Bhakti and Jnana- To Sri Subramaniam-ji!

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Subramaniam-ji !

 

Thanks for narrating this incident.. Yes , many people may wonder why

i am approaching the discussion of my topic the way i am doing!

 

Here i would like to relate to you what Kanchi Maha Priayyal himself

replied when Someone asked him why we are celeberating 'Sankara

Jayanti' .... after all , adi Sankara is an 'adwaita' guru - he will

not believe in such personal glorifications!

 

Kanchi Mahaa periavall says

 

" Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada taught us the truth that all the deities

we hereditarily worship are but the manifestations of the One supreme

Paramaatma. He established the worship of the moorthies of Siva,

Vishnu, Ambika, Surya, Vinayaka and Subrahmanya all sanctified in the

Vedas, and each having a specific Gayatri Mantra. If worshipped with

devotion. all of them will enable us to attain the paramaatma,

proclaimed by the Vedas as Sat Purusha, or Brahman.

 

(snip snip snip )

 

 

*When we realise, with the aid of jnana, that God is the only

ultimate Truth and everything else is illusion, anger, desire,

hatred, pain, grief and other emotions will not affect us. We begin

to dwell in the fullness of Supreme Bliss. This idea is clearly

brought out by Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada in the first verse of his Sri

Dakshinamurti Ashtaam.

 

 

Visvam darpana drisyamaana nagaree tulyam nijaantargatam,

Pasyannatmani maayayaa bahirivodbhootam yathaa nidrayaa;

Yah saakshaatkurute prabodhasamaye svaatmaana-mevaadvayam,

Tasmai sreegurumoortaye nama idam Sree Dakshinaa-moortaye.

The last verse in this Ashtakam is :

 

Bhoorambhamsyanolo anilombaramaharnaatho himaamsu:pumaan,

Ityaabhaati charaacharaatmakam idam yasyaiva moortyashtakam!

Naanyat kincanavaidyate vimrusataam yasmaat parasmaad vibho

Tasmai Sree gurumoortaye nama idam Sree Dakshinaa-moortaye!!

 

The verse points out that earth, water, fire, air, ether, Sun, moon,

and purusha are all one. Paramesvara bears the name of Ashtamurti and

it is He who appears in the eight forms enumerated above. Therefore,

when we turn our thoughts inward and make some research, we arrive at

the realisation that Paramatma is the Ultimate Truth. We cease to

covet anything. But this does not imply inaction; on the other hand,

for the welfare of the word (lodasamgraha), each of us has to perform

the duty assigned to him. when we do so with the Advaitic

consciousness of oneness of God we shall be able to perform our

duties, freed from every attachment. The Acharya made his appearance

in the world to teach us this great truth and has, thereby, rendered

an invaluable service to humanity. By paying homage to this great

religious and spiritual preceptor, who reoriented philosophic thought

to its Upanishadic traditions and whose achievements within a short

span of life is unparalleled in history, we shall earn his grace

which will guide us along the path of God-realisation. It is due to

Sri Bhagavatpada and his compositions in praise of the different

manifestations of God that a new life has come to be breathed into

temple worship and the festivals associated with temples. Had it not

been for him the observance of such festivals like Janmashtami,

Vinayaka Chaturthi, Sri Rama Navami and Sivaratri in our homes would

have ceased owing to the spread of atheism. Our elders, who profited

from the teachings of Bhagavatpada, adhered to the various religious

observances. It is their abundant faith that is responsible for the

continuance of these observance even today, in spite of the neglect

of succeeding generations. "

 

Thus, Acharya advised us all to perform perform the daily

anushtanaas prescribed for him, to worship the deity hereditarily

worshipped, and to meditate on the mantra given to him by a guru.

 

Maha periavaal says :

 

" But unfortunately, in these days, we thin of God only when faced

with some calamity, and begin to do this pooja or that. Of what avail

are these special poojas and rituals, if we have not built up our

spiritual life on the bases of the anushtaanaas, enjoined upon us? In

fact these special rituals to ward off a threatened calamity may not

become necessary at all if we had been strictly adhering to our

anushtaanaas, which are the means by which man can acquire the fund

of divine grace without which not an atom will move in this universe.

In the absence of this basic requirement, whatever else we do later

on, will not bear fruit. "

 

**So, that is why WE celebrate Sankara jayanti ; in the same way in

which we are celebrating Gita Jayanti today ! This does not mean we

not advaitins ! it just means as true advaitins we honor both the

advaita acharya and the gitacharya who saved Hinduism from

extinction! Our homage to the great truth ofr Sanatana dharma! ***

 

Why should advaitins celebrate anything for these are all external

acts of worship is that not true ?

 

No ! by remembering the great teachings of the Acharya and his

bhasyas on Srimad Bhagvad Gita ETC, we are able to revive

the 'adwaitic' spirit is us and know that by external worship of the

Guru , the internal 'atman' is realized for the Guru and the Goddess

live in the Mantra THAT THEY INITIATED YOU WITH!

 

Acharya says in Upadesa Panchakam

 

"Vedo nityamadhiyataam taduditam karma svanushthiyataam

Teneshasya vidhiliyataamachitih kaamaye matishtyajyataam

Paapaughah paridhuuyataam bhavasukhe dosho anusandhiliyataam

Atmechha vyavasilyataam nijagrihaattuurnam vinirgamyataam"

 

"Study the Veda everyday; do properly Karma prescribed therein

(rituals, at least the nitya karmas); by the performance of those

karmas, worship the Lord; abandon attachment to desire-driven action;

wash away the accumulated sins; reflect on the defects of happiness

derived from samsaaric existence; be firm in desiring the Self (in

realization); quickly leave your house (i.e. take to sannyaasa)

 

Acharya sings in verse 49 of Sivananda Lahari

 

aanandaamR^itapuuritaa harapadaambhojaalavaalodyataa

sthairyopaghnamupetya bhaktilatikaa shaakhopashaakhaanvitaa |

uchchhairmaanasakaayamaanapaTaliimaakramya nishhkalmashhaa

nityaabhiishhTaphalapradaa bhavatu me satkarmasaMvardhitaa || 49||

 

Divine Love is like a Garden Creeper.

It is full of nectar of Divine Bliss.

It springs from the bed of Lord Hara (i)'s lotus feet.

It spreads with its ramified branches along the contiguous support of

constancy of aspiration.

It covers the high roofing of the heart and mind.

It is tended by the service of virtuous devotional acts,

freeing itself from the disease of sin.

May that creeper of Divine Love yield the longed for and eternal

Fruitage unto me!

 

- Sivanandalahari 49.

in my very first post , i have described one of the names of Sri

Lalita while discussing this topic

One of the names of Sri Lalita devi iin Sri Lalita Sahasaranama is

 

Bhakta chitta kaki Ghana Ghana

 

' When the peacocks see the the dark clouds approaching them, they

instantaneously become happy and dance merrily. Like wise the bhaktas

are compared to a peacock and Devi to the clouds meaning that the

bhaktas become immensely happy on seeing Devi and immediately reach

the Samadhi status .'

 

in the second post

 

Bhakta manasa hamsika

 

The Devi who floats like a Hamsa in the mind's of the Bhakta which

is like a lake.

 

i have tried wherever possivble to give a few names from Sri Lalita

sahasaranama as well as i have quoted from ADI SHANKARA'S

MANY 'BHAKTI' COMPOSITIONS!

 

Sir, i am not an expert ! i only took up this challenge to write on

this topic because Sr Ramji asked me to lead a topic ! THIS IS MY

First ATTEMPT and that too my humble offering to Adi shankara

bhagvadapada , THE WAY IN WHICH MY LIMITED MIND APPRACHES HIS

INFINITE WISDOM! HOW CAN THE FINITE KNOW THE INFINITE! adi shankara

himself calls himself a'deena' while approaching the lotus feet of

Ambaal ! and i am only a 'speck' - a drop trying to woo the ocean!

 

Seriously, speaking, i luv your contributions as they are

adding 'luster' and 'wisdom' to this great topic! please continue!

 

One of the names of Sri Lalita is

Bhakti Vashya

 

She can be only controlled through the Bhakti and nothing other

than Bhakti is relevant to Her.

 

HARI AUM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

advaitin, V Subrahmanian <subrahmanian_v>

wrote:

>

> Namaste Satsanghis:

>> From the time I started listening to the stotram rendered by

Smt. C. Saroja and Smt. C.Lalitha in a very enchanting style, this

particular portion appealed to me very much. Bhavaaranya kuthaarikaa

means Sri Lalaithaambal is the axe that cuts away the forest of

samsara. And Ambal is Bhaktipriyaa, She can be Realised by Bhakti,

She can be made 'Our own Mother' through Bhakti and She destroys

fear. When I told some friends about this portion and how sweet it

is to recite repeatedly, and its deep significance to Vedanta, they

readily liked it and some of them even told me that they had

memorised this portion and recite it often.

>

> Thanks to the Topic of this month, for it enables to dwell on

such soul-stirring anecdotes!!

>

> Subbu

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