neo-Sadhus

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Mani Varadarajan :

 

After a great deal of sorrow & anguish arising from

Your recent note on " neo-Saadhus " that included

passages from Sankalpa SooryOdhayam to develop

Your untenable position , I am writing to you

to stay away from the temptation of penning such

misleading notes as responses . I do not relish

public display of emotions. When one's AchAryan

is attacked however , one does not have much of

a choice.Your AchAryan will take the same position ,

when it comes to putting up with AchArya Nindhanai

intended or otherwise.

 

Here are the points:

 

At 08:43 PM 7/2/01 -0700, you wrote:

 

>Second, the acharya or guru should exhibit true and

>consistent values, as the messages of Sri Madhavakkannan

>and Sri Sadagopan Maama have demonstrated. I would like

>to build upon their contribution.

 

What I commented on , has no bearing on the points that

You are developing below. You are giving an unfortunately

distorted and almost malicious account of some of

the present day AchAryAs of Sri VaishNavite SampradhAyam

in general and my AchAryan in particular . Your comments

are distasteful to say the least and does not sit well

with many people , who have called me and expressed

their anger . I would like to distance myself

from your remarks on how to calibrate an AchAryan ,

since I do not agree with them.I would rather celebrate

MY ACHAARYAN with all " emotions " rather than

calibrate Him . He is nadamAdum dhaivam for me

AND ALL HIS SISHYA KOTIS . Please do not enter

into these areas with impunity.

 

Your quotation of Swamy Desikan's Sri Sookthi passage

from Sankalpa SuryOdhayam is not at all relevant and

is most unfortunate . You are mouthing the quotation

of another curent day AchAryan . I am not happy over

your remarks.

 

FYI , a SadAchAryans does not " chase after money " for their

personal gratification or advancemnet . They are not like

the different Maharishis who have a staple of Rolls Royce

and travel first class and have their headquarters

in Cozy Swizerland . They are not like the members of

the pop musical groups , who go to air conditioned

villas of " neo-sadhus " in HimAlayAs to cram

in one week the intricacies of raaja yOgam

and return " fulfilled " . A sadAchAryan has

devoted years of his life under another SadAchAryan

studying SaasthrAs and practises rigorous

anushtAnam and instructs others on the lofty

standards that he has inherited .They spurn

wealth for its own sake. They deflect the samarpaNams

for Bhagaavth-BhAgavatha, Grantha-nirmANa ,

Vedha PaatasAlA , anna dhAnam and other

adhyAthmic kaimkaryams .

 

At an advanced age , my own revered AchAryan

puts up with an immoral government stealing the

lands donated for Bhagavath kaimkaryam ; Inspite of

His physical fraility , demanding anushtAnam ,

He travels tirelessly from village to village

throughout the entire length of Bhaaratha Desam

as commanded by Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan some six hundred

years ago.He has no choice. He has immense responsibilities

as the head of a Matam with 12 devasthAnams and 50

branches and hosts of kainkarya parALs , who depend

on Him for their livelihood. Sitting here and making

frivolous coments is repugnant to me.Few matAdhipathis

have similar awesome rsponsibilities that my AchAryan has .

 

It is not fair to judge them without any understanding

of their complex responsibilities. This is not a subject

for Bhakthi List . We can certainly talk about

the qualifications of a SadAchAryan but not in this

casual , cavalier and insensitive manner.

 

>You wrote further:

 

>In my opinion one of the chief means of distinguishing

>a true guru from one who is not is how much they chase

>after money, either directly or indirectly. We find

>so many people who are in the position of acharya/guru

>these days who ask for money every chance they get. Often,

>followers rationalize that because the omniscient guru

>simply *must* have some noble purpose in mind, everything

>is okay.

 

>

>In this regard, we may heed Swami Desika's words of seven

>centuries ago, which ring remarkably prophetic:

>

> Alas! Observe the " renunciation " of the kali-yuga sannyasis

> who bear the saffron robes and holy staff in name only:

>

> " For bhiksha, and for taking care of my disciples, " , they say;

> " Merely for my robes, and for erecting a permanent roof over my

> monastery, " they say;

> " To pay for the purchase of books, " they say;

> though sannyasis, they are possessed by their desire

> for money.

>

>Now Swami Desika would be the first to argue that guru-dakshiNa

>is of vital importance and that one should give to one's guru

>as much as possible; for no payment can be equal the value of

>a guru-sishya relationship. But the question is -- does the guru

>himself demand money early and often? If so, watch out.

 

These words are like NaarAsam for my ears and

that of all fellow sishyAs of our matam. We can not

accept any innuendo directed at our AchAryan , whose

Vaathsalyam and MahOpakAram is limitless. Please cease

and desist from such poor remarks , which are totally

unwarranted.

 

Please de me form the Bhakthi List , if

you feel that my remarks are not just.

 

V.Sadagopan

July 4, 2001.