Guest guest Posted September 20, 1995 Report Share Posted September 20, 1995 Greetings everyone. I have mostly been a bystander and a curious reader on this mailing list. Could someone on this group answer a long standing question that no one has been able to answer for me. Why is it that the Smarthas of Tamil Nadu worship both Shiva and Vishnu whereas the Sri Vaishnavas worship only Vishnu? Maybe this is an FAQ on this group and the answer is archived somewhere. If so could someone direct me to the appropriate place? Incidentally, I am of the Smartha tradition myself. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. -Srikanth Gopala Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 1995 Report Share Posted September 21, 1995 >Greetings everyone. > >I have mostly been a bystander and a curious reader on this mailing list. >Could someone on this group answer a long standing question that no one has >been able to answer for me. Why is it that the Smarthas of Tamil Nadu >worship both Shiva and Vishnu whereas the Sri Vaishnavas worship only >Vishnu? Maybe this is an FAQ on this group and the answer is archived >somewhere. If so could someone direct me to the appropriate place? > Incidentally, I am of the Smartha tradition myself. > >Thanks in advance for your thoughts. > >-Srikanth Gopala > What you say is indeed true. Infact you might know that there are a few "Smarthas" who were "thirumaN" and preferentially worship Vishnu. I know that "ooththukkadu venkata subba iyer" composed all songs on Krishna only. {I do not know if he wore thirumaN}. Sri Sankara himself has wriiten in praise of Vishnu. What distinguises Iyengars/Sri Vaishnavas is accepting Sri Ramanuja as their spiritual leader, and not Sri Sankara. The difference is philosophical. Finally, why they do not care for Siva Temples? It is because Sri Ramanuja was not acccepted by Siva temples. You might have seen that many Sri vaishnavas do not mind "amman" temples and some are Murugan devotees also. Srinivasan K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 1995 Report Share Posted September 21, 1995 >sgopalan > >I did not know that there are Smarthas who wear Thiruman. This is very >interesting. I was aware of Oothukadu's Krishna ganam as I am an ardent >Carnatic music fan. > My "smartha" friend in Bangalore told me his own uncles in Tiruchi wear "thirmaN". Something else he told me is that the daily vedic chants in Tirumalai are done by a group of all smarthas, after the Sri Vaishnava group finishes the naalaayiram chanting. >> Finally, why they do not care for Siva Temples? It is because Sri Ramanuja >> was not acccepted by Siva temples. > >This I did not. Could you elaborate on why he was not accepted? Was the reason >ideological or based merely on prejudice? Sri Ramanuja's reforms were rather too strong for his time. Admitting women and all castes in the maTams. He questioned the authority of Adi Sankara's maTams. There indeed was a lot of ideological opposition. Also he was not prepared to sign the declaration that "nothing is greater than Siva". The aazvaars accepted Siva, but accorded a higher status to Vishnu. Ramanuja considered naadhamuni, aaLavandhaar and the aazhvaars as his spiritual leaders. Srinivasan K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 1995 Report Share Posted September 21, 1995 sgopalan writes: > Why is it that the Smarthas of Tamil Nadu > worship both Shiva and Vishnu whereas the Sri Vaishnavas worship only > Vishnu? Sri Vaishnavas understand the Vedas to teach that Sriman Narayana is the Supreme Brahman, and that meditation and surrender to him is the only means to moksha. The Tamil heritage of the Sri Vaishnavas also teaches them that Narayana alone is the supreme entity. With these as a background, the question of worshipping Siva as envisioned in temples and puraanas cannot even arise, since according to the Vaishnava tradition, Siva is not God as such. This is somewhat contrary to the smaarta view that both Vishnu and Siva are merely subjective and ultimately false conceptions of the formless, undifferentiated Absolute. Mani Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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