Discussion of jeans

[Guest guest]

Dear esteemed members of Bhakti List,

 

Namo Narayana! Please accept adiyen's pranaams.

 

My name is Vasudevan (Wajdi to non-Vaishnavas) and I have been a long time

observer on this list. I have learned a great deal about our sampradayam

here and wish to thank each and every member for the much appreciated (and

needed) information he or she contributes.

 

I do not write to the list often because I fear I have much too much yet to

learn to be taking stands on issues that I do not know enough about. I am

sure that this is one of those times. However, I felt compelled to write

because of what I perceived to be a negative shift in the overall mood of

the list in past days over the issue of veshti vs. "jeans."

 

I am sure that most members of the list can tell that my name(Wajdi) is not

Indian. In fact, I am a Lebanese(Arab)-American convert to this most

wonderful and glorious Shri sampradayam ( I was recently honoured to take

samashrayanam under HH 45 Jeeyar of Ahobila Muttam via Shri Venkat Swamy in

New York). Truly I am blessed beyond words. My interest in this newest

debate is related to my background as a non-Indian. I would like to begin by

saying, therefore, that my email might be perceived as being irrelevant to

this particular discussion because I do not know to what extent it was to be

applied to both Indian and non-Indian Shri Vaishnavas. I have taken it to be

aimed at all of us so I request the esteemed members to please forgive me if

I have misunderstood.

 

As a Shri Vaishnava, I feel that it is mandatory to wear Thiruman/Shri

choornam whenever possible. This is above and beyond all other issues of

appearance and ethnic/cultural division. For me, it comes not out of a

feeling of obligation, but out of a desire to please Perumal and announce to

the world that I belong to Him. I believe that this issue is separate from

clothing issues simply because thiruman and Shri choornam are symbols of our

relationship with Perumal - unlike the veshti which (while it can take on

religious meaning in the proper context) is worn not only by Vaishnavas but

by Shaivas/Smartas/and even Christians! That being said, when I attend the

temple I try to always wear veshti/angavasthram as is proscribed by our

Acharyas as well as in shastras. However, again, I do this because of my

personal (and selfish?) desire to make Perumal happy. It is my fear that

forcing everyone to wear veshti/saree to the temple will alienate some very

sincere and highly devoted people who, for their own reasons, find it

impossible. I personally do not think that allowing leniency in this area

leads to leniency in all other areas of regulation or to the general

downfall of religious principles in Shri Vaishnavam. Of course, I am only

concluding that from personal experiences. Actually, I have found that

whether wearing veshti or not, there are sadly much too many undereducated

Shri Vaishnavas (myself definitely included) who cannot even properly

articulate the basics of our sampradayam. I hope that more emphasis can be

placed on the education of our community and less emphasis placed on these

tangential issues. I have known several Ayyangars who do devoted anya-devata

worship and have no idea that according to their own sampradaya that it is a

sin. While it is easy to see someone's hope for all Shri Vaishnavas to

measure up to a certain outward standard, I cannot help but think that there

are other issues such as that of anya-devata worship and lack of people

performing prappathi that are much more pressing and vital to the very

existence of our faith.

 

As Shri Sudarshan was saying in his message, many Arabs take pride in

wearing dishdasha and abaaya. However, I think that it is important to note

that many many Arabs do not wear dishdasha or abaaya and are still very much

tied to Arab culture. In fact, as Lebanese, the dishdasha is not a part of

our culture at all. As long as the fundamentals of conservative dressing are

maintained, the majority of Lebanese (and indeed most modern Arab) men and

women see no difference in what they wear to the mosque. My point is that

while we are all Arabs and all proud of being Arab, our manner of dress is

incredibly diverse (and only in specific cases such as the ladies' hijab

tied at all to religion). To me, then, the issue of clothing takes on

notably cultural (as opposed to religious) characteristics. It is not in

Lebanese culture to wear dishdasha while it is in Baharaini culture.

Clearly, no matter what they wear, the Muslims from both countries remain

Muslims. For that matter, Christian Arabs in certain parts of the Middle

East also wear the dishdasha.

 

I think that Indians, on whole, would be greatly aided by fostering pride in

wearing saree and veshti but I do not think that forcing someone to wear

them will achieve the desired goal. Education -as Shri Sudarshan pointed

out- seems to be the key. If younger Indians are taught to see the

importance and relevance of wearing traditional clothes, then they will be

less likely to blindly shun them as relics of the past. Whether or not they

will maintain devotion to Sriman Narayana is a different matter.

 

Thank those of you who got this far for taking the time to read this quite

long-winded message. I am sure that I have inadvertently committed many sins

and I ask for pardon if I have committed any bhagavatha-apacharam. It was

only my intention to express my opinion on these matters and not to inflame

or create any controversy.

 

 

 

adiyen

Vasudeva Ramanuja dasan