RE: Question :BhagavAn svayam - 2

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Para Brahmane namaha

Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Divya pAdukA sevaka Srivan Shatakopa -

Sri nArAyaNa Yateendra mahAdesikAya namaha

 

Dear Sri rAm gopAlswAmy & other devotees ,

namo nArAyaNA. Kindly accept adiyen's pranAmams.

 

---- cont --------------

 

5. Qtn : Who is nArAyaNA ? what is the difference between Him & the

avatArams like KrishNA , rAmA , ranganAthA & PeraruLALan ?

 

Ans : nArAyaNA is not merely someone with 4 hands , conch , chakrA

etc . nArAyaNA is the paramAtmA who pervades everywhere with

infinite kalyAna gunAs & ever associated with "Sri" (Lakshmi).

 

"nArAyaNA" refers to the divyAtma svaroopam which pervades

everywhere & He is the Brahman (source of creation ,

the maintainer & in whom it dissolves ) .

 

nArAyaNA is always personal because of His infinite kalyAna

gunAs . Just because He is all pervading , it doesn^Òt mean that

He is impersonal . The same infinite nArAyaNA takes many

forms for the pleasure of His devotees & the body of such forms

are made up of the special aprAkruta material called

"suddha sattvam " & such incarnations are out of His own will

(ie.Not because of karmA). The infinite qualities of nArAyaNA

are not because of His form . It is based on His svaroopam &

His dharmabhooda jn~Anam both of which are infinite . For

example , a human being speaks , laughs , shows compassion to

others , makes friends etc because of the jIvAtmA & not

that the material body by itself is doing all these things .

Similarly,nArAyaNA is present inside the divine body (divya mangaLa

vigraham) & thereby gives oppurtunities to His devotees to serve

Him. Thus "nArAyaNA" is different from nArAyaNA^Òs form .

 

But , nArAyaNA eternally gives the sevai (darSan) with divya

mangaLa vigrahA at Sri VaikuNTham . But muktAtmAs &

nityasUrIs can also enjoy the divyAtma svaroopam of

nArAyaNA which is million times more blissful than His divya

mangaLa vigrahA .

 

Unfortunately , baddha jIvAtms can^Òt have the sAkshAtkAram of

Him (ie. DivyAtma svaroopam). It is debarred for them by the

sankalpam of nArAyaNA . Wherever "nArAyaNA" is mentioned

it refers to His divyAtma svaroopam & not to His form , of which

the four handed form which He takes is the most famous . A

baddha jIvAtmA can atbest know about nArAyaNA (divyAtma

svaroopam ) & discuss about His kalyAna gunAs & in that way

meditate on His divyAtma svaroopam , but cannot have its

sAkshAtkAram.

 

But nArAyaNA doesn^Òt wash away his hands . He is ever

merciful & thus takes beautiful forms . So , His

"divya mangaLa vigrahA" is the sole refuge for His devotees.

 

A yogi does the sAkshAtkAram of His divya mangaLa vigrahA

at his heart if he chooses that upAsanA . If some other yogi

chooses to perform some other Brahma VidyA (upAsanA) , he

can have the sAkshAtkAram of the divya mangaLa vigrahA of

nArAyaNA say in the orb of the sun. But , the greatest &

most merciful avatAram is the archAvatAram , in which even

the rouges , thieves , non - devotee , devotee , rich , beggar ,

athiest,animals & all sorts of living entities can see with

their material eyes the archA thirumeni ( divya mangaLa

vigrahA ) of Sriman nArAyaNA . This display of immense

Soulabhyam & Sowseelyam by Sriman nArAyaNA although

being the Param poruL (Supreme Being) is the main

reason for His ardent devotees like AzhwArs to dive into

various devotional moods filled with mystic experience in

communion with the supreme Lord & in that bliss comesforth

their most nectarian Divya Prabandhams , which is so potent

to change even a stone hearted athiest into a bhAgavathA

filled with all bodily horripulations during his bhagavad

anubhavam .

 

When we meet a friend , we don^Òt say that we are meeting a

"material body" of a jIvAtmA . The whole system of jIvAtmA &

the material body is taken together in consideration & thus we

say "I met Mr.X out there ".This is basically because ,the

jIvAtmA is inseparably united with the body , as long as it is

within it . Similarly , though we would have had the fortune of

seeing only perumAL^Òs archA thirumeni (or possibly only the

ornaments ) , we would say "I saw PerumAL in Garuda

vAhanam ( during temple Uttsavam)" because nArAyaNA

is inseparably united with that archA thirumeni .

 

The greatness of the archAvatAram is that the greatest

purushArtam of Bhagavad kainkaryam at Paramapadam

(Sri VaikuNTham) can even be experienced (though not in

same degree ) in this world of samsArA .Thatswhy , Divya

Desams are known as BhoolOka VaikuNTham - it doesn^Òt

belong either to the actual paramapadam , nor to the

materialistic world ( because of the special bhagavad

anubhavam & performance of kainkaryam ) . There is no

other refuge to a baddha jIvAtmA than to enjoy the Divya

MangaLa vigrahA of Sriman nArAyaNA in various Divya

Desams & simultaneously enjoy His kalyAna gunAs

through most nectarian Divya prabandhams

( anubhavam of AzhwArs) & perform various kainkaryams

to Him & His devotees . All these become possible only

because of the most merciful archAvatAram which rightly

makes the devotees act according to their svaroopam

( nature ) of being a seshan ( servant) of Sriman nArAyaNA.

But for the archAvatAram , the devotees would be like "fish

out of water" since their natural state (svaroopam) of

performing bhagavad kainkaryam won^Òt become possible in

that case .

 

The glories of archAvatAram esp. in Divya Desams is that ,

each such avatAram has a unique story behind it . The

story (sthala purAnam) by itself will be so much nectarian &

such leelAs of Sriman nArAyaNA can be remembered

forever. PirAtti takes the role of a jIvAtmA & teaches how

a baddha jIvATmA should yearn for Sriman nArAyaNA

culminating finally in their marriage of prapatti . What a

glorious way in which the Divya DampatIs preach the prapatti

sAstrA to a baddha jIvAtmA through their sacred marriage

(thiru kalyAnam) & kalyAnotsavam !! On top of this ,

nArAyaNA performs various leelAs in His archAvatAram

(Speaking with the likes of thiruk kacchi nambi & AzhwArs ,

order someone like Adivan Shatakopa Jeeyar for sampradAya

propagation , write taniyans for the likes of ananthAzhvAn ,

so on & on ) .

 

No stopping at this , He even brings apparent

suffering to Himself ( RanganAthA during Muslim Invasion

etc ) just like rAghavan (rAmAvatAram) was in deep sorrow &

cried heavily due to His separation from SItA . LeelAs such

as this can^Òt be beared by His devotees &

they still more vigorously engage in bhagavad anubhavam &

kainkaryam ( Just imagine the deep emotional traumAs that

our AchAryAs would have experienced during the time of

muslim invasion & how our AchAryAs saved ranganAthA &

sampradAyam ) . Infact , such leelAs are for those supreme

devotees , who would display their deep love to the fullest

possible extent in such situations since in archAvatAram ,

it is the responsibility of the devotee to even bathe &

dress Him ; what to speak of protecting Him from invaders ?

 

While contemplating on these things, one can say that

the leelAs of vibhava avatArams also fade away in

comparison with that of the leelAs of archAvatArams.

 

Thus , after understanding the actual tattvam of nArAyaNA one

can easily say that there is no difference between rAmA ,

krishNA & ranganAthA since it is the same nArAyaNA who

is taking various such forms for the pleasure of His devotees.

Be it a four handed form , two handed human form or

a form of a fish (matsyAvatAram) , it is the same nArAyaNA

(divyAtma svaroopam) who is inside such forms. Since the

paramAtmA who is the possesor of all kalyAna gunAs , is

the sameone irrespective of whether He is inside a four

handed form or a two handed form , the personality in rAmA,

KrishNA , ranganAthA & peraruLALan are all same though

their forms are different . So , it is completely wrong to say

that four handed form of nArAyaNA will have x number of

qualities , two handed KrishNA form will have y number of

qualities , four handed archA form will have z number of

qualities etc , since it is the same nArAyaNA (divyAtma

svaroopam) the possesor of all the kalyAna gunAs , present

inside all these forms . Moreover it is also completely wrong

to limit the number of qualities of nArAyaNA to a finite number.

He actually has uncountable number of qualities .

 

 

Having understood the tattvam , one should engage in

bhagavad anubhavam . Now ,if someone asks "who is nArAyaNA ?"

then immedietly the beautiful divya mangaLa vigrahA of

Sriman nArAyaNA in any one of the Divya Desam should come to

the mind in a flash :

( thiruk kamala pAdam , araich chivanda Adai , andhi pol

niRaththAdai , UndhI , thiruvayitRu udharabandham ,

thiruvAra mArbu , mutRum unda kandam , seiya vAi ,

kariyavAgip pudai parandhu miLirndhu sevvari vOdi neenda

ap peria vAya kangaL , kOlamAmaniyAramum muththuth

thAmamum neela meniyum , sudarAzhi , pAnchajanniyam,

kousthubam , Srivatsam , vanamAlai , thiruthuzhAi mAlai ,

kireetamum .....) . All the bhagavad anubhavams of

our AchAryAs & AzhwArs are perfect since they are

born out of the deep understanding of the tattvam , hitam

& purushArtam .

 

So , if someone holds the view that the form of nArAyaNA

is same as nArAyaNA , then hundreds of pramAnams which

describe Brahman / nArAyaNA , suddha sattvam etc are

violated . Neverthless , the deep love of a devotee towards

nArAyanA's divine form might make him think that He &

His form are same ( baddha jIvAtmAs have access <seeing>

only to His form .

 

It is also to be noted that meditation on the divyAtma

svaroopam of nArAyaNA is completely different from the

theory proposed by mAyAvAdIs regarding the meditation on

Brahman who is nirviseshA (attributeless ) .

Sri U.Ve. KarunAkaran swAmy during upanyAsams beautifully

says regarding the thiru uLLam of Bhagavad rAmAnujA

on those who try to meditate on an attributeless object :

"First of all , for an object to be known , it should have

some attributes. Without any attributes , there is no

possibility of meditating on it , since how will you fix

its co ordinates ?. Actually , Brahman is full of attributes.

Nirvisesha Brahman is not supported either in pratyakshA or

anumAnA or sabda pramAnam . So, those who claim that

they are meditating on an abstract attributeless object are

#1 frauds for they are telling something which is

impossible ".

 

Anyway , by telling that an object is attributeless , an

attribute is ascribed to it !

 

namo nArAyaNA

adiyen

anantha padmanAbha dAsan

sarvam sri krishNArpanamastu

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhaktas,

 

I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Sriman Anand Karalapakkam

for sharing with us a wonderful explanation on Bhagavan. In it

he notes that any sufferings that the Lord undergoes in his Leelas

are most painful to his Bhaktas. Our Azhwars are unparalleled in this

respect. Any thought of pain to the Lord caused them unbearable

distress. Let me point out a few instances to illustrate this fact.

 

Sri Kulashekara Azhwar was hearing a narration of the Ramayana in

his court in the company of Bhagavatas. The narrator related the

episode of Lord Rama singlehandedly fighting the 14,000 Rakshasas

at Janasthana. The moment the Azhwar heard that Rama was alone in

his war against the 14,000 Rakshasas, he was greatly concerned and

immediately ordered his army to rush to the support of the Lord!

Such was Azhwar's affection for his Abhimana Daivam. Only when

the narrator said that Lord Rama returned victorious from his

battle with the Rakshasas did the Azhwar calm down.

 

When all pray for various benefits and seek boons

from Lord Narayana, NammAzhwar out of great concern for the Lord

asks: "Who is there to serve you? What can I do to relieve your

fatigue caused by covering the entire Universe with two paces?

You must be fatigued by your battle with the 14,000 demons.

Can I not press your tired feet and relieve you of the pain?

Oh Lord Krishna people have plotted against your life from your

very birth! What can I do to save you?" What a wonderful nectarian

Anubhavam!

 

Tirumangai Azhwar was deeply distressed by the condition of the Lord's

resting place and right then decided that he would build a Temple

for the Lord (Srirangam Temple). When his pleas for help from

influential people fell on deaf ears, we are all aware of the means

he adopted to serve the Lord. So great was his concern for the Lord

that he was prepared to relieve the Divine Couple (who appeared as newly

weds) themselves of their valuables!

 

If worship, recitation of Vedam, Stotrams and Prabandhams, and

scriptural knowledge do not translate into Vatsalyam and concern

for Our Archa Murthis it is absolutely useless!

 

Namo Narayana,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy

 

 

 

 

 

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