Telugu history

[DEVARAKONDA VENKATA NARAYANA SARMA]

At 07:33 AM 5/1/98 -0600, you wrote:

>"From the 13th century on, the commentators debate endlessly the
>relative virtues of Sanskrit and Tamil as religious languages.
>For a list of pros and cons, see K. K. A. Venkatachari,
>The maNipravAla literature of the zrIvaiSNava aacaaryas, 12th
>to 15th centuries, AD. p. 25-27. One story about the tension
>in this dual heritage is poignant: VaGkIpurattu
>Nampi, a disciple of Ramanuja, was found praying to Vishnu
>standing among cowherd women.
>A disciple accosted him:
>'Why do you stand among these illiterate women instead of
>among Vaishnava bhaktas?'.
>Nampi answered:
>'Lord's grace flows over these illiterate cowherds as
>water flows from a higher to a lower level'.
>The disciple asked:
>'How did they pray? How did your grace pray?'
>Nampi said:
>'They prayed to the Lord in pure Tamil. They said
>- Please drink this milk, eat thais fruit. Live a hundred years.
>Wear this silk uppercloth -. I prayed in Sanskrit:
>Be victorious, be victorious'.
>The other man finally said:
>'You couldn't forget your rough-sounding Sanskrit even
>among the cowherds. It looks as if we, the brahmins,
>will be the same wherever we are".
>
>
> Yours,
> N. Ganesan

Dear Mr.N.Ganesan,
                        This is the limit I think. Do you really believe
that God prefers Tamil to Sanskrit or for that matter any other language?
Let not chauvinism deteriorate to arrogance.The moral of the story is
that God prefers sincerity and simplicity to sophistication and arrogance
of learning. Not that Tamil is the preferred language of Gods. Tamil
arrogance is equally abhorring to God as is Sanskrit arrogance. Do you
realise such postings can be annoying to list members?

                        You quoted somebody to say that Sanskrit is a rough
language. Do you know the name by which your language is known in Andhra?
It is called "Aravam" , a voiceless language. This word is current
in Andhra and it is in usage even before I was born. What
sounds as sweet to some people sounds as harsh or listless to other
people. Do show some consideration for the feelings of other people on the
list.

regards,

sarma.