नित्यसंस्कृतम्

कदा -  प्रतिदिनं ९ - ९.३० वादने रात्रौ (भारतीयकालगणनानुसारम्)  

             [1942 शकवर्षस्य वैकुण्ठैकादशीदिनादारभ्य]

उद्देश्यम् -  संस्कृतभाषाप्रयोगकौशलवर्धनम्

सरणिः - 

१) विष्णुपुराणगतं समुद्रमन्थनोपाख्यानम् (आनन्दः)

२) अभिनवशुकसारिका - आमुखम् + प्रथमा कथा (शुभा)

३) क्षेमकुतूहलस्यानुक्रमणिका (आनन्दः)

४) संस्कृते सङ्ख्याव्यवहारः (चन्द्रशेखरः)

५) यदुमहाराजः (प्रणेता - डा विश्वासः) (आनन्दः) 

६) क्षेमकुतूहलम् - प्रथमाध्यायः (आनन्दः)

७) अभिनवशुकसारिका - द्वितीया कथा + तृतीया कथा (शुभा)

८)  पर्वसङ्ग्रहपर्व (आदिपर्वणि) + गान्धार्युपदेशपर्व (उद्योगपर्वणि) (आनन्दः)

९)  एकलव्योपाख्यानम् {१३१, १३२ अध्यायौ गीताप्रेस्-संस्करणात्} (शुभा, आनन्दः) [२५/०३/२०२१ दिने सामापितम्]

१०) विकीर्णाः विकिपीडियालेखाः (सौरव्यूहः, सूर्यः, विद्युदणुः , भारतीयान्तरिक्षानुसन्धानसंस्था) + बृहत्संहितायाः भूकम्पलक्षणाध्यायसम्बद्धः सम्भाषणसन्देशलेखः (आनन्दः)

११) रामोपाख्यानम् (महाभारते वनपर्वणि)

१२) सुश्रुतसंहिता (चत्वारः अध्यायाः) + डल्हणभाष्यं किञ्चित्

१३) विराटपर्व (पाण्डवप्रवेशपर्व - १२ अध्यायाः) १२/०९/२०२१ दिने समापितम्

१४) योगवासिष्ठम्

१५) रघुवंशात् द्वादशसर्गः  (चित्तूरुसभापुस्तकात्) ९ / १२ / २०२१ दिने समापितम्

१६) महाभारते सभापर्वणि अर्घाभिहरणपर्व आरब्धम्  (९ / १२ / २०२१ दिने ) (~ ५ मासाः)

१७) रामायणे तृतीयः सर्गः (व्याख्यानत्रयोपेतम्) 

१८) चारुदेवशास्त्रिणः प्रस्तावतरङ्गिणी (शङ्कराचार्यः) 

१९) स्त्रीप्रत्ययपरिचयः

२०) प्रस्तावतरङ्गिण्याः प्रस्तावस्वरूपं तत्प्रभेदाश्च  

२१) प्रस्तावतरङ्गिण्याः लघुप्रस्तावाः केचन

२२) रघुवंशे प्रथमसर्गः (९५ पद्यानि)

२३) रघुवंशप्रथमसर्गस्य पुनरावृत्तिः 

२४) कथासरित्सागरे प्रथमतरङ्गः (६६ पद्यानि)

२५) रघुवंशप्रथमसर्गसारपठनम्

२६) रघुवंशे द्वितीयसर्गः

If You Could Only Be You (Award Winning LGBT Short Film)

Nicely brings out the mental struggle of gay men in a heteronormative society.

विधिः उत पौरुषम् (संस्कृतगङ्गासम्मेलने वादमण्डपम्)

 प्रथमभागः  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDTBV9nhAZA
 द्वितीयभागः - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPopghslkUQ
 तृतीयभागः - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tryLsimfc

महाभारतस्य पर्वोपपर्वाणि श्लोकसङ्ख्याश्च

अष्टादश पर्वाणि शतम् उपपर्वाणि च महाभारते विद्यन्ते ।  यद्यपि कुरुपाण्डवयुद्धं महाभारते गर्भीकृतः विषयः इति अङ्गीक्रियते तथापि सागरोपमस्यास्य ग्रन्थस्य गभीरता अननुमेया । 

   श्लोकसङ्ख्याः पर्वोपपर्वणां नामानि च कुम्भकोणसंस्करणाधारेण  प्रदर्शितम् । 

१) आदिपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि -19 , अध्यायाः - 260, श्लोकाः -10,889)

 उपपर्वाणि - 1) अनुक्रमणिकापर्व 2) पर्वसङ्ग्रहपर्व 3) पौष्यपर्व 4) पौलोमपर्व 5) आस्तीकपर्व 

6) अंशावतरणपर्व 7) सम्भवपर्व 8) जतुगृहपर्व 9) हिडिम्बवधपर्व 10) बकवधपर्व 11) चैत्ररथपर्व12) स्वयंवरपर्व 13) वैवाहिकपर्व 14) विदुरागमनराज्यलाभपर्व 15) अर्जुनवनवासपर्व 16) सुभद्राहरणपर्व 17) हरणाहरणपर्व 18) खाण्डवदाहपर्व 19) मयदर्शनपर्व

२) सभापर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 8 , अध्यायाः - 103, श्लोकाः - 4367)

20) मन्त्रपर्व 21) जरासन्धवधपर्व 22) दिग्विजयपर्व 23) राजसूयपर्व 24) अर्घाहरणपर्व 

25) शिशुपालवधपर्व 26) द्यूतपर्व 27) अनुद्यूतपर्व

३) वनपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 21, अध्यायाः - 315 , श्लोकाः -  12476)

28) किर्मीरवधपर्व 29) अर्जुनाभिगमनपर्व 30) कैरातपर्व 31) इन्द्रलोकाभिगमनपर्व 32) नलोपाख्यानपर्व 33) तीर्थयात्रापर्व 34) जटासुरवधपर्व 35) यक्षयुद्धपर्व 36) निवातकवचयुद्धपर्व 37) आजगरपर्व 38) मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्व 39) द्रौपदीसत्यभामासंवादपर्व 40) घोषयात्रापर्व 41) मृगस्वप्नोद्भवपर्व 42) व्रीहिद्रौणिकपर्व 43) द्रौपदीहरणपर्व 44) जयद्रथविमोक्षणपर्व 45) रामोपाख्यानपर्व 46) पतिव्रतामाहात्म्यपर्व 47) कुण्डलाहरणपर्व 48) आरणेयपर्व

४) विराटपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि -  5, अध्यायाः - 78, श्लोकाः - 3494)

49) पाण्डवप्रवेशपर्व 50) समयपालनपर्व 51) कीचकवधपर्व 52) गोग्रहणपर्व 53) वैवाहिकपर्व

५) उद्योगपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 10, अध्यायाः - 196 , श्लोकाः - 6753)

54) सेनोद्योगपर्व 55) सञ्जययानपर्व 56) प्रजागरपर्व 57) सनत्सुजातपर्व 58) यानसन्धिपर्व  59) भगवद्यानपर्व 60) सैन्यनिर्याणपर्व 61) उलूकदूतागमनपर्व 62) रथातिरथसङ्ख्यानपर्व 63) अम्बोपाख्यानपर्व

६) भीष्मपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 4, अध्यायाः - 122, श्लोकाः - 5809)

64) जम्बूखण्डनिर्माणपर्व 65) भूमिपर्व 66) भगवद्गीतापर्व 67) भीष्मवधपर्व

७) द्रोणपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 8 , अध्यायाः -  203, श्लोकाः - 10012)

68)  द्रोणाभिषेकपर्व 69) सशप्तकवधपर्व 70) अभिमन्युवधपर्व 71) प्रतिज्ञापर्व 72) जयद्रथवधपर्व 

73) घटोत्कचवधपर्व 74) द्रोणवधपर्व 75) नारायणास्त्रमोक्षपर्व

८) कर्णपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि -1 , अध्यायाः - 101, श्लोकाः - 4975)

76) कर्णपर्व

९) शल्यपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि -3 , अध्यायाः -66 , श्लोकाः - 3594)

77) शल्यवधपर्व 78) ह्रदप्रवेशपर्व 79) गदायुद्धपर्व

१०) सौप्तिकपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 2, अध्यायाः -18 , श्लोकाः - 815)

80) सौप्तिकपर्व 81) ऐषिकपर्व

११) स्त्रीपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 3, अध्यायाः - 27, श्लोकाः - 807)

82) जलप्रदानिकपर्व 83) स्त्रीविलापपर्व 84) श्राद्धपर्व

१२) शान्तिपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 3, अध्यायाः -375 , श्लोकाः - 15151)

85) राजधर्मपर्व 86) आपद्धर्मपर्व 87) मोक्षधर्मपर्व

१३) अनुशासनपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 2, अध्यायाः - 274, श्लोकाः - 11194)

88) दानधर्मपर्व 89) भीष्मस्वर्गारोहणपर्व

१४) आश्वमेधिकपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 3, अध्यायाः - 118, श्लोकाः -4555 )

90) अश्वमेधपर्व 91) अनुगीतापर्व 92) वैष्णवधर्मपर्व

१५) आश्रमवासिकपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 3, अध्यायाः - 41, श्लोकाः - 1098)

93) आश्रमवासपर्व 94) पुत्रदर्शनपर्व 95) नारदागमनपर्व

१६) मौसलपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि -1 , अध्यायाः -9 , श्लोकाः - 301)

96) मौसलपर्व

१७) महाप्रस्थानिकपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 1 , अध्यायाः - 3, श्लोकाः - 111)

97) महाप्रस्थानिकपर्व

१८) स्वर्गारोहणपर्व (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 1, अध्यायाः -5 , श्लोकाः -232 )

98) स्वर्गारोहणपर्व

हरिवंशम् (खिलभागः) (अवान्तरपर्वाणि - 3)

99) हरिवंशपर्व 100) विष्णुपर्व 101) भविष्यपर्व

हरिवंशं विहाय ९८ अवान्तरपर्वाणि , २३१२ अध्यायाः, ९६६४५ श्लोकाश्च

मा निषाद प्रतिष्ठां ……

मा निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः । 

यत्क्रौञ्चमिथुनादेकमवधीः  काममोहितम् ।। (वा ० रा ० १.२.१५)

आदिकाव्ये वाल्मीकिरामायणे अयं श्लोकः रामायणरचनाहेतुत्वेन लोकविश्रुतः ।  उत्तररामचरिते अयं श्लोकः आत्रेयीवचसा उल्लिखितः कविना भवभूतिना । उत्तररामचरितस्य रमाकान्तत्रिपाठीवर्येण कृतात् रमाख्यव्याख्यानात् अस्य श्लोकस्य व्याख्यानभागः सहृदयानामुपयोगाय यथातथम् अत्र स्थाप्यते । 

हे निषाद = व्याध ! त्वं शाश्वतीः समाः = त्वम् अनन्तवर्षाणि, प्रतिष्ठां = स्थितिम् (शान्तिं), मा अगमः = न प्राप्नुहि । यत् = यतः , क्रौञ्चमिथुनात् = क्रौञ्चपक्षिद्वन्द्वात्, काममोहितं = कामसक्तचेतसम्, एकं = पुमांसम्, अवधीः = हतवानसि । 

यद्वा - श्लोकोऽयं रामायणस्य बीजभूतत्वेन व्याख्यायते । तथाहि

(१) मा लक्ष्मीः निषीदति अस्मिन्निति घञ् । मा निषाद ! लक्षीपते ! राम ! भगवतः रामस्य विष्णोरंशभूतत्वात् सीतायाश्च लक्ष्मीरूपत्वादिति भावः । यत् यस्मात् त्वं क्रौञ्चमिथुनात् मन्दोदरीरावणरूपात् राक्षसद्वन्द्वात् काममोहितम् एकं रावणम् अवधीः हतवानसि, तस्मात् शाश्वतीः समाः वत्सरान् यावत्संसारमिति भावः, प्रतिष्ठां नित्यसुखाभिव्यक्तिसमयाखण्डानन्दमित्यर्थः, अगमः = लभस्व । 

अथवा …

(२) हे अनिषाद ! निषादसदृश ! क्रौञ्चमिथुनादिति सङ्केतेन तारावालिनोः सूचना । भ्रातृपत्न्यां रुमायां रममाणत्वात् तस्य काममोहितत्वं वेदितव्यम् । 

अपरञ्च …

(३) नितरां सादयति ध्वंसयति लोकानिति निषादः रावणः, तत्सम्बुद्धौ हे निषाद ! रावण ! यत् यस्मात् त्वं क्रौञ्चमिथुनात् अल्पीभावार्थात् क्रुञ्चतेः पचाद्यचि क्रुञ्चः ततः स्वार्थे अण् प्रत्ययेन क्रौञ्चः इति सिद्धः, तयोर्मिथुनं तस्मात् राज्यक्षयवनवासादिदुःखेन परं कार्श्यं गतात् स्त्रीपुंसयुगलात् सीतारामरूपादित्यर्थः, एकं काममोहितं पतिरतं स्त्रीजनं सीतामित्यर्थः, अवधीः हरणादिना वधतुल्यमतिघोरदुःखं प्रापितवानसि, तस्मात् त्वं शाश्वतीः समाः प्रतिष्ठां स्वस्त्रीसाहित्येनेहलोकस्थितिमित्यर्थः, मा अगमः मा प्राप्नुहि, अचिरेण स्त्रिया वियुज्य म्रियस्वेति काव्यार्थः सूचितः । यथा भगवान् रामभद्रः त्वया सीताविरहितः कृतः, सा च सती रामं विना कृता, तथा त्वमपि स्वभार्यया विरहितो भव, सा च त्वया विरहिता चिरं वियोगशोकार्त्ता भूयादिति तु निर्गलितार्थः । 

अत्र करुणो रसः, आलम्बनविभावः क्रौञ्चः, तस्य च निषादकृतवधः उद्दीपनविभावः, महर्षेराक्रन्दितञ्च अनुभावः, विषादचिन्तादयश्च व्यभिचारिणः, एतैश्चायं रसः परिपोषत्वमगात् इति । तथा हि ध्वनिकारः -

   'काव्यस्यात्मा स एवार्थस्तथा चादिकवेः पुरा । 

   क्रौञ्चद्वन्द्ववियोगोत्थः शोकः श्लोकत्वमागतः ।। '

Some artwork from the last couple of years

Since 2013 was an empty slot in my blog , which has been inactive for more than one and a half years now, I thought I will post the Halloween pumpkin carving and the Deepavali Rangolis I made for the years 2012 and 2013 as part of the events at Intel, Hillsboro (JF campus to be more precise)

2012

Pumpkin Carving  (This is the only thing I like about Halloween , which otherwise I believe is full of Tamogunam) . The idea was from the internet but I entirely drew it (without tracing sheet etc) and adapted it to the size of the pumpkin I had.

Rangoli  (Could not get a better picture of this)
I made this using the locally available flowers

2013

Pumpkin Carving

This time I tried a theme with more intricate details. I think I could have done better with some proper tools.
The only implement I used to carve the following pumpkin is a sharp paper cutter.
The theme is Chinese Dragon and the phoenix. This motif has a lot of depth to it in Chinese thought.

 The thickness of the pumpkin was large enough to block any light coming from inside (even when I attempted to illuminate it).


Rangoli (a traditional design on a 2 feet by 2 feet chart paper)

My journey to Sri Vaishnavism - Part 2 (End of the beginning)

(Pardon the poor formatting of the essay.)

The traditional idea of unalloyed devotion to one's Guru and the modern argument of non necessity of a Guru are two extreme positions and most of the spiritual seekers of Sanathana Dharma fall somewhere in between. This premise needs to be investigated as this sets the further course of actions. Some important philosophers/Acharyas of Bharata were intellectual rebels. The Most famous one is Acharya Ramanuja who had many differences of opinion with Yadava Prakasha regarding Vedanta interpretation. Similarly Madhvacharya could not agree with his Guru Achyutapreksha's teachings in many places. Another lesser known example was Bellamkonda Ramaraya who became an Advaitin though born and brought up in a Sri Vaishnava family and his Guru was a Visishtadvaitin. There are other such examples. The question is Should we really blindly follow what the Guru says?

The short answer to this is No.  We know from modern fake Guru history that the premise of blind acceptance is outright wrong. People like Nityananda, Kalki Bhagavan, David Bruce Hughes(Dasanudas Babaji) and so many Gurus of ISKCON in the past  and innumerable others have been exposed as fakes and they inflicted a lot more pain in their "disciples" due to blind allegience. However, the issue need not be as serious as sexual transgression to establish this point. Intellectually too, it is equally valid.

Here is where the three important factors, Shastra(scripture), Acharya/lineage(Spiritual Guide)  and Vichara (self investigation) come into picture. If the Guru teaches us something, then it must be present in the shastras as well as stand up to your own reasoning and convictions. If it does not appeal to your intellect, alternate paths need to be explored.

Another important point that is also over-emphasized over the above factors is following the practices of family elders and ancestors. Unequal emphasis on any one of all these factors results in serious confusion.   An elderly person confidently asserted that Morning Sandhyopasanam need not be preceded by snanam(bath). They also maintained that only for the madhyahnika sandhya a bath is required. I found this ridiculous as I knew that only during emergencies one is allowed  to do mantrasnanam  and at all other times bathing is a MUST. However, this person was arguing for his case based on the practice of another 'elder' whom he had observed. He was convinced that a snanam was indeed required for the paratah sandhya only after I showed him the instruction in a book on Sandhya. 

The foregoing issue was an important factor in my decisions because two very important advaitins figure in my family tree. One is the famous Appaya Dikshita who is the brother of Achan Dikshita, my direct 13th ancestor. Swami Sivananda, famous for his Divine life society, is the younger brother of my great grandfather. If I ask a Vaishnava acharya whether following the elders of my family is the prime duty, then they cannot give me an answer that convinces their ideology as well as their viewpoint on family tradition.

Thus we also need to study the scriptures on our own and clarify the doubts with different

teachers. Moreover, the repetition of 'follow elders' advice is not going to help us until we are

convinced about the basis of all the practices.

The elective

During my seventh semester at BITS, Pilani I had to opt for three elective courses to complete the coursework. This gave me an opportunity to select 'Shankara's thoughts' as one of them. The course was based on Vivekachudamani (Crest jewel of wisdom) , a work by Adi Shankara outlining Advaita philosophy. I remember being more enthusiastic about this course rather than electronics electives. 

The professor explained creation as follows: 
Consider the following image:

The whole circle is Brahman, which is attributeless and the only entity. It is jnanamaya (or exists as knowledge itself). However, we have to explain the diversity we see in the world. Also, the Vedas say that Brahmam at the beginning of creation said to itself "Let me become many" . One fourth of brahman becomes Maya and obscures the rest of it and hence appears as the diverse name and form that we see in the world. 

Then he went on further to explain the related concepts like anirvachaniya (inexplicability) of maya and pancha kosham, nature of mind etc. The introduction of Maya rekindled a lot of doubts that I had already. Brahman is first of all indivisible. How can it be divided like stated above. If it is said that Maya is a separate entity, then the fact of only one reality is contradicted. Also, how can we explain the fact that Brahman which is the eternal knower, full of knowledge be obscured by Maya? However I did not discuss this deeply at that time with the teacher as I thought that some more learning will clear this up. I also assumed that these doubts are somewhat like the doubts we have regarding our epics and Puranas where many events seemingly unethical have some hidden reasons behind them. Later on I would find out that these questions cannot be answered satisfactorily with Kevaladvaita interpretation of Vedanta.

I went on to do a project on Dakshinamurthy stotram, which is allegedly composed by Adi Shankara. However, there is no doubt that it is a very well structured stotram giving the salient features of Advaita philosophy. While referring works on Advaita for this project, I got hold of 'Advaita Vedanta. Edited by R. BALASUBRAMANIAN. History of Science, Philosophy, and Culture in. Indian Civilization, vol. II, part 2' .

It is really a commendable project. The volume on Advaita Vedanta was very extensive in its coverage. It even briefly surveyed vernacular literature of advaita, which we often never hear about. While discussing  the concept of abheda or non-difference and mithyatva or illusoriness of the world, which are central to advaita,  Vyasatirtha's objections(in Nyayamruta) on these issues were discussed. These objections were answered by Madusudhana Saraswati in his advaita Siddhi. These in turn faced a rebuttal in Tarangini by Ramacharya. (Vyasatirtha and Ramacharya belong to the Dvaita lineage of Madhvacharya). I highlighted all these issues briefly during my project presentation. However, my professor was not really into comparitive Vedanta. He assumed the truth of advaita and hence I could not get meaningful solutions to these problems. 

I used to have long hours of discussion on this topic with my friend Dushyanth Sridhar who consistently supported Visishtadvaita. While I had doubts regarding advaita, I was still undecided.

As regards to Vishnu paratvam, the way was easier.

Vedic Scriptures - the way

शास्त्रयोनित्वात्

                - ब्रह्मसूत्रम् (१.१.३ )

   (That the Brahman is the cause of creation etc follows altogether from the vedic scriptures)

  The Brahmasutram is a work comprising of 545 short aphorisms by Rishi Badarayana. It talks about the goal(Brahman), the means to attain the goal and also defends vedanta from other schools of thought. It begins all this by harmonizing various seemingly contradicting vedic passages to give a coherent view.

This particular sutra (aphorism) stated above is one of the most important sutras of the text. This is because it reveals the epistemology of spiritual journey in a nutshell. Epistemology or the science of knowing is extremely crucial to any endeavor. We cannot know Brahman by either sense perception (pratyaksha) or inference (anumana) simply because Brahman is a non-material tattva (or entity) that is beyond the gross or the subtle senses. The only way to understand this Supersoul (Paramatma) is by experiencing it with atman or the individual soul, which is also non-material. Since, this is not easy for all the atmans, it is revealed as shastra through the atmans that are capable of this cognition. They are the Rishis and they give us the Vedas, which is apaurusheya (not created by anyone including God) and ananta (unlimited by space or time). Using any other method such as logic, guesswork, experiments etc is futile since all of these ultimately fall under the first two categories of knowing mentioned above.

Other important works called smriti, itihasa and puranas also appeared with the view of 

explaining the purport of Vedas. Those works in these categories which are in tune with the 

message of the Vedas are also considered as a pramana (or a valid means of knowledge)

Lord Krishna to the rescue

I decided that I must take the matter into my hands (but ultimately the Paramatma was of course responsible for shedding light on himself in my mind) and do a small analysis of Bhagavad Gita (accepted by Advaitins too) to see if there is any clue to the issue of Paratvam.(Upanishads and Brahmasutra were not that easily accessible in terms of interpretation). As the azhwars have stated, the floating opinions regarding this issue are that All the three deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are equal (or) Vishnu is supreme (or) Shiva is Supreme (or) There is a higher nirguna sadashiva who is the creator of all the three (or) Shakthi is the origin of all the three etc. 

The first verse that caught my attention is the Charama slokam.

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja

ahaḿ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ (18.66)

Here, Krishna specifically says that one has to surrender to him only and not anyone else. This indicates that he recognizes difference/ gradation.

This is actually confirmed by him in verse 2.12

na tvevāhaḿ jātu nāsaḿ na tvaḿ neme janādhipāḥ

na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayam ataḥ param

(Certainly never at any time did I not exist, nor you nor all these kings and certainly never shall we cease to exist in the future)

He posits an eternal difference between himself and other Jivas here. It definitely means that difference is real. This verse has generated a lot of controversy among the advaitins and other schools and Swami Vedanta desikan dedicates four pages to explain the absurdity of the advaitic position with respect to this verse in his tatparya chandrika, which is a commentary on Ramanuja's Gita Bhashyam. 

It is further illuminating to study the verses where he talks about worshipping the Gods.

ye 'py anya-devatā-bhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ

te 'pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam   (9.23)

(Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunti, but they do so in a wrong way.)

ahaḿ hi sarva-yajñānāḿ bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca

na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenātaś cyavanti te (9.24)

(I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Therefore, those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.)

kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ

taḿ taḿ niyamam āsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā (7.20) 

(Those deprived of discrimination by various desires impelled by their particular nature surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.)

antavat tu phalaḿ teṣāḿ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām

devān deva-yajo yānti mad-bhaktā yānti mām api (7.23)

(The result of those of insufficient understanding is temporary. The votaries of the demigods obtain the demigod but my devotees attain me)

Now, the above slokams show us that there can be no clearer scripture than the Bhagavad Gita. I came to realise that Krishna who is non different from Sriman Narayana (he shows his four armed form after the vishwa roopa darshanam in Chapter 11) is the Supreme Lord and there is none greater OR EQUAL to him.

Any other interpretation is simply wrong and has to be forced upon it. This is because there is nothing in the rest of the Gita to overrule the above verses. It is so consistent. 

This certainly gels well with the first of 6 short sentences conveyed by Lord Varadaraja of Kanchi to Kanchi purna.

 "Ahameva paramtattvam" (Only I am the Supreme entity/Paramatma).

Note: Here it does not mean that Lord Krishna condemns worship of other deities. What he simply says is that it is lower rung in the ladder and is temporary. It cannot give us liberation. This sense is conveyed because he mentions in other verses that he himself makes every one of these devotions stronger and finally gives the desired fruit of this worship too. Hence, taking the extreme positions of either condemning everyone else to hell or equating Krishna with other Gods will not help in the true understanding of Gita.

Fancy interpreters of the Gita want us to somehow believe that by all these verses too, he talks about total equality of all deities. This is a view not supported by most of the traditional interpreters including Adi Shankara. 'Radical Universalism' or the idea that every religion is  the same is the bane of today's "followers" of Vedic religion. Even S.N.DasGupta in his History of Indian philosophy does a lengthy analysis of the word 'yoga' used in the Gita and comes to the conclusion that it conveys the same sense of the word as used in the Pancharatra agama rather than in others like Sankhyasutra, yogasutra etc.  Thus, while  giving non- straight forward meaning in some places will certainly help a coherent interpretation, this should not become an excuse to read into the text one's own views, especially when if it is clear and can stand on its own.  Moreover, we will see how all this analysis is in fact confirmed by the shruti as well as puranas.

In fact, Adi Shankara, despite being an advaitin, has strictly used only Narayana/Vishnu at all the zillion places where the general words Brahmam/atma/sat etc have been used in the prasthana trayam. The Acharyas of the shankara mutts sign their letters as "Narayana Smriti" . Mind you this Narayana has not been used by Shankara in the sense of Nirguna Brahman but as the Saguna, with all the kalyana gunas.

This information does in a natural way lead to Vaishnavism ,  but why Sri Vaishnavism? There have been a lot of advaita vaishnavas in History, famous examples being Sridhara who wrote a commentary on Bhagavatham and Madhusudhana Saraswati who wrote Bhakthi Rasayana.
Also, We know that the Madhva, Nimbarka, Vallabha, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were also Vaishnavas. Why not these paramparas?
The puranas, which are often extolled as the commentaries on Vedas confuse us regarding paratvam. Six puranas including Shiva and Linga puranam talk about Shiva paratvam, Six puranas including Vishnu and Bhagavatha talk about Vishnu Paratvam and the remaining six about Brahma and other deities. How is this to be reconciled with the Gita?

                                                                        (.........to be continued)