[Advaita-l] Temples , smArtha-s, vaiShNava-s

[Satish Arigela]

>I heard recently Sri
>Velukkudi Krishnan Swamigal addressing a group 
of followers/admirers in the
>US or Canada (where he toured last year)
 on this subject.  He reasoned thus:
>A pativrataa stree is loyal to 
ONLY her pati, husband.  And a Srivaishnava
>is like this.  He would 
go ONLY to Vishnu aalayam and NOT to Shiva aalayam.

These days you will find such funny & silly reasons by some shrI-vaiShNava-s. These are the kind of reasons little children will come up with when their parents catch them red-handed for any wrong doing. :-))

What about their pA~ncharAtra texts which have clear instructions on how to worship rudra and other non-vaiShNava deities? These texts violate pativratA dharma then? :-))

What about the injunction in a purANa(in a supposedly sAttvika purANa according to madhva & vaiShNava-s) where a certain shiva mantra is made use of during nR^isiMha worship for protection?

The reasons are more historical rather than religious/spiritual. Not just vaiShNava-s, the shaiva-s(especially the mantra mArga shaiva-s) are hated by many groups like jaina-s and bauddha-s because historically the shaiva-s along with smArta-s were more successful(because of their being eclectic and acquiring mastery over a wide range of mantra-s) in getting favors from Kings. So no pAtivratya** like purity is involved in a shrIvaiShNava not going to a shaiva temple. It is hate & jealousy inherited from medieval times. This is just one dimension of the issue.

Since there are shiva temples which are run by shaiva-s and some devI temples looked after by shAkta-s like for ex: the tArA pIThaM in va~Nga desha, only those temples run by smArta-s can be called smArta temples. There are many such.

Mu understanding is that, according to shaivAgama only shaiva brAhmaNa-s or shivachArya-s are allowed to become priests. Others cannot become a temple priest. This is for temples built according to shaivAgama-s. The issue is more complex actually so I stop here.