Special Message from SVSS on the eve of its General Body Meeting, to be held on 13th Sep. - A msg by Sri NAPS Rao

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Dear Madhwa Bandhus,

 

Below is a special message to all devotees of Sri Vyasaraja theertharu

 

 

 

Special Message to all devotees of Sri Vyasaraja - By SVSS Managing Committee

on the eve of the geenral Body meeting being held on 13-9-2009

 

Dear devotees,

 

We are entering into a crtical phase of our existence when the efforts made during the last four years have started yielding results which would eventually lead to the full attainment of our sacred objectives. At various stages some of us have offered alternative suggestions to help solve the difficult and unprecedented problems and in some cases, they have also been tried by small groups on their own, without formal organised efforts. The Mutt adminstration has also not bothered to either reply or even react to the criticism of their actions except to try defend themselves when questioned by COD or in the court. Their approach is basically one of relying on high priced legal talent and use of money resources to avoid any punishment for illegal actions. The actual position of some of the cases has already been indicated in the

website www.Srivyasaraja.org under the item News. But, a time has come when all thinking persons should give up their mental reservations and participate fully in the activities of the SVSS to hasten the progress and achieve the desired results in minimum time. In this connection, we would like to place the following broad issues before all of you.

 

1. All of us have been brought up to respect ascetics, who have given up worldly pleasures and all their emotional attachments to Kith and Kin to strive for spiritual goals and to serve as beacon lights to society, reminding lay people about the higher values of Life. When we think of persons like Sri Teekacharya, Sri Sripadaraja, Sri Vyasaraja etc we remind ourselves about our great good fortune to be born in a community to which they belonged and any one of us would gladly obey blindly all their commands. None would even think of questioning any thing they told us as they are Apthas in then best sense of the word and they will guide us through the difficult Samsara and reach us into the safe heaven of Mukthi. Naturally, all those persons who have occupied their places would be given similar if not equal respect, provided they try to

emulate their great predecessors to the best of their ability. We have endowed in our hearts and minds the symbols of their piety and greatness in the Idols and Saligramas of the Matha. Many of us also have the feeling in our minds that as all that happens must be with the will of the Lord, one should accept it with grace and and never question it.

 

2. The acceptance of all the foregoing would be perfectly in order so long as the Matha is headed by sincere ascetics who perform their duties with devotion and sense of loyalty to their great predecessors, even if some of them may not be as scholarly as the others. Our Matha has been particularly gifted by a galaxy of real saints and scholars whose contribution is perhaps unmatched by any other and is named after the great Vyasaraja, who is one of the Munithraya. the other two being Acharya Madhva and Jayatirtha. Unfortunately, since 1969, this matha has started a gradual decline in scholarship, asceticism and traditional respect for predecessors. The attempts made for shifting of Vrindavanas just for either commercial exploitation or selling of property, even of such greats as Sri Lakshmikantha Tirtha etc is too painful to recall. Some of these were stopped by local efforts, but some others have been shifted. A vast extent of Lands were alienated by the Pontiff for ridiculous sums, with nothing much to show for the money received. Still, the community of Shishyas kept silent except for one lone voice which protested and kept protesting all his life (Sri B R G K Achar). The last pontiff brought the Matha to its lowest level by his acts of total family nepotism, alienating almost all the property left by his predecessor and allowing his sons to literally raid the Hundis for their spending cash. With all this happening and an open secret, we kept

quiet.

 

3. When the last pontiff wanted to break the Dharma restrictions and bring in his son as his successor by getting him ordained in another Matha (with that Pontiff knowingly cooperating) and do Danda-pallata to hand over what ever was left of the Matha after him, for the enjoyment of the family, the Shishyas at last woke up and protested vocally. This was temporarily shelved by the Pontiff only to be resurrected a month or two later by secretly handing over the Matha to a Grandson, when there were many eligible Shishyas. To cover up this act, a heart problem was stated as the reason in a public forum, which disappeared without investigation, treatment and apparently never occurred again. Unfortunately, the grandson had not even been prepared for the responsibility by proper Shasthra education, which might have perhaps muted the

protest. This latest unholy and irresponsible action has brought our samithi into being and you would perhaps be aware of the measures we are taking to undo the damage.

 

4. There is a fallacious belief amongst some pontiffs that once they ascend a Peetha, they are absolute owners of all the properties of the Matha and they can do as they like with them. Law does not say so. Further, many of them seem to retain their immediate family circles around them in various capacities and take care of their personal desires with no questions asked. They do not hesitate to abandon traditional responsibilities like the running of the Tirupathi Dharma Chathra, which must be almost as old as the Matha, with total callousness and lack of either loyalty to the great saints who gave those properties to the Matha or to their shishyas. There is no effort to render any accounts even when questioned and all attempts are made surreptitiously to conduct transactions, mostly for personal benefits. Hundi cash is

not counted publicly and remitted to banks and fully accounted for, but is drawn out at the will of the Pontiff or his hangers on. There is also a belief that as they have access to Lawyers and enough money to pay them, and as delays in the judicial systems are great, they will never be held accountable for their actions. Apparently they do not think even for one moment of the following quote by Acharya Madhva of Bhagavatha Thathparya Nirnaya: (Shloka 29/30 of Yekadasha skandha)

" Keshave thvanyathabuddhih .. etc)". In this quote from "Dharmaviveka), Acharya Madhva classifies sin as follows:

Kshudra (minor) - killing of ants etc

Upapathaka - Stealing, killing larger animals with bones, and going to other women

Pathaka - killing of Shudras etc

Mahapathaka - Killing a Brahmin

Great mahapathaka - Stealing the properties belonging to God

Very great Mahapathaka - treating divine persons without due respect

Greatest - Showing contempt to Keshava.

You would notice that unjustified misuse for personal enjoyment, the possessions meant for performing the seva of the Lord is considered as more serious than Brahma hathya itself. Those who would spend the income of the Matha for their families and enjoyment of self, while calling themselves ascetics, and neglect their duties and proper worship of their ancestral Vrindavanas would be guilty of even greater sin as they are showing great disrespect to their own Gurus. The loss and misuse of our Mutt properties and the diverting of cash collections worth crores of rupees is already well recorded and the latest pontiff, Sri Manohara tirtha has also shown by his actions that he is continuing the “Traditions†in this respect.

 

5. Our duty is clear. We have to ensure that those who perform such Mahapathakas can not be considered fit for the positions which fate has thrust into their hands undeservedly and we, as shishyas should do all in our power to prevent misuse and ensure accountability. We should restore the great traditions of scholarship and real asceticism to our Matha by taking all constitutional measures. It is perhaps for the first time, that the devotees have organised themselves to save their own Matha from disaster and ignominy as we have done. In this kaliyuga, where no one, even the ascetics, are not immune from the effects of Kali, we would be neglecting our primary duty as

Haribhakthas and followers of Acharya Madhva, if we allow our Maths to be captured and ruined by the personal and selfish actions of a very few families who manage to capture a Peetha and bring the religious, scholarly, and moral standards to unacceptable levels.

 

 

thanks

 

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Message_SVSS_GB2009.pdf