Friday, July 19, 2019

The Vandalism of the Vrindavan of Sri Sri Vyasa Raya/Thirta

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books


The Vrindavan of Sri Sri Vyasa Tirtha, the great philosopher and author of the single most important exposition of Dwita philosophy, Tatparya Chandrika., was utterly vandalized on the night of the 15th of July. There has been a series of attacks on Sanatana Dhrama and its sacred sites but the silence regarding the destruction and desecration of saced sites associated with Hindu Dharma in the main stream Media suggests that there is a concerted and well entrenched effort to further the divide and polarise Indian society for politcal reason and I think the so called secularists are primarily responible for this sorry state of affairs. A stone thrown at a Church caused international outrage but silence surrounds the deliberate vandalism of one of the most important sacrend sites of the Madhva Faith.


The photograph on the left shows the utter vandalism of a sacred site for the Madhav Samaj and Sanatana Dharma at large. The political crisis in Karnataka with the Vokkaliga dominated JD(S) Government tottering at the brink of collapse only makes the situation a lot more serious. In India, Hindus and their sacred sites and practices have become targets of large scale attack. Starting with the assault on the sanctity of the Sabrimala Temple and more recently the order in the Richa case in which a young girl was ordered to distribute a book, the Quoran, as part of her bail conditions and the repeated attacks on festivals and celebrations of the Hindu community inWest Bengal and elsewhere demonstrate that in the name of secularism, anti Hindu ideologies are being weaponized and the destruction of the vrindavan of Vyasa Tirtha is just one example. The lack of media coverage in the mainstream press itself shows the extent to which Indian religious sentiments stand marginalized.

Vyasa Raya/Tirtha (AD 1447-1539) is one of the most prominent philosophers of the medeival period. He was closely associated with the Saluva king, Saluva Narasimha who seized the city of Vijayangra and ovethrew the Sangama Dynasty. Krishnadevara the most celebrated monarch of the Vijayanagara Empire was closely associated with Vyasa Tirtha. The fact that the General of Saluva Narsimha, Narasa Nayaka, was the father of Krishnadevaraya and after the death of Vira Naahshimha occupied the throne goes to show that Vyasa Tirtha was a player in the dynastic and court politics of the Tuluvas. That he was favoured by the Vijayanagara King cannot be in any doubt as there are incriptions recording the gifts given by the Emperor. The Tirumala Tirupathi Temple was palce under the direct supervision of Vyasa in A D 1515. Till this day there is a Vyasa Mutt in Tirumala attesting to this early association. 1524 was a particularly bad year for Krishnadevaraya. His young son Tirumala died leaving the King heirless and heartbroken. Tales of instrigue swirled around this unfortunate event and the fate of Timmappa the loyal Minister was sealed as a consequence. The Conjunction of Nine Planets which was observed all over the world left its mark on Vijayanagara in the forom of Kuhayoga. Somanatha, the poet who composed the Vyasayoga Charitam has drwan pointed attention to this event.

The vandalism of the vrindavan of Sri Sri Vyasa Tirtha is a crime and it must be investigated. The Kumaraswamy Government tried to pass of this great claamity as the work of treasure hunters. This is an absurdity as eveyone knows that nothing of "value" in am material sense is burried within a vridavan. For the Madhvas the vridavan has great scacred value in that it represents the smrithi or sacred memory of the saint. Centuries of adoration and worship of that memory has freat spiritual significane and Vyasa Tirtha aranks along side Narahari Tirtha and Jaya Tirtha as great savants of Dwaita philosophy. Madhvas all over the world are in a state of shock after hearing the vandalism of this very important site of memory,lieu de memoire.

There is a graet deal of noise in the white world about India becoming intolerant. A concerted effort is made to project the followers of Sanatana Dharma as intolerant. The destruction of the vrindavan of Sri Sri Vyasa Tirtha clearly demonstrtes that Hinsus are the victims of intolerance. The Central Government under Narendra Modi has the respobibility to arrest and punish those who did this crime. We do not have faith in the state Government.

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