SrI:
SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
=========================================================
SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 06 dated 10th November 2006
==========================================================
EDITORIAL
Dear Bhagavatas:
As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is in Cleveland, I am sending this on
his behalf.. Swami is available at:
25807 Iris Court, Westlake, OH-44145
Phone # (440) 716- 0771 Cell # (770) 876- 9188
You may contact him.
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan Madhava Kannan
==========================================================
> INTHIS ISSUE:
> 1."THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY ? A CLASH OF WILLS?? Part-4"
> BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY
> (This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on
> 31st May 2006)
> 2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 6":
> BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO
> 3."MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? LIFE AND WORKS OF AZHWARS
> Part ?3- VAIBHAVAM OF MUDHAL AAZHWAARS
> BY SRI MADHAVA KANNAN SWAMI, SINGAPORE
> CO-MODERATOR OF "SRI RANGA SRI"
> =========================================================
2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 6":
BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO
=========================================================
<<<By mistake, I have placed the earlier post; Please find below the
RIGHT ONE... Sincere apologies for the mistake.
Regards
Namo narayana
dasan>>>
==============================================================
SrI:
SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA dESikAya nama:
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 6 - Slokam 4.
Slokam 4:
bhAshA gItiH praSastA bhgavati vacanAt rAjavac-copacArAt
sA cAgastya-prasUtvAtviti parijagRhe bhUmikAbheda yogyA |
yat-tat-kRtyam SrutInAm munigaNa-vihitaiH setihAsaiH purANaiH
tatrAsau tattva-sImnaH SaTha paThana muneH samhitA sArva-bhaumI
|| (4)
It was pointed in the Introduction that in svAmi deSikan's time,
samskRt was the accepted language for philosophical discussions,
devotional writings etc., and was accepted through the north and the
south as the language of the King's courts etc. Languages other
than samskRt were considered acceptable for use only by women, SUdra-
s, etc. for use in singing His Glory. After all, the brAhmaNa-s had
the Sruti, smRti-s, itihAsa-s etc. available to them (in samskRt),
and some people argued that there was no justification to resort to
works such as tiruvAimozhi. This feeling was prevalent to the point
that any work in Tamil was not considered appropriate for devotional
writings, chanting etc. Even though svAmi deSikan chose the samskRt
language for the current work just to reach out to people who did
not understand or speak Tamil, and to bring out the nectar contained
in tiruvAimozhi to the non-samskRt knowing devotional scholars, he
also speaks out against those who held the Tamil language in an
inferior position. This is the subject of this Slokam.
svAmi deSikan notes that any language is appropriate for singing the
praise of the Lord. There is an injunction against using languages
other than the deva bhAshA (samskRt) by brAhmaNa-s only in vedic
ceremonies; it is sanctioned that any language can be used in
singing hari kIrti. This is declared in matsya purANam:
hari kIrtim vinaiva anyat brAhmaNena narottama |
bhAshA gAnam na gAtavyam tasmAt pApam tvayA kRtam ||
These are the words of yama to a king who had driven out a brAhmaNa
from his kingdom because the latter had sung the Glory of the Lord
in a language other than samskRt. yama says that the king had
sinned, because it is perfectly acceptable to sing the praise of the
Lord in any language, and the restriction on the brAhamaNa-s in
using other languages only comes in when it is for purposes other
than for singing the praise of the Lord. SrI bhAshyakArar also has
said: "yAj~ne karmaNi niyamaH, anyatra a-niyamaH" ? the restriction
that samskRt alone should be used is applicable only for the vedic
sacrificial rituals, not otherwise.
There is also a rule that bhagavAn should be offered all upacAram-s
(honors, worship, entertainment) befitting the great kings, He being
the King of all kings. Kings are offered honors in any language in
which the servants and the citizens can communicate their praise of
the kings. By this rule also, it is perfectly allowed to entertain
or sing the praise of the Lord in any language.
Having thus established that the praise of the Lord can be done in
any language, svAmi deSikan next sets out to establish the special
superiority of the tamizh language over many other languages. The
tamizh language originated from the great sage agastya, who was a
brAhmaNa himself, in addition to being a highly reputed sage. He
would not have initiated this language if it were not sanctioned by
the vedic pramANa-s to use this language in the praise of the Lord.
The tamizh language also has its greatness since the compositions of
the AzhvArs in this language serve the same purpose that the itihAsa-
s, purANa-s and the veda-s perform, namely, clarifying the message
of the upanishads. In this respect, it is not in any way inferior
or subordinate to these other sources that support the messages of
the veda-s; the work of nammAzhvAr in tamizh does not claim to
stand independently of the veda-s, but instead, of all the works in
tamizh, nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi is superior to even the itihAasa-s
and the purANa-s since it very clearly explains the message of the
veda-s in a way that can be easily understood and enjoyed.
Thus, svAmi deSikan puts forth a great case for tamizh being a very
worthy language for praising the Lord, and refutes the incorrect
view held in his time by some that the brAhmin community whose duty
it was to devote their time to the study and practice of the veda-s,
should not be devoting time to the study of tiruvAimozhi.
- bhagavati vacanAt, bhAshA gItiH praSastA ? Any language,
not just samskRt, is appropriate for praising the Lord. Any form of
music is appropriate as well. This is supported by declarations in
the Sruti and smRti-s. Just like sAma veda, music in praise of
bhagavAn is declared to be a path for moksham.
- rAjavat ca upacArAt ? It is well-known that the servants
of a king will, and can, only praise their king in the language that
they know. emperumAn is the king of all kings (rAjAdirAjan), and
thus deserves to be praised in whichever form His servants (which
includes everyone) are able to praise Him.
- agastya prasUtAt ? Of all these `other' languages, the
dramiDa bhAshA ? the tamizh language, is unique in that it was
originated by the great agastya muni, who was well-versed in veda-s
and SAstra-s. Obviously, he won't originate a language unless it
fulfilled the requirement of being fit for singing the praise of the
Lord.
- bhUmikA bheda yogyA parijagRhe - Based on this, the
AcArya-s have determined and accepted that the tamizh language is
fit for use by those belonging to all the different varNa-s,
including the brAhmaNa-s.
- muni gaNa vihitaiH SrutInAm sa itihAsaiH purANaiH yat-tat
kRtyam ? Whatever service has been rendered to the Sruti-s by all
the itihAsa-s and purANa-s composed by the different sages (in other
words, these works are considered upa-brahmaNa-s or those that
explain the message of the veda-s)
SaTha pathana muneH sattva sImnaH samhitA tatra asau sArva bhaumI ?
nammAzhvAr's work ? tiruvAimozhi, reflects the ultimate limit of
that service; it is the limit of the sAttva guNa, and is thus seated
on the throne compared to all the itihAsa-s and purANa-s (the best
of all in explaining the message of the veda-s).
- to continue
dAsan Krishnamacharyan
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