Guest guest Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 I was just taking to my mom and she was telling me that in the Malayalam daily Mathrubhoomi, there was a letter from Amma( or a news article about Amma, not sure), where Amma is quoted as saying that the arrest of the Shankaracharya was a very unfortunate... etc etc; the letter just stopped short of telling directly that the Shankaracharya is innocent, but hinted at this Considering that Amma is the head of another important and influential Math, She may not have wanted to get into any political controversies by making a direct statement. This is very unfortunate and rumour has it that there are plans to confiscate/takeover the properties of the Math(reputed to be at 2Billion dollars)... this will probably be my last topic on this subject; those interested in reading more may go to www.hindu.com. -yogaman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 this will probably be my last > topic on this > subject; those interested in reading more may go to > www.hindu.com. > I think we should drop this thread, or at least dial it down. IMHO the Shankaracharya was busted on some flimsy politically-motivated trumped-up charges that should be thrown out of court if the judge hasn't been bought off. Nonetheless it it a matter for the Indian legal system, and I would presume that "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law" is as much a part of the legal system in India as in North America. I wonder if the Amritapuri residents, including those brahmacharis who spent the day playing cricket on the beach, were taking part in the "hartal" (general strike) throughout Kerala to protest the arrest. http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13610748 Keval Meet the all-new My - Try it today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 I am just bit confused who is this Shankaracharya ? and why the arrest ? Namaste , Joanna P --- childofdevi <childofdevi wrote: > > > I was just taking to my mom and she was telling me > that in the > Malayalam daily Mathrubhoomi, there was a letter > from Amma( or a news > article about Amma, not sure), where Amma is quoted > as saying that > the arrest of the Shankaracharya was a very > unfortunate... etc etc; > the letter just stopped short of telling directly > that the > Shankaracharya is innocent, but hinted at this > > Considering that Amma is the head of another > important and > influential Math, She may not have wanted to get > into any political > controversies by making a direct statement. > > This is very unfortunate and rumour has it that > there are plans to > confiscate/takeover the properties of the > Math(reputed to be at > 2Billion dollars)... this will probably be my last > topic on this > subject; those interested in reading more may go to > www.hindu.com. > > -yogaman > > > > Meet the all-new My - Try it today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 I have a friend named Dana Sawyer, who is a professor at the Maine College of Art, and is considered by many to be the foremost Western authority on matters involving the Shankaracharyas. He has interviewed all of them in his annual trips to India over the last two decades, as well as interviewing hundreds of swamis, yogis, etc. in the course of his duties as an academician. He speaks fluent Hindi and is quite proficient in Sanskrit as well. There has been considerable discussion of this issue at FairfieldLife/. Dana is not a member there, but I have forwarded some posts by other members to Dana for his comments, most notably those of Ben Collins of http://puja.net (himself very knowledgeable of Indian affairs). The following comments preceded by >> are from Ben. The rest are Dana's responses. Just time for one quick comment here. > Two Dravidian parties are now united against Hindutva >> says NDTV channel. That is true, to my knowledge, but an unstated other truth is that the Hindutva faction that the Shankaracarya leads is also untied against them. > And Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati >> represents Hindutva forces of Brahmins against which >> Tamilnadu politicians must unite for their political >> reasons, says NDTV. exactly. > >> The stranger part of the entire episode is that leaving >> the criminals directly involved in the murder who also >> surrendered , why has Shankaracharya alone been arrested >> and not anyone else of the mutt. He gives the orders and makes things happen. He's the royal potentate. If a decision was made at Kanchi, he made it. > >> Having decided to launch into missionary activities, His substantial political activities - giving speeches, endorsing candidates, using money from the math to forward political positions - are what have gotten him into trouble, not his "missionary" activities. Jayendra is a religious zealot forwarding Hindutva and nobody argues otherwise. > >> becoming prominent and eclipsing all others in India in the >> last decade Jayendra Saraswati had his critics and rivals >> everywhere. and arguably with reason. The previous acarya was a very pious man, a saint in the traditional Hindu sense. For example, as a dandi he took very seriously his vow not to ride in any form of conveyance - even a bicycle. When he went out on yatra he would walk behind a wagon that he himself often pushed, even in old age, containing the items he needed to sustain himself. These days, his successor has himself driven around in a big groovy yellow van (with a kitschy fake tiger-skin covered dashboard!). He justifies this breaking of his vows by saying that he has important work that can't be accomplished if he doesn't use a car, but most of this "work" is political and common knowledge. He may have been framed in this particular case but it is because he works to alienate non-Hindus and to dissolve the church/ state boundry. cheers, Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2004 Report Share Posted November 22, 2004 > His substantial political activities - giving speeches, endorsing > candidates, using money from the math to forward political positions - are > what have gotten him into trouble, not his "missionary" activities. > Jayendra is a religious zealot forwarding Hindutva and nobody argues > otherwise. > > > >> becoming prominent and eclipsing all others in India in the > >> last decade Jayendra Saraswati had his critics and rivals > >> everywhere. > > and arguably with reason. The previous acarya was a very pious man, a > saint in the traditional Hindu sense. For example, as a dandi he took > very seriously his vow not to ride in any form of conveyance - even a > bicycle. When he went out on yatra he would walk behind a wagon that he > himself often pushed, even in old age, containing the items he needed to > sustain himself. These days, his successor has himself driven around in > a big groovy yellow van (with a kitschy fake tiger-skin covered > dashboard!). He justifies this breaking of his vows by saying that he has > important work that can't be accomplished if he doesn't use a car, but > most of this "work" is political and common knowledge. He may have been > framed in this particular case but it is because he works to alienate > non-Hindus and to dissolve the church/ state boundry. > Rick: Please request Dana to get his facts correct; many of his comments about the late Periavaal are just plain wrong (I know because Periaval used to camp at my neighbours' home in TVM, when he came there). Periavaal was a great saint no doubt, even our Amma has spoken so highly of him ( go to kamakoti.org, search for Ammachi). I wont even respond to his other opinions, which he disguises for "facts". -yogaman ps. I have no affiliation with the Kanchi Math and am indifferent to it; But the manner in which incident has gone about is horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 on 11/22/04 6:55 PM, childofdevi at childofdevi wrote: > > Rick: > > Please request Dana to get his facts correct; many of his comments > about the late Periavaal are just plain wrong (I know because > Periaval used to camp at my neighbours' home in TVM, when he came > there). Periavaal was a great saint no doubt, even our Amma has > spoken so highly of him ( go to kamakoti.org, search for Ammachi). > I wont even respond to his other opinions, which he disguises > for "facts". > > -yogaman > > ps. I have no affiliation with the Kanchi Math and am indifferent to > it; But the manner in which incident has gone about is horrible. Rick, I don't know why yogaman is so defensive. I stated at the end of my comment that I'm not accusing Jayendra of anything other than the fact that he has a high profile involvement in politics. I haven't said that "I know" he's involved in the murder. I don't. I was simply pointing out why Jayendra draws heat from opponents. Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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