Dear Members, I was browsing some articles on the "ramanuja" email group from early April 2002 and was quite shocked to see vitriolic messages hatefully denouncing Sri Vaishnava vidvAns such as Sri Madurantakam Veeraraghavachariar Swami, Sri Uttamur Veeraraghavachariar Swami, and Sri D.T. Tatachariar Swami. Yes, these scholars were Vadagalai and held different viewpoints from many on this list, but that is no excuse to show such disrespect to scholars of this magnitude. Such disrespect shouldn't be shown to any human being, for that matter. I should add that it doesn't matter that it was in response to an email about Swami Manavaaala Maamunigal. Two wrongs don't make a right. To those who do not know, Sri Uttamur Swami was a guru to many of the Thengalai sampradaya's brightest stars, including Sri Velukkudi Varadachariar Swami, Sri T.A. Krishnamacharya Swami, Sri M. Narasimhachariar Swami and others. Sri Uttamur Swami's editions of many sampradAya granthas such as Bhagavad Ramanuja gItA-bhAshya with tAtparyacandrikA, SrutaprakASika on SrIbhAshya, and the upanishad-bhAshyas of Sri Rangaramanujacharya are the standard editions used by scholars and students within and without the Sri Vaishnava sampradAya. Sri Madurantakam Swami was, as Sri Velukkudi Krishnan personally told me, one of Sri Velukkudi Varadachariar Swami's closest friends, so much so that they would be willing to 'pisingify' sAdham for each other (Sri VK's literal words). If these two stalwarts of their respective traditions could show such regard for each other, should we show any less? Sri D.T. Tatacharya Swami, for whatever else one may say, was a great scholar of SrIbhAshya who wrote a brilliant defense of Visishtadvaita in his 'visishTAdvaita-siddhi', as a partial rejoinder to an Advaita attack on the fundamentals of the system. It is a great thing to exalt one's acharyas, but such a thing should never come at the expense of others. Please -- I beseech members and the moderator to exercise control in this regard. quite pained, aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan, Mani
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