According to Hinduism...
  • Agent Smith
    9.5k
    We can fool gods.

    So I read this comic on Hindu mythology about 30 years ago. It had a story in it where this asura (loosely, demon) undertakes nearly a millennium of tapas (penance/prayer) to The Destroyer, Shiva. Shiva, pleased with the asura's devotion, manifests himself to the asura and grants a boon, to be precise a wish (Hindu gods were genie-like).

    The asura first asks to be the most powerful being of the three realms (heaven, earth, naga lok). Shiva says that boon is not on the menu. Next, the asura, cunning dude, asks that he be given the power to reduce to ashes anything he touches.

    Shiva, rather foolishly, does grant the asura's wish.

    What does the asura do next?

    He, like a good customer, wants to, well, test his purchase: he runs towards Shiva with outstretched hands. Shiva high tails it outta there.

    The story has a happy ending.

    The point is though that gods are as gullible as humans.
    Agent Smith Options
  • javi2541997
    5.9k
    ↪Agent Smith


    Good OP with a sage ending. I want to add a few words:
    Six Schools" or "Six Doctrines" of "orthodox" Indian philosophy are the schools that accept the authority of the Vedas and thus religiously are considered part of Hinduism:
    THE "SIX SCHOOLS" OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
    • Mîmâṁsâ: "Interpretation," or Pûrva Mîmâṁsâ "Prior Interpretation,"
    • Vedânta, , "End of the Vedas," or the Uttara Mîmâṁsâ, , "Posterior Interpretation,"
    • Sânkhya, , "Counting, Reckoning, Reasoning, Knowledge," the School of Theoretical Knowledge.
    • Yoga, , "Yoking, Vehicle, Equipment, Discipline,"
    • Nyâya, , "Analysis," the School of Logic
    • Vaiśeṣika, , "Individual Characteristics," the School of Pluralistic Metaphysics

    Accepting the authority of the Vedas, however, does not mean actually using them. Mîmâṁsâ and Vedânta are specifically the schools of interpretation of the Vedas; the other four are based on independent reasoning. "Heterodox" schools, which reject the authority of the Vedas, are found in separate religions, like Buddhism and Jainism, or with the rare, reviled "materialists," whose own texts have all been lost. The treatment follows P.T. Raju's The Philosophical Traditions of India [University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971, p.35].
    javi2541997 Options
  • Agent Smith
    9.5k
    ↪javi2541997
    Much obliged! I wish I had the time & resources to go through all the available material on Hinduism. I suppose I'll just have to take what I get.
    Agent Smith Options
  • javi2541997
    5.9k
    ↪Agent Smith


    You're welcome, friend. I wish you can get some time and read more about Hinduism. I also enjoy reading all types of Asian culture/philosophy. It amazes me.
    javi2541997 Options
  • Agent Smith
    9.5k
    You're welcome, friend. I wish you can get some time and read more about Hinduism. I also enjoy reading all types of Asian culture/philosophy. It amazes me. — javi2541997

    Are there any similar stories in Western religions?
    Agent Smith Options
  • javi2541997
    5.9k
    ↪Agent Smith


    To be honest, I don't know!
    javi2541997 Options
  • Agent Smith
    9.5k
    To be honest, I don't know! — javi2541997

    King Tantalus? The gods, of course, found out!
    Agent Smith Options
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