Wonder as Worship: The Way of the "jignyAsu" - Part 4

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continued from Part 3

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Just as unconquered Fear drives the "ArthA" into

seeking God through Worship, so does unfulfilled

Desire lead the "arthArthi" to the doorsteps of the

Almighty.

 

For most men, it is their numerous desires that give

meaning and substance to life. To them the relentless

pursuit of material, sensual, emotional and soulful

self-gratification is what existence is all truly

about. There is an old saying that characterizes such

men quite well: "Where there is Hope, there is Life".

That proverb can be best understood when paraphrased

into: "Where there is yet Hope of desires being

fulfilled, there will be Life".

 

For most men in this world, Life ceases when Desire

ceases. Such men hence see good reason to go on

desiring more and more in life. "After all", they say,

"What better way to stay alive and prolong the

experience of life itself?"

 

It is very,very common to see such men and women

amidst us. At the great Sri Venkateshwara temple, for

example, at Tirumala-Tirupati (my native town in

India), it is quite common to see worshippers of the

"arthArthi" variety publicly petitioning the presiding

Deity there ("yEdukondaluvAdA gOvinda!") to please

grant them their life-desires --- a home, a car, a

son's success in examinations, a daughter's marriage,

profits from a business venture, the birth of a

grandchild... and so on and so forth...

 

Another common sight in every part of India, are the

countless little roadside shrines of gods like

Ganesha, Hanuman, Devi and others. These local deities

are very dear to the community. Men and women of the

neighbourhood will petition these deites and shrines

to fulfill ordinary desires of even an average

workaday life. The busy office-goer, for example,

hurrying to work will often be seen pausing a few

moments at the doorsteps of the shrine just to mutter

a fervent, silent prayer, "O Ganesha, please let this

day at work ride smoothly for me... Save me from my

boss, the big, bad bully..." or "O Anjaneya, won't you

please help me get that promotion I was promised last

year?".

 

No more, thus, really needs be said about the nature

of Worship of the "arthArthi". It is without doubt

quite business-like in form and character, but then

it's the sort of business the Almighty does not mind

regularly doing with His devotees. Going by the

Bhagavath-Gita, God actually finds it pleasureable to

do business with such devotees. It is His own way of

contributing to the continued economic well-being of

the one paramount thing that is all important to

Mankind --- Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

 

**************

(to be continued)

Rgds,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

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