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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00134 Feb 2003

 
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Dear friend,

(1)Being a brahmin or a SriVaishnava has nothing to do with caste.
Anyone -- repeat, anyone -- who dedicates his life wholly (not
"part-time") to the pursuit of Brahman (the ideal of the Upanishads)
is said to be a 'brAhmanan'. A brahmin is obliged to pursue Brahman
in life through the Vedic pathway. That is his "karma-yOga".

(2) SriVaishnavam is not separate or distinct from the Veda. It is an
offshoot of the Vedic tradition. SriVaishnavism is "rAmAnuja
darsanam". 
"rAmAnuja darsanam" has its roots wholly in the Vedas. 

(3) The DivyaPrabhandhams of the AzhwArs are also not separate and
distinct from the Vedas. They owe their roots and inspiration to the
Vedic 'sruti'. The AzhwArs were all well-versed in the Vedas -- you
only have to take the example of Tirumazhisai and NammAzhwAr to
confirm that they were Vedic adepts in their own right, although they
were not 'brahmin' by birth. The AzhwArs, who belonged variously to
many caste-backgrounds and occupations, were all brAhmanA-s too in
the larger Upanishadic sense of the term.

(4) The Prabhandams do not and cannot compete with the Vedas. They 
complement it. They are the equal of the Vedas in the same way that
one eye of ours is the equal of the other. This is why "rAmAnuja
darsanam" or SriVaishnavism has always been called the tradition of
"ubhaya-vedanta" -- the royal path of Vedanta paved on both sides: on
one side, is the gilded Vedic 'marai' and on the other, is the gilded
Tamil 'marai'.

(6) To think therefore, as you seem to be doing, that we can all do
very well with just the Prabhandhams and abandon the Vedas, or the
Vedic way of life, is like saying "Who needs the cane-stalk when I
have the cane-juice at hand?". Let's not forget that the elixir of
Prabhandham was extracted from the cane-stalk of the Vedas. 

(7) Cultivating cane-crop, unfortunately, is far more difficult than
drinking cane-juice. Farming is hard, back-breaking labour. And Vedic
learning and Vedic-living is precisely like that. Just as no one
wants to be engaged in farming these days, the brahmin community too,
over the centuries, got away from the hard Vedic life. And now since
we find it so difficult to go back to farming we come up with clever
rationalizations as to why farming is an outdated, outmoded
occupation. 

But let us then ponder deeply about the fact of life: If there is no
one to raise the crop, where will future supplies of cane-juice come
from?

Sir, the points you have raised are also very valid. Can we all
abandon our professions and way of life now and go back to the
'agrahAram'? For what purpose? There seems to be no wisdom in that at
all. But see what the Kanchi AchArya had to say to that too (which is
also in the original passage I quoted):

(QUOTE):
?People ask me: ?What is the remedy then today? Do you expect all
brahmins to leave their new life-style and return to vedic learning??

?Whether or not I expect them to do so and whether or not such a step
seems possible, I must ask them to do so.

?Where is the need for a ?guru-peeTam? or a seat on which an AchAryA
is installed if I am to keep my mouth shut and watch idly as the
dharma that is the source of everything is being endangered?

?Even if it seems impossible for brahmins to return to their
varnAshrama-dharma it must be shown to be possible in practice? that
is the whole purpose of the institution called ?mutta-s?. They must
harness all their energies towards the attainment of this goal.

?It is not for me to say that the return of the brahmins to their
vedic dharma is not possible. To take such a view would be contrary
to our very dharma. It is up to you all to make it possible in
practice or not to make it possible. All I can do is to keep
reminding you of the message of the dharmasAstrA-s?.
(UNQUOTE)

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan 


--- Mugundhan Varadanarayanan <mugundv@xxxx> wrote:
> Respected Sir,
> I agree with the points you raised. When we say a Brahmin, being a
> part
> time Brahmin is not good. When a Brahmin moves away from his
> profession
> because his faith is weakened on Vedas, then we have a serious
> problem
> and its manifestation is very much obvious nowadays....
> 
> But my view point is that Srivaishnava and Brahmin are not exactly
> the
> same. Most of the Azhvars are non-brahmins but they are sri
> vaishnavas.
> There are lots of Brahmins who do not subscribe to the Vaishnava
> philosophy. Lots of kings were srivaishnavas (Pandavas from
> Mahabharatham are good eg, same with Kulasekara Azhvar etc). In
> these
> cases, I feel what Kanch Acharya said is not applicable. His
> Holiness
> spoke of people who took Brahmin profession and who did not do
> justice
> to the same. In this case for people outside Brahmin fold, is
> giving up
> material pursuits and seek exclusively knowledge the right thing to
> do?
> 
> I am not sure. Karma Yoga is as important as other yogas... I am
> an
> engineer, I love my field. I have deep faith in Sriman Narayana. I
> enjoy listening to Tamil Prabhandhams and feel humbled by the fact
> only
> endless devotion can produce such profound and interesting verses
> and
> this only increases my faith... 
> 
> But am I a Brahmin? I come from a very traditional Brahmin family
> with
> Ahobil Mutt Acharya as our Acharya and my home village of
> Thuvariman is
> a devout Vaishanva village. But me learning or the desire to learn
> Tamil Prabhandhams is not because of my family background but
> rather
> the fact that faith is the key, Deep meanings in Prabhandhams and
> the
> rich poetry in those songs could have occured only when Azhars felt
> the
> presence of The Lord, and deep down I feel that I can never deny
> the
> presence of Para Brahmam and unless I put utmost faith, I will
> never
> find peace.... 
> 
> But should I renounce my job, go back to my agraharam and focus on
> acquiring knowledge? I think that is not the right thing to do
> because
> I chose engineering as my profession and it is my duty to shine on
> this
> profession as enshrined in Karma Yoga. 
> 
> If I chose to go back to my Brahmin background, I agree I must
> remain
> committed to that full time, renounce material pursuits .... I must
> follow my Acharya and try to follow the exact tradition without any
> deviation. 
> 
> My point is how do we draw to our fold other people who are not
> from
> brahmin family but who have deep faith in the Lord? Because
> Vaishnava
> fold is different from Brahmin fold and reaching out to people who
> are
> not from Brahmin background but who believe in Sri Narayanan will
> make
> sure that knowledge gained in vedas remain available to future
> generations for ever.... 
> 
> I am willing to accept any criticisms to my view and if I am wrong,
> I
> am willing to change myself, I am just a 27 year old guy trying to
> understand things and i believe things are not as straightforward
> as I
> say. Again, please accept my apologies in case I said something
> offensive....
> 
> Dasan,
> Mugundhan
> 
>

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