The Offering

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

 

 

The Offering

The Lord is the most magnificent person, with the best of all

attributes. He is the Supreme deity of this world and others, at whose pleasure

they subsist. He is the Creator, Protector and Destroyer of all beings, sentient

and non-sentient. By His very nature of unbridled supremacy, the Lord would be

totally inaccessible to us mortals, plagued as we are with the accumulated

baggage of bad deeds. Where are we, with all our frailties and faulty faculties,

and where He, the Supreme Lord of all that exists! Our wish to see Him, to

worship Him, etc., are akin to a total cripple, bereft of all his limbs, and

lying at the bottom of a deep pit, aspiring to ride on top of an elephant,

towering majestically over him. So we despair of ever being able to interact in

any fashion with the Lord. However, what if the mighty elephant itself were to

kneel down and, with its soft trunk, pick up the cripple gently and put him on

its back, to give him the ride of his life? This would be the only way the

cripple could have a ride on elephant-back.

 

So too, the glorious Lord reaches down from the heights of His supremacy

and is born time and again in this humdrum world, to live as one with us

mortals, to share in our happiness and sorrow. And, in order to benefit those

who were not around when He took His avataras, He also contracts His form and

resides in idols made of stone, metal and mere mud too, consecrated at various

temples, as the "arcchA moorthi". Even if He forsakes His mighty form and

resides in temples, He is no less powerful and magnificent than He is at Sri

Vaikuntam.

 

We now come to the question-what do we offer such a powerful person, an entity

of such incomparable greatness? We have heard of mighty tributes being paid to

Kings of yore, but these rulers pale into insignificance when compared to this

Supreme Being. What indeed can we impoverished mortals offer Him, which is

commensurate with His splendour? Rack our brains as we might, we fail to come up

with a satisfactory answer: the immeasurable greatness of the Lord and the

insignificance of any offering that we may think of, leave us stumped. The

richest and choicest of food and beverages we can conjure up, the most wonderful

of clothes we can weave, the most precious of gems and jewellery we can dream

of- all these appear totally inadequate when we consider the grandeur of the

intended recipient. So what do we do? We cannot also give up in despair the

entire idea of an offering, for our inner mind, conscious of the bounties He has

bestowed us with, insists on some sort of tribute, however laughably

insufficient. With our minds in turmoil, we ask the Lord Himself as to what we

might offer Him, keeping in view His greatness and our own inadequacy. We wait

with bated breath for the Lord's reply, quaking inside at the possibility that

He should ask for something beyond our reach, and almost regretting the impulse

that made us ask the question in the first place.

 

Though embarrassed, He does favour us with a reply-

 

"Patram pushpam phalam tOyam yO mE bhaktyA prayacchati

 

tadaham bhakti upahrutam asnAmi prayatAtmana:"

 

Says the Lord, "whatever is offered to Me with devotion, whether it be a fruit,

flower, a Tulsi leaf or mere water, I accept it gladly and with full

satisfaction." We are extremely relieved that the Lord asks for so little,

something that could be safely acquired without major expenditure, and offered

with ease. Then we realise with dismay that the Lord has added a rider, making

the offering most difficult. The fine print, which we have omitted to peruse,

reads "bhaktyA" and "prayatAtmana:"

 

Even if the offering is a worthless leaf, if it is submitted with devotion and

a pure mind, the Lord accepts the same with immense satisfaction. Here, purity

of mind refers to offering to the Lord without the expectation of anything in

return. Almost all of us are used to bargaining with Emperuman-" if only I get

through this exam with laurels, I will adorn you with new clothes. If my

daughter gets a good match, I shall perform tirumanjanam. If I am cured of this

malady, I shall perform anga pradakshinam" etc.

 

The offering to the Lord should be with the realisation that it is our duty to

offer it to the Lord: not only that, but we should also offer it with the sole

aim of pleasing Him (Bhagavat preetyarttham).

 

We find this hard to believe- such a towering entity, and being pleased with a

mere flower or water! "Impossible!", say we to ourselves. The patient Lord

reminds us of various instances where He had indeed been pleased beyond measure

with insignificant tributes. As Sri Krishna, He accepted with genuine pleasure

the "aval" offered to Him by his boyhood friend Sudhama, known more popularly as

"KuchEla" due to his inelegant attire. As Chakravartthi Tirumagan, He partook of

jungle fruits submitted with love by Sabhari. And again in Sri Krishnavatara, He

ate with relish the banana peel, which Sri Vidura, engrossed in conversation,

offered Him after throwing away the fruit.

 

 

 

We are still unable to believe this, even if it is the Lord who says so. We look

for corroboration by impartial third parties. And we do find it in Sage Vyasa's

words in Sri Mahabharata-

 

"anyat poorNAt apAm kumbhAAt anyat pAdAvanEjanAt

 

anyat kusala samprasnAt na cha icchati JanArdana:"

 

Wonderstruck at the Lord's undemanding nature, Sri Vyasa Bhagavan exclaims," Sri

Krishna demands little other than a pot of water (reception with poorna

kumbham), washing His feet with water and a mere word of inquiry as to His

well-being".

 

And while accepting these insignificant offerings, the Lord deems them to be

priceless if offered with devotion and accepts them with His head, rather than

with His feet, says the Mahabharata-

 

"yA; kriyA:samprayuktA:syu: EkAnta gata buddhibhi:

 

ta: sarvA: shirasA dEva: pratigrihNAti vai svayam".

 

Thus, the litmus test of an ideal offering appears to be the degree of bhakti

with which it is submitted, rather than its quantity, value or magnificence.

This is confirmed by the PancharAtra Samhita, which says,

 

"aNu api upahritam bhaktai: mama bhOgAya jAyatE

 

Bhooryapi abhaktO upahritam tat na mE bhOgAya jAyatE".

 

The Lord says that even the most insignificant offering affords Him intense

enjoyment, when offered by a devotee. Conversely, He does not relish even the

most precious tribute, if the contributor lacks piety and dedication.

 

The Lord is so kind, He does not want us to strain ourselves to make an

offering. He is immensely satisfied with what little we have to offer, if only

we submit it with bhakti.

 

 

 

It would be appropriate to conclude this piece with an anecdote from the life of

the great Acharya, Sri Parasara Bhattar. Commenting upon the TiruvAimozhi

pasuram

 

"parivadil eesanai padi

 

virivadu mEval uruveer

 

piri vagai indri nanneer tooy

 

purivaduvum pugai poovE"

 

Sri Bhattar told his disciple that the Lord would be satisfied with the smoke

from burning rubbish as incense, and an offering of a thorny flower as

adornment. The disciple Nanjeeyar, another great Acharya, pointed out the

ShAstraic provision that thorny flowers should not be offered to the Lord ("na

kanta kArikA pushpam DevAya vinivEdayEt"). Quipped Sri Bhattar," This dictum

does not mean that Emperuman dislikes a thorny flower: it is out of the Lord's

concern that the prickly thorn may injure the devotee while plucking the

flower."

 

 

 

Srimate SriLakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan.

 

 

 

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