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Re: WHAT IS THE QUALITY OF A SRI VAISHNAVAN?/ bhAratiyar's model.

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Visu9 • June 20, 2002 


Shri rAmAnujasya caraNao SaraNam pra/padyE

/namaskAram to all. I have read with great interest the postings in reply to 
the question: "What is the quality of a /Sri vaishNavan?"

I would like to venture and add some more thoughts on this. One Shri Ram 
Kumar "dared to venture" that there are very few vaishNavAs here on earth 
right now? The question arises as to why, even though one may equally wonder 
why the statement is not obvious to me.

I look at the root associations of the word /vaishNavA. It is a derivative of 
the word /vishNu. The latter is a prefixed word: the prefix /vi precedes 
/shnU.

The prefix /vi is a word of induction. Sometimes the negation is induced. The 
prefix usually signifies /induced something/ or /not something/. /visva = not 
self-existing or not self-created; /vibhA = induced light that is apparent 
and is the one seen in practice. //vilAs = induced entertainment (like dance, 
music, bhAvAs) and so expressively lively. As in /muka/vilAs. CivA is 
/gaurI/vilAs!   /shRi VishNU is Lakshmi/vilAs! Here Civa and VishNu are 
induced by their respective consorts.

So /vishnU induces something that is associated with /shNu. He is the Lord of 
that.

The word /shNu has associated with it two abstractions: They are /snEham and 
/snigdam. The first word means /friendship/. The second word means /closeness 
or intimacy/ /density/ etc. 

The prefix /vai means an idealization or a heavenly association. Vai/kuntam 
means heavenly seat of power on earth. /vaiRagyA means a kind of heavenly 
love or ideal love. /vayaikam means an ideal earth like rAma/rAjyA or kingdom 
of God on Earth. 

So one can venture:

1. Friendship is the hallmark of a Shri vaishNava.

Since closeness is a relative concept, and the case of two people forming 
friendship is already covered under friendship, this concept of closeness is 
an extension of friendship to three or more persons. So a Shri vaishnava has 
to be an active participant of a closley-knit community also called Shri 
vaishNavAs. 

We can define this second concept as 

A community bhAvA or feeling of Fellowship is the second hallmark of a Shri 
VasihNavA.

As we ponder about the two concepts, we can't help wonder what the link is.  
The first is a personal private relationship; it is marked by informality 
often. The second is a public community fellowship. The first involves 
personal involvment, the second involves a sense of belonging and a sense of 
participation, both formal and informal. 

A Shri vaishNava is called upon to emulate these two concepts. They are in a 
sense opposite. One exercises an inward pull, the other pushes one outward. A 
ShrI vaishNava is called upon to balance these two forces acting in life in 
the realm of private and public domains. His/her task is this balancing which 
is a delicate act. It is this duality principle that makes it very difficult 
to be an ideal /vaishNavA. 


In order to explore the implications of these two concepts, one looks for a 
model of friendship and a definition of friendship. Is there a concept 
specifically called a ShRi vaishNava friendship? A concept of a Shri 
VasihNava Community? How do you define them?

It would seem futile to attempt to answer such questions as they have immense 
scope. So one looks for practical models? Ideal examples to formulate and 
model upon. 

One can think of several examples: 

Shri krushNA and sudhAmA; Shri krushNa and the great ArjuNA; Shri duryOdhanA 
and Shri karNA; the sage yajnavalkya and his wife MaithReyi; the sage 
vashisTHa and his wife AruNdathI, Shri candran and Rohini; the sun and the 
moon; etc. Also as metaphors: the sun and the lotus; the moon  and the flower 
kumudam etc.

Looking at the list, it is easy to choose krushNA and ArjuNa as the VaishNava 
model of friendship. But why? What is so charactersitic of that friendship 
that distinguishes it from the rest? 

To capture the central element of that model, let us look at an identical 
situation. In thinking of this model of friendship, we automatically choose 
to think of the battle scene in the /mahA/bhAratA, where the brave warrior is 
ready to drop off his famous bow /kANDIpA and run. His excuse: He is filled 
with remorse. A critical scholar who does not share any emotional link to the 
personages is likely to remark: "What an impostor! Only six months ago in 
another battle, the impostor (Arjuna) himself dressed as an eunuch had sprung 
from the chariot and caught hold of a running prince (Prince UttarA, the son 
of King VirAT) and preached him to fight. Now the same ArjuNA repeats the 
same act of cowardice and expects to run. What a parody! "

The two situations are not dissimilar. To an outsider, the pair (ArjuNA, 
UttarA) is not unlike the pair (Shri krushNA, ArjuNA). The war scenes are 
similar if not identical. The feeling of fear or despondency is also similar. 
In the final outcome both pairs are victorious. But the second pair carries 
with it the stamp of the Shri vaishNava Model, while the first woefuly fails 
short. It is difficult for an outsider to see the differnce even when told. 

In the first example, UttaRa is caught by the eunuch and asked to get up and 
run the chariot. The eunuch trades positions and wages war. For all practical 
purposes, they exchange their births for a few hours. The priince UttaRa 
virtually becomes an eunuch and the charioteer in the act. He and ArjuNa both 
acquired new karMas which are undesirable.

In the second model, krushNa does not exchange His seat.  At no time does He  
command ArjuNa to fight. After a long discourse on the meaning of duty and 
its relationship to life and liberation, krushNA still asks ArjuNa to ponder 
and take suitable action. One wonders what was the entire army of the 
kauravAs doing all that time! But to krushNa that is a trifle of no 
significance at that moment. 

This is a typical requirement of the vaishNava model of friendship. You do 
not do the homework of your son, daughter,  or friend. But you teach and do 
so patiently. Let your (our) friend learn now so that he or she can use the 
tool you provide to solve other similar situations. No handouts. A shri 
VaishNava provides his/her friend with the skills to solve problems, but 
under no circumstances can solve the problem himself or herself. When he/she 
breaks this sacred doctrine of an /acAryA, he /she falls short of the ideal 
friendship expected of a ShrI vaishNava. 

Thus in looking for a vaishNava model of friendship, we see that there are 
some cardinal principles which are modeled by Shri krushNa in his special 
relationship to ArjuNa, to the /gOpis and others like /sudhAmA. 

The poet ShrI Subra/maNya bhAratI has developed a very beautiful model of 
ShRi vaishNava concept of friendship. /MahA/Kavi bhAratiyAr has cast the 
model into ten stanzas of the song /kaNNan en tOZan//  He has singled out 
about ten qualities as characteristic of a /shrI vaishNava model of 
friendship. 

I will stop here for now. I must say that I can't help feeling if I am out of 
tune with list memebers.  This seems a bit removed, even though it is not 
difficult to argue that we are talking about the same ideas in different 
contexts. 

/vandanam.

/naha svI/kurvaka asmAt krupAm: May He cause us to be endowed with His Grace. 

Visu













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