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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
-----   
                           


  


      
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