1. Tirukural on Wisdom

2. Tyagaraja on Music

3. Basavanna

4. Shruti on Vocations

5. Vivekananda on the Past

6. Vemana

7. Gandhi on Caste

8. Meaning of Varna in Rig Veda

9. Bhartrhari

10. Purusha Sukta

11. Tirumular

12. Tantras in Tirumandiram

13. Chandidas

14. Andal

15. Raja Ram Mohan Roy

16. Myth: Cow Worship

17. Vallabha

18. Marriages

19. Keshab Chandra Sen

20. Swami Agehananda Bharati

21. Yalpana Nayanar

22. Harmony in Nature - Nandanar/Periapuranam

23. Enlightened Universality - Yaadum Oore/Kanian

24. Tamil Vaishnavism and Alvars

25. Set Aside the Shastras - Tirumular

26. Murugan and Kanda Puranam

27. Tirumoli by PeriAlvar

28. Bengali Gems by Chandidas

29. A SImple Scene - Sangam Literature

30. Tirupugal - Arunagirinathar

31. Tolkappiam

32. Civakacintamani - First Tamil Epic

33. Kuruntokai

34. Gratitude - Tirukural

35. Appar

36. Nature in Sorrow - Kampan Ramayana

37. Tayumanavar

38. Sundarar

39. Tirumangai Alvar

40. Hanuman - Kampan Ramayana

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aRivinuL ellAm talaiyenba tIya
ceRuvArkkum ceiyA viDal

They say, of wisdom all, on top this goes
Not doing evil even to foes.

This couplet from the TirukkuRaL (21.3) is one of those pearls of wisdom
which is being pushed more and more into the corner these days, and not just
in intolerant non-Hindu societies. In the Hindu world too those who preach
such values are being considered morons. Yet, it is an affirmation of a an
ancient insight which even some non-Hindu spiritual leaders have
articulated. To hate and to hit back, to seek revenge and to subdue the
enemy are the natural instinctive modes, and therefore are practiced by a
vast number of people. The attack on enemies and their subjugation has even
proved to be effective in many instances. But the other way, not driven by
our animal nature, and instigated by sophisticated cultural and ethical
maturity, has also borne fruit, and has elevated the human spirit to higher
levels. Though followed by only a minority of people, the best potential of
the human spirit has been reflected in the actions and attitudes of such
people. To hate and to vilify the enemy is normal and natural, but the
enlightened guides of many peoples have often articulated ideals which may
seem to be beyond the reach of the majority. It is such guides, as
TiruvaLLuvar here, who have kept the torch of civilization alight. So, even
in an age when we are intoxicated with the raw passions of anger which
instigate us to harsh words and dreadful deeds towards our enemies, real or
perceived, it is good to be reminded of these ideals.

V. V. Raman

Merge yourself in music and experience the divine bliss, Oh mind!
(Music is) the bestower of delicious fruits:
the ragas which arise are combinations of seven-notes.

This is from one of the many kritis of Saint TyAgarAja (18th century), a
giant of classical Karnatic music, whose compositions have not only given
immense aesthetic delight to countless people over many generations, but
also lifted up their hearts to spiritual joys. For TyAgarAja was no mere
composer. He was a devout bhakta also.

In Indic culture we often speak of j?, bhakti, and karma as the three
mArgas or paths for spiritual fulfillment. But there is also a fourth one:
the gAna mArga or path of music by which the aspirant might taste a bit of
the divine. In the performance and experience of music the participant
forgets the world of pettiness and self, of anger and hate, or creed and
sect, and merges into the melody that does the magic of transporting one to
an altogether ethereal realm where pure joy reigns. If the music is of the
devotional kind, as TyAgarAja's was, then we are also transformed, even if
transitorily, into purely spiritual beings.

In these lines from a kriti entitled NAdalOluDai, the divinely-inspired
poet tersely formulates the gAna-mArga principle by which he lived and
taught, and through which he also grandly enriched our culture.

V. V. Raman

Basavanna was a profound thinker, a great social reformer, a great saint
and a religious teacher. Basavanna is regarded as the originator of
Lingayatism, however according to some scholars he revived this already
existing creed. Shree Basaveshwara was born in a brahmin family, to
Madarasa and Madalambe in 1131 AD in Bagewadi. Madarasa was the chief of
Bagewadi, which is now known as Basavanna Bagewadi in Bijapur district,
Karnataka, India. From his childhood, Basavanna was a brilliant child &
was always showing his objections to many customs, rituals,
discriminations in day to day affairs.

He was much pained by many drawbacks in Hindu Vedic Systems and brought
reformation. For example:

*Due to untouchability system prevailing the lower caste people were
treated as animals.
*Female were not given equal rights.
*The widows had to follow many rigid rituals & customs.
*The animal sacrifies in the name of satisfaction of gods.
*The rigid caste system treating the person by birth as superior or
inferior.
*Following blind rituals which were meaningless.
*The Statue worship and exploitation of innocent people by worship class
like pujaris, maThapatis etc.

The Brahmin class was opposing the learning of Vedas by people of other
castes and all temples, maThs were in their stronghold . Exploitation of
innocent lower caste people in the name of god & religious ceremonies
rituals pained Basavanna very much & in his boyhood he opposed "Upanayana
Samskara" which was not permitted to females. At the age of 16 years
Basava broke away from the brahmanical religious traditions. He then
proceeded to Kudala Sangama, which is now a village in Hunagund Taluk of
Bijapur District and situated at the meeting place (Sangama or Junction )
of two rivers, the Krishna and its tributary the Mahaprabha. Basava found
his guru at Sangama and with his guidance, he put himself into study and
devotion to Sangameshwara the presiding deity of Sangama. He spent 12
years which was the most significant period of his life at Sangama.

He also started preaching that God is only one & he is "Shiva", who has no
shape but dwells in every one. The symbol of "Linga" a semi round object
was made compulsory to be worn in the neck after "Shiva Diksha" and this
was equally applicable to both Males & Females. All such persons who
believed that God is only one and he is Shiva were given "Diksha" and wore
that Symbol Linga. They were called as Veerasaivas or Lingayat. Basavanna
become Prime Minister to King Bijjala  who was a follower of Jainism, but
Basavanna married the sister of King Bijjala and since the king was not
opposing Basavanna for his activities, all caste people under took Shiva
diksha & became Veerasaivas by putting on Vibuthi on their forehead, &
other parts of body & wearing Linga in the neck. The Veerasaivism not only
brought all class of people under are stray fold irrespective of Caste &
its popularity prejudiced the minds of Brahmins & their followers who
believed in day old customs & procedures. "Anubava Mantapa" established
under the chairmanship of Allama Prabha included females & it became so
popular all the participants were given to voice their opinions it was
guiding Veerasaivism to right paths always by performing as a governing
council.It included leaders & stalwarts like Channabasavana, Akka Mahadevi
& other Sharanas. The Veerasaiva are known as sharanas & Vachanas are the
form simple Kannada poems were written by all sharanas. Basavannas Vachana
became so popular, and study and recitations made people adhere to right
path.

Here's is one of Basavanna's Vachana:

ivanArava ivanArava ivanAravaneMdu enisadirayya.
iva nammava iva nammava, iva nammavaneMdu enisayya.
kUDala saMgamadEvA nimma maneya maganeMdu enisayya.

Meaning:
Don't make (me) think, "Whose is this man ? Whose is this man ? Whose is
this man ?"
Make (me) think, "This is our man. This is our man. This is our man."
Oh the Deity of kUDala saMgama, make (me) think that "I am a son of
Your house."

Note:
1. Our Lord stands as the Supreme Flame that transcends all boundaries.
To that God without a second, who is related and who is not? People of
which color, race, caste, gender, language, region are His liked-ones and
which ones are not? The One God for this entire universe does not push
away any section of society. If there were two Gods may be there could be
preferred ones of each one. There is only One and He is the source of
Bliss for everybody. Whoever is the devotee of our beloved God, they are
our own. There should be no discrimination of the devotees in anyway. We
are all the sons of that Great House!

Sources:
http://www.lingayat.com/alingayat/basavanna.asp
http://www.shaivam.org/vacsl004.htm

*Content has been edited*

Gautham.

Scruti on Vocations

There are several references to the caste system in all the smirthis. The very existence of the manu
shastras is fact of the existence of a hierarchical caste and untouchability,
and is a disgrace to us,
whether the jurisprudence part was implemented or not. The brahmins certainly
implemented the
rituals and rules set our for them in the MS, especially those part containing
rituals when in contact
with harijans. Perhaps the muslims and british built upon the social divisions
and made it worse.

There are a very few references in the brahmana sections of the vedas and in
some upanishads, as
well as some in the agamas (as to who should conduct worship in the
moolasthanam), but here it
appears as an observation of the already existing social structure of those
times. It neither condones
or condemns the social divisions. Here in the scruti, there is clearly no
untouchability and neither is
there a hierarchical system. Indeed we are told again and again in the Yajur
Veda that all part of
society are equal, and there is no one inferior or superior, and no one is more
or less important then a
pebble.

By delving into the past, into the smirthi again and again, we will not solve
the problem, and it
obscures the scruti. Smirthis are sectarian and divisive. It is for this reason
I suggest that we bring
the scruti in front in academic discussions, and point out verses that there is
no hierarchy and no
biasness on gender or birth, let alone untouchability.

Here is one to start with:

Taittiriya Samhita, Shukla Yajurveda

Namastakshabhyo rathakaarebhyasca
vo namo namo kulalebhya karmarebhyasca
vo namo namo nisadebhya punjisthebhyasca
vo namo nama isukrdhbyo dhanvakrdhbhyasca vo namaha

Salutations to carpenters/woodcutters, and chariot makers,
Salutations again and again to potters and blacksmiths,
Salutations again and again to fisherfolk and fowlers,
Salutations again and again to makers of arrows and bows.

EXPLANATION

1. Here the Lord is identified as everything, as all workers and as all
vocations and as all actions, and
the seer prostrates to all workers/the Lord.
2. Here, all occupations/vocations are respected, none higher or lower, all play
a part.
3. Here there is a recognition of the different classes of workers that existed
then, and that will
always exist in any society and in anytime, and that exists today, and will
exist in the future. Here
there is acceptance of the different vocations of mankind.
5. Here we are 'told' to emulate the seer and prostrate to all workers,
everyone, without exception. We
are told to accept all people with reverence.

Now this is a just and equal society. How better does it get?

"This is the ancient land where wisdom made its home before it went into any
other country, the same India whose influx of spirituality is represented,
as it were, on the material plane, by rolling rivers like oceans, where the
eternal Himalayas, rising tier above tier with their snow-caps, look as it
were into very mysteries of heaven. Here is the same India whose soil has
been trodden by the feet of the greatest sages that ever lived.

Here first sprang up inquiries into the nature of man, into the internal
world. Here first arose the doctrines of immortality of the soul, the
existence of a supervising God, an immanent God in nature and in man, and
here the highest ideals of religion and philosophy have attained their
culminating points. This is the land from whence, like the tidal waves,
spirituality and philosophy have again and again rushed out and deluged the
world, and this is the land from whence once more such tides must proceed in
order to bring life and vigor to the decaying races of mankind. It is the
same India which has withstood the shocks of centuries, of hundreds of
foreign invasions, of hundreds of upheavals of manners and customs. It is
the same land which stands firmer than any rock in the world, with its
undying vigor, indestructible life. Its life is the same nature as the soul,
without beginning and without end, immortal, and we are the children of such
a country (culture).

".. Many times have I been told that. looking into the past only degenerates
and leads to thing, and that we should look to the future. That is true. But
out of the past is built the future.. Look back, therefore, as far as you
can, drink deep of the eternal fountains that are behind, and after that,
look forward, march forward and make India brighter, greater, much higher
than she ever was.."

This was the inspiring beginning of the speech by Swami Vivekananda from
which I quoted another section last week. We see in these words the passion
and eloquence of a brilliant man deeply connected to his heritage who fully
understood its sturdy roots, and also their true strengths. He made no
awkward claims about modern physics being in the Vedas, but he well knew
those elements of India's long and rich history of which we can all be
justly and genuinely proud. He reminds us in these uplifting lines of a past
that was legitimately glorious, and of an inner resilience that has not
allowed intruding forces to demolish or weaken it.

This ancient civilization has to reaffirm itself, but in order to do that it
must look into its past. And from that retrospection it must learn not only
about its richness, but also about its not so bright periods. Furthermore,
it is not enough to bask in the sunshine of past achievements, the emerging
generation must do more than sing the glories of its ancestors, even as, for
a person to gain respect, it will not do to keep saying ,"My grand uncle
was a high-court judge."

At this juncture, it so important to know why some things went wrong at
some time. But it is urgent to correct the wrongs and to repair the damage.
While being anchored to the best and the most nourishing elements of our
heritage, we must get on with the task of rebuilding a civilization that
will become, in the words of Vivekananda "brighter, greater, much higher
than she ever was," .

[Personal note: Last week, in my lecture at the Chicago Center for Science
and Religion on "Science and Religion for the 21st century," I stated that
the vision of multiple-paths of Hindu seers was the only way for
establishing harmony and sanity in the coming century in a world reeling
with mutual animosity, hatred, and conflicts. I quoted the Sloka "AkAsAd
patitantoyam." After my talk a Christian scholar said, "Thank you for
bringing this insight of your tradition to us. More than a hundred years ago
the great Swami Vivekananda came to our city with this message. The people
of this city were so moved by his speech that they honored his name with a
plaque right in front of the Arts Institute of Chicago where he spoke." This
confirmed my view that, in our own times, not all Hindus are caste-bigots,
and not all Christians are missionaries.]

V. V. Raman

VEMANA (15th century)

Vemana is the name of an author that appears in classical Telugu literature.
So little is known of this sage-poet that some have suspected that Vemana is
but the collective name given to a group of village wise men. Others have
spun interesting tales about the man and his origins. It has been told that
he was born to a ruling king, and that after a youth of playboy pleasures,
he turned into a philosopher-poet. Some say he became a yogi who performed
miraculous feats, like growing sweet melons with seeds of gold. Rumors
spread that his urine and excrement turned to precious metals in the homes
of those that received him with respect.

More careful probing has concluded that these stories are trees in a forest
of fantasies, providing cool comfort to some, but devoid of factual roots.
His modern biographer V. R. Narla, armed with the tools and strengths of
dispassionate scholarship, suggests that "Vemana was no scion of a royal
family. What looms large in the background of his life is not a palace but a
farm." He also suspects from extant writings that Vemana was attracted
first to pretty damsels, and then to alchemy, and that he (Vemana)
discovered that the transmutations should be, not from base metals to gold,
but from base human nature to a noble one.

The collection of Vemana's writings, known as Padyamulu, covers a wide range
of topics. It embodies an extremely tolerant theology, with such nuggets as:
Cows may come in different colors, but the milk they give is always white.
Flowers vary in forms and fragrance, but they all may be used to worship
God.

Faiths may be different in forms, but the God they preach is one and the
same.

His thoughts are non-sectarian. He refers to God as "He whose form is
universal, who is eternal, who Himself witnesses all that passes in every
heart, who exists immutably throughout the world, who is free from all
shadow."

Vemana speaks out against the common modes of worship in his tradition:
"Neither in earth nor metal, in wood or stone, painted walls or images, is
where we can perceive the great Spirit." He ridicules the obsession for
pilgrimage to Varanasi: "Varanasi! Varanasi! you cry, eager to travel there.
But is not God everywhere? If you have the right heart, He must be there and
here too." Vemana is wise on secular themes too. He pokes fun at the miser:
"If you wish to kill a miser, do not poison him. Simply ask him for a penny,
and he will die." He has no regard for the pompous bureaucrat who tries to
impress the simple-minded: "If you get hold of a monkey and dress it up in a
fancy manner, the other apes will worship it." He counsels magnanimity
toward a fallen enemy: "Though a foe that deserves to be killed fall into
your hands, do not afflict him. Conciliate him with your kindness, and let
him go. This itself will be death to him."

Long before Thomas Jefferson, Vemana wrote,
If we look through all the earth,
Men, we see, have equal birth,
Made in one great brotherhood,
And equal in the sight of God.

Again and again we see the amalgam of commonsense and wisdom in Vemana's
verses. He called a spade a spade. Provoked perhaps by rules by which "the
work of a shudra poet should be rejected without examination," - a rule
enunciated by the Telugu literary authority Appakavi - Vemana did not mince
words when it came to ridiculing orthodoxy. He had little respect for
ostentatious Brahminism: "How do you become superior by merely smearing your
bodies with ashes? It is your thoughts that must turn to God. Even an ass
can wallow in dirt."

Because of such temerity, the establishment made every effort to suppress
the name and writings of this bold thinker.

Not only were Vemana's poems scrupulously excluded from general publications
of Telugu poetry, but his name was not even mentioned by scholars and
compendia of great Telugu writers. Sadly, it was a European scholar who
re-discovered Vemana and brought him to the attention of the modern world.
It is shocking to read that when "The Verses of Vemana: Moral, Religious and
Satirical" was first published in 1829, 450 of the 500 copies "were rolled
up as waste paper and tucked away in the lumber room of the College
library."

In his satire and €Őasez l' inf? attitude, Vemana was a Voltaire of his
times. Instead of the Bastille, he suffered oblivion. He was cryptic in his
sayings, and was not without a touch of humor. Yet, he was no cold
rationalist. Only he who has compassion for his fellow-men's sufferings
deserves to be called a human being, he declared.

Angry orthodoxy may call him a non-Hindu, but he was as much a Hindu as any
Veda-chanting, yaj?erforming, caste-respecting dharmi. Herein lies the
strength, sanctity, and security of Hinduism. May we never forget that.
If the likes of Vemana had held the day, who knows what intellectual
revolutions Indian society might have undergone in earlier centuries! The
battles in human civilization are not just military, nor even only between
good and evil. Often they are between enlightened and obscurantist ways of
looking at the world. And Vemana was on the side of light.

V. V. Raman

These are the words of Mahatma Gandhi, written and spoken more than eighty
years go. We respect Gandhiji for these sentiments, but sadly they are not
really original thoughts. All through the ages, the true lovers of the
tradition, countless Hindu sages and saints, have spoken out with even
greater vehemence and harshness against a system that considers one group
inferior, indeed too lowly to be touched. Whether it is the inertia of
centuries, the spiritual blindness of dvijas, the perversion of pundits, the
attitudes of the AcAryas, or the curse of some sinister spirit, we do not
know. But the fact is that for generations the scourge of casteism and
untouchability has disfigured the fair face of Mother India. One may wonder
if the religion will ever be cured of this age-old ailment that has been
maiming the fabric of Hindu society for a good many centuries.

By some magical transformation, the same Hindus, when they are transported
to distant lands, from Malaysia to Madagascar, Singapore to South Africa,
from Australia to Arizona, soon rid themselves of this dreadful and shameful
disease. And there seems to be some hope now. Now that some of these
expatriate children and others in India who have been awakened to the values
and worldviews of a different century, have begun to stir the stagnant
waters, and splash their outrage on the wonder of the internet, things
might change after all. It is ironic that the greatest salvation for modern
Hinduism could well be instigated by voices of light and reason from distant
shores.

[In the meanwhile, obsession with sectarian hegemony seems to be on the
rise, even in Navyashastra circles. Not unlike Christians and Muslims who
claim primacy for their respective prophets, ancient Hindu rivalries seem to
be coming back to the fore: Which is preferable and superior? The Shaivite
metaphysical insight that is above all else, or the Vaishnavite
personification of the Divine Who is the savior of all humankind? To claim
that Hinduism proclaims multiple paths to spiritual fulfillment and is above
sectarian squabbles, may be, like other ideals of the tradition, soothing
and self-serving in philosophical discourses, but in practice, more often
than not, we are no better than the religion of the mlecchas. When it comes
to our enlightened visions, they are, as Shakespeare said somewhere, "more
honour's in the breach than the observance."]

V. V. Raman

In the Rg Veda color (varna) means the color of the banner of the god the
family follows. It has nothing to do with cast, ethnicity or god. One has to
link
this word (varna) to words like rupa(form) or varlas (concrete form) to
understand the fluid and inconcrete character character of those words in the Rg

Veda. In general the three words correspond to an effect (form) poduced or being

produced and therefore classifiable only according to the aspect or the stage
of the manifested external activity. As in R.V. 5.81.2., of Savitara, or
Visvarupa, or the changes of Soma in the ritual, R.V. 2.13.3.or Indra in
R.V.3.53.8. In the same sense that it is said of the wind and its forms which
appear
with force R.V. 1.164.44 or simply as whisperings R.V. 10.168.4.
All beauty resides in the color (varna) of Agni R.V. 2.1.12. And the "cows
follow the color of Agni" AND THE Rivers the color of Varuna as in Rg Veda
10.124.7 or even the poem of the poet is sukravarna (clear color). In every
instance varna is a manifestation of an state of being active...not fixed as a
cast.
OM SHANTI
Antonio de NICOLAS

> Why is Lord Muruga red?

lemme try an arrow

agnirnaH paatu kR^ittikaa .
nakshatram devamindriyam .

(nakshatra suukta - originally in TB--shruti)

Now krittikaa <==> kaartikai <==> murugan
any guess what colour agni is?

Rajagopal Iyer

Prof. Nicolas is right in that varna has to be associated with rupa
and nama. All gods have a name and form as well as color. All
form is color. Color is light. It is energy. It is dynamic. Color is
Vibrations, and it is Sound too. Combinations of colors manifest
as different gods.

That color (varna) is also the emanation, effulgence, power,
effect or shakti of that god. When seen in this sense, there is
unity of the gods as well as creation, while the distinctions
remain. Colors are the same One Light vibrating in different
frequencies.

But all these have nothing to do with the varna system. Insofar as
the vedas, varna is color - of the gods.

Now see how in the puraanashastras, say the BG, that scholars
and archaryas, even saintly names from the past, over long
periods of time have been explaining that varna is 'based on
guna not janma'. And see how far these puraanashastras have
deviated from the vedas. Embarassing isn't it?

And when the bakti saints admonished the people to disregard
varna and jaati, that admonishment itself is used now to validate
the 'ever existence' of varna system. Doctrinally the bakti saints
were closer to the vedas than the puraanashastra authors.

It is in this sense that I have always maintained that we should
eject all smirthis, as it is clouding our views and judgements.
The smirthis ARE in major conflict with the vedas.

We now see clearly as Rajagopal writes that Lord Muruga is
indeed Agni, and Agni is His color, and He is the most
worshipped god of the rig.

>if one has internalized the view that
> the PurANas as no more than stories, legends, and parables)
and one is still
> religious, then one has attained a higher level of spirituality
than most
> ordinary Hindus. In that case, it should make little difference in
what color
> Krishna, KAli, or KArtikEya is represented.

These puraanashastras are
indeed an impediment to spiritual progress. I urge all to mentally
eject them as stories, legends and parables and be relieved
immediately, and be caste free, be sect free, and be open to
receive and explore new, higher and loftier avenues of thinking
and realisations.

Unless we all in the forum do that, and take the higher path, and
boldly declare so openly, only them can we lead Hindu soceity
out of the morass of caste. Only them will we have the conviction
to lead.

BhartRhari is an illustrious Sanskrit writer who probably lived in the
seventh century. Scholars have argued about his identity, some suggesting
that the name probably refers to two different persons. Some have said that
we was king, and ruled in Ujjaini.
Be that as it may, we do have pleasing poetry and insightful ideas bearing
the name of BhartRhari. At least three works are credited to him: Vairagya
Satakam (Hundred Principles on renunciation). Niti-Satakam (Hundred
Principles on Ethical Codes) and Sringara-Catakam (Hundred Principles of
Physical Love).

Whether he was Buddhist or Hindu we may never know. But he wrote on love and
renunciation, on morals and wisdom. Certain works on Sanskrit grammar are
also attributed to him.

Sometimes he is pragmatic, as when he notes that in life, more important
than caste and venerable virtue, are material riches: "Let high birth go the
nether world, and all merits sink even lower. Let virtue be flung from a
precipice, and pedigree consumed by fire. Let lightning strike our valor.
But let us not lose our riches!"

He recognized the role of our environment in determining our worth when he
noted that a drop of water on a heated iron loses its very identity while
the same droplet on a lotus leaf shines like a bead of pearl.

The ancient notion of woman the temptress was expressed by BhartRhari in his
writings. He wrote, for example, that all the "rightness of wisdom is dimmed
when it meets the lovely eyes of an enticing woman." Were it not for woman,
he suggested, the sorrowful voyage of life could be completed much sooner.
Yet, BhartRhari also spoke of woman as the ultimate reason for life. The
grand purpose of the faculty of vision, he said, was to enjoy woman's
beauty, as that of the faculty of hearing was to hear her voice. Indeed
thought itself was meant to contemplate on the pleasing features of woman.

Few thinkers have been spared the thoughts of fleeting time, of old age and
eventual death, of familiar scenes long since gone, and of happy days recede
d into the irrevocable past. Thus, like other poets, BhartRhari also wrote
serenely on the unstoppable passage of time: "Day by day, with sunrise and
sunset, life fades away. In arduous labors time spent unnoticed as we carry
the burdens of manifold tasks...Those that bore us have passed away. Those
we grew up with us have also slid into the path of memory. We alone are
left, like trees on a sandy bank, each passing day making us ever more ready
to fall."

He spoke wearily of the spent-up state of human existence: "The yearning for
delights is over; the pride of manhood is no more; close and dear friends
have all departed; and there is a gradual loss of sight. The spent-up body
is dreading the approach of death." There is sadness here, but also food for
thought when one is submerged in blinding enjoyments.

Like Shakespeare, but centuries earlier, BhartRhari spoke of the stages of
Man: "Child for a little while, then briefly gallant youth; then for a while
in need of substance, followed by a passing phase of wealthy estate; then
with emaciated body and limbs; and at last like an actor with a wrinkled
mask he leaves the stage behind the curtains to go to the nether world."

He gives some rules for life: "Anonymous charity, enthusiastic courtesy to a
visitor, silence after performing an act of kindness, and public recognition
upon receiving one, modesty in the face of fortune, and conversation without
rudeness."

BhartRhari states that the following are among the stabs that his heart has
received: "The moon darkened by day, the bygone youth of the mistress, the
pool whose lilies have faded away, the speechless mouth in a pretty face,
the prince whose only concern is his wealth, the good person in constant
distress."

Sometimes he adopts a fatalistic philosophy: "Is it the fault of the spring
that no foliage stands on the bush? Is the sun to be blamed if the owl can't
see in broad daylight? Are the clouds to be condemned if rain drops do not
fall directly into the mouths of the birds? Who can erase what Fate has
ordained?"

BhartRhari reflects on how fluctuations in one's economic status can change
everything: "Strange it is that the man who has the same five senses, the
selfsame name, the same strong mind, and the same speech, can yet become in
an instant a quite different individual if deprived of his wealth."

Yet, in another work, BhartRhari wonders about success and wealth. "Even if
you achieved all you ever wanted, including everlasting potential for
pleasure and enjoyment, what then?"
How could a man write so solemnly on wisdom and morals, on life and death,
and also rhapsodize on woman and erotic love? Some say that BhartRhari, went in and out of a monastery seven times. This may have made him recognize that life is like a pendulum swinging between mundane delights and spiritual discipline.

V. V. Raman

The Purusha sUkta (19th hymn if book X of the Rig Veda) has been repeated
perhaps more often than any other hymn of the Rig Veda. When, as a youth, I
learned it by rote, I had no idea of what it meant, but it sounded (and
still sounds) majestic and serene, as recited by the pundit who initiated me
into this.

In later years, when I approached it from a historical perspective, rather
than as a traditional-spiritual exercise, I discovered that some scholars
who have examined the linguistic aspects of the Rig Veda suspect that the
Purusha sUkta was a later interpolation into the much more ancient Rig Veda,
and that this is the only place in the entire Rig where the word Shudra
occurs. No untouchability here.
My own view is that the hymn is a vision of cosmology articulated by one of
our countless sage-poets, and that, aside from presenting a lofty picture of
how it all came to be, the hymn also describes metaphorically the role of
various sectors of society, with an analogy to organs of the body which
perform various functions.
The most uncomfortable lines, for modern Hindus, are:
brAhmaNo asya mukhamAsIt | bAhU rAjanya: krta: |
Uru tadasya yad vaishya | padbhyAm SUdro ajAyata

The Brahmin from the mouth and royalty from arms were made,
From His thighs the Vaishya and from His feet the Sudra were born.

One may say that the phrase also reminds us that
society cannot stand without the Sudras, as the body cannot stand without
its feet. This is interesting, but is no consolation for the caste that has
been held in the lowest esteem for ages.
I don't see the Purusha sUkta as giving any support or justification for the
caste system. Rather it describes the then current social stratification,
and paints its origins in a mythopoetic way . It has been said that Manu was inspired by this in the formulation of his
code.

But all this is ancient history.
At the risk of offending the more orthodox in the group, I will say that to
me the PS is magnificent ancient poetry, and deserves respect as such, and
is certainly not the word of God and even a great revelation about
anthropogenesis.

In the Tamil Saiva tradition, divinely touched souls who live amidst us for
the welfare of humankind are known as Siddhars (Perfected Ones). A Siddhar
is in communion with the Supreme, and yet lives in the chaotic and
contradictory world of human activities. It is said that Siddhars attain
their state by actualizing the power of the kinDalinI. In this framework,
spiritual liberation (mukti) may occur in four ways: In the first one
(sAlokya), the individual lives in God's realm. In the second (sAmIpya), one
is living near God. In the third (sArUpya), one acquires the form of God,
and in the fourth (sAyujya), one merges with God. The first three modes of
mukti (liberation) are described as padamukti.

What is remarkable about the Tamil Siddhars is that they were not
other-worldly mystics who rejected the world as mAyA, but very much for
neighborly love and social service. They believe in bringing knowledge and
experience to the common people. Their sacred mantra, SivAya nama has been
interpreted to mean: bliss (Siva) results (aya) from sacrifice (nama). To
them religion is an awakening into the nature of the Supreme, rather than a
set of doctrines to be accepted.

TirumUlar was one of the most eminent of Tamil Siddhars poets. He was the
author of Tirumandiram (Sacred Chant) which is an extraordinary esoteric
compendium of spiritual utterances. It embodies insights of immense
significance to the Tamil Saiva tradition. The poet describes mandarin
(mantra) as the single path which the mind follows: manam oruvazhippattadu
mandarin, i.e. that on which the mind is intensely focused. The Tirumandiram
contains the tenets of the Agamas of the Saiva tradition, and is placed as
the tenth book of Tirumurai. What the NAlAyiradivyaprabandam is to the Tamil
VaishNavA school, the TirumiRai is to the Tamil SaivA school. It enjoys the
same respect and reverence as the Upanishads to in the Sanskritic tradition
.
Unlike certain other-worldly philosophers, TirumUlar did not look down upon
the physical body. He declared that ever since he recognized the divine
essence in his body, he began to regard it as a temple, and not as something
dirty and lowly as he had once imagined:

UDambinai munnam izhukenRu irundane
UdDambinukku uLLe urupoRuL kanDane
Undambile uttaman koyil konDAn enRu
UnDambinai yAniruntu ombuginDane.

He noted that the gross physical dimension of the world often hides from our
vision its deeper essence which is magnificent. Only mystics, with clear
and pure minds, can see through the veil of ignorance. He explained this by
means of an analogy:

With an elephant was playing a child with joy
It was in fact a wooden toy.
Only a chunk of wood did a man there find,
The elephant's form eluded his mind.
So the elements veil the Real from view,
But the mystic's eye sees God right through.
He said pithily anbE sivam: Love alone is God, and explained further
anbum sivamum iraNDenpar aRivilAr
Who say Love and Sivam (the Divine) are two (separate entities)
are ignorant.

The voluminous work includes the core doctrine of paSu-pati-pAsam, as well
as tAntric analogies between orgasmic pleasure and spiritual ecstasy.
According to one school of thought, based on Indic Boreo-centrism (every
spiritual insight in India had its origin in the North) and the principle
ofArcheo-valorism (the older something is, the greater must be its intrinsic
value) a rishi by the name of Sundarar climbed down from Himalayan peaks in
3000 B.C.E. to meet Saint Agastiyar who had likewise brought knowledge and
culture to the people of the South from Sanskritic realms. On the way, the
sage is said to have come across a cowherd who had died from snake-bite,
leaving the animals unattended. Out of love for the cows he left his
physical frame and entered into that of the expired caretaker of the cows.
The name of the man who had died was MUlan, and that is how Sundarar
acquired the name of TirumUlar.

It is difficult to reconcile this mythological antiquity with the following
statement from one historian of South Indian Shrines: "The epigraph on the
north wall of the central shrine of Manatunai-isar of Valivalam (Negapatam
taluk, Tanjore District: 9-13 centuries) records sale of land to the matha
of this saint (TirumUlar)." There are always significant discrepancies
between the accounts of sacred history and of secular history: another
reason why the orthodox are not enamored of secularists.
In any case, Saiva siddhanta, which many of its adherents regard as
pre-Vedic in origins, is undoubtedly one of the Universalist religious
visions in human history. And TirumUlar is a sparkling gem in the crown of
this Tamil tradition wherein one finds a marvelous blending of profound
bhakti and grand poetry, of sophisticated metaphysics and deep spirituality,
as in few other contexts in humanity's rich cultural history.

V. V. Raman

http://kumar.bse.vt.edu/projectmadurai/pub/pm0004/tmdrint.html

The Tirumandiram has been reckoned as the tenth of the 12 Tirumurais
of Saivism. It has been divided into nine sections called Tantras,
containing the quintessence of the Saiva Agamas. Sekkizhar, the
author of Periyapuranam, designated this Tamil classic as "Tamizh
Moovaayiram" since it possesses 3000 poems each of which has unique
metrical structure, each line consisting of 11 or 12 syllables,
depending upon the initial syllable. It is the earliest exposition of
Saiva Agamas in Tamil, discussing in detail the four related steps of
spiritual progress viz., Carya, Kriya, Yoga and Jnana.

Tirumoolar, the author of the text, has been hailed as one of the 63
Nayanmars. He was a great mystic and Yogi. For a very long period he
was absorbed in meditation and contemplation beneath the shade of a
Bodhi tree at Tiruvavaduthurai and delivered the poems which are
collectively called the Tirumandiram i.e. the divine incantations.
Historically, the author belonged to 500 A.D., long before the period
of the Thevaram trio.

In the Tirumandiram, various layers of philosophical thoughts and
religious doctrines are embedded. It has been considered to be the
earliest text on Saiva Siddhanta. The concept of Pati, Pasu and Pasa
and fourfold sadhanas, peculiar to Saiva Siddhanta are adumbrated in
the text. Equally the author has given importance to Vedanta, since
in many poems the esoteric substance of the Upanishadic
Mahavakya, "Tat tvam asi" has been interestingly interpreted through
the grammatical technique of "Lakshanatraya". Further, he refers to
the Vedantic concept of sevenfold adjuncts (Upadhi) of Jiva and the
same number of Upadhis of Isvara and describes the absolute and
transcendental Reality as Sunya, devoid of any attribute. There are
portions in his treatise, to be identified as Tantrasastra, since
they provide rich materials on the basic principles of Shakti
worship, diagrams, Chakras, magic spells and their accessories.

The third section of the text is an elaborate exposition of the eight-
limbed Yoga. Since Tirumoolar claims in the prefatory portion that
Patanjali, the devotee of Nataraja, was his colleague, it is quite
reasonable to suggest that he has been inspired by his Yogasutra. The
ethical preparations, embodying the avoidance of vices and adoption
of virtues, technically known as "Yama" and "Niyama" are presented
with additional details, not found in the Sanskrit text of Patanjali.

Similarly particulars of "Asanas", the physical postures
and "Pranayama" i.e., the breathing exercises, "Pratyahara" i.e.,
withdrawal of senses from going astray, "Dharana" i.e., fixing the
mind on the point, "Dhyana," meditation and "Samadhi", or absorption
are adequately expounded. He has also delineated the attainment of
supernatural powers, as a result of practising Yoga. It is his firm
conviction that the practice of Yoga should culminate in the
realisation of the oneness of Atman and Brahman. He calls this method
as Sivayoga.

Tirumoolar has also been considered to be the founder of the Tamil
Siddha system. He describes the ways and means of attaining immortal
body, called "Kayasiddhi". Unlike the homogeneous and heterogeneous
systems of Indian philosophy which emphasised the ephemerality of the
physical body, the Siddha system of Tirumoolar advocated a fresh
theory of preserving the body so that the soul would continue its
existence (Udambai valarthen uyir valarthenae).

Tirumoolar was a moral philosopher. In a separate section, he teaches
the ethics of ahimsa, abstinence from slaughtering, meat- eating and
drinking. He condemns coveting another man's wife. Like the crow
inviting its group to partake the food, people should be liberal in
exercising charity, without any discrimination. He declares
that "love is God". He proclaims the unity of mankind and God. He
stresses on the acquisition of knowledge through learning and
listening. The final section of the Tirumandiram is named "Sunya
Sambhashana", meaning esoteric dialogue. The poems are full of
metaphorical sayings communicating mystical and speculative thoughts.
One illustration is enough: *"There are five cows (Indriyas) in the
house of Paarppaan (Paar-to see; seer i.e. body of man) which wander
everywhere without a cowherd (preceptor). If they were controlled by
him and their thirst quenched, then they would spill out all milk
(bliss)."

Love,
Kumar

Chandidas was the first great poet in Bengali literature. He wrote
devotional poetry that elevated the spirits of those who sang them. It was
largely due to such effects of his lyrics on the influential saint Sri Chaitanya that Chandidas is remembered to this day. For Sri Chaitanya not only popularized by his singing the verses of the joyous poet, but in the process he also made Chandidas a memorable hero in Bengali culture.

Many of Chandidas's poems are love songs, frank and simple. "Love is the
nature, the riches of the arts, love is the air we breathe," he sang
joyously. His verses became part of the most revered religious music of the
Bengali people. These lyrics were often in the metaphor of Krishna's love
for Radha. In this framework, carnal intimacy and even the thrills of
illicit adultery and unpermitted union could be conveyed through poetry
which, to all appearances, expresses the lofty love between the God and
gopis. Much erotic poetry came to be written by this device.

Chandidas was born of Brahmin parents, but he is said to have been
infatuated with a woman of "lowly" caste. Rami was her name, and she was a
village washerwoman. Fearing the wrath of society, Chandidas and Rami used
to meet secretly. In his torments for her he composed some beautiful poetry.
Artists do not always realize their indebtedness to the sources of their
fruitful frustrations: bigoted Brahmins in this case. He wrote odes to her,
calling her the light of his eyes, proclaiming she was as proximate to his
heart as the garland he was wearing, and declaring her the goddess of all
gods. Soon the people came to know about the affair. This created a scandal,
the caste-pure Brahmins were appalled by the depravity of Chandidas's
caste-breaking sin. In an effort to appease them, to bring the matter into
the open, and to seek permission from the establishment for his unorthodox
alliance, the poet's brother or cousin (Nakul by name) arranged a hearty
feast for the upper caste wielders of authority.

When the learned pundits were seated for the feast, in walked the low-born
woman, creating much consternation among the pure-of-caste. How dare a
defiling washerwoman, temptress of a high-born youth, barge into the
presence of the God-knowing Brahmins? It created a terrifying scene.
Unfortunately, we don't know the details of what ensued, for the translator
of Chandidas sadly informs us that "the manuscript from which these songs
were copied, comes to an abrupt end here. The pages that followed the
description of the feast were eaten by white ants..." This gave free room
for imaginative legends.

According to one tale, the Brahmins rose in fury, the woman rushed to her
lover's arms. His arms increased in number, Vishnu-like, to four: two were
used for serving food and two for embracing the damsel in distress. Thus,
Chandidas revealed himself as the Supreme Principle, and Rami became Sakti. The wonder-struck pundits are said to have taken to their heels.

Another popular story that became current says that the local ruler employed
the poet as court composer. When news of his affair with the lowly woman
came to light, he was dismissed from court, and ostracized. The local ruler
hoped Chandidas would give up his misguided infatuation for the shudra
female and return to his purer fold. When this did not come to pass, the
king sent out a messenger (perhaps Nakul) to persuade the errant poet to
proper behavior. The messenger discovered, so the story goes, that Chandidas and Rami were no ordinary lovers, but individuals who had attained a high level of spiritual awakening.

The chieftain was persuaded, and Chandidas was invited back to the court.
But one day, while the poet was reciting his sublime compositions with a
group of singers at the court, the ruler's wife spied the poet from a
secluded place and lost her heart, for the creative rhapsodist was as
charming as his work was enthralling. When this was discovered, Chandidas
was condemned to be crushed by an elephant. The singer appealed in song to
his beloved:

"Listen, dear Rakakini girl, I am going to die for the queen's infatuation.
Now you have to save me."
To which his Rami answered,
"'For love of the queen, O my dearest, you have lost your life; this
heartless king has killed you."

We have no way of knowing how much of these stories are true. But they have
become part of the folk legends of the land. Painstaking scholarship tends
to explode beautiful myths. Some scholars tell us that there were at least
three major poets bearing the name of Chandidas, and many more of minor
talents also usurped that name. Only some two hundred poems are regarded as being authentic from the creative genius of the original one.

Looking upon the man-woman relationship on the physical plane as a
reflection of the soul-god merger on the spiritual is the essence of a
poetic tradition in Bengali literature known as the sahaja. It is also part
of the tantric framework. The works of Chandidas belong to the rich body of
sahaja compositions which have been in vogue for many centuries in Bengal.
We see in the story associated with Chandidas's love the ancient theme of
the wrath provoked on the guardians of class purity when someone breaks the
rules of endogamy. This is a recurrent phenomenon down to our own times, in
every culture, religion and society, but one which, like other constraints
of narrower visions, is slowly beginning to be eroded in our own times.

In the history of Tamil literature we speak of the AzhvArs : a group of
twelve devotees of Vishnu who wrote hundreds of songs and poems in praise of
Vishnu or one of His avatAras. So intense was their devotion to Vishnu that
some of them even spoke ill of Jains and Buddhists and of the followers of
Siva. Perhaps the greatest of the AlvArs was PeriyAzhvAr: the Elder Saint,
who wrote profusely on Krishna and his leelas, as well as on Vishnu and
Rama.

One day, when PeriyAzhvAr was in the garden to pick flowers for worship of
Vishnu, he came upon a female child under a Tulasi tree. He brought the
child home and adopted it as his own daughter. This daughter, who later
came to be called AnDAL, began praying for many hours in the great temple of
SrIrangam even at a tender age. She gradually developed such great devotion
for the God RanganAtha of that temple that, because of her intense bhakti,
she imagined she had fallen in love with the deity.

It is said that AnDAL used to wear the flowers on her head before they were
sent to the temple for her father's worship. She wanted to know, by viewing
herself in a mirror, if she was attractive enough for the Lord. This
practice was discovered by the priests one day when a strand of hair was
found with the flowers. When it was brought to the father's attention, he
was quite upset, and he reprimanded his daughter severely for the sacrilege.
But that night, God appeared in PariyAzhvAr's dream and assured him He
rather preferred the flowers that had been tried out by his daughter, for
her unadulterated devotion added fresh fragrance to the flowers. This made
the man realize that his daughter was no ordinary woman. He called her
AndAL: the redeemer.

AnDAL's passion for God found expression in verses. From her heart and lips
flowed magnificent words of supreme beauty, all as soothing poetry and
music. She wrote two masterpieces known as TiruppAvai and NaicciyAr
Tirumozhi which are lyrical dedications to Lord Krishna, exuberant
expressions of an aspirant in longing love for her chosen beloved.
TiruppAvai describes how on a festive morning which had been preceded by a
night of fasting, a bevy of gopis (milkmaids) marched cheerfully to the
local river for a refreshing dip as part of certain rites that would win
them good husbands. As they advance to their destination they stop from
house to house to invite more of their kind of join in the jubilance. And
when they knock at one of the doors, none other than Krishna's wife
Nappinnai responds. Krishna had been resting on her breasts, AndAL speaks to
her:

O Sri, O lady Nappinnai
with cup-like tender breasts,
red-mouthed and with slender waist!
Wake up from your sleep!
Give fan and mirror to your spouse
and let us bathe now...!

In another poem, AnDAL recounts a most magnificent dream in which she had
been wed to Krishna. The song narrates beautifully the colorful series of
rituals for the wedding, with references to Krishna's teasing naughtiness.
One of the hymns in this poem has become part of Tamil tradition in
(VaishNavite) weddings. Here poetry blends with spiritual longing and has
subtly entered the culture of the people.

The vigorous sensuality of AnDAL has been seen differently by different
people. Most Tamil devotees, who may not even fully recognize the literal
meanings of the archaic Tamil, sing the songs and enjoy their sheer musical
tones. Some critics have considered this infusion of sensuality in a
religious theme to be a fault. Two scholars complained that "her passion
for her divine lover is the passion of a voluptuous woman for a man, hardly
the delicate, ethereal longing of a maiden for the man she is to wed. It is
not the unblushing confession of the feeling that is at fault, though that
could be called indelicate in a woman. It is the feeling itself, the
translation, at times, of the divine into grossly physical values."
On the other hand, another scholar feels that there is a striking contrast
between "the delicate sensualism of AnDAL and the unblushing eroticism of (a
related) Sanskrit Stanza."

When AnDAL came of age, she refused to marry anyone but Lord RanganAtha of
the temple. She insisted moreover that a formal wedding be arranged between
her and the mUrti with all rites and rituals. The father and the priests,
recognizing they were dealing with an extraordinary devotee, agreed. AnDAL
was decked with flowers and ornaments and ceremoniously guided into the
holiest precincts where, so it is said in the lore, she merged with the
magical mUrti.

Not only sublime thoughts and insightful reflections, but also the moving
poetry and stirring songs of our sage-poets make Indic culture grand and
glorious.

Through her inspired writings and devotional outpourings, AnDAL has not only
attained immortality in the history of Tamil literature and in Tamil
culture, but also secured for herself a permanent place in the spiritual
legacy of India.

Ram Mohan Roy was born in an orthodox Hindu family in Bengal. As was
customary then, he was subjected to child-marriage. He became a widower
twice, and was married thrice before the age of ten!
This was a period in India's history when Islam was a major force, and
Persian the language of the elite in Northern India. Ram Mohan was
influenced by Islamic thought, and soon began to reflect dispassionately on
some of the beliefs and practices in Hindu society. At sixteen he wrote a
book in Persian in which he spoke out against idolatry, and urged his people
to study different religions from a comparative point of view. His ideas did
have a touch of heresy, and shocked many, including his parents. It resulted
in a rift between him and his father.

Later, Ram Mohan also came under the spell of Christian world views. In the
early part of the nineteenth century, with the increasing dominance of the
British in India, Ram Mohan Roy pondered over the fact that alien cultures
such as Islamic and Christian were gaining supremacy over Hindu India with
relative ease. Instead of being just upset and angry and this, he sought to
discover the ultimate sources of the strengths of these intruding cultures.
He did not jump to the superficially acceptable, but intrinsically
questionable view, that military might alone was responsible for the earlier
Islamic and the then British superiority. Instead, he decided to study in
depth the languages, and through them the basic thoughts and philosophies,
of Islamic and Judeo-Christian traditions. In the ensuing years, he acquired
more than a working knowledge of Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French and English,
besides the Persian and the Arabic that he already knew, and the Bengali
that was his mother tongue.

Such scholarship opened up his mind and perspectives to vast horizons. He
began to view the human condition in global rather than in parochial terms.
He did love the culture and tradition of his own people, but he also openly
condemned some of the absurdities and pernicious practices of the Hindu
society of his day.

When his own sister-in-law was burnt on the funeral pyre along with the
corpse of her husband, while the rest of his family, like most orthodox
Hindus of his community, regarded the event as an expression of commendable
wifely devotion, Ram Mohan was disgusted. But he was not tempted to explain
away the practice as resulting from Islamic invasion of India. He pleaded
with Lord Bentinck (then Governor-General of India) to outlaw the ignoble
practice. This won him little sympathy and less respect from many of his
zealous compatriots who looked upon him as a Eurocentric
Christian-indoctrinated Hindu. [They could not call him a Macaulayite
because Macaulay had not yet arrived.]
We must not forget the early pioneers who set the wheels of positive change
rolling in the face of name-calling from the mindless glorifiers of
everything of the past.

Deep in his heart, Ram Mohan was as much a Hindu as any of his narrow
critics. He could recognize what is best in Hindu thought and culture. But
he also realized that like all ancient creeds we had our share of
superstition and irrationality. He sensed that the essence of the great
religions of humankind was noble and magnificent, but that the rites and
rituals, the time-worn customs and blind beliefs, needed to be modified or
rejected. He was also convinced that much enrichment and greater
understanding amongst peoples could result, not by unswerving devotion to
one's own religion, but by mutual sharing, and from attempts to discover the
fundamental unity behind all religions.

Such points of view inspired Ram Mohan Roy to establish an organization
called Atmiya Samaj which later became the Brahmo Samaj (1828). The members
of the Brahmo Samaj used to meet on Saturday evenings. They would recite
Vedic hymns and listen to expositions of the Upanishads in Bengali. But they
were not simply mantra-chanting ritualists. They were equally concerned with
social and dogmatic questions. They repudiated casteism and bigotry, and
argued for progressive changes.

Ram Mohan Roy was more than a religious reformer and social revolutionary.
He was also an educationist and political philosopher. He appealed to Lord
Amherst to introduce English in Indian schools, and called for science
education, perhaps a terrible thing to do from the perspective of some
Neo-cultural-patriots, but ultimately enormously beneficial to India from
the point of view many other Indians of our own times. He corresponded with
international groups, he initiated journals in Bengali and Persian. He even
sent some aid to Ireland during the terrible famine there. He hailed the
independence of Latin American nations from the colonial shackles of Spain.
He wrote a long letter to the Foreign Minister of France on the absurdity of
the passport system, and also suggested in that letter the establishment of
an international court of justice.

Notwithstanding opposition from orthodox Hindus, the British gave substance
to many of Ram Mohan Roy's ideas and initiatives. Thanks to his insistence
and Macaulay's eloquence, English was brought into the Indian educational
system, with some negative effects no doubt, but also with many positive
consequences. Thanks again to his appeals, the practice of suttee was
abolished in Bengal and elsewhere. But one may still wonder about the
persistence of casteism which he condemned, and animal sacrifices at the
Kali Temple in Kolikota.

A great many religious reformers and revolutionaries in our tradition have
been transformed into an avatara, or periodically worshipped. But when it
comes to practice, their precepts are not taken as seriously. It is good
that saints, poets, and philosophers spoke and wrote against unconscionable
practices, for when we still see casteism, injustice and inhuman practices
in the Hindu world, we can at least quote from our sages and saints, and
argue that Hinduism is in principle tolerant and enlightened.

The current mantra is that, unlike the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism is not a
religion of the Book. However, in the face of some of its objectionable
practices, we quote from our sacred books no less than practitioners of most
other religions do to defend the integrity of our religion. Raja Ram Mohan
Roy quoted from the shastras to show that widow burning and female
infanticide are not sanctioned by Hinduism. He was the first Navyashastrin
of modern India.

V. V. Raman
June 22, 2003

A: No, we worship the Supreme God, the creator, preserver and
destroyer of all that exists. We also worship several other 'gods' or
'Mahadevas' who assist us in our evolution.

We also revere our ancestors, guru and holy men of our tradition, as
well as the plant and animal kingdom, as we recognise all of life as
sacred and a part of IT and Us.

Specifically we have come to revere cows more than any other animal
as it has traditionally been a part of our lives during the
agricultural age. This 'reverance' is thanksgiving, and should not be
confused with worship.

Vallabha was born of Telugu Brahmin parents. His birth is said to have
occurred in the small town of Champaranya in Central India when the parents
were on a pilgrim path to the sacred city of Varanasi. He is said to have
mastered the scriptures before he was a teenager. Later he served in the
court of Krishna Deva Raya Vijayanagar where he came to be known as
VaishNavAcArya. Then he spent some time in Brindavan and in Mathura, two
places with which the name of Krishna is associated, and moved on to
Ujjaini. Among the works attributed to him are: Pushti Pravala Maryada and
SiddhAnta Rahasya.

One night Vallabha dreamt that Lord Krishna was incarnate again along with
the gopis of the glorious Puranic age. In the same dream, Krishna beckoned
Vallabha to the Govardhana hills. So the next day Vallabha went to the
appointed place. Lo and behold, Krishna was there manifest as Nathaji! He
commanded the wonder-struck devotee to construct for worship a holy shrine
at that very spot.

Inspired thus, Vallabha set out to establish what evolved into one of the
most powerful sects in the panorama of Indian culture: the Krishna Gokula
sect. In its practical aspects, it has drawn millions into ecstatic modes of
song and dance in the name of Krishna and his deeds. At the same time,
Vallabha also developed a fairly sophisticated metaphysical doctrine to go
with it. These constitute the Suddhadvaita (pure-non-duality) system of
classical Indian philosophy.

In Puranic works, it is stated that even higher than the abode of Siva and
Vishnu there is a heaven where dark-hued Krishna, clad in golden yellow
dwells in eternal youth, playing his enchanting flute. Bored by his solitude
he once let Maya emerge. The world arose from their union. What a beautiful
cosmogony!

Vallabha elaborated this theory: There was in the beginning God and God
alone. And He created a world just for the fun of it, simply to amuse
Himself. This physical universe of ours is thus nothing more than a
transformation of His ultimate essence (svarupa-parinama), the art work of a
Cosmic Doodler, as it were. The souls in it are like sparks emanating from a
central fire. In the process, however, God remains completely unchanged.
There are, Vallabha goes on to explain, three components to this Creation:
the one which is manifest is called sat (existence). The two which are
potential are known as chit (consciousness) and ananda (bliss). The world,
he insists, is not mAyA (illusion), but lIlA (a play of God). But the
notions of I-ness and mine-ness are non-real. True realization consists in
ridding this perception of the ego.

Souls, in Vallabha's view, may be in one of three states. They may be lost
in the experience of their ego-ness. Such souls are referred to as being in
pravaha (stream of the world). Or, they may have taken up the path of the
Vedas in their efforts to understand godhead. Such souls are said to be in
the maryAda (scriptural knowledge) state. Or again, a soul may have
recognized its link with God, worshipping Him with boundless love.
To the third category belong those who have received grace (pushti). The
gopis of Brindavan had achieved pushti. Those who dance in spiritual ecstasy
singing Krishna's name have attained pushti. Vallabha expounds the various
kinds of souls in great detail, using many technical terms in his
classification.

Like Democritus, Vallabha speaks of the atomic nature of the soul. Yet it is
believed to permeate all through the body even as the fragrance of a flower
is not confined to just one small portion of it. Normally the soul endowed
with certain divine qualities. But occasionally God decides to play a
little. Then He suppresses these divine attributes. This leads to suffering
and misery, bondage and ignorance.

Vallabha lists nine stages in God realization: hearing, reciting,
remembering, prostrating, worshipping, saluting, doing service, being
friends with, and dedicating oneself fully.
The saint-philosopher taught further that there is no other way to reach God
but by total surrender to Him. We must recognize our total spiritual
emptiness and fall at His feet, begging for His grace. In the process there
must be unconditional love rather than fear, an intense desire to belong to
and to merge with, rather than worship for this or that paltry favor.
Radha and the gopis merged into Krishna by their amorous longings. They
experienced an eroticism that was divine in nature. Vallabha saw a similar
union between the souls and the ultimate divine principle, which are like
the individual souls profoundly preoccupied with the Supreme.
Vallabha also preached that it was not necessary to deprive oneself of good
food and clothing, nor indulge in self-mortification in order to get
god-intoxicated. On the contrary, hearty meals, colorful dress with
ostentatious ornaments, and cheerful company are even to be recommended to
his followers. For the recognition of divinity is a matter of joy and
sharing, not pain and solitude.

Such life-asserting views became very popular. Vallabha's son and seven
grandsons propagated the practices, and their descendents (generally known
as GosvAmi or MaharAj) still lead the groups. Vallabha, his son, and
grandsons also came to be worshipped. The elaborate ritualism prescribed for
this routine could tire all but the most persistent.

It has been said in the tradition that Vallabha ascended to heaven directly
from the Hanuman Ghat in Varanasi in full view of hundreds of spectators,
not unlike the launching of a space vehicle in our own times.
Vallabha was among the more illustrious of the countless saints and
spiritual guides who have illumined the Hindu spiritual landscape in a
variety of ways. They have expounded different perspectives, taught
different modes, and touched the hearts of different people, but invariably
they have taught that beneath and beyond our physical existence and
experience of the ephemeral material world there is something subtle and
everlasting, and that life is enriched and fulfilled when we have that
spiritual substratum in the back of our minds in whatever we do or say.

Historical/cultural aspects of Marriage in the ancient India
Scholarly/historical studies, based on written records and references in our
epics and Sastras give detailed accounts of the framework of various modes
of marriage in classical Hindu society. Except for a reference in the
Mahabharata to a primitive state when sexual promiscuity was in vgue, the
marriage institution of whichever sort was very much a part of Hindu society
from Vedic times onwards. The eight modes of establishing marital union
(listed by Sri Bhattar in the reverse order of sophistication: brahma,
daiva, Arsha, prAjAptya, Asura, gAndharva, rAkshasa, and paiSAacha) each had
its own peculiarities, such as:

In the paiSAacha mode, fraud was involved in the acquisition of the bride.
According to Manu, "When a man cohabits with a girl in loneliness when she
is sleepy, mad or intoxicated, it is called paiSAcha."

In the rAkshasa mode, according to Manu, there is "capture of a girl by
force while she is weeping, having scattered, injured, and killed her
relatives."

Manu's definition of gAndharva marriage: "Where the bride and the groom meet
with each other on their own, and the meeting is consummated by intercourse
born of passion."

In the Asura mode, the husband pays money to the bride's family and to her,
but no force is used.

In the prAjAptya mode, there is a clear understanding that the married
couple would follow dharma together.

In Arsha, according to Manu, "the relatives do not accept price for the
girl, for it is not a sale." But they do take some symbolic gifts." Some
suggest that in this type of marriage the groom was a rishi.

In the daiva mode, the bride, well attired, was given by the father to the
priest who conducted a sacrifice for the father. BaudhAyana says that she
was offered as a dakshiNa.

The most sophisticated marriage mode, one that is also widely practiced to
this day, is the brahma, so called because it was deemed appropriate for
Brahmins. The smRtis consider this the most honorable type. The marriage of
SUrya and Soma, described in the Rig Veda, is the model for this. It is here
that we have the rite of kanyAdAna.

In the VivAhapaddhati, this is the saNkalpa that the father (guardian) of
the bride says: "For the obtainment of absolute happiness, as the
consequence of kanyAdAna, for our forefathers, for purifying my twelve
preceding and twelve succeeding generations through the progeny born of this
girl, and for the propitiation of Lakshmi and NArAnaNa.. I make this gift
(kanyAdAnam ahaM karishye)."

In current marriage rituals the father of the bride says:
"mahato puthro bhavAn
bhavAn ap ca mahAn
iyam kanyAtvayi samarpitA
tasyaguNasca prashansa nIyAh."
[Rough translation:
The noble son that you are,
And from a noble family too,
Our daughter we entrust to you this day
Keep her with such qualities and cheerful this way.]

As I see it, the goal of NS should be three-fold:
(a) To clarify and re-affirm whatever is best in the Hindu tradition.
(b) To reject and remove whatever is socially and spritually misgruided and
untenable any longer.
(c) To improve, modify, and make more just (when possible) those aspects of
the tradition which are beautiful and meaningful.

In this context, we may add to the kanyAdAna ritual a putradAna one in which
the father of the groom is asked to repeat the same mantra substituting
puthri for puthro. Thus the gifts are mutual, each parent entrusting the
offspring to the love and care of the incoming spouse. [I have introduced
this in the few weddings that I have conducted, much to the delight of both
bride and groom and their parents.]

These words were written by Keshab Chandra Sen (1838 - 1884), one of the
growing numbers of Anglicized Hindus in the 19th century who, having gone to
Westernized schools and come under the influence of Christian thought. To
this day countless Hindus are tormented by a similar predicament.
K. C. Sen and many like him began to lose faith in the traditional modes of
worship of their own heritage. But neither could they abandon totally the
deepest elements of their faith. When they did, they felt they had lost
their mooring, for they felt they belonged neither to the East nor to the
West.

They saw little meaning in idol worship - as mUrti pUja is described in
English - but neither were they introduced to the subtler realms of yogic
meditation. Inspired by alien models, some of them tried to fashion their
own navyashastra (like the Brahmos of Bengal), but they were at best a small
and elite class of sophisticated intellectuals. They realized that their
religion has far deeper roots than a generation's new modes, but they could
not accept everything in their society either.

At its core Hinduism, with all its superficial faults, is an enormously
powerful system with great cultural value, civilizational impact, and
spiritual depth. Individuals may sneak away from the constraints of
traditional customs and beliefs, but no one who has grown upon the Hindu
world, no one whose soul and spirit have been shaped by Hindu culture, can
formulate a rebel-religion that does not incorporate some of the basic
elements of the ancient roots. Whether Buddha or Guru Nanak, or any of the
other saints and yogis who have gathered disciples to spread their own
messages, they invariably preach around the insights that were articulated
millennia ago by Vedic rishis. Such has been the power and impact of the
originators of Hindu culture. Their essential visions have lasted millennia,
leaving indelible imprints even on those of the Hindu faith who have
embraced religions that are not indigenous to India.

V. V. Raman

"I think there is a way of atoning for one's faith: one must radically
criticize the doctrine with which one identifies, pointing out its
weaknesses, its foibles, and the clay feet of its founders and sustainers,
at every step."

This was the view of Swami Agehananda Bharati, one of the most scholarly and
controversial modern converts to Hinduism. Bharati was not just an
analytical philosopher and professional sociologist, he was more than a
polyglot and mantra-chanting Hindu: he was also a mystic, i.e. one who had
had the mystical experience. He was not universally liked, either by Western
scholars or by orthodox Hindus, but he had some profound insights into the
nature and significance of the religious experience, especially of the Hindu
kind.

The opinion he expresses here is clearly that of a radical thinker, and
though it is stated in the context of faith and spirituality, it is no less
valid for customs and culture. Those who critically speak and write about
the beliefs and practices of their society and values often do more good for
their people than those who simply sing its glories and mindlessly mimic the
practices and patterns of past generations. Any careful student of history
will realize that societies that discourage auto-criticism and constantly
venerate the past tend to stagnate, rather than change.

However, just as not every defense of age-old beliefs is good for a
culture's continuing health, not all the change that comes from repudiating
the past is necessarily for the better. Cultures and religions are rooted in
visions and doctrines that carry the weight and wisdom of centuries. The
purpose of criticism should not be to uproot the bases, but to cut out the
dead branches that harm the organism. This is what thoughtful thinkers try
to do.

In Hindu history, a great many sages and saints have engaged in this pruning
endeavor, which accounts for the resilience of the system. But most
revisions of doctrines have occurred at the metaphysical level, leading to a
variety of schools of philosophy and sectarian paths to spirituality. There
have not been as many calls to change the social structure, at least not to
great effect. Perhaps one reason for this is that in the Hindu framework
religion has often been a separate endeavor, devoted to one's own spiritual
advancement, rather than for the betterment of the human condition at large.
The pilgrim who flings a coin at the hungry mendicant in the precincts of a
temple often does so, not for improving the plight of the indigent, but for
gaining punya.

Fortunately, of late the linking of religion to social and humanitarian
commitments has been occurring with greater vigor in the Hindu world.

The vehicle of Bhairava deserving of praise
came and took away the vehicle
of the four-faced one.
It became NArAyaNa's vehicle on high,
and nobody looked at my face.
But the sheep-vehicle one
Burnt in my stomach
when this was done.

This poem sounds like a riddle, and it can be understood only when one is
familiar with the mythopoesy of the Vedic/PurANic framework. In particular, we
need to know that the vehicle (vAhanam) of Bhairava (Siva) was a dog, of BrahmA
(the four-faced one) was a swan, of NArAyaNa was a vulture, and of Agni (Fire)
was a sheep. Note the ingenious away in which the poet has brought together the
three primary divine principles (trimUrti: BrahmA, VishNu, Siva) of Hindu vision
as well as the primary deity (Agni) in the Vedic framework.

The context of the poem was very mundane: Once, when this poet was on a
pilgrimage, carrying some food, he stopped by a river to take a bath. When he
was in the water, a passing dog ate off the cooked rice he had kept as meal
after his bath. The food flew away, as it were, like a bird. The result was that
the poet was left ignored by all, and he began to feel the fire (pang) of hunger
in his stomach.
The imaginative and verbal richness of Tamil and the countless allusions of the
poets to the broader Indic tradition are reflected in this verse. But equally it
is an instance of the word-plays we find in Tamil literature. Here, for
example, aside from the allusions, there is a bi-lingual pun. The Tamil word for
swan is annam (from the Sanskrit haMsa). But in Tamil, annam also means cooked
rice. So instead of saying his rice (annam) was taken away, the poet says that
the vehicle of BrahmA (annam) was taken away.

This poem is credited to a little known, but highly esteemed Tamil poet by the
name of Andakkavi VIrarAgavar. Andakkavi means the blind poet, for he is said
to have been blind. He once declared that he could see more with his inner eye
of wisdom that most people see with their ordinary eyes.
Andakkavi VIrarAgavar is regarded as a saint-poet of the Saiva tradition. He is
also known as YazpANanAyanAr. According to tradition, many centuries ago this
poet from the ChoLa country went to Sri Lanka. The local king was so impressed
by his poetic gifts that he ceded to him the region of Jaffna to which many
Tamil people migrated in the distant past.

The word yAz is the name of a musical instrument (somewhat like the lute). One
who plays on that instrument is a yAzpANar. The Tamil spoken in Jaffna is also
referred to as yAzpANattamiz.

All too often, the poetic imagery and subtle humor of Tamil (and Sanskrit)
writers are lost sight of in the heavy emphasis on spirituality and religiosity
on which most commentators tend to dwell. The frequent association of all major
works with spiritual/religious weight makes it difficult for lay (secular)
scholars to study them in schools and colleges as works on philosophy,
literature, or pure poetry. It is an unfortunate fact of Indic culture that to
this day (more than fifty years after India's independence from foreign yoke),
people in India can get degrees from colleges and universities without ever
having studied in a systematic way even selections from Kamba RAmAyaNam or
Ramacaritra Manas, let alone the Vedas, the Upanishads, or the Gita. We are more
interested in whether the Vedas have reserved this or that rite and ritual for
Brahmins alone, than in appreciating their poetic, aesthetic, and literary
merits.

nITRu alarpEr oLinerungGum
appadiyin niRai karumbin
cATRu alaivan kulai vayalil
tagaTTUvarAl ezappakaTTU Er

ATRualavan kozukkizitta
cAlvaziyOi acaindu ERic
cETRu avalan karu uyirkka
muruku uyirkkum cezum kamalam

In the shimmering light of the ashen waters,
In that region of sugar-canes, full,
Within the banks of the juice-filled field
Constrained by ramps is the plowing bull.

To bear its tiny progeny
A crab from the mud moves and climbs
Over a furrow by plowshares torn.
A lovely lotus exudes honey
For the little ones that are born.

This is a snippet of a scene in the sugar cane field bordering the small town of
AdanUr. There are the furrows made by the plowshares drawn by an ox. In that
marshy land one sees a mother crab slowly finding its way to a safe spot where
it gives birth to its little ones. When this happens, a lotus plant gives out
some nectar on which the new-born creatures feed.

Only the keen eye of one who has great sensitivity for all creatures great and
small could make this careful observation, and only a gifted poet could express
it in rhythmic verse that unfortunately loses its original charm in translation.
Aside from the beautiful description of an insignificant episode in nature, the
poet is trying to say here that all nature is in harmony, and that in the
village he is describing, everyone cared for one another.

What makes this utterly worldly verse even more remarkable is that it occurs in
what is regarded as a sacred work in the Tamil world. It is in the Periya
PurANam which is a compendium of the lives of sixty-three Tamil saints of the
Saiva tradition, referred to as NAyanArs. The saints come from every caste and
creed: from cEkaliyars and Cekkars to VeLLALars, and BrAhmaNars. Thus they
included washer men, fishermen, hunters, weavers, and more, revealing a glorious
side of a caste-ridden society. The author of this immortal work was CEkkizAr
PerumAn (11th-12th centuries), and his work is credited with the arrest of the
Jain faith in the Tamil kingdom, and the propagation of the Saiva sect.

The verses quoted above are from the life of Tiru-nALaippOvAr-nAyanAr, popularly
known as NandanAr. The story of how this massive poetical work of 4286 stanzas
came to be written is fascinating in itself. We will look into it on another occasion.