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Re: A 'mArgazhi' diary: some reflections - 5.3

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Thirumalai Anandanpillai • December 27, 1999 


dear srI sampathkumAr,

> This is indeed a very difficult question to answer
> with any degree of honesty or objectivity at any time
> in our lives. But the Vedic religion gives us a very
> simple and clear answer to the question. It says that
> all of us live on earth only to fulfill 4 principal
> objectives viz. (1)"kAma" (2) "arthA" (3) "dharmA" and
> (4) "mOksha" which are the same as the Tamil "inbam",
> "poruL", "aram" and "veeDu".
>

The reason for our existence is *NOT*  to  fulfill the above
4 purushArthAs. I think that wording the above could be
- The objectives of those who live on earth can be classified
into 4 purushArthAs - rather than what is said above. adiyEn
hopes that the intent of your statement above was NOT
"jIvAs exist  to fulfill the 4 principal objectives".


> "purusha-suktam" picturesquely describes this "Order
> Beyond" as "athyaTishta- dasAm-gulam"... "that world
> which is at least 10 feet beyond the reach of this
> one"!).
>

adiyEn hopes you will not interpret this post as personal criticism.
We all need to be very very careful while we write in public.
We should be first and foremost accurate AND be consistent
with what our AchAryAs say. This is the first time adiyEn has come
across such an interpretation of that verse of purusha suktam.
Is there any pramANa for this? The above line is usually
interpreted by our pUrvAchAryAs as "One that is beyond the reach of
10 fingers" - a possible understanding would be "One that is not
subjet to understanding based on anything that is derived from
the 10 digits - i.e. all the sciences that have been developed by
human beings (since counting with the 10 fingers form the basis
for everything).

>
> Andal's "tiruppAvai", scholars and "achAryA-s" remind
> us, actually teems with several scintillating
> references to this great Vedantic matrix of
> "purushArthA-s" described above.
>
> adiyen will study them in the next page of this
> "mArgazhi diary".
>

please do write on thiruppAvai. But my request is for you
to be  faithful to pUrvAchAryAs' commentaries.
We have a wealth of pUrvAchAryAs' commentaries and
interpretations on thiruppaavai. There is no need for us to have
our own interpretation.


adiyEn has taken the liberty of cutting and pasting from
a different post of yours
-----begin quote---
adiyen's feels Goda's poetry is a many-splendoured
gem. It appeals in a variety of ways to varied
literary tastes and religious dispositions. It offers
infinite scope for "yukti" and adiyen is not at all
pretending to offer authentic SriVaishnava achArya
"vyAkhyAnam". That is why adiyen is openly saying in
my posts that these are 'diarized reflections' of
mine. Nothing more, nothing less.
-----end quote---

adiyEn agrees that thiruppAvai can be appealing in
different ways to different people. However, this list
is NOT the place for such musings. This is a srIvaishNavA
list - Hence, anything said (let alone thiruppAvai, which is
probably one of the most important paasurams for us), should be
consistent with what our pUrvAchAryAs say. Anything that
is different from what our pUrvAchAryA's/AchAryAs have said
is not something that should be encouraged. If we want to
appreciate the tamizh literary aspects of thiruppaavai, then
there is soc.culture.tamil for that purpose.

adiyEn quotes another paragraph from your post
----begin quote
adiyen finds it very difficult to believe that
"vratam" and "yagnyam" are to be regarded as, what
Sri.Mani calls, "pretexts" in the 'tiruppAvai'. AndAl,
adiyen thinks, intended them as real. They ARE real.
Reading the lines of the "pasurams" you cannot deny
that there is a clear message viz.: "perform "yagnyam"
and reap universal welfare".
---- end quote

If your interpretation of thiruppaavai can be summarized
as you so succintly did in the last line of the above paragraph,
adiyEn suggests that you check with your AchAryan
about that interpretation. ThiruppAvai's message is NOT
"perform yagnyam and reap universal welfare".
If you need a copy of our pUrvAchAryA's vyAkhyAnams,
adiyEn will be glad to arrange for you to get one. If you need
upanyAsam tapes, please let me know and adiyEn will
be glad to arrange for them too.


adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,
Thirumalai Anandanpillai Varadhan