I cannot recall ever having written anything in which I doubted whether Vedas ever proclaimed the supremacy of Sriman Narayana, but if I did, it was at a time where I failed to place myself under the mercy of an AchAryan who could clear up these doubts for me. And, now that I am learning from a teacher, I realize that using my limited intellect to try to explain the vast difference between the nature of the debates in this forum and what is actually understood by those who truly know our Vedic culture would either result in my offending someone or in someone questioning the validity of my Acharya. But, since Mr. Kasturi Rangan has somehow decided that my name should be used to validate his doubts, I suppose I should throw in my two cents worth: There are a great number of incorrect assumptions being made in arguements like this which are largely based on our primary school level of education in a language called Sanskrit, and our egotistically believing that we can use it it to interpret the the Veda. We have gone so far to even limiting the term Veda as being just four books, and then based solely on our blind faith either in ourselves or our teacher trying to argue some point how a very subjective perception of Deity either does or does not define the Absolute Reality. If we can all begin to humble ourselves a bit, as I had to the hard way, we will understand that Veda is the sum total of all knowledge and includes everything, itihAsas, purAnas, prabhandams (which are not just in Tamil), the six theistic systems of philosophy, the six atheistic systems, along with 1131 sAkhas of a sabdam of which we only know the famous four, being just a part. The language of all this wisdom is not Sanskrit or Tamil in the sense that it has a particular script, contains x number of letters, and can easily be understood by those who have taken a course or two in it or because of geographic origin speak some language that emerged from it. It is a language all its own, with no particular script and a very precise meaning that requires years of study and meditation to even begin to understand. But, in the sum total of all of that, one word has stood out in the minds of all those who sought to understand the Veda in its totality - Narayana. This term, of course, conjures up in our mind a four-armed deity lying on a thousand-headed serpent. But, this is only because those seeking to worship and contemplate on a form that will cultivate Sattwa guna recognized this concept of Deity to be the most sweet and accessible. But, the form is not as relevant as a proper understanding of the name. Narayana is one term that helps to define the Reality behind all that makes this Universe what it is; He (and we use this gender since it allows us to understand that this is a Personal Being) is the energy behind all of us and hence the true doer of all action; He is the ultimate Beneficiary and ultimate Benefactor for this Universe as this Universe is the body for Him, who acts as its Soul, and it is He who is the very mystery and wonder of Love. Meditating upon that Reality, advaitins, dvaitins, and visistadvaitins offered slightly different interpretations of the truth. And, they all realized that this Reality is the only one being referred to in all the rituals, as it is the action of that Being in the Fire that makes Him known as Agni, the energy behind all of the processes that lead to rain that makes Him known as Varuna, His Energy and Movement being referred to as Rudra, etc., etc. If seen from this perspective, then the arguement really becomes moot, because whatever name and form we wish to give to Him, He will assume for our sake. Please note that what I have shared above is only a small sampling of the crude understanding of a well-intentioned "American Joe" who is trying very hard to learn something from his Teacher. So, please either go easy on me easy, or better yet, keep me out of this. Ramanuja dasan Mohan ----- Original Message ----- From: "amshuman_k" <amshuman_k@xxxx> To: <ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 12:38 PM Subject: [ramanuja] Re: Vedas & Supremacy of Sriman Narayana > Dear Shri Nappinnai, > > "Did the question arise due to the doubt in your mind or someone > else's mind? " > > Very much in my mind. On a side note, I discovered similar issues > discussed by Shri Mohan Sagar in the old archives of Bhakti list. >
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