SV: creation of human kind

[N. Ganesan]

 Many thanks, Mani for checking the Parthasarathy mUlavigraha,
 vimAna and Naalaayiram.

 In Alvar Paasurams, a study can be made to count various puraaNa
 motifs. The ratio of Krishna teaching Arjuna compared to
 (say) Prahlada story will be zero. In one or two places out
 of a total 4000 poems, Krishna as Arjuna's charioteer occurs
 in Naalaayira divya prabandham which you have provided from
 Tiruvallikkeni pAsurams.

 It is SIGNIFICANT that Arjuna is NOT present in the garbha
 grha of Parthasarathy temple whereas Krishna is present with
 his entire family much like Head of a Hindu joint family.
 What a difference with the scene in the Church, a
 lay Christian confessing to the Bishop/Father on a Sunday!

 Krishna in the garbha grha with only the Conch shell signifies
 the Call for battle, his aiding of Pandavas.
 We daily sing :"aDiyAmODum ninnODum ...
 paDai pOr pukku muzangum ap pAnjacannyamum pallaaNDE!".

 What date is the vimana of Parthasarathy temple? May be
 post 10th century (post-sankara) or is there a reconstruction Nayak
 or British period? vimana is brick and mortar and
 inscriptions on granite walls of Parthasarathy temple
 will give a clue. The earliest dates of
 inscriptions on the garbagrha walls?? Have to check
 T. V. Mahalingam, Inscripions of the Pallavas, ASI

 The contemporary papiermache or glittery aluminum alloy
 giitopadesha handicrafts are a direct result of semiticization
 of Hinduism. Krishna advising Arjuna - an individualistic
 counselunknown to Hinduism. Like Mr. Aditya Mishra saying  that
 Westerners liked Gita so much because they can identify with it
 more than any other Hindu text; we just followed suit.
 I posted A. C. Soper's theory on Bodhisattva Maitreya.
 May be Gita-Krishna in MBh has certain relations to Maitreya.
 Both are from the same period.

 In Alvars' zrIvaiSNava world, Gita played little role
 if any.

 Deeply appreciate any references on early Gita sculptures
 in India and references on relations between Buddhism and
 Bhagavad Gita.

 Regards
 N. Ganesan



NG> But nowhere they tell that Krishna told Giitaa or Vaarttai
NG> to Arjuna in Naalaayiram. That is significant given
NG> the importance of Gita in Sanskrit tradition.

<<<
While it is true that the three words "Arjuna", "Krishna",
and "spoke" do not occur together anywhere in the Divya Prabandham,
I cannot think of any reason why the Alvars would mention
Krishna's standing in front of Arjuna's chariot other than
to celebrate the Gita.

Regarding the Tiruvallikkeni (Triplicane) Parthasarathy temple:
Arjuna is not represented in the sannidhi; the mUla-bEra,
known as Venkatakrishna, is present there with
his entire family.  Rukmini, Balarama, Satyaki (considered
Krishna's younger brother), Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are all
present.  But this main image clearly represents
Krishna in his role as Arjuna's charioteer; Krishna is _not_
shown with all his weapons, nor even with four hands,
highly unusual for an image of Vishnu.  In Tiruvallikkeni,
he only has his conch, the absence of other weapons reflecting
his promise not to fight while driving the chariot.

[ For an image of this deity, see

  http://www.best.com/~mani/img/sarathymoolavar.jpg ]

In addition, on the vimAna (the gOpura above the garbha gRha),
there is a very clear sculpture of the Gitopadesa.  Given that
this is the vimAna gOpura, it is apparently of great antiquity.
>>>





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