You are here: SriPedia - Ramanuja - Archives - Sep 2004

Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00173 Sep 2004

 
Sep 2004 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

Sri Balaji Swami,

Let me segregate your queries on  puranas and other
information you have written in your recent mails,
into three parts and try to and find answers for them.

(1) About your opinion on Thiruvalluvar, yes,
Thiruvalluvar speaks like a Sri Vaishnavite. The Urai
Asiriyar, ParimElazhagar who happens to be a
Srivaishnavite interprets  the very first Thirukkural
?agara mudala? from the standpoint of Vaishnavite
philosophy by alluding the ?agaram? of the KuraL  to
?akaaram? of srivaishnavism (rakshakathwam and
kAraNathwam) and the ?bhagavan? in ?Adhi bhagavan
mudatrE? to the 6 qualities of bhagam which is equated
to Brahman or Narayana. (also note :- ?anthamil
Adhiyam bhagavan? by Nammazhwar)

Moreover the last kural in the first 10 is to be
interpreted as the resultant of the first word in the
first KuraL, namely ?agaram?. The release from the
cycle of birth and death (10th KuraL) is possible only
by the kataaksham of the bhagavan who is denoted by
akaaram (1st KuraL). This is one way of interpretation
of the entire first adhikaaram on ?kadavuL vAzhtthu?.

 We don?t know whether Thiruvalluvar purposefully
framed these verses with an inclination on vaishnavite
philosophy.  But what we can say with certainty is
that any mind steeped on gyana margam can not say/
read/ catch/ write  anything other than the Eternal
Truth, no matter whatever be one?s back ground. And
that this eternal Truth is / happens to be  the core
vaishnavite theology ( as depicted by the KuraL (to
show an instance) which is known as Tamil vEdam or
Tamil Marai) must set at rest other queries that you
have raised!

(2) The next issue that is taken up here is about the 
saastras (from among Sruti and Smriti) that have to be
taken up as pramana. From times of yore, there have 
been some unwritten rules on pramana to be used in
arguments and debates among scholars. As a rule the
texts which glorify a particular Thought or deity is
not taken up for argument  in favour of the deity.
Because such a text will speak of nothing else but the
glory of the deity of that text. The text comes into
picture only as a final and  established Truth. Only
cross references from other texts are interpreted to
substantiate the truth of the text under reference.

 It is for this reason and for the reason of its being
?apourushEya? nature, upanishads were vastly quoted by
seers to establish this or that deity. (See also the
mail by this writer to Tiruvenkatam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on
why vedas and upanishads are taken up as chief
pramanas).

Sticking to the rules expressed above, we find
Bahgavad Ramanuja taking up the seemingly mis-leading
and controversial passages from Shvethasvathara
upanishad on Rudra and establishing that the Rudra of
this upanishad is none other than Brahman who is none
other than Narayana. 

Similarly writing on the Badarayana?s Vedanta sutras
on Indra, Jyothis,Prana, Gayathri, etc, he establishes
that whenever and wherever the names of deities such
as Rudra or Indra or Prana etc., are used in
consonance with qualities of Brahman, it is to be
understood that they are indeed (about) Brahman. The
essence of this is encrypted in his last part of the
Sri Bashya to the 32 nd Sutra. 

It is for the reason said above (about the texts to be
used as pramana), we find Ramanuja relying heavily on
Uapanishads (more than 90% of the quotes are from
Upanishads and vedas) in his Sribhashyam to Bramha
sutras and only on a limited basis on Geethachryan?s
vachan and Vishnu purana and that too mostly to
further  the already established views. The texts
(purana etc) on a particular deity are relied upon
mainly  to discuss the finer parts of the Thought
pertaining to the Belief around the deity.

It is in the similar vein, sage Yagyavalkhya
recommends ?shatarudreeyam? also known as
?Rudropanishad' for release from death or for
attaining Mukhthi. As deliverance from Death is
granted by none other than Sriman Narayana (B.G), it
is to be deduced that it is He as In-dweller of Rudra
who grants such deliverance.

(3) This brings us to the interesting part of how
or/and when to view or decipher whether a particular
reference to a diety is about Brahman (Narayana) as
explained in the above passage.


The lead is given in the 32 nd sutra of BAdarayana
(Brahma sutra I-32) and elaborated by Sri RAmanuja.
This portion talks about 3 -fold meditation of which
the 1 st one is about continuous meditation on Brahman
and the second one about "continued meditation (of the
Brahman)as having the enjoyers (or the individual
selves) for His body" (this is about deities like
Shiva or Durga or any other one who is meditated upon
as Brahman like in worshipping as 'para-brahminai
namaha' or 'saashwathaayai namaha' or 'bhavathyai
namaha' and so on.)

The 3 rd one is about "the continued meditation (of
the Brahman) having the enjoyable (material) things
and the auxilliary (material)helps to enjoyment for
His body." "The meaning is that here, that in the
present context also, this three fold meditation of
the Brahman is appropriate," 

The puranas on other deities need to be interpreted in
the light of the above, which Ramanuja says has been
supported by other scriptures also.

But wherever deities like Shiva are described as
having shown exemplery valour (shiva as in the case of
destruction), supremacy of Narayana alone has been
established (1)  due to Narayana being the In-Dweller
of the deity and (2) deities like Shiva in being
created ones having specific responsibilities and
specific life-span that ends with deluge.

 An example for the former case was the presence of
Vishnu-amsa at the tip of Shiva dhanush (which was
later broken by RAma in JAnaka's court)that helped
Shiva in destroying  Thripura asuras. (Refer Rama-
Parasurama samvadam in Valmiki RAmayana)

The second scenario can be better understood from
Hanuman's Hitopadesam to RAvana in Sundhara khandam
whereby it is understood that deities like Shiva and
Brahma attain their respective power only during
destruction and creation respectively.But Narayana (as
Rama in this context) can assume any role as per the
requirement of the situation.

(By quoting the above 2 instances, this writer also
stands to commit the error of quoting from texts on
the god glorified. The writer wishes to refute such a
criticism on the basis of nature of the text quoted,
namely, Valmiki Ramayana which is being regarded as a
contemprory record of Rama's life and not a story of
imagination or one derived from hearsay. The same
thing can not be said of other Puranas)

regards,
-jayasree saranathan
-----------------------------------------------
                

Sri balaji wrote:-
Adiyaen's Pranams.

Adiyaen is surprised/embarrassed to know new things by
reading
your mail.whatsoever it be, for us to get rid of this
birth ,death
cycle, we approach our almighty.

Tamil(Dravidian) people's favorite poet Thiruvalluvar
also ,
i think , may be a Shri Vaishnavite. here is a clip.

Vendunkaal vendum Piravaamai matrathu
vendaamai venda varum.

See What our beloved kaarimaaran ji says: (
complimented)



                
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/.itolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam
 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
ramanuja-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list