My dream is coming true: regarding gita: thanks to SMS Chari

[Guest guest]

25 years back,when my grandfather was teaching Bhagawadgita as per Sri

Ramanujacharya, Shankaracharya and Madhvacharya, he had imparted to me very

deep thoughts regarding the greatness and appropriateness of our sampradaya.

At that time I had a dream that I should write a commentary based on such

rich insights to let the world know the greatness 0f Bhagavadgita and our

sampradaya. Soon I realized that I was incapable of doing that.

 

However, just few days back, SMS Chari came to San Diego and showed me the

draft of his new book:

 

The Philosophy Of The Bhagavad-gita

 

A Study Based on the Evaluation of

 

Comments of Samkara, Ramanuja and Madhva

 

This is turning out to be an amazing work. Most of the books on Gita are

usually expositions of a single school of thought or an independent work of

the author. There is no book that deals with all the major schools and

compares them.

 

The book is written with such great effort and expertise that it will be

surely a masterpiece. The book is not finished yet. Draft of 18 chapters are

over. He has to write a synopsis of assessment of the entire gita

literature. He is doing that right now.

 

The content of this book is very unique. For example in the 12th chapter you

can find the question of arjuna: evam satata yukta ye bhaktastvam

paryupasate echapyaksharam avayaktam tesham ke yogavittamah " - here the

question is about who is better - the person who meditates on sri Krishna or

Akshara? what is this akshara? - it is nirguna bramhan as per

Shankaracharya and Prabhupada, it is Lakshmi as per Madhvacharya. It is

jeevan as per Ramanujacharya. why this difference of opinion?. who knows

12th chapter or gita correctly? How come Prabhupada, who is supposed to

follow Madhvacharya uses a sort of non-madhva bent here? how does

Ramanujacharya derive the jeeva meaning here? how can that position be

supported?. I am sure these issues will not matter to a person who is not

deeply interested or I should say is " troubled " if he does not know the

answers. No wonder hardly anyone speaks to SMS chari to find out more. I am

sure getting caught up in karma is a major distraction for even the true

seekers .

 

An interesting incident happened. SMS chari said that he found a great truth

after a lot of effort - ie. clear proof that jnanayoga is a necessary

prerequisite for bhaktiyoga, after a lot of research. I pointed out that

information in a small foot note by Uttamur viraraghavachar. SMS was

surprised and said that, if I had that Uttamoor viraraghavchar's edition

handy, I could have saved some 10 or 12 sleepless nights!. Such is the

greatness of Uttamoor viraraghavachar. Such a great work from Uttamoor

viraraghavachar is OUT OF PRINT!. The modern trend is " forget the difficult

shastras, who wants them. Just go to temples and enjoy the bliss of pujas.

This is a sorry state of affairs of visistadvaita. We should go to the

temples but not throw away shastras. In the next few generations it probably

will be even worse. The focus on the prasthana trayas is becoming soon

extinct.

 

SMS Chari has given me the draft of his book for further review. It is my

pleasure that such a responsibility has landed on such an undeserving person

like me.

 

I know that I never will be able to write such a book. However, the by this

great turn of events, I will never need to write such a book, since SMS

chari has done it in an inimitable way. he has done kalakshepam under

puttamkotai swamy, who was an expert on gita, madurantakam swamy etc.

 

If you need to reach SMS chari you can call him at 818-348-8182 from

tommorrow onwards. He is now traveling to Los Angeles from San Diego. I had

a chance to sit down with him and review chapters 2,6 and 12.

 

Krishna Kashyap

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Sriman KalaLe Swamin,

 

Adiyen wholeheartedly endorses your sentiments. Indeed gaining a good

grasp of Shastraic dictates is most important. Only then can one

fully comprehend one's inability to properly follow even a single

dictate and thus appreciate the enormous MahOpakaram performed by our

Acharyas in blessing us with Prapatti-thereby ensuring a permanent

place in Srivaikuntam (provided the beneficiary does not violate the

underlying rules) at the end of one's earthly existence.

 

Caught up in Samsara, one is forced to hanker after wealth. Many view

the green card to the USA as the stepping stone to realizing their

ambitions. By properly understanding the Shastras one can appreciate

that the Green Card to Srivaikuntam (i.e., Prapatti) is infinitely

superior. A glimpse of the bountiful treasure and bliss awaiting a

Mukta in Srivaikuntam is provided by Sri Ramanujacharya in the

Vaikunta Gadyam. Swami Desikan goes even further in the nithya

viBhUti Pariccheda of the nyAya SiddhAnjanam, wherein he points out

the precise location of SrivaIkuntam (like coordinates on a map) and

provides the shortest route to get there. In the process, he

ruthlessly demolishes the objecting arguments offered by

pUrvapakshins. Appreciation of these facts can only gained by a

proper understanding of the Shastras.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan