tErezhundUr

[Guest guest]

Dear Mani,

I've got my version from a local Sankara Mutt friend of mine.

He generally makes no mistake in getting his historical facts.

If you and Sri."Rengi" do come up with inaccuracies it must be that I have

goofed and got it wrong from this friend of mine.

I await your research findings.

While you are on it can you also please check out any authentic "pramAnam"

to show that Parvati and Vishnu are siblings. Another member, Sri.Michael

Tandy posed me this question in a private mail and I can't seem to lay my

hands on any ready references in my horribly disorganized pile of personal

scrap-books. Another good member (who does not wish to be named) wants to

know how the "cow" came to be such a venerated symbol in Vedantic

faith/literature and what are the roots of this ancient symbolism.(I am not

sure if the cow is "symbolism"!)

These are all excellent questions which I feel should be discussed

threadbare on the list amongst erudite members like all of you. Please

oblige.

 

Thanks,

dAsan,

sudarshan

[Guest guest]

Sudarshan wrote:

> Dear Mani,

> I've got my version from a local Sankara Mutt friend of mine.

> He generally makes no mistake in getting his historical facts.

 

This is what I suspected. I have heard from another source

that the late Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati (known to

his devotees of Paramacharya) used to tell this story about

tErezhundUr. With due respect to the late swami, the story

as told by him does not conform at all to the sthala-purANa,

and the name "aamaruvi-appan" applies only to PerumaaL and

not to Siva.

 

Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati was quite learned in

Sanskrit vaidika Sastras, but it appears that his knowledge

of Divya Prabandham and associated lore (including Vaishnava

sthala purANas) was extremely lacking. His explanations of the

paasurams of the mudal-AzhvArs and the tiruppAvai, to name two

examples, show a marked lack of familiarity with the Prabandhic

corpus and the pUrvAcArya vyAkhyAnams. Several Sri Vaishnava

scholars who were his contemporaries have pointed out the flaws

in his explanations, and a few of these have been mentioned in

the past on this List.

 

aDiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,

Mani