Bhakti yoga

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Tue, 11 Jun 2002, Vivek Anand Ganesan wrote:

> There is a theory that this purANam was probably written
> by a devout tamil Sri Vaishnava extolling the virtues of
> the tamil Azhvar saints and the concept of prapatti.

A lot of such speculations are predicated on the idea that Bhakti is
"un-aryan" and had to come from somewhere else.  However the evidence of
Heliodorus etc. proves the existence of the Bhagavatas in northern India
in atleast the 2nd century BC  which is way before the alwars.  Whether
the Bhagavata Purana itself is that old is uncertain but the ideas in it
most certainly are.

> Also,
> I heard recently from a friend in another e-list ( who
> happends to be somewhat pro-ISKCON ) that some scholars
> opine that the language of the bhAgavatam is more "vedic"
> than classical sanskrit. Any comments?
>

There are some words uses in the Bhagavata which are ungrammatical in a
Paninian sense.  So some have speculated they are pre-paninian or perhaps
influenced by a Dravidian language.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/