Vedanta in Tamil and Sri Ramakrishna Math

I have been writing every now and then on the subject of Vedanta in Tamil. And this subject will not be complete and meaningful if we do not mention and praise with our full heart the glorious services of Sri Ramakrishna Math. Not only in Tamil, but in very many languages across India and all over the world, RK Math makes available in easy and accessible style the great scriptures of Hinduism. Accessible mainly to the lay public and common readers everywhere. In Tamil in the recent years a great feat has been accomplished by a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, viz., Swami Asutoshananda.

The main books basic and referential in Hinduism in a broad sense can be listed as the following three books - Upanishads, Sri Brahma Sutras, Srimad Bhagavat Gita. These three books have been termed as 'Three systems of books'. In Sanskrit it is termed as 'Prasthana Traya'. Ten Upanishads form the most referenced and universal out of a vast collection. Sri Brahma Sutras otherwise known as Vedanta Sutras, a systematic presentation of the core concepts of Upanishads. Again Sri Bhagavat Gita is a summary in poetic form of all important ideas of the Upanishads. All these three sets of books have been engaging great minds of our Hindu society belonging to different schools of conviction and as a result we have in our heritage many libraries of commentaries and meta-commentaries down the millennia. But in Tamil for the common people and lay public good and readable translations have been a recurring necessity. There have been excellent attempts to satisfy this need many times in premodern and modern days. (Sri Anna of R K Math Chennai, Sri Kuppuswamy Raju of Thanjavur) But now we can be satisfied that a solid attempt has been made by Swami Asutoshananda. Care for the common reader is so very evident in each and every page of the monk's efforts. 

Of course each and every book deserves praise from an eager reader. But what he has achieved in Brahma Sutras is so brilliant by way of communication and easy putting forth. It is not to say that there are not points to differ and argue between scholars but when viewed from what a common reader will be getting for the meagre price, it is wonderful. And the duty of a common reader of Hindu society, if not of any serious minded reader, begins with investing in such rare sets of the three books of reference.
Srirangam Mohanarangan

***