Deivathin Kural Series - 49

Om Namah Sivaya.
Deivathin Kural # 49 of 21 Aug 2006.

1.These e-mails are translations of talks given by the erstwhile Pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over more than sixty years, published by Vanady Padippagam, T.Nagar, Chennai, India, in ten volumes, in the Tamil language. The english version is likely to be available very soon. These e-mails are simply an effort on the part of the sender, to share some of his bliss, as it is said, 'Yam perra peru peruga ivvaiyagam'. When he adds any personal observations he uses the phrase, 'KTSV adds'.
2. To-days chapter is from his lecture, titled, 'Moolamagiya Vedam' ie., 'Vedas that is the Root', in pages 266 to 270, in Volume 1 of Deivathin Kural. Unless specifically mentioned, he or man includes, she or woman.
3. Our religion is in two parts, namely, Saivam and Vaishnavam, (of believers in Siva or Vishnu, respectively). One will even wonder, whether they are one or two different religions. In Christianity too, there are Protestants and Catholics. They are considered as one religion only, because, they pray to one god only, ie., Jesus Christ. In Buddhism, the two divisions of Hinayana and Mahayana, are not considered as two different religions. Reason is that, the head of both is Buddha.
4. Do Saivaites and Vaishnavites, have the same God? No. Whatever may be the behaviour and attitude of the common devotees, a vaishnavite pontiff, will never come near a Siva Temple. For them Vishnu is the God. They believe that Siva is not a God, but only a devotee of Vishnu. Amongst Saivaites too there are fanatics. For them Siva is the God. Vishnu is only devotee of Siva. How to consider the Saivaites and Vaishnavites, as belonging to the same religion.
5. Let it be. To be able to consider them as belonging to the same religion, is there a common religious book that they both believe in? Christianity has many divisions, but the Bible is common, to all of them. Similarly, Islam has many sub-divitions, but one Quran.
Saivites have Thevaram and Thirumurais as their authority. Vaishnavites have Nalayira Divya Prabandam as the basic tenet. Thus their basic books are also different! Swamy or their God, anyhow is different! How to consider them as belonging to one religion?
6. Despite our such differnces, it is the Britisher, who should get the credit for bracketing, a multitude of sub-divisions as one religion, as 'The Hindu'! Otherwise, we would have considered ourselves to be belonging to a multitude of different religions, such as, Saktam, Kaumaram, Sauram, Ganapatyam, ie., devotees of Shakthi, Kumara or Murugan, Sun and Ganapaty, respectively. In addition, their would have been, Ayyappa Bakthas, Hanumath Upasagars, Ellaiyamman Devotees and so on endlessly. Instead of calling us by this one common word of 'Hindu', had we been considered as belonging to different religions, each subdivision, in comparison with Christians and Muslims, would have been Minorities. That is, instead of Pakistan in two parts, (West and East{now Bangla Desh}), the whole country, could have been devided in to so many parts, calling themselves, so many names.
7. The same Britishers, who ruled over the country for so many centuries, by their policy of 'devide and rule'; who tried to put a major wedge, as Aryan-Dravidian devide, (which is even now being exploited by many parochial politicians); and who was responsible for the division of the country in to India and Pakistan; it is the same Britishers, (by some error of judgement, contray to their own logic), who called all of us as Hindus unwittingly, and did us the favour of remaining a nation, called India.
8. So, are we one or two or many religions? Despite the fact that, the Saivites and Vaishnavites, have two different basic books and two different Gods, the truth is not so. Contrary to the present mentality of the followers of the two, on a careful study of their basic books, it is revealed that, the authors of those writings of Thiru Murais and Divya Prabandams, never believed or said, that their's is, 'a first book'. Before their birth, there was their religion already. The Alwars who sang the Divya Prabandam, were born into Vaishnavam, which was already there. The Nayanmars who sang the Thevaram and Thirumurai, were born in to Saivam, which was already existing. On further investigation of their roots, you find the Vedas.
9. The Saivites have called the Siva, I Quote, ".....vedamodu aarangam aayinanai, veda nathan, veda geethan....." Unquote.
It means, 'The Siva who with Veda became six sided, as the Form of Veda, Leader of Veda, Song of Veda...' Similarly. the Vaishnava literature too, it is said, I Quote, "......vedam tamizh seida maran sadagopan....." It means, 'The Vishnu the God who created the Veda and or into Tamil.' It is clear that, the basic root is Veda. All the greats who have sung the Thevarams and Divya Prabandams, talk of the greatness of Vedas. Whichever Temple City is described, they say, in one voice repeatedly, that in all those places, 'the sound of Vedas was reverberating and echoing; the place was full of the smoke from the Homa Fires; all the parts of Vedas were thriving.' They talk of the Vedas with ecstacy, as they talk of their God.
10. The one principle idea or concept of God, is given by the Vedas, as so many forms of God. In the River of God, each aspect or form of God, is like a particular Ghat. Ghat is a flight of steps leading to the river from the bank and from the bank to the river. Sekkizhar, in Periya Puranam, uses this very symbolism, when he says, '..veda neri thazhaithu onga, migu saivathurai vilanga..', meaning, '..let the veda order thrive, let the saiva ghat flourish..'
11. Similarly, in Saktam, Ganapatyam, Kaumaram and Souram, too and in any worship of any of the other Gods, the basis is Vedas. The method of worship, yaga and connected adjuncts are all in the Vedas. So for all the sub-division of the 'Hindu', religion, the basic authority is the Veda. In that base treatise, are ten selected Upanishads, known as 'Dasopanishad'. (Actually Upanishads number more than a hundred.) The Saiva-Vaishnava-Smartha, Acharyas, have all given elaborate commentaries, on the ten Upanishads. In them, God is referred as Brhmam. In one place in Katopanishad, it says Brhmam is Vishnu. In Mandukya Upanishad, it says that Siva is God. At various places are mentioned, Mithra, Varuna, Agni, Indra and so on, and the same Veda clarifies that, the one truth, is seen and exhibited as so many. 'Ekam Sath. Viprah bahuda vadanthi'.
12. So, this religion does have one God and one basic Book. The basic common book is Vedas and the one common God is Brhmam. We can now without doubt claim, that we all belong to One Religion. The one common book of Vedas reveals the God to us. It tells us as to how to live our lives. It is the guide for this life and after life. It is the basis of all traditions and concepts. All our divisions of the religion, have come from Vedas. Root is one and branches are many. Further analysis and study will reveal that, Vedas are the root document, not only for the sub-divisions of Hinduism, but for Humanity as a whole. It is our foremost duty to safe guard the Vedas without any let-up.
Sambhomahadeva.