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Riddles in Hinduism

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RIDDLES IN HINDUISM<br />

<strong>in</strong> s<strong>in</strong>gle combat."<br />

" Rama replied that though his warlike qualities are condemned by his rival, he will give him a proof of his<br />

powers. He. then snatches, <strong>in</strong> anger, the bow from the hand of Parasurama, bends it, fits an arrow on the<br />

str<strong>in</strong>g; and tells his challenger that he will not shoot at him because he is a Brahman, and for the sake of his<br />

k<strong>in</strong>sman Visvamitra; but will either destory his superhuman capacity of movement, or deprive him of the<br />

blessed abodes he has acquired by austerity. The gods now arrive to be witnesses of the scene. Parasurama<br />

becomes disheartened and powerless and humbly entreats that he may not be deprived of his faculty of<br />

movement lest he should be <strong>in</strong>capacitated from fulfill<strong>in</strong>g his promise to Kasyappa ' to leave the earth every<br />

night but consents that his blissful abodes may be destroyed."<br />

With this exception Rama had no rivalry with any of the other Gods. He managed to be where he was. With<br />

regards to other Gods there is a different story to tell. Poor creatures they became noth<strong>in</strong>g more than mere<br />

toys <strong>in</strong> the hands of the Brahm<strong>in</strong>s. Why did the Brahm<strong>in</strong>s treat the Gods with so scant a respect?<br />

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