RE: The Means and the End

[Guest guest]

Dear sri Sadagopan iyengar, this article is excellent. Everyone should keep

a copy of this article on the wall so that they remember the information

forever.

 

adiyen Krishna kashyap

sadagopaniyengar [sadagopaniyengar]

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 6:52 AM

; bhakti-list;

tiruvengadam; Oppiliappan; radha jagannathan; j.srinivasan; cs srinivasan;

padmaja; mythily ramadesikan

Cc: sadagopaniyengar

The Means and the End

 

 

 

Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

 

 

The Means and The End

 

 

 

 

 

The cornerstone of our Sampradaya is an unflinching faith (MahA VisvAsam)

in the Lord Sriman Narayana, a faith that He would take care of us at all

times, that He would bestow on us all that is required, at the appropriate

time and in due measure, a faith that would withstand the test of severe

adversity. He is an Arbiter, who ensures that we have a fair deal in life,

in tune with our acts of commission and omission, good and bad, accumulated

over countless births. Endowed as we are with a large measure of

independence, what we are and what we attain, are but functions of what we

have done and omitted to do.

 

 

 

Many a time, we find ourselves in difficult situations, ranging from

illness of the self or of the family members, emergent need of money with no

known source to raise it from, challenging exams looming ahead with

preparation therefor being woefully inadequate, etc. What do we do at such

times? We pray. Of course, we leave no stone unturned to achieve the desired

goal or to resolve the problem, but when we find these inadequate, we pray

to the Lord to come to our aid. This is known as “KAmya prArtthanA”. Our

philosophy tells us that such prayer should be avoided, as it reflects our

lack of faith in the Lord’s dispensation and His capacity to understand and

fulfill our needs. We might desperately desire a car or a mansion, but

whether these are in our real interests or not is unknown to us. As somebody

rightly said, more people are unhappy because their wishes are granted than

those with unfulfilled wants. Hence the best thing to do is to perform our

duties to the best of our abilities and to leave everything to Him, with the

conviction that He would indeed endow us with everything we really need. If

we fail to get a deserved promotion, if a desired acquisition fails to

materialize at the last minute, we should reconcile ourselves with the

thought that perhaps it was not really in our interest to have attained the

desired goals. This might be easier said than done, but would definitely

save us a lot of heartburn and grief, while training us to accept the divine

dispensation with equanimity.

 

In a scenario of unfulfilled desires, probably the worst thing to do is

to rush to an anya devata, forsaking our own Lord and Master. However, for

people like us with fickle minds and wavering intellects, it is natural to

obtain relief wherever available, irrespective of the tradition and faith in

which we were born and brought up. When the sick child fails to get better

despite treatment, a concerned neighbour suggests prArtthanA to a famed

demigod nearby or to a shrine known for its sure-cures. And in our

desperation to see the child back in normal health and unable to endure its

suffering, we grasp at the neighbour’s suggestion as would a drowning man at

mere straws. And if the effort is fruitful, we develop a faith in the

demigod who has apparently cured the child with alacrity. This faith in turn

erodes our original confidence in our Lord and whenever we are in trouble,

we acquire the habit of turning to the demigod for succour, and ultimately

become votaries of an alien faith. We have also seen some Vaishnavites

flocking to even Christian and Moslem shrines for relief.

 

 

 

Logically speaking, if a particular deity (other than our Lord) is able

to cure an illness or grant a wish, why should we not pay obeisance to that

deity? After all, doesn’t the granting of a wish prove the power of the

deity, and what is wrong in resorting to this? If the argument is that only

Sriman Narayana can grant us Moksham, we can always come back to Him after

getting our mundane desires fulfilled through other lesser Gods, can’t we,

thus ensuring the best deal in both the worlds?

 

There are several fallacies in such facile arguments.

 

 

 

For one thing, the act of approaching anya devatas for assistance is a

virtual declaration of “no confidence” in Sriman Narayana, whom the Shruti

avers is the Parabrahmam or the Ultimate. In comparison, other deities can

hardly be superior. If such be the case, what would be the point in praying

to them for succour, when we have the all-powerful Lord awaiting a word from

us? It would be like forsaking the Master Physician at our door and rushing

to a quack for treatment.

 

 

 

Secondly, Shastras lay down that only Sriman Narayana is the “Purusha”,

and all the rest are women. He is the “Pati” and all others “PatnIs”. If we

were to pray to a demigod for fulfilling a particular desire, it would be

akin to a hitherto faithful wife seeking satisfaction from somebody other

than her husband.

 

 

 

Thirdly, a person becomes a Vishnu bhakta as a result of countless births

of devotion to other lesser devatas. Hence, if one were to go back to

worship of other deities for achieving mundane goals, it would be like a

graduate student reverting to kindergarten.

 

 

 

Fourthly, the powers of other deities to make our dreams come true, are

derived from Sriman Narayana, who is the master of all sentient beings, be

they animals, humans or devatas. “avaravar irayavar kuraivilar irayavar”

says Sri Nammazhwar, making it clear that other deities are able to satisfy

their votaries only due to the power bestowed in them by the Lord. The

Bhagavat Gita too confirms this-

 

“Sa tayA shraddhayA yukta: tasya ArAdhanam IhatE

 

labhatE cha tata: kAmAn mayaiva vihitAn hi tAn”.

 

 

 

Fifthly, the Lord being the antaryami of all beings, including these

demigods, any prayer to the latter is automatically transmitted to the

inner-dweller. Thus, even though we may think we are worshipping another

devata, the recipient of our adulation is actually Sriman Narayana.

 

Under these circumstances, we might as well worship the Lord directly,

instead of through the medium of other devatas. Says the Lord in the Gita-

 

“YEpi anya dEvatA bhakta: yajantE shraddhyAnvitA:

 

TEpi mAmEva KountEya yajanti avidhi poorvakam”

 

 

 

Sixthly, if the Lord decides to bless us with bounties, there is none who

can prevent Him from doing that. Conversely, if He decides to take away what

we have, none can stand in His way. Once we realize this, we also understand

that whatever desire has been fulfilled by the anya devata has come to

fruition only because the Lord willed it. And once this dawns on us, we

would feel no need to turn to anyone other than Emperuman for succour.

 

“tvayi pravrittE mama kim prayAsai:

 

tvayi apravrittE mama kim prayAsai:”

 

says Swami Desikan in Sri KamAsikAshtakam.

 

 

 

Seventhly, where would be prefer to shop-at a huge departmental store

where we can get all that we want at bargain prices, with a wide variety to

choose from, or at a small neighborhood store selling but a limited range of

products? Sriman Narayana is capable of granting every wish of ours and

ultimately bless us with perennial bliss and liberation, while anya devatas

may be able to fulfill only certain of our desires, and are in any case

unable to liberate us from the shackles of Karma.

 

Sri Tirumazhisai Piran does some plain speaking in his

Tirucchandaviruttam-

 

“KANilum uruppolAr sevikkinAda keertthiyAr

 

PENilum varam tara midukkilAda dEvar”.

 

 

 

Eighthly, which other devata has Sree as his consort? That the Lord is

constantly accompanied by TirumagaL ensures that He always treats His

devotees with compassion, whether or not they deserve it. His justice is

always tempered with mercy, as Piratti would never hear of the Lord meting

out commensurate punishment. Further, the nature of the First Lady is that

whenever a devotee comes to Her with a prayer, She blesses him with all that

is auspicious, ranging from unimaginable riches to Sri Vaikuntam itself,

and, after showering him with all this and other bounties, is consumed by a

sense of inadequacy and feels that whatever she has given the devotee is

hardly enough. “Tvam lajjasE amba kOyam udAra bhAva:! wonders Sri Bhattar.

Hence Sri Tirumazhisai Piran says that only the Lord is to be worshipped and

not other deities, who do not have the good fortune of having Piratti as

Consort

 

“TiruvillA dEvarai trElmin dEvu”.

 

With such an overwhelming array of reasons, it would be in the fitness of

things if we remain unmoved by the slings and arrows of fortune, by the

trial and tribulations fate may throw our way, preserve the chastity of our

faith in Sriman Narayana, and resist with all our might the temptation to

seek refuge in somebody else for petty, ephemeral gains. If we need

inspiration in this endeavour, we only have to remember Sri Nammazhwar’s

immortal lines-

 

“KaLaivAi tunbam kaLAyadu ozhivAi kaLaikaN mattrilEn”

 

“unnAl allAl yAvarAlum ondrum kurai vENdEn”.

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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