursor but today's Bnat dancers are NOT dancing Sadir. In fact I can say that it is not even Natyam we are doing but that's another discourse

2. Sadir and devadasi/mahari culture was never dalit specific. Members of all castes learnt dance. Padmavati, Jayadeva's wife, was a devadasi and the daughter of a priest. Shantala Devi, the queen of the Hoysalas, was a former devadasi. I forgot the name but an Odia king (simha something. I read it for my junior exam) was a dancer. @ramayantika will know who I'm talking about being an odissi dancer. Y'all can be delulu about this but the proof is literally engraved in stone.

3. Bnat cannot be said is appropriating Sadir items into its fold with hundred percent certainty. Many of the items we perform now are introduced very recently. Many are taken from Kuchipudi. And Sadir itself is a product of Natyashastra. Devadasis danced to padams and javalis written by Brahmins.

5. Upper caste girls are predominantly dancers cos maybe they are the ones who stay in class. Y'all haven't had to sit on a desk convincing a parent to keep their recently "matured" daughter in class or try to tell them that boys can dance too (cos you naively assume misogyny) and them telling you in their caste "oNLy PrOstITuTes DaNcE".

And the worst part is y'all won't know shit about these things if you don't attend classes. This is not something you will find in Quint or whatever. You have to be there to know it.

Don't think that I am in any way denying casteism. I am way too well-read to do that shit atp and I have seen enough. But y'all wanna talk about caste in dance, talk about how lcs can't afford to attend classes because of systemic economic difficulties. Talk about stagnated uc male centric narratives in abhinaya pieces. Talk about the rampant superstitions and misogyny that keeps lc students from pursuing their art. Talk about the nepotism in the field and how it makes the system inherently rigged against outsiders, especially lcs who can't even claim a surname. Those are conversations worth having. Not your hot-takes with no basic fact checking.

#hindublr #bharatanatyam #discourse

[whatrasudeep]

.......what?

*chuckles nervously* was anyone gonna tell the etymology of hindukush mountain or

[whatrasudeep]

[whatrasudeep]

This is kinda accurate....

how well does pinterest know you?

i saw this on tiktok and it looked so cute! search on pinterest and choose the first option for

animal, place, plant, character, season, hobby, color, and drink!

tag list is the mutuals i’ve made so far on this new acc 🥲🥲 i love having mutuals u guys r just so cute and i am obsessed with u

@blueberrbea @dangeroustaintedflawed @buunnyb00 @iluvluvkatemoss @vaeriia @weenja @etherealbunni @itsjustclaudia @lanadelreystan101 @pheeps @bruhaalla @corpsenoiva @zooxanthellae @the-godless-angel @obonnybunny

[whatrasudeep]

An apt idol as Chennakeshava literally means Beautiful Keshava ❤️

A black stone sculpture from the Chennakesava Temple. Belur, India.

God bless the hands that carved this masterpiece. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from it!

[whatrasudeep]

MAHA VISHNU

Hindu moodboards- 1

I will be making moodboards for Hindu deities and concepts/events. Y'all can request your favs it would make my day!!

#hindublr #Hinduism #moodboard #aesthetic #aesthetic moodboard #hindu aesthetic #vishnu

[whatrasudeep]

charles waited 75 years to be crowned king and got diagnosed with cancer within a year of his coronation. punishment for colonization in real time. 👍🏻

#biggest L #I'm convinced our shit in that stolen goods warehouse they have the audacity to calm a museum is cursing them #bad voodoo #correct your shit #or suffer

[whatrasudeep]

Ok so

It's me, Hi, I am the problem, it's me.

Why did I just say this? Because the topic of my rant MIGHT just get bombarded with hate comments (tho ik my followers aren't like that, but y'all are surely not my only audience).

So basically I am going to rant on the most underrated MB character, Karna.

No shit, sherlock.

See, I admire Karna for some qualities of his, like the fact he has such a dazzling armor which def gives him an unfair advantage over other ppl, his warrior skills, and his loyalty for his bestie, Dury majority of the time.

Now, Karna is not as much of a run over puppy as ppl make him to be. His foster father is the leader of the Sutas of Hastinapur, plus a direct descendant of Yadu, there is nowhere this guy is poor or something.

Now, Sutas are a set of people who are born from a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother. Yadu was a Suta. Kichaka was a Suta. Bharat was a Suta as well, and these are all powerful/respected/famed people that I listed.

If the Pandavas (or Kshatriyas in general) hated the sutas so much, they wouldn't marry Abhimanyu to a girl who has Suta blood. And hello, the Pandavas themselves are descended from TWO Sutas.

The sutas are mostly bards by profession, but many of them are also charioteers. FYI, charioteers are allowed to learn warfare. Karna learnt FROM Drona, but he left, yes. WHY?

Because Drona wasn't giving him the brahmastra. Why, you ask, when He had no issues giving it to Arjun. Dudes and girls, Drona gave Arjun a hell of a time, because he just wanted to teach special stuff to his son, but Arjun was a step ahead, and would always end up completing whatever task he was given. THAT credit lies with Arjun, not Drona. Not to mention, Arjun was also an obedient student, one who repeatedly risked his life to save his teacher, and Drona gave him special weapons as a reward.

Now back to Karna. He is born in a relatively rich family, and has loving foster parents. He gets to learn from DRONA, but leaves when Drona doesn't agree to his conditions, and ends up lying to Parshuram so that he can get special weapons.

In the rangbhoomi event, Karna participates illegally. It was an event planned for the Kuru princes to flaunt their skills, not DRONA'S disciples. Drona had other students too, but they aren't here. This is a Kuru prince-only event, and Karna still enters, and he challenges Arjun, who is 10+ years younger than he is.

Now the point where Karna's family background is being asked. Arjun is a fucking prince, and princes don't start dueling with any random guy, do they? No they do not.

Duryodhan crowns Karna as the King of Anga, and Karna doesn't even prove his merit whatsoever. Good warrior=/=good king. Not every man is like Ram.

Karna spends his time plotting, mostly. See, I dislike this dude a lot, even if I admire his warrior abilities. He is also very sexist, calling Draupadi, someone who he shouldn't be having issues with, a harlot. GR8 going Karna. Does he know that his heavenly step bros, the Ashwini Kumaras, are married to the same woman?

Sorry, I am more of a monogamy supporter, but slandering a woman practicing polyandry, because of a boon she got from Shiva ji, especially in a world where polygamy is quite common.

Now, Karna ain't that big of a loyal friend either. When Duryodhana and his brothers go to the forest the Pandavas are living in, to have a fucking picnic to spite them, and get attacked by the Gandharvas, Karna runs away....

wow.

Ahem. I am just picking up the main issues overall. Karna's armor gives him a pretty unfair advantage over everyone else. Unlike Arjun, he does not meditate to gain weapons.

Please do not say that Karna is a better warrior than Arjun. Arjun has defeated countless Danavas when he went to help Indra during his exile. He has defeated the devas during the Khandavaprastha event, and fuck, he stood his ground against SHIVA of all gods. yep, he couldn't defeat him, because that is impossible. No one can defeat Shiva, but Arjun managed to please him. Karna has no achievements of this sort as per my knowledge, correct me if I am wrong.

Karna gives his armor to Indra. Unfair, and tragic. But it isn't that much tragic in real. Karna basically says that a) he shouldn't feel any pain when he cuts off his armor and b) he wants a special weapon in exchange. It is basically a TRADE not a sacrifice, tho I do feel it is kind of unfair on Indra's part to demand the armor.

Now, flashforward, the war. Karna enters on day 11, and I can vaguely recall reading how Abhimanyu handed his ass over to him on day 12. Yes, Star Plus, I am very, very disappointed with what you have done.

Now, day 13.

...

I feel I have ranted on this a bit too much in the past. Basically, Karna runs away when Abhimanyu is on his spree, and then asks Drona how to kill him. He cuts off Abhimanyu's bow from behind, is part of his brutal killing, and enjoys his death, dancing around his corpse.

....This is after he KNOWS that this boy is his NEPHEW. He doesn't wish to accept the Pandavas as his brothers, okay. But enjoying, relishing the cruel murder of a boy who you know very well is your nephew?

Some Karna fans do say that "hey, they didn't have a choice, Abhimanyu would have finished off their entire army!". No. They did have a choice. And they chose to break all the war rules and regulations.

See, I am not being biased here, but Abhimanyu's death is the winner of the top most brutal and undeserved deaths in Hindu lore, correct me if I am wrong.

Karna kills Ghatotkacha, again, his nephew. Tho it is still a one-one fight, so I ....don't hold it against him.

Now, on day 17, when his wheel gets stuck, Karna is like "hey you cannot kill me, that is against DHARMA" right after he just tried to invoke the Brahmastra because he couldn't bear losing against Arjun even if the world ends up being destroyed because of it, and shot a special arrow with Takshak's son on top of it.

Arjun, like the lil meow meow he is, is having an existential crisis for the n-th time. Krishna probably wants Karna to die this way as Arjun-Karna's duel might take up a lot of time to come to a conclusion, and the Pandava army is on the edge of extinction, so the unfair way is the way to go-

Krishna, being the mastermind, reminds Arjun about Karna's crimes, and well, Arjun kills Karna, after being riled up.

So, we all know Arjun killed Karna's son, aka his nephew. It was a one-one duel, so it is fair? And Vrishasena was not unarmed. See, as much as I hate Uttar and Iravan's deaths, they are still SOMEWHAT fair, so...we gotta accept that.

Now, Yudhishthira is very teary over Karna once he finds out he is his big bro. Really Yudi? REALLY?

#FACTS #i absolutely despise Karna #and it's all because of his bhakts

[whatrasudeep]

THIS IS TOO GOOD

#the sandman #the corinthian

[whatrasudeep]

“We need more women with agency!” Y’all couldn’t even handle not being sexist to Alicent, Sansa, or Catelyn Stark and how they led.

#house of the dragon #hotd #game of thrones #alicent hightower #pro sansa stark #sansa stark #catelyn stark #catelyn tully