[Advaita-l] REFERENCES FROM VARIOUS PURANAS, UPANISHADS, SASTRAS WHERE VISHNU, RAMA, KRISHNA DON BHASMA TRIPUNDRA AND VISHNU IS A PARAMA SHIVA BHAKTA

[V Subrahmanian]

On Mon, Jan 21, 2019 at 4:02 PM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> > Namaste Srinath ji
>
>
> > On another note ...
> > Most Madhvas are liberal by and large (in my experience) and do not
> regard
> > listening to the gentle songs of an Advaitin like Sri Sadashiva
> Brahmendra
> > as a 'sin' or any such thing. I have been lucky to have never met very
> > orthodox or doctrinaire Madhvas who regard singing or listening to a
> > composition of a great GYAnI like Sri Sadashiva Brahmendra as a 'sin'.
> > (Frankly I feel sad to see such Indian dualistic fanaticism which
> > inevitably reminded me of the non-Indian dualism.)
> > Or, as you said, the more extreme Madhvas may regard listening to a
> > discourse on Advaita by a teacher of the truth of non-duality as a 'sin'.
> > (I was happy to see that you don't seem to personally endorse such
> extreme
> > views.)
>

Dear Raghav ji,

The excerpt (translated) is from a Tamil book 'Sudarsanar Badil' of a
scholar named Sri Krishnaswamy Iyengar:

The image of the page in Tamil is available here for download:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/9mt2bx81t98nfx2/sudarsanar_padil_sangeetam.pdf/file


Here is a case of a non-advaitin, a Srivaishnava expressing his patently
bigoted stand on their clan involving in fine arts such as music and dance:

Question:  Is it wrong for Srivaishnavites to have inclination towards fine
arts such as music, dance, sculpture and drawing? If it is not wrong, does
it harm one (svarupa haani – extinction of the very nature) if he engages
in learning or teaching others the creations of experts belonging to other
followings (read: non-srivaishnavites) in the form of literary works like
books, (musical) compositions, buildings, temples pertaining to ‘alien’
gods?

Reply:  There is nothing wrong in one being inclined towards the stated
fine arts. However, one should be careful so that there is no danger to our
principle of ‘chastity‘  expressed as ‘not to worship/bow to any alien god
even unwittingly’. (‘maRandum puRam thozhaamai’).    Most of these
activities are aimed at churning money and when that is the motive, the
first casualty is our ‘principle’ stated above.  For this reason alone it
is very rare to come across artists who are vowed to ‘not singing the
songs, enacting the dance, sculpting images and drawing pictures pertaining
to alien gods.’  Since artists are of this erring type, the rasika-s of
these art forms too are forced to give up the ‘vow’.   Considering this, it
is better if Srivaishnavites do not have much indulgence in such fine arts.
It is taboo for Srivaishnavites to learn, hear and sing the compositions of
alien gods. It is also forbidden for Srivaishnavites  to visit ‘other’
temples and witness and enjoy the sculptures or paintings of other gods.  Even
if one is required to learn these in the context of his avocation, one
should exercise great care in not getting attached to these gods.  Our
conduct should be in the manner stated in this song
https://ta.wikisource.org/s/1j9g   கலையறக் கற்ற மாந்தர் காண்பரோ கேட்ப ரோ
தாம்   [This is a line from a composition of an Azhwar which means: Would
one who has studied well the (admitted) scriptures ever even look at or
hear (alien works)?]

End of the excerpt

One can imagine to what extent fanaticism can go. Does it sound like
abrahamic religion?

regards
subbu


>