CWTVKS Volume 3

YATINDRAMATADIPIKA

Yatindramatadipika⁴³

Now about the translation: the book opens with a brief but illuminating Foreword from Prof. P.N. Srinivasacharya, a wellknown authority on the subject. The translator’s Introduction covers many pages in which an accurate statement of the position of Visishta-advaita philosophy in regard to Jiva, Ishwara, Nitya-vibhuti, Dharmabhuta Jnana etc. is given and the date of Srinivasadasa is shown to be somewhere in the 17th century. There is a valuable conspectus for each section followed by the text with English translation on the same page. One notable feature in the translation is that every important term which requires explanation is numbered in each section and is explained at the end of the book in ‘Notes and References’ which alone cover 54 pages. Swami Adidevananda’s plan is admirable. The Notes and Explanations cover a vast field of knowledge and give precious information obtained from a study of many authors and from discussions with living authorities on Southern Vaishnavism in which tradition sampradaya counts so much. For though the Sanskrit text is not at all difficult, in many places explanation is necessary. In the olden days when there was no printing, the student had necessarily to sit at the feet of the teacher to learn the implications and references made in certain passages of the text. I shall give a simple illustration of the point. In the sixth Avatara, the author uses the word astra-bhusana adhyaye i.e. in the chapter on weapons and ornaments’. Now, what the author means is this; the City of Vaikuntha, Sesha the serpent, gate-keepers, the weapons and ornaments of the Lord are all symbolic and these symbolisms can be learnt from that chapter in the Vishnu Purana which deals with the subject. This and many more explanations are to be found in the Notes and References. The Chaturvyuha theory, as far as we know, emanates from the Pancharatra school which must have been a living creed before the Brahmasutras were written as it is referred to in II.2.42-45, and it is an important element in the Sri Vaishnava cult.

A word about this religious system. We can very well understand the instinct of self-preservation and zeal of any sectarian religionist. But all the same, it carries with it a certain offensive element that provokes other sects to retort; in this way the story of Vaishnavism and Shaivism in South India has not been free from blemish, as is evidenced in the life of Sri Ramanuja himself who was subjected to untold hardships from religious persecution. When one reads in this excellent compendium such petty excuses for reasonings as “the system of Shaivas is rejected owing to its acceptance of Pashupati as the end to be attained and smearing of ashes etc., opposed to the Vedas as the means ", we are dumfounded. It is remarkable that such statements ignore the possible, why, the actual retort, coined in the same mint from the other side. It is a wonder how great devotees and teachers gave support to such religiosities in the name of the Supreme Godhead. We can very well appreciate the intensity and single-minded devotion of the devotee addressing his Deity ’Lord, thou alone art the God, my Sole Refuge, I know none other’. That is a faith that is admirable and leads towards the Godhead. But to proclaim and argue that others are doomed is a different matter. And that certainly is not the teaching of the Alwars, God-men who form the backbone of religious worship in Southern Vaishnavism.

Apart from such offensive elements that have encrusted the framework of this institution of Sri Vaishnava Religion, it is an excellent form for worship, and contains many occult truths which it has incorporated into it from the Pancharatra.

As for Philosophy, it affords a sound basis for practical and personal religion. In the words of the Foreword, ’God is defined as the Saririn, Self of souls and matter, as these two live and move and have their being in Him...Bhakti and Prapatti form the chief means of liberation or Mukti, Prapatti as absolute surrender to God is available to all souls. ..” We may note in passing that the philosophy of Sri Ramanuja does not admit ’knowledge by identity’at all and holds that the triputi — the riplicity of knower, known and knowledge — is there to establish the impossibility of the subject in any state or condition, being or becoming the object. This is a much debated and debatable question, and the verdict is to be obtained by appeal to the yogic consciousness and spiritual experiences as recorded in the Upanishads, or the statements of saints and sages, past and living. How are we to understand straightly the spirit of the famous verse of the most revered Godman among the Alwars, Nammalwar, which describes the state of liberation and liberated consciousness, "VIDU’?⁴⁴

“A million faces wears her knowledge here

And every face is turbaned with a doubt.”

This book is a suitable textbook for beginners and a very good introduction to the study of Visishtadvaita. Swami Adidevananda’s skill, industry and scholarship are patent, while the translation, never an easy task, has been faithfully done. In some places, the translation of some Sanskrit terms or passages may be done differently. But then, such alternative suggestions can always be made by an intelligent reader, even in the works of best known authorities. It is meet that we refrain from irrelevant suggestions. The broad sympathies that Swami Adidevananda has brought to bear upon the task are quite in line with the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda tradition, and this is a creditable performance.