Articles
Should Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi be a one-time Spectacle of Harbinger of Hindu Dharma’s Revitalisation and Samajika Samatha?
Dt:8/3/22
Should Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi
be a one-time Spectacle of
Harbinger of Hindu Dharma’s Revitalisation
and Samajika Samatha?
- Dr T.H.Chowdary*
More than a 1000 years ago Saint Ramanujacharya proclaimed the equality of all men and women, irrespective of in which caste they were born. He also gave the Gayathri Upadesh to the so called untouchables and other non-dwijas (non-twice born). He conducted the so called untouchables into temples and gave them the right to worship. He called them thirumular that is, the blessed original people. Ever since, there have been movements almost all over India proclaiming the equality of all people irrespective of their caste. The bhakti movement in Maharasthra and Kabir Panthis and Ravidasiyas in the North also preached and practised equality. So did Guru Govind Singh of the Sikh Panth. In recent times Dr Ambedkar , Jyothiba Phule and Gandhiji and Savarkar proclaimed and agitated for the equality of all castes, especially for the rights of the Dalits. Gandhiji called the dalits as Harijans, people of Lord Vishnu. He even started a Weekly, Harijan to propagate among the Bharatiyas that untouchability and discrimination are un-dharmic. The Constitution of India proclaimed the abolition of untouchability. Inspite of these centuries- long movements proclaiming the equality of all people and special movements for the uplift of Dalits, why did not either caste or social and economic disabilities of Dalits and other “low” caste people disappear?
2. In Feb 2022 H.H Tridandi Chinna Srimannarayana Ramanujana Jeeyar Swamiji in celebration of the Sahasrabdi of Saint Ramanuja organized spectacular functions extending over two weeks for unveiling of 216 feet high Ramanuja statue. The President and Prime Minister , Chief Ministers of some States and Cabinet Ministers from the Central government visited the Divya Kshethra and some of them spoke eloquently of Ramanuja’s message of equality, Samatha . It was a Rs. 1000 cr event. Some of the figures are astounding - 108 Vaishnava mini temples were constructed ; two thousand Archakas participated in conducting Yagnas and pujas . The golden statue weighs 120 Kgs; the Yagnas used 2,00,000 Kgs of cow’s ghee. Thousands of Ritviks were involved in this spectacular show.
3. There was a two-day Acharya Sabha, possibly all belonged to Visishta Advaitha Sakha of the Sanatan Dharma. I wanted to participate in the Acharya Sabha. I drew up an appeal to the Acharyas as to what their duty is to defend , protect, preserve and propagate the Hindu Dharma. I was told that I would not be given time to speak and therefore I did not go just to listen to what the Acharyas would be speaking as I had listened to too many of them, several times. Those Sabhas and their discourses had little consequence as regards the propagation, preservation and defense of the Hindu Dharma .
4. It is sad to note that with Samatha Moorti Ramanuja looking over the Divya Kshethra, asamanatha and sectarianism are being practised. All the 108 temples are for Vishnu. In the Hindu dharma Rama, Siva, Saraswati, Durga and others are also revered and worshiped . The exclusion of all these is discriminatory and ill-fitting to the mission of bringing Samatha. The amounts spent on the Yagnas and other rituals and ceremonies is running into hundreds of crores of rupees. For eg: 2 lakh kgs of ghee from cows milk and 120 kgs of gold are staggering figures. 2000 Ritviks being engaged does not seem to be proper. Why can’t all these people be deployed in villages? Why can’t the Peethadhipathis and the Mathadhipathis move about instructing, inspiring Hindus to be truly and actively Hindu and organize themselves for building up Hindu communities transcending castes . Such communities can influence politicians not to undermine Hindu dharma by entrusting the management and administration to people who are indifferent to and in fact subversive of the Hindu dharma. Communities of bhaktas, the Hindu Samaj irrespective of their political affinities and transcending castes and languages should be built. We should have one single agenda to prevail upon the governments to dis-engage themselves from the administration and management of Hindus temples and extend the freedom they have given to the Christian & Islamic communities for managing their places of worship, to Hindus also .
5. Why should Hindus visiting Samatha Divya Kshetram be required to pay admission fee? Cannot the donors who gave the land and money to raise the statue of Samata Murthy and the 108 mini temples etc, create an endowment to meet the cost of maintaining the Samatha Kshetram and its activities? It is believed by many that much unaccounted money financed the establishment of His Holiness Tridandi Chinna Srimannarayana Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamiji. Dharmic conduct requires for belief in it, disclosure and publication of the donors’ names and amounts they contributed. These may be shown in the website.
6. The mere existence of Ramanuja’s statues and the temples and the pujas and laser shows is not going to bring about samatha, be it spiritual or social; it must be propagated as the cardinal message of Sanathana Dharma by the Dharmacharyas, Mathadhipathis, Peethadhipathis and Swamis of different denominations. Hindu dharma is under siege by the purveyors of intolerant and imperialist religions, theologies and equally intolerant, aggressive and totalitarian political theology- like ideology, communism.
7. In a perilous situation like this , statues and temples and static swamis and dharmacharyas, cannot save Sanatan/ Hindu Dharma. Dharma udyamam / yuddham is need of the times of resist and defeat the aggressions of adharmic faiths and political ideology . The spectacular and fabulous Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi celebration will have a social and spiritual justification only if it promotes Dharma’s revitalization for its survival and shakti to foster and promote a Samatha Samaj.
Schism in the Vaishnavite sect
Very lofty movement for reform deteriorate over time into sectarian disputes . The 11th century Vaishnavite Saint Ramanuja’s followers also divided themselves into two serious factions over the Namam to be displayed on the foreheads - vengalai ( south ) and vodagalai ( north). They led to serious disputes between the two eponymous Vaishnavite sects. The dispute between these two forehead appellations among Vaishnavite followers has a history of nearly 250 years. In 1978 the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, V. S Kailasam, deliberated the case that had been pending in the lower court since 1965 and earlier too in British India. Outlining the ritualistic divergence between the two sects, Js. Kailasam had said, “ it has given rise to most bitter unreasonable and vicious fight between the two groups for nearly 200 years . The case before Madras High Court was to be decided if the new temple elephant of Sri Devaraja Swamy temple in Kanchipuram had to sport the Tengalai Namam which was the age-old custom or wear the vodagalai namam because the deceased temple elephant has sported it . The donor, Maharaja of Travancore had put a condition that it should sport only the “U” shaped namam with the yellow line in the middle. Even after the lower court had restored the Thengalai namam, the other sect has had tried to sabotage the effort and attracted the Court’s contempt. The dispute went to as far back as 1854. The vodagalai sect was reluctant to accept the decision of the Courts. It is this type of fundamentalism and dogmatism that have been coming in the way of Ramanuja’s Samatha bhavana getting wide acceptance in real life despite the efforts of such sages and in recent times Dr. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi.
8. We are lamenting that unlike the churches of Christians, the mosques of Muslims and the Gurudwaras of Sikhs, only Hindus’ temples are under the management & administration of the governments of AP, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and some other states. We have been witnessing that whenever there is a change in the ruling party, members of the Trust Boards appointed by the previous government are removed and Trust Boards with new persons, most of them financiers and patrons of the new party in power, irrespective of their knowledge of Hindu Dharma or their contribution for its preservation and propagation are appointed. Some times, the Chief Ministers are non-Hindus and are votaries of a religion whose functionaries are engaged in vile propaganda against Hinduism to convert vulnerable sections of Hindus to their religion. Some trustees are not Hindus ; they are converts to Christianity without disclosing the fact of conversion to enjoy the benefits of reservations and other welfare schemes meant for Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh Dalits.
9. While we are denouncing the indifference and in fact, the misuse of the temples’ s assets for partisan ends by the ruling parties; some of us have been asking and requesting the Peethadhipathis and Mathadhipathis to actively engage in the defense and promotion of Hindu dharma by utilizing the considerable incomes that come from the huge properties the Mathadhipathis and Peethadhipathis are owning and controlling . During India’s struggle for freedom, responding listening to the call of the leaders, National Schools and Colleges, some with prefix “Hindu” were founded, in order to impart such education as would promote patriotism, nationalism and dharmic conduct. Spirited teachers and professors working in government institutions resigned their jobs and came to serve in these national institutions at considerable sacrifice in their emoluments.
10. Christian missionaries and their organisations are running several schools and colleges where, about 90% of the students are non-Christians, Hindus. Christian organisations are running hospitals and through these to people- serving institutions they are influencing Hindus to convert. We say, that Manava seva is Madhava seva that is, service to people, is service to God. Should this not inspire the Peethadhipathis and Mathadhipathis to use their assets to render service through schools and hospitals? Should they themselves instead of sitting in their Asramas, move among villages and towns and give pravachans to expound Hindi dharma dharmic through narration of episodes in Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagawata and the lives of so many of our Saints like Ramanuja, Sankara and reformers like the Maharasthra’s Bhakti saints.