Vadakalai v. Thenkalai

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavathas:

 

No, this is not another controversial post.

 

 

 

At 01:18 PM 6/24/2001 +0530, Anand K Karalapakkam wrote:

>.... aDiyEn is also

> not against those thenkalais who don't recite the vAzhi thirunAmam

> of SwAmi DESikan. They afterall follow their custom set by their

> elders, and there is no need to interfere in it.

 

 

I fully agree with Sri Anand's above statement. For

various reasons that can only be attributed to Perumal's

inscrutable thiruvuLLam, we have two branches of Sri

Vaishnavam. In my humble opinion Sri Vaishnavas from

both kalais must follow our respective Acharyas, and

show deference to each other. Unity must not presuppose

total amalgamation, for that would mean, for both kalais,

abandoning the teachings of our respective Acharya paramparais

What is required is mutual respect. After all, philosophically,

the two branches have a lot that is common than opposed.

 

Here, adiyEn would like to take this opportunity and

present the points on which the two branches differ.

This is meant as a post to understand the highly

techinical nature of our differences. adiyEn would

like to refrain from any debates. This is only for

understanding the two positions.

 

In all there are about 18 or so points of differece.

All are very highly technical. There are only couple

of important points where the differences affect anushtAnam.

The rest are just different emphasis of the common theory.

 

The most important difference is about the ontological

status of Periya Piratti. Much public debate has taken

place about this. About a couple of years ago Srimad

Azhagiya Singar wrote a grantham called Sri Tatva Deepikai.

adiyEn translated this into English and partially available

in the archive.

 

In the following we present a few characteristics of Sri:

(Periya Piratti). What is correctly stated here is due to

adiyEn's proper understanding of Srimad Azhagiya Singar's

grantam due only to asmadAcArya's grace. What is not stated

correctly is due to my misunderstanding.

 

 

[1] Iswari

------------

Periya Piratti is by nature Iswari to ubhaya vibUti. She is

not a jIvatmA. Along with PerumAL, she lords over all other

sentient and insentient entities. By mutual agreement, i.e.

by sva-ichchai (self determination) Piratti submits to the

lordship of Perumal. PirAtti's seshatvam for PerumAL is unlike

that of jIvAtmAs. jIvatma's seshatvam is (i) for both perumAL,

and pirAtti, and (ii) is svAbivigam, i.e. natural. However,

pirAtti's seshatvam for perumAL is not by nature, but by sva-icchai.

Perumal is Iswaran for all sentient and insentient matter.

pirAtti is Iswari for all sentient (except perumAL) and insentient

matter.

 

Thenkalais do not accept that Sri: is Iswari. They object by

saying the universe cannot have two Iswaras. A country will

be ruined if it has two sovereigns. Similarly, if we have two

Iswaras for the universe only chaos will reign. Our poorvacharyas

have answered this criticism by citing the Vedas. Since the

vedas say pirAtti is Iswari we have to accept it. Further,

the logic that two masters will only usher in chaos in the

material universe is not sufficient to prove pirAtti is not

Iswari. Even in the material universe, two masters will spell

disaster only if they are rivals. In our case, Perumal and

Piratti are always in complete agreement and they complement

each other. PerumAL's thiruvuLLam and pirAtti's thirvuLLam are

always in complete agreement. They never hold rival views. Thus

there is no danger of opposing edicts from rival Iswaras ruining

the leela and nithya vibhUtees.

 

[2] Creation

------------

Periya Piratti is an equal partner with Perumal in the act of

creation. Not all Thenkalais accept this. Again, our poorvAcharyas

have resorted to Shasthras, viz. Vedas and Pancharatra Agamas to

prove this point. Creation is yagyam. No yagyam can be performed

without sahadarmacharini.

 

[3] vibhu

---------

By nature Piratti's swaroopam is " anantam " , i.e. all pervading.

ThenAcArcAys do not accept this. They characterize Piratti as

essentially jIvAtmA, and therefore " aNu " .

 

[4] Purushakaratvam

-------------------

During upAya anushtAnam (i.e. saraNAgati) Periya Piratti acts

as " purushakara " (mediatory/recommending role) between jIva and

Perumal. At the time a jIvatma performs saranagati the jIva is

afraid to face the KaruNAmoorthy due to the anAdikAla pApam

committed. Like an errant child afraid to face his loving father

alone, the jIva first surrenders to Thayar (Sri:). With

Thayar on his side jIva musters enough courage to approach

PerumAL. Due to the six primary kalyANa guNAs, namely, jgnAna, bala,

aisvarya, vIrya, shakti, and tejas, perumAL is ready to punish

the jIva for all the transgressions from beginingless time.

However, sowseelya, vatsalyAdi guNas make Him receptive to the

recommendation of Periya Piratti. Then He and Piratti, jointly

grant the wishes of the jIva. This role of recommending clemency,

played by Sri:, is called Purushakartvam. Both kalais accept

pirAtti plays this role.

 

[5] upAya (means of salvation)

------------------------------

In the process of self-surrender for the purpose of mOksha,

pirAtti not only acts as " purushakara " , but also joins

Perumal in granting mOksham. That is, pirAtti is in every

way an equal partner in receiving our prapatti and granting

moksham. This is not agreed to by ThenAcAryas.

 

[6] upEyam (fruit of upAyam)

----------------------------

The fruit of prapatti is eternal service to Perumal and

PirAtti. Moksham is nothing but uninterrupted service

to Dhivya Dampati via Acharays. That is, our service is

received not just by Perumal, but both by perumAl and pirAtti.

On this point we have agreement between the two kalais.

 

..... to be continued

 

-- adiyEn

srimad azhagiya singar thiruvadi

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavathas:

 

Continuing on the differences between the two kalais,

the next important difference is about moksha-upAyam.

This is the only difference that affects anushtAnam.

 

Vadakalais hold that there are two upAyAs for mOksham,

namely, Bhakti Yogam and Prapatti.

 

Here, Bhakti Yogam is not just ordinary bhakti that one

feels when visiting a temple. Bhakti Yoga presupposes

disciplines that even great maHAns have felt inadequate

about. Karma Yoga which requires dispassionate performance

of one's ordained duty, (not what we have chosen to do for

our living) as bhagad arAdanani, and JnAna yoga that

requires constant meditation upon self, seeing an equal

self in all other beings, etc., etc. come first. These

then mature into bhakti yoga which starts with a state

called " Para bhakti " . At this stage the yogi has no

thought but Perumal, he meditates on perumal constantly.

Such constant meditation leads to a state called " para

jnAnA " . In this state the yogi is able to even comprehend

and behold perumal in his splendid Divya MangaLa Vigraha.

The result is parama-bhakti. In this state the yogi cannot

bear separation from Perumal even for an instant. Many

Azhvars have sung about this state of pure ecstasy in nayika

bhavam. Then, perumal out of His grace grants mOksham

for the yogi.

 

There are four qualifications for observing Bhakti Yoga.

These four qualifications are, (i) Knowledge, (ii) ability,

(iii) birth, (iv) willingness to wait for Bhakti Yoga to

culminate.

 

Knowledge: Bhakti Yoga requires lots of austerities about

which the aspirant must have knowledge.

 

Ability: Knowledge is not enough, must have the physical

and emotional strength to undertake these austerities in

a successful manner.

 

Birth: Bhakti Yoga requires certain vedic rituals for which

one has to be born a male and into one of the three varNAs

with veda-adyayana athikAram.

 

Willingness to wait: Bhakti Yogam can take many life times to

come to culmination. One must be prepared to wait until that

to attain mOksham.

 

Anyone who fulfills these 4 qualifications must undertake

only Bhakti Yoga. He is not qualified to undertake Prapatti.

 

 

This, in a nut shell is Bhakti Yoga, vastly different from

the common bhakti that many confuse as Bhakti Yoga.

 

Anyone who does not fulfill even one of these 4 qualifications

is eligible for undertaking Prapatti. Prapatti has two pre-requisites,

namely, Akinchinyam (inability to save oneself) and Ananyagatitvam,

not having any other means. Anyone who fulfills these two conditions

irrespective of caste or gender is eligible for prapatti. There are

five angAs for prapatti, namely,

 

anukoolya sankalpam

(promise to do the right thing, i.e.

live according shashtrAs),

prAtikUlya varjanam

(refraining from what is forbidden)

Karpanyam

(extreme sense of self-inability to attain

mOksham, i.e. inability to perform bhakti-yoga)

Goptruvarnam

(earnestly asking the Lord for moksham)

MahavisvAsam

(having unshakable faith that the Lord will accept

this simple act of surrender and grant moksham)

 

This prapatti may be done by sva-nishtai (directly to the

Dhivya Dampati without any intermediary, for this to

be successful all the angAs must be fulfilled without

any blemish - not possible for most of us), Ukti Nishtai

(approaching an Acarya and performing the rites as

instructed by the AcArya), and Acarya Nishtai (approaching

an acharya and the acharya does the prapatti on your behalf).

(aside, Bhagavatha nishtai can be clubbed with Acarya nishtai).

 

ThenAcArya sampradayam does not recognize Bhakti Yoga as

an upAya at all. jIva is completely dependent on the Lord

for everything and thus attempting Bhakti Yoga as a means

of moksham is inconsistent with his swaroopam. This is

a technical difference with very little practical impact

if any. No Vadakalai has performed Bhakti Yoga since the

time of Thirukkurugai Kavalappan, a shishya of NathamunigaL.

Both kalais do not adopt Bhakti Yoga. Theoretically, Vadakalais

accept Bhakti Yoga as a legitimate means for moksham, but

Thenkalais do not.

 

Prapatti is accepted by both kalais, but what is prapatti

is where the difference lies. The vadakalai concept of

prapatti is explained above. For thenkalai, Prapatti does

not involve any overt action on the part of the jIva. All

that is needed is a mental state of acceptance of PerumAL's

nirhetuka kripA, i.e. ever present causeless kripA.

This state of mind is considered prapatti and will result

in moksham. This difference has significant practical

importance as Thenkalais do not undergo " bhara nyAsam " , but

the Vadakalais do.

 

Vadakalais also accept nirhetuka kripA. They call it

siddopAyam, i.e. ever present upAyam - Perumal's kripai.

It is like rain, it falls everywhere. But, for the rain

to yield agricultural results, the farmer has to prepare

the soil, sow the seed and tend to the crop. Similarly,

siddopayam is not sufficient for moksham. A specific

act of self surrender that involves swaroopa samarpanam

(i.e. surrendering one's soul), bhara samarpanam (i.e.

surrendering the burden of saving oneself, and phala

samarpanam (i.e. surrendering the fruit of bhara nyasam).

Only if this overt act of " bhara nyAsam " , i.e. sAdyopAyam,

is undertaken will the siddopAyam kick in and lift the

soul to Vaikuntam.

 

Here again the difference is very subtle, both kalais

agree that it is not our action that gives us moksham,

only Perumal's grace give us moksham. What triggers

this grace is where the difference is. But this difference

results in the most visible difference between the two

kalais, next to the shape the thiruman of course :-).

 

..... to be continued

 

-- adiyEn

srimad azhagiya singar thiruvadi

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavathas:

We are continuing on the differences between the two

kalais. The purpose is not to highlight the differences

but to appreciate what little that separates the two

branches and to realize the highly technical nature of

the differences.

We have already discussed several points, some dealing

with prAtti and some with bhakti yoga & prapatti. In this

post adiyEn shall try to cover the remaining points and

conclude this topic.

Nithya & Naimitika karma anushtAnam

---

As in other issues the difference is very technical.

Both branches require the performance of ordained

sandyAvandAnAti duties. Thus, from a practical POV

there is no difference. The difference is in why

performance of these duties is important.

These are duties ordained by Perumal. They are not

optional. Sandhyavandanam must be performed even

during asoucham, albeit Gayatri japam is done only

10 times. Not performing these duties for any

reason will brook PerumAL's displeasure.

Thenkalais argue that a mahAtmA who has realized that

the lotus feet of Perumal is everything, abandoning

these karmAnushtAnam is alright, in other words, these

nithya/naimithika karmas are not compulsory. However,

they go on to add, in order to set a good example for

the rest of the society, such exalted people must

continue to perform these duties. For this reason

they should not give it up.

Charama slokam

--------------

The first line of this verse refers to giving up

all dharmas and surrendering at the lotus feet of

perumal. The " sarva darmAn " in the first line

refers to all the vidyAs prescribed in Bhakti Yoga.

Thus, the very fact one is undertaking Prapatti

indicates that the person has given up all the

darmAs referred to in the charama slokam.

Thenkalai view is that all the darmAs must be first

given up before undertaking prapatti. Please remember,

Thenkalai view of what is prapatti is different from

that of Vadakalais. This point was covered in the last

post.

Interpretation of certain kalyANa guNAs

------

Vatsalyam:

The question here is how PerumAL's natural vatsalyam

towards jIvas manifests. Vatsalyam is the natural

motherly love. It is blind to the imperfections of the

mother's offspring. Vadakalais hold that PerumAL due to

His vatsalyam will overlook the pApam of the jIvas. The

thenkalai view is that the sins of the jIvAs are in fact

bhOgyam for PerumAL, much like the dirt on the body of

calves is liked by the cow.

Daya:

PerumAL's compassion is such that He will remove the

suffering of jIvAs who surrender to him. Since the Lord

is all powerful He will not just share the jIvas grief,

but will get rid of it. The acts of sorrow and grief

PerumAL exhibits in Vibhava avathArAs such as Rama and

Krishna are just playing the role of the avathAra, i.e.

play acting. Such role-playing enhances the rasAnubhavam

of the righteous. PerumAL in Krishna AvathAram got caught

while stealing. This adds to the anubhavam of good people.

 

Thenkalai view is when good people suffer, PerumAL also

experiences the grief.

Thiruman

--------

Another main difference is of course the shape of the

Thiruman. It has very little philosophical significance.

But this is what engages the interest of a lot of people.

Was there just one thirumaN during the days of Swami

Bhashyakara? If so which one was it? Or, were both

thirumANs in use even during Swami Bhashyakara's time?

Was this a way devised by Swami Bhashyakara to separate

two groups of Sri Vaishnavas? So much speculations,

so many claims and counter claims. Some of these

claims are so silly that one wonders whether to laugh

or cry. All said and done, we do not definitive answers

to these questions.

The difference stems from the interpretation of what is

meant by the end of the nose. Is it the tip of the nose

or is it the base of the nose. Either way, both thirumans

refer to perumAL thiruvadi(s) and pirAtti. IMHO, which I

am suspect is not acceptable to many, is to not make this

a big deal. Let everyone enjoy either or both thirumaNs

as taught by their respective AchAryAs. If one branch

claims emotional hurt we only start a fresh round of

accusations and counter accusations. Let us concede hurt

feeling for both sides and move forward.

There are some more differences, but they are even more

technical and obscure. As you see, philosophically, the

differences between the two kalais are not very great.

Why then is there so much rivalry between the two groups?

Even till about 500 years ago we see that the two kalai

were together, participating in the same goshti. IMHO,

the rivalries began for reasons that have more to do with

control of temples and such lowkeeka matters. What ever

the reasons may be, the two kalais are a fact of life.

How we cooperate and move forward is the issue. This

is best left to AchAryAs. Our Guruparampara begins

with Lakshminathan and ends with our present AchArya.

Let us look to them for how to interact with each other.

-- adiyEn

srimad azhagiya singar thiruvadi

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavathas:

I missed one major point. The two kalais also

have different views about kaivalyam. I was

going to mention this, but somehow missed it.

Kaivalyam is a state of enjoying one's self.

In the process of jgnAna yoga one would arrive

at the state of athma-sakshAtkAram, i.e. beholding

one's self. This stage is called kaivalyam. This

is short of the ultimate goal of moksham.

Vadakalai view of kaivalyam is that it is outside

Sri Vaikuntam and those who reach kaivalyam will

stay there enjoying one's own self. Eventually,

after proper upAya anushtAnam, they will reach Sri

Vaikuntam itself.

ThenAchArya also agree that kaivalyam is inferior

to paramapadam. However, they argue that those

who reach kaivalyam will eternally stay there.

In their view, kaivalyam is part of Sri Vaikuntam,

albeit in the periphery.

-- adiyEn

srimad azhagiya singar thiruvadi