'AvanE tharuvAn'

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAghavadhOthamals,

My humble obeisance to the devotees of the Lord.We will set aside the

seeds and give them time to sprout. The entire gamut of “avanE tharuvAn”

has been done in a series of phenomenal postings.Little of what is left

unsaid, we will say.Why should SriNArAyanA give, to whom, should we

ask/should we not ask.

‘un adiyArku en seivan enrE iruthi nee’. PerumAl’s inherent quality is

to give. His natural attribute to give is strained by our nature of

asking.

“umadhu adigal adaighinrEn enru orukAl urathavarai

thamadu anaithunm vazhanghium”

Perumal’ s attribute is to give but His quality of giving in abundance

is restricted by our inability to receive it – because we have already

put a tag on it saying “give me this, help me in this, save me from

this.” It is said “when God decides to punish people He does it by

fulfilling their wishes.” Such is the fallacy of our seeking. Kindly be

reminded of the concept behind performing “praphatti” as is extensively

discussed in this forum – we seek Your Arul through the AchaaryAn, with

no ulterior motive, with You as the means and end. So “NarAyananE

tharuvAn.” He will give Himself, His self.

AndAl thru adigaliE charanam,

With highest regards,

Subadra

P.S. “us, we, does not refer any of the members but just human behavior

at largesse.

[Guest guest]

Dear friend

 

I was deeply moved by your posting when you said-

" PerumAl’s inherent quality is to give. His natural attribute to give is

strained by our nature of asking. “umadhu adigal adaighinrEn enru orukAl

urathavarai thamadu anaithunm vazhanghium”

Perumal’ s attribute is to give but His quality of giving in abundance is

restricted by our inability to receive it – because we have already put a tag

on it saying “give me this, help me in this, save me from this.” It is said

“when God decides to punish people He does it by fulfilling their wishes.”

Such is the fallacy of our seeking"

 

When we ask Perumal to grant this or that, we assume that He does not know

what we want and needs to be told. Nothing can be more damaging to the

Mahaviswasam of a Prapanna who has surrendered everything to the Lord

including "Phala" and, therefore, is not expected to ask for even Moksham.

 

One of my Advaithic colleague in office, by name Narayanaswamy used to echo

this sentiment saying that "If I ask the Lord for a promotion, it means that

He does not know what that Narayanaswamy needs a promotion. So, I will not

pray for promotion!.

 

However, being heir to human frailties (in spite of performing Prapatti), we

are unable to resist the temptation to seek this or that relief in mundane

matters, for example when a child is seriously ill. To insist on not asking

for relief in such circumstances can result practically in a ' Dharma

Sankatam' if not self-deception. How to reconcile these contrary positions?

 

If peace of mind so necessary for the uninterrupted concentration in doing the

Nitya Karmanushtaana with the 'Satvika Thyaga' is what we seek and the child's

illness comes in the way, I believe, there is nothing wrong in praying to Lord

for the grant of appropriate circumstances conducive to the whole hearted

worship of the Lord. This may include the recovery of the ailing child or any

other disturbing circumstance.

 

Only when anything is done for one's own pleasure, it is "Kaamya." When the

prayer is linked to the uninterrupted dhyanam of the Lord, it assumes the

character of "Nish Kaamya" and may be permitted by our Acharyas.

 

Learned Bhagavatas may perhaps throw better light on this.

 

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy