[sv-rituals] pAncarAtrins
From the Bhakti List Archives
• April 12, 2002
> Namo Narayana ! > > The following is in response to the following > questions posed by Mr. Ute Huesken of Germany: > > 1. Do pAancarAtrins have a separate sUtrA as > vakhAnasAs strictly follow the vaikhAnasa sUtrA ? > > 2. "Isvara samhitA mentions kAtyAyana sUtrA as the > sUtrA of the pAncarAtrins" Is there a connection > between pAncarAtrA and kAtyayana sUtrA. > > As already stated in the earlier note, the priestly > class (who alone are qualified to function as priests > by a hereditary privilege) in the Vaishnava temples > governed by the Vaikhanasa Agama is a distinct entity. > They regard their great preceptor sage Vikhanas with > profound veneration and have adopted for their rituals > the Vaikhanasa sutra. > > As against this, in the temples following the > PancarAtra tradition, Vaishnavas trained and > proficient in PancarAtra AgamAs and who have obtained > dikshA, function as priests. The term PancarAtrin > does not apply exclusively to such persons alone, but > applies to all for whom Vishnu, ie Narayana with his > consort Shri is the Supreme God eulologised in the > Vedas. This is because, > > 1. the distinctive doctrinal concepts of the Supreme > in Para, Vyuha, Vibhava, Antaryamin and archA forms, > > 2. the Vyuha emanations distributing the six > qualities among the Vyuha forms of SamkarshaNa, > Pradyumna & Anirudhaa > > and 3. the means of salvation of the souls through > the medium of prapatthi, or shraNAgathi or total self > surrender, > > receive ellaborate and explicit treatment in the > pancarAtrA texts only, with succinct and suggestive > statements in the Vedas as their authority. The > pAncarAtrA texts incorporate comprehensively Vaishnava > theology and philosophy in the Vedic format and embody > numerous portions of Vedas for providing a working > manual. The temple worship is known as "parArtha", > meaning, "that not meant for the self, but for the > common welfare of the society as a whole". > > The daily worship prescribed for a householder at his > home is styled as "swArtha", meaning, "that which is > meant for the familiy's welfare". This household > worship enjoined upon the householder draws its > content from pAncharAtrA. Thus all householders are > in a sense pAncharAtrins. One can discern the > fragran flavors of Sruti (example: Vedam), Smriti, > IthihAsa (as in the RAmAyaNA) and PurAnA (as in VishNu > purANA)in the pAncharAtrA system. > > The kAtyAyana sUtrA referred to is a Srauta-sUtrA* of > the sukla yajur veda. which has one grihya sUtrA > named as the "pAraskara grihya sUtrA". While a Srauta > sUtrA deals with vedic sacrifices and rituals, grihya > sUtrAs cover the entire gamut of rites enjoined on a > householder from birth to death. The householder has > to follow the grihya sUtrA of his vedic affiliation. > He has to follow the srauta sUtrA of his Vedic > affiliation if he partakes or performs in Vedic > sacrifices. > > If he himself is an "AhitAgni" i.e., one who has > established and is maintaining the "TretAgnic" > consisting of AvahanIyam, gArhapatyam and dakshinAgni > by being a nithyAgnihOtri. A pAncharAtrin has thus a > specific sUtrA depending upon the veda and the > recension of it to which he is affiliated. > > Isvaramuni, father of the celebrated nathamuni is > known as a master of pAnchrAtrA system. nAthamuni, > his grandson yamunachArya and the his chosen > theological leader of the Vaishnavites, shrI rAmAnujA > are all pAncharAtrins, but they had their own sUtrAs. > > kAtyAyana sUtrA is thus only one o0f sixteen extant > sUtrAa for all the four vedas and its connection to > pAncharAtrA may only be a coincidence. (RgVeda has > two, Samaveda has four, Krishna yajurveda has eight, > sukla yajur veda one and atharva veda has one srauta > sUtrAs.) > > Namo Narayana, > > Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan > (K. Venkatakrishnan) > > *P.S.: SUtrAs are divided into Srauta sUtrAs (that > which refers to Sruti), grihya sUtrAs (that which > refers to rituals of a householder) and Dharma sUtrAs > (that which refers to codes of conduct). > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/ySSFAA/XUWolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -- SrImatE rAmAnujAya namaH -- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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