Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: Chronology

From the Bhakti List Archives

Venkat Nagarajan • February 10, 2000 


Dear Bhagavatas/Sri. Sampath,

I am submitting below material taken form the speeches of an Advaitic
yogi.  I am doing this mainly to illustrate how an Orthodox Vedantin
(Advaita, Vis'istAdvaita, Dwaita) would approach this issue.  The
approach of Sri. Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari is Neo- Vedantic.  I
personally prefer the Orthodox view; I find rational idealism more
appealing than empirical pragmaticism (i am using this term in the
following sense: something you can relate to easily based on
observations in the world of phenomena.)   According to the orthodox
view:  Iitihasa means a true story.  The story is 100% true, not mostly or
partially true; that is the orthodox view.  Whether an individual  accepts
such a view depends on whether the individual has an inclination for
orthodox Vedanta or not (that is he or she has an inclination for Neo
Vedanta.)   

Start Quote:

"Itihasam"="iti-ha-sam" (it has happened thus ). The "ha" in the middle
means "without doubt", "truly". So an itihasa means a true story, also a
contemporarary account.  Vyasa, author of the Mahabharata, lived
during the time of the five Pandavas and was witness to the events
narrated by him in his epic. There is thus no reason to doubt their
authenticity. The "ha" in" itihasa"confirms this. The word "itihasa" can
also mean "thus speak they" (that is "great men say that it must be so").
"Aitihya" is not an account of what is directly witnessed: it is to be
accepted as a matter of faith. It is also derived from "iti" (thus great men
have spoken "). 

ramanuja dasan,
Venkat
SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi