ADMIN - One point

[Guest guest]

, " MSR " <miinalochanii wrote:

 

> 3. List focus does not include issues such as religious conversion and how to

combat it. This is an ongoing issue for many millenniums. It is not out apathy

we say no, but the question of focus of the list. This is an important topic.

If not for the great Saivite nAyanmArs, Tamil Nadu will now be a Jaina country.

Even battles were waged for these conversions. But this list is not an

appropriate forum. Easiest way to avoid being apologistic is to learn samskrta

and use samskrta words as much as possible.

 

 

Thanks for stepping in. Very well said but I would like to point one thing.

 

We cannot compare the switch from sanAtana dharma to jaina/bauddha with the

conversion to christianity or Islam.

 

Please take a look at an extract from a friend's article. You will notice that

even if it became a jaina country people will still be worshipping our devata-s

like bhairava, padmAvati, shrIvidya, vArAhi etc although in a different manner.

This will not happen when people convert Christianity or Islam.

 

In the bAlA sahasranAma we have a name of devI as " bauddha darshana rupA ca

mahAtripura sundarI " - the rudrayAmala version. The bauddha elements can be seen

in shrIvidya too.

 

As you can see the jaina/bauddha conversion is something very different. They

opposed us and in the process enriched us too. The pretAchArins(christians), and

their violent cousins are different from us in every manner.

 

Extract:

--

Both me and the muni had enjoyed the excellent hospitality of a remarkable

jinendra during our expeditions to the north of the city of my birth in the

kAlAmukha country. This jinendra was remarkable in that he doubled both as

priest of temple of rudra and as an AchArya of the nAstIka-s! As a result he was

familiar with both traditions and was free from the rancor that characterized

the medieval nAstika mantravAdin-s who fought their fierce abhichAra battles

with AstIkas, bauddha nAstIkas and their digambara nAstIka cousins. It is

well-known that that the jaina nAstIkas were tantrics right from their early

days- the jaina hero kovalan of the draviDa epic shilapadhikAraM is described as

performing different mantra prayogas. But their mantra-shAstra has remained more

hidden than the famous activities of their bauddha rivals. One evening after an

exploration we were returning to the house of the jinendra, when we noted him

performing a homa with several mantras. This piqued our interest and we made

inquiries and he was kind enough to reveal to us over some time period the

details of the nAstIka mantrashAstra. He was himself in the parampara of the

following great nAstIka prayoga adepts who attained siddhi of the mantras of our

goddess pratya~NgirA as per the nAstIka traditions. Each one of them had

composed tantric kalpa-s on the prayogas of shrI pratya~NgirA devI: 1) the

ShaT-karma master sAgara-chandra-sUri 2) bAlachandra-sUri 3) pradyumna-sUri 4)

devabhadra. Of great interest was the fact that nAstIkas admitted possessing a

class of mantras termed AtharvaNI from which stem the pratya~NgirA prayogas.

 

The jinendra explained that some of the main prayogas of great importance (other

than pratya~NgirA) were those of padmAvatI, ambikA and saravatI. But he also

possessed some other really tantalizing vidyAs: 1) shaivAgamokta padmAvatI

sAdhana with prayogas known as haMsa padmAvatI, mokSha-padmAvatI,

rakta-padmAvatI and shabarI padmAvatI 2) kAmeshvarI mantra 3) bhairavI mantra 4)

nityA mantra 5) tripurA mantra 6) chakreshvarI mantra 7) kurukullA mantra 8)

baTuka bhairava prayoga 9) svarNAkarShaNa bhairava prayoga 10) mR^ityu~n-jaya

prayoga.

The jaina forms of these prayogas are not identical but related to their AstIka

counterparts in most cases. The jinendra explained that in the padmAvatI kalpa

that he followed for his worship she is termed: tvaritA, nityA, tripurA,

tripurabhairavI and kAmasAdhinI. One of the prayogas for stambhana in the kalpa,

with which an medieval jaina siddha had destroyed a Sufi subversionist invoked

vArtAlI-vArAhI. The mantra used in the kalpa for escaping ordeal inflicted by

rulers is the rAja-shyAmalA or sangIta-yoginI mantra. The nityaklinnA prayoga is

provided for bewitching women. vidyA-s are also provided for chandeshvara,

garuDa (for countering snakes) and kurukullA.