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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00074 Nov 2002

 
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/Om namO nArAyaNaya |
 
 Subject: The /gItA and the /AZvArs: Remark of Shri Venkatesan. 

 
 On the lack of ubiquity of the /gItA in the works of /AZvArs, I would like to 
add a statement.
 
The /AzvArs were missionaries. That is, they had a message which they wanted to 
take to the people --- that is, all the people. In particular, they were 
sending their call to the man (woman) on the street and at homes. 
 
 The /gItA is not for the common man. The war scene in the /mahA/bhArata is 
exciting for children, but hardly a tool to learn. The /gIta is for people in 
crisis. It takes a crisis in life to appreciate the full import of the /gItA. 
Sure all of us have crisis. But one has to accept /krushNa as an /avatAr with 
supreme authority and wisdom. This is not possible unless one knows about the 
early childhood of /krushNa. There He shines as a Master of His environment, 
capable of any and every thing. And he does them as child's play. This is truly 
captivating children. They get excited and then they also have absorbed a 
message. That of /krushNa as an /avatAr. With this absorption, they really do 
not need anything more other than an /AcArya or a friend, a teacher to tell 
them about life in moments of crisis. Without the groundwork done in childhood, 
this is harder. They do not need an /AzvAr for this.
 
 Notice also that the /gItA needs maturity. There is the question which a 
novice is likely to post: Why does not /krushNA, the a/vatAr take care of the 
resolution of the dispute? Why so much destruction and carnage? Thus 
introducing /gIta as a missionary is not prudent. That is reserved for students 
to learn under some guidance. 
 
 Take for example, the work of /Jeeyar (/aZakiya/singer) of /ahObilam. The 
/AcAryA not only takes a message, but also takes /maNolan with him. It is the 
personal element involved that brings the transformation. Thus it is not the 
message that is important, but the manner it is brought. Here the /AzvArs and 
in general the /nAyanmArs are also without equal. They appeal to the common 
man. There is joy, not just problem solving. 
 
Look at /harE/krushNa. After all they have volumes of books on the /gITA; but 
their following shows up only when they pull the chariot for example! 
 
   Secondly, it seems that by the time of /AzvArs (excepting /nammAZvAr) the 
message of the /gIta was already a part of the  Indian fabric. 
 
 /nalan/taru collai nAn kaNtu/koNtEn, nArAyaNa ennum nAmam.
 
 /vantanam.
 
 Visu

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