Guest guest Posted August 7, 2000 Report Share Posted August 7, 2000 Dear SriVaishnavas: Pranams! Last weekend, I was involved in discussion with few of my friends of same age group(we are in twenties) about the role of Intellectual over power and money. Our main aim was to find a way to lead a very simple life, without being affected by mundane world. We were stressing on a point wherein most of the Devotees of God are either in someway subordinate to power and money in order to lead their life in this world. For example, each one of us is specialized in some area or the other,but work for worldly causes in various companies. We make our lives complex by doing that,rather than visualizing it in simple manner. We were not able to arrive at a definite conclusion of how to lead a simple life,as our ancestors led in earlier days, with the only objective of having a thought that what ever we do is for the same of Lord Sriman Narayana,and nothing is for us. Can anyone stree more on this point of how to lead a very simple life without being affected my mundane world, and reaching the flower feet of the Sipreme Being. Can we be the subordinate to power and money? Thank you very much for your precious time, I am very young,may be my question be foolish,if so please ignore it. Adiyen, Sri Ramanuja Dasan, Ramanan Rajagopalan ______________ Get your own "800" number - Free Free voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 9, 2000 Report Share Posted August 9, 2000 Dear Sri Ramanan: Last week I had the great fortune of joining bhAgavathas from around the country on a visit to Atlanta to be in the company of HH Sri Tridandi Jeear Swamy. One of the many insightful topics that he addressed during the three days that we were there touched on the issue of the materialism of this country and how he we all have become slaves to it. The talk was in Telugu (since it took place in the home of a Telugu family), and centered itself around specific incidents within the aranya khAndam of Srimad Ramayanam. With the blessings of HH, Sri Muralikrishna of Cupertino California is currently working on translating and summarizing this talk in English. I would like to request that Sri Murali to post this article in this forum when he completes it, as any attempt at a translation on my part is falling short of bringing about the beauty and insight of HH's words. However, in an effort to shed further light on your interesting question, I would like to share a few thoughts that came to me after listening to HH's lucid discourse: If the intent of asking this question is to seek out some solution that leads to leaving our jobs and worldly responsibilities and just serving the Lord incessantly, then I am afraid that there really is no way to do so. The sAstras themselves have clearly outlined that each and every one of us, based on our station in life, have specific duties to perform for the good of the world. And, although such duties have somehow been diluted away from their connections to a specific varna or jAti, we must recognize that secular obligations are still very much a part of the human condition. So, the question really becomes as you expressed it, how do we fulfill these employment related obligations without becoming slaves to money and power? Of course, the obvious answer seems to be that we have to see even these work obligations as a form of service to the Lord and offer the fruits of these actions to Him. This is no easy task, given that each and every one of us seems to suffer from two great weaknesses. HH's says that in Srimad Ramanyanam, these great human failings are represented by two ferocious demons that Sri Rama kills at the beginning and ending of the aranya khAndam, Viradha and Kabhandha. Viradha is a demon that Sri Rama kills after he makes lustful advances towards Sita. The demon represents a sense of spiteful egotism, a feeling that each and every one of us have that seeks personal gain because we cannot see someone else in a better position than we are. It is this same quality that makes us look down on someone else if we have something that they do not. In the US, the term used for this wicked state of mind in called "keeping up with the Jones' " Mr. and Mrs. X just bought a new top of the line SUV, so I should also have one. The Y family just bought a 3000 square foot home, so our family should have a 3100 square foot home. This goes on and on to the point where we think to ourselves, "Why should I help out Q with the data that he needs, he will just use against me so that he can move up to the next rung in the ladder. I will just give him some of the data so that his boss will get frustrated with him, and I'll rush in to save the day. Q fails and I move up. Ah, what a plan!!" This unhealthy sense of fierce competition to have what others do, combined with the sense that in sharing one experiences loss, is one of the key reasons why we lock ourselves into the corporate mindset. The conscious recognition and desire to kill this demon can only be known by maintaining our thoughts on the knowledge that our successes and the successes of others are due only to Perumal and ThayAr's katAksham. Consequently, success is like prasadam that should be used for the upliftment of others as well as ourselves. This altruistic and cooperative spirit can best be understood by like-minded people, so we should seek them out and share in the joy of the Divine Couple's grace. The second great demon that plagues our minds is exemplified by the terrifying demon kabhandha. As we know, this demon is described as being a huge creature with a mouth but no head and one gigantic stomach that resulted from its continuous gorging. Sri Rama kills this demon in an effort to appease the great sage Sarabhana (there is a meaning to this, as well, and Sri Murali can provide us with these insights in his posting). The demon kabhandaha represents the quality that seeks out needless possessions. In American parlance, it is what leads us to buy things we don't need with money we don't have. After awhile, we too just start "gorging" for "gorging's sake," not really knowing why we need a new tv every year, or a new stereo every six months, or a top of the line computer at home just to check e-mail. It is this failing that makes us slaves to the job, because to buy things, we need to earn money. But, sadly, the more we earn the more we buy until we reach a point where we are just bonded labor to our jobs, unable to leave because our bills are so high, and unhappy because we can see no end to in sight. When asked why we do this, we come up with the apologetic excuse that we want our children to have a better life. But, is it really healthy for our children to be pampered in this way? We need, as Sri Rama did, to kill this demon and bury it. Only then can we have the wisdom to seek out spiritual pursuits. To do so is difficult, because it appears to me that kabhanda and viradha walk hand-in-hand at times. But, the desire for the Lord's feet -- what to speak of a desire for peace of mind -- should be the weapon we can use to curtail this demon so that we can know when enough is enough such that we can balance our jobs with our families and more loftier ideals that lead to His Lotus Feet. This is an extremely brief and rough summary of what was undoubtedly an eloquent and moving discourse by HH. All errors are due to my own ignorance. I hope this helps. Ramanuja Dasan Mohan Raghavan - Ramanan Rajagopalan <sriethiraja <bhakti-list >; <sgopan Monday, August 07, 2000 7:32 AM Intellectual over Power and Money.. > Dear SriVaishnavas: > > Pranams! > Last weekend, I was involved in discussion with few of my > friends of same age group(we are in twenties) about the role of > Intellectual over power and money. Our main aim was to find a > way to lead a very simple life, without being affected by > mundane world. We were stressing on a point wherein most of the > Devotees of God are either in someway subordinate to power and > money in order to lead their life in this world. For example, > each one of us is specialized in some area or the other,but > work for worldly causes in various companies. We make our lives > complex by doing that,rather than visualizing it in simple > manner. We were not able to arrive at a definite conclusion of > how to lead a simple life,as our ancestors led in earlier days, > with the only objective of having a thought that what ever we > do is for the same of Lord Sriman Narayana,and nothing is for > us. > > Can anyone stree more on this point of how to lead a very > simple life without being affected my mundane world, and > reaching the flower feet of the Sipreme Being. > > Can we be the subordinate to power and money? > > > Thank you very much for your precious time, > > I am very young,may be my question be foolish,if so please > ignore it. > > Adiyen, > Sri Ramanuja Dasan, > Ramanan Rajagopalan > > ______________ > Get your own "800" number - Free > Free voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more > http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag > > ------------------------------ -----<e|- > Free Conference Calling with Firetalk! > Click Here! > http://click./1/5480/5/_/716111/_/965673802/ > ------------------------------ -----|e>- > > ----------------------------- > - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - > To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list (AT) eGroups (DOT) com > Visit http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/ for more information > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 9, 2000 Report Share Posted August 9, 2000 Dear Sri.Ramanan Rajagopalan, I refer to your posting of 7.8.2000 on the above subject. Can I place the following for your consideration: The Isa Upanishad says as follows: "Kurvan eva iha Karmani jijiviset satam samah | Evam tvayi na anyatho ashthi na karma lipyate nare ||" [Only by doing your karmas here, should one wish to live for 100 years. For you O man, there is no other mode other than (performing your karma)and by this no bad karma clings on.] Similarly in Bhagawad Gita 3.4 the Lord says: " Na karmanam anarambham naishkarmyam purusho ashnute| Na cha sanyasanadev siddhim samadhigachhati||" [Not by mere non-performance of prescribed duties/work can a man achieve freedom from reaction. Not even by renunciation (does a man) attain success.] Again in Bhagawad Gita 3.8 the Lord says: "Niyatam kuru karma tvam, karma jyayo hy akarmanaha| Sharira yatrapi cha te na prasiddhyed akarmanah||" [ You should perform your prescribed work/duty,for doing so is better than not performing (the prescribed work/duty).Even maintenance of your body is never achieveable without (performance of your) work/duty.] As I see it, it is great that you have an inclination for service to Sriman Narayana.If you can convert this inclination into burning desire for doing kainkaryam to Him and also a service to humanity,you would have a life well spent. May He shower His Anugraham on you for this. Adiyen K.Lakshminarayan ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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