[Advaita-l] Question about Rudra Trishati

[Gopal]

Dear Sri Subramanian,

While i am not sure, like you, how true is the incident in Sri Acharya's
life, very recently I had to witness a similar behavior by acontemporary
sri vaishnava pravachana kartha.  I do not want to name the bhagavatha  in
a public list.  In the place where I currently reside,  both siva and
vishnu sannithis are side by side though following respective aagamaa-s for
puja vaibhavam.  This gentleman refused to go near siva, siva family
deities but walked straight to Balaji sannidhi before started to give a
talk on hindu religion.   This was witnessed by a dozen laymen devotees who
were perplexed. The snubbed priests are sivaachariyaar-s and at least 2 of
them are dvivedhi-s.  He was not disrespectful to them but told them on
their face:  " I do not visit siva sannidhi-s".  I am glad Sri Raama did
not think  so  before the battle nor the rishi drushta of naraya suktam who
declared :  sa brahma, sa shiva, sa hari, sa indra..".

Adding on to another response, it is not just veera shaivetes and
lingayats, many madhwas abhor  vibhoodi prasaadam, visiting shiva temples
after bath etc.   I have not heard a maadhva yajur vedi vaideeka chant sri
rudram or chamakam although Anantheshwara at Udupi has been worshipped by
krishna mutt swamijis and followers for a very long time.

Is it part of sri vaishnava sampradaya principles that once somebody has
initiation to the nithya upaasana that they have to desist from worshipping
shaiva and saaktha deities? Or is it a generic blind orthodoxy?  Do you
have an idea  how common this absolute sectarian division of even deities
and the shaastra support (if at all it could be supported sensibly) for
such attitudes?

thanks,
-gopal


> I heard from a talk by Sri VeLukkuDi Krishnan Swami, a noted scholar of the
> Srivaishnava sampradaya that when Sri Ramanuja was walking the street of a
> town there was a very heavy downpour.  When someone from a Shiva temple
> there called him in to rest for a while till the rain stopped, Ramanuja is
> reported to have replied:  A pativratA will not go to a parapuruSha.  In
> the same way I will not enter a temple other than Vishnu's.
>
> subrahmanian.v
>
> >
>