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Re: Countering criticism of Sripad Ramanuja's approach to Vedanta ...

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Visu9 • June 29, 2002 


Sri rAmAnujasya caraNau SaraNam prapadyE.

/namastE Shri JaiSimman.

May I get the discussion started briefly?

The earlier scholars were dvi/bhAshis: That is they spoke two languages: /sams/kRth and /tamiZ. The expression ubhaya/vEdAntam is a particular application of the dvi/bhAshi concept. 

Dr. Loganathan confesses that he does not know sams/kRth. He writes extensively yet. One can see from the postings on /vishNu sahasra/nAmA by Shri /kRuSnam/AcAri that even when one knows /samskRut, the task is not easy even though enjoyable. 

So I would like to pose two questions to Dr. Loganathan.

1. What is the /tamiZ word for /bhakti?

The word /pakti is not a proper /tamiz word. Poets like /tAyumAvar have not used it. The same is true of /aruna/giri/nAtar. 

/aruNa/giri uses /patti. 

/tAyumAnavar uses /paRRu and /patti.

It took me a long time to see that /paRRu which is a daily word in /tamiZ is indeed derived from /bhakti of /samskRut. It means to hold in such a way that you do not let it go! 

I was stunned when I first looked into the real implication  the word. Take the following example:

/nI etaip paRRi eZutap pORE? In ordinary language it simply means: What are you going to write about? 

But its true original meaning: What is it that you are going to hold in your mind [before writing] so that you won't let it go (continue to think: that is, to plan) and then write! 

That is writing is a process where some prior thinking has to exist and you hold on tightly to the subject matter and then write or speak about it. That is, it is /bkakti in action in real life. Without such examples, we cannot understand what /bhakti is.

Look at /paRRu which means attachment. It refuses to go. It attaches itself to me like a /uTumbu! That is attachment has /bkakti to me. It holds on to me and refuses to let me go. This is again /bhakti in action. I must learn from this /pARRu. Its dedication to me is awesome!

The above two exampes give models of what /bhakti is. /tAyumANavar is a master in this application. How does /bhakti work. Look all around you or read /tAyumAnavar! 

I do not know of any other word for /bhakti in /tamiZ. I request Dr. Loganathan to give the exegesis of the word /bhakti in /tamiZ.

Secondly, there are two expressions that are related. /caraNa/gati and /SaraNa/gati. In the first the destination is the feet. In the second the model is an arrow (Saram). In /tamiZ both are writen the same way. But dvi/bhAshis will know the context. Also in particular applications, there is not much differnce in final summary. 

/rAmAnujA uses the expression /SaraNa/gati. It has larger meaning than /caraNa/gati. A model is always superior to an output. In /caraNa/gati, the output is leaving our heart at the feet of the Lord as /paRRU does. Let the feet of the Lord be our /paRRU/ AvaRRaip paRrikkoL. viTAtE. viTAkkanTAnE. That is, hold on to them as an attachment (:-)) and don't let them go. This is self-surrender, of course.

But /SaraNA/gati as used by /rAMAnujA and others means much more. I have to make a living. I am tempted to say: "I cannot go and sit at the Lord's feet as an/AZvAr can do." But, even /AzvArs cannot do it in real life and be a true /vaishNavA. What they did is /SaraNa/gati. 

What is an arrow? The word "pARRU" as attachment taught as something. The tamiZ expresson, "pARRu teyttuk koTU" which we say to our chldren or a servant is an example. We want them to clean the cooking vessel, because the dirt of sticky rice refuses to leave. It is an attachment to the vessel (/pAttiram). So we ask please get rid of this attachment by scrubbing. The literature often gives this as an example of /bhakti. Just rinsing will not remove it. Our children in America throw the vessel in a dish washer and expect it to be cleansed. They do not understand /bhakti of the dirt to the vessel! The two are inseparable without extra force.

Saram serves as a model, not when it is sleeping in the /ampu/urait/tuNi. That is, when the arrow is stored in the backpack that a warrior carries. Its use is when it is embedded in somebody or something. Its eventual aim is to split the other person or thing. But before we make it embed in the target, we need to take an aim. 

There is a beautiful story about /arjuNa in a shooting competition. /AcArya drONA asks each one of his disciples to shoot a single arrow at a small fruit which he has posted on top of the head of a parrot. He has placed the parrot perched on top of a tree. The target fruit has to be shot down by a single arrow. 

One by one they all try. Each time /DrONa asks the person as to what he was looking at. Each one responds by saying one or oher of the following:  he is looking at the head, at the parrot, at the tree etc. None gets the target. Finally /arjuNa's turn comes. /dRoNa asks him what he was looking at. He respons: "I am seeing the fruit on top of the head". /dRoNa: "What else do you see?" "I see only the fruit". He asks him a third question to redirect him. /arjuNa is single-minded, and does not budge. drOna asks him to release the arrow. Down falls the fruit.

This is an example of /SaraNa/gati. The act of getting the target is not as important as the principle embedded in arjuNa's answers. /drONa knew that he would get it. Others placed the cart before the horse. They are in a hurry to get there.

/SaraNagati is the principle of keeping your target in your eyes, ears, nose, . . . , mind as the case may be. Our actions are directed by this single-mindedness of purpose. In the case of /rAmANujA, the target is /praPatti, which is effectively positioning one in relation to /mahA/viShNu in his case. How one positions himself or herself is an evolutionary process. But it can be modeled by the concept of /SaraNa/gati. If God Blesses one to be the dirt of the cooking vessel, all the better. After all, even the dirt is the residue of a food that nourished others. Without that dirt, there could be no food. But the dirt is not our gati. It is unavoidable in the process. But even there it teaches us a lesson so that in literature /paRRut tEyttal has gained an immortality. 

Thirdly, the gIta is part of the /upaNishats. And its only theme is self-surrender as /SharaNagati. Whatever you do, know that your aim is that fruit. Your acts (karmaYoga), are they seeing the fruit on the top? If yes, go ahead;  otherwise, "please step out", says, /dRONa.  

Finally, the /shvEt/Ashva/tarO upa/Nishat explicitly uses /saraNa/gati in this way in a wide context which is breath-taking: 

/adhyAy 6: Verse 18: 

/tam ha dEvam Atma/buddi/prakASam mumuzuvaihi SaraNam aham prapadyE. 

Primary traditional translation:

I surrender seeking that Lord for self-illumination and eventual liberation. 

Secondary translation:

I position myself in relation to such a Lord taking aim with my eyes set on liberation and self-illumination. 

This verse is preceded by the nature of that Lord in seven remarkable verses. 



/vandanam.


/naha svIkurvaka asmAt krupAm: May he cause us to be endowed with His Grace.

[ I am not sure if the etymology of paRRutal is traceable to bhakti.
  I don't think it is certain that it is derived from Sanskrit at all.
  Some in fact argue that the word bhakti is derived from proto-Dravidian.
  -- Moderator ]








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