Six-Religions etc (Was addr: M.S.Hari)

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrI Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha

SrI Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaN -

SaThakOpa SrI nArAyaNa Yateendra mahAdESikAya namaha

 

namO nArAyaNa!

 

Dear SrI Narasimhan,

 

.. cont

> everytime we who believe

> in nAdOpasanA hear a kriti like 'entharO mahAnubhAvulu

> anthariki vandanamulu' or 'enna thavam seythanai

> yasodA' (both composed by advaitis, by the way!) or

> 'krishnA nee beganE bArO', tears fill up our eyes. (my

> eyes are moist as adiyEn types this). if this kind of

> nAdOpasanA is not Bhakti then what is?

 

The bhakti as you have referred here is "sAmAnya bhakti".

The "bhakti" ie.upAsana as prescribed in Upanishads

does need such a great bent of mind of craving for

SrIman nArAyaNa and it includes "sAmAnya bhakti" within

it. The article in SrI Ahobila Mutt's page dwells more

on this issue. Please refer to it. In short, those who

are capable enough and are immersed in kalyANa guNas

of SrIman nArAyaNa (with sAmAnya bhakti) will take up

the course of karma-jn~yAna yOga, attain jIvAtma

sAkshAtkAram and proceed further to attain ParamAtma

sAkshAtkAram by adopting an upAsana as prescribed in

Upanishads. Alternatively, one might adopt Prapatti. It

depends upon the free-will of the jIvAtma to choose a

path of its liking.

 

By the way, in "entarO mahAnubhAvulu" krithi referred by

you, the charanam "....SivAdi ShaNmatamula goodamUla muppati ..

..mahAnubhAvulu antariki vandanamu", SrI TyAgarAja

salutes all the persons who worshiped dEvatas in accordance

with the six religion viz. the supreme-god in each religion

as being Siva,PArvati,Ganapati,Subramanya,VishNu and SUrya.

SrI TyAgarAja says that these persons who followed either

of these religions are mahAnu-bhAvAs who attained mukti due

to such worship of their ishta-dEvata (saguNa-brahman).

 

According to the present day advaitins, SrI Adi Sankara Bhagavad

pAdAL was a great synthesizer of all these six religions and

that it is well incorporated within the advatia vEdAnta. Anyone

of these specific six dEvatas can thus be considered as

saguNa-brahman for them and intense devotion unto them will make

these persons fit to receive the teachings of mahAvAkyas from a

Guru. But, unbiassed scholars are of the opinion that SrI Adi

Sankara recognized only Lord NArAyana as the SaguNa-Brahman, since

in all of his commentaries on SAstras like Upanishads-Brahma

SUtras-Bhagavad GIta-VishNu SahasranAma, he has equated only Lord

NArAyana to SaguNa-Brahman and all other dEvatas as being

sub-ordinate to Him. According to these scholars, some stotras

etc on other dEvatas as being SaguNa-Brahman, attributed to SrI

Adi Sankara is a later fabrication. Anyway, SrI TyAgarAjar seems

to have followed the most popular version of advaita as existed

in his period and which is so in current times as well, with Lord

RAma being his ishta-dEvata. In this system of advaita, one has to

daily worship all these six-dEvatas. However, the sacred water

(theertam) obtained after thirumanjanam to SAlagrAma MUrti

(Lord VishNu) is only fit for consumption. It is in their current

anushThAnam as well.

 

SrI VaishNavas / SAstras donot accept that any of these six

dEvatas can be considered as Supreme-God (just for the sake of

meditation ie.SaguNa-Brahma upAsana and to be the stepping stone

for nirguNa-Brahman realization). SrIman nArAyaNa is the only

Supreme Lord who is the ultimate reality and attaining (serving)

Him <includes pirAtti ofcourse> is the ultimate end.

> adiyEn is not a scholar like sri hari. but adiyEn

> knows one thing certainly. Our Bhagavan has clearly

> stated in His Gita that those who have acquired

> theoretical knowledge of the shAstrAs and vedAs etc.

> are not necessarily dear to Me. That person is dear to

> Me who has placed his mind on Me. adiyEn is very clear

> that nAdOpAsanA within seconds places my mind, body

> and soul at His lotus feet. this to my immature mind

> is the most practical way of seeking refuge at His

> feet , even if a thousand Haris were to tell me that

> it is not sanctioned by the scriptures.

> may the learned bhAgavathAs pardon adiyEn for any

> erroneous thought!

 

Again, your statements are worded too strongly against

a very good SrI VaishNava/Prapanna SrI Hari and that too

completly mis-understanding what he wrote earlier.

As aDiyEn understands, you equate SrI Hari to be of the

category of "Theoritical Knowledged" people devoid of

bhakti/anubhava who does not know about nAdOpAsana. If

it is not intended by you, aDiyEn apologizes for

mis-understanding your intention. If it was intended so

by you, it is totally uncalled for. SrI Hari has been

working very hard with pure intention to serve the

SrI VaishNava community. He has already given many good

lectures at Singapore, hearing upon which many have turned

from different backgrounds to embrace SrI VaishNavam and

follow its principles. I personally know about his good

devotion towards Divya-Dampati, AchAryas and BhAgavatas.

He has involved himself in lots of financial support to

various SrI VaishNava causes. Given that he is only in his

mid-twenties and having performed kAlakshEpam under an

AchArya on sampradAya granthas, he deserves much more

respect, in aDiyEn's humble opinion. His well intended

postings to the list are well received by many. Again, if

aDiyEn has mis-interpretted your words, kindly pardon me.

 

A note on Knowledge / "Jn~yAna" : Bhakti is basically a

form of jn~yAna ie.knowledge. Prapatti is also a specific

form of knowledge though needed to be obtained only once.

Technically, both bhakti and prapatti are avasthas

ie.states of dharmabhUta jn~yAna and thus both are "jn~yAna

visEsha" only. Theoritical knowledge on SAstras is very

essential to understand Tatva-Hita-PurushArthas properly.

Without adequate knowledge on the most essential aspects

(the topmost essence) of SAstras, one will certainly have

many mis-conceived notions and by their own speculations,

they would perform acts which would not be in accordance

with SAstras (eg: Mis-conception of what exactly

"Bhakti-YOga" is; Misconception on the Supreme Lord; etc).

Thats why, AchAryas like SwAmi DESikan blessed us with

invaluable works like "SrImad Rahasya Traya SAram" to know

the most essential aspects of Tatva-Hita-PurushArtha. As you

say, one who does not develop devotion towards SrIman nArAyaNa,

though has read various SAstras is not as dear to Lord, as a

person who has understood Him well. But, the defect here is

not on the "Knowledge of SAstras" in general, but the

comprehension/attitude of the person who has studied various

SAstras without understanding its purport. Knowledge on

SAstras is extremly important and when its properly obtained,

it will automatically show its effect - Be it devotion to

Divya Dampati, AchAryas, possesion of aatma-guNas etc. By the

way, the two most celebrated features of an AchArya are their

"jn~yAna" and "anushThAna". Our pUrvAchAryas often compare a

bird to an AchArya with "jn~yAna" and "anushThAna" as their

two wings. Though one may have good sAmAnya bhakti, unless

backed up by proper knowledge on Tatva-Hita-PurushArthas,

he/she will delay their attainment of SrI VaikuNTham. However,

PerumAL will certainly guide those with sAmAnya-bhakti and

will eventually guide them to adopt a sAdhyOpAya and thereby

grant moksha for them.

 

A Note on the verse ref. veena nAdam: The statements in SAstras

like "Knower of Music alongwith appropriate tALam,rAga etc will

certainly reach moksha easily", "Residents of Divya-DEsa will

attain moksham", "Recital of bhagavan nAma will certainly

make one attain moksham" etc are all fully valid statements.

There is nothing wrong in those translations / verses ; Only

the import has to be additionally understood ie. they aid one

to the anushThAnam of a sAdhyOpAya and thereby attain

moksham. The net result is that "By reciting bhagavan nAma, he

attained moksham" is a valid statement, and intermediete

details are to be understood through other pramAnas which

clarify about the sAdhyOpAyas (eg: BhaktyA paramayA vApi

prapattyA vA mahAmatE prApyOham na anyathA prApyO mama

kainkarya lipsubhihi : Using this pramAna which ascertains that

bhakti and prapatti are the one and only sAdhyOpAyas, one has

to suitably understand the statements in SAstras like "Recital

of bhagavan nAma will fetch moksham" etc). This is the way

SwAmi DESikan explains in SrImad RTS. Thus, there is nothing

wrong in the translation of the verse. But, one has to

additionaly write "notes" on it to make the actual import

clearer. Many arguments and explanations has already been

given by SrI Hari which act as the "notes" in this case.

 

Final note : There is no doubt that singing/hearing the

songs on SrIman nArAyaNa will *very easily* make one focus

unto Lord. Thats why PArAyanam of Divya Prabandham and Stotras

are very regularly done by SrI VaishNavas. If one has the

capacity to mix music into it, it will be much better for

one's own anubhavam and the listeners. AzhwArs/SAstras have

certainly recommended this and esp.for the kali yuga.

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

anantapadmanAbhan.

krishNArpaNam.