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:: Sri GuruBhyoh Namah ::

::Sri GuruVaayoorappan SsaraNam::

 

 

This birth has blessed me with the opportunity to translate the

Srimad Bhagawad Gita into English at an earlier date, in my school

days in 1980.

 

I continue to contemplate on the teachings and have

tried my best to live it in day to day living innthis Kali Yuga.

The intention is to read thru the material on the various postings

and add notes therefrom - for which I am expressing my gratitude to

all of you.

 

As soon as I have completed the gigantic task through the will of the

Lord, with Bhagawad Aagnai I shall present the translation with joy

and surrender.

 

With Love and good-will to all,

- KNV

[Guest guest]

Dear venkataraman,

Welcome to the group :-

You asked :-

>>With the eagerness of a new member I am starting my

>>participation - I had the opportunity to be asked

the

>>following and I put it to the group for further

>>elucidation:

>>1. "Is the surrender at the feet of the Lord

>>Naaraaayana more sublime, more important, more

>>necessary than a surrender to one's ['Janma Hetu'] -

>>parents, and one's SadGuru?

 

The answer to this question is both yes and no.

 

The following is the reply for "yes".

 

As Narayana,who has infinite auspicious qualities and

is a blend of both supremely good character and

strength to protect devotees unparalled by any other

entity,is the only reality having all the cit i.e

jiva atmas and acit i.e prakriti as his attributes or

body,he is truely all in all i.e father,mother,guru

etc to every jiva atma.From the worldly point of view

or from the point of view of identification with our

present body,we all have father,mother,wife,children

etc,but these relationships have meaning only from

this

point of view and is temporary.But,from the point of

view of the true nature of jiva atma all are equal

qualitatively and there the terms like

father,mother,guru etc apply properly only to sriman

narayana.As the later relationship confirms with

eternal reality as compared to the former which is

temporary,surrender to lord narayana is proper and

logical.

 

The answer to the term "No" :-

 

If our parents and sadguru have the knowledge as

mentioned above and are bhagavathas themselves i.e who

serve lord sriman narayana with the above

knowledge,then surrender to them is same as surrender

to lord narayana like surrender of madhura kavi alwar

to nammalwar because a devotee of lord narayana always

dwells in the thought of narayana and Lord in turn

will always be with the devotee as mentioned in the

gita.This is why alwars and many devotees say"Oh

lord,Let me be a servant of your servant's servant".

>>2. Can surrender be of differing shades - i.e., the

>>surrender to the Lord being the highest form of

>>surrender and all other surrendering being of lower

>>nature?

 

Surrender to the lord and his devotees is proper

according to the reality and then only it will have

some meaning and correct result.Surrender to other

persons who are disposed otherwise is a result of

ignorance and leads to pain.For more on this,read the

last portions of vedartha sangraha of Bhagavad

Ramanuja where this is discussed in more detail.

>>3. Can a surrender to the Lord without the blessings

>>of one's parents and Sadguru result in Liberation?

 

This has been answered in the answer for the first

question,but i will add more to this.A True parent and

sadguru is one who wishes good to his child or student

respectively.The term "good" for a person is

confirmation of himself with the reality i.e as the

shesha or servant of Lord sriman narayana.If one

forsakes the blessings of a parent and guru who are

properly disposed,then surrender to the lord is

meaningless.But,if the parents and the guru are

disposed otherwise,then their blessings or surrender

to them is improper.Take the case of hiranyakashipu

and

prahalada and compare it with the case of Rama and

Dasharatha or his guru,the conclusions arising out of

this will answer your question.

 

>>I am asking these for my own benefit as also for

>>those having doubts on these matters.

 

I thank you and appreciate you for asking these

questions.I hope the answers satisfy you.All the

errors

are mine and you are welcome to write to me for more

discussion.

 

Sri krishnaarpanamasthu

Suresh B.N.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Venkataraman,

 

You have already received some very interesting and insightful

responses on your thought provoking questions. I was also

inspired by reading through them, so I thought that I would share

my views on this subject:

 

-

K.N.Venkataraman <knv123

<bhakti-list>

Monday, February 19, 2001 8:21 PM

New member

 

> :: Sri GuruBhyoh Namah ::

>

> 1. "Is the surrender at the feet of the Lord Naaraaayana

> more sublime, more important, more necessary than a

> surrender to one's ['Janma Hetu'] - parents, and one's

> SadGuru?

>

> 2. Can surrender be of differing shades - i.e., the

> surrender to the Lord being the highest form of surrender

> and all other surrendering being of lower nature?

>

> 3. Can a surrender to the Lord without the blessings of

> one's parents and Sadguru result in Liberation?

>

 

I think that all 3 questions can be cleared up if one understands

how SriVaishnava Siddhantam defines surrender. According to our

AchAryans, the sAstras speak of 2 main ways to realizing God. One

is bhakti yOga, or the path of devotion, that is supported by

karma, selfless action in the form of worship, and jNAna, proper

understanding of the nature of this Universe. The other is

prapatti, or the path of self surrender.

 

Contrary to present day belief, no one in this age is really

qualified to practice the rigid discipline required to following

this first path, so the Lord out of His Boundless Love offers the

second and more direct path to Himself, the path of prapatti,

self surrender.

 

The nature of Surrender lies in completely leaving aside any self

effort in seeking our own means to self realization and

salvation, and simply and wholeheartedly relying on the mercy of

Sriman Narayana, knowing that He alone is the Means our

Salvation, and that serving Him Alone is the only True Happiness,

the only reason for seeking Salavation.

 

Now while this on a superficial level seems simple, particularly

when compared to the challenging path of yOga, the emotional and

spiritual aspects of surrender are in reality very complex,

making it virtually impossible for those of living in the age of

ignorance to surrender by ourselves. So, once again, the Lord in

His Infinite Mercy and His ever constant desire to redeem us,

gives us a means, the AchAryan. As Sri Venkatesh has so

wonderfully brought forth in his posting, the AchAryan can be

likened to a mother who sacrifices everything for her children to

raise them and guide them on the path that will lead to True

Happiness. In this case, that path that the AchAryan reveals to

us is the path of Surrender, prapatti.

 

Interestingly, however, and once again as an expression of the

Lord's mercy, the AchAryan goes even one step further. A

mother's love is such that she cannot even bear to see her

children suffering even slightly, even if such struggle leads to

something good. The AchAryan's love being the same way, he

actually takes on the path that he intended for us to take by

surrendering on our behalf, becoming the connection between

ourselves and the Lord to assure our salvation.

 

Such a loving act on the part of the teacher cannot help but help

nurture feelings of love in our own hearts, and we began to

naturally engage in AchArya abhimAnam as described by Swamy

Pillai LokAchAr. While it is described that this service pleases

the Lord so much that He assures our Salvation, the spirit of

Loving Service to Sriman Narayana through service to the AchAryan

and other devotees is such a joyous experience, that we soon can

begin to even forget the very desire for the fruit of salvation

that brought us to the AchAryan in the first place.

 

Consequently, Absolute Faith in the AchAryan is equivalent, and

indeed in my opinion, is essentially the same thing as

surrendering to the Lord. Since this surrender is a direct

experience of the Supreme Lord Sriman Narayana's Love in one's

heart that is experiencesd as the AchAryan's loving intercession,

it is an all encompassing and all inclusive experience that has

no gradations or substitutions. And, since it is only brought

about by Sriman Narayana's Grace Alone, there really can be no

question of the need for approval or blessings from others.

All that is necessary, other than the inclination and acceptance

on the part of the aspirant, is an AchAryan having thorough

knowledge of the path of surrender as promoted by the foremost

example of this "maternal" affection for humanity, Sri Ramanuja.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Mohan