https://youtu.be/
In this short Video-clip in Tamil an “Ubaya Vedantin” (U.Ve) scholar has so clearly and expansively explained why a true Sri Vaishnava can never be a language chauvinist… why he holds in equally high esteem both the Sanskrit and Tamizh languages since both are celebrated in our “sampradaayam” as being the verbalised forms of Godhood… “Deva bhaashai” or “mozhi”.
Sri Vaishnavas call themselves “Sri ubaya vedaantins” (“U.Ve.”) I.e. those who know that the best way to get enlightened by and through the verities of Vedanta is to study it in 2 (ubaya) languages … Sanskrit and Tamizh.
Out of 4 principal Vedantic texts that all Sri Vaishnavas therefore are enjoined to study diligently in life and comprehend thoroughly, 2 are in Sanskrit language ( Upanishads and Bhagavath Gita) and 2 are in Tamizh language (Tiuvoimozhi) and it’s Commentary (Bhaashya) called “Bhagavath-Vishayam” (which is in fact written in a beautiful blend of both Tamizh and Sanskrit called “Mani-pravaalam”).
The scriptural authority for upholding the tradition of Ubaya Vedantins is found principally in the clear affirmations in the works of two towering ‘acharyas’ of the Sri Vaishnava “sampradaaya” … Thirumangai Azhwaar and Swami Vedanta Desikan. The scholar in this video has taken the pains to refer us to those quotations of the two Acharyas.
If people of TamilNadu and elsewhere in the country truly understood the Ubaya Vedanta tradition with an open and unprejudiced mind, they would never suspect any Sri Vaishnavan of any sectarian denomination to be any kind of linguistic chauvinist with any sort of prejudice against either Sanskrit or Tamizh.
The tradition of Ubaya Vedanta in fact explodes the myth that in Tamil Nadu there was or there is any native or irreconcilable conflict or antipathy between Sanskrit-speaking and Tamil speaking communities and that certain castes or classes of society here in this State are inimical to the growth and development of either of the languages.
Sudarshan Madabushi