NOTE: Readers having difficulty in reading the text may need to change their encoding to UTF-8. ------------- srI: SrI upakAra sangraham â?? 30 --- adikAram â?? 1 poorva upakAra paramparai (The Foremost Series of Favours) --- SECTION â?? 5 (3) (27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for MOKSHAM) ----- SwAmi Desikan has been listing the favours, totaling 27, of the Lord one by one in order to help the jIvA to adopt for his uplift. Many of the favours have already been done by the Lord, many are being done, and more are still ahead. The second favour was the revealing of the VedA-s, which are part of the shabda ( vebal testimony). This favour was His earliest one. The VedA-s form the shabda pramAna (verbal testimony) the importance of which cannot be minimized. The knowledge of Brahman cannot be acquired either through pratyakSha (perception) or anumAna. The Veda-s alone are the authoritative means of knowledge about Brahman. Since the VedA-s cannot be learnt directly, the Lord brought out aids to learn them. This SWAmi Desikan mention as the third favour:- (3) ivaRRukku parikrngaLAna shAstra~NgaLai sva-mukattAlum, riShi-muka~NgaLAlum uNdAkkinatuvum; The Lord also granted several auxiliaries to the VedA-s. He brought out these scriptures directly Himself and also through riShi-s, sages. The VedA-s, which are of the nature of vidi, arthavAda and mantra, have six limbs, namely, Chandas, kalpa, shikSha, nirukta, jyOtiSha and vyAkaraNa.. Chandas (prosody) is the treatise on metre (of mantras) such as anushtup, trishtup etc. Kalpa is the ritualistic science, which expounds various rituals. ShikSha is the science that determines proper accent of letters. Nirukta , philological exegetics, elucidates etymology of difficult Vedic words. jyOtiSha, comprises astrology and astronomy, which fixes up the time for the study of the Veda-a and also for sacrificial performances prescribed in the VedA-s. VyAkaraNa, grammar, determines the technique of formation of words and their accent. Besides these VedAnga-s, the Lord brought out scriptures, like smritis, through sages. These explain conduct of individuals, rulers, religious persons etc., usages and expiations for violation of rules. The smruti-s are composed from memory by various sages, such as YajnavaAlkiya, Manu etc. Then came itihAsa and purAna-s as supplementaries to the VedA-s. ItihAsa include MahAbhAratha and RAmAyana. The PurAna-s are divided into three groups as sAtvika, rAja and tAmasa. Vishnu, nAradIya, BhAgavata, Garudha, Padma, and Varaha purAna-s are called sAtvika purana-s. BrahmAnda, Brahnavaivarta, MArkaNdeya, Bhavishya, VAmana and Brahma purAna-s are rAjasa-purAna-s. Matsya, Koorma, Linga, Shiva, Skanda and agni purAna-s come under the tAmasa class. Each purAna treats five topics: sarga (creation), pratisarga (intermediate creation), vamsha (dynasties ), manvantara (the fourteen Manus and their periods) and vamshAnucarita (geneology of the kings of the solar and lunar race). Sometimes, a few more are added such as rakshA (protection of the world by the avatAras or incarnations), samstha (pralaya or dissolution of the world), hetu (the cause of creation), vrutti (modes of subsistence) and apAshray (the refuge of Brahman). It should be noted that barring the VishnupurANa, none of the others covers all the five topics. There eighteen mahApurANa-s and eighteen upa-purANa-s. The authorship of all these purANa-s is attributed to the Sage Krishna DvaipAyanaa, knowns as VedavyAsa. However, the VishnpurANa's authorship is attributed to the Sage, ParAsara. Dharma or duty is the basic aim of purANic ethics. It includes all the factors promoting the progress and the well-being of the individual, the society and the world at large. It is emphasized in these purANa-s that the individual, as an integral part of the society, owes a duty to himself and to the society. Since his rise and fall affect the society, he must try to raise himself to the fullest stature. The concept of dharma and its application is fundamental in our system of sanAtana dharma. The word, 'dharma' is derived from the root "dhr", meaning 'to support', 'to sustain'. Hence the word, "dharma" is that which supports and sustains. Later, the word acquired more significance, as it included ordinance, usage, duty, right, justice, morality, virtue, religion etc. The growth of the human society and the related problems led to the need for more scriptures dealing with various aspects. Thus came the enactment of a number of dharma shAstras. These came under the vedAnga of kalpa. The kalpa-sootra-s have four sections: 1) shrauta-sootras, 2) gruhya-sootras, 3) dharma-sootra-s and 4) shulba-sootra-s. The first and the fourth deal with Vedic sacrifices, while, the gruhya-sootras deal with the rites and ceremonies to be performed by a house-holder, the dharma-sootras are concerned with the general and social aspects of dharma. This led to appearance of a number of dharmashAstras. The topics covered by them are: AcAra - conduct; vyavahAra - civil and criminal law; prAyascitta - expiation for errors of omission and commission. The major dharma-shAstra works include dharma-sootras and smritis. They include: Dharmasootras, authored by the sages: Apastamba, aushanasa, baudhAyana, gautama, hArIta, hiraNyakeshi, vaikhAnasa, vasishta and Vishnu. The Smritis were authored by: Angirasa, atri, brahspati, brahta-ParAsara, dakhsa, dEval, gObhila, kAtyAyana, Manu, nArada, parAsara, samvarta, vyAsa, yajnavalkya and yama. As the number of such works increased, it became necessary to produce a ready-reference material, containing abstracts, surveys and reviews of all the matter available on the subject. This led to the appearance of another class of works known as "Nibandha-s". These also have references from material concerning dharmashAstra-s contained in the epics, the ramAyana and the MahAbhArata. These Nibandha-s include: Caturvarga-cinthAmani, Kalpataru, NirNayasindhu, Smritikaustubha, Smriti-tatva and Veera-mitrOdaya. As the time went, these became difficult to be understood by later generations. This situation gave rise to commentaries on these works. These explained the originals, expounded the various doctrines and subtle points, besides resolving many doubts and misgivings. Here is a sample list of such commentaries: 1. Commentaries on the Gautama Dharmasootra-s. These were written by Haradatta, Maskarin and AsahAya sages. 2. BhAshyas on the Manu Smriti by MedhAtithi, Kullooka and others. 3. BAlakreeda of Vishvaroopa, MitAksharA of Vijn~neshvara and DikpAlika of ShulapANi on the YAjnavalkya Smriti. 4. ParAsara-mAdhavaeeya by VidyAraNya and VidvanmanoharA of NandapaNdhita on the ParAsara Smriti. In the post-Vedic period, there arose some works which gave wrong interpretations for Vedic concepts. The Lord Himself had to step in to set right this trend. Thus appeared the PAncarAtra-Agama, a treatise, on the various aspects of conduct including worship. This is another important favour of the Lord, because of his infinite love towards His devotees. He taught the science to NArada, ShANdilya and other great seers through Sanaka and other sages. Agama is one of the two great scriptures of our dharma. It is also known as Tantra. The other is Nigama (VedA-s) . The Agama is a sAdhanashAstra -- Science of self-realisation. It prescribes a particular way of life and a practical course of self-discipline in conformity with the theoretical teachings of its philosophy. The PAncarAtra-Agama is considered to be the most sacred and authoritative, since it does not contradict the Veda-s. Similarly is the VaikhAnasa Agama. SwAmi Desikan points out that these auxiliaries of the VedA-s were proclaimed either directly by the Lord Himself or through the sages for the benefit of mankind. This is another important favour conferred by the Lord. (To continue) dAsan Anbil SrInivAsan ----- ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan http://www.sadagopan.org Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/join (Yahoo! 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