[Advaita-l] mleccha-s not eligible to take Hinduism??

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 11:42 AM, S L Shivashankar <slshivashankar at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Dear Praveen and others,
>
> I agree that the late Sri Rangapriya desikan was a first-rate scholar. I
> have met him myself at his ashram in Hanumantanagar in Bangalore. Moreover
> one of my best friends, a Swedish person just like myself, is a disciple of
> Sri Rangapriya Swami. Sometime before my friend went to India in order to
> approach Sri Rangapriya he underwent upanayanam from a pandit here in
> Europe. Hence when he came to Sri Rangapriya he was wearing his upavitam
> and sikha, and Sri Rangapriya approved of this, and gave my friend
> Panchasamskara, mantra with pranava and the name Sri Ramanujadasa. This was
> in 1999 or 2000. My friend went to his ashram on several later visits to
> India too. In the year 2004 I went to Bangalore with my friend (this is
> what Sri Bhaskar referred to in one of his mails in this thread), and one
> day I followed him to his Guru Sri Rangapriya. There where other disciples
> there as well, but me and my friend where the only westerners. I wore my
> upavitam, sikha, dothi and tripundram, and I can assure you that Sri
> Rangapriya didn´t in any way object to that, and so did no one else either.
> I was fortunate to get tirtha and prasadam from his own hands. Just like my
> swedish friend, I got a warm and most heartly welcome.
>
> Warmest regards
> Shivashankar
>

Dear Shri Shivashankar,

>From what I have heard extensively the talks of Sri Velukkudi Krishnan, the
famous exponent of Vishistadvaita, the term 'Ramanuja dasan' goes with
everyone of the Srivaishnava sampradaya without the varna/gender
specification.  It does not require upanayana, shikha, etc.  Tripundra
might be specified but not a must.  One who has Vishnu bhakti, one whose
heart bleeds on the sight of his fellow beings' suffering, etc. are the
qualities of a Vaishnava.  The scholar often cites the famous song rendered
beautifully by M.S.Subbulakshmi  'Vaishnava jana to..' of the Gujarati poet
Narsi Mehta to explain who a true Vaishnava is.  He has stressed that as a
Ramanuja dasa there is no difference between one and another.  But he is
also very clear about the varna-dharma that prevails within the
srivaishnava sampradaya regarding right to veda study and such other
matters.

What I wish to say is just that a 'Ramanuja dasa' can be anyone without
having to be of a particular jati or nationality or gender.

Regards
subrahmanian.v