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Re: Sri Vaishnava tradition

From the Bhakti List Archives

Murali Kadambi • August 5, 1999 


Dear (Sir) Al C,

Your predicament is very understandable and in fact a requisite for
attaining "true" knowledge.  Only a person desperately in seek of
knowledge is a true student.  Also, this kind of predicament is almost
natural with students of VEdAnta in particular and the Indian systems
of philosophy in general.

You wrote:
> I'm dismayed you think Siva is just a second rate
> "tosser" ,  incapable of
> conferring moksha -- what good is Siva to me if he
> can't do that?  
> I'm
> dismayed the Hindu religion might not agree with
> itself on fundamental
> issues like whether God (by any other name) is
> capable of granting moksha.
> Didn't the Saivites, Sankara, etc. all read the same
> Vedas too?   How, I
> wonder, did all those brilliant pious souls miss
> something as important as
> this?   If the Vedic tradition is so ambiguous it
> leads to such entirely
> different conclusions (ie. Siva is or isn't equal to
> Visnu) then what kind
> of infallible guide can it be to me?  

One e-mail or even a couple of them may not quench your insatiable urge
to know and realize the truth.  So, I suggest you have both
perseverence and patience in seeking answers in a subject that has been
argued upon for millennia and commented on by hundreds of pious souls. 
RAmAnuja himself has referred to over a dozen upaniSads, the vEdAnta
sUtras, the bhagawad geeta, the sAtvika purANas, the mahAbhArata, the
rAmAyaNa, Alvar's Divya prabandham, the Agamas, and dharma sAstras to
name but a few reference material to arrive at the conclusion he has. 
And he showed that there is a way, the visiStAdvaitic way of
interpreting the content of these scriptures that resolves all
"apparent" internal contradictions and provides a smooth-sailing
solution to the problem of bondage.  So, it might take some time before
one can grasp the magnitude of the issue.

Your questions on the paratva (the Highest Entity), on who the true
bestower of moksha is, and several other things have no simple answers.
 They are not simple because they (the answers) should lead to
conviction, and conviction is achieved through practice, and that
requires a great deal of time and effort.  We, mortal souls, cannot
arrive at those answers that easily.  We can see truth only through the
eyes of a sadAcArya - an exponent free from biases and reservations and
who has himself been blessed by the Almighty.  So, if you are truly
interested in the “truth” you have to find an AcArya - one who has
examined all the sAstras objectively, and one who has practised what he
has found to be true.  Books may be a good start but will just not cut
it in the long run.  You need a sentient being at the other end to
clarify your questions, to correct your mistakes, and to lead you in
the right path.

  "The path to glory is rough,
   and many gloomy hours obscure it."
   -- Black Hawk, Sauk, 1833

-- sarvam sree krsNArpaNam

muraLi kaDAmbi


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