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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00049 Apr 2006

 
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Dear Sri Soundararajan SwAmin,

Your mail below is an eloquent tribute to Vedaviths
and to the VedAdhyAyana tradition. You have very
rightly focussed on waning tradition of "vEdAdhyAyana"
amongst SriVaishnavites these days. The situation is
so bad that very soon, as you rightly pointed out,
none amongst the SriVaishnavite community would ever
deserve the honorific of Ubhaya-vedantin.

In Kuwait, the Tiruvenkatam group here consists of
about 20 persons who are regularly practising
"vEdAdhyAyana" since the past 5 years. Although they
are all working men in different 'laukika' professions
and vocations, still they have all decided to dedicate
part of their evening after-office hours to regular
"adhyAyana" classes being conducted by an equally
dedicated and learned "adhyApakar" (a devout
SriVaishnava himself) who also is living and working
here in Kuwait for the past 5 years. This group now
has achieved reasonable fluency (not professional
excellence) in chanting the following:

          Pancha sooktham
          Taittiriya Upanishad (all 4 "vallis")
          Udhaka shAnti  (full)
          Pancha shAnthi
          Rudram, chamakkam
          Narayana Upanishad

The group is now going to eagerly embark soon on a new
curriculum starting from the Tamil New Year Day (April
14th). The "adhyApakar" will begin "adhyAyana" in
"acchidram" to be followed by "arUNam" later.

This group of Veda "vidyArthIs" here in Kuwait is
engaged in "vedAdhyAyana" for no other purpose other
than enjoyment of the spiritual bliss that one gets
while chanting the Vedas. The "adhyApakar" also does
not expect anything in return for his effort except 
unfading enthusiasm from his students. And none of us
are aspiring to the title of "Ubhaya Vedantins" or any
such great honorific. For us, the effort of
"vEdAdhyAyana" is its own reward. We consider it a
blessing in itself that God has given us an
opportunity in this lifetime to learn at least a very
small part of the sacred Vedas.

I am explaining all this to you, and sharing it too in
the SriVaishnava cyber-groups, not to show off our
group's effort or to boast about it and feel great
that we are all "holier than thou". 

I am saying all this only to drive home the point that
where there is "bhagavath-sankalpam" at play, it will
certainly operate through the enthusiasm and diligence
of persons who make a firm decision to begin learning
the Vedas. It does not matter whether such effort
takes place in India, our motherland, or elsewhere in
the world where SriVaishnavavas have chosen to live
and settle down. What matters is that, as you have
rightly pointed out in your message, there must be a
firm will on the part of SriVaishnavas to dedicate
some part of their lifetime to undertake
"vedAdhyAyana" themselves. Contributing money to
"veda-patashalas" and sponsoring students in such
schools is one valuable form of doing one's duty by
the Vedas. But it is not enough in my opinion. It is
far more important for each and every SriVaishnava to
set personal examples and undertake "vedAdhyAyana"
himself, even during the prime part of his 'laukika'
life and career. 

Even if the "adhyAyin" does not know Sanskrit, and
even if he struggles with "akshara-shuddham" or
"vAng-manas shuddham" (as pointed out by you), he must
still relentlessly pursue "adhyAyana" and persevere at
it. In Kuwait, in the tiruvenkatam "adhyAyana gOshti",
for example, not everybody is comfortable with
Sanskrit and yet that does not dampen or impair their
learning effort or resolve. The "adhyApakar" also
takes great pains to somehow teach such students
properly even if their Sanksrit enunciation is found
faulty or deficient.

All that it really takes to perform "veda
samrakshaNam" is firm resolve on the part of
SriVaishnavas that they will go ahead and do
"adhyAyanam" even in the face of all kinds of
obstacles in life, big and small. It is only a matter
of personal choice to be taken without expectation of
any personal reward of "prati-phalan". If a
SriVaishnavan does this, he can rest assured he is
doing his little bit indeed for the protection of
Vedas. If he does not do this, for whatever reasons he
may skillfully put forth, I am sure he will continue
to feel guilty of a grave duty-lapse till the very end
of his days on earth no matter how much money he may
otherwise contribute to God knows how many
veda-pAtashALas...

Your email message, SwAmin, is a very timely wake-up
call for SriVaishnavas all over the globe not to let
the tradition of "vedAdhyAyana" slip into desuetude
and apathy. Let us not forget that the very soul of
Ramanuja "siddhAnta" is "ubhaya-Vedanta". The day
"vEdAdhyAyana" ceases in the SriVaishnava
"sampradAya", that day will signal the end of the
"sampradAya" itself.

Sir, I salute your efforts to bring this situation to
the awareness of the community all over the world
through your email. I share your concerns and endorse
your views fully.

Thanks and regards,
dAsan,
Sudarshan   



--- soundararajan desikan <srikainkarya@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> 
>   Dear Swamin
>                      Sri Vaishnavas are commonly
> honoured with prefix" Ubhaya Vedanthis"_  which,
> among other things ,  represent Vedas and Divya 
> prapandhas.In other words, they are vidwans of both
> Vedas and Divya  prapandhas, though they have not
> learnt all Vedas/their Veda as per  their sakha(
> yajus sakha etc) and all 4000 Divya prapandhams 
>                    >   Dasan
>   Srikainkarya
>   Thiruvaheendrapuram Uruppattur Chakravarthi
> Soundararajan
>


                
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