Sri Rama Jayam Namaskarams to all, mshari@xxxx wrote: "Dear Moderator, I find s.ramachandran@xxxx to have mentioned the following: ...of Lord Shiva - who is considered a Nayanmar, the equivalent of an Alwar... Such comparisons are not fit to be told before scholars...But the source should not be totally misleading finally." Pray, tell me who is a scholar and who is not? Just that if one has acquired knowledge, can he be a scholar? Well, in that case, I would like to ask what kind of knowledge is that. If it is the proper knowledge, then surely, such petty matters of differentiations wouldn't matter to those scholars. There should be an tolerant attachment to one's one dharmam, but that should not develop into an extent where you start treating other dharmas with contempt. It was just a reference or comparison that Ramachandran made with regard to Nayanamars and Alwars to convey the meaning of those selected pure devotees who worshipped the Lord in their own ways. I don't think he meant anything else at least from my understanding. It just doesn't make any one of them (the Nayanamars or the Alwars) superior than the other. Both belong to a class where there can never be anyone else who can match their devotion. By the way, let me know if there was any one person amongst the Nayanamars who followed Advaitham to the core? Dwaitham and Visishtadwaitham are not the sole properties of the Sri Vaishnavas. They are schools of thought that belong to the whole class of human race, denoting the eternal paths of Bhakti, Dasya, and Sakhya. Which ever seems appropriate, the person may follow that. We have seen several Sri Vaishnavas who came to Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamigal and so also, there have been several many (including me) who visit the Sri Vaishnava Aacharyas. I have seen some elderly Sri Vaishnavas coming to a Sri MahaGanapathi Temple near my place and so also, many "others" (including me) rendering kainkaryam at a Sri VenugopalaKrishnaswamy temple. Tolerance has to be developed towards everybody and everything. That is one of the greatest marks of a devotee. Regards, Sudarshan Iyer P.S. I am not writing this just because I am an "Iyer" and want to defend. I am writing this for the general good of all. ________________________________________________________________________ Send free SMS using the Yahoo! Messenger. Go to http://in.mobile.yahoo.com/new/pc/
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