WHAT IS THE QUALITY OF A SRI VAISHNAVAN?/ bhAratiyar's model.

[Guest guest]

Shri rAmAnujasya caraNao SaraNam pra/padyE

 

/namaskAram to all. I have read with great interest the postings in reply to

the question: "What is the quality of a /Sri vaishNavan?"

 

I would like to venture and add some more thoughts on this. One Shri Ram

Kumar "dared to venture" that there are very few vaishNavAs here on earth

right now? The question arises as to why, even though one may equally wonder

why the statement is not obvious to me.

 

I look at the root associations of the word /vaishNavA. It is a derivative of

the word /vishNu. The latter is a prefixed word: the prefix /vi precedes

/shnU.

 

The prefix /vi is a word of induction. Sometimes the negation is induced. The

prefix usually signifies /induced something/ or /not something/. /visva = not

self-existing or not self-created; /vibhA = induced light that is apparent

and is the one seen in practice. //vilAs = induced entertainment (like dance,

music, bhAvAs) and so expressively lively. As in /muka/vilAs. CivA is

/gaurI/vilAs! /shRi VishNU is Lakshmi/vilAs! Here Civa and VishNu are

induced by their respective consorts.

 

So /vishnU induces something that is associated with /shNu. He is the Lord of

that.

 

The word /shNu has associated with it two abstractions: They are /snEham and

/snigdam. The first word means /friendship/. The second word means /closeness

or intimacy/ /density/ etc.

 

The prefix /vai means an idealization or a heavenly association. Vai/kuntam

means heavenly seat of power on earth. /vaiRagyA means a kind of heavenly

love or ideal love. /vayaikam means an ideal earth like rAma/rAjyA or kingdom

of God on Earth.

 

So one can venture:

 

1. Friendship is the hallmark of a Shri vaishNava.

 

Since closeness is a relative concept, and the case of two people forming

friendship is already covered under friendship, this concept of closeness is

an extension of friendship to three or more persons. So a Shri vaishnava has

to be an active participant of a closley-knit community also called Shri

vaishNavAs.

 

We can define this second concept as

 

A community bhAvA or feeling of Fellowship is the second hallmark of a Shri

VasihNavA.

 

As we ponder about the two concepts, we can't help wonder what the link is.

The first is a personal private relationship; it is marked by informality

often. The second is a public community fellowship. The first involves

personal involvment, the second involves a sense of belonging and a sense of

participation, both formal and informal.

 

A Shri vaishNava is called upon to emulate these two concepts. They are in a

sense opposite. One exercises an inward pull, the other pushes one outward. A

ShrI vaishNava is called upon to balance these two forces acting in life in

the realm of private and public domains. His/her task is this balancing which

is a delicate act. It is this duality principle that makes it very difficult

to be an ideal /vaishNavA.

 

 

In order to explore the implications of these two concepts, one looks for a

model of friendship and a definition of friendship. Is there a concept

specifically called a ShRi vaishNava friendship? A concept of a Shri

VasihNava Community? How do you define them?

 

It would seem futile to attempt to answer such questions as they have immense

scope. So one looks for practical models? Ideal examples to formulate and

model upon.

 

One can think of several examples:

 

Shri krushNA and sudhAmA; Shri krushNa and the great ArjuNA; Shri duryOdhanA

and Shri karNA; the sage yajnavalkya and his wife MaithReyi; the sage

vashisTHa and his wife AruNdathI, Shri candran and Rohini; the sun and the

moon; etc. Also as metaphors: the sun and the lotus; the moon and the flower

kumudam etc.

 

Looking at the list, it is easy to choose krushNA and ArjuNa as the VaishNava

model of friendship. But why? What is so charactersitic of that friendship

that distinguishes it from the rest?

 

To capture the central element of that model, let us look at an identical

situation. In thinking of this model of friendship, we automatically choose

to think of the battle scene in the /mahA/bhAratA, where the brave warrior is

ready to drop off his famous bow /kANDIpA and run. His excuse: He is filled

with remorse. A critical scholar who does not share any emotional link to the

personages is likely to remark: "What an impostor! Only six months ago in

another battle, the impostor (Arjuna) himself dressed as an eunuch had sprung

from the chariot and caught hold of a running prince (Prince UttarA, the son

of King VirAT) and preached him to fight. Now the same ArjuNA repeats the

same act of cowardice and expects to run. What a parody! "

 

The two situations are not dissimilar. To an outsider, the pair (ArjuNA,

UttarA) is not unlike the pair (Shri krushNA, ArjuNA). The war scenes are

similar if not identical. The feeling of fear or despondency is also similar.

In the final outcome both pairs are victorious. But the second pair carries

with it the stamp of the Shri vaishNava Model, while the first woefuly fails

short. It is difficult for an outsider to see the differnce even when told.

 

In the first example, UttaRa is caught by the eunuch and asked to get up and

run the chariot. The eunuch trades positions and wages war. For all practical

purposes, they exchange their births for a few hours. The priince UttaRa

virtually becomes an eunuch and the charioteer in the act. He and ArjuNa both

acquired new karMas which are undesirable.

 

In the second model, krushNa does not exchange His seat. At no time does He

command ArjuNa to fight. After a long discourse on the meaning of duty and

its relationship to life and liberation, krushNA still asks ArjuNa to ponder

and take suitable action. One wonders what was the entire army of the

kauravAs doing all that time! But to krushNa that is a trifle of no

significance at that moment.

 

This is a typical requirement of the vaishNava model of friendship. You do

not do the homework of your son, daughter, or friend. But you teach and do

so patiently. Let your (our) friend learn now so that he or she can use the

tool you provide to solve other similar situations. No handouts. A shri

VaishNava provides his/her friend with the skills to solve problems, but

under no circumstances can solve the problem himself or herself. When he/she

breaks this sacred doctrine of an /acAryA, he /she falls short of the ideal

friendship expected of a ShrI vaishNava.

 

Thus in looking for a vaishNava model of friendship, we see that there are

some cardinal principles which are modeled by Shri krushNa in his special

relationship to ArjuNa, to the /gOpis and others like /sudhAmA.

 

The poet ShrI Subra/maNya bhAratI has developed a very beautiful model of

ShRi vaishNava concept of friendship. /MahA/Kavi bhAratiyAr has cast the

model into ten stanzas of the song /kaNNan en tOZan// He has singled out

about ten qualities as characteristic of a /shrI vaishNava model of

friendship.

 

I will stop here for now. I must say that I can't help feeling if I am out of

tune with list memebers. This seems a bit removed, even though it is not

difficult to argue that we are talking about the same ideas in different

contexts.

 

/vandanam.

 

/naha svI/kurvaka asmAt krupAm: May He cause us to be endowed with His Grace.

 

Visu