Ten Ramayana Exegesis in Tenkalai Srivaisnavism
1. For more information on the divergence between the schools, see my Srivaisnava Theological Dispute: Manavalamamuni and Vedanta Desika (Madras: New Era Publications, 1988). [BACK]
2. See the list of abbreviations, above. [BACK]
3. Another doctrinal difference between the two schools hinges on the issue of whether Sri is a jiva or individual soul (the Tenkalai view), or an aspect of the Lord himself (the Vatakalai view). Although this issue might seem unrelated to the basic soteriological dispute, I submit that the Tenkalai insist on Sri's status as jiva in part so that they may continue to use the example of Sita in the Ramayana to support their soteriological doctrines. If Sita were not a dependent soul like us, then her attitude and behavior in the context of her rescue by Rama would not be a model for salvation that we could emulate. [BACK]
4. Ram . V.22.20, quoted by Manavalamamuni in SVB 82. [BACK]
5. Manavalamamuni's commentary on JS 28 quotes a Sanskrit passage he attributes to the Sanatkumara Samhita in which the analogy between prapatti and the Brahmastra is made, but I have not been able to locate this passage in available editions. [BACK]
6.
haro'pi
narpitah
kanthe
sparsasamrodhabhiruna
|
avayor
antare
jatah
parvatas
santo
drumah
||
This sloka, quoted in full by Manavalamamuni in SVB 162, is not found in current editions of Valmiki's Ramayana . [BACK]
7. It is important to note that although the Tenkalai acaryas prefer to cite the Valmiki Ramayana when possible, they are not limited to its version of events in applying their allegorical method. References to incidents from the Rama story contained in the hymns of the Alvars and Pancaratra texts, for example, are also cited. It is the Rama legend as a whole that has scriptural authority, not just Valmiki's version. [BACK]
8. John Dominic Crossan, The Dark Interval: Towards a Theology of Story (Niles, 111.: Argus Communications, 1975), 66. Subsequent references to this work are given in the text. [BACK]
9. Frank Burch Brown and Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, "Parabling as a Via Negativa : A Critical Review of the Work of John Dominic Crossan," Journal of Religion 64, no. 4 (October 1984), 537. [BACK]
10. I am indebted for this idea to Gunther Cologne, "The Parable as a Literary Genre" (M. A. thesis, Arizona State University, 1984). Cologne points out that "it is exactly the paradox of the parable, the unquieting and disturbing effect created through the reversal of the hearer's expectations, that causes him or her to search for an explanation" (22). Cologne's insight, based on his analysis of literary parables and Rabbinic mashals , certainly seems to apply to the Srivaisnava telling of Ramayana incidents. Furthermore, it can help reinstate the structural and functional connection between parable and allegory which Crossan et al. have artificially severed. [BACK]