Insure and Be Secure

[Guest guest]

, sadagopaniyengar

<sadagopaniyengar@v...> wrote:

> Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya

nama:

>

> " Insure and Be Secure!"

>

> There is a unique form of Insurance which our Acharyas have long

held out to us, which has any number of unique features which our

modern day companies can never hold a candle to. For an extremely

negligible premium, this contract offers us not only the pot of the

gold at the end of the rainbow, but the rainbow itself. If you are

interested in this priceless product, please read on.

>

 

 

Dear Sri Sadgopan Iyengar,

 

Very interesting comparison of insurance policies and 'prappati',

indeed! Thank you.

 

There is only question on my mind. I wonder if the 'prappati' policy

also has the facility of 'nomination'. How nice it would be to know

that after one's demise all the benefits accruing from one's act

of 'prappati' will automatically go to one's survivors! Dying would

be a little less difficult for us when we know that, no matter what

happens, our children/kith and kin would be definitely entitled to

the 'Sum Assured'... which in this case, as we know, is 'sriyah-pati

Srimann NarAyaNanE'.

 

The AzhwAr once sang that the Lord was "kattUNNa perumAyan" ... "He

That is completely secured to us"! I guess 'prappati' is the

insurance policy through which the 'sum assured' is secured

('kattUNNa-paduthal') by us for ourselves in this life and for our

survivors too long after we are no more!

 

If the above were true, I suppose Madhura-kavi was an excellent

insurance salesman!

 

Thanks for a good write-up,

 

Regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

[Guest guest]

Srimate

SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

“ Insure and Be Secure!”

 

One of the most difficult jobs in the world is selling

insurance. If you ask insurance agents, they would tell you how hard

it is to convince anyone to insure themselves, for, almost everyone

believes themselves to be permanent residents of this planet,

refusing to acknowledge even to themselves that they have to leave

some day or the other. Sri Krishna might have proclaimed

“JAtasya hi dhruvO mrityu:” ( those who are born must

indeed die someday), everyday we might see people, some of them our

relatives, friends or acquaintances, passing away, never to be seen

again, we might see crematoria or graveyards on our way to work,

standing as stark reminders of where our ultimate destination is---

we might see all these signals of life’s impermanance: however,

the realisation, that we too are subject to the inexorable laws of

nature, somehow escapes us or we just shut our eyes and minds to the

possibility, ostrich-like.

 

And in our society, it is considered inauspicious to talk of

death, though it is something we encounter in some form or the other

every day, be it the demise of a relative, a friend, a mere beggar on

the roadside or of just a cockroach or a rodent. We rear back at the

mere mention of the word, unwilling to face the phenomenon even when

it stares us in the face. The Yaksha Prasna of Mahabharata narrates,

inter alia, a question addressed by the Yaksha to

Dharmaputra—“Which is the most surprising thing in this

world?”. YudhishttirA’s reply is an eye-opener for every

one of us. When a dead body is being carried away for disposal, a

passerby comments, “What a pity!”, little realising that

he too is destined to go the same way, some day or the other, sooner

or later. This, says Yudhishttira, is the most astonishing thing in

the world. This is what makes the salesman’s job so hard, for,

he has to commence his spiel with a reminder that we too are mortal

and must pass off some day. He might talk euphemistically of

“the unthinkable” happening, but what he means, in

precise terms, is the end of life. Thus, in the process of selling

insurance, he has two difficult tasks—the first is to convince

people that they are indeed subject to mortality and destined to pass

over like every body else, and, secondly, to make them see the

necessity to provide for such an eventuality.

 

It might interest us to know that Insurance is hardly a modern

invention and has been in vogue since long, perhaps not in the form

we have come across, but all the same incorporating the same concept.

The difference between the current day indemnities and the ancient

ones is that the former provide only financial compensation in the

event of the risk materialising—they cannot provide any other

form of recompense. All types of insurance, be it medical insurance,

life insurance, vehicle insurance, property insurance or burglary

assurance, are aimed solely at providing monetary compensation in the

event of loss.

 

There is a unique form of Insurance which our Acharyas have long held

out to us, which has any number of unique features which our modern

day companies can never hold a candle to. For an extremely negligible

premium, this contract offers us not only the pot of the gold at the

end of the rainbow, but the rainbow itself. If you are interested in

this priceless product, please read on.

 

Prapatti or Sharanagati is the name of this product, which offers us a

wonderful contract of assurance. There are any number of unique

charactreristics, which distinguish this Policy from others of its

ilk—

1) The insurer is not some fly-by-night operator or someone of

limited financial strength, who may or may not be able to honour his

obligation, but the Supreme Lord Himself. There is thus no fear of

contractual obligations not being honoured at maturity.

2) Unlike the ordinary life policy which offers just monetary

compensation but cannot prevent death, this policy of Prapatti can

indeed make us immortal. Even if this body comprised of the five

elements falls in course of time, this policy enables our soul to

realise and reaffirm its eternality in the service of the Lord.

3) No Insurance policy, per se, can bring us happiness. Even if

it were to afford us some pleasure due to the moneys it brings along,

this is at best ephemeral and puerile. Prapatti, on the other hand,

offers us unalloyed and undying bliss, immeasurable and matchless.

4) When we to life insurance (especially a whole life

policy), it does nothing for us, the insured, and provides only for a

lump sum payment to our nominee. Thus, though we pay the premium life

long, we ourselves derive no benefit from it. The policy that the

Sampradaya offers, however, ensures that we ourselves benefit

immensely, while conferring incidental profits on our near and dear.

5) Insurance policies necessitate recurring payment of premia

over long periods of time. Prapatti, however, calls for an

inexpensive, single-time payment, in the form of Bharasamarpanam,

which calls not for astronomical amounts of money, but only for the

correct attitude of mind.

6) Insurance is a contract of utmost good faith(“uberima

fidae”), requiring the insured to disclose all pre-existing

illnesses and all material developments in the future too. Otherwise,

claims under the policy may not be settled. In the case of Prapatti,

however, though an undertaking of good conduct is obtained at the

time of entering into the contract, even if the same is violated, the

Lord overlooks the transgression or levies some minor penalty, with

the assured benefits remaining unaffected.

7) When the eventuality occurs, the insurer has to be notified of

the occurrence and the benefits under the policy claimed by the

nominee after a lot of procedural hassles. No insurer keeps track of

who dies when, nor does he hasten to award the insurance moneys,

unclaimed. In the case of Prapatti, however, once the mortal coils

are shed, the Lord Himself rushes in to carry the soul with Him to

the Promised Land (“aham smarAmi mat bhaktam, nayAmi paramAm

gatim”), with no other effort required on the part of the

assured or their dependants.

8) There are now any number of players in the mundane insurance

industry, all competing with one another for a share of the cake. In

the case of eternal benefits, however, the Lord remains the sole

insurer, with absolutely none to compete with Him, none capable of

conferring the benefits that He can (“MOksham icchEt

JanArdanAt”, “apavarga pradO Hari:” etc.).

9) Insurers are selective about the individuals they cover and do

not extend life cover to people suffering from chronic or major

diseases, for fear of having to settle early claims not commensurate

with the premia received. However, the Lord extends assurance to all

and sundry, irrespective of whether they are sick or healthy, rich or

poor, exalted or underdog, good, bad or ugly—He is game to

accepting proposals from even the wilest of people, provided they are

made with sincerity—“Viditam bhuvanE VibhishaNO vA yadi vA

Ravana iti udIritam tE”.

10) If you read the policy documents issued by mundane insurers, you

will find the fine print containing so many restrictive clauses and

loopholes, enabling the insurer to wriggle out of his commitment. On

the other hand, once the Lord approves a contract of Prapatti, He

adheres to His part of the bargain, come what may. His is an

unconditional assurance, a categorical declaration of intention to

protect and deliver us from sin and stigma—“aham tvA

sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi, mA sucha:”

11) An important difference between the two types of assurances,

earthly and eternal, is the mode of canvassing potential rs.

While the former relies on advertisement in the visual and print

media, apart from engaging an army of agents, canvassing for the

latter type of insurance that the Lord provides, is done purely

through word of mouth, by the angelic brigade of Azhwars and

Acharyas, extolling the priceless policy and the Inimitable Insurer.

12) While insurance contracts are entered into only during the

companies’ working hours and at specified places where they

have offices, Prapatti is a policy issued anytime, anywhere, to

anyone. The Sun never sets in the Lord’s offices and their

working hours are unlimited. He remains prepared for an emergency

call anytime, anywhere and from anyone,(“PAtu praNata rakshAyAm

viLambam asahan iva”) be it an embattled elephant fighting for

its life or a Pandava princess struggling to save her modesty from

being outraged.

 

With all these going for it, is not the Lord’s policy infinitely

superior to the indemnity offered by any other mundane assurer? All of

us must have definitely taken out life policies, to cover

eventualities; but how many of us have obtained the type of assurance

only the Lord can provide? And for those who are yet to join the

Society of Surrendered Souls and secure their eternal welfare, the

Lord’s doors are always open. All they have to do is to contact

their Acharya and through him, perform Prapatti at the Lord’s

lotus feet and be blessed with a cast iron policy of assurance. For

this, there are no hidden charges, no marked-up prices or fake

discounts, no promotional gimmicks nor any “festival

offers”—it is a simple contract, transparent to the core

and with no doubts as to its enforeceability.

 

What are you waiting for? Rush today to your Acharya, to Insure and Be Secure.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan