A call for my community

Awake , Brahmanas, Awake !!

P.R.Ramachander

Modern day Brahmanas whose role was to learn the Vedas and tenets of religion and explain it to those who are not capable of understanding them, are in the present day a very confused lot. The main reason is that they have left the vocation of their forefathers and have taken up all and sundry job just to eke out a living. Most of them only understand the label which is allotted to them as Smarthas, Vaishnavas and Madhwas. Some of them are a step higher and tell you that they worship only Shiva and their Guru is Sankaracharya; that they worship Vishnu and their Guru is Ramanujacharya and that they worship Krishna and Rama and their Guru is Madhwacharya. The real difference between them which is based on the philosophical interpretation of the great books of Sanathana Dharma is left to a few Acharyas and Pundits who live in some isolated Mutts. Rarely do these Acharyas talk to their followers of the philosophical interpretation but prefer to keep them in the Bhakthi filled world of an ordinary man, Ask a religious Brahmana and he will tell you that it is important to wear Vibhuthi/Thiruman/ Gopi and perform the Nithya Karmas .They also will tell that you have to observe several Vrithas as dictated by priests and go to several temples

.I am an ignoramus but would like to give a very small notes on the three thought processes and request all of you to further read , try to understand the glorious interpretations given by their respective Acharyas and explain to every one they know that their religion is a very glorious thought process and not a set of orthodox beliefs.

Advaitha of Adi Sankara

The seeker of truth of the sanathana dharma understands easily the difference between individual souls(Antharathma) and the great power that is every where(Paramathma).Sankara interpreted the the books of religion and concluded that these two are no different, whether you realize it or not. He told that they are same and your understanding or not is not going to change this fact.

Visishtadvaitha of Saint Ramanujacharya

Saint Ramanuja who was being taught Advaitha by a teacher could not digest this fact. He interpreted the same books as Sankara and concluded that unless you understand and realize that they are same, they are not the same .It is the inner light of realization within oneself, which could make you realize that they are not different. He also evolved the Saranagathi Thattwa (Principle of absolute surrender) through which the Antharathma can merge with the Paramathma. Two schools of thought differentiated later on the Saranagathi. One school believed that the Saranagathi does not need an effort on your part and is a passive surrender (Marjara Saranagathi-kitten like surrender) and the other school believed that your effort is very much needed even after the surrender and is an active surrender (Markata Saranagathi- the surrender of baby monkey)

Dwaitha

Saint Madhwacharya interpreted the same books and found that there is no evidence of Paramathma and Antharathma being the same. They according to him are different. The Antharathma after many cycles of birth and deaths ultimately merges with the paramathma.

Unless we start doing introspection of these royal thought processes, here and now the future generation of Brahmanas who are extremely intelligent will break the ties imposed on them by a religion that they do not understand and which appears to them like a very orthodox cult rather than a magnificent thought process.

Let us all awake and let us all think so that this cherished magnificent heritage of ours burns for ever and illuminates all the world.