Ghanta avataram.
The fine arts society to which i am a member of announced that it was staging a movie on Sri Desikan, written and directed by APN Swamy, the famous kathakalpshekar of Sri Vaishnavism .
The erudite scholar APN Swamy himself has acted the part of Desikan ,a proponent of Sri Vaishnavism who lived 750 years back in Tamilnadu and whose importance is next only to Sri Ramanujar the Sri Vaishnavaite acharya who propounded Visishta dwaita philosophy by writing exhaustive commentaries on Bramha sutras and Gita on one hand and on the other popularising Sri Vaishnavism amongst the common people.Sri Desikan who was born 350 years later continued Ramanaujar's zeal with great relish and polish.
Desikan has written scores of slokas in sanskrit and pasurams in Tamil in praise of Vishnu ,his avatars and on his deities enshrined in Temples.He has also written slokas on Lakshmi in sanskrit.The azhwars who preceded the acharyas concentrated only on singing hymns on Vishnu/Narayana. None of them have written any pasurum exclusively on Lakshmi though they all were in one mind that Lakshmi formed a inseparable part of Vishnu .It is the acharyas beginning from Alavandar who have written separate slokas on Lakshmi.Desikan has also written slokas o n Lakshmi, Budevi and Godha devi.
When we entered the auditorium the attendant shooed us away to the balcony though as members we are entitled to a better seat .After chugging up the steep steps i was taken back on seeing that every seat in the balcony, which are always empty in music season, had been taken by families .So i sat on the ledge of the first row of seats .Some one offered me a seat in the middle of the row and i had to do a balancing act to reach it.
I looked around after regaining my breath .Were all those around me Sri Vaishnavaites?Yes it seemed so as most men had 'thiruman 'on their forehead , that to of my sub sect.It is the first time in my life that i am seeing such a large congregation of my sect and sub sect and it took my breath away.There were elderly people, middle aged and young couple and kids All were chattering animatedly in Tamil.our mother tongue.
An announcement in APN's recorded voice was made that the movie will start by playing our national anthem and that he was doing so because National bhakthi was more important that Deiva [god] Bhakthi.
I didn't expect this up scaling of national bhakthi over deiva bhakthi by a exponent of religion .I hear his discourses on Puranas, Gita , avatars , epics etc which are all to do purely with Hinduism every day on TV and therefore felt surprised at his declaration .I wondered whether he belongs to RSS or Hindutva group or has got absorbed in it that puts national bhakthi above religious bhakthi .
I was also disturbed and irritated by commencement of the movie with National anthem because my worry was whether i would be able to stand on the ledge at the edge of my seat without falling down .I kept fretting about this .Seeing my and several other women's similar predicament a man said' there is no need to stand'.But how could i not stand up , that to in a public place where every body else will be standing.? I kept worrying about this for nearly 15 minutes but stood up automatically when the anthem was played .I held on to the arm of the seat for safety , my head in a whirl. Many were singing the anthem and i joined them and lo behold my vertigo vanished !I became steady.
The movie started with Desikan's birth which is said to be a miracle. In answer to his parents plea for conceivment of a child in Tirumala temple Lord Venkateswara sent his small puja bell to his mothers womb and Desikan was conceived .This was seen in the dream of his mother as well as by a Zeer [mutt's head].Hence Desikan is known as Ghanta avatar of Venkateswara .That is Desikan is the avatar of the bell used in daily puja of the Lord.The bell disappeared from the sanctum and till today viz 750 years later it has not been replaced .
The movie went swiftly . There were hardly any sanskrit sloka of Desikan .in their place songs in Tamil which were translation of his popular slokas like Sudarshana ashtakam were sung melodiously. . It was touching and emotional at several scenes .like when Desikan old and grey ,places the paduka -footwear of Ramanuja on his head when he is in his death bed .The paduka was gifted to him by a acharya.It brought back my memories that of grappling with my bereavment and the lonesome burden of the puzzle called death and the security, comfort i felt when i visited Sri Varadarajar temple at Kanchipuram and walked on the stone floors whilst perambulating the temple thinking that my acharyas who were full of knowledge, intellect and Bhakthi have been here before , have walked on this same ground, they have stood at the same sanctum i am standing.sat on the very same floor meditating and that they will always give me company and that was inexplicably comforting .
There was a brief interval half way through the film.in which APN swamy himself came .He was felicitated .He then spoke saying that the main intention behind taking this film was to stop conversions .This declaration was received by resounding applause from all corners of the packed auditorium I too clapped hard .
He bellowed, I have screened this film in 30 foreign countries and it is my intention that to screen this film in 1000 villages in Tamilnadu .This was received with a lot of cheering , whistles and loud applause .He continued saying that this film was just a trailer for what he was planning to do .He said I don't care if people think i am conceited and i have faced a lot of hurdles.and finances are just substantial .I have skills and i am going to use them in my mission to stop conversions and rejuvenate interest in Hinduism.
His intention to screen this film in villages explains the rendition of Sanskrit slokas in easily understandable Tamil words.He wants them to reach the masses.
I appreciate his zeal and vigour .Conversion attempts on me has hurt me personally but what can i do about it except for sounding off in my blogs with a handful of indifferent viewers reading it? I cannot get into the field for a real combat the way APN swamy is striving to , though he maynot have been hurt personally.But he feels the onslaught on our religious beliefs just as personally as i do !The indignation i felt at the temerity of those trying to convert me ,who can trace my lineage upto Ramanujar's one of his 77 disciples viz Chetloor, [1000years back]and even earlier to Visvamitrar [my gotram] and therefore to Bharat the son of Shakuntala and Dushyant from whom this country derives its name and who is the grand daughter of speaker of second loksabha who was a freedom fighter and the poor estimation of my worth by the stupid lowly converters of me ,who offered me a passage to US like as if i myself cannot afford to visit it when i choose to .He also has the determination to fight it out in the manner in which he thinks is the right way viz playing this movie.to the villagers.
He kept emphasising that for Sri Vaishnavaites Sanskrit and Tamil are like two eyes .Can anyone say that one eye is better than the other?so he asked.
Whilst he handled the horrific invasion of SriRangam temple by Turks during which Desikan had to lie amongst the 1000's of corpses of valiant devotees , in order to secure manuscripts from marauders a whole night , delicately, without whipping up any hatred , though it was emotional scene, he wasn't subtle whilst handling sectarian issues that Desikan had to confront.
In the scene where a argument ensues between Smarthas and saivaite brahmins and Desikan over reciting of Tamil paurams of azhwars in Sri Rangam temple , the former calls Sanskrit sacred and Tamil a 'neech' language , the exact word Dravidian parties accuse kamakoti Shankara acharya's of using in respect to Tamil. APN Swamy could have avoided using this word.In his enthusiasm to show that Sri Vaishnavism is a religion for all Tamil speaking people he is falling into the trap of divide and rule , that politicians practise.The lack of subtelty of this scene surprised me because in all his discourses he always tries to blend the two sects by constantly showing his appreciation for the works of Adi Shankara acharya. In fight against Christian missionary activities it is better to take all Hindus on board.
I hope that APN is aware of the pitfalls of such a mission and doesnot lose his courage and spirit in face of aggressive opposition [ i am sure it would be] by evangelical forces who are not only flush with money but also have the backing of politicians.
For eg Jayendra saraswati was very active in fighting conversion and was also instrumental in bringing the anti conversion act , owing to his influence over CM Jayalalitha in early years.This cost her Christian votes who are a larger chunk than Smarthas or Sri Vaishnavaites-viz brahmins and she repealed it the next time around .and secured her vote bank.The acharya paid the price for cosying to politicians and found himself in jail.His friends from national party could do nothing about it .He wasted away in the prison for years. His spirit was broken and his zealous chapter to save Hinduism in Tamilnadu came to an end.
One may argue that Shankaracharyar belonged to Panchaksharam sect[saivaites] whilst the late CM the supremo of aidmk belonged to Astakshram [vaishnavaites]sect hence in true dravidian spirit it is kosher to be sectarian.But i belong to ashtaksharam sect but that didnot inhibit the minions of late CM to carry out forcible conversion on me .And the national bhakthi party i belonged to then didn't even lift afinger to help me out [ granted,they were bothered only about muslim influence over me and did help me out of that terrifying trap].In fact they jammed my head for a month in 2014and made me lose my confidence and identity and facilitated the conversion attempts and completed the process of disempowering me that was publicly kickstarted in 2012.i am a shining example of politicians hypocracy .On one hand all politicians will talk about empowering woman and on other cut down to miniscule size those woman like me who was already empowered .
When out of power the nationalistic party will lament over rampant conversions ,But once in power they will shrug it off saying that it is barely 1 %!They need Christian votes .Can the entire Sri Vaishnavaite communities vote equal the Christian votes here?Hardly.
. Christian lobby is very strong in Tamilnadu , they can twist politicians on their fingers by using their mother tongue Tamil to stir emotions in their favour.
I am sure that even if APN like Desikan practises Vairagyam and keeps rulers out of his mission they will find him .and use their clout to fix him in order to please their vote banks.
.
The erudite scholar APN Swamy himself has acted the part of Desikan ,a proponent of Sri Vaishnavism who lived 750 years back in Tamilnadu and whose importance is next only to Sri Ramanujar the Sri Vaishnavaite acharya who propounded Visishta dwaita philosophy by writing exhaustive commentaries on Bramha sutras and Gita on one hand and on the other popularising Sri Vaishnavism amongst the common people.Sri Desikan who was born 350 years later continued Ramanaujar's zeal with great relish and polish.
Desikan has written scores of slokas in sanskrit and pasurams in Tamil in praise of Vishnu ,his avatars and on his deities enshrined in Temples.He has also written slokas on Lakshmi in sanskrit.The azhwars who preceded the acharyas concentrated only on singing hymns on Vishnu/Narayana. None of them have written any pasurum exclusively on Lakshmi though they all were in one mind that Lakshmi formed a inseparable part of Vishnu .It is the acharyas beginning from Alavandar who have written separate slokas on Lakshmi.Desikan has also written slokas o n Lakshmi, Budevi and Godha devi.
When we entered the auditorium the attendant shooed us away to the balcony though as members we are entitled to a better seat .After chugging up the steep steps i was taken back on seeing that every seat in the balcony, which are always empty in music season, had been taken by families .So i sat on the ledge of the first row of seats .Some one offered me a seat in the middle of the row and i had to do a balancing act to reach it.
I looked around after regaining my breath .Were all those around me Sri Vaishnavaites?Yes it seemed so as most men had 'thiruman 'on their forehead , that to of my sub sect.It is the first time in my life that i am seeing such a large congregation of my sect and sub sect and it took my breath away.There were elderly people, middle aged and young couple and kids All were chattering animatedly in Tamil.our mother tongue.
An announcement in APN's recorded voice was made that the movie will start by playing our national anthem and that he was doing so because National bhakthi was more important that Deiva [god] Bhakthi.
I didn't expect this up scaling of national bhakthi over deiva bhakthi by a exponent of religion .I hear his discourses on Puranas, Gita , avatars , epics etc which are all to do purely with Hinduism every day on TV and therefore felt surprised at his declaration .I wondered whether he belongs to RSS or Hindutva group or has got absorbed in it that puts national bhakthi above religious bhakthi .
I was also disturbed and irritated by commencement of the movie with National anthem because my worry was whether i would be able to stand on the ledge at the edge of my seat without falling down .I kept fretting about this .Seeing my and several other women's similar predicament a man said' there is no need to stand'.But how could i not stand up , that to in a public place where every body else will be standing.? I kept worrying about this for nearly 15 minutes but stood up automatically when the anthem was played .I held on to the arm of the seat for safety , my head in a whirl. Many were singing the anthem and i joined them and lo behold my vertigo vanished !I became steady.
The movie started with Desikan's birth which is said to be a miracle. In answer to his parents plea for conceivment of a child in Tirumala temple Lord Venkateswara sent his small puja bell to his mothers womb and Desikan was conceived .This was seen in the dream of his mother as well as by a Zeer [mutt's head].Hence Desikan is known as Ghanta avatar of Venkateswara .That is Desikan is the avatar of the bell used in daily puja of the Lord.The bell disappeared from the sanctum and till today viz 750 years later it has not been replaced .
The movie went swiftly . There were hardly any sanskrit sloka of Desikan .in their place songs in Tamil which were translation of his popular slokas like Sudarshana ashtakam were sung melodiously. . It was touching and emotional at several scenes .like when Desikan old and grey ,places the paduka -footwear of Ramanuja on his head when he is in his death bed .The paduka was gifted to him by a acharya.It brought back my memories that of grappling with my bereavment and the lonesome burden of the puzzle called death and the security, comfort i felt when i visited Sri Varadarajar temple at Kanchipuram and walked on the stone floors whilst perambulating the temple thinking that my acharyas who were full of knowledge, intellect and Bhakthi have been here before , have walked on this same ground, they have stood at the same sanctum i am standing.sat on the very same floor meditating and that they will always give me company and that was inexplicably comforting .
There was a brief interval half way through the film.in which APN swamy himself came .He was felicitated .He then spoke saying that the main intention behind taking this film was to stop conversions .This declaration was received by resounding applause from all corners of the packed auditorium I too clapped hard .
He bellowed, I have screened this film in 30 foreign countries and it is my intention that to screen this film in 1000 villages in Tamilnadu .This was received with a lot of cheering , whistles and loud applause .He continued saying that this film was just a trailer for what he was planning to do .He said I don't care if people think i am conceited and i have faced a lot of hurdles.and finances are just substantial .I have skills and i am going to use them in my mission to stop conversions and rejuvenate interest in Hinduism.
His intention to screen this film in villages explains the rendition of Sanskrit slokas in easily understandable Tamil words.He wants them to reach the masses.
I appreciate his zeal and vigour .Conversion attempts on me has hurt me personally but what can i do about it except for sounding off in my blogs with a handful of indifferent viewers reading it? I cannot get into the field for a real combat the way APN swamy is striving to , though he maynot have been hurt personally.But he feels the onslaught on our religious beliefs just as personally as i do !The indignation i felt at the temerity of those trying to convert me ,who can trace my lineage upto Ramanujar's one of his 77 disciples viz Chetloor, [1000years back]and even earlier to Visvamitrar [my gotram] and therefore to Bharat the son of Shakuntala and Dushyant from whom this country derives its name and who is the grand daughter of speaker of second loksabha who was a freedom fighter and the poor estimation of my worth by the stupid lowly converters of me ,who offered me a passage to US like as if i myself cannot afford to visit it when i choose to .He also has the determination to fight it out in the manner in which he thinks is the right way viz playing this movie.to the villagers.
He kept emphasising that for Sri Vaishnavaites Sanskrit and Tamil are like two eyes .Can anyone say that one eye is better than the other?so he asked.
Whilst he handled the horrific invasion of SriRangam temple by Turks during which Desikan had to lie amongst the 1000's of corpses of valiant devotees , in order to secure manuscripts from marauders a whole night , delicately, without whipping up any hatred , though it was emotional scene, he wasn't subtle whilst handling sectarian issues that Desikan had to confront.
In the scene where a argument ensues between Smarthas and saivaite brahmins and Desikan over reciting of Tamil paurams of azhwars in Sri Rangam temple , the former calls Sanskrit sacred and Tamil a 'neech' language , the exact word Dravidian parties accuse kamakoti Shankara acharya's of using in respect to Tamil. APN Swamy could have avoided using this word.In his enthusiasm to show that Sri Vaishnavism is a religion for all Tamil speaking people he is falling into the trap of divide and rule , that politicians practise.The lack of subtelty of this scene surprised me because in all his discourses he always tries to blend the two sects by constantly showing his appreciation for the works of Adi Shankara acharya. In fight against Christian missionary activities it is better to take all Hindus on board.
I hope that APN is aware of the pitfalls of such a mission and doesnot lose his courage and spirit in face of aggressive opposition [ i am sure it would be] by evangelical forces who are not only flush with money but also have the backing of politicians.
For eg Jayendra saraswati was very active in fighting conversion and was also instrumental in bringing the anti conversion act , owing to his influence over CM Jayalalitha in early years.This cost her Christian votes who are a larger chunk than Smarthas or Sri Vaishnavaites-viz brahmins and she repealed it the next time around .and secured her vote bank.The acharya paid the price for cosying to politicians and found himself in jail.His friends from national party could do nothing about it .He wasted away in the prison for years. His spirit was broken and his zealous chapter to save Hinduism in Tamilnadu came to an end.
One may argue that Shankaracharyar belonged to Panchaksharam sect[saivaites] whilst the late CM the supremo of aidmk belonged to Astakshram [vaishnavaites]sect hence in true dravidian spirit it is kosher to be sectarian.But i belong to ashtaksharam sect but that didnot inhibit the minions of late CM to carry out forcible conversion on me .And the national bhakthi party i belonged to then didn't even lift afinger to help me out [ granted,they were bothered only about muslim influence over me and did help me out of that terrifying trap].In fact they jammed my head for a month in 2014and made me lose my confidence and identity and facilitated the conversion attempts and completed the process of disempowering me that was publicly kickstarted in 2012.i am a shining example of politicians hypocracy .On one hand all politicians will talk about empowering woman and on other cut down to miniscule size those woman like me who was already empowered .
When out of power the nationalistic party will lament over rampant conversions ,But once in power they will shrug it off saying that it is barely 1 %!They need Christian votes .Can the entire Sri Vaishnavaite communities vote equal the Christian votes here?Hardly.
. Christian lobby is very strong in Tamilnadu , they can twist politicians on their fingers by using their mother tongue Tamil to stir emotions in their favour.
I am sure that even if APN like Desikan practises Vairagyam and keeps rulers out of his mission they will find him .and use their clout to fix him in order to please their vote banks.
I wish him luck and i hope that he succeeds in his noble endeavour.
*********
16.2.20 .Note-I deleted the para on the issue of granting pardon to those who were co accused in Rg's murder because it is a interpolation in the above blog and which i had never intended to write or blog about but i had this overwhelming urge to blog it and i just couldn't resist that inexplicable urge that seems to surge just before i hear the sound of a plane taking off .I was uneasy for two days for unnecessarily fitting that bit in this blog.since it had nothing to do with conversions by evangelists, about which the above blog was about. i realised that i was ill at ease because i had written it under pressurre .Some one wanted me to write about that issue and also wanted my opinion and they knew my opinion. Why do so many around me resort to such underhand tactics ?Who ever wanted me to write my views on that issue could have approached me directly and ask me to blog it instead of all this sly suggestion giving, creating this urge in me to blog on subjects i am not interested in blogging .How ever i may have considered blogging on it if approached directly and may have blogged it in a separate post.But that nicety and decency is never shown to me.
Since so much pressurre is put on me to write or blog on certain subjects it convinces me that my observations and opinions are quite valuable and persons who are putting pressure on me like as if it is divine right for them to do so and it is my duty to slave for them, have very cleverly put a veil around me of isolation accompanied by constant provocation + humiliation and the bogey of my lunacy / eccentricity.so that nobody believes me specially my family and relatives at what i have been put through since 2012.This set up works to the advantage of those wanting me to write or blog on matters from which they can derive some benifit for free..shameful.
When i was practising as a Notary public even tailors, plumbers and persons of very ordinary means would insist on paying my fees with respect and had a lot of regard for me but those who are loaded with cash want free service of writing and blogging ,from me by employing sly , shadowy methods and then proceed to affixing humiliating labels upon me for the benificial services rendered .!
*********
16.2.20 .Note-I deleted the para on the issue of granting pardon to those who were co accused in Rg's murder because it is a interpolation in the above blog and which i had never intended to write or blog about but i had this overwhelming urge to blog it and i just couldn't resist that inexplicable urge that seems to surge just before i hear the sound of a plane taking off .I was uneasy for two days for unnecessarily fitting that bit in this blog.since it had nothing to do with conversions by evangelists, about which the above blog was about. i realised that i was ill at ease because i had written it under pressurre .Some one wanted me to write about that issue and also wanted my opinion and they knew my opinion. Why do so many around me resort to such underhand tactics ?Who ever wanted me to write my views on that issue could have approached me directly and ask me to blog it instead of all this sly suggestion giving, creating this urge in me to blog on subjects i am not interested in blogging .How ever i may have considered blogging on it if approached directly and may have blogged it in a separate post.But that nicety and decency is never shown to me.
Since so much pressurre is put on me to write or blog on certain subjects it convinces me that my observations and opinions are quite valuable and persons who are putting pressure on me like as if it is divine right for them to do so and it is my duty to slave for them, have very cleverly put a veil around me of isolation accompanied by constant provocation + humiliation and the bogey of my lunacy / eccentricity.so that nobody believes me specially my family and relatives at what i have been put through since 2012.This set up works to the advantage of those wanting me to write or blog on matters from which they can derive some benifit for free..shameful.
When i was practising as a Notary public even tailors, plumbers and persons of very ordinary means would insist on paying my fees with respect and had a lot of regard for me but those who are loaded with cash want free service of writing and blogging ,from me by employing sly , shadowy methods and then proceed to affixing humiliating labels upon me for the benificial services rendered .!
.
posted by K.C. Sujata at
2:29 AM
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