By Sunil Kumar
I would once again like to express my gratitude to the Indic Book Club and the Indic Book Academy for another fabulous book. Finally finished reading ‘Venkatesa Suprabhatam’ by Shri Venkatesh Parthasarathy.
At first glance, one would be tempted to dismiss the idea of a book based solely on a devotional prayer. That would be a wrong assessment. Through ‘Venkatesa Suprabhatam’, the author gives one an insight into centuries of devotion, scholarship and historical footprints in the sands of time. If we take Puranic timelines, everything lasts for manvantaras, but on a more mundane earthly scale, the story here is of more than a millennium.
A poignant quote in the book that appealed to me is from the philosopher-President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan at the launch of the iconic M.S Subbulakshmi rendition of the devotional song. Coming a year after the first brutal aggression by Communist China on India in 1962, he said, ‘The play goes on, though the actors may change. If we are the inheritors of the great traditions of this country, we should stand up for the right and defend against the assaults by wrong.’
Nearly 60 years on, the actors have morphed into different avatars but the challenge to Indic traditions are graver. The main thrust of the book is however a historical and devotional overview of the scholastic, intellectual and devotional undercurrent that sustained the ‘Suprabhatam’ for a thousand years.
Vaishnavism, the more accessible approach to Godhead in Sanatana Dharma tradition has always seemed less abstract to ‘many; people than the more impersonal, jnana Advaita path. The Bhagavad Gita has indicated a certain degree of spiritual free will. There is a lot of debate on the subject which this author has wisely avoided. A critic seemed to think that the book read like a temple pamphlet, but that was not my impression. The author has tried to incorporate historical milestones in what is certainly an outpouring of devotional frenzy, a sublime hymn to Sri Venkatesa.
Present-day Tirupati is the most visited shrine in the country and the crowds seem to be in a divine stupor or a transactional relationship depending on your perspective/outlook.
The author’s nuanced look and research into Sanskrit prosody, etymology and traditions have their desired effect- inculcating reverence for the prayer and its author- Prativadi Bhayankar Anna.
The criticism of the narrative could be that it leaves the reader yearning for even more detail like a book on Sanskrit by Sampadananda Mishra that I’ve read last year. Also, the author seems to lack a central focus.
In his defence, Mr. Parthasarathy has named other books that the more piqued, interested reader can look at.
This is not a book that is a intellectual tour de force, but a compelling short introduction into some of the most profound spiritual dialectic the world had ever produced in medieval and ancient South India.
I would certainly recommend it to anybody with an interest in the area. Divinity is an important factor referenced in the book, and I would concur.
Listening to the Suprabhatam off and on for the last few years, I was certainly interested. Learning Sanskrit for the past year also helped me appreciate it more. It was Godly intervention, perhaps, that I received a copy of the book.
