The point put succintly: Yes, singing ISKCON bhajans is fine, for they are in the pure bhakthi mode, and their intent is pure bhakti too.
As for Sri Pritesh SwAmin's unfamiliarity with Tamil, I am sure he will be glad to know that Vedics Foundation is working on translating all the AzhvArs' and AchAryAs' works into simple, easy to understand English.
-dasan.
pritesh patel <tesh_tel@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Ja Shri Krishna, i originaly stared this discusion. Firstly i would like to offer my Pranams and thanks all the bhakthas who have kindly replied, you have all given very nice replies which i am greatly satisfied with.
However i would like to respond to a comment made my Bhaktha Vinod who mentioned
"Then the question remains, ? why do we want to chant
the slokas written by non sri vaishnavas? Are there no
sufficient works of Sri vaishNava Acharyas that we
have to resort to other sAmpradAyas????????? "
In response to this comment i would firstly like to say, yes the works of the Sri Vaishnava Achayaras are sufficient for spiritual progress, if this was not the case i would not look to Sri Vaishanavam as a bonofide path. I am in full conviction that the teachings of Ramanuja and other archaryas in the parampara are a true and complete broadcast of the Vedas...However to respond fully to your question i would ask if the context of my original post is taken into consideration. I am a British born Gujarati, i have very basic knowledge of Hindi and Gujarati let alone Tamil and Sanskrit which are
the two main languages Srivaishnava hyms have been composed in. Due
to my knowledge of Hindi/Gujarati i am able to recite Sanskrit hyms but with great difficulty. Therefore i feel the need to recite bhajans and Keertans in Hindi and Gujarati (such as tulasidas and Narsihn mehta)..
Another point i must make is that here in the Britian there very few Srivaishanavas, so even though i follow Ramanuja Sidhanta, ISKCON which is more larger remains a major part in developing my bhakthi. Due to fewer language barriers i find the ISKCON keertans easier to sing and have expreinced great joy and Hari bhakthi whilst doing so.
Again thanks for all your kind replies
Jai Sri Krishna.
vinod sv <winode_sv@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
SrI:
SrImatE rAmAnujAya nama:
SrI lakshmI narasimha parabrahmaNE nama:
dear vaishNavas,
Respect others, worship yours.
This is a simple suggestion with its meaning being
very deep.
SrI AchArya?s instruction can be analyzed as
Respect all other?s even if it is unacceptable to you,
as it is other?s; but nevertheless worship yours only.
-> ?Tolerate? others in all circumstances even if
theirs is against yours; but nevertheless continue to
worship yours only.
And this simple instruction also suggests us not to
accept other?s simply because you have to respect
others; but ?practice yours ONLY?.
However, most people take it as accepting other?s
views for us to respect theirs. In reality, we can
respect other?s views without accepting them. A Hindu
can respect a Christian without accepting
Christianity. A Christian can respect a
Muslim without
accepting qurAn. There is no necessity for people to
accept other?s views to respect their views. So is the
case within the beliefs within Hindus.
We can respect shankara AchArya followers without
accepting advaita. Respect is two fold, one being mere
diplomacy wherein one has to just follow some
protocols to exhibit it; in the latter, one has to
exhibit a genuine respect for the fellow person deep
in the heart. As we all know, vaishnavism is all about
being devoid of duplicity, we do respect people coming
from all religions and beliefs to the core of our
hearts; but we do not accept their philosophies unless
they are in line with Emperumanar?s. And if we have
problem with this, we have to check if we are truly
believing in Yati rAja.
Here our context is to read the slokas written by non
SrI- Vaishnavas. Our context is also to check the
anology shown between established hymns(with
non-sAmpradAyic
commentaries) and the non-sAmpradAyic
slokas.
1. ?SrI vishNu sahasranAmam has even non SrI
vaishNavic commentaries, but for that reason, we are
not discarding it?:::: So there is no harm in reading
to the slokas of AchAryas of other sAmpradAyams.
This argument appears to be substance-less in light of
the author of this hymn being Sri vEda vyAsa Himself.
?vyAsAya vishNu rUpAya. vyAsa rUpAya vishNavE?. SrI
vyAsa dEva Himself has written Lord vishNu?s 1000
names, for which some people have given explanation
which is not sAmpradAyic. This is akin to, ?if some
one attempts to give an advaitic commentary to AchArya
rAmAnuja?s gadya trayam, we cannot reject gadya trayam
as advaitic?. Some times, some of the Sri vaishNava
scriptures are commented by non sAmpradAyic people,
but their commentaries are invalid, and for that
account only our AchAryas have given us correct
commentaries, discarding the
wrong ones. If the person
who attempted to give wrong interpretation of
rAmAnuja?s gadya trayam has also written another set
of slokas, we cannot argue that because we cannot
reject gadya trayam, we cannot reject this new set of
slokas also. This person?s wrong connection to
rAmAnuja doesnot approve his other works, because his
connection with the rAmAnuja?s work itself is invalid.
From this we can safely conclude that, if some one
composes a work not in line with emperumanar, all his
other works lose their ground to be acceptable to a
sri vaishNava. Nevertheless, SrI vaishNavas respect
all others; although worship theirs own. Please do not
promote non vaishnavism and duplicity. Respecting
others doesnot mean accepting others and following
them.
Then the question remains, ? why do we want to chant
the slokas written by non sri vaishnavas? Are there no
sufficient works of Sri vaishNava Acharyas that we
have to
resort to other sAmpradAyas?????????
If we mean to chant the slokas to praise SrImAn
nArAyaNa, it is best for us to learn the meanings of
the slokas, because praising SrImAn nArAyaNa cannot be
mere ritualistic. When one doesnot have the
possibility to learn the meanings of the slokas, then
it is atleast better to chant them; in that case, one
should strictly take the hymns written by SrI
vaishNava AchAryas if one truly believes in
sAmpradAya. This is called pAti vratya (chastity
towards the Master). Let us promote the works of SrI
AchAryas who are infinitely compassionate and are
sacrificing everything for the welfare of badha jivAs
(conditioned beings). We do have innumerable hymns
from our pUrva AchAryas. Please, let us not go out of
sAmprAdaya fold and be disloyal to our AchArya
parampara. Please do not promote wrong meanings to
secularism. Secularism means ?Respect others, worship
yours?.
dAsOham,
SrIperumbUdUru
vEnkaTa vinOd.