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In the light of the recent Sanskrit vs. Tamil discussions here, this

news item may be of interest the readers of Bhakti list!

 

Om thath savithuravrenyam, Bhargo devasya dheemahi Dheeyoyonna

prachodayath,

Om thath savithurvarenyam Can you feel the sublime magnificence of

Samskrutham?

Can the language fanatics achieve the beauty of these lines in any

other language? Of course not!" hissed a Sanskrit lover angrily.

Irrespective of the caste they belong to, irrespective of the class

they belong to, the rest of the Sanskrit bhakta (devotee) clan echoed

similar sentiments. It was a strange reaction. For the Dravidian

movement is deep-rooted in the psyche of the state of Tamil Nadu and

Tamilians, as a whole, are militantly passionate about their language

and culture. And it was expected that the Tamil people would sing

hosannas about state Tamil Development Minister Tamilkudi Magan's

instruction that all temples in Tamil Nadu would henceforth perform

archanas (prayers) in Tamil, instead of the original Sanskrit. But 99

per cent of those I spoke to (and I spoke to nearly 50 people) were

none too happy with the interference of politicians in religious

matters. And they expressed both their hostility and unhappiness in

very strong terms. It was a sentiment that had been simmering for a

while. For, the moment the DMK government came into power, they

indulged in a changing spree. And changed the names of everything --

from the name boards of the shops, to the names of the streets, to the

name of Madras itself -- from English to Tamil. Each move took place

with a vengeance; it was as if the local language was the panacea, as

if the local language would send the state rocketing into the plane of

prosperity. Once they changed the name of the city, they focused their

attention on the Hindu temples. And began by instructing the priests

to conduct the archana in Tamil so that devotees could understand what

was being conveyed to God. Suresh, a regular at his local temple, is

furious at this ham-handed political interference in religion.

"Devotion is not bound by language. What is important is the

satisfaction a devotee gets by listening to the chanting of the

mantras (hymns) in Sanskrit. No other language in the world can

imitate the resonance of this chanting or replicate its soul-stirring

effect. This decision by the government is utter nonsense. How is it

that these people, who do not believe in God, are suddenly interested

in what happens within the precincts of a temple? They should leave

these matters to those who believe in the Almighty." On a more

practical note, he strongly feels tradition should not be dishonoured

or abandoned. Besides, he believes none of the people who go to a

temple actually listen to the mantras since they are too immersed in

communicating their problems to God. Pappamma believes in God, but

does not find the time to perform poojas or visit temples. Her busy

life revolves around her tea shop, her only source of living. "Though

I am very progressive in my outlook, I feel that we have to leave

certain things as they are. Tradition, for example. Why do we follow

traditions? Because we like them. What I cannot understand is the

attitude of the DMK. They call themselves atheists. Then why should

they interfere in the affairs of those who believe in God?" Saroja, a

flower-seller, seems rather confused about the whole affair. She

started off by saying, 'Tamil is our language, so the Iyers (read

priests) should do the archana in the language we know and not in the

language that they know." She thought for a moment, then changed her

mind. "On second thoughts, nobody has the right to change tradition.

These politicians should do their work and not interfere in our

relationship with God." Panchali, who sells fruits in a residential

area, criticised the politicians severely for entering this prohibited

area. "I am against any politician deciding what is to be done in a

temple. These people do not believe in God, so why should they create

such confusion? Politics is different and religion is different,

nobody should mix the two." But she strongly believes the archana

should only be performed in a language the devotees want, know and

understand. "There is only one God and God understands all languages

including English, Hindi and Telugu. Still, I feel that the priests

should chant the mantras only in Tamil. We understand Tamil, not the

language the priests use. By the way, what is the name of the

language?" Vijaya, a young housemaid, visits temples regularly, and

asks for archanas. "Are you telling me that they do not chant the

mantras in Tamil? I never knew that. I thought it was Tamil. I never

understood what they said, but I thought that was because I could not

hear them clearly. The priests are inside the inner sanctum while we

stand outside. So, it doesn't matter to me whether they do it in Tamil

or some other language. But I like the tune of the mantras. It is like

good music. That is why I do not want anyone to change it." Though Dr

Sivacharyar claims that this is an attempt by the government to

enlighten the people, the latter do not seem to think so. The priests

themselves admit there are not many devotees who ask for the archana

to be performed in Tamil. Except for the 70-year-old Dr Sivacharyar,

none of the other priests were willing to talk to the press.

"Naturally, the priests are scared to talk," said someone, who spoke

on condition of anonymity. "Recently, a priest was quoted in a

newspaper saying that poojas should be done only in Sanskrit. Do you

know what happened to him? He was suspended. So it is question of the

poor priests' survival, you know!" This is where the chief priest of

the Kapaleeswara temple at Mylapore, one of the oldest temples in

Madras, disagrees with Sunder, "I am a retired Sanskrit professor,"

says Dr Viswanatha Sivacharyar. "But I still feel that my great

great-grandfather erred by performing the archana in Sanskrit. What I

am doing now is correcting his mistake." He cites his reasons. "You

pray -- mathru devo bhava, pithru devo bhava, acharaya devo bhava… But

what is your mother tongue, your mathru bhasha? Tamil. You should

first pray in your mother tongue." Not many whose mathru bhasha is

Tamil agree with the chief priest. Subramaniam, for one, angrily

challenged the political parties. "Yes, there is only one God and you

can pray to God in any language. But why do you want to change the

existing language? I don't understand why they have suddenly taken

this decision. "See, according to them, there is no God, the deity is

only a stone. So why do they interfere in our beliefs and affairs? Are

we harming them by praying in Sanskrit? This is because the Dravidian

parties believe that Sanskrit is the language of the Brahmins. It is

one of the oldest languages in the world and all over, especially in

Germany, there is a renewed interest in Sanskrit. "Let me challenge

the politicians, can they interfere in the affairs of Muslims? Can

they do the same thing in a mosque? Can they ask the Muslims to say

their prayers to Tamil? Let them do that first and then come to a

temple. There are so many things to be done in this state. Why can't

they concentrate on achieving that instead?" Subramaniam's wife, Jaya,

joins the tirade. "The essence of the words are lost when Sanskrit is

translated into Tamil because Tamil is just not as rich a language,

not does it have as many alphabets. I know Sanskrit, and Tamil is my

mother tongue. But when I read certain translations, I find my

language lacking in many things. So, it is better to do the archana in

Sanskrit itself. The truth is, neither the priests nor the devotees

want Tamil. Now it is a question of what is more important -- the

obstinacy of the politicians or the satisfaction of the devotees?" Dr

Sivacharyar countered the argument by saying that none of the shlokas

are translated from Sanskrit. Instead, they are taken from an original

source called Thirumuraithiruvasakam. "So, the question of using wrong

words in place of the original does not arise at all," he said. But

the devotees were aghast to hear the names of Karunanidhi, Tamilkudi

Magan and certain hymns in praise of the party in the Tamil version of

the archana. "Let me make one thing very clear," said the chief

priest. "The government is not coercing or compelling us to do the

archana in Tamil. We do so only at the insistence of the devotees. As

for reciting the names of Karunanidhi and Tamilkudi Magan during the

archana, do you know Lord Shiva is called Karunanidhi and Lord Muruga,

Tamilkudi Magan? Anyway, we have removed all those names from the

mantras now. The devotees must understand that we are not doing

anything to please Karunanidhi. And I am, at this moment, referring to

the chief minister and not Lord Siva?" Sceptical devotees, though,

were not convinced.

 

**In the light of this, the controversy regarding who can do

recitation of Sri Vishnu sahasranama sthothram, becomes mute! **

 

Belur Dasarathy

 

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