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TSS; SrI rAmAnuja

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usdeiva • June 1, 1997 


SrImatey rAmAnujAya namah.

(APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION:

        My antipodal journey from Srirangam {where I live} 
        to Memphis in USA {on a visit to my daughter's family} 
        has made me luxuriate in a blend of agreeable idleness 
        and oft-surfacing Srirangam sentiments.   The discovery 
        of Sri Mani Varadarajan's bhakti list has legitimised 
        my indulgence; as I perused the 'postings' I developed 
        a feeling that the bhakti list could also be utilised to 
        generate an awareness among the srivaishnava expatriates  
        about contemporary ground-realities of the 'sampradAyam'
        on its native soil.    Sri Mani Varadarajan has kindly
        given his consent to me in this regard.

        The 'write-up' could be in four parts:  the first
        as a note on the srivaishnava 'svarUpam' (identity), and 
        the consequent call to understand the heritage and to 
        restore oneself unto the heritage;  the second could be
        a quick sensitising on the sacred works of the religion,
        with a specific and limited report on srivaishnava 
        publication to-day;  thirdly, an understanding of the
        system of temple administration;  and finally, there 
        could be questions of srivaishnava interaction with and 
        locus standi in the heterogeneous society.   While some
        paragraph heading has been attempted, it would be more
        comfortable to read this quite away from a book format,
        for there is considerable telescoping of one sub-theme
        into another.   The writing could occasionally become
        impressionistic, as necessary.

        No attempt is made to be exhaustive on the issues of
        discussion;  the risk is there that one may plan to be
        exhaustive and end up to be exhausting.  
          
                               ~~  T.S. Sundara
Rajan.)                   
==================================================================

                   
                    ====================

1.1. The blessed Order ('divyAjnA') of Sri RAmAnuja, is read 
not only in his philosophical works but in every precise detail of
his career.   The 'divyAjnA' aims at universal weal,
('loka-hitaishiNee').   Those who invoke Sri RAmAnuja's 
name for spiritual sustenance are natural inheritors of a
catholic thought, philanthropic disposition, and responsibility 
for further preserving what the noble preceptor had consolidated.
  
1.2. The srivaishnava's spiritual career calls for a primary desire 
and intent for such career, as well as the availability and nurturing
of the inherited literature and institutions which are needed to 
facilitate and sustain his intent.  The intent lies in his personal
domain, whereas the task of preservation and propagation of the 
literature and institutions is identified in the social domain.  
This could be the framework for considering the question, 
WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS THE SRIVAISHNAVA SHOULD ADDRESS HIMSELF TO?     

                  The srivaishnava sacrament.

2.1. The srivaishnava sacrament advances through five stages:
tApah puNdrah taTHA nAma, mantro yAgascha panchamah ~~
(++branding of one's shoulders with the vaishnava insignia 
of the chakra-disc and the sankha-conch, 
++drawing on one's forehead the oordhva-puNDram/tirumaN-kAppu, 
++announcing oneself by the generic name rAmAnuja-dAsa, 
++instruction in the sacred eight-syllabled formula ~~
ashtAksharI-tirumantram, and fifthly, 
++yAgah or the nitya-tiruvArAdhanam, the everyday ritual worship 
offered to the deity in the individual household and in temple, 
and through the variety of seasonal temple festivals).   

2.2. The title 'aiyangAr' exclusively applied to the 
srivaishnava possibly signifies that he has received this 
five-fold (ai-ndu anga) samskAra thro' the 'samAshrayaNam' rite.

                The srivaishnava sacrament
           an amplification of the vedic dictum.

2.3. "trayo dharma-skandhAh ~~ yajno adhyayanam dAnamiti", 
is the declaration contained in the chhAndogyopanishad (2:23:1): 
dharma has three supports ~~ devotion, learning and charity.   
This dictum remains precious to the srivaishnava heart.

3.1. 'yajnah' has a whole spectrum of meaning, including the 
resplendent 'yajno vai vishnuh', 'vishnur-vai yajnah' ('yajnah 
is vishnu' and 'vishnu is yajnah') of the sata-paTHa-brAhmaNam.    
The 'yajnah' of upanishad would further have the same sense as 
the 'yAgah' of the padma-purAnam and the pAncharAtra Agamam, 
namely, yagah = the nitya-tiru-ArAdhanam in the srivaishnava 
household and in the 'divya-desam'.

3.2. The 'nitya-tiruvArAdhanam' is, of course, more 
comprehensive than the ritual worship offered to the deity, 
and will obviously include the preparatory 'anushTHAna' like 
'sandhyA-vandanam', tending the tulasI plant (basil or 
ocimum sanctum), etc.   The taittireeya upanishad directions 
are clear: "deva-pitr-kAryAbhyAm na pramaditavyam" ~~ not
to neglect the duty to divinity and to the ancestry.   The 
integrity of thought, speech and action determines, and 
provides, the larger ambience ("shraddhA-mayo-ayam purushah", 
BGeetA 17:3) for the 'nitya-yajnah' which could be part of 
the discipline leading to 'sTHita-prajnatA', the steady 
mental focus and an unwavering awareness.

3.3. All formal worship draws upon 'mantra' of various kind;  
the popular English-language designation of 'mantra' as 
magic spell or formula is self-evidently inadequate if not
frivolous.   'mantAram trAyate iti mantram' (it protects one 
who contemplates it).   The tiru-mantram is the mantra-rAjam, 
the mahA-mantram, the most radiant and exalted gift available 
to the seeker ~~ ("uraippAr namo nArAyaNAya enru, pallANdum 
paramAtmanai soozhndu irundu ettuvar pallaNde!";  and 
"namo narAyaNAyeti mantrah sarvArttha-sAdhakah" ~ narasimha 
purANam).    

3.4. 'adhyayanam' is the second of the upanishad criteria of 
'dharma'.  This would signify a life-long learning, an avid 
learning, guided learning and self-learning.  The integrity 
of speech aforementioned is the same as "vAngmayam tapah" 
delineated by Sri krshna (BhGeeta 17:15), and this 
penance-through-speech is rendered by "svAdhyAyAbhyasanam", 
practising the 'adhyayana' mode. The precious 'saraNAgati-
sAstram' that is SrirAmAyaNam, (paDi-koNDa-keerti irAmAyaNam
ennum patti-veLLam, ~~ irAmAnusa-nootrantAdi 37) was itself 
the gift of the 'svAdhyAyam' of the adi-kavi, the steadfast
learner, svAdhyaAya-niratah.

3.5. The third dharma-criterion of 'dAnam' accords with the 
accepted dictum, 'ekah svAdu na bhunjeeta', not to savour 
anything all by oneself.  sri rAmAnuja came to be regarded 
as 'emperumAnAr' (=the paramapurusha himself) for his noble 
nature of 'giving', and sharing the instruction he had 
received in tiru-koTTiyoor.  'dAnam' is the principal merit 
of the thunderclap exhortation of the upanishad 
~~ datta, dAmyata, dayadhvam! {The poet TS Eliot includes 
this exhortation in his poem, 'Wasteland'.}  The receiving, 
imparting, and effectively bequeathing of, and joining in 
esoteric instruction ("svAdhyAya-pravachanAbhyAm" of the 
Taittireeya upa.) is accordingly among the principal duties 
of the srivaishnava.

                    What needs to be done?

4.1. A sustained, cultured and well-coordinated movement 
needs urgently to be organised in order to help the 
srivaishnavas grasp and retain and preserve and transmit 
their universally benignant heritage.  There is no need 
at all to develop any proselytising ambitions nor any
grandiose crusades for the srivaishnava religion.    The
world has seen a multitude of religions come up and has let 
each people devise its own worship and fancy.   Since
intolerance of other religions speaks of an inadequacy of
one's own, what is important is that the srivaishnava should
carefully and honestly verify the facts of his history and
understand the truths yielded in his persuasion.  Accordingly,
the elements and stages of this movement could be listed 
(not very exhaustively, though) as under:  

** the reprinting and dissemination of the sacred literature;  
** institutional mobilising.   This does not call for making of
   emotional and unrealistic demands like establishment of 
   srivaishnava universities etc, but could be achieved through 
   organising small, informal nuclear centres of teaching-learning 
   which can ensure basic literacy in tamizh and samskrtam which is
   essential for any serious learning in religious lore;
** developing an easy-to-learn core curriculum of brhaspati-cum-
   archaka; 
** organising the education and steady recruitment of srivaishnava
   'brhaspati' cadre, with enhanced social prestige and remuneration;
** a vibrant appreciation and networking of the 'divya desam' 
   (the pilgrimages hymned by the blessed AzhvAr saints);  there
   is need to prepare a reliable, easy-to-read, cartographically 
   sound 'divya-desam' map;
** a programme of archaeological conservation of the temples;  
** neutralising the excesses of pseudo-religious cults as are 
   socially harmful and specifically detrimental to the noble
   and beautiful message of srivaishnavam;  cults proliferate
   as increasing complexities of living aggravate the attendant
   insecurities, and hence the cult-leaders and devotees are
   welcome to their choice of inanities.  The srivaishnavas 
   have no call to take on and contest alienationist 'doctrines' 
   and ideologies as they are fabricated. It is however necessary 
   to remain vigilant to any trespass into vaishnava temples 
   as it occurs through wanton introduction of non-vaishnava 
   worship;   the same kind of vigil is necessary to resist 
   media denigration of vaishnava religion. 
** a programme of promoting the srivaishnava fraternity, and
   concurrently, of a sensible interaction with other communities;
** vigilant and pragmatic watch over temple administration
   at the state level and in each temple;
** a recurring, small-scale, individual-level subscription to an
   apex funding body to implement these several programmes.

                 What of the Sacred Literature?
   
4.2. The wholesome and fertile terrain of the sacred literature
(vedo hi mAtrvad vatsalah = the veda is loving like mother)
is what holds and sustains each and all of the three pillars of 
dharma, ~~ namely, yajnah, adhyayanam, dAnam.  Accordingly, the 
life-long study of this literature constitutes the most rewarding, 
and challenging, pursuit the srivaishnava could have in his secular
life and spiritual career.  The 'vidura-neeti' (instructions of 
sri vidura in mahAbhAratam) lists out the auspicious and sacred 
articles to be kept in every household:  the hiraNyanAbham 
('sALagrama srimoorti' = chakrAnkita-silA = ammonite stone), 
sandal wood, the conch, the sri-kosham or a copy of the sacred 
texts.   The padma-purANam elaborates the joy and merit of copying 
out the sacred texts and presenting them to discerning scholars.  

4.3. Even in the face of creeping cynicism all the world over and 
breakdown of the received salutary value-system, the religions 
of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism etc are so well organised 
as to ensure that their core religious scriptures do not go out of 
print at any time.  Contrasted with them, the social organisation 
of the srivaishnavas leaves a lot to be desired.  This kind of
failure in social organisation has serious implications for the
renewal and dissemination of srivaishnava literature. It is time 
the srivaishnavas got to know, and secured for themselves, the
core books they have.

        Decline of religion through disinformation.

4.4. Sheer ignorance of the books or simply 'no-information' is 
not more adverse to this aspect of religious organisation than the 
palpably increasing fall-out of misinformation.   The expression 
'hindu' is one such piece of misinformation and mis-labelling which 
'denotes' some kind of mixed bag and no religious identity per se.  
'Hindu' is a term of ignorance coined apparently to denote what the 
particular 'religion' is not, something like that the Hindu is one 
who is not a Christian etc.   Those of alien faiths have created an
impression that 'Hindu' does not seem to stand for a faith but, 
as S. Radhakrishnan described it in a poser, a "museum of
beliefs".           

4.5. Given the prevalent confusion, it is a common phenomenon that 
any stuff (pop writing, spurious 'scriptures', interpolated 
passages, later-day texts, et al) that gets printed as 'hindu' 
spiritualism gets accepted as such, and often receives formal and 
well-publicised approval of some unscrupulous 'religious icons'
of the amorphous society. Many non-vaishnava faiths of cantankerous 
and shamanistic nature have a felt need to create their own 
religious books, but such books fall by the wayside in contrast 
with the vaishnava sruti, itihAsa, purANa, smrti etc which are of 
surpassing literary beauty, philosophic integrity, humanistic 
message, and fidelity to the tradition of veda. The non-vaishnava 
books could not be sustained on their own; hence non-vaishnava, 
and even anti-vaishnava, messages got insidiously incorporated in 
the vaishnava works (examples: interpolation of 'sa harih' in the 
rk "sa brahmA sa Sivah sendrah so:aksharah parama-svarAt" 
occurring in nArAyaNa-sooktam; the Aditya-hrdayam in srirAmAyaNam; 
the siva-sahasranAmam in mahAbhAratam; the jyotir-lingam fib in 
the vAmana-purANam; plenty of this kind of slime and jetsam 
~~ e.g., veLLi-ambala desikar's numerous stanzas ~~ interpolated 
in the kamba-rAmAyaNam etc).   Ostensible vaishnava episodes were 
introduced, but  in baseless and distorted manner (like 'sarabha'
monster overpowering narasimha, the installation of 'lingam' -- 
the phallus totem -- at the 'setu' by srirAma, the lewd
jAlandhara episode, supposedly glorifying tulasi, interpolated in 
padma-purANam etc).    Whole pastiche works of poor quality were 
written and palmed off as rAmAyaNa, such as vasishTHa-, Ananda-, 
adhyAtma-rAmAyaNam etc., quite at the level of morbid or banal
fairy tales (like the 'aiyappa' which has no basis in any of the
sAttvika purANa episodes of the 'amrta-mathanam'). Most tragically, 
a whole fictitious corpus of '108 upanishad' (which inter alia 
included an allAh upanishad [!], apparently written in distress) 
got fabricated and sanctified in print by the Adyar Library, Madras.

                                                 .../to continue.