SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha // SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha // SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/ SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya// KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: / SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm// ====================================================== SRI RANGA SRI VOL.05/ISSUE # 12 dated 25th January 2004 ====================================================== EDITORIAL IN THIS ISSUE: 1. GOTRAS AND PRAVARAS ? AN OVERVIEW ? PART 20 THE GLORY OF AANGIRASA GOTRAM ? Part 4 (Anbil Ramaswamy) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Based on Monograph of MahaamahOpaadhyaaya Sri Srivatsankachariar Swami, now Head of Dept. French Indolgical Research Institute, Pondicherry and ?MaharishigaL Charitram? by Mimamsa SirOmaNi Mimamsa Vidvan Mimamsa Kovida, Ubhaya Mimamsa Saaragjna, Veda Vedanta ChooDaamaNi Sri N.S. Devanathachariar referred by Sri Srivatsankachariar Swami) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. DESIKAMRUTHAM SRIMAD RAHASYA TRAYA SARAM The Five Fundamentals-9 By Sri Sadagopa Iyengar Swamin (of Coimbatore) ?Srikaaryam? of the Board of Advisors of ?Sri Ranga Sri? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. FROM MAHABHARATA: ?YAKSHA PRASNAM? Part 37: Prasnams 96 and 97 by Sri M.K. Ramaswamy Iyengar Swami, Senior Officer of Govt. of India. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. PAncarAtra ? Part 2 By Sri N.Krishnamachariar Swami of Chicago =========================================================================== 130 Regular issues have been released, so far besides several Special Issues) - - 27 Issues of Vol. 1 - 15 Issues of Vol. 2 - 42 Issues of Vol. 3 - 35 Issues of Vol. 4 & - 11 Issue of Vol. 5 These issues have been archived for public view at - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/srirangasri by Sri DiwakarKannan(diwakark@xxxxxxxxx) You may also view the archives at http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia maintained by Sri Srinivasan Sriram (ajiva_rts@xxxxxxxxxx) We strongly urge you to kindly peruse the "Regular Issues" archived in the ?Files? Section and view the Contents at ?srsindex.html? (Not the individual postings allowed encouraging "Reader participation"). We are sure that you will be convinced of the quality of the contents. IF you are satisfied with the quality and contents of ?Sri Ranga Sri?- Tell your friends to join by sending an email to Srirangasri-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx IF not: Tell us, as to how we may improve. Ever at your service Dasoham Anbil Ramaswamy Editor & Publisher ?Sri Ranga Sri? ======================================================================== 1. GOTRAS AND PRAVARAS ? AN OVERVIEW ? PART 20 THE GLORY OF AANGIRASA GOTRAM ? Part 4 (Anbil Ramaswamy) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Based on Monograph of MahaamahOpaadhyaaya Sri Srivatsankachariar Swami, now Head of Dept. French Indolgical Research Institute, Pondicherry and ?MaharishigaL Charitram? by Mimamsa SirOmaNi Mimamsa Vidvan Mimamsa Kovida, Ubhaya Mimamsa Saaragjna, Veda Vedanta ChooDaamaNi Sri N.S. Devanathachariar referred by Sri Srivatsankachariar Swami) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAGE NAABHAANEDISHTA Sage NaabhaanEdishTa, the son of Manu, praises the Aangeerasa lineage mentioning their names specifically in numerous mantras of Rig-Veda. Who is this NaabhaanEdishTa? Why should he praise Aangeerasa so much? The answer can be gleaned from Yajur Veda, Taittriya Samhita 3rd KhaaNDam, 1st Prasnam, 9th Anuvaakam. There is a story behind this. NaabhaanEdishTa (we will call him, Naabha, for short). His father Manu divided his entire property and gave them away to all his other sons. He forgot to retain a portion for him because Naabhaa, the youngest of the lot, was away studying Vedas in the Gurukulam. Manu: putRbhyO daayam vyabhaajata, sa naabhaanEdishTam brahmacharyam vasantam nirabhajat/ (Taittriya Samhita 3.1.9) Naabhaa came home after completing his studies. He came to know that he was denied a share in the properties of his father. He enquired why he was denied a share. Manu admitted that he forgot about him but assuaged him saying that he would make alternate arrangements for Naabhaa to acquire property. What was that? Sa agachhat, sObhraveeth, kathaa maa nirabhaaga iti? Na tvaa nirabhaaksham iti abraveeth Angeerasa imE satramaasatE, tE suvargam lOkam na prajaananti tEbhya idam braahmaNam broohi, tE suvarga lOkam yabtO ya yEshaam pasavastaam tE daasyanti iti/ ?Your brothers are performing Satra yaaga seeking Suvargam. But, they do not know the secret mantra (braahmaNam) that will take them there. I will teach you the same. Go to their Yaaga saala and initiate them. They will go to MOksha. When they go, they will leave all their cows (properties) to you? Naabhaa did accordingly and his brothers bequeathed all their belongings to Naabhaa. No wonder Naabhaa showered profuse praise on them. From this incident, it is clear that Naabhaa became the pioneer in showing to posterity the way to mOKsha through this braahmaNa. HOLY WATERS We all know that taking bath in the holy waters of Ganga is said to cleanse us of all our sins. Even today, we see that those who are not able to travel to the river, arrange to secure pots full of ?Gangajal? and sprinkle on themselves especially on DeepavaLi. And, people greet each other on that day asking ?Ganga snaanam aachaa?? meaning ?Have you taken bath in the waters of Ganga?? It is worth noting that the titles ?Gangai koNDa sOzhan?, ?Gangai koNDaan mantapam? etc. refer to this practice in the olden days. (It is another matter that even when one takes bath in pipe water, this greeting is invariably employed and that Ganges water (?) is often sold nowadays in beer bottles!) Such substitute water is really no substitute at all, to taking bath physically in the flowing waters of Ganga. Not only the waters, but also in the waterfronts (Turai in Tamil) Rishis and Munis used to improvise hermitages (Asramams) on the entire course of the river to take bath and purify themselves. So, these spots where they took bath were also regarded as sacred (e.g.) Atri Theertham, Brigu Theertham, Raama theertham etc. This Sampradayam of taking bath in holy rivers was started by Aangeerasa. How did this happen? An important part of any Yaaga is to get first initiated into what is known as ?Dheekshai?, as a prerequisite for the performance of any Yaaga to be effective. Nowadays, people mistakenly think that ?Deekshai? means growing hair without haircut face shave etc. The word ?Deekshai? means much more than this. It refers to strictest observance of certain rigorous disciplines. For example, smearing butter on the entire body, never scratching with finger nails while performing the Yaaga. Should there be any itching, deer horn would have to be used to relieve itching and many more such conditions. When the Aangeerasa brothers ascended to heavens as aforesaid, they are reported to have left the power of their ?Dheekshai? in the waters of the Ganges. That is why, taking bath in the flowing river waters of Ganga is considered to purify our bodies and cleanse us of our sins for becoming eligible to enter the kingdom of God. This is mentioned in Taittriya Samhita 6.1.6.3 and 6.1.1. ?yEtat khalu vaava tapa ityaahuh, ya: svam dadaatee iti? and in Soma Yaaga prakaraNa thus: ?aangeerasas suvarga lOKam yaantO aPsu dheekshaa tapasee praavEsyan apsu snaati, saakshaadEva dheekshaa tapasee avarudhE, theerthE snaati, theerthE hi tE taam praavEsayan, theerthE snaati, theerthamEva samaanaanaam bhavati//? meaning ?Those who take bath in the Ganga waters obtain the fruits of the Dheeksha and Tapas, left behind in the waters of Ganga and they will be deemed as pure as the Aangeerasa Maharshis themselves? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Continue ========================================================================= xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================================================= 2. DESIKAMRUTHAM SRIMAD RAHASYA TRAYA SARAM The Five Fundamentals-9 By Sri Sadagopa Iyengar Swamin (of Coimbatore) ?Srikaaryam? of the Board of Advisors of ?Sri Ranga Sri? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Five Fundamentals-9 The twelve ways, in which the Lord's displeasure and consequent disenchantment turn us away from our coveted goal of liberation, were enumerated so far. Swami Desikan tells us that in undertaking the great leap to Liberation across the gaping crater of SamsAra, unless we clear the distance with our jump, it hardly matters whether we fall at the first foot across or at the last. How true-when we undertake an expedition to climb Mount Everest, does it matter whether we give up at the first five hundred meters of the trek or at the final lap just before the summit? Both are deemed to be failure. Thus, as far attainment of the ultimate goal of Paramapadam is concerned, there is little difference between a person who hardly makes any effort for emancipation and one who slips up in the final stages of the effort, as, in both cases, the Jiva's avowed objective of transcending this Samsara remains a distant dream. Anticipating the learner's doubt, Swami Desikan hastens to offer a clarification here. Would it be correct to say that the Lord's displeasure extends even to the extent of our efforts to reach Him, merely by token of our temporary failures to cross this sea of Samsara? If this were to be so, what about the Gita dictum that for those who practice Karma Yoga, the effort would never perish, nor would be in vain? The Lord does lay down clearly that for one who adopts the difficult and thorn-filled path of Karma Yoga, even if the effort is interrupted due to expiry of a life time or other reasons, the endeavors put in would indeed stand steadfast like stone, without being wasted away. The interruption does delay the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) of the flight across the ocean of Samsara, but doesn't invalidate the ticket nor necessitate re-traversing the part of the journey already completed. ?True?, says Swami Desikan.However, there is no guarantee of early completion of the interrupted voyage to the Promised Land-it could be delayed as much as by even a Yuga (approximately 14,40,000 human years), a Manvantara (comprised of 284 such Yugas) or even a Kalpam (consisting of 14 such Manvantaras), or several such Kalpas. While it is indeed certain that the destination would be reached, the bemused traveler, whose progress has been impeded, knows not when he would reach journey's end. It is thus, by postponing the achievement of the goal to some unforeseeable and uncertain future time, which might stretch as long as a Kalpa or more, Bhagavan Nigraham or the Lord?s displeasure puts paid to our hopes of an early relief from the mundane shackles. We find from the PurANas that Sage Vasishtta was the epitome of erudition, devotion, righteous conduct etc. and had the rare distinction of having been Acharya to Sri Rama Himself-with all these in his favor, we do not hear of Sri Vasishtta having been blessed with Moksham early. On the other hand, even those categorized as the scum of the earth, like Kshatrabandu (whose favorite sport it was to cast unsuspecting infants into the raging waters of the SarayU or Ganga) and VritrAsura (who was a terror to all the dEvAs and Rishis) attained Liberation fairly early. This goes to show that one cannot escape Bhagavan nigraham simply by being a paragon of virtue, nor does being evil-minded delay one's ascent to Parama padam, for who can divine the composition of one's Karmic baggage, which might or might not include such meritorious deeds as would eliminate delays in the attainment of the ultimate goal? >From all the above, it would appear that the Lord's anger, occasioned by continual violation of His dicta, is indeed impossible to overcome. Irrespective of any effort on our part to get out of this mundane morass, as long as the factors inducing the Lord's displeasure linger, we would never reach the gates of Paradise. Is there, then, nothing at all we can do to redeem ourselves from the debilitating effects of this Bhagavan nigraham or the divine chastisement, which brings all our efforts for emancipation to a naught? Indeed there is, avers Swami Desikan, concerned at the possibility of the individual abandoning all hope of liberation in the face of the apparently insurmountable roadblock of divine displeasure. Quoting Bhashyakara, the Acharya tells us that the all-powerful strategy of Sharanagati is the only way to rid the Lord of His anger against us (on account of our constant discarding of His dicta) and to restore His natural benevolence towards us, which, in turn, would clear for us the path to Paramapadam- "tasya cha vaseekaraNam tat Sharanagati: Eva" says Sri Ramanuja (while commenting on the AnumAnAdhikaraNa of Brahma Sutram), highlighting the one upAya which the Lord finds it difficult to remain unresponsive to. This Sharanagati so melts Him down ("am jalayati iti anjali:") that Emperuman finds it difficult to remain angry with us and resumes His usual attitude of kindness, compassion, mercy, munificence, generosity and goodwill. This Sharanagati totally floors Him despite His resolution to be firm with us, just as the annoyed parent's anger disappears once he sees tears in the infant's eyes, says Swami Desikan in Sri Varadaraja Panchasat- "pratyastram anajali: asou tava nigrahAstrE". With this concludes the enumeration of the hindrances to our emancipation-the PrApti VirOdhi- which, along with the other four, viz., the nature of the Lord, that of the individual soul, the strategy to be adopted by the soul for attaining the Lord and the endless bliss that is the fruit of achievement, forms the Five Fundamentals which are what all the Vedas, Itihasas and Puranas are all about- "PrApyam cha BrahmaNO roopam, PrAptuscha pratyak Atmana: PrApti upAyam phalam chaiva PrApti virOdhi: tathaiva cha Vadanti sakalA VEdA: sEtihAsa PurAnakA:" (HArIta SamhitA) Concluding the chapter with a Tamizh pAsuram as is his wont, Swami Desikan tells us that all the aforesaid esoteric truths are not the products of his own flights of fancy, but form the compendium of wisdom mercifully passed on to him by compassionate Acharyas- "PoruL ondru ena nindra PoomagaL nAthan adi sErndu aruL ondrum anban avan koL upAyam, amainda payan, maruL ondriya vinai val vilangu endru evai iyndu arivAr iruL ondru ilA vagai en manam tEra iyambinarE". This pasuram summarizes the arttha panchakam beautifully, for easy grasp and retention-- The first line, "PoruL ondru ena nindra PoomagaL nAthan", signifies the Parabrahmam Sriman Narayana. The second line, "adi sErndu aruL ondrum anban" refers to the JeevAtma. "KoL upAyam" signifies the strategy to be adopted the latter to attain the former. "amainda payan" refers to the blissful service that is the result of this entire endeavor for emancipation. "maruL ondriya vinai val vilangu" describes the handcuffs of Karma which stand in the way of our progress to Paradise. This pasuram and the accompanying Sanskrit kArika effortlessly encapsulate all that was described in the "arttha Panchaka adhikAram". The considerable detail, in which some of these fundamental concepts have been dealt with, is to lay a strong foundation in the reader's mind to facilitate easy absorption of the nuggets of wisdom that are strewn about in the chapters that follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Continue ? ========================================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================================================== 3. FROM MAHABHARATA: ?YAKSHA PRASNAM? Part 37: Prasnams 96 and 97 by Sri M.K. Ramaswamy Iyengar Swami, Senior Officer of Govt. of India. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRASNAM 96 YAKSHA: ?KAS CHA MAANAH PRAKEERTITAH?? ?WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF SELF-ESTEEM?? YUDISHTIRA: ?MAANAS TU AATMA ABHIMAANITA? ?SELF-ESTEEM IS NOTHING BUT THE ESTEEM THAT ONE HAS FOR ONESELF? NOTES: YudishTira very clearly rejects the common notion that self-esteem of a person is related to the esteem with which he is held by others. A person may be lauded or praised for his compassion, charity, a help given to a noble cause and so on. The society may look on such a person with great respect. But, such an esteem or fame may be temporary. It may be withdrawn if that person does something unusual or controversial even though it may be very principled. Self-esteem is related to one?s scale of values and how one?s attitudes and deeds measure up to such a scale. A total harmony between the inner mind and the outer self helps the self esteem to remain high. It is self esteem that makes a person remain calm and unperturbed in an adversity. It encourages him to espouse unpopular causes and disregard personal appearance. Ultimately, it is self esteem that makes a person accept a loss or a gain with equanimity. Sri Rama had to wear the crown in a few hours. He was to be adorned with ornaments intended for a king. Yet, due to a twist in destiny, he had to wear matted locks and a dress made from the bark of trees. Such was his self esteem that he accepted all the sudden reverses cheerfully and sped to the forest. Cheerfully, he did live there too. Therefore, if self esteem were to be tied up with the assessment of others, self esteem there would hardly be anything called meaningful. It is appropriate, therefore, that each one should form an assessment of oneself with reference to one?s own scale of values and an unswerving adherence to those values. Self esteem is that quality that enables a person to be the first to notice his shortcomings and also to set about remedying them. Being fully conscious at these two levels, it is also self esteem to remain calm and unperturbed at any criticism of the shortcoming and avoid them. A person with a good self esteem tends to remain in a state of poise and equilibrium. He remains unaffected by what others think and say of him. He is, therefore, in a better position than most to move towards the goal of self awareness. Self esteem is quite different from self- conceit. It is indeed as different as cheese is from chalk. People with self esteem are men of substance; yet, they are truly humble. Self-conceited persons are inwardly insecure and ensnare themselves. It was self esteem that made Arjuna wait at the feet of the Lord KrishNa in Dwaaraka and wait for him to wake up. It was self-conceit that made DuryOdana choose to wait at the head of the cot. --------------------------------- PRASNAM 97 YAKSHA: ?KIM AALASYAM CHA VIJNEYAM?? ?WHAT IS KNOWN AS SLUGGISHNESS?? YUDISHTIRA: ?DHARMA NISHKRIYATA AALAASYAM? ?SLUGGISHNESS IS NON-ACTION AS PER RIGHTEOUSNESS? NOTES: ?niyatam kuru karma tvam? ?Oh! Arjuna! Go ahead and do what you have to do!? said KrishNa to Arjuna in the battlefield (BG Ch.iii.8) He further prompted Arjuna to perform action with these words: Evam gjnaatvaa kritam karma poorvairapi mumukshubhi: / Kuru karmaiva tasmaat tvam poorvaih poorva taram kritam // (BG iv. 15) ?Bear in mind, Oh! Arjuna! That all the ancients who sought salvation were constantly engaged in action. You better do, likewise, in the manner of the ancients? Thus, action is integral not only to existence but also to evolution and ultimate salvation. What is meant by ?Action as yOga, Karma yOga?? asks Aurobindo and proceeds to give the answer. ?It is non-attachment; it is to do works without clinging with the mind to objects of sense and the fruit of the works. Not complete inaction, that is an error, confusion, a self delusion, an impossibility, but action full and free, done without being subjected to sense and passion, desire less and unattached works are the first secret of perfection.? (Essyas on the Gita ? First series Ch. xi) Elsewhere in the same book, Sri Aurobindo says ? ?Life is not for the sake of life alone, but for God; Action is for self-finding, self -fulfillment, for self-realization and not only for its own external and apparent fruits of the moment or the future? (Second series ch.xxiv) Therefore, it follows that performance of action that is called for or is due to be performed is Dharma. Any non-performance of such an action can only be due to inertia of the body and more of the mind and the ?will?; such an inertia results in transgression of Dharma since Dharma lies in acting at the appropriate time in the appropriate manner. Truths such as these made YudishTira say so pointedly and succinctly that Non-performance of Dharma is sluggishness. -------------------------------------------------------------------- - To Continue ===================================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ===================================================================== 4. PAncarAtra ? Part 2 By Sri N.Krishnamachariar Swami of Chicago Subjects covered in the pAncarAtra: The ideal pAncarAtra samhita is said to consist of four quarters teaching respectively j~nAna (knowledge), yoga (concentration), kriyA (making i.e., construction and consecration of temples and images), and caryA (doing i.e., the religious and social observances, daily rites, festivals, varNASrama dharma-s). These four quarters are not given equal importance in all the samhita-s and some of them even omit some of the quarters. A total of over 1.5 million sloka-s are estimated to have existed describing the pAnca-rAtra when all the 225 or so samhitA-s are considered. Just to give an example, the caryA section of the pAdma samhitA consists of almost all aspects of temple worship, such as the initiation ceremony or the dIkshA for the devotees to perform worship in the temples, the rules of daily routine, the various kinds of snapana-s, the various festivals celebrated through the year, the various prAyaScitt-as to be performed on different occasions, bhUta-Suddhi, anganyAsa, karanyAsa, etc. necessary before chanting mantra-s, a description of vaishNava mantra-s like the shadAksharI, astAkshari, dvAdaSAksharI, sudarSana mantra, nr*simha mantra, etc., tantraic abhisheka, mandala worship, the showing of various mudrA-s during worship, etc. The date and origin of pAncarAtra: SrI Vedanta deSika in his tatva-mukta-kalApa points out that the pAncarAtra system originated from the ekAyana Sakha portion of the veda-s. The chAndogya Upanishad refers to the ekAyana Sakha as the veda of veda-s, the treasure of the gods, and the sacred utterance among all utterances. ekAyana means "the only means". ".....pancamam vedAnAm vedam pitryam rASim daivam nidhim vAkovAkyam ahma-sutra-s. Thus, some of these are even more ancient than the mahA-bhArata. BhIshma parva (62-37-39) refers to the sAtvata precepts. In addition to the written literature, there is reason to believe that the Agama-s have been in existence and passed on from generation to generation orally just as the veda-s have been transmitted, and thus may be as old as the veda-s. In a book on pAdma samhita published by the pAncarAtra pariSodhana parishad in the 1980's, it is pointed out that the Ghosundi and besnAgar inscriptions show that in 2nd century B.C. the bhAgavata religion had overflowed the Mathura region and had even reached non-India people some of whom converted to this faith. There are two types of literature on pAncarAtra - those inspired or divine origin, and those derived from these and of human origin. The former are in the category of samhita-s or Laws, and the latter are in the category of vidhi and prayoga. The earliest source of information on the pAncarAtra seems to be the nAradIya or nArAyaNIya section of the SAnti parva of mahAbhArata. There is a reference to sAttvata vidhi in bhIshma parva at the end of the 66th adhyAya, which could be a reference to the sAttvata samhita. In other words, the existence of pAncarAtra samhita-s prior to the nAradIya is possible. SrI yAmunacAryA, the teacher of the teacher of SrI rAmAnuja, who lived in the first half of the 11th century, claimed the authority of the fifth Veda for the Agama-s. In the north of India, the oldest work quoting the pAncarAtra is the spandapradIpikA of utpalavaishNava, who lived in the 10th century A.D. Based on these, the age of the samhita-s could be the 8th century A.D. Based on detailed analysis, Otto Schrader concludes that the oldest of the pAncarAtra samhita-s are paushkara, sAttavata, and jaya. Support for the pAncarAtra doctrine: SrI yAmunAcArya's work called AgamaprAmANya, SrI rAmAnujAcArya's SrI bhAshya (II.2.42), and SrI Vedanta-desika's pAncarAtra-rakshA are among the well-known works expounding the greatness of the pAncarAtra Agama. Of these, I have access only to the English translation of SrI rAmAnuja's SrI bhAshya, and so the material below is extracted from this source only. SrI rAmAnuja mainly gives passages from the mahAbhArata to support the authenticity of the pAncarAtra doctrine. In mahAbhArata, SrI vyAsa has elaborately described the pAncarAtra system in the chapter called the moksha-dharma. He starts with the question 'If a householder, or a brahmachArin, or a hermit, or a mendicant wishes to achieve success, what deity should he worship?', then explains at great length the pAncarAtra system, and then says, "From the lengthy story of the mahAbhArata, consisting of one hundred thousand sloka-s, this body of doctrine (the pAncarAtra) has been extracted - like amRta from the medicinal herbs and AraNyaka from the veda-s". vyAsa also says in the mahAbhArata that this great upanishad - again referring to the pAncarAtra - is consistent with the four veda-s, and is in harmony with sAnkhya and yoga, the concentrated application of knowledge and works. "idam mahopanishadam caturveda samanvitam| sAnkhya yoga kr*tAntena pancarAtAnuSabditam|| nArAyaNa mukhodgItam nArado'SrAvayat purA| (MB, SAnti 348.62-3) Note the words "nArAyaNa mukhodgItam" - The promulgator of the pAncarAtra is none other than nArAyaNa Himself according to vedavyAsa. The mahAbhArata says of the pAncarAtra - "This is excellent, this is Brahman, this is supremely beneficial. Fully agreeing with the r*g, the yajus, the sAman, and the atahrva veda-s, this doctrine will be truly authoritative". It is to be noted that the author of the mahAbhArata is the same vyAsa who composed the brahma sutra-s earlier. As was just noted, there is explicit and detailed support for the pAncarAtra system in the mahAbhArata, including statements that the system is consistent with the four veda-s, etc. However, SrI Sankara has interpreted some of the sutra-s in the brahma-sutra as being opposed to the pAnca-rAtra system (details are covered in the next part in this series, and I had also shared some of SrI sankara's views in a previous post). SrI rAmAnuja questions these interpretations based on the very strong statements made by SrI vyAsa in the mahAbhArata advocating the pAncarAtra doctrine as an upanishad that is consistent with all the veda-s. The mahAbhArata also says "Of the whole pAncarAtra, nArAyaNa Himself is the promulgator". Since the matter to be known from the Veda is nArAyaNa, and since nArAyaNa Himself is the promulgator of the entire pAncarAtra, including the nature of nArAyaNa and how to worship him, it is only logical that in the pAncarAtra all other doctrines are comprised. For this reason, the mahAbhArata says "The sAnkhya, the yoga,the veda-s, and the AraNyaka, being members of one another, are called the pAncarAtra". Some of the samhita-s elevate the pAncarAtra to a position above the veda-s. SrI-praSna-samhitA says: ?vedam ekAyanam nAma vedAnAm Sirasi sthitham| tadartham pAnca-rAtram mokshadam tatkriyAvaham || 2.38). vAmana samhitA takes the same position, based on the argument that it is only the pAnca-rAtra which has salvation as the only objective, whereas the veda-s promote the other three values also (dharma, artha, and kAma). The other distinguishing feature attributed to the ekAyana is that unlike the veda-s which can only be studied by those who are qualified to perform the rituals prescribed therein, the ekAyana is meant for all those who are eligible to realize final emancipation. The bhAgavata doctrine is distinguished by its insistence on bhakti which is absolute and exclusive (ekAnta), towards a concrete iconic manifestation of bhagavAn. The relation between a bhakta and the bhagavat is similar to the relation between the nara and nArAyaNa. The realization of the all-importance of bhagavat (or nArAyaNa) is the sAnkhya, and the procedure by which the bhakta communicates with Bhagavat is the yoga. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Continue ? ========================================================================= xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================================================= _________________________________________________________________ Get a FREE online virus check for your PC here, from McAfee. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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