> Sakyamuni Buddha had said about the caste system in about 500 BC. Roman
> was around 100 BC to 100 AD. So by that time, Tamils were mostly
> Hindus.
>
> Hindus do not meant you follow the rules.
> Chinese Buddhism is different from India Buddhism.
> Indian Muslims are different from Arab Muslims.
> Their culture are different. They might want to stick to their own
> culture with allegiance to their faith.
> You might still find Indian Muslims women paying dowry for their
> husbands. This is against the teaching of the Quran.
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Chapter 4 -- Renunciation of Action in Knowledge
>
> The Blessed Lord said: I imparted this immortal Yoga to Vivasvan,
> Vivasvan to Manu, and Manu to Iksvaku.
>
> O scorcher of foes! This Yoga handed down from teacher to disciple in
> succession, was known to the Rajarsis (royal sages). But owing to long
> lapse of time, it was lost to the world.
>
> You are My devotee and friend--thinking thus, I have today declared to
> you even that ancient Yoga. For it is a noble secret (imparted by a
> teacher only to a worthy disciple).
>
> Arjuna said: Thy life-time is later, that of Vivasvan was much earlier.
> How then am I to understand that Thou didst impart this doctrine to
> him?
>
> The Blessed Lord said: O Arjuna! You and I have passed through many
> births; I remember them all, but you do not, O scorcher of foes!
>
> Though birth-less and deathless, and the Lord of all beings as well,
> yet I (the Eternal Being) take birth by My inherent mysterious Power
> (Atma-mayaya), employing the pure or Sattva aspect of My material
> Nature (Prakrtii).
>
> Whenever there is decline of Dharma and ascendance of Adharma, then, O
> scion of the Bharata race! I manifest (incarnate) Myself in a body.
>
> For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the evil, and
> for the establishment of Dharma, I am born from age to age.
>
> O Arjuna! He who thus understands the truth about My embodiment and My
> deeds--he, on abandoning his present body, is not reborn, he attains to
> Me.
>
> Freed from passion, fear and anger, ever absorbed in My though, and
> ever dependent on Me--many have attained to My state, being purified by
> the fire of knowledge and austerity.
>
> O Partha! Whosoever worship Me through whatsoever path, I verily accept
> and bless them in that way. Men everywhere follow My path.
>
> In this world those who entertain desire for the fruits of pious works,
> worship the deities. For in this world of men such actions bear fruit
> quickly.
>
> According to the aptitudes resulting from the dispositions of Nature
> (Gunas) and works, the social order of fourfold division has been
> created by Me. Though I am their originator, know me to be not an agent
> but the spirit unchanging.
>
> Actions do not affect Me. Nor have I any desire for the fruits of
> action. Whoever knows Me to be so, is not bound by Karma.
>
> Knowing thus, the ancient aspirants after liberation performed works.
> Therefore you too do work as these ancients did from time immemorial.
>
> What is work and what is 'no work', is a subject regarding which even
> the wise are perplexed. I shall therefore speak to you about work, by
> knowing which one is liberated from evil (or the life of bondage in
> Samsara).
>
> The truth about the nature of 'beneficial work' has to be understood,
> as also of 'baneful work' and of 'no work'. The way of work is
> difficult indeed to understand.
>
> He who sees work in 'no work' and 'no work' in work, he is wise among
> men. Even while doing all work, he remains established in Yoga.
>
> Whose undertakings are devoid of self-centered objectives, whose works
> have been burnt up by the fire of knowledge--him the wise call a sage.
>
> Without attachment to the fruits of action, ever-satisfied and free
> from calculations, he is verily doing nothing, even though engaged in
> actions.
>
> One who is free from desires, whose mind is well-controlled, and who is
> without any sense of ownership, incurs no sin from works, as his
> actions are merely physical.
>
> Satisfied with whatever comes without calculations, rising above the
> contrasting conditions of life, without any competitive spirit, and
> alike in success and in failure, a man, though working, incurs no sin.
>
> In the case of one who is without attachments and the sense of agency,
> and whose mind is fully established in the knowledge of God,--his
> actions, being done in dedication to the Lord, melt away with their
> very tendencies.
>
> To one of the above description, the ladle with which the offering is
> made and the oblations are Brahman; and the sacrificial rite (which is
> Brahman) is performed by the sacrificer who is Brahman, in the fire
> which too is Brahman. He who is thus absorbed in work as Brahman,
> attains to Brahman alone.
>
> Some Yogis perform sacrifices especially wanting to propitiate deities.
> Still others offer sacrifice (the Atman) itself as oblation (Yajna) in
> the fire of Brahman.
>
> Some offer their organs of knowledge like hearing as sacrifice in the
> fire of restraint, while others take in all their sense perceptions as
> oblations made in the fire of their respective senses.
>
> Others offer all the functions of their senses and vital energy as
> sacrificial offerings in the fire of self-restraint kindled by
> knowledge.
>
> Likewise others, being of rigid vows and hard practice, offer their
> wealth, their austerities, their Yogic practices, and their daily study
> of the Vedas as sacrifice.
>
> Others devoted to the practice of Pranayama, regulate the movement of
> Prana and Apana, and offer as oblation Prana in Apana, and likewise
> Apana in Prana.
>
> Some others, who observe regulation of food, make a sacrificial
> offering of the Prana as the vital energy present in food stuffs, into
> the Prana as the vital energy enlivening the body. All these know the
> true nature of sacrifice and have all evil in them washed away by Yajna
> (sacrifice).
>
> Those who partake of nectar, the sacramental remnants of sacrifice,
> attain to the eternal Brahman. O Thou the best of the Kurus! For one
> who sacrifices not, this world is lost, not to speak then of the
> hereafter.
>
> Thus many forms of sacrifice are set forth prominently in the Vedas (as
> paths to Brahman). All of them spring from work (done by body, mind,
> and speech). Knowing this, you will attain liberation.
>
> O scorcher of enemies! Sacrifice involving knowledge is superior to
> sacrifice with material objects: for, O son of Prtha, all works without
> exception culminate in knowledge.
>
> With reverential salutations do you approach them--the wise men who
> have known the Truth. Serve them, and question them repeatedly (with
> due respect until your doubts are clarified). These wise men will
> impart the knowledge of this divine Truth unto you.
>
> They will impart to you that divine knowledge by knowing which you will
> not again fall into such delusion, for you will then see all beings in
> their entirety in the Self and also in Me.
>
> Even if you happen to be the worst of sinners, you will surely go
> across all sin by the raft of divine knowledge.
>
> Just as a well-kindled fire reduces a heap of fire-wood to ashes, so
> does the fire of divine knowledge reduce all sins to ashes.
>
> Verily there is nothing so purifying as knowledge in this world. One
> who is perfect in Yoga discovers it in oneself in the course of time.
> (So doing Yoga meditation can widen intuitive knowledge.)
>
> A man of deep Faith (Sraddha) obtains this divine knowledge, being full
> of zeal and devotion for it and endowed with mastery of the senses.
> Having obtained that knowledge, he is established in supreme peace very
> soon.
>
> An ignorant man without any positive faith, who knows only to doubt,
> goes to ruin. To such a doubting soul there is neither this world nor
> the world beyond. There is no happiness for him. (body only not the
> soul)
>
> O Arjuna! Works do not bind one who has abandoned them through Yoga
> consisting in dedication and detachment, whose doubts have been
> dispelled by divine knowledge, and who is poised in the Self.
>
> Therefore cutting asunder the skeptical tendency of the heart by the
> sword of divine knowledge, betake yourself to Yoga (communion through
> sacrificial action) and arise, O scion of the Bharata race!
>
> This chapter will mislead readers on sacrifices and knowledge. Like the
> last sentence, Yoga is a form of sacrifice. Reading the Gita is divine
> knowledge, but it will not lead one to liberation, if the reader does
> not know the hidden Truth. Here, there is no clear cut means to achieve
> the goal.
>
>
> M. Ranjit Mathews wrote:

>> Alex wrote:

>>> In India you can find many languages and races but the features are
>>> about the same. The common communication network is English. One person
>>> from one province might not be able to communicate with one from
>>> another province.
>>>
>>> Gita was written in the past. At that time maybe the Tamils were still
>>> backward or only tribes.

>>
>> Not so fast. That might have been the time at which Pliny was
>> complaining that Rome was sending all its gold to (South) India to buy
>> goods from there. Backward tribes don't produce goods that are in
>> demand halfway around the world.
>>

>>> Hinduism is mostly from norther India. Most of
>>> the sanskrit writings were in northern India. Then it spread downward
>>> to the south. So Tamils might not be Hindu at the time of the Gita.

>>
>> Are they Hindu now - the ones who go to temples with Brahmin priests?
>> If so, where can Brahmin rulers be found in poLLAcci? For that matter,
>> where can Brahmin rulers be found in RAnci or itArsi?
>>

>>> M. Ranjit Mathews wrote:

>>>> Alex wrote:

>>>>> The chaste system in India was prevalent then, till now.
>>>>> Brahmins are the ruling class.
>>>>> 1 class for priests.
>>>>> 1 class for untouchable or lowest class
>>>>> 1 class for working people.
>>>>> plus other - I don't know the details.

>>>>
>>>> Prevalent, eh? If I go to Pollachi in Tamilnadu, will I find Brahmin
>>>> rulers there? If not, your claim is false. Where would you go to find
>>>> a
>>>> Brahmin ruling class?

>