Coastal MAdhvas

[Guest guest]

Prof.Hebbar:

 

> I know both your good self and shrI Gopal Potti equally well.

> Both of you are wonderful people who have done a lot for the

> MAdhva community in the New York and Washington DC areas

> respectively and will (I am sure) do much more in the years

> to come. And so, it pains me to see two well-meaning and

> devout MAdhvas to have this harsh verbal duel.

 

I think you may be confusing me with someone else, I did not have any duel with

anyone. Usually, I end up with a monologue as I am very vocal in expressing my

opinions and mince no words; but on the issue of legitimacy of worshipping

Ayyappa, I did not have anything to say. I merely stated after the fact that

calling Madhva theoreticians " extremists " is a disservice. I certainly do not

practise the perfect Madhva way of living but I have high regard for those who

do. Those who are now creating new " hybrid " Madhva communites by worshipping

false gods through ignorance should not be mollycoddled. I agree with NAPS

Rao's comments; I reiterate again that if truth hurts one must learn to be deaf,

not cry foul!

 

Regards,

Arvind Acharya

[Guest guest]

Dear shrI Acharya:

 

Let me give you a few examples of how hinterland MAdhva

customs differ from coastal MAdhva customs, some of which had

(perhaps?) the candid approval of ShrImadAcArya himself.

 

One example that readily comes to mind and the one that

perhaps clearly demarcates the difference between the two

cultures is the fish-eating habits of the GauDa-SArasvat MAdhvas

(who can be readily recognized by their typical " Mangalorean "

surnames such as Pai, Prabhu, Kamath, Shenoy etc.). It has

been an officially long-accepted habit among the GauDa-SArasvats

to eat fish. These peoples were converted by ShrImadAcArya

himself (who, I am sure, was quite aware of their dietary

habits even as he converted them) on his way back via

Gomantaka (Goa) after his Second North Indian Tour. Until 1476

AD, the entire GauDa-SArasvat community were parishoners of the

PhalimAr MaTha of UDupi. HH RAmacandra TIRtha, the 10th Pontiff

on the pITha of the PhalimAr MaTha, on account of certain

marked differences between the TuLu and the KonkaNI MAdhvas

decided that they ought to be goverened by their own maThas.

As such in 1476, he choose a young lad from among their own

ranks and ordained him as nArAyaNa TIrtha at Bhatkal (North

Kanara). The paramparA descended from HH nArAyaNa TIrtha today

goes by the name " JIvottama PartagALi MaTha " (alias GokarNa

MaTha). Later on, in 1542 AD, after the Portuguese conquest of

Gomantaka, another maTha, the KAshI MaTha based at Cochin came

into being. In fact, the present pontiff of the KAshI MAtha

HH SudhIndra TIrtha thinks that ShrImadAcArya was

KonkaNI-speaking and not TuLu speaking. This has become a

rather sticky issue between the TuLu and the KonkaNI MAdhvas.

Hon'ble Dr. BNK Sharma however has argued (and quite

successfully so, I might add) that ShrImadAcArya was a Taulava

and not a Konkanastha.

 

To complicate matters further, inscriptions were discovered four

decades ago within the precincts of the KRSHNa Temple at UDupi

by one of my late professors, the late Hon'ble Prof. Padur

Gururaja Bhatt (MA, PhD and a TuLu MAdhva himself) that funds

were donated by Messrs. DAmarasa Prabhu and LingaNNa Pai (both

GauDa-Sarasvat MAdhvas) to make extensive addittions and

renovations to the KRSHNa Temple in 1614 AD. This would have

been roughly 14 years after the sajIvavRndAvana pravesha of

HMVH VAdirAja GurusArvabhaumaru at Sode.

 

Further, in both the GokarNa and the KAshI MaThas (it may be

noted), the pUjAparicArakas (i.e. devaraseve avaru) when they go

home on vacation eat fish and afterwards resume their duties

normally once they are back in their mAthas assisting their

svAmIs in their daily pUjAs to the paTTada devarus of their

respective maThas. The SvAmIjIs themselves in their pUrvAshrama

would also perhaps have eaten fish. Anyway, nobody even bats

an eyelid about all this. Such an action would be unthinkable

in the hinterland or the TauLava mAThas. Yet I have

personally seen shrI Gopinath Galagali's father, the Hon'ble

PaNDit Pandarinathachaya Galagali do " shAstrIya pATha " to HH

VidyAdhirAja TIrtha svAmIjI, the incumbent pontiff of the

GokarNa MaTha.

 

Another one that comes to my mind is the " mInu hiDiyo habba "

during TuLu MAdhva weddings (clearly a coastal habit). These

were done, of course, when weddings lasted 13 days. Today, in

this age of ready-made divorces, one should be happy if the

marriage lasts longer than the actual wedding ceremony itself.

 

There is no such thing as " melugacche " among orthodox TuLu

MAdhva women. The Konkanasthas, however, DO have it.

 

And there are many others.....

 

Anyway, these are " deshAchAra " issues and they are better off

left in their own cultural settings. ShrImadAcArya taught us

the glorious doctrine of tattvavAda, and bearing this in mind,

let us all be united as MAdhvas under this banner through

ABMM, VMS, CMS etc. to preserve and perpetuate this.

 

I know both your good self and shrI Gopal Potti equally well.

Both of you are wonderful people who have done a lot for the

MAdhva community in the New York and Washington DC areas

respectively and will (I am sure) do much more in the years

to come. And so, it pains me to see two well-meaning and

devout MAdhvas to have this harsh verbal duel. I am deeply

sorry to see my good friend Vasu Murthy, a VMS director, and

a man of deep sincereity, patience and goodwill to have been

caught in the middle of all this. With his usual dignified

demeanor he has done some superb tight-rope walking on this

issue. My hats-off for him on that. He is truly fit to be

the director.

 

I pray sincerely that all parties effect a compromise on this

matter as expeditiously as possible. In any organization and on

any given issue, there are bound to be differences of opinion

along conservative and liberal lines. That is a given. The

idea, however, is to work together despite these differences. I

am sure you both know all this. Sorry for the sermonizing.

 

My deep praNAms to you both and one and all in the MAdhva

community.

 

kindest regards,

Hari-vAyu smaraNa,

B.N.Hebbar