Ahimsa, Logic, and Changing with the times
From the Bhakti List Archives
• July 29, 1998
On Ahimsa, Sri Mani Varadarajan quoted from a translation of the original discourse by Tuladhara on non-violence > [...] > >These, O Jajali, are some of the wicked and dreadful practices >that are current in the world. You practice them because they >have been practiced by men from ancient times, and not because >they agree with the dictates of your purified understanding. > >One should practice what one considers to be one's duty, guided >by reason, instead of blindly following the practices of the >world. Listen now, O Jajali, as to what my behavior is towards >him that injures and him that praises me. I have neither read the original nor the above translation in any formal way. Therefore I am not qualified to offer detailed comments on it. However, please note that the quoted passage condemns gratuitous violence "not sanctioned by the scriptures." As such there is no automatic injunction against such violence as those that lead to the production of sanctioned materials for use in the course of Bhagavath Aradhanai. Sri Ramanuja says that animals killed in the course of such violence go to heaven. Therefore, Sri Ramanuja says, such violence is actually good for the animals killed for this purpose. The quoted passage also talks about "blindly following the practices of the world." It is easy to _misinterpret_ this passage. We need to note that this is not a call for abandoning tradition and reinterpreting scriptures as and how it pleases each of one of us. This argument is not new to this forum. Time and again we have had people pleading for developing a critical understanding of our Sampradayam. They beseech us not to blindly quote poorvacharyas. They appeal to us to look at the true meaning. Usually, these sentiments are expressed whenever there is an article quoting our poorvacharyas about sasthras, tradition, and the need to place at most faith in our Acharyas. The underlying message is that somehow, _trying_ to follow sasthras or placing supreme faith in the words of Acharyas is equal to "blind" and "uncritical" faith. We are admonished that God has given us the faculty to think, and that we must use it. In this context I urge the members to consider one of the most important advice that our dear Sri Ramanuja gave to all of us, "there is no mOksham without the grace of Acharya". Please consider this. He did not say, "there is no mOksham without critical questioning", or "there is no mOksham if you don't change with the times." By this I am not advocating abandoning logic and reasoning. Neither am I proposing that we must resist changes at all cost. What we need to realize is that changes must happen only with the blessings of our present day Acharyas, not otherwise. When an Acharya is quoted in the course of a debate some have taken that to be a call for unquestioning obedience. That is simply not so. We should never be afraid to ask questions. But at the same time we must have ultimate faith that our Acharyas words will never mislead us. If we take the time and effort to approach our Acharays in the proper manner they will only be too happy to answer our doubts. I also submit to you, that after all the questioning and answering if we find a conflict between our logic and the position described by our Acharyas, it is our Acharya's words that must stand. This is the faith that Sri Ramanuja commands us to develop, not one that compels unquestioning obedience. Such faith will help us overcome our logic that fails us at some critical times. One of the prerequisites for considering ourselves Ramanuja Dhasans is to cultivate such a faith. Regarding Changing with the times --------------------------------------------------- We want may changes to take place in our Sampradayam. But, we must also realize that not all of us are qualified to propose these changes to a group of Sri Vaishnavas. None of us will ever dare propose changes to widely accepted theories and demand that the scientific community accept them. We leave them up to the experts to propose. But when it comes to spiritual matters we all are experts. We want the spiritual tradition to change with the times. Why should Srimad Azhagiya Singar use only well water? Why can't they travel to USA? Why are only men permitted to do this or that? We must abandon the cruel Varnasrama dharma. So on and so forth. Many of these are not without merit. But, we must realize that only the spiritual leaders of our Sampradyaam, namely, the Jeeyars and Andavans can propose such changes, and they have. They have instituted many changes. Not long ago Satari (perumaaL's thiruvadi) was offered to only those with a Shikai. These days women are routinely included in Kalakshepam of rahasya granthas. During the 70th birthday celebration of Srimad Azhagiya Singar, the Jeeyar led a women only group for a special extended dharsan of Thiruvengadavan. I am sure there are many more examples. Yes, for some of us these are too little too late. It is due to the infinite mercy of our Acharyas these changes are taking place and more will surely take place in the future. What we need to realize is that these changes must come only from the spiritual elite, not from those of us for whom spiritual scholarship is a hobby outside of 9 to 5 job. Pardon me for saying this, but when we freely advocate changes to traditional practices we are actually trying to usurp the role of our Acharya. When this happens it is a travesty as we have chosen, directly or indirectly, a material life even though opportunities for spiritual study and life that would inevitably be lot less materially rewarding were and are available in plenty. If we feel passionately enough about some changes, then we need to first pay the dues by adopting a spiritual life and gain scholarly access to our spiritual leaders. Then, and only then, will we not be usurping spiritual authority when we boldly call for changes to be adopted by a group of Sri Vaishnavas. (Please note that I am not referring to changes that we individually adopt in our own lives. The question is to what extent are we qualified to propose changes to a group of Sri Vaishnavs, for example, a group such as this bhakthi list). In summary, I would like to submit to this forum blessed with many critical students of our Sampradayam, that Acharya bhakthi and implicit faith in our tradition are not necessarily in conflict with logic and critical thinking. Neither does it mean that showing deference to our Acharyas will keep us immersed in meaningless rituals of the hoary past. Who can say reason be damned? Who would dare argue that only blind faith is best? Yet, we must accept the wisdom of our poorvacharyas and desist advocating uniltaral changes to our tradition, and be prepared to suspend logic when it comes in conflict with our present day Acharya's teachings. -- adiyEn ramaanuja dhaasan
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