Bodily health

[Guest guest]

Dear Shrivaishnavas:

 

Just like Sri.Mani's question on material wealth which resulted in many,

thought provoking ideas, the following doubt has been in my mind for

quite some time now and some recent events in my life have made the

question re-surface once more. The question is - Should preventive

health care be something a Shrivaishanva (or attempting to be a

Shrivaishnava) under go periodically?

Or should the person just follow "Vaidyo Narayano hari:" and leave it to Him?

After all, we all desire the Ultimate - Moksham. As Alwar was supposed

to have said "maranamaakki vaikundham..." which they say was later

changed to "maranamaanaal....." so people will not stop reciting it for

the fear that it will hasten their death.

On the other hand, even if preventive health care IS needed, how far

should one go? Where does one draw the line? At what point does one let

nature take its course?

 

Hoping that I would get some satisfying answers,

 

Adiyen

 

Sriranganayaki- Ramanuja Dasi

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

Dear Smt Sheela,

 

Yet another thought provoking topic.

 

I remember having read the emblem of All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Delhi, which reads "sarIra maadhyaa: kalu dharma saasthram", which, when I

checked up with my father, he said " is a Vedic statement, meaning, in other

words, one needs to take care of the sarIram.

 

A healthy mind in a healthy body. Under that pretext, we shall not

concentrate only on that.

 

Another thing this reminded me of (though not exactly related is):H.H Srimad

Pundareekapuram Andavan had once said (during Chilaarai Rahasyam

kaalakeshEpam) "even one is in unconscious state, and is not able to perform

any nithya karmas, (sandhyavandhanam), and if one wants to help him and do

something to him, he can simply perform sandhyavandhanam (thrikaalam) for

the patient also, additionally and separately. That is the greatest help one

can do. Swami always talks about the essentiality of performing

sandhyavandhanam, without which whatever one does - be it 106 Divya Desam

visits, or 108 pradhakshinam of PerumAL Koil, it will not equal. He is Karma

chaNdaaLan. He has nithya theettu and is not even qualified to enter the

temple, actually. It is the aajnyA karma. One has to perform. Any other

prayers, japam, will not please Him. How? You child does not go to school,

does not study, but hugs you and kisses you, and says "appaa, I like you."

Are you happy and pleased?

 

Chinthaa nadhiyil oru kaakidha kappal. (in the words of Laa. Saa.

Raamaamirdham)

 

Regards

 

Narayana Narayana

 

NarayanadAsan

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

sri:

Sri Madhavakannan wrote:

 

"Swami always talks about the essentiality of performing

sandhyavandhanam, without which whatever one does - be it 106 Divya Desam

visits, or 108 pradhakshinam of PerumAL Koil, it will not equal."

 

This reminds me one of the recent upanyAsam by Srimad Azhagiyasingar.

Performing karmas like sandhyavandhanam is like the regular work

hours and visiting temple is working overtime. We cannot tell

the employer that I will just do the overtime and skip the regular

work hours.

 

 

 

dAsan

Diwakar

[Guest guest]

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

 

Dear Sri Lakshmanan:

 

Thank you very much for your quick and thoughtful response. I agree that

it is ones duty to take care of the sarIram given by Him. But how far does

one go? For example, if one finds out that one needs an open heart

surgery or even a heart transplant to prevent a possible cardiac disease

should one undergo that? Does our sampradayam accept organ donation or

acceptance? The other points that come to my mind include whether in

critical conditions, its okay to keep a person from dying on life

support? These are some of the questions I would like to see addressed

although I may not have posed it correctly in the first place.

 

Thank you once again.

 

Regards

 

Sriranganayaki - Ramanuja Dasi

 

On Wed, 21 Jul 1999, Gopaul Lakshmanan wrote:

> SrImatE Gopala DesikAya nama:

> Sri:

>

> Priya Srivaishnavas:

>

> The "sarIram" is given by HIM. So, every one has to take care of it.

> Whether one is ugly or beautiful, one has to maintain the body free from

> afflictions. Otherwise, you are destroying HIS property.

>

> Preventive health care is largely unknown in India and unavailable to the

> majority. In industrially advanced countries it is available. I feel one

> should use it.

>

> This is my opinion only.

>

> adiYen dAsan

> Lakshmanan

>

>

> ----Original Message Follows----

> Sheela Belur <sbelur

> bhakti

> Bodily health

> Wed, 21 Jul 1999 10:20:04 -0400 (EDT)

>

>

> Dear Shrivaishnavas:

>

> The question is - Should preventive

> health care be something a Shrivaishanva (or attempting to be a

> Shrivaishnava) under go periodically?

> Or should the person just follow "Vaidyo Narayano hari:" and leave it to

> Him?

>

>

> _____________

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>

 

Sheela Belur

[Guest guest]

> Sri Madhavakannan wrote:

>

> "Swami always talks about the essentiality of performing

> sandhyavandhanam, without which whatever one does - be it 106 Divya Desam

> visits, or 108 pradhakshinam of PerumAL Koil, it will not equal."

 

I am sure Sri Gopala Desika Swami did not mean this, and

perhaps neither did Sri Madhavakkannan, but there is a hint in

the above paragraph that all these forms of worship are

reward driven -- we do 1000 pradakshiNams, daily sandhyAvandanam,

etc., to secure some benefit or favor.

 

If I may say so, such an attitude strikes at the very heart of the

Sri Vaishnava sampradAya. We, in contrast to all other

sampradAyas, are counselled *not* to do umpteen pradakshinas,

not to roll around the temple with our bodies, not to go climb Tirupati

with the idea we will benefit. 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.

 

So please -- sandhyAvandana is an ordained karma, but it is

nonetheless done purely as loving service. His grace is not

conditioned on its performance!

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Mani

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

Dear Sri Mani,

 

Well said! That's why one needs ot have a good writing skill.

Thanks for your clarification.

 

It is quite true that we need to have a loving sincere service

in perfromance is what is required. No doubt Sri Bhattar's

statement of "It's the attitude that's important,

not the elaborateness of the worship" is great.

 

But, people like me may misconstrue this and says" BhattarE selliyirukkaar.

manasudhaan mukkiyam..(only sincerity in mind and attitude is all that is

required;

more than mere action. ) Here we take undue advantage in stretching this

most beautiful statement of Sri Bhattar's and uses to our advantage.

 

There is a saying in English: Hell is paved with good intentions. Mere

intention is not enough is the inner meaning of this saying.

On the other hand, mere action alone is also not correct.

(with no sincerity in attitude)

 

Just supplementing your excellent explanation.

 

Regards

 

Narayana Narayana

 

Narayana dAsan

[Guest guest]

SrImatE GopAla DEsikAya namaha

Sri:

 

Dear Srimathi Sheela:

I have the same questions in my mind too about transplants, lifesupport and

other modern methods to conceive. I would like to know the answers but I am

not comfortable to pose these questions to my Acharya. Your question raises

anxiety in my mind. If in the near or distant future I am forced to decide

to accept some one else's organ, what would I do? In the last month or so, I

read in a Tamil weekly magazine about a 70 (seventy)year young lady(she had

maintained her sarIram well and she deserves to be called a TRUE

SRIVAISHNAVA)who donated one of her working kidneys to her neighbor few

years younger to her. That is commendable. Is that act of kindness and

generosity in accordance with the sAstrAs?

 

On the other end of the spectrum, I am deeply disturbed by the fact that lot

of pregnancies are terminated before their term in India (for whatever

reason). If that is acceptable to Hinduism(I am not saying SriVaishnavism

since I do not know enough about it) then I would say transplants and life

support are perfectly O.K. for all.

 

May be some one in the Bhaktilist can give the answers.

 

I remember to have read somewhere that in vedas there is mention of

cryogenic surgery. So, it is quite possible that these have been

mentioned in vedas or upanishads.

 

Thank you for a thought provoking question.

adiYen dAsan

Lakshmanan

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Smt sheela Belur

 

In this matter I'm reminded of what my guru Sri Rangapriya

Swami used to say.He would quote Kalidasa's line from

Kumara sambhavam: "SarIra-mAdyam khalu dharma sAdhanam".

One's body is the first and ultimate instrument do good in

this life.Hence like any other instrument it should always

be kept in a totally workable condition.So whatever cure

is needed is automatically included.I suppose one could

draw a line at those rejuvenation treatments (at Kerala ?)

which some people go for.In any case no such treatment has

been known to put forward the moment of death.

 

EmberumAnAr TiruvaDigaLE SaraNam!

aDiyEn

BHARAT

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the excellent topic. Adiyen would like to add few sentences to

this. A piece from Gita, would aptly fit in here. "Etham shariram kauntheya

skhetram" - Oh Son of kunti ! your body is the field (for your karma).

Gita also insists only who maintain the sharira gets to conquer the path of

yoga - bhoga(bodily happiness) - roga(disease) .

 

The paramapurusha - "Purusha" - as addressed by the Upanishads gives him

four attributes. Poornathvath Purusha - Puranathvath Purusha -Bahudanath

Purusha - Purisayanath Purusha .

 

The last attribute - Purisayanath Purusha - the one who is inside us -

within our body. The Paramathma is within us. Hence we have to maintain

this body as a abode of God. This truth should clarify the questions on

maintaining the sanctity of ourselves - to sustain our mind and soul in to

the innerself. The beautifications of the body or undergoing medical

treatments - the bhoga and the roga - needs to be conquered in order to

achieve and conquer the yoga.

 

-----

 

When I just finished the previous mail one of the kalakshepam stories came

to my mind. The upanishads (as well Gita) describes the body as a tree

where the soul - the bird resides. The Paramathma also resides within the

same body. A normal question that could arise is that - does paramathma

undergo the pains and joy of the body ? The Paramathma remains in the body

unaffected just the same way as a feathered bird would be uneffected by the

climate unlike the unfeathered one. The climatic changes of rain and heat

stick to the body of unfeathered one while the feathered one remains un

effected. A teacher was explaning the same at a Gurukulam when one of the

students started arguing. "How's that it would stick to one bird but not to

other? " He argued that he was not ready to accept unless Guru gave concrete

proof. The Guru - calm and knowledged - advised that it was not him but the

vedas which say that. And that vedic truths shouldn't be doubted. The

student was unconvinced. To put the end to the discussion the guru said he

couldn't prove it at that time and would do so later. The student now was

pride enough that he was asking questions that the guru couldn't answer.

All these were happening in the month of Kaarthigai(Nov-Dec). Then came

maargazhi. The 27th day - the Koodaravalli day. Unlike the second day of

Margazhi where it advises of fasting and praying, the 27th paasuram

(Koodarai vellum), asks us to enjoy. It asks us to feast with Pongal- with

ghee floating over the Pongal - the ghee should flow over the hands while

having it (mooda nei peithu muzhangai vazhi vara). The guru asks 'our'

disciple to come first and have it. He made him more happy by offering him

second time. Then he said to the other disciple to bring in some cheeyakai

powder, so that he could wash his hands (which was now sticky with ghee) off

and start serving others. Guru retained some cheeyakai powder and gave some

to the disciple to wash off his hands. The desciple came back and the guru

offered him some more cheeyakai. The disciple declined it saying his hands

are clean now. The guru said back that this was to clean his tongue of the

ghee. The disciple retarded that ghee wasn't sticking to his tongue. Guru

calmly said - "Can you make the meaning of THAT veda truth now ?". The

disciple prostrated. The Guru continued "if a ordinary ghee can have the

property imagine Paramathma - He is Purisayanath Purusha. The sun rays fall

on Gopuram as well as mud. It livens the lotus while scorches dry twigs.

The sun rays themselves remain uneffected. Just the same way the Paramathma

remains in us uneffected "