The Lord Accepts Imperfect Gifts

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Dear Bhaagavathaals,

 

Perhaps it's Sri Anbil Swamy's wonderful postings on the nature of Brahman

(the more you know, the more you realize how little you know...) and his

advice that we should learn to have simple and complete faith in our

stories. Perhaps it was someone's ranking of worthy and not-so-worthy

emails that'll fly off the "sanga palagai" (the author meant well, only as a

humble intro to his email)... Perhaps the thoughts of some NRI who returned

to India triggered this, but I've been thinking about one of my favorite

Gunas among the trillion KalyanaGunas of our Lord....

 

The Truly Great Are Truly Humble, and The Lord Is The Humblest Of All:

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We, especially when we get "used to" a few conveniences (how quickly we can

get "unused to" a simple lifestyle :-)), do not always find it easy to "come

down" in our circumstances. We enter a friend's home in India, and even if

we think of ourselves as simple folks, we're aware of the size/condition of

chairs... Most of us did not grow up in palaces, and yet, however hungry we

get, we cannot currently imagine swallowing a fruit (not without hesitation,

anyway) that an old woman in a hut bites first , and hands to us with her

"echhil" on it. If such was offered to us, we may not even focus on the

level of affection with which it was given, but on a self-focused "How can I

refuse this without hurting her feelings...?" Sabari Moksham is a story that

brings most people to tears, to think of Lord Sri Ramachandra Murthy seated

on the floor of her hut, the impulsive Lakshmana uncharacteristically hiding

his own hesitation, with Lord Rama smilingly accepting Sabari's offerings

(she had waited many long years for Him), is a very moving scene.

 

Lord Krishna did not lag behind. Not only did He eat mud as a child, but

even when He was the King of Dwaraka, He eagerly snatched the plain "aval"

that his poor friend Sudama had brought wrapped in a bit of cloth torn off

the end of the well-worn and old sari that his wife had been wearing at that

time. (The story of Sudama, who lived in utter poverty, and yet could only

think "what can I give Him?" and not "what should I ask for?" when he went

to visit his rich friend, is a particularly good lesson for the poor

children (there are so many ways to be poor) growing up here amidst too many

toys...) While we're always talking about His Makara Kundalam and Ratna

Kireetam, He suggested gifts He would appreciate: Phalam, Pushpam, Patram,

Thoyam...

 

It has always seemed to me that Humility holds the key to all understanding

of our faith, our lives, even our cooking! Mothers tell their daughters,

"Aennu kekkaathe, naan sollarathe pannu!" (Don't ask "why") I remember

wondering at the age of eight or so why one always had to sprinkle turmeric

on "paruppu" to cook it. Some years later I read in the recipe section of a

"Back to Godhead" issue that "turmeric not only kills the particular type of

bacteria found in lentils, it speeds up the time of cooking..".

 

For generations people have kept a Tulasi plant in each home, and few have

been taught that it gives out ozone (so I read, I don't know).... When

French scientists went to "clean up" the Ganges, there was a spate of

articles about some extra oxygen molecules in the waters of the Ganges that

neutralize pollutants, and that the same amount of toxic substance in

ordinary water vs Ganges water showed very different results...that after

some time for settling, the toxicity was less in the Ganges water...the

"amazing purifying properties" of Gangajal was then in the news... (one

could see thousands of rishis opening one eye and saying "oh, really?")

 

When iron ore was discovered in India at the start of the KudreMukh project

(so named because of the rock formation showing a horse's head), there was

much excitement when it was pointed out that in the Ramayana, it says

"Ashwatho Mukhaha, Dhaatu Mandithaha". So, fact or fiction? If one gets the

impression that there is a lot more to all this than one can comprehend in a

lifetime, and therefore, it's wise to simply take for granted and accept as

truth, that's a solid foundation, a platform for growth, and what's more, it

teaches humility, one of the hardest lessons for us humans.

 

When Western science, especially in the field of Health, makes "new"

discoveries -

"Breath control can effect mind/emotion control!"

"Faith helps cure even terminal illnesses...a study is being conducted.."

"Vegetarian diet is an anti-cancer diet.."

"Meditation/yoga have health benefits"...

etc, we feel thousands of years older.

 

Could it not be, that other truths that we question should have been as

obvious to us, but we're both too ignorant and too arrogant (always a bad

combo) to either "see" or accept..?

 

We get out our scales and we measure people in every little group and

subgroup. Dr. Sadagopan is a Pandithar, Sri Madhavakannan's intellectual

reach is impressively vast... (Luckily for us and for them, their humility

is a comfortable shield agaist all encomiums...). Relatively unsung, Shree

goes on with Manobodha, and who's to say the power of saying Ramanama can be

any less ("Bhavasamudra sukhad naav ek ramanaam.." Ramanama's the only boat

you need to cross samsaara..)..

 

Our stories tell us again and again, there are many ways to get there... (a

great comfort to the likes of me, who has accepted that great intellectual

achievement is a lost hope for this lifetime...). Here's my favorite:

 

A sage sits alone, meditating in the stillness of the Himalayas... A crane

flutters its wings as it lands near him, disturbing his concentration. The

sage has acquired many powers due to his penance, and now, angry with the

bird for disturbing him, he glares at it, and the bird burns to ashes right

there. (It always seemed to me that much trouble could have been averted in

our stories if "krodham" and "lobham" had been the purchase price taken away

before any boon was given... but the Lord is so resourceful - remember His

bending at Sage Brighu's feet as if in obeisance and plucking out the extra

eye, or stooping to conquer as Vamana - He likes to play games).

 

Months/years later, the sage leaves the Himalayas, and one day, he

approaches the house of a Pativrata. "Bhavathi bhikshaam dehi!" he shouts.

It being one of those olden style homes, he can see the lady of the house

moving about far inside. She carries food from the kitchen to the next room

to serve her husband. She can hear the sage, but being a pativrata, she will

not be distracted until her husband has eaten. So she keeps walking back and

forth with various vessels. The sage is enraged but continues to wait. When

the husband has eaten, the woman picks up a vessel of rice and comes to give

the sage, but he stands there glaring at her in anger. Regardless, she

approaches, and then asks with a smile, "Kokkenru ninaithaayo kongannava?"

(Oh, Brahman, did you think I was a crane (to be vaporized by your

glare)...?) So the ability to be a "seer" and know all that had happened in

some distant land, the same powers that one can get thru severe

penance/intellectual search etc, one can get simply by implicitly following

one's dharma.

 

Human beings build hierarchies....quoting this work is impressive, quoting

that entire other work is even better. It's about as inflexible and

unimaginative as the thinking in some circles that the only worthwhile

occupations are those of doctors or engineers. I sense that there are any

number of brothers and sisters on this list who may not have an impressive

bibliography to reference, but perhaps a personal experience or sharing of

love for the Lord.... I would like to encourage you to write too (as if to

say, duh, if I can write...) ....otherwise the same 5 people carry the load

(granted they have amazing pearls to share and we're very fortunate to have

them do so). Yes, "we particularly enjoy Alwar poetry and Upanishadic

philosophy", but the fields of interest should considerably broaden when we

focus on the tastes of the Central Player.

 

He asks for so little...

Everyone knows the story of Sage Narada referring to himself as the Lord's

Greatest Bhaktan and Lord Vishnu saying with a smile, "oh no, my greatest

bhaktan lives in bhoolokam". Sage Narada came down to check out the bhaktan,

a farmer, and found him to be busy in the field all day. The man only

stopped once in the morning and once in the evening to say "Hari". When Sage

Narada asked the Lord how that could possibly compare with his own scholarly

and spiritual magnificience, the Lord asked him to carry a pot (brimming

with water) around the building without a single drop falling out. At the

end of the exercise the Lord asked the sage how many times he had thought of

Him...

So He understands about earthly chores, and is pleased with every bit of

love and Bhakti...

 

"I bow my head, but it can never reach down to where Thou dwells,

Amidst the Poorest, the Loneliest and the Lost..."

 

Namaskaram,

Viji Raghunathan