Guest guest Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Dear All, Nacharama and her supporters (approx 50 + other Vadama Smartas; this is from a Sanketi video Documentary I've watched) left Tamil Nadu. Supposedly Nacharama was an avatar of Saraswati ? (from the same video). I read in a book about Kanchi Mutt (I dont remember the name) about Vadama Iyers migrating to Tamil Nadu approx Ist century AD. The Iyer heritage site (www.bharatavarsha.com) states Vadamas have arrived into Tamil Nadu more recently. Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati (former Shankaracharya of Kanchi) states in his book: Hindu Dharma (available on line at www.kamakoti.org) that Vadama Iyers are from the Narmada River Valley. Ravi Chandrasekhara MD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 If Sankethis are smaarthaas, then their migration into Karnataka would probably be after Shankara who supposedly lived around 500 CE - but again it is to be noted that some local histories place Shankara around 50 BC. Ofcourse there is the other possibility that they embraced Advaita/smaartha after then landed in Karnataka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 I remember in the 70s there was in Pune area a small community called "Sancheti" who operated a charitable school and a hospital. There was also a mystic cult figure affiliated with this group who was head of a yoga and meditation school. Is this community in any way conncted with Sanketis? S.Tilak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2003 Report Share Posted March 8, 2003 INDOLOGY, "vpcnk" <vpcnk@H...> wrote: > Shankara himself cautioned his followers from going to the cities as > the people there were "corrupted". Most Brahmins in TN reside in cities like Madras or outside. Even Tanjore district has lost many to cities because urban environment provides more money. Don't know whether you read Tamil, recently you said some U. G. Krishnamurti wrote tamil literature. Anyways, news to people interested in tamil. Regarding the point of textual ref.s on Kanchi math, Sringeri math bhaktas tell it's hard to find any reference in Tamil older than a century or so. Unlike theistic Ramanuja, or Saiva Siddhanta mutts, or Sringeri math (connected with Vijayanagar kings), Kanchi math seems to be not an old institution. Regarding the myth of Sankara maths established by the great Sankara himself, INDOLOGY/message/2911 Regards, N. Ganesan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2003 Report Share Posted March 9, 2003 > Most Brahmins in TN reside in cities like Madras or outside. > Even Tanjore district has lost many to cities because urban > environment provides more money. That's only a post independance phenomenon where brahmins have moved into the cities for work. > Unlike theistic Ramanuja, or Saiva Siddhanta mutts, or Sringeri math > (connected with Vijayanagar kings), Kanchi math seems to be not an > old institution. Well there're theories and theories and arguments and arguments. But trust you to pick one which suits your pet theories. According to Sri Vaishnava sources themselves, when Ramanuja wanted to take on Advaita it was only to Kaanchipuram that he went, to debate with Advaita scholars. Is there a similar reference to Madhva and Shringeri? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 > According to Sri Vaishnava sources themselves, when Ramanuja wanted > to take on Advaita it was only to Kaanchipuram that he went, to > debate with Advaita scholars. Actually I have a very interesting incident to relate regarding how I obtained this piece of information. Some three years back I stayed in Pondicherry for a week. Pondicherry apparently was an ancient town with a different original name - something "Veda..." and hosted a lot of temples. Some of the temples are really magnificent. At that time I was studying Visishtadvaita. So among my visits to the many temples there, one evening I went to a big Naaraayana temple and talked with the archagar there. There I asked him if he knew anybody whom I could clear up my doubts on Visishtadvaita. He confessed his own ignorance and said though his father was a scholar he was too old to be of any help to me. Then he asked me to go to an Amman temple where he said there was a scholar who was an "ocean of knowledge on Vaishnavism" and gave lectures on the subject every Sunday. And that day was a Sunday too and so I headed to the Amman temple. There was a small gathering and a speaker, whom I presumed to be the "ocean", was talking about the greatness of Visishtadvaita. The subject he was addressing then was : when all the sages prior to Ramaanuja like Patanjali had taught meditation etc to achieve liberation, how was that Raamaanuja taught bhakti? I waited till the speech came to an end and when the crowd (which apparently included the Director General of Police) was dispersing I went up to the speaker and asked whether I could discuss Visishtadvaita with him. He told me that he had to leave urgently on some work and asked me to visit him at his residence the next day. I did and we'd a nice discussion on Vedaanta (with me siding with Advaita) - at the end of which he said it was best for both of us to stick to our own views since each was emotionally attached to it. It was during this discussion he told me about Raamaanuja visiting Kaanchi and disputing with an Advaita scholar named Vedamurthy for many days continuously! Finally I discovered that the "ocean" was actually a Christian named Joseph, who had converted to Vaishnavism. His wife too had a big "naamam" on her forehead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 INDOLOGY, "vpcnk" <vpcnk@H...> wrote: > > According to Sri Vaishnava sources themselves, when > > Ramanuja wanted > > to take on Advaita it was only to Kaanchipuram that he went, to > > debate with Advaita scholars. > Ramanuja was born there. SriperumpUtUr is very close to Kanchi. > Some three years back I stayed in Pondicherry for a week. > Pondicherry apparently was an ancient town with a different > original name - something "Veda..." and hosted a lot of temples. The original name in tamil for Pondicheri is PutuccEri. In the Greek sources, Pouduke, possibly. MarakkaaNam nearby also finds mention in classical sources. > Finally I discovered that the "ocean" was actually a Christian named > Joseph, who had converted to Vaishnavism. His wife too had a > big "naamam" on her forehead! Christianity by way of French is in Puducheri. Just like Joseph converting to Srivaishnavism, the advaita teacher of Sri Ramanuja also submitted to Vaishnavism. The advaita monk's name is Yaadavaprakaashar. Recently, his work on Pingala Naaga's Chandahsuutam have been edited from Calcutta. And, his rules on sannyaasa has been translated by prof. P. Olivelle. In Kanchi and elsewhere in the south India, we also find ekadaNDin monks, with heads shaven is shown in temple sculpture near Jaimini and so on. That could even be pre-Sankara, like Sundara Pandya, Gaudapaada, ... Yaadavaprakaaza's life or temple inscriptions or texts do not mention a Sankara math. Regards, N. Ganesan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 INDOLOGY, "naga_ganesan" <naga_ganesan@h...> wrote: > In Kanchi and elsewhere in the south India, we also find > ekadaNDin monks, with heads shaven is shown in temple sculpture > near Jaimini and so on. That could even be pre-Sankara, > like Sundara Pandya, Gaudapaada, ... > > Yaadavaprakaaza's life or temple inscriptions or texts do > not mention a Sankara math. This is true. If we really want to find a Samkara maTha in Kanchi even 500 years ago, Nanda Chandran should publish his family history or publish his travelogues. Or he could write to Bombay and get final resolution on such intractable matters. My 2c, Lakshmi Srinivas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 > Ramanuja was born there. SriperumpUtUr is very close to Kanchi. But we've wonder why as notable a teacher as Raamaanuja had to go only to Kaanchi to seek out Advaita scholars - which points to two things : 1. there were Advaita scholars in Kaanchi and 2. Ramanuja expected scholars of calibre in Kaanchi. It is also to be noted that this incident predates any textual reference to Shringeri. > The original name in tamil for Pondicheri is PutuccEri. > In the Greek sources, Pouduke, possibly. MarakkaaNam nearby > also finds mention in classical sources. No - there's another name for Pondicherry - which starts with "Veda". > Just like Joseph converting to Srivaishnavism, the advaita > teacher of Sri Ramanuja also submitted to Vaishnavism. > The advaita monk's name is Yaadavaprakaashar. Recently, > his work on Pingala Naaga's Chandahsuutam have been edited from > Calcutta. And, his rules on sannyaasa has been translated by > prof. P. Olivelle. I don't think Yaadhavaprakaasha was a Vaishnavite. His philosophy seems to be a variant of bheda-bheda, though with an Advaitic twist. He is supposed to have expelled Ramanauja from his school for questioning his views. It was Yaamunaachaarya who can be considered as Raamaanuja's predecessor in Visishtadvaita. > In Kanchi and elsewhere in the south India, we also find > ekadaNDin monks, with heads shaven is shown in temple sculpture > near Jaimini and so on. That could even be pre-Sankara, > like Sundara Pandya, Gaudapaada, ... But how can you say it is pre-Shankara? > Yaadavaprakaaza's life or temple inscriptions or texts do > not mention a Sankara math. Unlike Shaivism which seems to give a great importance to material structures like monastries, Advaita holds that the world is unreal (mithyam). A matha is a place where monks dwell - and they've already renounced the world as unreal. So it is not surprising that there's no specific mention of monastries in early Advaita tradition. But it is also to be noted that the first mention of Shringeri itself appears only with Vidhyaaranya (14th century CE?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 15, 2003 Report Share Posted March 15, 2003 > > Pondicherry apparently was an ancient town with a different > > original name - something "Veda..." and hosted a lot of temples. > > The original name in tamil for Pondicheri is PutuccEri. I think it was called "Vedapuri". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.