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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00102 Jun 2004

 
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Dear Bhagavatas:
I am happy to forward an evaluation of  "Hinduism Rediscovered" by Prof. 
Vasudha Narayanan, HOD, Department of Religion in University of Florida and 
President, "American Academy of Religions" (AAR) for your information.

Dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy
=========================================================

"HINDUISM REDISCOVERED":
A Contemporary Study of Hindu thought (from the Vedic roots to flowering of
Srivaishnavam)
By Anbil Ramaswamy.
Pub: The Tiruvenkatam Group, Kuwait,
Printed by Sri Rama Publishers, 25, 15th Cross, 5th Main, Srinidhi Lay out,
Bangalore 560 062. Year of publication: 2004
Price Rs.480/= (in India); Ex-India US $ 48/=
===================================================
Check to be drawn favoring ?Ramaswamy Anbil? and sent to
IN INDIA: Ramaswamy Anbil, 25 (Old 22) 2nd East Park Street, Prithvipakkam,
Ambattur, Chennai- 600 053 Phone: 044-2657 3246
IN USA: Ramaswamy Anbil, 1037 Welsh Ayers Way, Downingtown,
PA- 19335 Phone: (610) 873-2523.
===========================================================

Sri Anbil Ramaswamy?s  Hinduism Rediscovered?A Contemporary Study of Hindu 
Thought, from Vedic roots to flowering of Sri Vaishnavam is a very learned 
and complex book.  A hefty 832 pages long, it focuses on theistic Sri 
Vaishnava philosophy and beliefs which are contextualized against the larger 
Hindu tradition/s and customs.  It is written by a scholar who practices 
what he preaches. The author is an erudite disciple of Sri Poundarikauram 
Andavan, a religious leader of the Sri Vaishnava community, and has spent 
his whole life learning about the tradition from extraordinarily 
knowledgeable teachers of the sampradaya.  Sri Anbil Ramaswamy has learned 
from many traditional teachers as well as scholarly books (both Indian and 
western academic works), newspapers, magazines, and just by living.

The book is a compendium of philosophical explanations, detailed analyses, 
and interesting information from Sanskrit texts, from a person who has not 
only the traditional knowledge but reflects on them from his several years 
of living in and observing life in the United States.  The author?s 
knowledge is both deep and broad. While the philosophical sections are 
strong (particularly the discussions on the sources of knowledge, Supreme 
being, Bhakti, Prapatti etc.), the breadth of Hindu culture presented here 
is quite breath taking.  I particularly find it useful to have in one 
place?between the covers of this book-- various lists.  There are several 
such lists; we have for instance, not just the 22 well known avatara-s of 
Vishnu but the 10 regularly cited ones plus 38 other ?auxiliary? avataras 
compiled exhaustively from the Bhagavata Purana and the Pancharatra samhita. 
  There are other very useful lists for scholars: Vedic gods, the various 
loka-s, the mandala-s of the universe, the many hells spoken of in the 
purana-s, smriti texts (many of which are not well known), a dozen or 
important regional Ramayana-s, characteristics of the purana-s, major 
purana-s and upa-puranas, the 64 arts or kala-s, the various sastras, 
sampradayas and their texts, 14 kinds of meditation on mantra (mantra japa), 
32 vidyas connected with bhakti (from the upanishads), units of time, names 
of each year in a 60 year cycle, the names of the 27 stars, calendrical 
units of time, and so much more.

There is also a very interesting section on the rules connected with food; 
what one may eat, when and how one may eat, etc.  Sri Ramaswamy has 
presented complex rules gleaned from practices and given textual references 
from books which are not easily accessible.  The section explaining social 
and family divisions such as kula, gotra, pravara is also very helpful for 
those of us who find it to difficult to understand some of these units   The 
glossary at the end is exhaustive?45 pages of useful information.

The book zooms in from a large overview of religion  (where, in particular, 
Sri Anbil Ramaswamy has drawn inspiration from a wide variety of Indian and 
western works) to sources of authority and various pramana-s (an 
extraordinarily important topic, as many of know, in Indian philosophy), and 
finally to various topics dealing with God and the paths to liberation.  
There is an intriguing topic on ?what is God?? before a discussion on to 
various aspects of theology. There are discussions on karma, dharma, as well 
as the evolution and dissolution of the universe (space, matter, and time). 
There is also time line ?a chronology of events in Hinduism as well as the 
United States.

The book is remarkably strong in explaining philosophical issues from the 
Sri Vaishnava tradition and explaining how the Sri Vaishnava teachers saw 
them as being embedded in the Vedic literature.  The author discusses very 
complicated passages pertaining to the supreme being, its relationship to 
the human soul, the ways in which the supreme being manifests itself, etc., 
all with close attention to Vedic texts, the Agama-s, the Tamil hymns of the 
Alvars, as well as to popular works on the Hindu tradition and Indian 
history written by Indian and western authors.  There is also a detailed 
section summarizing the critiques against Advaita by traditional 
sampradaya-s

As can be expected, the best part of the book is the description of the Sri 
Vaishnava tradition.  We have a thorough description of the various works of 
the Alvars, the lives of the major acharyas and lists of dozens of other 
teachers. It is here that Sri Anbil Ramaswamy is at his best.  The chapter 
(19) on the three mantras sacred to Sri Vaishnava-s breaks ground in 
explaining very complex topics to the public.  These texts are normally 
esoteric and Sri Anbil Ramaswamy boldly, but sensitively, explains the 
broad, principal contours of the commentaries which explain the mantras.  It 
is a tribute to Sri Ramaswamy that the many acharyas who have written the 
foreword to the book have approved not just the message but the medium 
through which these explanations (traditionally given only from master to 
disciple) are given.

The book has so much to offer?it has philosophical chapters as well as the 
kind of information that we frequently search for in encyclopedia, 
dictionaries, etc.  A word about the publication? Sri Anbil Ramaswamy was an 
important and regular contributor to one of the first email list serves 
(?bhakti?) on the Sri Vaishnava tradition.  He is also the editor and 
publisher of the electronic journal, ?Sri Ranga Sri,? which also has its own 
list serve.  A group of Sri Vaishnava devotees (?the Tiruvenkatam group?) 
located in Kuwait decided to make Sri Ramaswamy?s manuscript available to 
the larger public and published it.  This is, indeed, a transnational book; 
Sri Ramaswamy?s roots are in the sacred divya desas of India; he learned for 
decades under knowledgeable acharyas in south India; the book was written in 
America; parts of it disseminated around the world through a very popular 
list serve; it was published by the ?satsang? in Kuwait; and released in 
India.  We in the United States have a lot to gain from it.
==========================================================





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