A Real Life Example! (re real wealth

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhaktas,

 

I humbly thank all those who've written in appreciation of my dumb write-up

on the sordid topic of money. I'm always amazed at the kindness of the true

scholars. In the absense of any real knowledge, I only base my comments on

the emperical evidence and that simple tale where the guru says one who

tells the truth is a true Brahmana...

 

I would like to thank Sri.Venkat Nagarajan for that moving tribute to his

illustrious grandfather. It's only because Gandhiji's message fell on the

ears of such stalwarts as his grandfather (and many in our grandparents'

generation) that the dream of India's freedom was realized and we could walk

free. Thank you for sharing the Hindu write-up. But with all due respect, if

it was in the learning of shaastras that the great man had found that he

must not earn as a lawyer and must shun wealth, I'm sure the transition

would have happened much sooner in his life, since he was obviously

well-versed in the shaastras. But it only happened when he came face-to-face

with Gandhiji's message. I've long felt that that was part of the confusion

for us. What has been the collective lesson people took from Srivaishnavism

and which portion has come from Gandhiism and socialism? Coming as we do

from a poor country, is ostentation either right, necessary or attractive?

(when it could be buying someone's first meal in days or a shoe for a child

walking on a hot pavement etc..). Such questions of conscience based on

current affairs must definitely be faced by each one of us, and of course

the best teacher for that lesson is Gandhiji. Every one of his quotes on the

subject is brilliant and thought-provoking, whether "The first offense is

the accumulation of wealth by one person" (in reference to a poor man

stealing) or my personal favorite: "The earth has quite enough for

everyone's need. Alas, not enough for everyone's greed."

 

Getting back to the shaastras, though, as far as I can see, our worship and

adoration of our Lord involves the choicest of objects: Silk, gold,

gemstones, sandalwood, silver, camphor, 'muzhangai vazhiyaara' ghee, milk,

chariots... Week after week we've had 2 sets of postings running

simultaneously. One set fervently appealing to all to shun wealth on the

basis of religion, and the other fervently appealing for worldly wealth for

religious causes. I just wanted to note that all evidence suggests that

Srivaishnavas in their collective wisdom (?) had decided at some earlier

point that they would not go only to 'Vedapaatashaala' and ready for a

purely spiritual life, but would take their place in 'lowkika' affairs. Once

decided and obviously on this path, to what purpose is guilt or pious

lectures to others?

 

Transfer of karma?

Of coure it's Kali Yugam and we run the risk of imagining that this is 'real

wealth' and 'real power' and then PerumaL gives a lesson or two. Just last

week's event surrounding JFK Jr. must have reminded many of Sankara's words:

"maa kuru Dhana Jana Yowvana garvam, harathi nimeshaa kaala sarvam..". That

young man had all the worldly wealth and highest 'connections'. Didn't do

him a jot of good when the call came, and all was over in less than a

'Nimisham'. In fact in an eerie way that makes one wonder about the

'transfer of karma', the family patriarch was told about the certainty of

the results of the accident exactly on the anniversary of the day many years

ago when he left a young girl to drown (under suspicious circumstances) and

walked away.. It's a sad loss for the near and dear, and one does feel for

all involved, but these are events, when the US vessels search at the bottom

of the ocean for days on end while the 'powerful' wait helplessly, that make

us note how far our 'wealth' will go and realize our limits vs His Limitless

Power.

 

So I think it's like the boardgame Trade or Monopoly, it's ok to play as

long as you always remember that when you joined the game you were a pauper,

you may own Kanpur or Chicago now, but when Mother or Father calls you,

well, back goes everything in the box, you leave with nothing, and then

someone else may come, 'own' houses and charge rent.

 

There have been so many postings now about $s, whether appeals or

viewpoints, on what is really our "Bhakti" list, that to atone for my

contribution to the same, I wanted to go back to a little village called

Gokulam where some innocent village-maidens were doing their darnedest to

keep the Lord from stealing their 'wealth'. So there's this Gopi who returns

from the well to find her house broken into. Signs of an intruder are

everywhere, and strange sounds are emanating from the kitchen. She tiptoes

in, and what should she see but a little boy, holding the butter-pot steady

with his dimpled knee and his greasy left hand while the right hand is busy

stuffing as much butter as possible into his rose-bud mouth. The Gopi stands

frozen for a moment, lost in the Beauty of the Face. (If you've seen a human

child's face lost in concentration while putting a puzzle together or

whatever, you can only imagine how much more Charming our little

Butter-Thief must have been...). Then she remembers her hours of labour to

get the butter, and she rushes forward, catching the pudgy hand on its way

once more with a handful of butter.

 

"Who're you?", she asks.

 

Now KrishNa always knew what to say. If it was His gullible mother, He would

talk about how innocent she was, she believed all these lies these other

women were telling her. Unh, why would He steal, didn't His dear mother feed

Him enough? When He stood accused, of course, the name Balarama was never

far from His lips. Also, there's an opportunity to make this Gopi feel

small, that she doesn't even know this famous character in the village...

 

"Oh, I'm Balarama's little brother KrishNa..don't you know me?" The unspoken

implication in mentioning Balarama is that He may be a little rogue, but the

older brother's certainly a bigger rogue, or that Balarama's the leader of

the gang, KrishNa's just his little brother... In the teleserial "KrishNa",

He says to Balarama "Chhote ho ki bade ho, bhaiya, pachtaoge zaroor.." (You

may be my younger or elder brother, but you will not escape trouble..and

live to regret it...)

 

"Oh", says the Gopi, "but what are you doing in my house?"

 

The little crook is thinking fast...Yeah, what Am I doing in her

house....?..oh, oh, I know,...

"Why, I thought it was my house, and so I came in." He's very pleased with

himself. He's looking up at her through those long curly lashes to see how

well she has swallowed the tale...

 

But the Gopi knows better. "Oh,really", she says, "and why is your hand

inside the butter-pot?" (By now, her original anger has turned into much

amusement and curiosity to know how He might answer this one..)

 

But our Lord is not yet old enough to know what's plausible and what's not

('poy sonnaalum porundha sollaNum..')..."Oh, oh", He invents quickly, "My

calf got lost, you see, and I thought I saw it jump into the butter-pot, I

was just trying to take it out..." At this point, of course, the poor Gopi

can't control her laughter anymore and she hugs the Beautiful Child to her

heart as she dissolves in mirth...

 

How Rich they were, those Gopikas of Gokulam...

 

(A free-form picturization of a shloka from the Srimad Bhagawatham..)

 

Nandakumara, navaneetha chora, RadheGovindha!

Vrindavana Chandra

AnaaTha naaTha Dheena-banDho, RadheGovindha!!

 

Sarvam Sri KrishNarpaNamastu..

Viji Raghunathan