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Re: Vishnu in Rig Vedam

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Mani Varadarajan • October 17, 2002 


--- In bhakti-list@y..., Shreyas Sarangan  wrote:
> Sri:
> Srimate Rangaramanuja Mahadeshikaya Namaha
> 
> Dear Sri Ramananda:
> 
> I'm not sure if your question has been answered yet;
> Listed below are some of the relevant hymns from the
> Rk-Veda that establish the paratattvam (supremacy) of
> Vishnu. 
> 
> For a comprehensive discussion, with a translation 
> of these verses, please refer Chapters 1 and 7 of 
> Dr S.M. Srinivasa Chari's book, Vaishnavism - Its
> Philosophy, Theology and Religious  Discipline 
> (ISBN 81-208-1098-8).

[ citations from Rg Veda deleted ]

Dear Shreyas and others following this thread,

Unfortunately, these Rks do not demonstrate Vishnu's supremacy
and the passages in Dr. Chari's Vaishnavism book are not
convincing to impartial readers or to scholars belonging to
other traditions.  The reason I say this is simple: for each
Rk cited that purportedly establishes Vishnu as the highest, 
I can find 10 such hymns from the Rg Veda which use very similar
words to praise Varuna, Savitr, or Indra as the highest deity.
This, in fact, is the style of the Rg Veda. It is misleading 
to take a handful of hymns addressed to Vishnu totally out 
of context in the body of hymns, and use this *alone* to 
demonstrate the supremacy or otherwise of Vishnu in the pantheon. 
As you are no doubt aware, Vishnu is praised by name as such
in a minute number of Rks, and solely on the basis of the quality 
of hymns a god like Varuna or Indra are far better candidates
for supremacy than Vishnu.

This is one of the reasons why the broad Vedantic tradition has 
made a strong distinction between Veda and Vedanta. It is to the
latter that we must turn if we wish to find conclusive, philosophical
answers to the questions of First Cause, Supreme Deity, and Supreme
Truth.  The latter clarifies and provides a means for understanding
the former. Without the Vedanta, the hymns of the samhitas appear 
confusing and contradictory in their philosophy.

Here, I have found the approach taken by Bhagavad Ramanuja 
very interesting and illuminating. Sri Vedanta Desika follows
him in large part in his selection of Vedic texts.
In the Vedarthasangraha, for example, Bhagavad Ramanuja preeminently
uses the Narayana Sukta, Purusha Sukta (uttara anuvAka), and
several Upanishads to demonstrate the ultimacy of Narayana.
(I hope to write about this in an upcoming message.) He does
not even once, in my recollection, take recourse to the Rks
commonly collected in the Vishnu Sukta to press his case.

I raise the question: why do you think Ramanuja makes this
notable omission? Certainly not because he was unaware of them,
because no good Vaidika would be ignorant of the Rg Veda. It
also cannot be because he found them lacking in meaning, 
because he cites a few of them in other contexts. 

To rephrase: if Vishnu paratva were so easily established 
based on these Rg Vedic hymns, why did Ramanuja turn elsewhere?

--

adiyen ramanuja dasan,
Mani





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