The Value of Archival material at Sadagopan.org
My association with Oppiliappan Sannidhi U.Ve. SrimanV.Sadagopan dates back to 1995 when he first invited me to contribute to and participate in his Sri Vaishnava cyber-satsanghwww.oppiliappan@yahoogroups.com.
I was (and to a large extent still remain) a relative novice in the lofty subjects of Sri Vaishnava philosophy, theology, traditions, customs and literary heritage, being as I was then utterly unschooled in the ways of orthodox Sri Vaishnava “paramparavidya”.
I was then living and working as an expatriate corporate manager in the Arabian Gulf State of Bahrain, a wholly foreign clime and environment hardly conducive to serious study of Sri Vaishnavite scriptural literature. Further, my career preoccupations and responsibilities hardly allowed me time to engage in proper “svadhyaaya” or “saadhana” of the kind which is indeed required of anyone who is intent on acquiring a reasonable grasp and understanding of the whole gamut of Sri Vaishnava “saatvic” inquiry starting with the tenets of “sriramanuja darsanam” and moving on then to the theistic mysticism of “alwar prabhandha arulacheyyals” and the majesty of Swami Desikan’s poetic as well as philosophical “granthas”, not to mention those works of several other “achaaryas” in the great lineage of Sri Vaishnavite preceptors and saints.
I shuddered thus to think that I could make bold to join with any degree of self-confidence that august satsangh of scholars headed by Sri Sadagopan. I therefore baulked at the idea and it was only with great trepidation, however, that after much initial hesitation, and thanks to the gentle encouragement and prodding of Sri Sadagopan, I began to contribute in bits and pieces via blogs to Sri Sadagopan’s cyber-group and also began to take part in its daily round of online discussions.
Looking back now after 2 decades of association with Sri Sadagopan and his cyber-satsangh, I realize that it was perhaps the first step I took towards one of the most rewarding personal learning experiences for me in life.
The time I spent on the Oppiliappan group was truly informal, easy-going, pleasant and highly interactive e-learning about Sri Vaishnavism — an experience I could never have imagined would have been possible for me in life given that I was a resident outside India continuously for well over two decades, and cut off, as it were, from my native soil, its spiritual milieu, religious environs and cultural moorings.
All through the years since 1995, when my cyber-Satsangh association with Sri Sadagopan first began, he went out of his way to encourage and enrich my e-learning by constantly educating youngsters (then) like me through his daily blogs and postings about a mind-boggling array and variety of themes and subjects on Sri Vaishnavism.
Through interactive discourses through the Oppiliappan group-site, where along with Sri Sadagopan a host of other young and elderly scholars of Sri Vaishnavism too posted essays, views, thoughts, reports and treatises, people like me in the far-flung corners of the world were enabled to study and savor the rich treasures of Ubhaya-Vedantic literature abounding in the ancient tradition called Sri Vaishnavam.
As a student myself, any time I needed to refer a particular subject on Sri Vaishnavism, or else anytime I felt I had a doubt or question regarding Sri Sampradaya, I found myself almost reflexively reaching into the archives of the Oppiliappan group-list just to access a posting or a series of postings made earlier on precisely on that very subject or theme by Sri Sadagopan. So wide and comprehensive in coverage were Sri Sadagopan’s erudite blogs that soon his archival material assumed the dimensions and quality of a veritable world-class e-library, nay, treasure-trove of Sri Vaishnavite knowledge-base.
Over the last two decades, such archives of Sri Sadgopan, thanks to his own herculean efforts and that of his team of fans and admirers the world over, have come to be digitized and housed today at his own web-site “www.Sadagopan.org”.
When any Sri Vaishnava anywhere in the world today, seeking to know anything worth knowing about Sri Vaishnavite literature, searches (or rather Googles) the worldwide Web, the first site he is almost certain to hit is Sri Sadagopan’s website of archives. The archival material housed here is a cornucopia of Sri Vaishnava scripture all so beautifully and easily rendered into the English Language from the difficult and formidable texts of ancient Sanskrit, Tamil and Mani-pravaalam vernacular. By the stroke of a keyboard or the click of a mouse-button today, anyone who is keen to enjoy the treasures of Sri Vaishnavite spiritual literature can find it easily housed at http://www.Sadagopan.org.
This digital archive thus has indeed grown and evolved into a precious knowledge-resource for the entire community of Sri Vaishnavas worldwide. In a way one can say it bridges the ancient world of palm-leaf, stone-inscription and copper-plate media — in which our ancient scriptures were both recorded and treasured long centuries ago — with the modern day digital world when “meta-data”, “meta-information” and “meta-knowledge” are all being stored in hard-disk, CD or Cloud media.
Thanks to the efforts of persons like Sri Sadagopan, we can say the literary masterpieces of the Sri Vaishnava past are today safe, cherished and readily available to the modern “digital generation” in a form and format that serves the purposes and fashion of the modern time. For this great service rendered to present and future generations of Sri Vaishnavas, Sri Sadagopanand www.Sadagopan.org deserve both kudos and unstinted,whole-hearted community support.
www.sadaopan.org continues to serve an enduring and monumental cyber-treasure house of Sri Vaishnavite scriptural literature, history and anthologies.
Dr. Sadagopan was a scholar and deeply spiritual person ! I had the privilege of corresponding with him on many matters of Sath vishayam over the email since 1996! He wrote a brilliant Preface for the first edition of my very first book published in 2016 “Unusual Essays of an Unknown Sri Vaishnava “. He always had an encouraging word to me as for everyone . His kainkaryams for our sampradaayam is legendary and invaluable !
We have lost a Sri Vaishnava in America of exemplary stature. He has ascended to the Abode of Sriman Naaraayana where he will be welcomed !
Daasoham
M K Sudarshan