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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00125 Apr 2002

 
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dear bhAgavathAs,

maNi wrote ----
---
> by devotion, but where the devotees simply mechanically read 
difficult 
> texts such as Ramanuja Nurrandadi without any prior practice or 
preparation. 
----

It is very sad to see the texts being recited/read with no
attention paid to the meaning of the texts. Just one 
example here -

all of us know this pAsuram from rAmAnuja noorrandhAdhi -

poomannu maadhu porundhiya mArban 
pugazh malindha pAmannu maaranadi paNiNdu uindhavan
palkalaiyOr thAm mannavandha irAmAnusan - saraNAravindham
nAm manni vAzha - nenchE solluvOm avan nAmaNgaLE.

here, let us take how the first two lines are generally
recited -

"poomannu maadhu porundhiya maarban" "pugazh malinda
paa mannu maaran" "adi paNiNdu uindhavan"..

if it is taken that way, then the meaning would 
approximately read "the one who prospered by surrendering
to the One who has lakshmi on his chest, and to the
pAsuram-singing very famous mAran" or even worse
"the one to whom mAran ,who sung songs laced with
praise for the One with Lakshmi on His chest, surrendered
and prospered"

The actual meaning of the verse is
"rAmAnuja, who prospered by surrendering to mARan, who
sang pAsurams that are laced with praise for the One
who has lakshmi on His chest"

So, if one were to take into account the meaning, the
recitation that will be more in tune with the meaning
would be

"poo mannu maadhu porundhiya maRban" "pugazh malindha
paa mannu maaRanadi paNinNdu uindhavan" 

or

"poo mannu maadhu porundhiya mArban" "pugazh malindha
paa mannu maaranadi" "paNiNdhu uindhavan" etc..

i.e. no separation between mARan and adi; and a very small
separation between mArban and pugazh; after all it is
mArbanin pugazh malindha maaRanadi paNiNdha irAmAnusan.

But, due to whatever reason, in most places, it is almost
a cause for heresy if one suggests a slight changing
in the way things are recited. The usual stand will
be "that is the custom!".

In some cases, even the meaning of the whole pAsuram
is changed significantly due to such breaking between
the words. In any case, it might be irrelevant though,
as the custom of divya prabhandham listening has disappeared.
The original purpose of divya prabhandham chanting,
and the setting up of iyal-pa and isai-p-pa, which seems
to have been to propagate the ideas and thoughts that
were revealed by the AzhvArs, seems to have been lost.
It just is like any other ritual nowadays in most temples,
with scant attention being paid to how it listens to
someone outside the gOshti.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
varadhan







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