On worship - (Salagramam)

[Guest guest]

Speaking about worship, sometime ago Mani wrote:

 

"It would seem that the attitude of the worshipper

is what is more important. Is not Krishna's teaching

in the Gita that selfless action dedicated to Him

causes no karma? With this in mind, I would conclude

that someone who worships with selfless love, not

looking for any personal benefit (i.e., a paramaikAntin)

is bereft of any fault if there is a lapse in performance.

 

However small the offering, if given with selfless love,

is incomprehensibly dear to Him. What then if an imperfect

being unintentionally slips up here or there?"

 

Mani

 

Adiyen's response:

 

Our experience shows that any system that tolerates mistakes and

imperfections, ultimately degenerates into nothing. I think sincerity of

purpose and striving for excellence go together. An earnest aspirant will

do his best not to compromise. For example - if we take the Vedas - but

for the emphasis on right svaras and varnas it would not have been possible

for a tradition that depended on oral transmission to preserve them intact

for thousands of years.

 

The doctrine of Prapatti often comes under attack for the very same reason

that we take refuge under prapatti for our acts of omission and commission.

They say that we are not courageous enough to own the responsibility for

our action. I tell my advaitin friends that the life led by

Ramanujacharya, Desika, Manavala Mamunigal and other acharyas were no less

rigor and sastraic than the acharyas of other schools notwithstanding the

dependance on prapatti. I also understand that acharyas of the 'good old

days' would only grant prapatti after ensuring that he/she has lead a

sastraic life.

 

On the question of worshipping for material benefits etc., I think it is

perhaps easy for people like us (who have been blessed with considerable

felicity) to say that it must be eschewed. While we all agree that

paramaikantikatvam is the ultimate ideal, it is for too distant a goal for

most people. The fact that only a minority of Sri Vaishnavas do not resort

to Anya Devata worship (in some form or other) is a clear indication that

people are not willing to ignore 'Ihaloka sukam' i.e. the needs of this

world.

 

 

Vijayaraghavan Srinivasan