Guest guest Posted March 25, 2003 Report Share Posted March 25, 2003 There are zillions of names for the LORD...Which is supreme, which is best, which is the highest ? There cannot be a clear answer since each is better than the other. Each is unique and distinct. Each is relevant. Among the millilons of names, the ancients through their 'mantra drashtr' i.e. inward looking eye through severe austreties and practice of various forms of Yoga, they interpreted the various Vedic mantras and noted Dwadashnama i.e. 12 most appropriate ones, which were broadly representative of all the various names. The purpose also was to ensure that these 12 would be such names whcih will give the ordinary mortals a good idea of the LORD's powers, capacities, qualities, compassion and so on. Then the Rishis thought, since Kali Yuga is inevitable, Dharma will be tottering on one leg and before long there will reign utter chaos and misery on earth. So why not give the mortals a way out ? Namaa chanting was thus concieved. To ensure that the Namaa chanting was followed rigourously it was built-into the Sandyavandanam. Now comes Kesava, Narayana. Again, Kesava is 'KA' for Brahma and 'ISA' for Lord i.e. Lord of all. Another meaning in the Vishnu Purana is Kesava is Kesas or Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva i.e.all three. These are the only 3 basic forms of the same Brahman, Paramatama, or entire cosmos. There are six forms of worship. Shiva / Vishnu / Skanda / Ganapathy /Shakti Sauram (Sun) Off these six the basic three Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha are the foundation. Brahma due to a curse was not destined to be worshipped. But his presence, relevance etc. continues to be high and equal to the other two. Now Kesava therefore symbolised better than Narayana because right at the beginning of the Sandhyavandanm you use your primary limb i.e.thumb (without which you cannot normally function ) and bring to mind all the possible forms of the almighty. And therefore, it is Kesava. There are other meanings for Kesava too. Narayana is next best. You may well ask, why not Purushotama as second. Hope you got the spirit of the logical order ? Om Tat Sat Tat tvam asi "vijayalu" <vijayalu@batelc <bhakti-list>, o.com.bh> <> cc: 03/23/03 01:09 Doubt Dear Bhagavathas While doing sandhyavandanam. we are first chanting kesava and then Narayana and then it goes on. If Sreeman Narayana which we all know is Paramartha and the Supreme why His Name comes second? Please clarify Thanks VKV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 28, 2003 Report Share Posted March 28, 2003 Lakshmi Narasimhan <nrusimhan wrote:Fri, 28 Mar 2003 16:21:28 -0000 "Lakshmi Narasimhan" bhakti-list-owner Re: Doubt Srimathe RAmanujaya Namaha > There are zillions of names for the LORD...Which is supreme, which > is best, which is the highest ? There cannot be a clear answer > since each is better than the other. Each is unique and distinct. > Each is relevant. I would suggest the writer to read the Thirumanthrartha Prakaranam of Thattvathrayam by Swami Pillailokachariar and Rahasyathrayam by Swami Desikan. Unlike all other manthrams, the three manthrams that more or less are close to defining the ultimate i.e the brahman - the vyapaka manthrams namely Narayanan, Vasudevan and Vishnu. The works by the purvacharyas show that Narayanan is the namam that best defines the lord. Om Namo Narayanaya is also called as the Thirumanthram and the Manthra-Rajan and this manthram explains the Athmaswaroopam and the Paramathmaswaroopam. And this is why it is usually believed that Narayanan is the best namam. So, the question posed was, if Narayanan is the best manthram i.e the king of the manthras, why is it placed next to Keshava in the Sandhyavandhana Sequence. I don't have an answer for this either, but I recall that, Shri Putthur Krishnaswamy Iyengar's father had published an excellent book called the Sandhyavandhana Bhashyam (not the one that was written by our Purvacharyar swamy Shri Sudarsana Suri Bhattar) quoting the purvacharya granthams. This book explains the Vishishtadvaita, Advaita, Dvaita, Meemamsa perspectives of each sub-ritual that is performed during this NithyaKarma. > There are six forms of worship. > Shiva / Vishnu / Skanda / Ganapathy /Shakti / Sauram (Sun) I would like to know the source of this information. Kindly let us know about the same. As far as I know, Ganapathy is one of the siva- ganas and not a son of Siva and had never been a form of worship as being portrayed now. Tracing back the history this concept more or less began some time after the azhwar's period. There is no reference to Ganapathy in the ramayana/mahabharatha though it has been a belief that Ganapathy wrote the Vyasa Bharatha with his tusk, which is not true as per the authentic texts. Neither do the Azhwars refer to this Ganapathy. But, Amudhanar does refer to this gana-pathy in Ramanuja Nootrandhadhi - "Karthigaiyanum, 'KARI-MUGATTHANUM', Kanalum Mukkan Moortthiyum modiyum veppum mudhugittu" - KARI-MUGAM means ELEPHANT- FACE. But in the puranas(?) there is a mention of Vishnu Ganapathy(one of the Ganas of the Senai Mudhaliyar has the elephant face - prasanna vadhanam - Vishwaksenam thamashraye) and Lakshmi Ganapathy, but I doubt whether they are being mentioned as the forms of worship. > these six the basic three Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha are the > foundation This is not so as believed and followed by the followers of Shri Ramanuja Sampradayam. Brahma and Shiva are also Jeevatmas who occupy a higher post. Vishnu is the very supreme self's form i.e one among the five different forms of the supreme - Para, Vyuha, Vibhava, Antharyami and Archai. There are lots of purvacharya works that explain and substantiate these beliefs and there are umpteen posts that are available in the archives regarding the forms of the ultimate etc. Again, learned scholars, kindly correct me if I am wrong. As the moderator had mentioned umpteen times, let us stick to the charter of this list and answer from that perspective.. Sarva Aparadhaan Kshamasva! Yatheendra Pravanam Vandhe RAMYA Jamataram Munim Adiyen RAmanuja Dasan, Lakshmi Narasimhan bhakti-list, s.ramachandran@h... wrote: > There are zillions of names for the LORD...Which is supreme, which is best, > which is the highest ? There cannot be a clear answer since each is better > than the other. Each is unique and distinct. Each is relevant. > > Among the millilons of names, the ancients through their 'mantra drashtr' > i.e. inward looking eye through severe austreties and practice of various > forms of Yoga, they interpreted the various Vedic mantras and noted > Dwadashnama i.e. 12 most appropriate ones, which were broadly > representative of all the various names. The purpose also was to ensure > that these 12 would be such names whcih will give the ordinary mortals a > good idea of the LORD's powers, capacities, qualities, compassion and so > on. > > Then the Rishis thought, since Kali Yuga is inevitable, Dharma will be > tottering on one leg and before long there will reign utter chaos and > misery on earth. So why not give the mortals a way out ? > > Namaa chanting was thus concieved. To ensure that the Namaa chanting was > followed rigourously it was built-into the Sandyavandanam. > > Now comes Kesava, Narayana. Again, Kesava is 'KA' for Brahma and 'ISA' > for Lord i.e. Lord of all. Another meaning in the Vishnu Purana is > Kesava is Kesas or Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva i.e.all three. These are the > only 3 basic forms of the same Brahman, Paramatama, or entire cosmos. > There are six forms of worship. Shiva / Vishnu / Skanda / Ganapathy > /Shakti Sauram (Sun) Off these six the basic three Brahma, Vishnu and > Mahesha are the foundation. Brahma due to a curse was not destined to > be worshipped. But his presence, relevance etc. continues to be high > and equal to the other two. > > Now Kesava therefore symbolised better than Narayana because right at > the beginning of the Sandhyavandanm you use your primary limb i.e.thumb > (without which you cannot normally function ) and bring to mind all the > possible forms of the almighty. And therefore, it is Kesava. There are > other meanings for Kesava too. > > Narayana is next best. You may well ask, why not Purushotama as second. > Hope you got the spirit of the logical order ? > > Om Tat Sat > Tat tvam asi > > > > > "vijayalu" > list>, > o.com.bh> > cc: > 03/23/03 01:09 Subject: Doubt > > Dear Bhagavathas > > While doing sandhyavandanam. we are first chanting kesava and then Narayana > and then it goes on. If Sreeman Narayana which we all know is Paramartha > and the Supreme why His Name comes second? > > Please clarify > > Thanks > VKV > > > Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 1, 2003 Report Share Posted April 1, 2003 > I would suggest the writer to read the Thirumanthrartha Prakaranam > of Thattvathrayam by Swami Pillailokachariar...... My sincere apologies for a small misinformation: The Thirumanthrartha Prakaranam is in Mumukshuppadi and not in the Tattvathrayam. Adiyen RAmanuja DAsan, Lakshmi Narasimhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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