Brahmasri Chaganti Koteswararao
With the sun rising across Roosevelt Island, the hurrying East River below, everything seems beguilingly peaceful and quiet from the glass window. Almost three decades back, a devoted Indian scholar started his American adventure from a small apartment in Manhattan. How hard it must have been for him in those days to keep his soul and pious traditions in tact? Even now it is not easy to get vegetarian dishes in many places in North America. A little better, yes, but still it is hard to find a delicious satisfying morsel with only vegetables and grains. How can we imagine the hardships of those pioneering souls? Crossing the oceans on ships, surviving the entire travel only on canned tomatoes, and adhering to daily ablutions and performing prescribed meditative prayers. Thus they came despite all distractions, disappointments, and humiliating trials. That was how, Vivekananda landed in Chicago. Or, Prabhupada. Or, any other philosopher from the land of ancient civilization. Much of the goodwill and courtesy, enjoyed by the present Indian emigrants everywhere, is due to those early path breakers. Irrefutably so. That is because, they are all from, and form an original human thought continuum.
One may ask why? Why did they undertake such difficult voyages? A saint need not go anywhere. Need not give speeches. The great saints are always beyond the normal ethos of civilization. Their presence alone is sufficient to bring auspiciousness all around – like that Rishyasrunga. They may act out of their own volition, may not act, it is all up to them. Like the celestial Narada’s actions, their mistakes too benefit mankind. So, if a youth in jeans asks, “Why did Prabhupada come to New York?” the answer is a bit long one. He strictly followed his guru’s words. He wanted to tell in English the true meaning of Krishna, Gita, Bhagavatam, and other scriptures. He wanted to convey without distortion the original message as he experienced through his insights. Truly a veritable source of infinite (not phony, feigned) compassion resides in the heart of a saint. And it is that bubbling compassion that prompts, pushes such good souls into beneficial action.
Without the works of such swamis (look at the original Sanskrit word), the larger world and India would be poorer. It will be left with grossly mangled twisted interpretations of Upanishads, Hindu (sanatana would be a better word) mythologies, and religious practices. Many (with very few exceptions) westerners lack the language credentials and critical thinking to understand the original (which were enshrined in Sanskrit and other Indian vernaculars) writings. (Certainly some of their sincere efforts are laudable) In addition to their dismal understanding of Sanskrit, they often try to read Indian religious works with the biases of anthropology, Freud, or whatever favor-of-the-month fashion/thought. Now such exercises are good for academic promotions, glib alcohol dripping talk, - but they never address life’s fundamental issues – they slowly sink into the quick sands of hypocrisy. Therefore, such attempts often lead to tragic catastrophes both for its proponents and followers.
The current Indian urban youth and diasporic children are faced with huge cultural problems. It is there for anyone to observe, right in front of eyes. Much of the generation gap (I never heard the word in Telugu, in my school or college days) and discordance with elders is rooted there. Is it due to nuclear families? Earlier, we used to interact and mingle with people across generations – from great grandmother to the newborn crawling nephew. Some will discard the old tradition like an old dress or used car. Others will struggle to explore and try to find the “real meaning” of scriptures, daily practices, etc. Is there any help for such curious youngsters? All explorers are young and innocent at heart. Certainly, there is.
Why do we need the help of elders, priests, or books? Because, every enquiring mind will have questions. And questions are galore, everywhere. But time is of essence. One must question everything – be it religion, science, or art. Certainly a civilization of millennia, with practices handed down by hundred generations and diverse regions will have many interesting, albeit intriguing at times, festivals, functions, and ceremonies. That is the beauty of life. People unfamiliar with such a tapestry of culture ask: Why does the father-in-law wash bridegroom’s feet? Why does the priest (in a Vaishnava temple) put a metal cap ( a youth amusingly called it “topi”) on your head? How come Vishnu is always adorned in flowers and flowing silk? Why Siva gets only ashes and buckets of water?
For answers, one needs patience, persistence, and a bit of self-effort. One can ask the priest (no shame in that), read on line Sanskrit (Telugu, Hindi, etc.) dictionaries, or pick a book from sidewalk vendor or a temple store. A sincere beginning can be made. With luck, soon one learns many things. Quickly the curious young mind will discover valuable meaning in the Indian traditions. We must really pay our gratitude to all our grand parents, parents, uncles, and aunts – for strenuously preserving and passing on these traditions. Many of the older generations succeeded in handing down the rituals despite the persistent onslaught of foreign influences in the guise of rationality and material prosperity. Except a liberated guru, no one, no one (like that catchy phrase from a pop song!) will uplift the other, neither the Sensex nor office boss. This, many elders will honestly attest as a genuine fact in life.
Now, we come to one very illustrious exponent of our scriptures. He is Brahmasri Chaganti Koteswararao*. The world Telugu community is really fortunate, nay blessed to have such a great scholar in current times. Words cannot convey, but we are immensely indebted to him and his teacher. Many of his extempore commentaries on Ramayana, Siva, and other topics are posted on the Internet. It is thrilling to hear a live voice, explaining the meaning behind Kanakadhara Stotra. I do not know much about other languages; but in Telugu we have this practice, rather age-old tradition of commentaries on various Hindu texts and philosophical treatises. In towns and villages across Andhra Pradesh, elderly (retired) people are often seen in the cool evenings to cluster around a learned scholar to listen to the subtle meaning behind a poem, a sloka, or a story from the ancient puranas. Such discourses were always free, open to everyone - young and old, and rich and poor alike. We hope the practice will continue with such gifted teachers well into next generations. Many of us ardently feel that innocent future grand children will not be deprived (robbed) of their rightful inheritance, of traditional Hindu culture and philosophy.
Without an understanding of ancient Hindu scriptures, all classical dance, music (Carnatic), and Indian literature comes to a grinding halt. Without that eternal spring of spirituality, everything else just withers away.
* http://te.srichaganti.net/Pravachanams.aspx
Copyright 2009
