Pranam
Quote: *Namboodri Brahmins, started resorting to marriages with women of
other castes. *
Nambbodri Brahmins had one retrograde practice. To preserve property
within the family they adopted primogeniture or inheritance rights only for
the first born/eldest sons. This upset the sex ratio leaving an excess of
both girls and boys. The eldest sons were allowed polygamy to take care of
the girls. Boys were allowed to "marry" Nair women. Their children were
Menons.
This had two results. Sanskrit learning was not the monopoly of Brahmins.
Nairs and Menons were equally proficient in the language. Kerala may have
the largest percentage of Sanskrit scholars in the population. There was no
anti-brahminism since Brahmins had relatives among the largest non-brahmin
caste.
Swami Chinmayananda was a Menon. He was a top Sanskrit scholar. I learnt
the chant of Taittiriya upanishad, Purushasuktam, and Sree Suktam from
cassettes of his mission. Swami Dayananda (not of Arya Samaj) and Swami
Parthasarathy were part of his mission. After his death the mission broke
into Brahmins and others. Dayananda was related to a cousin of mine. His
local followers were keen that I should join the AIM (acronym of All-India
Movement) for Seva. But I have had enough of spirituality. I had met
Dayananda once to convey my appreciation of his leadership of a UN movement
for peace among world religions. He said he proposed that they should pass
a resolution that all religions are equal. There was no second meeting. I
quoted him in a letter to Raj Mohan Gandhi who admonished Modi. Shah and
Yogi as anti Muslim.
The Mormons in the US have a similar problem. They allow polygamy. They
call themselves as Christians of latter day SAINTS. They populated Utah and
Colorado states. The Utah mormons do not practice polygamy. The Colorado
section practices it secretly The surplus boys are 'expelled'. This
illustrates my interpretation of Satyameva jayate axiom.One can have
delusions about even God. That is why the Gita says that a devotee has to
be loved by God. "sa cha me priyah" is the refrain of about ten shlokas. No
one can claim to love God. This is echoed in a Jewish poem also.
Even as we practice religion we should not fall into the trap of zealotry.
That was another reason why I wrote my notes on shatabdi.
Skb.
KR: Sir, I do not understand what is your central theme. Not only Kerala
Namboodris but even certain epics characters had done it viz the right of
heritage to the eldest (even Tamil Kings especially kerala-chera kingdom
had done it) leaving the the other bereft of any tittle and the marriage
in other castes. Marumakkathayam arose only as a n anti measures from
there. Those are the internal constitutions of the society then existed and
as demanded by the circumstances. Even Krishna and Arjuna said to have
married many women of different tribes. The Muslim practice of allowing 4
women maximum per male arose on account of war deaths of male members and
excess women i the land bereft of the protection. But it was made one of
the shariat of the later generations as a mandate. Droupathi marrying 5 men
had a different history at a time when the movements were restricted; even
today in Thodar that practice do exist. How life is taken on this earth
among the societies, as that specific situation may demand is exclusive to
earthly life and history. Mormons religious practice and red Indians
practices are relevant to that society. Cleopatra married her brother is
also there. So what is the point you are trying to drive at?. Those are
fanatical according to you now. Or zealot Or Delusions according to you.
It may be fastidious or even it could be a system they believe in which you
may not agree with. As you are not able to question the prerogative
marriages in a Muslim community marriages, so many customs in the society
may not be a challengeable one. Where is the delusion in that?. Then you
will go to the extent of telling that Trikala sandhyavandanam is a delusion
because nobody knows that god like that Trikala sandhayavandhaner at all?.
They are either a false belief or a system devised within a particular
community to behave as such, lest they may be set aside out of their group.
There is no Jihadi there. It is not a revolt against the society remaining
peaceful. But when the non-meat touchers are asked to hold the pig stained
arms as a rule of the army as British did with a motive there the British
delusion is exposed, and not in the resistances offered by the Hindus.
2 " antavat tu phalam tesam tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam devan
deva-yajo yanti mad-bhakta yanti mam api 7.23 BG ; Men of small
intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and
temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the
demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet. avyaktam
vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah param bhavam ajananto mamavyayam
anuttamam Unintelligent men, who know Me not, think that I have assumed
this form and personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know
My higher nature, which is changeless and supreme. 7 24. naham prakasah
sarvasya yoga-maya-samavrtah mudho 'yam nabhijanati loko mam ajam avyayam I
am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered
by My eternal creative potency [yoga-maya]; and so the deluded world knows
Me not, who am unborn and infallible. 7.25. vedaham samatitani
vartamanani (7.26
B G) bhavisyani ca bhutani = I know all that had happened, running at
presenti and what is to happen in the future. iccha-dvesa-samutthena
dvandva-mohena sarva-bhutani sammoham by the dualities of desire and
hate. living
entities are born into delusion (BG 7 27) deducing that the delusion arise
only out of the desire-enmity among the people (jihadis) (again sammohan
used for the delusion) and that shows the way of a peaceful life in duality
but not arising out of the desire only to do so but only by the customs may
appear to be foolish to the present thinking level but the vice-versa can
also be true. As long as the life is lived in peace entangled with the
miseries one cannot escape but should be overcome, there is no delusion but
it may be foolishness from another point of view. There may be a day ( now
the stat shows women outnumbering men) when there may be 1 man and 3 women
when that day govt may enact a rule for men to marry 3 women too- which may
not be termed as delusion. Dharma, law of the land and the system of life
have tangential roads; contradictions endured is life; revolted is towards
a change; but revolted to victimise for self serving end is delusion. It is
a razor's edge.
3 *ye caiva *sāttvikā bhāvā *rājasās tāmasāś ca ye **matta eveti
tān viddhi **na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi * they of goodness, passion or
ignorance – are manifested by My energy. they, on the contrary, are within
Me.( 7.12 B G) . All are with HIM only. *teṣāṁ jñānī nitya-yukta **eka-bhaktir
viśiṣyate **priyo hi jñānino ’tyartham **ahaṁ sa ca mama priyaḥ *Of these,
the one who is in full knowledge and who is always engaged in pure
devotional service is the best. For I am very dear to him, and he is dear
to Me. Normal living with Bhakthi and discipline is progressive; delusions
are avivekis; but gnanino tyartham are not only dear to me but them also I
am dear to them-mutual; so it is not just God should like but mutuality. K
R IRS 26 12 20
<https://asitis.com/7/27.html#4981>
<https://asitis.com/7/27.html#4982>
On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 at 22:01, Sithamalli Balasubramanian <
[email protected]> wrote:
> *Namboodri Brahmins, started resorting to marriages with women of other
> castes. *
> Nambbodri Brahmins had one retrograde practice. To preserve property
> within the family they adopted primogeniture or inheritance rights only for
> the first born/eldest sons. This upset the sex ratio leaving an excess of
> both girls and boys. The eldest sons were allowed polygamy to take care of
> the girls. Boys were allowed to "marry" Nair women. Their children were
> Menons.
> This had two results. Sanskrit learning was not the monopoly of Brahmins.
> Nairs and Menons were equally proficient in the language. Kerala may have
> the largest percentage of Sanskrit scholars in the population. There was no
> anti-brahminism since Brahmins had relatives among the largest non-brahmin
> caste.
> Swami Chinmayananda was a Menon. He was a top Sanskrit scholar. I learnt
> the chant of Taittiriya upanishad, Purushasuktam, and Sree Suktam from
> cassettes of his mission. Swami Dayananda (not of Arya Samaj) and Swami
> Parthasarathy were part of his mission. After his death the mission broke
> into Brahmins and others. Dayananda was related to a cousin of mine. His
> local followers were keen that I should join the AIM (acronym of All-India
> Movement) for Seva. But I have had enough of spirituality. I had met
> Dayananda once to convey my appreciation of his leadership of a UN movement
> for peace among world religions. He said he proposed that they should pass
> a resolution that all religions are equal. There was no second meeting. I
> quoted him in a letter to Raj Mohan Gandhi who admonished Modi. Shah and
> Yogi as anti Muslim.
> The Mormons in the US have a similar problem. They allow polygamy. They
> call themselves as Christians of latter day SAINTS. They populated Utah and
> Colorado states. The Utah mormons do not practice polygamy. The Colorado
> section practices it secretly The surplus boys are 'expelled'. This
> illustrates my interpretation of Satyameva jayate axiom.One can have
> delusions about even God. That is why the Gita says that a devotee has to
> be loved by God. "sa cha me priyah" is the refrain of about ten shlokas. No
> one can claim to love God. This is echoed in a Jewish poem also.
> Even as we practice religion we should not fall into the trap of zealotry.
> That was another reason why I wrote my notes on shatabdi.
> Skb.
>
>
> On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 at 17:38, Rajaram Krishnamurthy <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> Pranam
>> History of : Kerala Source: Deivathin Kural/ Voice of God – Volume 5
>>
>>
>> 1 The Malayala Desam is located on the west of the long series of
>> hills known as Western Ghats. KeraLam is the Sanskrit name.
>> ‘Kera’ is coconut and that entire area is full of coconut trees,
>> hence the name KeraLam. One the one side are the hills – that is Malai
>> and on the other side is ‘aazhi’ or ‘aazham’ so the Malayalam =
>> Malai + Aazham! There is a story about how this narrow strip of land came
>> into being. Parasurama killed and vanquished 21 generations of Kshatriya
>> kings and took their lands all over India.
>>
>> 2 So, he donated all the lands to Kashyapa Maharshi. Why Kashyapa?
>> Because all the animate life forms of this world came into being from him
>> only. People born in Manu’s lineage are human beings aka Man or Manushya.
>> Manu’s father was Vivasvan and his father was Kashyapa. Not only
>> that, he was the forefather of Devas, Dhaityas, Dhanavas, Raakshasaas,
>> Nagas and many others! Though there are many Prajapathis, only he is
>> specially called the Kashyapa Prajapathi. So, ‘let him manage all these men
>> and lands or do whatever’, was how Parasurama thought and donated it all to
>> Kashyapa! {KR: Kashyapa in sanskrit denotes the Rishi as well as the
>> nature space, creation from Prajapathi}
>>
>> 3 Parasurama started out. He went to the Western Ghats on the
>> western borders of the whole of South India and reached the
>> Sahayadri Mountain { KR: Sahya+ Adri= endurable mountain one of the 7
>> of the Bharatha varsham} peak known nowadays as *Aanaimalai or
>> Elephant Top*. Close to the western side of the mountains was
>> the sea. Those days there was no Kerala or Malayala Desam, but only water
>> of the seas. Parasurama spoke to the Samudra Raja (the Lord of
>> the Oceans), “ I seek your benign help for some spatial
>> adjustment. By withdrawing yourself a little away from these mountains,
>> can you kindly create some ground on the west of these ranges of mountains,
>> for me to live?” Samudra Raja told Parasurama, “Dear Sir! In your hands
>> you hold that Parasu (Axe) which you got from doing Tapasya to Parameswara.
>> Throw it as far as possible in the ocean and I shall recede that much away,
>> up to the point beyond where the water drops are thrown up to by the impact
>> of the axe and make all that land available to you.” Accordingly Parasurama
>> threw the axe into the ocean as far as possible. Water from the impact
>> splashed in all directions many miles in the N-S direction and less in the
>> E-W axis. All that area was exposed to the Sun and the sea withdrew. That
>> is the Malayala Desam or Kerala aka Parasurama Kshetra. Initially
>> populated by fisher folk talking an unorganized cacophony of languages.
>> Parasurama did not wish to be the only one doing Tapasya in such a vast
>> area. So he decided to bring in and settle a whole lot of Brahmins who
>> would be doing their share of Vedic activities of Homa, Pooja, Japa,
>> Upaasana and other such Karma Anushtaanaas. From the land of the
>> Sozha Kingdom he invited Brahmins known as Sozhiyas to this new
>> land of his creation. They were Tamil speaking Dravidian Brahmins as
>> any other community in Tamil Nadu. The Brahmins from Tamil Nadu are
>> comfort loving, used to the moderate climate of the area.
>>
>> 4 Endless rains, overflowing rivulets, with wet grounds full
>> of mire everywhere, it just did not suit them at all. They were afraid of
>> telling Parasurama who had a reputation as being quick to take offence.
>> They were actively considering running away from there, secretly in
>> the quiet. He knew all that. Let us just change one of their customs and
>> they can never get back to their motherland after that, he
>> thought. On the pretext of giving them a special identity, he
>> made them wear their hair in their head differently. Normally Brahmins
>> in Tamil Nadu shave off the front portion of their head above
>> the temple and let the hair at the back grow abundantly long.
>> Their long tresses are then cared for, oiled, braided and rolled
>> into a knot at the back of their heads. This is known as
>> Kudumi which would typically identify them. Parasurama introduced a
>> twist in this custom. He made them wear what is known as ‘Oordva Shika’, in
>> which the back of the head is shaved off and the hair on the peak of the
>> head is permitted to grow long, which is tied in to a knot to fall forward
>> just on top of the temple! *Till date Namboodri Brahmins of Kerala
>> follow this system only. But the Sozhiyas thought that this one small
>> change in the identity will not be such a hindrance in their acceptance
>> back in Tamil Nadu, when there is no difference in the other customs and
>> traditions. *So, most of them did go back to the banks of Cauvery River
>> once again and were accepted with open arms as expected. But the Oordva
>> Shika remained on top of the head, giving rise to the proverb, ‘Sozhiyan
>> Kudumi does not shake easily’, to mean that he does not listen to others
>> suggestions and also that he is not easily ruffled! Parasurama’s plan
>> however, had back fired. * So, he imported Brahmins from Andhra and
>> Karnataka en-mass and as a precaution, out of the 108 Aachaaraas that
>> are there for the Brahmin, he changed some 64 of them to give them totally
>> a new traditional identity. This worked and for generations they started
>> staying there. They are known as Namboodri Brahmins, stricter in their
>> observance of traditional Aachaaraas, than Brahmins elsewhere in the whole
>> of India! There is a book by the name of ‘Keralotpatti’. I have given you
>> the details from that book and a few PuraNas. *
>>
>> 5 There could be one question in your minds. If the Namboodri Brahmins
>> were mostly from Kannada and Telugu backgrounds and others were mainly
>> fisher folks from the Arabian Sea islands with some local dialects;
>> how is that Malayalam as a language contains a mix of words
>> from mainly Tamil and Sanskrit languages? *The Malayala language
>> evolved some 1,000 to 1,200 years back only. Before that Tamil was the
>> main stay. Still some of you can say, ‘How can it be?’ *I will answer
>> that. No society can be complete only with Brahmins and fisher
>> folks. There has to be a king, army, traders and so on. Most of
>> these were Tamilians only. The mountain ranges of Western Ghats are
>> literally hugging the Tamil Nadu from North to South with many
>> passages between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. From time immemorial
>> Tamilians are known to trade across the oceans and their reach included
>> Sri Lanka, Burma, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, most of East Asia and Western
>> shores of Africa and the islands in between. So, the point to be noted
>> is that the major population in Kerala after Parasurama created were
>> Tamilians who had moved there from across the Sahayadri Mountains. When I
>> said that Tamilians are too fond of their comforts, I meant only the
>> pulse-eating-brahmins and not the non-brahmins! (PeriyavaaL smiles while
>> saying this.) Others are very hard working capable of high levels of
>> tolerance. They knew all the tricks of agriculture and were
>> capable of doing aggressive marketing of their produce. So it was the
>> Tamil non-brahmins who populated Kerala in a big way and started planting
>> and cultivation of Black-Pepper, Oak trees, Coconut, SandalWood
>> and a variety of Spices in a big way, making use of the plentiful
>> water supply. Then fish was available both from the seas and a number of
>> rivers, rivulets and ponds. Life was plentiful and satisfying. The Chera
>> Kings were all of Tamil origin only for long. So, a parallel
>> civilization came into being in Tamil Nadu. As the majority was
>> Tamils, others also spoke the same language. All this happened
>> even before the historical times till Sozha, Chera and Pandya
>> dynasties were alternately predominant at various times. When
>> others from the East went there some Brahmins also must have migrated
>> to Kerala due to divine interest as many temples and temple towns came into
>> being in that land. Parasurama himself created some of them. Initially
>> there was a restriction against immigration as imposed by Parasurama which
>> got diluted over time. Anyhow he himself went incognito, not seen
>> by anybody and after that some Brahmins from the mainland could
>> have gone on visiting the religiously important temple towns and settled
>> there.
>>
>> 6 Historically recorded periods start around Asoka’s time. In
>> his Saasanam inscribed on stone slabs, about places where he spread his
>> views on peaceful co-existence, there is mention of Kerala also along with
>> other places of India. This is proof of the fact that there was
>> civilized social life in that part of the country already. It was part of
>> Chera Kingdom and Tamil was the language there. Silappadikaram a Tamil
>> classic literature is from that land only. Cheramaan PerumaaL
>> Naayanaar, who sang the Tamil divine songs of Thirumarais as part
>> of Saiva Thevaram collections was a King in Kerala. So also
>> KulaSekhara PerumaL, who sang the poems as part of the Vaishnava’s
>> Nalayira Divya Prabhandam collections in Tamil was a King in
>> Kerala. Therefore our AachaaryaaL also in his time must have spoken
>> Tamil. All Brahmins those days must have been well read. There could not
>> have been any Brahmin who had not done Adhyayanam and was knowledgeable in
>> Tamil and Sanskrit. Within themselves they must have spoken in
>> Sanskrit and with others used the Tamil language. Though our
>> AachaaryaaL came down to the Earth as an Avatara for rekindling
>> and rejuvenating the Sanaatana Dharma and did his all for
>> re-establishing it on very strong footings, with the passage of
>> time there was deterioration set in once again! In that flow of events,
>> suitably misusing some of the traditions introduced by Parasurama, other
>> than the first son of the families even amongst *Namboodri Brahmins,
>> started resorting to marriages with women of other castes. When such
>> relationships were created, a mix of Sanskrit and Tamil did come about,
>> which could have been the seeds of a new language to sprout.* By this
>> intermingling causing some dilution of standards of austerity, some good
>> by-products were also there. By this, in Kerala all castes became
>> knowledgeable in Shastras and Puranas. The education standards did improve,
>> especially fluency in use of Sanskrit words. For example, more than any
>> other part of India, taking a bath early in the morning and
>> visiting the nearby temple wearing clean clothes with much
>> noticeable devotion and piety is the practice by people of all castes in
>> Kerala. I do not for a moment wish to say that non-brahmins are
>> uneducated, unclean and things like that at all. Due to the type of work
>> that they have to do, especially the proletariat, they cannot afford to
>> care for cleanliness so much. Whether a factory worker or involved in
>> agriculture or in the job of clearing the garbage, they just cannot be too
>> finicky about cleanliness as a Brahmin is required to be in his duty!
>>
>> 7 Then if you take any of the craftsmen, their children learn
>> their trade from childhood from their elders, whether it is carpentry
>> or masonry, separating and spinning the silk thread or sculpting
>> a stone into shape! Going to school would be a double
>> unaffordable loss as it would mean, missing on the job training
>> and being coached by one’s grandfather / father / uncle, and
>> loss of cheap labour. So generally they would send one of the children
>> to school so that he could act as the in house accountant, manager and
>> correspondent, while others would be given on-the-job-training!
>> Since such people contribute substantially to the well being of the
>> society, the very Saastraas have been liberal in the standards of
>> cleanliness expected of them and in their case Adhyayanam is also not a
>> requirement. Still, the fact that in Kerala the standards of education,
>> knowledge of the Saastraas and Do’s and Don’ts of the Sanatana Dharma, are
>> way ahead of the rest of the country; indicates the apparent effect of the
>> brahmin influence. Though it was not an island all by itself, when it was
>> not so well connected by means of transportation, Kerala was having
>> certain benefits of inaccessibility and isolation from the
>> Mainland, unaffected by some of the social irreligious tendencies! *So,
>> when a typical local lingo developed into a full-fledged language by its
>> own right, all people of Kerala accepted it with pride as their
>> mother tongue. This is how the language Malayalam came into being. * Having
>> spoken so much about the story of Malayalam let me tell you the balance
>> also. After Malayalam had become well established, for some reasons some
>> brahmins from Tamil Nadu migrated there and settled closer to the Tamil
>> Nadu instead of going deep inside Kerala. Some shifted from the area
>> of Coimbatore to Palghat and settled near Pallassana. Others from
>> Tenkasi through Sengotta went near Trivandrum. Their Tamil is another
>> version with a scattering of Malayalam in pronunciation. When I said that
>> Kerala developed with its own culture unaffected by the happenings in the
>> Mainland, you should not think that it was totally isolated and that its
>> culture was alien to that in the Mainland. The Vedic culture is the culture
>> of what is India. Like a main river in which a number of tributaries come
>> and join, many flows such as the different cultures of Kashmir, Punjab,
>> Central India, Rajasthan, Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
>> joined to make what is the Indian Vedic culture. To give yet another
>> example, if you think of Indian culture as a tree, these were its branches
>> and the roots were the Vedic one.
>>
>> 8 Parasurama settled brahmin-s from Tamil Nadu as the original
>> citizens, he ensured that Indian Vedas, Puranas, Temples, Yagnas,
>> Vratam-s such as for Shivaratri, Ekadasi, and Somavaaram; Karma
>> Anushtaanaas, Adhyayanam, Adhyapakam, chanting of Veda mantras and
>> establishment of Veda Patashaalaas were all brought in. So, even
>> when elsewhere in India these were not being observed or becoming subdued,
>> with the expanding influence of Buddhism and Jainism (Muslims
>> followed by Britishers were to come much later), in Kerala these
>> were more assiduously being observed. So, it was in the rightness
>> of things that our AachaaryaaL’s Avatara also took place there.
>> Later, things happened topsy turvy, trending in the opposite way
>> and I must mention that also. Since the whole of the eastern border of
>> Kerala was the range of mountains, it was not much affected by the
>> upheavals that occurred in the Mainland India alright. But what was in the
>> west of Kerala? It was all the Arabian Sea. So with the thriving trade of
>> Black Pepper, Cardamom, Sandal Wood, Oak timber and Ivory, there was also
>> an influx of traders and visitors from the west and they started settling
>> there. For many Jews, Christians and Muslims, Kerala became the
>> MotherLand! Though unaffected by the changes in the mainland,
>> they ended up accommodating all and sundry! Anyhow, all this is part
>> of the side effects of our own culture which believes in ‘Atiti Devo
>> Bhava’! Let me tell you one more surprising thing. Though the people
>> of Kerala accepted foreign religions, when it comes to Hinduism,
>> after our AachaaryaaL, they did not accept the other Sampradaaya-s of
>> Vaishnavas and Madhvas. Do we not see that even in Padmanabha Swami
>> Temple or Guruvayoorappan Temple they do not have Vaishnava Bhatta-s,
>> but only Namboodiri brahmin-s including in Sabarimala Aiyappa
>> Temple. This can only be considered as their devotion to our
>> AachaaryaaL who took Avatara there, after searching for a suitable place in
>> the whole of India. In recent times with the laying of roads and rail
>> communications to and fro between Kerala and rest of the country and
>> advanced education available all over, the somewhat secluded society of
>> Kerala has started spreading all over the country as well become
>> more international. In every foreign country today among expatriate
>> Indians, Keralites form a major chunk. Without standing on prestige, they
>> are ready to go anywhere and do any sort of work and thus have
>> proved to be as industrious and ubiquitous as the Sardarjis of Punjab,
>> making their presence felt in every nook and corner of the world!
>>
>> K R IRS 25 12 20
>>
>> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>
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