Sri Thyagaraja, the undeclared Sri Vaishnava “prapannan”

Like millions of Rasikas all over the world , I too consider myself an ardent Sri Thyagaraja bhakth who loves so many of the saint’s exquisite kritis and often, whenever swept away by the mood, I do sing a few of them in the privacy of my home purely for the delight of my own soul (svaanubhavam).

On some occasions, I record my own renderings in audio clips and share them amongst close family, friends and fellow-rasika circles on WhatsApp groups: a pardonable “saatvika” self-indulgence…

More than a week ago , I had shared with my good friend Sri N. S. Srinivasan an audio clip of my personal “svaanubhavam” of the Thyagaraja Kriti “dvaitamu sukhama advaitamu sukhama?” with the following message attached :

“Sunday special rendering dedicated to you… Some people send their warm daily good wishes and good morning greetings to others through colourful pics, memes and images , I choose today to circulate to all my good friends a great Thyagaraja krithi that enveloped my mood this Sunday morning and made me want sing it to myself and share it with good souls like you in my world.

Some kritis of Thyagaraja are very contemplative and introspective . This Kriti in reetigowlam raagam is one such … It is a song that perhaps Sri Thyagaraja sang spontaneously within the tranquil silence within his own heart … because the lyrics seem to certainly suggest a certain philosophical anguish with which he sang them …

This song often gets sung in many kutcheris IMHO by Vidwans who exhibit no sense at all for the mood of its elevated contemplative-ness. Often the violin and mridangam accompaniments too intrude into serene flow and mar it … Thereafter, unnecessary inclusion of ensuing swarapraathaara would also totally erase the introspective imprint of the Kriti on the Rasika’s minds …

M D Ramanathan was perhaps the only exception in this regard. He used to sing this Kriti the best of all … for he seemed to know the depth of its meaning , the pathos in its mood and the spiritual with which Thyagaraja had sung it .

On this Sunday morning , in singing this beautiful Kriti , I pay personal tribute to Sri Thyagaraja as well as MDR .

🙏💐
M K Sudarshan

N.S. Srinivasan my friend is a very busy practising Chartered Accountant who works out of Mambalam. He is a devout practising Sri Vaishnava with native roots in the Vedic agrahaaram of Naavalpaakam. He is also well versed in Veda, Divya Prabhandham and Sri Vaishnava sampradaya subjects. We have been friends for many years. He took his own time to listen to my forwarded audio-recording but eventually he was kind enough to send feedback in an appreciative voice-message that said:

“Wonderful, really enjoyed it because it reminded me of M D Ramanathan ! I’ll be grateful if you can also send me your own appreciation of the deep meaning embedded in this Kriti”.

So, not wanting to disappoint my good friend , I sent him today the below message:

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Thyagaraja’s kriti “Dvaitamu sukhamā advaitamu sukhamā?” in Raga Reetigaula poses a profound inquiry into the relative merits of Dvaita (duality) and Advaita (non-duality) for spiritual bliss, reflecting the composer’s devotional introspection rather than a firm doctrinal stance.

The pallavi directly asks: “Dvaitamu sukhamā? Advaitamu sukhamā?”—Is duality blissful, or non-duality?

In the anupallavi, Thyagaraja appeals to the Lord as “Caitanyamā vinu sarvasākṣi” (O Pure Consciousness, witness of all), urging clarity on this “vistāramuga” (in detail).

The charanam evokes the Lord’s presence across elements, deities, and devotees, underscoring a unified divine reality amid the philosophical dilemma.


Interpretations of the song vary: Some view it as Thyagaraja—raised in Advaita traditions—questioning monism’s implications for personal devotion, hinting at Dvaita sympathies without outright rejection.

Others see syncretism, aligning with Vishishtadvaita, as his broader oeuvre blends bhakti with non-dual realization (e.g., “advaita sāmrājyamulabbināṭṭu” in “Rāma Sītā Rāma”).

No scholar or musicologist frames this one of Thyagataja Kritis as any kind of resigned Dvaita affirmation; instead, it gets often explained away as a sincere plea for guidance, resolved through ecstatic bhakti transcending rigid schools. Thyagaraja’s works do often prioritize Harinama Sankirtana for unity consciousness, embracing Advaita’s zenith via devotion over intellectual debate.

Some say however that this kriti subtly favors Vishishtadvaita-like qualified non-dualism, where Jivatma and Paramatma relate devotionally yet inseparably, mirroring Sri Vaishnava harmony of difference and oneness.

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It’s always very easy and prudent, of course, to smooth over things disputed by scholars and not ruffle any feathers by simply saying politically correct things: That in this Kriti, Thyagaraja placed Bhakti above all 3 philosophical schools of Vedanta. But that IMHO would be oversimplification of Thyagaraja’s philosophy …. which is thyaagopanishad is far too profound to be reduced to uni-dimensionality.

I say so because in his other poignant Kriti “teliyaleru raama bhakthi maargamu” (Dhenuka raagam) Thyagaraja bemoans his pathetic inability to know how to walk the path of Bhakthi too.

So, no one can really put any convenient labels upon a soul as complex as Thyagaraja’s to fathom his philosophical outlook in life.

One might say though that, in the last mentioned Kriti above , Thyagaraja was venting the typical plea of “aakinchinya”… spiritual helplessness and admitting defeat in comprehending and practising fully any worthy “moksha upaaya”. That he was expressing his abject spiritual “gati”…. floundering about in life knowing neither philosophy nor Bhakthi. A Sri Vaishnava like me might hence ask himself then: wouldn’t that make Thyagaraja an “undeclared, unacknowledged prapannan” in the mould of a follower of Ramanuja Siddhantham?

What truly was he? Advaitin, Dvaitin, Visishtadvaitin … or a Sri Vaishnava prapannan ? He keeps us all guessing! We will never really know the answer because we are clueless, in the first place, about who we ourselves truly are! And it is precisely such “clueless-ness” that is at the heart of what Thyagaraja sang in both his kritis, dvaitamu sukhama and teliyaleru… !

Thyagaraja was only trying to mirror our own spiritual shallowness. Don’t we delude ourselves into thinking we know so much about Dvaita and Advaitam? Don’t we also delude ourselves into believing our hearts are overflowing with Bhakthi? Thus, does Thyagaraja deride us all in those two kritis of his! He sarcastically observes:

“vEgalEci nITa munigi bhUti bUsi vallanenci veliki shlAganIyulai… bAga paika mArjana lOlulai rEgani….”

“They wake up at dawn, attend to their ablutions, proudly wear the emblems of creed and count the holy beads, put on a show appearing to be spiritual and religious, but behind their minds they are all so busy working out strategy and schemes for making money by hook or crook….”

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Thyagaraja was a saint , mystic and philosopher, no doubt, but he was also a realist who had no illusions about the spiritual cynicism of humankind. In his songs, he was careful not to sound preachy or judgmental about humans… he simply expressed his pity for us … for our spiritual vanities, our intellectual naïveté and above all, our moral pretensions.

Like a true Sri Vaishnava, Thyagaraja also had the good sense and the humility to invert and divert towards himself any carping criticism he had reserved in his heart for society’s failings… It is that rare and noble quality of Humility which in Sri Vaishnavism is called “naicchyaanusandaanam” … : it is the deprecation and diminution of oneself to keep abstaining from committing the cardinal sin of “bhaagavatha apachaaram”, the wanton casting of hurtful aspersions in any sort of way upon fellowmen who, as souls that know not what they really do in and with life…. must always be forgiven.

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Sudarshan Madabushi

Artificial Intelligence as Dr.Frankenstein’s “religious naïveté”

There were two very thought-provoking, I might even say, mind boggling blogposts on Artificial Intelligence that I happened to read this morning.

The first one below ⬇️ made me fearful that a new-age Frankenstein has been unleashed into the world by this new-age Technology.

https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening

The second blogpost ⬇️ however soothed my nervous fear a bit. It assured me that Technology was not going to be some unshackled, unbounded and irrepressible Dr. Frankenstein running amok through our world, rampaging people’s jobs, livelihoods, self-worth and life-purpose.

https://cetfreedom.com/spiritual-intelligence-vs-ai-intelligence-knowing-the-line/

Both blogposts are certainly worth patiently reading and contemplating upon seriously.

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Serious contemplation is exactly what I myself did after I had finished reading the above two perspectives on AI. If there’s a bit of the great store of your patience still left in you, you might want to perhaps read just one more blogpost : mine below ⬇️

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Today , after having spent 37 long years in my life as a Chartered Accountant and a practising corporate-finance professional whose “bread, butter and raison d’être” had always been defined and endowed by “spread-sheet analyses of investment appetite and returns, risk-profiles, cost-of-capital, strategic alignment with shareholder value” etc.… I think I’ve had enough of all things and affairs of the world that can possibly be computer simulated and impersonated by this technological wonder toolkit called Artificial Intelligence.

At 70 years age , I’m glad I’ve moved on in life and now more in search of not intelligence generated through computation but in the pursuit of the wisdom that intuitive understanding begets; in discernment, not just in utility; and in the real deal viz. trying to experience meaning far beyond the mere chimera of inferences

No longer do I find myself fond of analysis … not ever since I began wanting to intuit. Intuition doesn’t need Intelligence, either biological or artificial . Instead, all I need is what in Sri Vaishnava Vedanta is called “nirhetuka krupai”… the Prayer for unconditioned, unconditional Grace … Grace of Almighty.

निरहेतुका कृपा (nirhetukā kṛpā), meaning “by the causeless grace”, refers to spontaneous, unconditional divine grace bestowed on devotees without they having to merit it through endeavours or qualification. It underscores total dependence on a greater-than-human Intelligence to whom Prayer is addressed for compassion and all-pervasive intuitive understanding of Matter, Mind and Soul … all in one sweep, as it were. Such Grace flows freely, enabling spiritual upliftment and liberation purely out of divine compassion.

Of course, I am aware that to speak of AI Technology and extra-terrestrial or metaphysical Grace in the same breath here might seem rather odd, out-of-place, and perhaps even incoherently absurd. But then, if one thinks deeply about it, it is not all that ridiculous to assert that even AI Technology will find it impossible to reach realms of human experience that only Prayer easily can. … If you don’t want to believe me, well… then you are going to have to contend with minds and intellects grater than mine! Read below ⬇️:

“More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of …” wrote the poet Alfred Tennyson … echoing the words of Shakespeare too in “Hamlet”:“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” 

Both the wise poets, we know, knew nothing about Artificial Intelligence but both were indeed categorical in suggesting that the human imagination is limited and that there would always remain (and it won’t matter if AI rules the world or not!) many things we won’t know, things that won’t have been discovered or experienced and, in fact, things we won’t have even dreamt of.

Years after the poets Shakespeare and Tennyson had emphatically affirmed that it was Prayer and not so much Intelligence or Philosophy that was really the key to fathom “more things in Heaven and Earth”, there was this endearing exchange of letters ⬇️ below between a very intelligent sixth-grade school-girl and the great wise old physicist, Prof. Albert Einstein (extracted from Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein’s Letters to and from Children (public library collection).

The Riverside Church

January 19, 1936

My dear Dr. Einstein,

We have brought up the question: Do scientists pray? in our Sunday school class. It began by asking whether we could believe in both science and religion. We are writing to scientists and other important men, to try and have our own question answered.

We will feel greatly honored if you will answer our question: Do scientists pray, and what do they pray for?

We are in the sixth grade, Miss Ellis’s class.

Respectfully yours,

Phyllis

Only five days later, Prof. Einstein wrote back — and his answer speaks to an interesting spiritual quality that can never be possessed by what today we know and are all either bedazzled or befuddled by— this Frankensteinian creature called Artificial Intelligence that threatens to render human intelligence redundant.

January 24, 1936

Dear Phyllis,

I will attempt to reply to your question as simply as I can. Here is my answer:

Scientists believe that every occurrence, including the affairs of human beings, is due to the laws of nature. Therefore a scientist cannot be inclined to believe that the course of events can be influenced by prayer, that is, by a supernaturally manifested wish.

However, we must concede that our actual knowledge of these forces is imperfect, so that in the end the belief in the existence of a final, ultimate spirit rests on a kind of faith. Such belief remains widespread even with the current achievements in science.

But also, everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.

With cordial greetings,

your A. Einstein

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AI will no doubt achieve superhuman performance in narrow tasks like pattern recognition and computation, but fundamental limits will still persist in replicating core human cognitive experiences. Certain domains of human knowledge and intelligence will always appear conceivably beyond AI’s reach due to philosophical, experiential, and ontological barriers.

AI’s Intelligence may certainly be as Einstein said “vastly superior to that of man” but all the same, as we must all now believe, AI’s “religiosity” will always be “naive” because it simply cannot comprehend what lies beyond the limits of its boundaries as vast uncharted space where “more things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of”.

Sudarshan Madabushi

Mapping the “Dreams of the World”: Freud, Jung and the Bhagavath Gita

What a fascinating Infograph indeed on the Freudian stuff that the Dreams of the whole world is about!

If you study the map closely, you will not fail to notice that nearly the whole of world populations have either the “Snake” or the “Falling of Teeth“ to be objects appearing as recurring themes in their dreams.

This colourful Map of Dreams of the World set me thinking and imagining what it would tell Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung if shown today to both! To the best of my limited knowledge of of Freud’s “Interpretation of Dreams” and other seminal works of western psychiatrists such as Carl Jung’s… (and, yes, based upon a little quick search of AI online resources too)… I have been able to piece together below a broadly Vedantic commentary on what these most recurring themes experienced in dreams by people in those countries. And from the commentary, I believe it is possible to infer their innate psychic makeup and, perhaps, national character too.

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In Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, recurring dream symbols like snakes and teeth falling out are analyzed as manifestations of repressed unconscious desires, primarily sexual in nature, disguised through processes like condensation and displacement.


Freud viewed the snake as a classic phallic symbol, representing the male genitalia or repressed sexual urges and anxieties. It often signals latent libidinal energy or fears related to potency, castration anxiety, or forbidden attractions, emerging in dreams to fulfill wishes indirectly. The snake’s threatening or seductive presence in recurring dreams underscores unresolved Oedipal conflicts or power dynamics in the dreamer’s psyche.

Dreams of teeth crumbling or falling out symbolize castration anxiety, loss of virility, or punishment for sexual/masturbatory impulses, per Freud’s framework. They reflect deep-seated fears of impotence, aging, or bodily disintegration tied to repressed guilt over autoerotic tendencies. Recurrence points to the dream-work’s failure to fully resolve these primal anxieties, with teeth as displaced symbols of vitality or aggression.

Freud explained repetition of both symbols in dreams as the unconscious persistently attempting to process trauma or wish-fulfillment, often linked to neurotic patterns. These motifs endure until the latent content surfaces in analysis, allowing integration.

Carl Jung’s interpretation of snake dreams and teeth falling out markedly diverges from Freud’s by emphasizing archetypal, collective unconscious symbolism over purely personal sexual repression. He interpreted snakes as multifaceted archetypes representing transformation (e.g., shedding skin for renewal), healing (like the caduceus), wisdom, and the integration of opposites—instinct versus spirit, shadow self, or the unconscious rising to consciousness. Jung connected them to the reptilian brain, autonomic instincts, and processes of individuation, where the snake signals personal growth or confrontation with the psyche’s dual nature (life/death, good/evil). He interpreted teeth falling out as akin to a child losing baby teeth, representing the painful yet necessary shedding of the old self to birth a new identity or phase of growth. This ties into individuation—the psyche’s drive toward wholeness—where the dream signals confronting repressed emotions, the shadow self, or unresolved conflicts during major life transitions.

Freud’s is reductionist and individual/sexual; Jung’s is universal, cultural, and spiritual. Freudian theory is linked to wish-fulfillment/disguise; Jungian theory is linked to self-realization and wholeness. Jung stresses the dreamer’s emotional response and personal associations over any fixed psychic meanings. Freud linked the dream symbols to genital fears or impotence; Jung emphasized the same objects as symbols of renewal, personal evolution, and integrating unconscious aspects over literal sexual loss. Jung prioritized the dreamer’s context and emotions, viewing it as a compensatory message from the collective unconscious rather than disguised personal or libidinal wishes.

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While both Freud and Jung theorised upon primal, deep-seated secrets of the human psyche, one might still ask a question : “Which theory appears more compelling and credible”? This is where, in my view, Vedanta comes in…

Modern Clinical Psychiatry is really not too far removed from timeless Vedanta Philosophy if one compares both the Freudian and Jungian theories with what the Bhagavath Gita adumbrated about the primal sex-instinct. By implication, it seems to us today, that the dream-world symbolism both Freud or Jung theories constructed are, in fact, simply louder elaborations/exemplifications of the Gita’s own Vedantic psychiatry. After all, battlefield of Kurukshetra was indeed, in a metaphoric sense, the counselling-couch of modern clinical practice wherein Lord Krishna was the psychiatrist and Arjuna was the patient.

Bhagavad Gita 3.37 directly addresses the primal, irrepressible force of lust (kāma)—the powerful psychic drive akin to Freud’s sex instinct—as the all-devouring enemy that deludes and overpowers even the wise.

काऽम एष क् रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः।

महाशनो महापाप्मा वैनमेव व्यपाश्रितः॥

kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśano mahā-pāpmā vairaṇo hy eṇaṃ nāśrayet

Gist: The Lord said: It is Lust alone, born of the mode of passion, which transforms into wrath; it is the all-consuming, great sinner—know this as the foe here.

Krishna identifies kāma (lust/desire for sense objects) as arising from rajoguna (primal passion), so voracious it devours wisdom and reason, and turning to anger when thwarted or frustrated — mirroring the irrepressible sexual urge (of which the “Snake” and “Teeth falling out” according to Freud and Jung are dream-symbols). Its difficulty to conquer lies in its deceptive promise of intense sensuous pleasure, obscuring knowledge and binding the self to obsessive passion; only disciplined practice and detachment can overcome it (which subsequent verses like 3.41 in the Bhagavath Gita are explained).

What is even more interesting to note is that Krishna, the Universal Vedantic Psychiatrist, further in the Bhagavath Gita goes on to underscore the cosmic or transcendental dimension to conquering Sexual Lust.

Krishna declares in Bhagavad Gita 7.8 that He is the essence (pauruṣaṃ)—often rendered as virility, manly vigor, or vital seed or sexual juices —in all men and women, encompassing the generative life force akin to “retaḥ” or seminal essence.

रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययोः। प्रणवः सर्ववेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु॥
raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ | praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṃ nṛṣu ||

Gist: O son of Kuntī, I am the taste in water, the radiance in moon and sun, the sacred syllable Oṃ in all Vedas, sound in ether, and “rethas” (virility/sexual prowess) in humans.

Pauruṣaṃ (from puruṣa, person/man) signifies heroic strength, potency, or generative capacity—the vital essence sustaining life and procreation—permeated by the divine. Krishna thus reveals Himself as the pure, underlying force in all beings’ vitality, distinct from lustful, loin-centric kāma described earlier in Verse 3.37. While Shloka 3.37 warns of lust (kāma) as the devouring enemy born of rajoguna, Verse 7.8 elevates regulated desire/virility (i.e. dharmāviruddhaḥ kāmaḥ in 7.11) as divine in nature when it is aligned with dharma (e.g., procreation), harmonizing primal sex-drive with transcendence.

Thus, the Bhagavatha Gita clearly does find echoes in Freud’s Libido theory but frames the primal drive cosmically i.e. Lust as a guṇa-force that has to be transcended by Man via yoga, aligning more with Jung’s transformative shadow integration than mere repression.

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Going back to the map above, we see that all of North America and much of South American populations have the Snake/Falling Teeth as recurring themes in their dreamworld. Most of Europe, Russia, West Asia, India and Australia also fall in the same category. The African continent is a mixed bag but even here along with the libidinous sexual pervasiveness of the Snake/Falling Teeth dream-symbols that are explicitly represented, in large countries like Nigeria and Ghana, Sex is explicitly portrayed as predominant dream-stuff in people’s minds while asleep. China as usual goes uncharted in this map since no survey of this kind would be allowed by government policy or administration there in that country.

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To conclude, what is the Vedantic moral of this fascinating map?

Well, in my understanding, the collective psyche of the entire world seems to be engaged in mass, titanic struggle with itself. In Freudian terms, the struggle is about deep unresolved Oedipal conflicts or power dynamics in the dreamer’s psyche; fears of impotence, aging, or bodily disintegration tied to repressed guilt over autoerotic tendencies; and failure to fully resolve primal anxieties, displacement of vitality or aggression. In Jungian terms, the struggle is all about the painful yet necessary shedding of the old self to birth a new identity or phase of growth. This ties into individuation—the psyche’s drive toward wholeness—where the dream signals confronting repressed emotions, the shadow self, or unresolved conflicts during major life transitions.

From a Vedantic psychiatric perspective, this struggle is classic human struggle to conquer dharmāviruddhaḥ kāmaḥ…

“Dharmāviruddhaḥ kāmaḥ” translates to “desire (kāmaḥ) not opposed to dharma,” a key phrase from Bhagavad Gītā 7.11, where Krishna describes himself as the desire in beings that aligns with righteousness and scriptural principles. This refers to legitimate urges, like regulated sense gratification (e.g., sex after a woman’s menstrual period or moderate eating for sustenance), that follow śāstra injunctions without defying dharma. It contrasts with passion (rajas) driven by unchecked attachment (kāma-rāga), emphasizing Kṛṣṇa’s presence even in permissible bodily needs.The Sanskrit term, “dharma-viruddhaḥ kāmaḥ” is the precise opposite: desire conflicting with dharma, such as illicit or unregulated sense pleasure violating religious codes. This unlawful kāma lacks divine sanction and binds the soul to saṁsāra… human bondage.

Between Signmund Freud and Carl Jung, whose psychiatry might be closer or more akin to Vedantic psychiatry? Now, that is a tantalising question the reader must himself or herself figure out.

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Sudarshan Madabushi

The Carnatic Music world quietly forgot (maybe even forgave?) Kamal Hassan deriding Saint Thyagaraja… but not this feisty Muslim woman!

The whole world of Carnatic Music aficionados, institutions, Vidwans, Rasikas and musicologist should watch this video-clip below and hang their collective heads in shame and sin.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DLUSD44eC/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The Muslim woman castigates Kamal Haasan for having disgraced Sri Thyagaraja once when he spoke during an Instagram Live conversation with actor Vijay Sethupathi on May 4, 2020. He stated that Thyagaraja sang praises of Lord Rama while “begging” (using the Tamil word “picchai”) on the streets of Thanjavur, contrasting it with his own commercial film career.

Haasan aimed to highlight Thyagaraja’s dedication to art over money via “unchavritti” (devotional alms collection), but Carnatic musicians like Palghat Ramprasad and the Malladi brothers condemned it as derogatory, launching a Change.org petition with over 13,000 signatures demanding an apology. They emphasized Thyagaraja was a “Haridasa” (devotee) practicing sacred bhakti, not a beggar.

“Unchavritti” or “unja viruthi” involved Thyagaraja accepting voluntary food offerings while singing Rama kritis, viewed as spiritual nirvana in bhakti tradition, not desperation. Kamal Hasan critics noted he had overlooked this cultural nuance

Musicians demanded an “unconditional apology” via Change.org and public statements, arguing it insulted Carnatic music heritage and Hindu faith. Legal notices for defamation were reportedly issued, but no retraction followed.

Contemporary reports from May 2020, like “Will Kamal Apologise?” and coverage in Deccan Herald and India Today, mention only the petition and notice but no one from the fraternity of Carnatic Musicians (who make a living for themselves singing Thyagaraja kritis!) filed any lawsuit or court proceedings. Haasan did not respond with an apology, and the issue faded without legal follow-through.


As of 2026, no records of a defamation suit, verdict, or settlement exist in news or court reports related to this incident.

As an ordinary Carnatic music Rasika , I too partially bear vicarious responsibility along with the entire world of Carnatic Music lovers for having quietly and conveniently forgotten about Kamal Hassan’s slur on Saint Thyagaraja. But my guilt is not either as grave or as damning as that of Vidwans and of hallowed institutions that piously claim their mission is to protect, preserve and promote the heritage of Saint Thyagaraja. While I do not forgive myself, I still say to them , “Shame on all of you!”

And to that feisty Muslim lady, I bow my head in humble salutations for letting us all know that she at least has neither forgotten nor forgiven history.

Sudarshan Madabushi

Dushyant Sridhar’s jingoistic FB comment only proves the point made in my 2024 book: “The Decline and Fall of the “ubhaya vedantins”

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1818EjnJ4E/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17puU48Ue2/

The above URL of Sri. Dushyant Sridhar short-video clip of course will be music indeed to the ears and hearts of Vadakalais . I’m sure Dushyant’s fan following might increase by a few hundreds. It will most certainly be red rag waved in the raging faces of the Tenkalais . But the question for Sri Vaishnavas belonging to both sects is to ask themselves: Will all this rhetoric really serve the much larger cause of the tradition of “ubhaya vedantins” of which once upon a time after Sri Ramanuja’s era they were all so proud?

இந்த துஷ்யந்த் ஸ்ரீதர் அவர்களின் சுருக்க வீடியோ கிளிப்பிங், வடகலை சம்பிரதாயத்தினரின் செவிகளுக்கும் ஹৃதயங்களுக்கும் இனிமையான இசைதான் என்பது அனிச்சயமில்லை. துஷ்யந்த் அவர்களின் ரசிகர் பட்டாளம் சில நூற்றுக்கும் மேல் பெருகிவிடும் என்பதில் சந்தேகமில்லை. தென்கலை சம்பிரதாயத்தினரின் கோபமான முகங்களுக்கு சிவப்பு துணி ஆட்டப்படுவது போன்றதாகவும் இருக்கும். ஆனால், இரு சம்பிரதாயங்களையும்—வடகலையையும் தென்கலையையும்—சேர்ந்த ஸ்ரீவைஷ்ணவர்கள் தங்களிடம் கேட்க வேண்டிய கேள்வி இதுவே: இந்த அனைத்து வாக்குரை பேச்சுக்களும், ஸ்ரீ ராமானுஜரவர்களுக்குப் பின் “உபய வேதாந்தி”ன்களின் பெருமையான பாரம்பரியத்தின் பெரிய நோக்கத்தை உண்மையிலேயே சேவை செய்யுமா? அன்று அவர்கள் அனைவரும் அத்தன்மையில் அபிவிருதியுடன் இருந்தோம்.

Sudarshan Madabushi

“Eepa” (Sri. Indira Parthasarathy) and I discuss T.M.Krishna’s caricature of the “guru sishya sambhandham”

https://scroll.in/article/1090081/how-the-traditional-guru-shishya-system-undermined-critical-thinking-in-india

https://swarajyamag.com/culture/no-the-guru-iya-parampar-was-never-about-blind-obedience

This morning I forwarded/ Shared the above to links to “Eepa” Sir to read and give his views. He is a deep scholar in the traditional literature of India and I was keen to know what he would make out of TM Krishna’s specious thesis on the ancient Hindu educational institution handed down the generations as “guru-sishya parampara” or lineage.

My remark to Eepa Sir that I forwarded along with the online URLs was this below ⬇️

Sir, The pernicious anti-Hindu propaganda in Indian academia now regards singer T M Krishna as one of its high priests and ideologue . The guru-sishya relationship in Hindu ethos is an institution not a power-play as this perverted Op-Ed suggests . The purpose is clear : the most effective way to destroy Hinduism is to undermine and sabotage the ancient “guru sishya sambhandham”. It is a shame that T M Krishna is at the forefront of this toxic attack on Hindu culture .

Promptly in about half an hour, I received Eepa Sir’s messsge on WhatsApp. He made no comment at all, neither on the “Scroll” OpEd quoting TM Krishna’s views, nor the rebuttal that was published in the “Swarajya” nor on my own view castigating Krishna’s toxicity. Eepa message simply posed two sharp and searching questions to me:

  1. Do you approve of Drona as a guru demanding Ekalaiva who had been his disciple without his knowlege to give him his thumb as guru-dhakshina?
  2. And would Drona have taught him if he had revealed his caste?

My response to Eepa Sir was this :

Sir, these are loaded question you ask but IMHO they are frivolous because the answer to them cannot be other than contextual and relative to time .

In Dronacharya’s time Varna was an accepted social system of occupational hierarchy. What he did was very harsh to Ekalavya but then it was to teach a lesson to an upstart student who had through extraordinary “guru Bhakthi” yes, indeed, but nonetheless which also was more than just a bit of dissimulation of personal identity, had used stealthy means to acquire knowledge of “Astra sastra” which was was exclusive domain of Kshatriyas within the then prevalent social contract called Varnashrama Dharma.

But then it Ekalavya too who also was teaching a very fitting and sobering lesson to Dronacharya who was a Brahmin and had had no business really to engage in and master a martial art that was reserved only for the Kshatriyas.

Thus, we must be careful not to draw the wrong lessons from these two Mahabharata characters. They were not being casteist in the contemporary sense of the term . They were both exhibiting their respect for the Varna system , the social contract of their time. By mirroring each other, Ekalavya and Dronacharya were only exposing one another’s blatant violation of that normative social structure.

In today’s context, however, Varna is outlawed as a social structure. And so in today’s context , one could very easily ask these frivolous , mischievously hypothetical questions with no purpose other than to just repeat ad nauseum political propaganda narratives about so-called caste injustice that the Brahmin Dronacharya meted out to the Dalit Ekalavyan.

But, Sir, the Mahabharatha characters even today continue to have great relevance … but in a wholly different sense and worldly setting unrelated to caste.

Ekalavya deceived Dronacharya through usurpation or piracy of patented “intellectial property” akin to “industrial espionage” , or “copyright infringement”, “plagiarism” etc… all of which even in our modern world amount to criminality because they upend the prevailing social contract.

The Mahabharata is timeless . The lessons it imparts are ever relevant to us. Only the context changes.

Sudarshan Madabushi

Tenkalai and Vadakalai Sri Vaishnavas’ endless legal battle: Can a Phyrric victory for either side erase the “writing on the wall” for both?

What Is a Pyrrhic Victory? The Tragic Story Behind the Phrase ...
King Phyrrus of Epirus 280 BC

Pyrrhic means a victory won at such a devastating cost that it’s almost a defeat. King Pyrrhus of Epirus: his army suffered huge losses winning battles against the Romans, leaving him too weak to continue. It describes any success that ultimately proves worthless due to the immense price paid, like winning a lawsuit but losing everything in legal fees, or a team winning a game but losing their star players.

The Sri Vaishnavas of Tamil Nadu have been fighting a ceaseless and bruising sectarian war over respective temple worship rights since the 18th century CE in the Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal Temple with both Tenkalai and Vadakalai denominations behaving much like King Phyrrus of 280 BC.

On 28 November 2025, a Madras High Court Division Bench (R Sureshkumar and S Sounder) delivered a “common judgment” upholding the Thenkalai sect’s exclusive Adhyapaka Mirasi rights to lead Prabandham recitations (goshti) and rituals at Sri Devarajaswamy (Varadaraja Perumal) Temple in Kanchipuram.


Key Rulings on Rituals
• Mirasi Exclusivity: Affirmed pre-Constitutional decrees (1882, 1915, 1939, 1969) granting Thenkalai residents of Kanchipuram the hereditary right to perform official ceremonial services, including leading Divya Prabandham goshti during processions and temple worship; Vadakalais limited to participating as ordinary worshippers without independent recitation.


• Denominational Character: Declared the temple’s essential rituals as Thenkalai (Thennacharya) in nature under Article 26(c)/(d), rejecting Vadakalai claims of “mixed” or public status.


• HR&CE Act Impact: Held 1971 abolition of hereditary offices inapplicable, as Mirasi is a collective ritual-property right vested in the Thenkalai community, not individual emoluments.


Vadakalai Claims Rejected
Quashed a 2022 single-judge order allowing Vadakalai seating behind Thenkalais for joint recitation, ruling it violated settled decrees; emphasized Article 25 worship rights subject to Article 26 denominational protections and public order. The verdict urged sect unity while enforcing Thenkalai primacy in core rituals.

Now, on January 28, 2026:

The Supreme Court admitted the Vadakalai SLP (Special Leave Petition) against the 28 November 2025 Madras High Court verdict and appointed retired Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul as principal mediator on 28 January 2026, signaling openness to resolution but prioritizing amicable settlement over outright overturn.


Legal Strategy of Vadakalai : Success Prospects


Overturning the High Court verdict—upholding Thenkalai Adhyapaka Mirasi rights from pre-Constitutional decrees (1915/1969)—remains unlikely through litigation alone, as mediation typically aims for compromise rather than nullifying settled property-religious rights under Article 26(c)/(d).

Vadakalai arguments invoking Article 25 equality and 1971 HR&CE abolition of hereditary services gained only admission traction, but the Court’s directive for Justice Kaul (with Tamil/Sanskrit experts) to facilitate “day-to-day rituals in an amicable manner” suggests outcomes like time/space demarcations for recitations, not full reversal.

The Matter has now been listed for 13 March 2026 post-mediation, where failure to settle could lead to merits hearing, but historical deference to mirasi precedents favors partial gains at best.

Public Perception Impact

Sri Vaishnavas risk some public embarrassment from prolonged, high-profile airing of intra-sect rituals (e.g., goshti recitations at Kanchipuram Devarajaswamy Temple), as media frames it as a “120-year-old” feud between Ramanuja followers, potentially amplifying stereotypes of division.

However, the Supreme Court’s mediation push—echoing High Court pleas for unity (“two petals on one stem”)—positions it as constructive, mitigating backlash and highlighting shared heritage over discord.

Local Chennai sentiment and in other major Sri Vaishnava religious congregations elsewhere may view it neutrally given temple prominence, but national coverage could invite criticism if not ridicule and opprobrium if no quick compromise emerges.

WHY COMPROMISE BETWEEN TENKALAI and VADAKALAI IS BEST and WISE PATH for BOTH SECTS

If mediation fails, the Supreme Court will hear the Vadakalai SLP on merits on 13 March 2026, potentially leading to a substantive ruling on the High Court verdict.

What could happen then ?


Merits Hearing


The bench (CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi) will examine Vadakalai claims that the 28 November 2025 Madras High Court order violates Article 25 by upholding pre-Constitutional Thenkalai Adhyapaka Mirasi rights despite the 1971 HR&CE abolition of hereditary services.

The Possible outcomes include:


• Partial relief: Permitting Vadakalai recitations in non-mirasi spaces/times (e.g., courtyards, off-seva hours), balancing Article 26 temple autonomy with equality.
• High Court upheld: Affirmation of mirasi as settled tradition, dismissing SLP if no “substantial injustice” found under Article 136.
• Remand: Sending back to High Court for fresh consideration of constitutional issues.


Procedural and Practical Effects

1. Failure in Mediation will halt any interim status quo and will invite detailed arguments, all over again in the Supreme Court. But there is also the likelihood of non-speaking dismissal of the petition, barring refiling.

2. HR&CE may enforce stricter compliance, escalating tensions unless parties self-regulate; prolonged litigation could prompt Court directives for SOPs or administrative oversight.

3. Public’s friction at Kanchipuram Devarajaswamy Temple risks rising, though Court’s mediation push underscores preference for harmony.

4. Further gradual erosion in the moral and spiritual authority of the sectarian Jeeyars, Acharyas, pontiffs and religious leadership that they now at least seem to exercise over their respective flock.

And that would be certainly victory for both sects — a clear Phyrric Victory indeed!

The writing on the wall for Sri Vaishnava community is clear : Compromise and Co-Live or else face further interference of HR&CE Commission into your temple affairs.

Sudarshan Madabushi

“Whistle podu”: Is Actor Vijay “whistling in the dark” before elections?

https://open.substack.com/pub/narasimhanvijayaraghavan/p/the-symphony-of-the-whistle-a-high?r=22fqhg&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

The Whistle is not really such a great election symbol … in fact,  it portends looming inauspiciousness in many of English idioms we know. 

Vijay the parvenu politician is all bravado and no real substance . His filmy glamour is only tinsel thick veneer. 

He probably senses his vulnerability in the upcoming elections. He’s not sure his calculations of risk-assessments will not go suddenly awry at the last minute. 

At the moment he is like Hamlet caught in a dilemma “To be or not to be” … in a coalition with NDA or Congress?  Signs of dithering… 

That’s why from out of his subconscious-self comes this Freudian slip of a choice in taking the Whistle as his party’s symbol : He’s whistling in the dark.  

“Whistling in the dark” is an idiom meaning to pretend to be brave or confident when facing fear, uncertainty, or danger. It evokes the image of someone whistling alone in darkness to bolster courage or ward off imagined threats. The phrase also implies baseless optimism or wild guessing despite contrary evidence.

“Whistling in the dark” shares its metaphorical use of whistling with several other equally in auspicious English idioms, often evoking sounds of empty bravado, futility, or squeaky cleanliness put on for effect. These expressions draw from the act of whistling to convey emotions, actions, or states.

Bravery Idioms

Whistling metaphors frequently depict false courage in scary situations.

• Whistle past the graveyard:Pretending to be fearless while facing real danger, like driving through a haunted area while whistling.

• Wet one’s whistle: To take a quick drink, originally to moisten the mouth for whistling or before singing … out of nervousness . 

Futility Idioms

These highlight pointless efforts.

• Whistle Dixie (or “whistling Dixie”): Engaging in empty talk or daydreaming without action.

• Whistle in the wind: Attempting something hopeless that goes ignored.

Vijay chose the Whistle perhaps to convey the image to the public that he is “clean as a whistle” — oh so  perfectly clean or innocent!  — but he he doesn’t realise that his pretentious Mr Clean image is nothing but just  “Bells and whistles” — an extra, non-essential feature added just for cheap appeal.

Sudarshan Madabushi

“Six blind men, the elephant and a Tower of Babel”: How intellectuals think they really are making sense out of a senseless world

We in India believe ourselves to be equal intellectuals of those in the West who over the years have fed us with specious theories and treatises on how to make sense of the world and all its geopolitical tumult and historic tragedies.

For many years now, I myself have been an avid reader and follower of what western academicians and a few other foreign academicians have gone about peddling their fancy worldviews. Ever since Donald Trump became POTUS and the world plunged into more chaos — and a scenario of looming wars — than it ever has in the history of mankind, I am beginning to suspect that everything the Western intellectuals said and taught all these years about how to make sense of a senseless world is itself sheer nonsense. They have taken the common man like you and me on a merry go round of fiction and pablum.

To peel away all the nonsense that I suspect these intellectuals have been purveying, I turned to AI and asked it to create for me an imaginary Round Table Debate amongst them on the raging war now ongoing in Ukraine. The issue — which is indeed a festering wound on the entire world — presented to the group of intellectuals to discuss was this :

“What should be a rational and consensual view of when and how the Russo-Ukraine War will end ?”

AI created an imaginary roundtable debate amongst 4 of the most well known experts on International Relations from the West and one Russian historian. Each of them put forward sharpened arguments on the Russo-Ukraine War’s resolution.

After reading the transcript below of the round-table , my suspicions are confirmed: the best brains in the world have no clue about how to make sense of the world. All that they engage in is in fabled confabulations echoing that of the “six blind men and an elephant” … or the cacophony surrounding a Tower of Babel.

Read on….

Sudarshan Madabushi

*********

Alexander Dugin, Zbigniew Brzezinski, John Mearsheimer, Samuel Huntington, and Henry Kissinger.

Openings lead to pointed exchanges.


Dugin’s Opening:

Ukraine lacks historical legitimacy as a sovereign entity; it forms the core of Russia’s civilizational space. The war corrects this, reclaiming Crimea and Donbas to establish Eurasian multipolarity against NATO expansionism.


Brzezinski’s Opening:

Control of Eurasia defines global primacy; U.S. strategy must prevent Russian dominance there. Ukraine’s independence, supported by Western aid, ensures Moscow’s eventual overextension and retreat.


Mearsheimer’s Opening:

NATO’s eastward push created a security dilemma, prompting Russia’s preemptive action to secure a neutral buffer. The conflict settles into stalemate or partition along current lines, as decisive victory eludes both sides.


Huntington’s Opening:

This pits Orthodox civilization against Western Christendom along Ukraine’s cultural divide. Resolution requires partition: Orthodox regions to Russia, Western-aligned areas to Europe, respecting fault lines.


Kissinger’s Opening:

Provocation met overreaction, but escalation threatens catastrophe. Diplomacy restores approximate pre-2014 borders—Crimea to Russia, Ukraine neutral—to maintain great-power balance.


Argumentative Exchanges


Dugin presses Brzezinski:

Your chessboard analogy falters, Zbigniew; NATO’s encroachment provoked this reclaiming of sacred territory. U.S. domestic shifts under Trump undermine sustained aid—Eurasia rises regardless.


Brzezinski counters Dugin:

Civilizational rhetoric masks expansionism, Alexander. Sanctions and arms expose Russia’s vulnerabilities; Ukraine’s resolve integrates it into the Western sphere, denying you Eurasia.


Mearsheimer challenges Brzezinski:

NATO expansion was predictable folly, not destiny. Your primacy invites endless proxy wars; realism demands acknowledging mutual deterrence and freezing the front.


Huntington rebuts Mearsheimer:

Security dilemmas ignore deeper cultural fissures, John. Forcing unity across civilizational lines perpetuates conflict—partition alone stabilizes, as history shows in the Balkans.


Kissinger questions Huntington:

Fault lines explain tensions but not solutions, Samuel. Equilibrium requires negotiation, not ethnic cartography; neutrality for Ukraine prevents Russian encirclement by NATO.


Dugin rebuts Kissinger:

Balance presumes Western moral superiority, Henry—false premise. Multipolar spheres demand Russia’s full sphere of influence, not your compromised midground.


Brzezinski interjects Mearsheimer:

Provocation narratives excuse aggression; sustained pressure compels Russian withdrawal, securing the European order against revanchism.


Mearsheimer responds to all:

Theories aside, power dynamics dictate stalemate. Neither side capitulates without existential loss—armistice preserves what balances remain.


Huntington to Dugin:

Your integration risks civilizational backlash; recognize boundaries to end the fault-line war sustainably.


Closing Positions

Dugin: Eurasian integration prevails; Western unipolarity ends.


Brzezinski: American leadership forces Russian defeat.


Mearsheimer: Partitioned stalemate endures.


Huntington: Civilizational separation stabilizes.


Kissinger: Negotiated balance averts disaster.

END of DISCUSSION

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”: William Shakespeare

When this biography above of EV Ramaswamy (aka “Periyar”) grabs a lot more readership and eyeballs in Tamil Nadu and in far away Cambridge than my own recently published book on Rt. Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri  does even in Mylapore, Chennai, India (see below), you might tend to say that it brings to mind at once a very famous quotable quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: …. “something is rotten in the State of Denmark”… er.. or, maybe State of Tamil Nadu ? …

regards…  M K Sudarshan 🙏 

Sent from my iPhone

On 5 Jan 2026, at 10:20 PM, Ramakrishnan Sundaram . com> wrote:

<The Cambridge Companion to Periyar (A. R. Venkatachalapathy, Karthick Ram Manoharan etc.) (Z-Library).pdf>


Sent from my iPad

Sudarshan Madabushi