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Re: Question: zriimad ashtaaksharam & zriimad dvayam

From: Mani Varadarajan (mani_at_be.com)
Date: Thu Jul 09 1998 - 15:13:14 PDT 

Ram Gopalaswamy <gopalram@erols.com> asks:
> 
> - Are zriimad askTaaksharam, and zriimad dvayam eternal mantras (ie. zruti) ? 
>   or are they revealed by an avataara of Bhagavan from time to time
>   as necessary (ie. smrti) ?
> 

Vedanta Desika covers these topics in Srimad Rahasya Traya Saaram.
According to Desika, the ashTaakshara mantra is a Vedic mantra, 
and is found in the nArAyaNa upanishad, among other places. It can
become a tantric, i.e., Veda-inspired but not _from_ the Vedas, with
slight modifications, as discussed in a separate thread earlier.

The dvaya mantra is a tAntrika mantra that is alluded to in the Vedas.
Reference to it is made in a now-lost section of the Vedas known as
"kaTha Sruti".

I do not know whether this makes it technically "smRti".
 
>   Are the rshi-s avataara of zriiman-naaraayaNa for the purpose of
>   revealing mantras or are they svayam zriiman-naaraayaNa Himself ?

I don't understand the distinction between the two. Could you elaborate?

Mani