Respected Ramanuja Bhaktas, I am not sure where this thread began, but I have learned another theory on how this word came into being. Being US raised, I have no partiality towards one language or the other, what to speak of fluency in any of the languages. However, I feel it is important to start by pointing out that the clear differentiation that we now see between Telugus and Tamils was not as distinct in the past, particularly among SriVaishnavas. We must remember that this was all one kingdom for centuries, so there was tremendous overlap and borrowing between between cultures, languages, and traditions. Thus, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada played tremendous roles in the growth and preservation of our faith. Indeed, you may find it interesting to know that there are places in what is now the interior of Andhra Pradesh where SriVaishnavas continue to speak only in Tamil, while the script they use for reading and learning divya prabhandam is Telugu. I have also heard that many great Tamil scholars have used Telugu lipi as a means of recording manipravAlam, as many of the Sanskrit consonants are unavailable in Tamil. Keeping that in mind, I have read that both the terms, Iyer and Iyengar, emerged from the root "Ay", which is the root for the number 5 in both Kannada and Telugu. Some have theorized that this was in reference to the pancha maha yagnyams that every Brahmin male is responsible for performing on a daily basis. However, unlke the term Iyer, Iyengar has been used as a title by people of all communities. One famous example is Kandadai Ramanuja Iyengar, a sAthada SriVaishnava who was responsible for the renovation of Thirumalai during the Vijayanagaram dynasty. Because of his kainkaryam to Srinivasa, he was not only conferred the title of Iyengar, but also was allowed to adopt his achArya's family name, as well. Consequently, it has been suggested that the reference to five in the case of Iyengar refers to panchasamskAram. And as Smt. Jaysree has stated, the ending suffix is "gAru", meaning Sir or Respected One in Telugu. Consequently, a true bhAgavatha, a true SriVaishnava, should be called yengar our of reverence for his dedication to bhagavad and bhAgavatha kainkaryam. In this day and age, however, any one born into such-and-such- family takes on the name Iyengar, and in the US, the once honorable title is now merely being used as a convenient last name and, sometimes, as party conversation to tell people how we are different from Iyers. Consequently, there are many of us, including myself who would prefer to no longer use this term when speaking about SriVaishnavam with others or even amongst ourselves. And personally, what greater title can there be but Ramanuja dAsan? I hope this helps. adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan Mohan jasn sn wrote: > SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA. > > Dear sow nappinai, > I have heard someone telling that 'iyaru karu' (karu > stands for mariyadai, like sir)bacame iyengar. > the term iyer had been in vogue for sometime. And with > the mix of Telugu and tamil speaking population in > Greater Madras thoses days, the srivaishanavites, > whose tradition many Telugus followed, were started to > be called with a reverential suffix 'karu' and thus > the term iyengar came into place. > I don't know whether any other explanation is there. > > regards, > jayasree.s. > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs > http://www.hotjobs.com > > > azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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