Fw: [USBrahmins] Re:SOME THOUGHTS ON VISHISTADVAITA---1

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--- On Wed, 4/14/10, DR SK BALASUBRAMANIAN <smanian wrote:

DR SK BALASUBRAMANIAN <smanian[uSBrahmins] Re:SOME THOUGHTS ON VISHISTADVAITA---1USBrahmins Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 10:44 AM

 

I had not wanted to participate in this debate because I am not an expert in any of these subjects.

I am making some general remarks.

Shankara and Ramanuja are truly pan-indian teachers. I am stating this from practical experience.

The author of Ramakrishna mission translation of Brahma sutras says that the Sutras do not generally support Shankara's advaita. Since all the Acharyas depend upon Brahma sutras for support of their views, I take it to mean that there is dichotomy in the sutras. There are probably two or more sides to the issues.

It means that one cannot assert that only one interpretation is true.

This is generally true of all Hindu scritptures.

The prescriptions are contextual and would suit certain individuals or elements in society but not others.

It is not "one size suits all" or the Procrustes's cot.

Ramanuja's followers are the worst culprits and sufferers in this respect. Their lingo had become foral and servile with an unwarranted degree of obedience and worshipfulness. The ornate modes of address as tirumeni (divine face) and servility like Dasan (your servant) and adiyen (at your feet) had contributed to the conditioning.

The secularization of the community is taking place slowly with public education.

Unfortunately there had been unthinking social conditioning. This is the only problem.

This problem is illustrated by Velukudi Krishnan's travails in his lectures on the Gita. He is under obvious strain to accommodate the expansive elements of the Gita into the self-imposed suffocating space of vaishnavism. He was sometimes openly apologetic about this.

Vaishnaism is a sensible and practical approach to temporal life. Vishnu is the magisterial royalty who stabilizes progress and renders equilibrium to the changes it brings about.

But anything in excess turns poisonous.

That is the problem with Ramanuja and in particluar with his Tamil followers.

There had been other less well-known alternative approaches: Vallabha's Shuddha-advaita, Nimbargi's interpretation and ssome others.

It is best to take the middle and sensible path.

Specialist hair splitting is useless and is provocative.

Skb.

 

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