SRI PILLAI LOKACHARYA’S INFLUENCE ON ME ( Story of a Tamil Brahmin who Finds his true Home)

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sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namah

 

SRI PILLAI LOKACHARYA’S INFLUENCE ON ME

By Sri Vedaraman Sriraman

in Vedic_Magazine

lOkAchAryAya guravE krishNapAdaSya sUnavE |

samsArabhOgisandashta jIvajIvAtavE nama: ||

 

Every individual’s secular and religious views are shaped by the

environment in which he/she is raised. Mine were influenced

considerably by the fact of having grown up in a Tamil Brahmin family

and the political/social upheavals associated with the upsurgance of the

regional Dravidian political parties in Tamil Nadu in the 70s and 80s.

Typical of someone raised in a Brahmin family, I was used to the

performance of the daily sandhyAvandanam (prayer to the sun), chanting

of slokas in Sanskrit for various deities, observance of religious festivals

such as Sri Rama Navami, Saraswathi Pooja, UpAkarma (beginning of

learning of Vedas); all in accordance with Vedic injunctions. On the

political/social side, I was bombarded constantly by a political

environment and a polity bent upon espousing their anti-vedic and antireligious

sentiments in a blatant and often, flagrant display of atheism

mixed with personal hatred. Such negative attitudes to a theistic way of

life were further amplified by a caste based admissions policy in

education that denied opportunity to qualified candidates simply based

on their religious affiliation.

 

It is not unusual for those of us who come to the US to get drawn into a

materialistic and worldly lifestyle, and my arrival in the US for graduate

education, at least during the early years, was marked by an absence of

any real interest in religion and/or philosophy. Owing to the Lords uninstigated

grace (nirhEthuka krupA), I chanced upon a few ISKCON

publications some years ago, an activity that I came upon more as an

accident than by intent. A certain degree of mock curiosity (pictures of

westerners clad in “panchakachcham” style dhoti, wearing Nike sneakers)

caused me to read on. Soon I was thoroughly impressed by the sincerity

of the ISKCON devotees and got interested in Vaishnavam. As I read

more ISKCON literature, one thing lead to another and I found myself

regularly browsing the posts on the Bhakti List started / maintained by

Sri Mani Varadarajan.

 

Here I was introduced to a whole new universe of thought and spiritual

endeavor. I became familiar with the life and works of Azhvars and

Acharyas. I found Visistadvaita’s repudiation of the concepts of nirguNa

Brahman and Maya and the upholding of the paratvam (supremacy) of

Sriman Narayana thoroughly captivating. To start with, I was

comfortable with the vedantic aspects of Sri Vaishnavam due to my

upbringing. That this new universe of thought provided a compelling

and convincing interpretation of Vedanta provided a firmament of

comfort for further spiritual and philosophical investigation.

 

One day I chanced to read an English translation of the aphorisms of

Sri Vachana BhUshaNam (SVB) by Swami Pillai LOkAchAriar (PL),

considered by many to be the most brilliant acharya in what we know

today as Ramanuja darshanam. During my first reading of this book, the

concepts of nirhEtuka krupa, acharyAbhimanam (absolute reverence to the

acharya and his teachings), and the non consideration of prapatti

(surrender) as an upAyam (means) were too esoteric for me to grasp. My

sense of this inability, looking back, is that we are too conditioned by the

punish-reward system of every day life to grasp these critically insightful

concepts. However, I was absolutely mesmerized by the aphorisms that

dealt with the notion of caste of a bhAgavatha (devotee). For instance,

consider the following sutras from SVB:

 

194. BhAgavathApachArandhAn anEka vidham

(Offences against Bhagavathas are of many kinds)

 

195. athilE onRu avarkaL pakkal janma niroopaNam

(One of these is inquiry about their birth.)

 

196. ithuthAn archAvathAraththil upAdAnasmruthiyil kATTil krooram

(This, indeed, is more cruel than examining, thinking about, the material

of which perumAL’s archA tirumEni (idol) is made)

 

197. aththai mAtru yOni pareekshaiyODu okkumenRu shAstram sollum

(It is said in the scriptures that an inquiry about the birth of a devotee is

so heinous and repulsive an act of character-less-ness, that it is

equivalent to a man inspecting the reproductive organ of his own

mother)

 

What struck me very profoundly were both the radical nature of the

truth in the message that SVB contained and the clarity with which the

same was delivered. I was very thrilled to come across an Indian/Vedic

acharya/guru who so explicitly hammered home the message of the

irrelevance of a bhagavatha’s caste, gender, economic or

physiological/psychological state as a qualification for

release/redemption. Sri PL provided a practical means for every

sentient being to internalize the fundamental truth that all of us are

Sriman Narayana’s children and that we all belong to one ThonDar

Kulam (community of servants), unburdened by caste or gender-based

distinctions. In a day and age when such remarks could have resulted in

excommunication (and as it turned out Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal

Nayanar (AMP) had to defend Sri PL!!!), Swami PL had such a clear

grasp of the universality of the Sri Vaisnavam as bequeathed to us by

the Azhvars and Acharyas like Swami Emperumanar, and the extreme

courage of conviction, that he gave voice to some revolutionary, and

unpopular (with a certain segment of the population) opinions;

unpopular then and sadly, in many instances, even now!

 

Today, it is fashionable for political and religious leaders to proclaim that

spiritual oneness of all life forms transcend caste and gender based

considerations. However, it took a true visionary such as Swami PL to

expound the vedic wisdom of Ramanuja darshanam in terms that

elevated all of humanity to a state of close proximity to the ultimate God.

 

Since, I have always experienced goose bumps at the mere mention of the two

brothers Sri PL and Sri AMP Nayanar, to me, they represent literally the two

eyes of our glorious Sri Vaishnava tradition.

Sri Vaishnavam is replete with practical applications of the glorious

precept of equality for all sentient-beings. Consider the following:

• Sri Rama performing funeral rites for Jatayu

• Sri Krishna preferring to dine with Sri Vidura even though he

had the option of dining with exalted elders such as Drona or

Bheeshma.

• The episode of ThiruppAN azhvar and LOkasAranga Muni

• Our kulapathi (leader of community) Sri Nammazhvar who

belonged to the panchama jathi (fifth caste)

• Sri Periya Nambi and his attachment to Sri MaranEri Nambi

• Swami Ramanuja and his deep devotion to Sri Thirukachchi

Nambi

 

However, it is Swami PL, who went to considerable lengths to explicitly

expand on this concept and establish its relevance within the Indian

social and philosophical framework. Prof. M. R. Sampathkumaran in the

January 1988 issue of “Sri Ramanuja vANi” says “Sri Lokacharya carried

to their logical conclusions many precepts and practices of Sri Ramanuja

regarding such things as prapatti, the value of Nammazhvar’s mystical

experiences, and the irrelevance of caste in the scheme of salvation”. It

is no exaggeration to assert that if society had taken up on Swami PL’s

vision of universality of equality amongst the sentient, some of the castebased

upheavals that so dominate India’s political and social landscape

may have been obviated. Indeed, I feel Swami PL’s vision for man and

society would have rendered irrelevant a number of pseudo-religious

and political movements that have corrupted and harmed the Indian

polity in no small measure.

 

Thus, after several years of browsing the web and reading books on

Vaishnavam, this fortuitous contact with SVB (owing to Lord’s nirhetuka

krupa) ended my quest. At last, I feel that I have found my true home.

 

The life and works of Sri PL and Sri AMP Nayanar epitomize and

crystallize the essence of Ramanuja darshanam as I understand it. Years

ago I used to be very cynical about the prospects for any personal

spiritual advancement in the light of the knowledge of my own errant

past. Like a shining beacon of light SVB steps in and has the following to

offer:

15. purushakAraththukkum upAyaththukkum vaibhavamAvadhu ­

dOshaththaiyum guNa hAniyaiyum pArththu upEkshiyAdhavaLavanRikkE

angeekAraththukku avaithannaiyE pachchaiyAkkugai

(The greatness of purushakaara (mediator, the role played by Lakshmi)

and upaaya (Sriman Narayana) lies in not merely disregarding the

jeevAtma’s (soul) defects and lack of merit, but also in making these the

very basis for the acceptance of the jeevAtma).

16. iranDum iranDum kulaiyavENumenRirukkil iranDukkumiranDum

unDayiRRithAm

(If it be said that it is necessary to remove both of these - the defects and

lack of merit-, then both become the Lord’s).