Many people braved the cold and traffic on Friday Oct 26, 2018 to attend the lecture of Sri. Dushyanth Sridhar.   It appeared as though the pouring rain that stopped the previous day began inside the hall of Sri Lakshmi Temple in the form of a torrent of verses and words.  The lecture was organized by the Asthikas of New England and was Sri Dushyanth Sridhar’s first lecture in the  New England area although he is well known and has given several lectures throughout the United States for the past few years.

Sri Dushyanth Sridhar has been making waves thanks to his ‘modern interpretation’ of the Vedas and the Puranas. The captive audience on that day, literally as many were standing throughout the lecture, comprised of young and old.  The lecture titled “Nrisimha, the unparalleled” was given in English and presented in a way that people of varying age categories and backgrounds could understand.  He used contemporary metaphors and examples to make his points referencing current world affairs, science and fictional literature such as Harry Potter.

The lecture started out using the style of storytelling with reference to the Narasimha Avatar of Sri Vishnu but developed into a discussion of Santana Dharma “the Vedic way of life” and the philosophy of ancient seers and later day teachers including versatile, polyglot (Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakrit, Pali), poet-philosopher, Swami Vedanta Desikan.  In fluent and flawless English, he transitioned effortlessly between Sanskrit and Tamil verses to annotate the lecture.   He dropped humor throughout the lecture making abstract concepts easier to follow.  The lecture was further lightened with musical renditions and quotes from other languages such as Hindi and Kannada.

Sri Dushyanth Sridhar concluded the lecture by summarizing the lessons from the story of the Narasimha Avatar especially the teachings of Sanatana Dharma.    He highlighted Prahlatha’s unwavering faith by withstanding the tyranny of his King and father. He discussed reasons for temple worship in the form of abhishekam, archanas or reciting slokas.  During the question and answer session from the audience, he explained that being a “good person and performing good deeds” is not a choice but a necessity. He gave examples that Sanatana Dharma involves not hurting others verbally or physically, taking care of parents when they are no longer able to, offering food to God before consuming any food even if nontraditional items such as Pizza and using mental and emotional tolerance and peace to keep a family together.

A book written by Sri Dushyanth Sridhar on Vedanta Desika–The Peerless Poet-Preceptor and published by Jagathguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Trust was made available on this occasion.  To learn more about Sri Dushyanth Sridhar and all the activities, please refer to an “app” called “Desika Daya”.

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