Sincerity in Worship is most important

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Bhaktas,

 

Sri Mani's reference to Sri Bhattar's Vishnu Sahasranamam commentary

is very timely. Sri Visishtadvaita Research Center recently published

the Tamizh and English translation of Sri Bhattar's commentary

by U.Ve. Sri V.N. Vedanta Desikan Swamin. Reading this book enabled

Adiyen to immerse himself in a wonderful, nectar-filled Anubhavam of Our

Lord, His KalyaNa GuNams, and His glories. Sri VNV Swamin's

writing style calls for high praise. Swamin conveys the essence of

Sri Bhattar's outpourings in short, simple sentences.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________

Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhaktas,

 

Often, Sri Krishnamachari's series on Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam

inspires me to browse Parasara Bhattar's original commentary

on the 1000 names. It is surprising how many great thoughts

are contained in this single work of Bhattar's; or, perhaps

it is not a surprise, given that it comes from an thinker of

Bhattar's heights.

 

For those who are unaware, Sri Parasara Bhattar was a junior

contemporary of Ramannuja and the son of Kurattalvan, Ramanuja's

chief disciple and confidant. Bhattar's insights are legendary,

and I wish to share one with you today.

 

In the introduction to his Sahasranama bhashya, aptly titled

"A Mirror of the Glories of God" (bhagavad-guNa-darpaNa), Bhattar

discusses how nAma sankIrtana is equivalent or even better than

the greatest of austerities. The objection is that in no way

can an "easy" form of worship such as nAma sankIrtana yield the

same result as arduous tapas, or elaborate worship.

 

Bhattar replies by quoting several texts which show that God is

pleased only by sincerity of worship and not by its grandeur

or difficulty. This may seem obvious to us, but the way Bhattar

phrases his words and imbues them with such authority makes for

truly great reading:

 

God is delighted by the great sincerity of mind

of the devotee.

 

For, it is said, "[Even a person of wicked conduct,

if he takes to bhakti], is rightly resolved." (Gita 9.30);

"A leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even a little water is

enough..." (Gita 9.26); "He is not pleased with offerings

of wealth, or property, or clothes, or ornaments, but only

with a [pure and sincere] heart. Who then will not worship

him?" (Vishnu Dharma).

 

... Again, the Vishnu Dharma says, "Even if a person offers the

whole world with all its precious stones to Krishna, he will

not easily reach Janardana, if his mind is elsewhere," etc.

 

The fundamental basis on which goodness and badness

are determined is the difference in mental attitude, and

not the particular action.

 

It is stated, "Fish live in the holy Ganga and other rivers,

birds regularly flock to temples; but they do not benefit from

these holy places because they lack the necessary state of mind."

 

It is only proper that, as God is omniscient, has no wish

of His unfulfilled, and seeks nothing from others, He should be

pleased by a pure mind and not by the offer of insignificant

wealth. With even a little worship, though it be imperfect

in place, time, or other circumstance, He is pleased as if it

were perfect and complete. As they say, the rule is that one

who is wise is satisfied by the truth. This is but logical.

A virtuous king regards with parental affection a person who,

in spite of difficulties, conducts himself in a fair manner,

as if he (the subject) has rendered him great help.

 

In conclusion, it is the conviction of Bhishma that sankIrtana

and and similar disciplines are the best form of worship of

the Lord for the following and other reasons:

 

(a) Such worship is of the dearest Beloved and is therefore

performed with ease and no effort

(b) It can be done conveniently with little or no expense

or exertion

© It is attractive, because it is inspired by the feeling

that it is being offered to please one's own master, not

far away

(d) Though such service is comparatively easy, it secures

to the worshipper the great fruit of freedom from the fear

of samsAra, which is (normally) attainable only after

great difficulty and exertion

(e) There is no fault even if the performance is not strictly

regular or in the proper manner

(f) All are qualified to do this worship, so it is suitable

for everyone

(g) It is not dependent on any condition, and therefore need

not be abandoned because of time, place, or other circumstance

(h) Owing to the glory of God, the object of worship, there can

be no obstruction to the attainment of the goal.

 

Bhattar tells us not to constantly fret about our inability to

do elaborate worship; he in fact implies that elaborate worship

is unnecessary, as in the end everything is dependent purely on

God's grace, and God only cares about the sincerity and purity

in th mind.

 

Let's do what we can with a pure heart, and God will take care of

the rest. This is the message of Bhattar.

 

bhaTTar tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

aDiyEn,

Mani

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha

 

Dear Sri Mani and Murali,

 

SangIrta nArAyaNa shabdha maathram... Utterance of "Narayana" alone is

enough for all our sorrows to vanish..and obtain immense bliss.

Great post from you both! Is it true that Bhattar lived for only for 32

years? (or 30+)

 

Regards

 

Narayana Narayana

 

Narayana dAsan

 

>

> muralidhar rangaswamy [sMTP:rangaswamy_m]

> Wednesday, July 21, 1999 2:58 AM

> bhakti

> Re: Sincerity in Worship is most important

[Guest guest]

Sri Mani has very clearly presented some very

important aspects of our satsampradAyam that I

feel should be highlighted. The first is from a

paragraph his posting on Sri Bhattar's commentary

on Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam:

 

 

>

> Bhattar tells us not to constantly fret about our inability to

> do elaborate worship; he in fact implies that elaborate worship

> is unnecessary, as in the end everything is dependent purely on

> God's grace, and God only cares about the sincerity and purity

> in th mind.

>

> Let's do what we can with a pure heart, and God will take care of

> the rest. This is the message of Bhattar.

 

The second is from today's response to Sri

Madhavakannan's posting:

 

>

> All our worship is to be done

> absolutely selflessly, out of love, with the idea that Narayana

> will take care of us as he sees fit. He is not a machine who

> gives more for every pradakshina, or for every sandhyAvandana.

> (Recall Bhattar's words? It's the attitude that's important,

> not the elaborateness of the worship.) Once we see

> any of our worship as being result-driven and not service-driven,

> our ego gains prominence, which certainly is not the message

> of our acharyas.

>

 

Both these paragraphs convey the profound idea,

unique to SriVaishnavam, that pure love for the

Lord, and the desire to serve Him that results

from it, are vital - if not the only things

necessary - to following the spiritual path

exemplified by our AzhwArs and AchAryans. Sri

Sudarshan raised the question this evening as to

why Swamy Desikan chose to live the

"third-worldly" life that he did, particularly

since he had a family to take and was well aware

of the accolades that were readily available to

him. May I be so bold to suggest that perhaps

his motivations were driven by this pure love for

the Lord that made all else seem trite? Could

his exemplary life of strict adherance to vEdic

injunctions have stemmed from his desire to

fulfill the Lord's commands as an expression of

love, rather than out of the fear that not

following them could bring the risk of being

tempted by material life? The attitude suggested

by Mani in his postings, to cultivate the mood of

loving and selfless servitude to Sriman Narayana

Alone, seems to suggest so.

 

Now, while I personally do not believe that any

one of us can even come close to the level of one

such as Swamy Desikan, I do not feel that we

should wallow in guilt or self-pity because of

it. In my unqualified opinion, we are where we

are, we are who we are, because Perumal believes

that this is the best place for us. So who are we

to question this? Ours is just to cultivate the

mood expressed by Sri Mani above, a mood of love

and servitude to One who has nothing but Love and

Compassion for us. All that lies ahead, both

spiritually and materially, is due to only to His

Kindness and is meant only for His Service.

 

emperumAnAr thiruvaDigalE SaraNam,

 

Mohan

[Guest guest]

It is said that ladies are not supposed to recite Vishnu SahasranAmam

which is also nAma sankirtanam. Isn't this restriction contrary to

Bhismar's statement that all are qualified to do nAma sankirtanam?

 

Please pardon me for any offense.

 

AdiyEn

Lakshmi Narasimhan

 

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Mani Varadarajan <mani

Sincerity in Worship is most important

Tue, 20 Jul 1999 11:31:01 -0700 (PDT)

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(f) All are qualified to do this worship, so it is suitable

for everyone

 

 

aDiyEn,

Mani

[Guest guest]

Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan wrote:

> It is said that ladies are not supposed to recite Vishnu SahasranAmam

> which is also nAma sankirtanam. Isn't this restriction contrary to

> Bhismar's statement that all are qualified to do nAma sankirtanam?

>

> Please pardon me for any offense.

 

Dear Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan:

 

This issue was discussed in some detail in January 1998.

Please visit the archives and see this article, among

others:

 

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/jan98/0162.html

 

As you have noted, such a restriction does not jive well

with the teaching of both Bhishma and Bhattar.

 

Mani