Dear
Sri Murali,
Your
question is genuine but pls do not stop at that but further make enquiries on
what you get from scholars on this question in this forum and
elsewhere.
Whatever little I know, I would like to put it
here. If it further enhance your study of shastra, nothing like
it:
It is
vyasa who bifurcated vedas and wrote puranas and itihasas. Vyasaya
vishnu rupaya; vyasa rupaya vishnave. He was none other than Vishnu.
Who else can write Mahabharatha, it is none other than pundarikaksha - asserts
Mahabharatha itself. None can command Vedas, not even demi
gods. Then what about bifurcating it. It is unimaginable to
gods. ONly Vishnu can do so.
Now
the puranas - not only shiva purana but many like agni, linga, brahma, skanda
etc., eulogises various gods. Why vishnu himself write like this
eulogising others and putting himself in a corner. Even the Mahabharatha
has instances of Krishna praising Rudra thru Shivasahasranama.
First
of all, to understand any book we should know what is the objective behind
writing the book - is it sheer entertainment, or spreading knowledge etc.,
etc. So it is said that vyasa wrote his works in three languages -
darshana, samadhi and guhya catering to various class of jeevas, for, world also
contains rajasiks, tamasiks apart from satvika vaishnavas, who can lay their
hand on it. Even their intellect is reduced to such an extent that the
other two classes cannot comprehend it the way they should and not to say that
even vaishnavas will find it difficult to understand it, let alone
gods.
To
cater to diff classes of people, Deva (from the dhatu, "Div" - viz., to
play, Vishnu is called so thru Gayathri Manthra - meaning - playful) i.e.,
Vishnu, playfully write these puranas, hiding in it satvika elements so as to
put tamasik jeevas in confusion. The purity of vishnu tattva can only be
sustained when it is rendered incomprehensible for tamasik jeevas.
Also, Adhikara has a role to play in this, as, if they are allowed mahatmya
gyana of Vishnu then it is termed as bias, as, sadhakas, after much struggle
attain him. He is shastrayoni. So whoever understands/respects
shastra, can only know him. It is called asuramohana
wherein he will himself stoop low and conquers devotees but losing out on
tamasik souls in the process.
Then
there is whole of antaryamibrahmana crux of which is avlbl in
antaryamiadhikarana of sutras which gives the purport that how the indweller
controlls every being in this world. One must have to unearth it to
appreciate the one-god concept.
So
shastra does exclude such puranas where other gods are made supreme as they are
avaidik. But those portions where other gods are praised even in vaishnava
puranas - e.g., vishnu purana, mahabharatha etc., are to be interpreted by
taking into consideration shruti's assertions. For example, Rudra
sahasranama comes couple of times in Mahabharatha. This should be
interpreted if you follow shruti which asserts that 'yo devanam namadha eka eva'
etc., -- He is the one who has all the names. So whatever you
hear out of Rudrasahasranama or even Sri Rudra in Yajurveda are only names of
Vishnu and none else. The process of pramana (validity) of shruti quotes
are very vast. For a simple view - here is the sample:
Who is
brahman of the veda?
Smriti
- Bhagavatha says about Vishnu - Brahmethi, paramethmethi, bhagavan iti
uchyathe.
Shruti
- Mundaka says - ayam atma brahma - this Atman is
Brahman
Brahman can only be the highest, supreme and above all
- supremacy is one of his attributes
Shruti
- Rigveda says - "agnirvAvamano Vishnu Paramaha"' Among Gods Agni is
the lowest and Vishnu the supreme. Coming
back to Mundaka- ayamatma Brahma (Mundaka) - Atma is the
Brahman
What
is this atma referred to in Shruti? Why can't it be jeeva like Chaturmukha
or Rudra?
Shruti
- 'atmavare shrotavyo, mantavyo, nidhidhyasitavyaha - Atma is the one which has
to be heard, contemplated and meditated upon
That
meditation process is for attaining moksha whereas Rudra etc., cannot be
meditated upon as they can't give moksha.
Attributes like aheyatva (dhyana patrata), Moksha
dhatrutva etc., adores vishnu.
Geetha
says - 'Moksha ishyami maa sucha'
'Abrahma Bhuvanaloke punavarthinorjuna'
'yadgatva na nivarthanthe taddhama paramam
mama'
Hence
jeevas cant be called as 'Atma'.
Further, how can Atma be equated with
Vishnu?
Bhagavatha says 'datta durvasa somam atmesha
brahma sambhavaha' - datta, durvasa, Soma were born out of
atma(Vishnu), Isha(Shiva) and Brahma(Chaturmukha).
Atma
is none other Vishnu, the controller - otherwise Shruti's assertions like -
atmavare shrotavyo.... ayam atma brahma etc., render useless, if we assign
to someone else. I have only given out what my mundane mind thinks, but
there are scores of pramanas(validations) validating Vishnu as supreme.
Sribhashya is the best source. The Shastra that comprises of Vedas,
Bhagavatha purana, mahabharatha, ramayana and Pancharatra doles out such valid
assertions everywhere.
One
last straw to think about. There are many gods (about 33 crores of
them) but Only one Vishnu who is ruling them, Shruti proclaims -
Ekam,
Eva, Advaitheeyam;
Eko
Devaha sarvabhuteshu goodaha, sarvabhutadivasa, bhutantaratma, karmadhyaksha,
sakshi cheto kevalo nirgunascha;
eko
narayana aseeth;
shuddho deva eko narayanaha.
Many
think that shruti talks about multiple gods but it talks about only one god,
i.e., Vishnu thru Samanvaya. Vishnu does not come under
the class - Gods. Otherwise Hiranyakashipu would not have
got killed, for, among his various conditions, he had also put a condition that
he will not be killed by a god. You know what I am talking
about. Vishnu is not one of the Gods who gets created by him, but
the creator of gods and beyond all of them - Even Sri Shankaracharya himself
agrees by saying - "narayana paro vyaktath". He is
Para.
Vaishnavas have taken action to solidify the fellow
vaishnavas by dolling out valuable works throughout the history. Sri
Ramanuja, Sri Vedantha Desika's works are case in point. With these
valuable treasures vaishnavas will never go astray.
Adhikara rules and hence like various class of people
and their fittedness, shaiva purana gets validity among that class of people
with that much adhikara to go to that extent. Period. It is good that way,
otherwise, the scriptures itself may be in danger. It is said that Vedas
will cry not for people who do not study it, but for those who misunderstand
it. Hence qualification is the key to become a devotee of vishnu, for, he
is a vedic god.
As
regards numbers/popularity - truth never follows popularity it is infact the
opposite. Truth always lies hidden deep in the jungles in those days, in
aranyakas in the vedas. It is accessible to those few who have fittedness
(Adhikara) to receive it. Thus don't ever bother about number game or
popularity.
thanks
sukumar
----Original
Message-----
From: SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of murali seshadri Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 7:21 PM To: srirangasri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; malolan_net@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; acharya@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; nama-singapore@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; parakalamatham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; ramanujamission@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; desikasampradaya@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; bakthi-indonesia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; srivaishnavan@xxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [SriRangaSri] Sriman nAThamuni Thirunakshathram- Let us prostrate at the lotus feet of unparalleled acharya!
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