SrI UpakAra Sangraham Part - 30

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srI:

SrI upakAra sangraham – 30

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adikAram – 1

poorva upakAra paramparai

(The Foremost Series of Favours)

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SECTION – 5 (3)

(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for

MOKSHAM)

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SwAmi Desikan has been listing the favours, totaling

27, of the Lord one by one in order to help the jIvA

to adopt for his uplift. Many of the favours have

already been done by the Lord, many are being done,

and more are still ahead. The second favour was the

revealing of the VedA-s, which are part of the shabda

( vebal testimony). This favour was His earliest one.

The VedA-s form the shabda pramAna (verbal testimony)

the importance of which cannot be minimized. The

knowledge of Brahman cannot be acquired either through

pratyakSha (perception) or anumAna. The Veda-s alone

are the authoritative means of knowledge about

Brahman.

Since the VedA-s cannot be learnt directly, the Lord

brought out aids to learn them.

This SWAmi Desikan mention as the third favour:-

 

(3) ivaRRukku parikrngaLAna shAstra~NgaLai

sva-mukattAlum, riShi-muka~NgaLAlum uNdAkkinatuvum;

 

The Lord also granted several auxiliaries to the

VedA-s. He brought out these scriptures directly

Himself and also through riShi-s, sages. The VedA-s,

which are of the nature of vidi, arthavAda and mantra,

have six limbs, namely, Chandas, kalpa, shikSha,

nirukta, jyOtiSha and vyAkaraNa..

 

Chandas (prosody) is the treatise on metre (of

mantras) such as anushtup, trishtup etc.

Kalpa is the ritualistic science, which expounds

various rituals.

ShikSha is the science that determines proper accent

of letters.

Nirukta , philological exegetics, elucidates

etymology of difficult Vedic words.

jyOtiSha, comprises astrology and astronomy, which

fixes up the time for the

study of the Veda-a and also for sacrificial

performances prescribed in the VedA-s.

VyAkaraNa, grammar, determines the technique of

formation of words and their

accent.

 

Besides these VedAnga-s, the Lord brought out

scriptures, like smritis, through sages. These explain

conduct of individuals, rulers, religious persons

etc., usages and expiations for violation of rules.

The smruti-s are composed from memory by various

sages, such as YajnavaAlkiya, Manu etc.

 

Then came itihAsa and purAna-s as supplementaries to

the VedA-s. ItihAsa include MahAbhAratha and RAmAyana.

The PurAna-s are divided into three groups as sAtvika,

rAja and tAmasa.

Vishnu, nAradIya, BhAgavata, Garudha, Padma, and

Varaha purAna-s are called sAtvika purana-s.

BrahmAnda, Brahnavaivarta, MArkaNdeya, Bhavishya,

VAmana and Brahma purAna-s are rAjasa-purAna-s.

Matsya, Koorma, Linga, Shiva, Skanda and agni purAna-s

come under the tAmasa class.

Each purAna treats five topics: sarga (creation),

pratisarga (intermediate creation), vamsha (dynasties

), manvantara (the fourteen Manus and their periods)

and vamshAnucarita (geneology of the kings of the

solar and lunar race). Sometimes, a few more are added

such as rakshA (protection of the world by the

avatAras or incarnations), samstha (pralaya or

dissolution of the world), hetu (the cause of

creation), vrutti (modes of subsistence) and apAshray

(the refuge of Brahman). It should be noted that

barring the VishnupurANa, none of the others covers

all the five topics.

 

There eighteen mahApurANa-s and eighteen upa-purANa-s.

The authorship of all these purANa-s is attributed to

the Sage Krishna DvaipAyanaa, knowns as VedavyAsa.

However, the VishnpurANa's authorship is attributed to

the Sage, ParAsara.

 

Dharma or duty is the basic aim of purANic ethics. It

includes all the factors promoting the progress and

the well-being of the individual, the society and the

world at large.

It is emphasized in these purANa-s that the

individual, as an integral part of the society, owes a

duty to himself and to the society. Since his rise and

fall affect the society, he must try to raise himself

to the fullest stature.

 

The concept of dharma and its application is

fundamental in our system of sanAtana dharma. The

word, 'dharma' is derived from the root " dhr " , meaning

'to support', 'to sustain'. Hence the word, " dharma "

is that which supports and sustains. Later, the word

acquired more significance, as it included ordinance,

usage, duty, right, justice, morality, virtue,

religion etc.

 

The growth of the human society and the related

problems led to the need for more scriptures dealing

with various aspects. Thus came the enactment of a

number of dharma shAstras. These came under the

vedAnga of kalpa. The kalpa-sootra-s have four

sections:

1) shrauta-sootras, 2) gruhya-sootras, 3)

dharma-sootra-s and 4) shulba-sootra-s. The first and

the fourth deal with Vedic sacrifices, while, the

gruhya-sootras deal with the rites and ceremonies to

be performed by a house-holder, the dharma-sootras are

concerned with the general and social aspects of

dharma.

 

This led to appearance of a number of dharmashAstras.

The topics covered by them are: AcAra - conduct;

vyavahAra - civil and criminal law; prAyascitta -

expiation for errors of omission and commission.

The major dharma-shAstra works include dharma-sootras

and smritis. They include:

Dharmasootras, authored by the sages:

Apastamba, aushanasa, baudhAyana, gautama, hArIta,

hiraNyakeshi, vaikhAnasa, vasishta and Vishnu.

The Smritis were authored by:

Angirasa, atri, brahspati, brahta-ParAsara, dakhsa,

dEval, gObhila, kAtyAyana, Manu, nArada, parAsara,

samvarta, vyAsa, yajnavalkya and yama.

 

As the number of such works increased, it became

necessary to produce a ready-reference material,

containing abstracts, surveys and reviews of all the

matter available on the subject. This led to the

appearance of another class of works known as

" Nibandha-s " . These also have references from

material concerning dharmashAstra-s contained in the

epics, the ramAyana and the MahAbhArata.

 

These Nibandha-s include: Caturvarga-cinthAmani,

Kalpataru, NirNayasindhu, Smritikaustubha,

Smriti-tatva and Veera-mitrOdaya.

 

As the time went, these became difficult to be

understood by later generations. This situation gave

rise to commentaries on these works. These explained

the originals, expounded the various doctrines and

subtle points, besides resolving many doubts and

misgivings.

Here is a sample list of such commentaries:

1. Commentaries on the Gautama Dharmasootra-s. These

were written by Haradatta, Maskarin and AsahAya sages.

2. BhAshyas on the Manu Smriti by MedhAtithi, Kullooka

and others.

3. BAlakreeda of Vishvaroopa, MitAksharA of

Vijn~neshvara and DikpAlika of ShulapANi on the

YAjnavalkya Smriti.

4. ParAsara-mAdhavaeeya by VidyAraNya and

VidvanmanoharA of NandapaNdhita on the ParAsara

Smriti.

 

In the post-Vedic period, there arose some works which

gave wrong interpretations for Vedic concepts. The

Lord Himself had to step in to set right this trend.

Thus appeared the PAncarAtra-Agama, a treatise, on

the various aspects of conduct including worship. This

is another important favour of the Lord, because of

his infinite love towards His devotees. He taught the

science to NArada, ShANdilya and other great seers

through Sanaka and other sages.

 

Agama is one of the two great scriptures of our

dharma. It is also known as Tantra. The other is

Nigama (VedA-s) . The Agama is a sAdhanashAstra --

Science of self-realisation. It prescribes a

particular way of life and a practical course of

self-discipline in conformity with the theoretical

teachings of its philosophy.

 

The PAncarAtra-Agama is considered to be the most

sacred and authoritative, since it does not contradict

the Veda-s. Similarly is the VaikhAnasa Agama.

 

SwAmi Desikan points out that these auxiliaries of

the VedA-s were proclaimed either directly by the Lord

Himself or through the sages for the benefit of

mankind. This is another important favour conferred by

the Lord.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil SrInivAsan

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