[Advaita-l] (no subject)

[Srikanta Narayanaswami]

Dear Srikanta,
 
The interesting points which you mentioned are not as per saMpradAya.  First of 
all, linking the “sunaka” word to Vaiswadeva,  Vaishwanara & Saunaka Muni is 
sampradAya viruddha.   
 
Some of the scholars without knowing the srauta siddhanta ascribe the “vi” and 
“shwa” with vaishwadeva to be insects & dogs.  The sAstra is very clear here 
that says “viswedeva devata asya vaiswadevah”.   Among the pancha pAka yajnAs, 
vaiswadevah is one among them which is related to 12 Viswedevatas.   

 
Taking the “shwa” from Vaishwanara is sAstra-viruddha and there is no sAstra 
pramaNa for this.  It is related to “vishwa” and hence “vaishwanara”.   Going as 
per your finding, then the term “vishwam” of Vishnu Sahasranama should have been 
“krimi-kItaKa-sunaka-maya tattva” which is blasphemous.  

 
As regards the name of Saunaka Muni,  he is a great sage who is ever immersed in 
atma tattva.   There is a special characteristic which is ascribed to Saunaka 
Muni and that is “sabda grahaNa sakti”.    Whatever may be the distance and 
wherever he was, Saunaka Muni used to assimilate the tattva jnana from His Guru 
Suta Mahamuni.    Saunaka with tremendous concentration and rapt attention used 
to assimilate the vidyas from Suta Muni.   It is this special attribute of 
“sadba grahaNa sakti” which is also present in Sunaka.  Sunaka (Dog) can grasp 
the distant sounds; can smell and trace out the culprits.   
 
As regards the Dattatreya Tattva, it has been rightly perceived that 4 vedas are 
4 sunakas but if we go further deeper, they are a-kAra, u-kAra, m-kAra & 
ardha-mAtrAs respectively.    This was told to me by great mimAmsaka scholar of 
Sringeri Mahamahopadhyaya VK Dongreji.  

 
Regs,
Sriram
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Dear Sriram,

I mentioned these points to know how the word "Sunaka"and the rishi 
"Shaunaka"are connected by padautpatti,and not to discuss whether they are 
sastraviruddha or not.Further,I have seen the orthodox pundits in our family 
circles why they perform "Vaishwadevam"ritual,and they gave the explanation I 
have cited.I have also consulted many mimamsaka pundits who are performing this 
ritual.I am interested to know how this originated in our daily rituals,that is 
all.It is a well known fact that etymologically the particle,"Shwa"denotes a 
dog.I am not saying that the word,Vishwam'in vishnusahasranamam as 
'krimi,kita,sunaka maya tatva"which as per your finding is blasphemous is not my 
interpretation.It is well known that the dog breathes with its toungue 
protruding outward.The Mandukya Upanishad and the Gaudapada karika,defines 
Vaishwanara as "ekonavimsati mukhah".What I am interested is etymologically what 
is the connection between Sunaka and Saunaka.That is all.
Regards,
N.Srikanta.
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