Sri Ranga Sri Journal Vol 08 Issue #06 dated November 10, 2006- CORRECTION

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //

SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //

SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/

SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//

KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /

SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//

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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 06 dated 10th November 2006

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EDITORIAL

Dear Bhagavatas:

 

As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is in Cleveland, I am sending this on

his behalf.. Swami is available at:

25807 Iris Court, Westlake, OH-44145

Phone # (440) 716- 0771 Cell # (770) 876- 9188

You may contact him.

 

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan Madhava Kannan

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> INTHIS ISSUE:

> 1."THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY – A CLASH OF WILLS?– Part-4"

> BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY

> (This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on

> 31st May 2006)

> 2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" – PART- 6":

> BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO

> 3."MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR – LIFE AND WORKS OF AZHWARS

> Part –3- VAIBHAVAM OF MUDHAL AAZHWAARS

> BY SRI MADHAVA KANNAN SWAMI, SINGAPORE

> CO-MODERATOR OF "SRI RANGA SRI"

> =========================================================

 

2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" – PART- 6":

BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO

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<<<By mistake, I have placed the earlier post; Please find below the

RIGHT ONE... Sincere apologies for the mistake.

 

Regards

Namo narayana

dasan>>>

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SrI:

SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA dESikAya nama:

 

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 6 - Slokam 4.

 

Slokam 4:

 

bhAshA gItiH praSastA bhgavati vacanAt rAjavac-copacArAt

sA cAgastya-prasUtvAtviti parijagRhe bhUmikAbheda yogyA |

yat-tat-kRtyam SrutInAm munigaNa-vihitaiH setihAsaiH purANaiH

tatrAsau tattva-sImnaH SaTha paThana muneH samhitA sArva-bhaumI

|| (4)

 

It was pointed in the Introduction that in svAmi deSikan's time,

samskRt was the accepted language for philosophical discussions,

devotional writings etc., and was accepted through the north and the

south as the language of the King's courts etc. Languages other

than samskRt were considered acceptable for use only by women, SUdra-

s, etc. for use in singing His Glory. After all, the brAhmaNa-s had

the Sruti, smRti-s, itihAsa-s etc. available to them (in samskRt),

and some people argued that there was no justification to resort to

works such as tiruvAimozhi. This feeling was prevalent to the point

that any work in Tamil was not considered appropriate for devotional

writings, chanting etc. Even though svAmi deSikan chose the samskRt

language for the current work just to reach out to people who did

not understand or speak Tamil, and to bring out the nectar contained

in tiruvAimozhi to the non-samskRt knowing devotional scholars, he

also speaks out against those who held the Tamil language in an

inferior position. This is the subject of this Slokam.

svAmi deSikan notes that any language is appropriate for singing the

praise of the Lord. There is an injunction against using languages

other than the deva bhAshA (samskRt) by brAhmaNa-s only in vedic

ceremonies; it is sanctioned that any language can be used in

singing hari kIrti. This is declared in matsya purANam:

 

hari kIrtim vinaiva anyat brAhmaNena narottama |

bhAshA gAnam na gAtavyam tasmAt pApam tvayA kRtam ||

 

These are the words of yama to a king who had driven out a brAhmaNa

from his kingdom because the latter had sung the Glory of the Lord

in a language other than samskRt. yama says that the king had

sinned, because it is perfectly acceptable to sing the praise of the

Lord in any language, and the restriction on the brAhamaNa-s in

using other languages only comes in when it is for purposes other

than for singing the praise of the Lord. SrI bhAshyakArar also has

said: "yAj~ne karmaNi niyamaH, anyatra a-niyamaH" – the restriction

that samskRt alone should be used is applicable only for the vedic

sacrificial rituals, not otherwise.

 

There is also a rule that bhagavAn should be offered all upacAram-s

(honors, worship, entertainment) befitting the great kings, He being

the King of all kings. Kings are offered honors in any language in

which the servants and the citizens can communicate their praise of

the kings. By this rule also, it is perfectly allowed to entertain

or sing the praise of the Lord in any language.

 

Having thus established that the praise of the Lord can be done in

any language, svAmi deSikan next sets out to establish the special

superiority of the tamizh language over many other languages. The

tamizh language originated from the great sage agastya, who was a

brAhmaNa himself, in addition to being a highly reputed sage. He

would not have initiated this language if it were not sanctioned by

the vedic pramANa-s to use this language in the praise of the Lord.

 

The tamizh language also has its greatness since the compositions of

the AzhvArs in this language serve the same purpose that the itihAsa-

s, purANa-s and the veda-s perform, namely, clarifying the message

of the upanishads. In this respect, it is not in any way inferior

or subordinate to these other sources that support the messages of

the veda-s; the work of nammAzhvAr in tamizh does not claim to

stand independently of the veda-s, but instead, of all the works in

tamizh, nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi is superior to even the itihAasa-s

and the purANa-s since it very clearly explains the message of the

veda-s in a way that can be easily understood and enjoyed.

 

Thus, svAmi deSikan puts forth a great case for tamizh being a very

worthy language for praising the Lord, and refutes the incorrect

view held in his time by some that the brAhmin community whose duty

it was to devote their time to the study and practice of the veda-s,

should not be devoting time to the study of tiruvAimozhi.

 

- bhagavati vacanAt, bhAshA gItiH praSastA – Any language,

not just samskRt, is appropriate for praising the Lord. Any form of

music is appropriate as well. This is supported by declarations in

the Sruti and smRti-s. Just like sAma veda, music in praise of

bhagavAn is declared to be a path for moksham.

- rAjavat ca upacArAt – It is well-known that the servants

of a king will, and can, only praise their king in the language that

they know. emperumAn is the king of all kings (rAjAdirAjan), and

thus deserves to be praised in whichever form His servants (which

includes everyone) are able to praise Him.

- agastya prasUtAt – Of all these `other' languages, the

dramiDa bhAshA – the tamizh language, is unique in that it was

originated by the great agastya muni, who was well-versed in veda-s

and SAstra-s. Obviously, he won't originate a language unless it

fulfilled the requirement of being fit for singing the praise of the

Lord.

- bhUmikA bheda yogyA parijagRhe - Based on this, the

AcArya-s have determined and accepted that the tamizh language is

fit for use by those belonging to all the different varNa-s,

including the brAhmaNa-s.

- muni gaNa vihitaiH SrutInAm sa itihAsaiH purANaiH yat-tat

kRtyam – Whatever service has been rendered to the Sruti-s by all

the itihAsa-s and purANa-s composed by the different sages (in other

words, these works are considered upa-brahmaNa-s or those that

explain the message of the veda-s)

SaTha pathana muneH sattva sImnaH samhitA tatra asau sArva bhaumI –

nammAzhvAr's work – tiruvAimozhi, reflects the ultimate limit of

that service; it is the limit of the sAttva guNa, and is thus seated

on the throne compared to all the itihAsa-s and purANa-s (the best

of all in explaining the message of the veda-s).

 

- to continue

dAsan Krishnamacharyan

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