Thirumangai Aruliccheyalga--Part 3 .1;

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Prapatti Group:

 

On this day, when Thirumangai Azhwar conducts the

Mangalaasaasanam of the Thirunangoor Archa Murthys,

I will assemble some thoughts on the times of Thirumangai and

how his two Thaandakam works occupy a unique place in

Sri Vaishanvite literature . Parasara Bhattar , the precoccious son

of Kuresa chose Thirunedumthaandakam(TNT ) to defeat the Advaita

scholar in debate ; the defeated scholar embraced Sri Vaishnavism

and became the great savant of Sri Vaishnavism known as Nanjeeyar,a name

given by Parasara Bhattar to his star student.

 

***THIRUMANGAI'S TIME & THE PREVALENT PHILOSOPHIES

 

There were three original sources in Indian philosophies that

were contending for attention by scholars , kings and the public at

large in Azhwar"s time.These three continue even today :

 

(1) The Aatma Vaada or the SUBSTANCE VIEW OF REALITY developed by

Brahminical Systems .This view is derived from the Aatman doctrine of

Upanishads.

Sri Vaishnavite, Advaita and Dwaita Systems belong to this category. They accept

 

the authority of Vedas and are known as Vaidihic religions. Each have different

 

relationships to the Indian Darsanas like Samkhya, Yoga, Vaiseshika,

Nyaya , Poorva and Uttara Mimamamsaa(Vedanta). The entanglement

of metaphysical and Philosophical issues with those of a religious or

ritualistic character over the years and the attempts to

reconcile different points of view in this thicket has occupied the

attention of our Achaaryas and we have stayed with one or

the other Vaidhika Madham based on our tradition or choice.

 

(2) The sceond dominant philosophical tradition at the time of Thirumangai was

THE MOMENTARY VIEW OF REALITY known as KSHANIKAVAADHA developed and taught

by

Buddha.He rejected the authority of the Vedas and said that everything is

in a state of Flux and there is nothing that exists as inner and immutable core

of things.

This is also called the Soonyavaadha.

 

Four classical schools of Buddhism ( Vaibhashika, Sautraantika, Vigyanavaada

and the Madhyamika ) developed as time went on from the main preachings of

Buddha as they adapted to the other Darsanas that have been around.

Some prefer to classify the four Classic schools of Buddhism into

the following three categories: Abhidharmika, Madhyaamika and Yogaachara .

The last one is very close to some of the tantric systems

developed by Kashmir Saivism , a source of inspiration to Aagamas

including Pancharaatra Agama defended later by Yamunaaxharya in his

Agama Nirnaya..Buddhism considers the soul

as a stream of Consciousness and denies the Vedic Ritualism

and the Upanishadic Monism.

 

(3) The Jains under Maha Vira and the successive Thirtankaras

reconciled the view of REALITY AS SUBSTANCE

(vedic View ) AND AS CHANGE (Buddha's Kshanikavaada).

This was a synthesis of the orthodox and heterodox

approaches of viewing Reality as either of a substantive

nature or of a changing nature.Jainism has its own

distinctions as a Heterodox system The situation of viewing

relaity as substance and Change is similar to the viewing of

the Electron as a particle or as a Wave as per Qunatum theory and the

principle of Indeterminacy.

 

The heterodox Or Veda-Bhaahya views of Buddhism and Jainism were reactions to

excessive emphasis on ritualism and the tyranny of the preistly classes . By

the time of

Azhwars and Nayanmaars (5th to 8th centuries ), the Brahminical systems were

under

intensive attack by the Veda Bahya systems. The Azhwaars and Nayanmaars

reestablished

the pristine place of Vaidhic systems; the Acharyas that followed were

inspired by the

works of their predecessors & built the Visishtadvaita, Advaita and Dvaita

schools of

religion and strengthened the heterodox systems furhter..

 

*** Alternate View on the progression of Philosophies

 

The progressive line of thought behind today's three Veda-based religions can

be viewed

this way:

 

FIRST came, the Vedic culture and civilization with the UPANISHADIC

period at its end.The Upanishads upheld intution over

resoning as pathway to REALITY.

 

Tthe SECOND period known as the EPIC period followed;

Ramayana and Mahabharata were composed during this period.

..These twoIthihaasas presented "Philosophical doctrines indirectly

in a nonsystematic and non-technical manner .It is generally believed

that the heterodox systems and even Dharma Saastraas

( works on Ethical and Social philosophy )came into being during

this second period.

 

The THIRD period is recognized as the SUTRA Period ,where terse

aphorisms for each system of thought have been compiled

in a systematic and logical fashion.

 

The FOURTH period is named the SCHOLASTIC period , where commentaries and

intrepretations were created. To some extent this period still continues

according to

some , although its intensity was muted somewhat by foreign invasions .

 

We can thus place Thirumangai and the Azhwar's period somewhere between the

Sutra and the Scholastic period. Infact, through their inspired Bhakti

approach,

the Azhwars gave new life to the Scholars of the Scholastic period practising

what is termed as Hermeneutics today .

 

***HERMENEUTICS

 

S. Pannerselvam"s definition on Hermeneutics

states that it is a discipline , which teaches the rules regarding the way to

handle and

intrepret scriptures. He states: "in one way, Hermeneutics is an attempt to

mediate meaning

expressed in one context to another. The term is derived from the son of Zeus,

Hermes, who served as the messenger of Olympian Gods. Hence, Hermeneuetics

may be intrepreted as the message given by God through a messenger, who fully

understands it and conveys it, intreprets it to other fellow human beings".

The Acharyas of our and other traditions can thus be considered as Hermneutics

of one sort or another. The Azhwars and Acharyas are the messengers in our

traditions and sometimes the Lord himself takes the role of Acharya , just as

Lord Krishna played that role in Bhagavad Gita for our benefit. It is generally

conceded by Western Scholars Like George McLean (Author of Tradition and

Contemproary

Life ) and Hans-Georg Gadamer (Author of Truth and Method) that language plays

a central role in Hermeneutics and there is a powerful relationship between

language and intrepretation. The Ubhaya Vedanta tradition of ours and the

two Sampradhaayams or Traditions emphasizing Sanskrit and Tamil can be

understood in this context as the powerful links between language and

intrepreatation of the scriptures and other source literature.

 

Thirumangai"s and other Azhwar's Pasurams inspired both Vedantha Desika and

Manavala Maamuni , the two latter day Acharyas , who were intrepretors of Srimad

 

Ramanuja Sampradhayam. From the earlier posting ,

It was interesting for me to learn about the role of

Manavalamaamuni in the Manjal Neerattam festival dedicated for

the celebration of Thirumangai's contributions to Naalayira Divya-

Prabhandham. Earlier, Swami Desikanhad defended

the sacredness of the 4,000 at Kanchipuram and received the

Thiruchinnam of Lord Varadaraja as a reward for his noble efforts.

 

*** The Name Thaaandakam

 

In the next two Subsections (3.2& 3.3 ) , I will focus on the message of

yhe 50 verses of the two Thaandakams ofThirumangai

..I mentioned earlier that the two works can be viewed as Dhandam

or Staff used by the Azhwar in the ultimate stage of his Spiritual journey

after

declaring his unfailing love to Sriman Narayana through the two madals.

In another view , the assignment of the name of Thaandakam is linked to the

Tamil word Thaand(uth)al or leaping over, Just as Hanuman did ,when he

jumped over the Indian Ocean to Sri Lanka on the Lord's misison. Thirumangai

Azhwar is said to have jumped over the sorrows of Samsara with Sriman Narayana"s

grace and articulated his experiences assoicated with such Leaps as the two

Thandakams. This is the reason for Parasara Bhattar's reverence for these two

works of Thirumangai and his choice of The Thirunedumthaandakam to win over

"Namjeeyar" to the Sri Vaishnavite Tradition.

 

Azhwar Thiruvadigaleh Saranam,

Oppilkiappankoil Varadachari Sadagopan