Prof. Vasuda Narayanan's Evaluation of "Hinduism Rediscovered"

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavatas:

I am happy to forward an evaluation of "Hinduism Rediscovered" by Prof.

Vasudha Narayanan, HOD, Department of Religion in University of Florida and

President, "American Academy of Religions" n(AAR) for your information.

 

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

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"HINDUISM REDISCOVERED":

A Contemporary Study of Hindu thought (from the Vedic roots to flowering of

Srivaishnavam)

By Anbil Ramaswamy.

Pub: The Tiruvenkatam Group, Kuwait,

Printed by Sri Rama Publishers, 25, 15th Cross, 5th Main, Srinidhi Lay out,

Bangalore 560 062. Year of publication: 2004

Price Rs.480/= (in India); Ex-India US $ 48/=

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Check to be drawn favoring “Ramaswamy Anbil” and sent to

IN INDIA: Ramaswamy Anbil, 25 (Old 22) 2nd East Park Street, Prithvipakkam,

Ambattur, Chennai- 600 053 Phone: 044-2657 3246

IN USA: Ramaswamy Anbil, 1037 Welsh Ayers Way, Downingtown,

PA- 19335 Phone: (610) 873-2523.

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Sri Anbil Ramaswamy’s Hinduism Rediscovered–A Contemporary Study of Hindu

Thought, from Vedic roots to flowering of Sri Vaishnavam is a very learned

and complex book. A hefty 832 pages long, it focuses on theistic Sri

Vaishnava philosophy and beliefs which are contextualized against the larger

Hindu tradition/s and customs. It is written by a scholar who practices

what he preaches. The author is an erudite disciple of Sri Poundarikauram

Andavan, a religious leader of the Sri Vaishnava community, and has spent

his whole life learning about the tradition from extraordinarily

knowledgeable teachers of the sampradaya. Sri Anbil Ramaswamy has learned

from many traditional teachers as well as scholarly books (both Indian and

western academic works), newspapers, magazines, and just by living.

 

The book is a compendium of philosophical explanations, detailed analyses,

and interesting information from Sanskrit texts, from a person who has not

only the traditional knowledge but reflects on them from his several years

of living in and observing life in the United States. The author’s

knowledge is both deep and broad. While the philosophical sections are

strong (particularly the discussions on the sources of knowledge, Supreme

being, Bhakti, Prapatti etc.), the breadth of Hindu culture presented here

is quite breath taking. I particularly find it useful to have in one

place–between the covers of this book-- various lists. There are several

such lists; we have for instance, not just the 22 well known avatara-s of

Vishnu but the 10 regularly cited ones plus 38 other “auxiliary” avataras

compiled exhaustively from the Bhagavata Purana and the Pancharatra samhita.

There are other very useful lists for scholars: Vedic gods, the various

loka-s, the mandala-s of the universe, the many hells spoken of in the

purana-s, smriti texts (many of which are not well known), a dozen or

important regional Ramayana-s, characteristics of the purana-s, major

purana-s and upa-puranas, the 64 arts or kala-s, the various sastras,

sampradayas and their texts, 14 kinds of meditation on mantra (mantra japa),

32 vidyas connected with bhakti (from the upanishads), units of time, names

of each year in a 60 year cycle, the names of the 27 stars, calendrical

units of time, and so much more.

 

There is also a very interesting section on the rules connected with food;

what one may eat, when and how one may eat, etc. Sri Ramaswamy has

presented complex rules gleaned from practices and given textual references

from books which are not easily accessible. The section explaining social

and family divisions such as kula, gotra, pravara is also very helpful for

those of us who find it to difficult to understand some of these units The

glossary at the end is exhaustive–45 pages of useful information.

 

The book zooms in from a large overview of religion (where, in particular,

Sri Anbil Ramaswamy has drawn inspiration from a wide variety of Indian and

western works) to sources of authority and various pramana-s (an

extraordinarily important topic, as many of know, in Indian philosophy), and

finally to various topics dealing with God and the paths to liberation.

There is an intriguing topic on “what is God?” before a discussion on to

various aspects of theology. There are discussions on karma, dharma, as well

as the evolution and dissolution of the universe (space, matter, and time).

There is also time line –a chronology of events in Hinduism as well as the

United States.

 

The book is remarkably strong in explaining philosophical issues from the

Sri Vaishnava tradition and explaining how the Sri Vaishnava teachers saw

them as being embedded in the Vedic literature. The author discusses very

complicated passages pertaining to the supreme being, its relationship to

the human soul, the ways in which the supreme being manifests itself, etc.,

all with close attention to Vedic texts, the Agama-s, the Tamil hymns of the

Alvars, as well as to popular works on the Hindu tradition and Indian

history written by Indian and western authors. There is also a detailed

section summarizing the critiques against Advaita by traditional

sampradaya-s

 

As can be expected, the best part of the book is the description of the Sri

Vaishnava tradition. We have a thorough description of the various works of

the Alvars, the lives of the major acharyas and lists of dozens of other

teachers. It is here that Sri Anbil Ramaswamy is at his best. The chapter

(19) on the three mantras sacred to Sri Vaishnava-s breaks ground in

explaining very complex topics to the public. These texts are normally

esoteric and Sri Anbil Ramaswamy boldly, but sensitively, explains the

broad, principal contours of the commentaries which explain the mantras. It

is a tribute to Sri Ramaswamy that the many acharyas who have written the

foreword to the book have approved not just the message but the medium

through which these explanations (traditionally given only from master to

disciple) are given.

 

The book has so much to offer–it has philosophical chapters as well as the

kind of information that we frequently search for in encyclopedia,

dictionaries, etc. A word about the publication– Sri Anbil Ramaswamy was an

important and regular contributor to one of the first email list serves

(“bhakti”) on the Sri Vaishnava tradition. He is also the editor and

publisher of the electronic journal, “Sri Ranga Sri,” which also has its own

list serve. A group of Sri Vaishnava devotees (“the Tiruvenkatam group”)

located in Kuwait decided to make Sri Ramaswamy’s manuscript available to

the larger public and published it. This is, indeed, a transnational book;

Sri Ramaswamy’s roots are in the sacred divya desas of India; he learned for

decades under knowledgeable acharyas in south India; the book was written in

America; parts of it disseminated around the world through a very popular

list serve; it was published by the “satsang” in Kuwait; and released in

India. We in the United States have a lot to gain from it.

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