Tuesday 22 January 2008

Samskaaraas

It was Ramanujachary, around a thousand years back, who rebelled against this philosophy, in spite of the fact that his own guru, Yadavprakash, was a very strong exponent of Shaivism. Ramanujacharya broke away from both Dwaitism, as well as Advaitism, which was also prevalent, and propounded his new theory of Visihtadvaitism, thereby ushering in the beginning of Srivaishnavism

What is Samskaara?
SamskArA means "betterment" ( Sams ) of a thing ( kaaram ). The cleansing process set in motion by the observance of SamskArAs leads to the betterment of life and qualifies a person for spiritual upliftment. According to the Tarka sAsthrAs , the word SamskArA is defined as " an impression on the memory " Steady practice of scriptural injunctions establishes firm tracks in the memory so that the practitioner does not swerve from the correct path The samskArAs cover the life span of a Hindu starting from the time of formation (conception ) of the embryo (nishEkam) to the time of cremation in the burning ghaat (smasaanam ). Agni is an indispensable part of the samskArAs, and is therefore revered, being a witness to the samskArAs. Even cremation is considered as an offering of the ghee-smeared body to Agni as the ultimate offering. Some of the samskArAs are simple and brief,yet others are elaborate and require continuous performance over many days. Some of the samskArAs are done at home, whereas the others call for lots of space as well as time. A number of samskArAs have to be performed daily,some to be practised twice a month, some once a month, while other samskArAs have to be performed once a year or at least once in one's life time.

There are forty samskArAs out of which the following two sets are relevant here
  1. A set of seven starting from GarbhadhAnA to Chudakramaa
  2. Another set of seven starting from UpanayanA to VivAhA

All the seven samskArAs prior to Upanayanaa are performed by the parents on behalf of the child, since it has not reached the stage of discriminating knowledge. These are:
  1. GARBHADHAANAM: Seeding of the wife’s womb by the husband , leading to embryo formation is known as GarbhAdhAnam .The life cycle rituals of the Hindu begins at this point
  2. PUMSAVANA SAMSKAARAA: This is to be performed during the third month of pregnancy, a stage preceding the rapid growth of the life in the mother’s womb.
  3. SIMANTHONAYANA SAMSKAARAA: This samskArA (hair parting of the pregnant mother) has to be performed either in the sixth month or in the eighth month of pregnancy.
  4. JAATHA KARMAA: This is performed soon after the child's birth. The tongue of the new –born child is touched thrice with ghee to the accompaniment of appropriate Vedic mantrAs praying for protection and long life for the new born.
  5. NAAMAKARANAA: This fifth samskArA is about naming of the child on its eleventh day of its birth.
  6. ANNAPRAASANAM: This deals with the feeding of the baby for the first time with solid food at the age of six months. ManthrAs are recited, while they feed the child.
  7. CHUDAKARMAA: The last of the pre-upanayana samskArA is chuda Karmaa for a male child, when a tuft or sikhA is created.

Upanayanam
Education of a child normally starts at the age of five. When it reaches the age of eight, has developed skills in speech and language, and therefore is considered eligible for receiving Vedic Instruction. Mata, Pita, Guru Daiywam: The parents, Mata and Pita do their duty by bringing the child to the stage of Upanayam. Upanayana means bringing one close to the guru or the teacher, who initiates the child into Veda vidya. A sacred thread ceremony known as Upanayanam is performed by the father and the boy is blessed with the initiation into reciting the sacred Gayathri Manthram. Next, his Vedic instruction begins with the proper guru. From this stage, he has to follow various routines. The first one is Sandhyavandam.

Sandhyavandanam
Vandanam means worship. Both worship and meditation are involved in Sandhyavandanam. Sandhya means the time of union. The time which relates to the union of two things, i.e. the time between the night and morning (first junction Dawn), between forenoon and afternoon (second junction Noon) and between afternoon and evening (third junction, Dusk); Sandhya means dawn, noon and dusk. Sandhyavandanam means a ritual done at the time of three junctions, Dawn, Noon and Dusk. Sandhyavandana is a prescribed ‘nityakarma’.

Upanishads speak very highly of Sandhya times. It says that benefits are far more during Sandhya times than that at other times. Recent researches have also brought out abundant release of beneficial energy at sun rise and withdrawal of non-beneficial energy at sun set.

Though Upanishads refer to two Sandhya-names Sun rise and Sun set , the wise men of the past had added one more 'Sandhya' namely 'Madhyanika' or mid-day. Sun rises in east , moves upward , reaches zenith , and then descends to west. The point at zenith represents change from upwards to downwards. This sandhya is considered to be beneficial for worship of 'Pithru Devatas' - that is devatas who are instrumental for one to get son , grandson , etc and also one to be a son or grandson , etc. However, due to time constraints, and other reasons, this procedure (Madhyanika) is generally given the go by. So, the population growth cannot be entirely due to performance of Madhyanikas!!!

Now the budding Srivaishnavite is ready for the next stage of Samskaras.

Saturday 12 January 2008

SRIVAISHNAVISM … contd.

Ramanuja's particular form of Vaisnavism is the oldest of the schools of BHAKTI movement and is often termed Sri Vaisnavism in order to distinguish if from that of Madhva and the other Vaisnava schools, like Nimbarka, Chaitanya, Ramananda, Jayadeva, and so on.These schools developed as per the local needs, languages, religious beliefs, etc.

Unlike Madhva or Chaitanya, who can justifiably be called the founders of their particular school of Vaisnavism, Ramanuja an important member among a great succession of followers of Vaishnavism that trace themselves to the time of the Vedas, is not the founder of Vaishnavism. Instead,. He adapted Vaishnavism, as per the needs, and converted it into the modified school of Srivaishnavism. He not only propagated, but also put in place various systems for the practice and development of Srivaishnavism

The development Sri Vaishnavism has been influenced by various factors, over a great period of time. In the beginning, the basic belief of Srivaishnavism was that Vishnu was the sole God., the Supreme Being. Although prayers and hymns were being offered to other devatas, it was their belief that they were but different faces of Vishnu. Amongst the various mantas being chanted, the primary one was Purusha Suktam, which established Vishnu as the Supreme Being. This practice can be traced back to the time of the Vedas.

Another factor contributing to the development of Srivaishnavism was the ancient scripture of Agamas, the Pancharatra ,Vaikhnasya, Pratishthasara, and Vijnanalalita Agamas. The word Agama means tradition. The Agamas are ancient Indian texts dealing with all rituals and ceremonies to be observed in temples, and they also laid down rules and procedures as to how each archa murthy was to be conceived, constructed and worshipped.

The Puranas and the Sutras also had a very great impact on the development of Srivaishnavism. Amongst the Puranas, while Vishnu Purana was very important to the Srivaishnavas, Bhagwat Purana became more widely integrated into the basic philosophy of Srivaishnavasim.
Development of Srivaishnavism was very greatly influenced by the various Avatars, the Dasavatars or the Ten Avatars of Vishnu, leading to great epics like Ramanayana, Mahabharat

Lord Krishna, in his upadesham to Arjuna said:
Yadaa Yadaa hi Dharmasya Glanir Bhavati Bharata
Abhyuttanam Adharmasya Tadaatmaanam Srujamyaham
Paritranaya Sadhunaam Vinaashaya ch Dushkritaam
Dharmasansthapanarthaya Sambhavami Yugay Yugay

Interpretation
Whenever Dharma, or the situation of law and order, is endangered on this world, I will take an incarnation and come in to this world to re establish Dharma, law and order, and to protect the Sadhus or saints and to detroy the evil elements of the society.

In his upadesam to Arjuna, Lord Krishna also showed hi the path to Moksam.
sarva dharmAn parithyajya mAmEkam saraNam vraja
aham thvA sarva pApEpyO mOkshayishyAmi mA sucha

Interpretation
Leave all your dharmaas and take refuge at my feet and I will save or relieve you from all your karmaas and the cycle of births and death

Throughout ages, Lord Vishnu, has incarnated in various life forms through different yugas (ages or eons) in situations wherever Dharma was in danger, because of certain evil elements in the world, Lord Vishnu, has incarnated in various life forms. In mythology, there ten instances of incarnation of Lord Vishnu. These incarnations are termed as the avatars of Lord Vishnu. The ten avataars are as follows:
  1. MASTYA AVATAR Lord Vishnu in a fish form
  2. KURMA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as a tortoise
  3. VARAHA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as a boar
  4. NARASIMHA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Narasimha
  5. VAMANA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Vamana
  6. PARASURAM AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Parasurama
  7. RAMA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Rama
  8. KRISHNA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Sri Krishna
  9. BUDDHA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Buddha
  10. KALKI AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Kalki
Srivaishnavas consider the Ramayana, the oldest and most authoritative of these. They refer to it as the text of Saranagati, showing the way to Moksham.

The Ramayana describes how Vishnu came to earth in the Avatar of Sri Rama and goes on to describe the character of Sita, and through this the greatness of Lakshmi, and the characters of Hanuman, Vibhisana, Laksmana and Bharata,showing their devotion,selflessness, and the way to Moksham.

Another of the great epics, the Mahabharata highlights the characters of various persons like Bhima, the Pandavas, specially Arjuna, and Sri Krishna”s Gita Upadesam to him. It also brought out the loyalty of Karna, and the honesty and respect for law of Vidur.

While the Mahabharat brought the best of characters, great as well as greedy and treacherous, it specially brought out the habits and characteristics of people regarding devotion to duty. Against this, the Ramayana brought out the devotion aspect. Collectively, these are the ways to Saranagati and Moksham.

As time passed, Srivaishnavism weakened, and became diluted. And then came the time of the mystical Azhwars, who through their hymns and compositions revived the flagging interest in Srivaishnavism, gave people greater insights into Sri Vishnu, and the path to him. While the Vedas, Agamas, and Smritis or Epics were the initial guides in the development of Srivaishnavism, it was the teachings of these Azhwars, and later, Sri Ramanujachari, who profoundly impacted the philosophy of Srivaishnavism .

There were 12 Azhwars in all, born in South India starting from the beginning of Kali Yuga. It is said that the first four of them, Poigai Azhwar, Bhuta Azhwar, Pey Azhwar, and Tirumisai Azhwar, were the direct representations of Sri Vishnu, and they were not born to anyone.

The Azhwars, in chronological order, are:
  1. PoigaiAzhwAr
  2. BhUthathAzhwAr
  3. PEyAzhwAr
  4. ThirumazhisaiAzhwAr
  5. NammAzhwAr
  6. PeriyAzhwAr
  7. MadhurakaviAzhwAr
  8. ThondaradippodiAzhwAr
  9. KulasEkharAzhwAr
  10. ThiruppANAzhwAr
  11. AndAL
  12. ThirumangaiAzhwAr

ANDAL and Madhura Kavi are contemporaries of PeriyAzhwAr and NammAzhwAr in the chronological order, the first by virtue of being the avathAram of one of the divine consorts of the Lord and the foster daughter of PeriyAzhwAr,. and the second the prime disciple of Swamy NammAzhwAr .

The writings of these Azwars, in Tamil, were collected from Vedas, Puranas, Ramanayana, and Mahabharata. So profound were their thoughts,and so strong their impact, that these writings, collectively called Divya Prabandham, are referred to as Tamil Vedas, and are treated on par with the Vedas.

NammAzhwAr is considered the most important and the Greatest AzhwAr for his prabhandham (of Thiruvaaimozhi of 1000 pAsurams) which glorifies the prapatti (the surrender concept). He took refuge at the Lord's feet and performed prapatti. Hence, for,Sri VaishNavAs, NammAzhwAr”s teachings are paramount, and of of very great value, since he leads us by example for performing prapatti at the Lord's Lotus Feet. His Thiruvaaimozhi's commentary is called Bhagavat Vishayam

Over a period of time, the teachings of the Azhwars was being replaced by other streams of thoughts and beliefs. The biggest cause was human greed. As time passed, those in possession of the knowledge started exploiting the others who did not, causing great anguish. Vaishnavism was replaced by other beliefs. The first was Budhism, which flourished almost all over the country, and even other nations. But, inevitably, and inexorably, Budhism also fell, prey to the same forces which had diluted Vaishnavism. This coincided with the advent of Adi Shankaracharya, who introduced the Dwaita philosophy to the world. Dwaita philosophy, or Shaivism flourished, specially in South India for centuries. Other streams of thoughts like Jainas, Saivas, Sankhyas, Nyayikas, Vaisesikas, Mimamsa,also existed.

After being lost for many centuries, the Divya Prabandham was again brought back due to the efforts of Madhurakavi Azhwar, Nathamuni, Alavandar, and Ramanujacharya. The work done by these greats is a different topic, and will figure in my subsequent observations. Suffice to say that Vaishnavaism revived only because of their work.

It was Ramanujachary, around a thousand years back, who rebelled against this philosophy, in spite of the fact that his own guru, Yadavprakash, was a very strong exponent of Shaivism. Ramanujacharya broke away from both Dwaitism, as well as Advaitism, which was also prevalent, and propounded his new theory of Visihtadvaitism, thereby ushering in the beginning of Srivaishnavism.

Thursday 3 January 2008

Sri Vaishnavism

Sri Vaishnavism and Sri Vaishnavites
What is Sri Vaishnavism? Who are Sri Vaishnavites? How did Srivaishnavism originate? How did it develop? What are the various beliefs and practices of Sri Vaishnavas? The list of questions is endless I have tried to find some answers to some of the questions. My quest has led me to various places, various people, and various view points. Let me mention some of them.

Vaishnavism has been in existence from time immemorial, from the sages Vyasa, Bhodayana, etc. While their actual work remains unavailable, there are references to this aspect by Saint Ramanaujachari, who, in his great work Sri Bhashya, has traced the roots of Sri Vaishnavism to the Upanishads. Ramanujachari developed Sri Vaishavism as an off shoot of Vaishnavism.

Srivaishnavism is based on the philosophy of Visishtadvaita, which was developed by him, and has the worship culture focused on the Temple of Sri Ranganatha at Sri Rangam.

Sri Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the supreme God. The prefix Sri is used for this sect because they give special importance to the worship of the Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of their Supreme God, Vishnu. A major portion of Sri Vaishnava precepts and practices is based upon this aspect.

The origin
The Azhwars are believed to be the first ones to have started the philosophy of Srivaishanism, through their devotional hymns and songs. Azhwars were a group of saints of south India, The first set of these Azhwars, called the Mudal Azhwars are Pogai Azhwar, Bhuta Azhwar Pey Azhwar, and Thirumazhisai Azhwar. They were later followed by others and together they composed hymns and songs collectively as Divya Prabandham at a later date. The list and topic of Azwhars would be taken up separately in the next posting.

Nathamuni is considered as the first guru of Srivaishnavism. He is believed to have started the process of collecting all these hymns and compositions of the Azhwars. His work was continued and expanded by one of his grandsons, Yamunacharya, also known as Alvandar. Thereafter, Ramanuja continued to develop the practice and propagation of Srivaishnavism which basically centers on the belief that devotion to Vishnu is the sole way to Moksha, and Sri is the link between devotees and the god Vishnu.

Philosophy
Most of the people belonging to Sri Vaishnavism follow Vishistadvaita Sri Vaishnavism is characterized by various specialties. The 4000 divya prabandams (sacred hymns) by the Azhwars alongside with the Vedas.has a very special place for Sri Vaishnavas. In Sri Rangam Temple this is specially recited 21 days prior to Vaikunta Ekadasi, 2000 in the first ten days as Pahal Pattu, 2000 in the second Ten days as Raah Pattu.

Guru or Acharya status is very important in the attainment of the moksha, through observance of the various Samskaraas. I will talk about these Samskaraas in a later posting.