[t'venkatam] suggestions---invited by "SriKainkarya" Soundararajan Desikan

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Soundararajan SwAmin,

 

Your mail below is an eloquent tribute to Vedaviths

and to the VedAdhyAyana tradition. You have very

rightly focussed on waning tradition of "vEdAdhyAyana"

amongst SriVaishnavites these days. The situation is

so bad that very soon, as you rightly pointed out,

none amongst the SriVaishnavite community would ever

deserve the honorific of Ubhaya-vedantin.

 

In Kuwait, the Tiruvenkatam group here consists of

about 20 persons who are regularly practising

"vEdAdhyAyana" since the past 5 years. Although they

are all working men in different 'laukika' professions

and vocations, still they have all decided to dedicate

part of their evening after-office hours to regular

"adhyAyana" classes being conducted by an equally

dedicated and learned "adhyApakar" (a devout

SriVaishnava himself) who also is living and working

here in Kuwait for the past 5 years. This group now

has achieved reasonable fluency (not professional

excellence) in chanting the following:

 

Pancha sooktham

Taittiriya Upanishad (all 4 "vallis")

Udhaka shAnti (full)

Pancha shAnthi

Rudram, chamakkam

Narayana Upanishad

 

The group is now going to eagerly embark soon on a new

curriculum starting from the Tamil New Year Day (April

14th). The "adhyApakar" will begin "adhyAyana" in

"acchidram" to be followed by "arUNam" later.

 

This group of Veda "vidyArthIs" here in Kuwait is

engaged in "vedAdhyAyana" for no other purpose other

than enjoyment of the spiritual bliss that one gets

while chanting the Vedas. The "adhyApakar" also does

not expect anything in return for his effort except

unfading enthusiasm from his students. And none of us

are aspiring to the title of "Ubhaya Vedantins" or any

such great honorific. For us, the effort of

"vEdAdhyAyana" is its own reward. We consider it a

blessing in itself that God has given us an

opportunity in this lifetime to learn at least a very

small part of the sacred Vedas.

 

I am explaining all this to you, and sharing it too in

the SriVaishnava cyber-groups, not to show off our

group's effort or to boast about it and feel great

that we are all "holier than thou".

 

I am saying all this only to drive home the point that

where there is "bhagavath-sankalpam" at play, it will

certainly operate through the enthusiasm and diligence

of persons who make a firm decision to begin learning

the Vedas. It does not matter whether such effort

takes place in India, our motherland, or elsewhere in

the world where SriVaishnavavas have chosen to live

and settle down. What matters is that, as you have

rightly pointed out in your message, there must be a

firm will on the part of SriVaishnavas to dedicate

some part of their lifetime to undertake

"vedAdhyAyana" themselves. Contributing money to

"veda-patashalas" and sponsoring students in such

schools is one valuable form of doing one's duty by

the Vedas. But it is not enough in my opinion. It is

far more important for each and every SriVaishnava to

set personal examples and undertake "vedAdhyAyana"

himself, even during the prime part of his 'laukika'

life and career.

 

Even if the "adhyAyin" does not know Sanskrit, and

even if he struggles with "akshara-shuddham" or

"vAng-manas shuddham" (as pointed out by you), he must

still relentlessly pursue "adhyAyana" and persevere at

it. In Kuwait, in the tiruvenkatam "adhyAyana gOshti",

for example, not everybody is comfortable with

Sanskrit and yet that does not dampen or impair their

learning effort or resolve. The "adhyApakar" also

takes great pains to somehow teach such students

properly even if their Sanksrit enunciation is found

faulty or deficient.

 

All that it really takes to perform "veda

samrakshaNam" is firm resolve on the part of

SriVaishnavas that they will go ahead and do

"adhyAyanam" even in the face of all kinds of

obstacles in life, big and small. It is only a matter

of personal choice to be taken without expectation of

any personal reward of "prati-phalan". If a

SriVaishnavan does this, he can rest assured he is

doing his little bit indeed for the protection of

Vedas. If he does not do this, for whatever reasons he

may skillfully put forth, I am sure he will continue

to feel guilty of a grave duty-lapse till the very end

of his days on earth no matter how much money he may

otherwise contribute to God knows how many

veda-pAtashALas...

 

Your email message, SwAmin, is a very timely wake-up

call for SriVaishnavas all over the globe not to let

the tradition of "vedAdhyAyana" slip into desuetude

and apathy. Let us not forget that the very soul of

Ramanuja "siddhAnta" is "ubhaya-Vedanta". The day

"vEdAdhyAyana" ceases in the SriVaishnava

"sampradAya", that day will signal the end of the

"sampradAya" itself.

 

Sir, I salute your efforts to bring this situation to

the awareness of the community all over the world

through your email. I share your concerns and endorse

your views fully.

 

Thanks and regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

--- soundararajan desikan <srikainkarya

wrote:

 

>

> Dear Swamin

> Sri Vaishnavas are commonly

> honoured with prefix" Ubhaya Vedanthis"_ which,

> among other things , represent Vedas and Divya

> prapandhas.In other words, they are vidwans of both

> Vedas and Divya prapandhas, though they have not

> learnt all Vedas/their Veda as per their sakha(

> yajus sakha etc) and all 4000 Divya prapandhams

> 2.Ubhaya Vedanthis are small

> in number now-a-days.The irony is that

> Vaishnavaites, after their retirement from their

> profession, used to learn prapandhams, having books

> with them, as most of these people do not know

> sanskrit. Being the mother-tongue, they are fond of

> learning tamil prapandhams and do not try to learn

> atleast pancha sookthas. This is the weakness in

> Vaishnavas, whereas, advaitees give importance to

> vedic learning and Veda parayanam.Srikainkarya

> leaves to Elites further thinkings on the above

> conjecture, logic etc and to come to a decision on

> the necessity to revive the learnings of Vedas

> atleast by next generation ( younger) as done by

> Advaitees

> 3. This is the proper time to

> encourage adyayanam of atleast panchasookthams by

> vaishnavas, though they do not know a, b , c , d ,

> about sanskrit and they do not know akshara sudhdha

> in pronounciation . Once they impart in this line

> they will have enthusiasum and do parayanam

> perfectly. This is one part

> 4. Another thing is

> Vedaparayana vidwans. In Tamilnadu,staunch

> vedaparayana vidwans are nurtured here and there

> giving honororium etc to them from the funds

> created for this purpose, as in Kanchipuram.

> 5. Srikainkarya has undertaken

> this in a small way (within it's limit) in giving

> sambhavana to Vedic pundits who perform

> vedaparayanam during pavithrothsavam at

> Thiruvaheendrapuram. There may be philonthrophists

> giving sambhavana like this in kshetras. But , most

> of staunch veda parayakars are living below the

> povert line , unable to meet both ends. That is why

> they are reluctant to send their wards to Veda

> patasalas, though Sri Ahobila Mutt, Srimath Andavan

> Asramam are encouraging the learnings of vedas by

> young people in all ways, extending all

> facilities/benefits

> 6. The need of the hour is to

> protect aged staunch vedaparayana swamis living in

> villagesdoing vedaparayana kainkaryam to Bhagvan in

> temples , without migrating to other professions /

> or to other towns/urban areas for livelyhood. The

> need of the hour is to provide them with basic

> amenities ( food,clothing. shelter, minimum funds

> /money to gain purchasing power every month, if not

> radio/television/phone. fan etc)

> 7. The second part is prapandha

> Adhikaris. No doubt, most of these vaishnavaits are

> having some sort of comfortable back-ground of

> earning or receiving pension or some amount by way

> of interest etc. The irony is that they entered this

> prabhandha ghoshti after spending their better part

> of their lives in earnings/ after completing family

> commitments of education, employment marriage of

> their wards. We can see that most of them are having

> books in their hands while rendering

> Divyaprabhandhas along with professionals in

> temples( urban area). If not , there will be

> scarcity , even for rendering Divya prabhandhas,

> while there is no rendering of Vedas during

> Nithyanusanthanam(morning &evening) and Saththumurai

> in most of the temples

> 8. As vaishnavas, it is our

> bounden duty to see that Vedaparayanam is done in

> all the temples. As vaishnavas, it is our utmost

> responsibility to protect staunch vedaparayakaras

> who are still lingering in the village temples,

> attending to veda parayanams.

> 9. It is also our duty to encourage

> and help staunch Adyabhagas doing Divyaprabandha

> sevai in villages/urban/other temples

> 10. Ofcourse, there are archakas also

> in these temples sailing in the same boat

> Smrithi says

> Yasya vedhachcha vedheesa vichchith yethey

> thripoorusham

> savai durbrahmanegeya: saruakarma bhahis krutham

> If we, as vaishnavaits are unable

> to do kainkaryam /service to veda vidwans/

> Divyaprabhandha adhikaris for their well-being , we

> cannot say ourselves as vaishnavaites

> 11. Those, who do not have

> adyayanam(learning and reciting vedas) and

> relationship with vedic pundits for three

> generations , are bad brahmins (durbrahmins). In

> other words, those who do not know their veda sakhas

> or atleast panchasookthas, they will not be treated

> as brahmins (leave alone vaishnavas) but bad

> brahmins and their anushtanams will not give any

> benefit to them

> 12.Srikainkarya is thinking on the

> above lines for the past so many days. At this

> juncture, one young Srivaishnavaite from U.S.

> thinking on the same lines has sent an e-mail like

> this to Srikainkarya

> Kindly let me know how we can do some more to

> make a difference to staunch srivaishnavas in their

> pursuit of vedas/prabhandhams or in any of their

> needs

> 13. Srikainkarya is of opinion that

> there are most elite vaishnavas spread over all

> along the world and that they can be approached for

> this purpose

> 14. Srikainkarya requests you to

> suggest/ discuss/putforth your valued, well thought

> out ideas/opinions etc in a nutshell as early as

> possible sothat they can be further discussed (with

> pros&cons) and arrived at a conclusion by way of a

> scheme

> Dasan

> Srikainkarya

> Thiruvaheendrapuram Uruppattur Chakravarthi

> Soundararajan

>

 

 

 

________

India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://.shaadi.com

[Guest guest]

Dear Swamins:

 

I appreciate the e-mails. Adiyen has some views on the subject which I

would like to place for your consideration:

 

First and foremost - anyone aspiring to learn Vedas should be punctual in

doing SANDHYAVANDANAM. He should take a sankalpa to do 108 gayatri Japa

every day.

 

Secondly, we need to create different levels of learning portions of Vedas

and set up an 'order' to learn them - starting from the most frequently

recited mantrAs to the more difficult ones.

 

For eg.: Pancha Sooktas may be the basic level. After that, should one

learn Agni-Sandhana MantrAs or Taittiriya Upanishad or Udaka Shanti? I

think one should learn all the Vedic Mantras required for Nitya

Karmanushtanam. For eg.: my acharya was very particular about having me

learn the Punyahavachana mantram, and the agni-sandhana mantrams. Also

those of us living in the USA participate in chanting at temples. Mantras

like Ghosha-Shanti, asheerwada mantrams, general homa-mantrams etc., become

important.

 

We should discuss these with great achryas and arrive at a syllabus for the

different levels. We can then start "summer-schools" for different levels

identified to train our young Sri Vaishnavites so that when they come abroad

they have a good basic knowledge to participate in the home/temple functions

and make the experience 'divine' and enjoyable for every-one.

 

We can dedicate ourselves to raising money for the summer schools.

 

S. Vijayaraghavan

Buffalo/NY

 

 

Dear

 

 

>sudarshan madabushi <mksudarshan2002

>tiruvenkatam

>tiruvenkatam, ,

>oppiliappan

>Re: [t'venkatam] suggestions---invited by "SriKainkarya"

>Soundararajan Desikan

>Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:42:26 +0100 (BST)

>

>

>Dear Sri Soundararajan SwAmin,

>

>Your mail below is an eloquent tribute to Vedaviths

>and to the VedAdhyAyana tradition. You have very

>rightly focussed on waning tradition of "vEdAdhyAyana"

>amongst SriVaishnavites these days. The situation is

>so bad that very soon, as you rightly pointed out,

>none amongst the SriVaishnavite community would ever

>deserve the honorific of Ubhaya-vedantin.

>

>In Kuwait, the Tiruvenkatam group here consists of

>about 20 persons who are regularly practising

>"vEdAdhyAyana" since the past 5 years. Although they

>are all working men in different 'laukika' professions

>and vocations, still they have all decided to dedicate

>part of their evening after-office hours to regular

>"adhyAyana" classes being conducted by an equally

>dedicated and learned "adhyApakar" (a devout

>SriVaishnava himself) who also is living and working

>here in Kuwait for the past 5 years. This group now

>has achieved reasonable fluency (not professional

>excellence) in chanting the following:

>

> Pancha sooktham

> Taittiriya Upanishad (all 4 "vallis")

> Udhaka shAnti (full)

> Pancha shAnthi

> Rudram, chamakkam

> Narayana Upanishad

>

>The group is now going to eagerly embark soon on a new

>curriculum starting from the Tamil New Year Day (April

>14th). The "adhyApakar" will begin "adhyAyana" in

>"acchidram" to be followed by "arUNam" later.

>

>This group of Veda "vidyArthIs" here in Kuwait is

>engaged in "vedAdhyAyana" for no other purpose other

>than enjoyment of the spiritual bliss that one gets

>while chanting the Vedas. The "adhyApakar" also does

>not expect anything in return for his effort except

>unfading enthusiasm from his students. And none of us

>are aspiring to the title of "Ubhaya Vedantins" or any

>such great honorific. For us, the effort of

>"vEdAdhyAyana" is its own reward. We consider it a

>blessing in itself that God has given us an

>opportunity in this lifetime to learn at least a very

>small part of the sacred Vedas.

>

>I am explaining all this to you, and sharing it too in

>the SriVaishnava cyber-groups, not to show off our

>group's effort or to boast about it and feel great

>that we are all "holier than thou".

>

>I am saying all this only to drive home the point that

>where there is "bhagavath-sankalpam" at play, it will

>certainly operate through the enthusiasm and diligence

>of persons who make a firm decision to begin learning

>the Vedas. It does not matter whether such effort

>takes place in India, our motherland, or elsewhere in

>the world where SriVaishnavavas have chosen to live

>and settle down. What matters is that, as you have

>rightly pointed out in your message, there must be a

>firm will on the part of SriVaishnavas to dedicate

>some part of their lifetime to undertake

>"vedAdhyAyana" themselves. Contributing money to

>"veda-patashalas" and sponsoring students in such

>schools is one valuable form of doing one's duty by

>the Vedas. But it is not enough in my opinion. It is

>far more important for each and every SriVaishnava to

>set personal examples and undertake "vedAdhyAyana"

>himself, even during the prime part of his 'laukika'

>life and career.

>

>Even if the "adhyAyin" does not know Sanskrit, and

>even if he struggles with "akshara-shuddham" or

>"vAng-manas shuddham" (as pointed out by you), he must

>still relentlessly pursue "adhyAyana" and persevere at

>it. In Kuwait, in the tiruvenkatam "adhyAyana gOshti",

>for example, not everybody is comfortable with

>Sanskrit and yet that does not dampen or impair their

>learning effort or resolve. The "adhyApakar" also

>takes great pains to somehow teach such students

>properly even if their Sanksrit enunciation is found

>faulty or deficient.

>

>All that it really takes to perform "veda

>samrakshaNam" is firm resolve on the part of

>SriVaishnavas that they will go ahead and do

>"adhyAyanam" even in the face of all kinds of

>obstacles in life, big and small. It is only a matter

>of personal choice to be taken without expectation of

>any personal reward of "prati-phalan". If a

>SriVaishnavan does this, he can rest assured he is

>doing his little bit indeed for the protection of

>Vedas. If he does not do this, for whatever reasons he

>may skillfully put forth, I am sure he will continue

>to feel guilty of a grave duty-lapse till the very end

>of his days on earth no matter how much money he may

>otherwise contribute to God knows how many

>veda-pAtashALas...

>

>Your email message, SwAmin, is a very timely wake-up

>call for SriVaishnavas all over the globe not to let

>the tradition of "vedAdhyAyana" slip into desuetude

>and apathy. Let us not forget that the very soul of

>Ramanuja "siddhAnta" is "ubhaya-Vedanta". The day

>"vEdAdhyAyana" ceases in the SriVaishnava

>"sampradAya", that day will signal the end of the

>"sampradAya" itself.

>

>Sir, I salute your efforts to bring this situation to

>the awareness of the community all over the world

>through your email. I share your concerns and endorse

>your views fully.

>

>Thanks and regards,

>dAsan,

>Sudarshan

>

>

>

>--- soundararajan desikan <srikainkarya

>wrote:

>

> >

> > Dear Swamin

> > Sri Vaishnavas are commonly

> > honoured with prefix" Ubhaya Vedanthis"_ which,

> > among other things , represent Vedas and Divya

> > prapandhas.In other words, they are vidwans of both

> > Vedas and Divya prapandhas, though they have not

> > learnt all Vedas/their Veda as per their sakha(

> > yajus sakha etc) and all 4000 Divya prapandhams

> > 2.Ubhaya Vedanthis are small

> > in number now-a-days.The irony is that

> > Vaishnavaites, after their retirement from their

> > profession, used to learn prapandhams, having books

> > with them, as most of these people do not know

> > sanskrit. Being the mother-tongue, they are fond of

> > learning tamil prapandhams and do not try to learn

> > atleast pancha sookthas. This is the weakness in

> > Vaishnavas, whereas, advaitees give importance to

> > vedic learning and Veda parayanam.Srikainkarya

> > leaves to Elites further thinkings on the above

> > conjecture, logic etc and to come to a decision on

> > the necessity to revive the learnings of Vedas

> > atleast by next generation ( younger) as done by

> > Advaitees

> > 3. This is the proper time to

> > encourage adyayanam of atleast panchasookthams by

> > vaishnavas, though they do not know a, b , c , d ,

> > about sanskrit and they do not know akshara sudhdha

> > in pronounciation . Once they impart in this line

> > they will have enthusiasum and do parayanam

> > perfectly. This is one part

> > 4. Another thing is

> > Vedaparayana vidwans. In Tamilnadu,staunch

> > vedaparayana vidwans are nurtured here and there

> > giving honororium etc to them from the funds

> > created for this purpose, as in Kanchipuram.

> > 5. Srikainkarya has undertaken

> > this in a small way (within it's limit) in giving

> > sambhavana to Vedic pundits who perform

> > vedaparayanam during pavithrothsavam at

> > Thiruvaheendrapuram. There may be philonthrophists

> > giving sambhavana like this in kshetras. But , most

> > of staunch veda parayakars are living below the

> > povert line , unable to meet both ends. That is why

> > they are reluctant to send their wards to Veda

> > patasalas, though Sri Ahobila Mutt, Srimath Andavan

> > Asramam are encouraging the learnings of vedas by

> > young people in all ways, extending all

> > facilities/benefits

> > 6. The need of the hour is to

> > protect aged staunch vedaparayana swamis living in

> > villagesdoing vedaparayana kainkaryam to Bhagvan in

> > temples , without migrating to other professions /

> > or to other towns/urban areas for livelyhood. The

> > need of the hour is to provide them with basic

> > amenities ( food,clothing. shelter, minimum funds

> > /money to gain purchasing power every month, if not

> > radio/television/phone. fan etc)

> > 7. The second part is prapandha

> > Adhikaris. No doubt, most of these vaishnavaits are

> > having some sort of comfortable back-ground of

> > earning or receiving pension or some amount by way

> > of interest etc. The irony is that they entered this

> > prabhandha ghoshti after spending their better part

> > of their lives in earnings/ after completing family

> > commitments of education, employment marriage of

> > their wards. We can see that most of them are having

> > books in their hands while rendering

> > Divyaprabhandhas along with professionals in

> > temples( urban area). If not , there will be

> > scarcity , even for rendering Divya prabhandhas,

> > while there is no rendering of Vedas during

> > Nithyanusanthanam(morning &evening) and Saththumurai

> > in most of the temples

> > 8. As vaishnavas, it is our

> > bounden duty to see that Vedaparayanam is done in

> > all the temples. As vaishnavas, it is our utmost

> > responsibility to protect staunch vedaparayakaras

> > who are still lingering in the village temples,

> > attending to veda parayanams.

> > 9. It is also our duty to encourage

> > and help staunch Adyabhagas doing Divyaprabandha

> > sevai in villages/urban/other temples

> > 10. Ofcourse, there are archakas also

> > in these temples sailing in the same boat

> > Smrithi says

> > Yasya vedhachcha vedheesa vichchith yethey

> > thripoorusham

> > savai durbrahmanegeya: saruakarma bhahis krutham

> > If we, as vaishnavaits are unable

> > to do kainkaryam /service to veda vidwans/

> > Divyaprabhandha adhikaris for their well-being , we

> > cannot say ourselves as vaishnavaites

> > 11. Those, who do not have

> > adyayanam(learning and reciting vedas) and

> > relationship with vedic pundits for three

> > generations , are bad brahmins (durbrahmins). In

> > other words, those who do not know their veda sakhas

> > or atleast panchasookthas, they will not be treated

> > as brahmins (leave alone vaishnavas) but bad

> > brahmins and their anushtanams will not give any

> > benefit to them

> > 12.Srikainkarya is thinking on the

> > above lines for the past so many days. At this

> > juncture, one young Srivaishnavaite from U.S.

> > thinking on the same lines has sent an e-mail like

> > this to Srikainkarya

> > Kindly let me know how we can do some more to

> > make a difference to staunch srivaishnavas in their

> > pursuit of vedas/prabhandhams or in any of their

> > needs

> > 13. Srikainkarya is of opinion that

> > there are most elite vaishnavas spread over all

> > along the world and that they can be approached for

> > this purpose

> > 14. Srikainkarya requests you to

> > suggest/ discuss/putforth your valued, well thought

> > out ideas/opinions etc in a nutshell as early as

> > possible sothat they can be further discussed (with

> > pros&cons) and arrived at a conclusion by way of a

> > scheme

> > Dasan

> > Srikainkarya

> > Thiruvaheendrapuram Uruppattur Chakravarthi

> > Soundararajan

> >

>

>

>

>________

> India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to

>http://.shaadi.com

Swa

 

_______________

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