Thursday, May 21, 2009
Why do hindus break Coconut in the Temple
There are many rituals among the hindus, which suggest the mode of transcending the personality layers and realising the Self within. One such ritual is offering Cocunut in a temple. The Coconut represents the Karma Phalas or the fruits of one's past actions, which are in the form of One's Vasanas. Offering of a fruit in a temple or to a Guru symbolises the surrendering of such Vasanas.
A Coconut has a nice smooth skin covering a mass of twisted and knitted coir within. Beneath the coir is a hard shell, and in the inner portion of the shell is the white kernel containing the milk. Before a cocunut is offered to the Lord, the priest removes the skin along head of the coconut. The shell is then broken and the tuft is removed to expose the three eyes of the coconut. The milk inside is allowed to flow out at the feet of the Lord.
This ritual has a deep significance. The outer skin represents the gross body which has an external show of beauty, but carries in its bosom an abominable cluster of desires and attachments which comprise the subtle body. Man has to renouce all his desires to the exception of one which is to realise the Truth. The retention of the tuft indicates this idea. When one approaches a Guru with this pointed desire and a spirit of surrender, the Guru breaks the hard shell of the intellect and exposes the pure Satwic Vasanas (the white kernel in the case of cocunut) to the Lord. The last lingering desire to realise the Truth is also transcended which is demonstrated by the plucking of the tuft away and exposing the three 'eyes' on the shell. The third eye refers to the 'Eye of Wisdom' known as 'Jnana Chakshu' which gives the intutive vision of the Self. The milk flowing out at the feet of the Lord reprensents the merging of the individual's self with the Infinite Self.
Hari Om.
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That is not correct.
ReplyDeleteThen what is correct ?
DeleteBased on my understanding, there were rituals performed in the past where they would sacrifice a human being to the feet of God. To prevent this inhumane activity and to make sure that the people are satisfied in terms of offering a sacrifice to God, this ritual was brought about. A coconut or shrifal represents a human being based on its characteristics. The structure of the coconut shows that it has hair, eyes, and looks like a head. Therefore, by breaking a coconut, the purpose of sacrifice is accomplished and at the same time, there is no inhumane activity. The ritual started with this motive, but I am not too sure if it has transformed to symbolize something else.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is anything about human sacrifice in Hinduism. That is just primitive. Hinduism is a way of life, it's not about sacrificing a human to the feet of God. That is completely wrong!
ReplyDeletethe only human sacrifices that was done by Hindus was Sati which is the wife of the husband after he passes, the wife will be also lit fire together with the husband's body.. Sati has its true meaning, this is to ensure later on people wouldn't say bad about the widow and also to ensure these two souls will be still loving in heaven
ReplyDeleteHuman sacrifice has been known to human beings for a very long time, in every religion. Every religion has two aspects, the bright and the dark side - the good and the evil, God and the Devil. And human (or any kind of livestock) sacrifice has been in practice by the worshippers of the Darkness. Satan Worshippers, Bhariva, Kaala Rudra and Kali worshippers, and various others have conducted human sacrifice from time to time. However, in later years, those turned into animal sacrifices. Today, there are many villages across India where a local deity (ग्राम देवत - grāma devata), who usually is a lower form (demi-god) of either Shiva (Bhariva/Kaala Rudra) or Parvati (Kaali), is worshipped. These villages perform annual function (mela of sorts) during which time, the villagers perform animal sacrifice (typically a goat or a rooster). Human sacrifice is not all that prevalent (legal issues - IPC Section 302, pre-meditated murder).
DeleteAs for Sait - I will be writing a full blog post on this topic on the history, origin, development, and demise of the subject (kind of out of scope for this particular topic of coconut breaking and human sacrifice). However, for now, it's enough to say that @Vimal Esana's views on Sati (with all due respect to Vimal), implying that Sati is somehow a good thing and is for the benefit of a woman, cannot be farther from truth.