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Vivekananda Way
Series 5: Issue 3: Understanding India - through Swami Vivekananda's eyes
ISSUE 10 ISSUE 24
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Swami Vivekananda gave a wonderful
talk at Jaffna on 24 th January 1897.
(Refer, Lectures from Colombo to Almora,
An outline of the talk is presented here: Vedantism - part 1 focus in this issue: Complete Works, Vol. 3). In this talk, he introduced Hindus in the subcontinent to their own religion in terms of its simplest and most fundamental building blocks and principles. This talk is rich in several important ideas on Hinduism and will be covered in this and the next issues of Vivekananda Way. Defining Hinduism I Swami Vivekananda begins by defining Hindus as Vaidikas or Vedantists - people whose religion is rooted in the Vedas and the Vedanta.
II
III
Books of the Hindus Swami Vivekananda then describes the books of the Hindus - from the revelations of timeless truths encoded in the Vedas and the Upanishads down to the mass of stories & myths with their numerous interpretations.
The Core Principles of Hinduism Swami Vivekananda goes on to describe the core principles of Hinduism, including the ideas of Srishti, Brahman, the law of Karma, the Infinite Soul, the meaning of various Deities, Mukti or freedom and the pathways to achieve it, the ideas of God, and the theory of Ishta.
IV
V
The Practices of Hinduism Based on the core principles, Hinduism has developed several practices, for example, the practice of each person following his/ her own personal God/Ishta; the practice of inclusion of everyone & exclusion of none; the practice of mercy - to the poor, animals, everybody; and building institutions which stand the test of time.
The Task Ahead Swami Vivekananda then concludes the extraordinary presentation of Hinduism with "action steps" for each of us. He proposes that 'Dana' or 'Service' is the great Tapasya of the modern age.
Designed & developed by ILLUMINE Knowledge Catalysts
The word Hindu, by which it is the fashion nowadays to style ourselves, has lost all its meaning, for this word merely meant those who lived on the other side of the river Indus (in Sanskrit, Sindhu).
Thus this word has come down to us; and during the Mohammedan rule we took up the word ourselves. There may not be any harm in using the word of course; but, as I have said, it has lost its significance, for you may mark that all the people who live on this side of the Indus in modern times do not follow the same religion as they did in ancient times. The word, therefore, covers not only Hindus proper, but Mohammedans, Christians, Jains, and other people who live in India. I therefore, would not use the word Hindu.
What word should we use then? The other words which alone we can use are either the Vaidikas, followers of the Vedas, or better still, the Vedantists, followers of the Vedanta.
The books of the Hindus - a visualization
ETERNAL TRUTHS
Vedas (Not the utterance of persons, exist without beginning or end - revealed to the Rishis through a process of spiritual discovery)
There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda
(Essence of the knowledge of the Vedas - contain the universal unchangeable principles - the absolute authority to be adhered to by all sects of
Hinduism) ACCESSIBLE TO SOCIETY
Smritis Examples of Smritis include, the six Vedangas, Ithihasas (Mahabharata & Ramayana), Sastras pertaining to each station of life, such as Dharma-sastras, Arthasastra, Yoga-sastra, etc. (Codes & Regulations specific to time & context) Examples of Puranas include Markandeya Purana, Shiva Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Agni Purana and Padma Purana, etc. Tantra Agamas are the most important texts on the diverse philosophies of the Tantric traditions Puranas & Tantras (Religion for the people)
Vedanta & the Upanishads
ESSENCE
There are more than 200 known Upanishads, one of which, the Muktika Upanishad, predates 1656 CE. Examples of major Upanishads are the Aitareya Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad, Kausitaki Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Prasna Upanishad, Brihadaryanaka Upanishad, Chandogya Upanishad and Katha Upanishad
This mass of writing called the Vedas is not the utterance of persons. Its date has never been fixed, can never be fixed, and, according to us, the Vedas are eternal. ...They were never written, never created, they have existed throughout time; just as creation is infinite and eternal, without beginning and without end, so is the knowledge of God without beginning and without end. And this knowledge is what is meant by the Vedas (Vid to know). All the other religions of the world claim their authority as being delivered by a Personal God or a number of personal beings, angels, or special messengers of God, unto certain persons; while the claim of the Hindus is that the Vedas do not owe their authority to anybody, they are themselves the authority, being eternal — the knowledge of God.
Vedas are divided principally into two parts, the Karma Kânda and the Jnâna Kânda
Vedas
Karma Khanda THE CEREMONIAL (work portion)
THE SPIRITUAL
Jnana Khanda (knowledge portion)
The main ideas of the Karma Kânda, [such as] the duties of man, the duties of the student, of the householder, of the recluse, and the various duties of the different stations of life, are followed more or less down to the present day. The spiritual portion of our religion is in the second part, the Jnâna Kânda, the Vedanta, the end of the Vedas, the gist, the goal of the Vedas. The essence of the knowledge of the Vedas was called by the name of Vedanta, which comprises the Upanishads. All the sects of India that dare to come within the fold of Hinduism must acknowledge the Upanishads of the Vedas.
Vedas were revealed to the Rishis - who were spiritual discoverers
The mass of knowledge called the Vedanta was discovered by personages called Rishis, and the Rishi is defined as a Mantra-drashta, a seer of thought; not that the thought was his own.
Uddalaka Aruni
Whenever you hear that a certain passage of the Vedas came from a certain Rishi never think that he wrote it or created it out of his mind; he was the seer of the thought which already existed; it existed in the universe eternally. This sage was the discoverer; the Rishis were spiritual discoverers.
Gargi
Maitreyi
Shvetaketu
The ideas of the Upanishads have permeated through Indian society
So deeply have these Upanishads sunk into our race that those of you who study the symbology of the crudest religion of the Hindus will be astonished to find sometimes figurative expressions of the Upanishads — the Upanishads become symbolised after a time into figures and so forth. ...Thus the various symbols now used by us, all come from the Vedanta, because in the Vedanta they are used as figures, and these ideas spread among the nation and permeated it throughout until they became part of their everyday life as symbols. All the philosophers of India who are orthodox have to acknowledge the authority of the Vedanta; and all our present-day religions, however crude some of them may appear to be, however inexplicable some of their purposes may seem, one who understands them and studies them can trace them back to the ideas of the Upanishads. THE AUTHORITY OF THE VEDANTA IS ABSOLUTE
Smritis are scriptures that convert the eternal principles of Vedanta into contemporary customs
1. Smritis have been written by particular sages; in that sense they are the same as the scriptures of other religions. 2. Smritis, as mainly regulating the manners and customs of the nation, had also to be changed from time to time.
In modern times the Smritis must change, but the principles of our religion must remain intact. 1. Comprises the principles of religion that are in the Vedanta. 2. They are built upon the eternal principles that are in man and nature; they can never change. Smritis Principles of Vedanta
Puranas & Tantras illustrate the eternal principles to the people
Puranas were written in the language of the people of that time. Not meant for scholars, but for ordinary people. [Covered various topics, for example] history, cosmology (with various symbological illustration of philosophical principles). Tantras are similar to Puranas in some respects. Some of them dealt with the sacrificial ideas of the Karma Khanda.
TO BE CONTINUED...
M a g i c , M i r a c l e s a n d t h e M y s t i c a l T w e l v e
LAKSHMI DEVNATH
Roots in the Air and Shoots in the Soil The Story of Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar (Continued from previous issue. . .) T he visitors left, and Poorva wondered where Swami Thaatha was. She stepped into the muddy lane, and a cool breeze wafted past her. It swept her worries away, and she decided to explore the countryside. As she skipped through the lush green fields of Thirumazhisai, she noticed little streams of cool, crystal-clear water flowing at various places in the village. Poorva knelt down, cupped some of the water in her small palms and splashed it on her face. “Heavenly,” she sighed, and closed her eyes. Sugarcane plants, wells, tanks, canals – “Wow, Thirumazhisai does look prosperous. I wonder who the king of this place is.”
Some monks with shaven heads and saffron robes passed by. She heard them say, “God bless this Pallava king. He takes such good care of his kingdom and his people.”
Well, there is my answer, thought Poorva, as she did a hop, skip and jump and landed near the window of a little cottage. Out of idle curiosity, she peeped through the window and was surprised to recognize the couple inside. They were the same old man and old woman who had turned young, but who was that beside them?
“Kanikannan … don’t cry, son,” Poorva heard husband and wife soothe their child. A baby had been born to them and he had already grown into a toddler!
Poorva took a deep breath, once again puzzled by the number of years that must have gone by. Curious now about the adopted child of Thiruvaalan and Pangayachelvi, she sprinted towards Thiruvaalan’s house. There she found a young lad absorbed in a palm-leaf manuscript. Looking at him, Poorva chuckled, “For sure, this young man is a bookworm, or should I say, manuscript-worm!”
She watched with amazement the constant stream of visitors coming to pay their respects to him. They were addressing him, with great reverence, as ‘Shivavaakkiar’. Poorva
heard one of the visitors say with utmost respect: “He is indeed Shivavaakkiar. He repeats the name of Shiva continuously, all the time.”
Poorva looked keenly at the youth. “Wait a minute. Isn’t this young man Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar? Of course he is! Then why are people calling him …?” Poorva was totally confused. Tugging at her hair, she muttered, “Swami Thaatha, save me before I become a nutcase.”
“I can’t guarantee that!” joked the Swami, walking in from nowhere.
Poorva did not even hear him, caught up as she was in solving the puzzle of Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar. She came straight to the point. The Swami listened attentively as she told him all that had taken place in his absence. When she finished, he remarked, “You are right. Shivavaakkiar and Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar are one and the same. You wanted to know more about Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar and I thought you would enjoy watching a ‘movie’ rather than simply listening to a story. That’s why I brought you to Thirumazhisai from Mylapore. I hope you had a nice time.”
“And young people turning crazy!” the Swami smiled. Poorva grimaced, annoyed that he was making fun of her when she was being serious.
“Incidentally, do you like your new dress?”
The Swami smiled mysteriously in reply.
“You’re really sharp. Let me try and clear yo u r c o n f u s i o n ,” s a i d t h e Swa m i . “Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar is an incarnation of Sudarshana, the discus of Vishnu. He was born to Sage Bhargava. The parents, obviously unaware of who he was, abandoned the child because it was only a lump of flesh, without any limbs. God, however, blessed the baby, and it became normal. And as you saw, it was found by the hunter.”
“I thought that he was a kidnapper,” Poorva laughed. “Still, you can’t deny it was pretty mean of those parents. At least
God is not hard-hearted. Tell me, Thaatha, why is this Vishnu devotee – an Aazhvaar – being called Shivavaakkiar?”
A short pause followed. The Swami chose his words with care as he tried to put things across clearly to Poorva. “Listen carefully. You first saw Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar at Mylapore. From there, I took you back by a few years so that you could see for yourself the interesting events of his childhood. Now, I’m going to zoom forward again to let you experience the extraordinary life of Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar after he became a devotee of Vishnu.”
Anticipating another round of miracles, Poorva stretched out her arms like a bird in flight. (to be continued. . .)
This story book is available through www.lakshmidevnath.com
A Get-Together of the Gods in a Temple-College
DR. CHITHRA MADHAVAN
This section presents less known but enlightening nuggets of information about our ancient culture as revealed in our temples, images, symbols, and inscriptions.
Thirumukkudal, an ancient and historic village in Tamil Nadu is about 25 km from the famous temple-town of Kanchipuram. Thirumukkudal which in Tamil means `the confluence of three holy streams’, is thus named as it is situated at the confluence of River Palar and its tributaries the Cheyyar and the Vegavati. A temple for Vishnu wherein this deity is worshipped as Appan Venkatesa Perumal is situated here. It was in existence from at least the 9 th C.E. if not earlier, as there is an inscription on the wall of this temple of a king named Nripatungavarman of the Pallava dynasty who ruled in the 9 th C.E. There are a number of other inscriptions here which reveal that the deity of this hoary shrine was known by different names during the rule of the the Pallava dynasty and subsequently of other dynasties like the Cholas and Vijayanagara. He was known as Tirumukkudal-Azhvar, Vishnu-Bhattara, Mahavishnu, Venkatesvara Swamin and Venkatesa Perumal.
The temple enshrines a grand image of Lord Venkatesa seen in a standing posture, carrying the Sankha and Chakra in the upper hands with Sage Markandeya and Goddess Bhudevi at His feet. It is believed that this deity is a combination of the aspects of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The utsava-murti of this shrine is known as Srinivasa.
Unique Festival
Tirumukkudal is famous as the place where a unique festival is held in the Tamil month of Thai (mid-January to mid-February) on the Maatu Pongal day immediately after Pongal or Sankranti. On this occasion, many Vishnu images like the famous Varadaraja Swami from Kanchipuram travel to the temple of Lakshmi Nrisimha at Pazhaiya Seevaram (on the opposite bank of the Palar) and both these deities visit the Venkatesa temple at Tirumukkudal. Here, all the three deities, along with two others from temples close by give Darshan to devotees from the numerous mandapas in this temple. A large number of people gather on this occasion every year to worship all the deities at once in a same place.
The author is a historian focussing on temple architecture, iconography and epigraphy. She is a recipient of two post-doctoral fellowships, and author of nine books and several research papers. She lives in Chennai. drchithra@gmail.com
Ancient temple-college at Tirumukkudal
A long Tamil inscription found on a wall of this temple, belonging to the reign of emperor Vira-Rajendra Chola of the 11 th C.E., provides very interesting information about a Vedic pathasala or college which functioned inside the premises of the temple. This record mentions in detail the different subjects taught here, the number of teachers and students studying each subject, the salary paid to the teachers, etc. The Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, vyakarana (grammar), the Rupavataara (an elementary text on grammar), the Agamas such as the Saiva Agama, Pancharatra and Vaikhanasa Agama were taught here. The famous hymn, Tiruvaymozhi of Nammalvar (who was the foremost of the twelve Azhvars or Vaishnava devotees of the Tamil country) was recited at this temple.
There was a hostel attached to this temple-college where the students lived and sixty people were fed here everyday. Interestingly, there was also a hospital attached to this educational institution where the students, teachers and the servants of the temple could be treated. This hospital called `Vira-Cholan’ had fifteen beds and was under the charge of a physician called Kodandarama Asvattama-Bhatta who prescribed medicines for the patients under his care. Besides him, there was also a surgeon in this hospital to conduct operations which might have been necessary. Two people for procuring medicinal herbs, three people who supplied fire-wood and also assisted in the preparation of medicine, two nurses to attend on the patients and also a barber, who probably assisted in minor operations plus his regular duties were employed in this hospital. The inscription goes on to say that twenty Ayurvedic medicines were stored in this hospital and their names are also clearly given. The inscription thus reveals that this Vishnu temple must have been a very important religious centre in the Chola times and equally well-known as a centre of education as well.
Appan Venkatesa Perumal temple, Thirumukkudal
RAMAKRISHNA MATH, UTTARKASHI Ganganagar, P.O. Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, 249193 Mobile: 9447051231; Email: uttarkashi@rkmm.org
Offering to Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna: An Appeal Dear Devotees & Friends, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math declared open a Math centre at Uttarkashi, an ancient holy town in the Garhwal Himalayas on 20 Oct 2017. There was already an ashrama, named “Ramakrishna Kutir”, on a small piece of land since 1963. It was maintained directly by the Belur Math, and sadhus of our Order used to stay for intense tapasya in the traditional monastic way, begging food from outside and living a simple austere life. The same tradition continues till date. In view of expanding Swami Vivekananda’s ideal of service and spirituality among the masses we plan to purchase some land measuring at least one acre around Harsil Valley, near Gangotri. Along with retreat centres for sadhus and devotees, some welfare activities for the benefit of the poor and underprivileged will be taken up after acquiring and developing the land. An estimated cost of Rs. 2 crores is required to set up and develop this additional unit of our Math. We request our friends and devotees, trusts and corporate bodies to contribute liberally to complete this project of welfare and spirituality at the earliest. Donations can be made by NEFT/RTGS to the account given below: A/C Name : Ramakrishna Math, Uttarkashi Bank Name : Union Bank of India Branch Name : Uttarkashi Branch A/C No. : 601802010006696 IFSC : UBIN0560189 Foreign contributions may kindly be sent through the headquarters at Belur Math (Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, Howrah-711202; email- accounts@rkmm.org) requesting it to credit the fund in Uttarkashi Math A/c. Kindly send us email (to uttarkashi@rkmm.org ) or SMS (to 9447051231) after the transaction intimating the purpose of your donation as “Donation for purchase of land and development of the Math.” Please also send your PAN and full postal address. Donations towards our Math are exempted from IT under 80G Act. May Sri Ramakrishna, Ma Sarada, Swami Vivekananda bless you all.
Yours in the Lord, Swami Amaleshananda Adhyaksha
unselfish and
A New Sri Ramakrishna Math at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
(A Sub-Centre of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai)
AN APPEAL TO SERVE GOD IN MAN
Dear Devotees and well-wishers,
We pray that Sri Ramakrishna may shower His blessings on all your endeavours.
Thanjavur is a historically and culturally important city, famous for its art and ancient architecture, especially temples.
It was Swami Vivekananda’s earnest desire to install Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna in every town and spread the culture of worship and service. We now propose to begin a centre in Thanjavur and initiate various activities: l Youth Camps - to develop self-confidence, awareness of health and yoga etc. l Balaka Sangha - to train children in cultural and spiritual traditions, etc.
l Spiritual Practices - daily puja, bhajans, japa yajna, parayanam, discourses. l Spiritual & Cultural Literature - promotion and sale.
l Seminar/Workshops - for teachers, doctors and other professionals. l Medical Services - for the poor and needy.
To establish a new centre and conduct the above activities, an amount of Rs. 7 Crore is required. We invite you to contribute whatever you can and be a part of this noble mission.
Names of those who contribute Rs.10,000/- and above will be inscribed in the Math premises. Donations are exempted under Section 80 G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Donations may be sent cheque/DD in favour of “Sri Ramakrishna Math”. For Online donation please visit https://donations.chennaimath.org After online payment please intimate us by email your address, and PAN number.
Yours in the Service of the Lord, Swami Gautamananda, Adhyaksha.
Sri Ramakrishna Math
31, Sri Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai-4. & : 24621110. email : mail@chennaimath.org
Website : www.chennaimath.org For more details - Mob : 98409 87307
