Mani's poignant argument

[Guest guest]

There are even recent examples to site inconsistent practises, athwart

to the goals of the likes of Sri nathamuni. Nan Jeer who has a sannidhi

at the some or many kshethra's was a madhvacarya won over and honored by Sri

Parasharabattar. He was awarded the title of Nan Jeer when he came to Srirangam,

and distinguished himself in his humbleness, scholarship and piety. Yet, if I

am not mistaken, there is now (or has been for some time) a questioning of the

merits of his sannidhi, from what I understand, merely because he was a

Madvacarya.

We have to accept our (and our ancestral society) limitation's and

short-sitedness,

apart from a few great souls in order to move on and live the philosophy.

The next question is how do we practise and shed inequality from our hearts and

mind. Is it a natural recourse of bakhti and prapatti, or is it a preordained

state of mind ??

 

Mohana

>>>

Thanks, Dr. Sadagopan for an informative posting about the

meaning of the Vedic mantras used in the marriage ceremony.

However, I find it highly unlikely that Thirumangai Azhvaar's

wedding was carried out using these Vedic mantras. Being

outside the pale of the Vedas (Saint Thirumangai was of the

KaLLa caste), he had no right to recite the Vedas according

to the norms of his time. Unfortunately, this is one place

where I doubt the society of his time would have been flexible.

 

Sri Vaishnavas of later times have romanticized the relationship

between the lower caste Azhvaars and the Vedas, when very often

no such relationship could have existed. In this instance,

we are told Thirumangai is married in a Vedic ceremony.

In Azhvaar Thiruangari, the birthplace of Nammazhvaar, the

image of Nammaazhvaar is adorned with a poonal (sacred thread)!

There is no chance that Nammaazhvaar ever wore a poonal.

Madhurakavi Azhvaar says says that he was rejected by the

brahmins of his time, presumably due to his reverence for

his non-brahmin acharya, Nammaazhvaar.

 

It is beholden upon us to be honest about the social

restrictions of the Azhvaars' time period. It goes without

saying that the Azhvaars were parama vaidikas, in that they

perceived the deepest truths of the Vedas. However, they

did this *despite* their being barred from the Vedas.

Immense credit should go to Sri Nathamuni for throwing

Vedic convention to the winds and setting the Azhvaars

on the highest possible pedestal. Surely he encountered

tremendous social opposition and ostracization in doing so.

 

By romanticizing the Azhvaars' Vedic heritage, we make

it easy to ignore the social reality of their time as well

as ours. Consider the fact that only five centuries after

Nathamuni's revolutionary acceptance of the Thiruvaaymozhi

as another Veda, a section of Sri Vaishnavas forcefully

argued that non-brahmins cannot be acharyas to brahmins!

Is this the example set by the Azhvaars? Why then were

these great souls born amongst the entire social spectrum,

if not to show that social status meant absolutely nothing?

And that the Vedas themselves were offended by being confined

to a cloister?

 

Mani

 

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[Guest guest]

On Dec 11, 11:08am, Mohana Ramanujam wrote:

> There are even recent examples to site inconsistent practises, athwart

> to the goals of the likes of Sri nathamuni. Nan Jeer who has a sannidhi

> at the some or many kshethra's was a madhvacarya won over and honored by Sri

> Parasharabattar.

 

Not to nitpick or anything, but Nanjiyar was an Advaita sannyasi

before Parasara Bhattar defeated him in debate and brought him

into the Sri Vaishnava fold. Madhvacharya was probably still

learning his Vedas when this happened, given that the time

period concerned is the mid to late 12th century.

 

Mani