SriJayanthi

[Guest guest]

Regarding SriJayanthi Adiyen has this to say

 

Five thousand years ago, when Srikrishna was born, the day was

Simha masam (Avani), Sravana masam, Bahula, Ashtami. and Rohini star.

Hence ideally all these conditions have to match to celebrate

Srijayanthi. But many a times they dont coincide. So the authorities of

various sections of Hindus, have adopted their own criterion for

celebration. For some it is enough if it is Sravana Bahula Ashtami, that

is Srikrishna Janmashtami. Coming to Iyengars, Avani (Simha) masam, Rohini

Ashtami and bahula (dark fortnight) are more important than Sravana

masam. But still among the various groups of Iyengars, there are followers

of Siddhanta system, Vakya, Mannar, Thozhappar, etc. For Thozhappars

Rohini is necessary or so. For Mannars and others Ashtami is

necessary it seems. This is the general rule as far as Adiyen knows. But

this time, SriJayanthi falls in Mahalaya Paksha. For Mannar tradition it

is on 10th Sept and for Thozhappar tradition it is on 11th Sept. According

to a well known Mysore Almanac, however, Ashtami and Rohini coincide

on 10th Sept. It will be helpful for all if some astrologer Srivaishnava

can elaborate on these matters in bhakthi list.

 

( For example by the way, the Yajur Upakarma for Siddhanta followers this

year was on 3rd Aug and for Vakya followers it was on 4th Aug. Gayathri

Japam was on 5th Aug for both. But some of the Vadakalai mathams followed

both Yajur Upakarma and Gayathri on 4th Aug only, whereas many of the

vadakalais did Yajur Upakarma on 4th and Gayathri on 5th. )

Hence it is all a question of their traditional following. There is no

common day for celebrations of any thing for all Iyengars also.

***********************************************

 

Another point to be considered, going by the way the SriJayanthi is

conducted with the preparation of sweets and savouries as well as

preparation of Thairvada, Pepper curry and sajjiappa and athirasa etc one

feels whether it is not only a celebration of Sri KrishnaAvatara but

also His departure from the Earth on the same day. Knowledgeable members

of the list are requested to throw more light on this doubt and clarify.

 

Adiyen

Ramanujadasan

Ramanuja

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

 

There have been a number of questions about when

Sri Vaishnavas celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna,

and why there are differences of opinion concerning

such an important event in different parts of the

country. One reader has quizzically wondered as to

why there are so many differences in the "Hindu calendar".

 

We should first set aside the notion of a single,

unitary "Hindu calendar", the word Hindu being a modern,

cultural, notion and a religiously meaningless construction.

Each region and religious tradition of India has a

separate calendar, often with wildly differing rules.

This is because the Vedic tradition is inherently

diverse, recognizing that different ways of

celebrating are appropriate in different parts of

the country. In today's times, with religious values

declining and monochromatic trans-culturalism the name

of the game, personal and familial religious identities

are being forgotten and people often hold on only to

the lowest common denominator. But enough about this.

 

With respect to the specific case of Lord Krishna's

birth, Sri M.N.Ramanuja writes:

> Regarding SriJayanthi Adiyen has this to say

>

> Five thousand years ago, when Srikrishna was born, the day was

> Simha masam (Avani), Sravana masam, Bahula, Ashtami. and Rohini star.

> Hence ideally all these conditions have to match to celebrate

> Srijayanthi.

 

Sri M.N. Ramanuja has succinctly described the problem.

Different interpretations of the texts that describe

Sri Krishna's birth lead to different conclusions as

to when to celebrate it.

 

The factors are:

 

1) solar month

2) lunar month

3) nakshatra (constellation aligned with the moon)

4) tithi (loosely, phase of the moon)

5) how to determine these when combined with other factors

such as sunrise or moonrise

 

The smArta tradition generally observes the birth of

Sri Krishna on SrAvaNa-krishna-ashTamI, giving importance

only to the tithi. They also generally follow the lunar calendar

for this observance and celebrate it in SrAvaNa (lunar month),

without paying attention to the nakshatra or the solar month.

(Those who are familiar with the smArta tradition should feel

free to correct me. There may be local variations.)

 

Most other religious traditions in the country have followed this

practice. Since for all these traditions the tithi is given

importance, those who follow this reckoning call the day

(Sri Krishna) janmAshTamI or gokulAshTamI.

 

The Sri Vaishnava tradition has carefully taken into account

all the different shastras including the pAncarAtra agama

texts which provide a wealth of guidance in this matter

and calculates the day differently. For us, the nakshatra

(rOhiNI) is given primary importance, with ashTamI also taken into

consideration (more on this later). The particular conjunction

of the ashTamI tithi and rOhiNI is known as 'jayantI', and this

day is described by many of the shastras as being the auspicious

birthday of Sri Krishna [texts cited include vishnu-dharmottara-

purANa, vishnu-rahasya, and sanatkumAra samhitA]. Since the

junction of ashTamI and rohiNI is what we take into account,

we say that Sri Krishna was born on 'SrI jayantI'.

 

Please note that the word 'jayantI' by itself is sufficient to

refer to Sri Krishna's birthday. There is no need to say

'Krishna Jayanti'. It is only in a secondary sense that we

say Sri Narasimha Jayanti, Gandhi Jayanti, Ambedkar Jayanti,

etc. These are all out of courtesy. The name 'jayantI' proper

refers only to the birth of Sri Krishna. For example, we have

Sri Vedanta Desika's well-known opening sloka from Sri Gopala

Vimsati:

 

vande bRndAvana-caram, vallavI-jana-vallabham |

jayantI sambhavam dhAma vaijayantI-vibhUshaNam ||

^^^^^^^

 

Within the Sri Vaishnava tradition itself, there have developed

slight differences as to when to observe SrI jayantI. Pages

and pages have been written by some erudite scholars over the

years arguing over which is correct. There is also disagreement

as to *how* exactly to observe the day. Should one observe

upavAsa through the night, ceremonially breaking the fast the next

morning, or should one eat immediately after the midnight

pUja / ArAdhana? These are complex issues that I barely

understand myself and I won't begin discussing them here.

I will confine this discussion to the date on which to observe

SrI jayantI.

 

Broadly, there are two different opinions within the Sri

Vaishnava tradition concerning this matter. One can be

called the 'mannAr' tradition, the other the 'tOzhappar'

tradition. (In a nutshell, the difference stems from

lunar vs. solar month and whether to take sunrise or

moonrise into consideration for determining jayantI.

this will be explained below.)

 

The mannAr tradition is followed by Sri Parakala

Matham and 'munitraya' tradition Sri Vaishnavas such as

both Andavan Ashramams and most Vadagalai acharya-purusha

families. It is named after one mannAr svAmi of unknown date

who is the first extant authority arguing for this calculation.

mannAr svAmi is known to have very eminent predecessors who

shared his opinion, such as the Upanishad Bhashyakara Ranga

Ramanujacharya.

 

The tOzhappar tradition is followed by Sri Ahobila Matham and

Thengalai Sri Vaishnavas (knowledgable members of the Thengalai

tradition please correct me if I am wrong). It is named after Sri

Vaidika Sarvabhauma Swami, also known as Kidambi Thozhappar, who

wrote a detailed text establishing the reasoning behind his

tradition. He was a disciple of the founding Jeeyar Swami of Sri

Ahobila Matham.

 

Having briefly laid out the history, here are the differences

themselves. The tOzhappar tradition is simpler so I will lay

it out first.

 

tOzhappar SrI jayantI:

 

1) Only the solar month is taken into account.

So it must be in simha (AvaNi) mAsam, which

is mid-August to mid-September.

 

2) The target date in this month is kRshna-ashTamI

(8th day of the waning phase of the moon) in conjunction

with rOhiNI. However, on that day, not even a tiny bit

of saptamI should exist post-sunrise, nor should there

be any kRttikA nakshatram.

 

3) If there is no pure ashTamI-rOhiNI conjunction as

described in (2), navamI-rOhiNi is the next preferred

conjunction, with once again a pure rOhiNi mandatory.

 

4) If (3) is not possible, mRgaSIrsha nakshatra combined

with navamI or daSamI is the next preferred choice.

 

5) If this observance of SrI jayantI does not fall on

ashTamI, the ashTamI is treated as any other day and

requires no special observance.

 

 

mannAr SrI jayantI:

 

1) The ideal date is the conjunction of rOhiNI and

kRshNa-ashTamI that lasts from sunrise through the

night. (This need not happen in the solar month of

AvaNi. Lunar month of SrAvaNa before AvaNi begins

is also okay.)

 

2) If (1) is not possible, if at moonrise it is

rOhiNI as well as ashTamI, that date should be

taken. Neither the rOhiNi nor the ashTamI need

be pure as in the tOzhappar tradition.

 

3) If (2) is not possible, if there is any conjunction

of ashTamI and rOhinI day or night, that calendar

day should be taken as SrI jayantI.

 

There are 12 more cases in the mannAr tradition which

get quite complicated. But the primary focus in all

is some occurrence of rOhiNI. In no circumstance

should navamI without rOhiNI be taken as SrI jayantI.

(Some other circumstances such as being on a Wednesday

[sri Krishna is said to be born on this day of the week]

push the date in one direction or another.)

 

The key is that in neither mannAr nor tOzhappar is

the tithi given preference. This is why only rarely

does the Sri Vaishnava date coincide with the

smArta date.

 

This should explain why the mannAr tradition

sometimes observes SrI jayantI as much as a month

before the tOzhappar tradition. Since the latter

exclusively prefers the solar month, their date

often falls several weeks later. Further,

it also explains why the mannAr observance

is often just a day before the tOzhappar date.

This is because the mannAr tradition takes into

account moonrise whereas the tOzhappar tradition

only takes into account sunrise.

 

Occasionally, mannAr tradition Sri Vaishnavas have

to observe two days of fasting in a row -- janmAshTamI

as well as SrI jayantI. This is when the ashTamI and

rOhiNI simply do not coincide at all and fall one

after another in the solar month of AvaNi. Note

that this janmAshTamI is not the same as the smArta

calculation of janmAshTamI.

 

I hope this matter has been clarified a little bit.

In a few days, I will post the correct day on which

to observe these according to the US panchAngams.

 

Note: texts consulted:

o 'SrI jayantI nirNaya' by Sri Gopalarya Mahadesika

o 'Ahnika granthaH' of Sri Villivalam Krishnamacharya

(present Sri Azhagiya Singar in pUrvASrama)

 

 

With regards,

Mani

[Guest guest]

The elaborate explanation of Sri Mani Varadarajan is very much

appreciated. Just as in Vadakalai sampradayam, there are part of them

following the Mannar tradition and part of them following Tozhappar

tradition, there are a part of Tenkalais who follow Mannar tradition like

KeezhnattIyengars and others and another part of them following Thozhappar

tradition of Almanac, like Mandayam Srivaishnavas and

others. Incidentally, Thozhappar belonged to the Kandadai family as told

in Upadesharatnamalai of Swami ManavalaMamuni ' Kandadai Thozhappar tham

ukappaal yenna Ulakaariyano ennuraittha'' regarding Swami Nambillai as

described in the latest Bhakti list post by Sri V.Satagopan mama.

Incidentally srivenugopalakrishna temple in Malleswaram Bangalore follows

Thozhappar tradition for SriJayanthi and other festivals.

Similarly there are two more divisions called siddhanta and Vakya in

Almanacs for which also the followers are distributed in all Kalais.

 

By the way the last question regarding the dual celebration of sriJayanthi

with sweets and savouries as well as thairvadais and atirasam amd

sojjiappam and pepper koottu is to be explained by learned members.

 

With Regards

Ramanujadasan

Ramanuja.M.N

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Sri Brahmatantra Swatantra Parakala Guru Paramparaayai Nama:

 

"Mani Varadarajan" <mani

 

| The smArta tradition generally observes the birth of

| Sri Krishna on SrAvaNa-krishna-ashTamI, giving importance

| only to the tithi. They also generally follow the lunar calendar

| for this observance and celebrate it in SrAvaNa (lunar month),

| without paying attention to the nakshatra or the solar month.

| (Those who are familiar with the smArta tradition should feel

| free to correct me. There may be local variations.)

 

While it may be true that the smaartha tradition follows the Lunar

calendar, it is also true that the entire SriVaishnava-Telugu

speaking community also follows the Lunar calendar. I came to know

of Solar Calendar only after I met some of my tamil speaking

Sri Vaishnava friends. However, is there any information available

as to "why", we have two forms of calendars (Solar/Lunar) ?

 

|

| The key is that in neither mannAr nor tOzhappar is

| the tithi given preference. This is why only rarely

| does the Sri Vaishnava date coincide with the

| smArta date.

 

It is a general principle in Sri Sampradayam to observe

festivals based on Nakshatram ? If the thithi and nakshatram

are occuring on two different days, which one should one

account for, in determining a date ? (This may well be applicable to

one's own birthday !)

 

sri laxmi hayagriva parabrahmane nama:

 

rajeev

[Guest guest]

Rajeev writes:

> While it may be true that the smaartha tradition follows the Lunar

> calendar, it is also true that the entire SriVaishnava-Telugu

> speaking community also follows the Lunar calendar. I came to know

> of Solar Calendar only after I met some of my tamil speaking

> Sri Vaishnava friends. However, is there any information available

> as to "why", we have two forms of calendars (Solar/Lunar) ?

 

The Karnataka Sri Vaishnava community also generally follows

the lunar calendar for day-to-day activities, even though they

are Tamil-speaking. This is because of the general rule that

one adopts local calendrical customs after several years of

continuous residence in that place. Sri Rangapriya Swami

has mentioned several times that after 12 years in a new

place one should generally adopt the local calendar.

 

However, even though you are Telugu, I am sure the solar

calendar still plays a part in your family life. For example,

I am sure you observe makara sankrAnti. This is a phenomenon

of the solar calendar. Similarly, orthodox Vaidikas perform

pitR-tarpaNam on every sankramaNa, or at least on several

sankramaNas in the year, which in the solar calendar

marks the beginning of a new month. The solar calendar is

also a Vedic calendar, as has been mentioned by Sri Sadagopan

several years ago in a detailed article on this topic.

 

The "why" of this is that the Vedic calendar actually is

"luni-solar", not exclusively lunar or solar. What this means

is that people generally observe both lunar and solar cycles

(months and years), every so often adding an extra (adhika)

or "intercalary" month to the lunar calendar to make it

coincide again with the solar calendar. This happens every

three years or so and needs to be done because lunar months

are shorter than solar months. More emphasis is placed

on either the lunar or solar parts of the calendar depending

on local custom. Karnataka and Telugu people place more

emphasis on the lunar cycle, for example. Residents of

Tamil Nadu place more emphasis on the solar cycle. However,

both are generally observed by all. My paternal ancestors

have been residents of the Mysore area for nearly a thousand

years, so Yugadi is a big festival for us. However, we

still observe the Tamil 'varsha-piRappu', though in not

as grand a manner.

> It is a general principle in Sri Sampradayam to observe

> festivals based on Nakshatram?

 

The rule is that Alvar-acharya tirunakshatrams are generally

observed on the solar calendar plus nakshatram. This is because

most of our Alvar-acharyas spent their lives in the Tamil

country where the solar calendar is and was in vogue.

 

Sri Jayanti, as I pointed out in my previous mail, is a more

complicated topic and varies depending on sampradAya and

family custom, but invariably involves rOhiNi nakshatra

for Sri Vaishnavas. Sri Rama Navami and Sri Narasimha Jayanti

are observed according to the tithi, with some observing these

in the solar months and others observing them in the lunar months.

> If the thithi and nakshatram

> are occuring on two different days, which one should one

> account for, in determining a date ? (This may well be applicable to

> one's own birthday !)

 

For your own birthday, I think the rule is that you should

follow your own family's custom. Generally, Sri Vaishnavas

always observe the nakshatra, but solar or lunar month

probably depends on family practice.

 

Mani