Must Read..../mahAkavi bhAratiyAr

[Guest guest]

/namastE.

 

Adding to the comment of /naRkuravar Sri PeriyavAL of /kAnci, I would like

to say that I was totally surprised by /bhAratiyAr's thoughts, which are

almost identical to the great /AcAryaH. I did not even know that /bhARatiyAr

has sung on beautiful pieces on Lord SrI agnI, Who by definition was born

out of the /vEdaHs for carrying our messages to the /dEvAs through /yaGnAs.

He is /jAta/vEdaSaH. There are other pieces like the ones on /ravi and

/candrimA; but the one on /aGni tops them all in content. It is a set of

four or five simple pieces and I suggest that our /pAtakaRkaL sing at last

one piece in each concert. The message then would reach the people. There is

no doubt that statements from /bhAratiyAr carry more weight at the popular

level than those of the /param/AcArya. People of all walks of life feel

comfortable about identifying with our /bhAratiyAr. He touches the soul of

people.

 

/anpuTan, Visu

 

 

 

 

 

 

>"M.K.Sudarshan" <sampathkumar_2000

>

>CC: tiruvengadam

>Re: Re: Must Read....

>Thu, 20 Feb 2003 12:51:35 -0800 (PST)

>

>

>--- RR <rr wrote:

> > Dear Sri Dileepan,

> > vi) we find the many youngsters employed in IT services' companies

> > practically living or imitating the life of Westerners (the current

> > divorce

> > rates in these metros (in the forward communities) are alarming,

> > This is a very very serious situation and i do not claim to know

> > the> answers.

> >> But I do know that ALL of us have to get together and take

> > immediate steps> to revive the traditional Sanskrit education which

>to state the> least is in> utter doldrums and has to be the strongest

>doses of Oxygen.

>

>

>Dear friends,

>

>Adiyane has been following this thread of discussion on the list for

>some days. It keeps coming up again and again in one form or the

>other in all lists. It seems to me it is the eternal schism in the

>brahmin's soul and troubles him to no end like a recurring relapse.

>

>Re; this subject I have always admired what the Sage of Kanchi, Sri

>Chandrasekharendra Saraswati had to say in his book "deivattin

>kural". He may not be our own 'achArya' but the substance and

>significance of what he said cannot be ignored by us. And it is so

>thought provoking and passionate it is simply marvellous. It is

>reproduced below for your information.

>

>Regards,

>dAsan,

>Sudarshan

>

>QUOTE:

>

>“People today are caught between two groups holding opposing views.

>On the one side they feel the pull of individuals like (me) who

>maintain that they must take to the path shown by the (vedic)

>sAstrA-s; on the other hand they find themselves drawn in the

>opposite direction by reformers who want these “sAstrA-s” to be

>changed….”

>

>“Even now there are people who at heart long for a life of peace

>lived according to the old (vedic) tradition. But they do not have

>the courage to give up the either the trammels of modern life or the

>feeling of pride in the changes effected under reformist movements.

>They are in an awkward predicament because they are not fully

>committed to the traditional way of life or to the new.

>

>“Let me tell you how people cannot decide for themselves… of how they

>are neither here nor there. In most of their homes you will see

>Gandhiji’s portrait and mine too. Now Gandhiji advocated widow

>marriage… and I advocate wearing the “sikhA”. Those who respect

>Gandhiji do not however have the courage to marry widows. Those who

>say they respect me also do not have the courage to wear “sikhA”.

>Poor people are these! They do not have any moorings and keep

>swinging between one set of beliefs and another. Instead, I tell you,

>we must have courage of our convictions and unflinching faith in the

>“sAstrA-s”.”

>

>“If we start to make small compromises in our adherence to the

>sAstrAs it will eventually mean following only such scriptural

>practices as we find convenient in our everyday life. Some people

>tell me with all good intentions: “The dharmasAstrAs are the creation

>of r-shis. You are like a r-shi. So you must make (appropriate)

>changes in the sAstrA-s in keeping with the times”. Their view is

>that just as we remove weeds from the fields we must change (vedic)

>customs and duties according to our times. If I take out some rites

>and observances from the sAstrA now, thinking them to be weeds, later

>another man will turn up and remove some more for the same reason. At

>this rate, a time will come when we will not be able to distinguish

>the weed from the crop and the entire (vedic) field will become

>barren.”

>

>“It is my duty to see that the sAstrAs are preserved as they are…

>founded as they are in the Vedas which are nothing but what the

>“parabrahmham” has ordained. I have no authority to change them.”

>

>“We must not give up the sAstra-ic way of life thinking it to be

>difficult to follow. If we are not carried away by the glitter of

>modern mundane life, if we reduce our wants and do not run after

>money, there will be no need to abandon the customs and rites laid

>down by our canonical texts. If we are not obsessed with making money

>there will be plenty of time to think of the Lord. And peace and

>contentment and happiness will reign.”

>

>(unquote)

> ********** ************* *************

>

>Continuing to quote the same “AchAryA”, here is another extract from

>his speech:

>

>(quote)

>“The brahmin, if he is true to his dharma, HAS to spend all his time

>in learning and chanting the vedas, in performing sacrifices, in

>preserving the sAstrA etc. What will he do for a living? If he goes

>in search of money or material he WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND TO HIS

>LIFETIME MISSION…. and this mission IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED ON A

>PART-TIME BASIS. And if he takes up some other work for his

>livelihood, he is likely to become lax in the pursuit of his dharma.

>It would be like taking medicine without the necessary diet regimen:

>the benign power gained by the brahmin from his vedic learning will

>be reduced and there will be a corresponding dimunition in the good

>accruing to mankind from his work.”

>

>“This is one reason why brahmins alone are permitted by the sAstrA-s

>to beg for a living (“Unchavrtti”). But the sAstra also has it that

>the brahmin must not accept more charity than what is needed for his

>bare sustenance. If he received anything in excess, he would be

>tempted to seek sensual pleasures and thereby an impediment would be

>placed to his inner advancement. There is also the danger that he

>would become submissive to the donor and of his twisting the sastrA

>to the latter’s liking.

>

>“The vedic religion prospered in the past … because people belonging

>to all varnA-s contributed generously to the brahmin's upkeep and to

>the nurturing of the vedic tradition. In Tamilnadu the nAttukOtta

>nagarattArs, the kommutti chettis and the vEllAlas raised funds for

>Vedic institutions. They felt the vedas were essential for social

>good.

>

>“If the brahmin had not been tempted by the European (or American)

>life-style and if he were willing to live austerely according to the

>dictates of the sAstrA, other castes (even today) would come forward

>to help him. It is not that the others deserted the brahmin. He

>himself ran away from his dharma, from his agrahArA, from his village

>and from the vedic school because of his new appetite for the life of

>luxury made possible with the new technology of the West. He forgot

>the high ideals… All told, the argument that the brahmin was

>compelled to abandon his dharma because he was denied his daily bread

>does not hold water. We cannot but admit that the brahmin became

>greedy, that he yearned far more than what he needed for sustenance.”

>

>“Let us concede that the brahmin left his village because he could

>not feed himself there and came to a city like Madras. But did he

>find contentment here? What do we see today in actual practice?

>Suppose a brahmin receives a salary of Rs.1000/- in Madras today. If

>he gets a job in Delhi with double the salary he runs off there. When

>he goes to Delhi he would abandon totally the dharma he was able to

>practise at least to a small extent in Madras. Later if he were

>offered US$4000/- a month in America he would leave his motherland

>for that country, lured by the prospect of earning a fortune. There

>in the US he would become totally alienated from his religion, from

>his dharma, from all his traditions. The brahmin is willing to do

>anything, go to any extent, for the sake of money…. The usual excuse

>trotted out for the brahmin deserting his dharma does not wash…. Were

>he true to his dharma the brahmin would tell himself, “I will

>continue to adhere to my dharma come what may, even at the risk of

>death.”

>

>“There is no point in suggesting what people belonging to the past

>generations should have done. I would urge the present generation to

>perform duties that the past generation neglected to perform. To

>repeat, you must not forsake your dharma even on the pain of death.

>Are we going to remain deathless? As things stand today, we

>accumulate money, suffer humiliation and earn the jealousy of others

>and finally we die losing caste by not remaining true to our dharma.

>Is it not better then to starve and yet be attached firmly to our

>dharma so long as there is breath in us? Is not such loyalty to our

>dharma a matter of pride? Why should we care about how others see us,

>whether they honour us or speak ill of us? So long as we do not

>compete with them for jobs they will not have any cause for jealousy

>or resentment against us. Let them call us backward or stupid or

>think we are not capable of keeping abreast of the times. Are we not

>now already their butt of ridicule? Let us be true to our dharma in

>the face of the mockery of others, even in the face of death. Is not

>such a lot preferable to suffering the slings of scorn and criticism

>earned by forsaking our dharma for the sake of filling our belly?”

>

>“People ask me: “What is the remedy then today? Do you expect all

>brahmins to leave their new life-style and return to vedic learning?”

>

>“Whether or not I expect them to do so and whether or not such a step

>seems possible, I must ask them to do so.

>

>“Where is the need for a “guru-peeTam” or a seat on which an AchAryA

>is installed if I am to keep my mouth shut and watch idly as the

>dharma that is the source of everything is being endangered?

>

>“Even if it seems impossible for brahmins to return to their

>varnAshrama-dharma it must be shown to be possible in practice… that

>is the whole purpose of the institution called “mutta-s”. They must

>harness all their energies towards the attainment of this goal.

>

>“It is not for me to say that the return of the brahmins to their

>vedic dharma is not possible. To take such a view would be contrary

>to our very dharma. It is up to you all to make it possible in

>practice or not to make it possible. All I can do is to keep

>reminding you of the message of the dharmasAstrA-s”.

>

>(unquote)

>

> ************** **************** *************

>

>

>

>

>

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