Bhagavad Araadhana

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear Smt Krishnapriya,

 

Wonderfully said. Padikka-p-padikka santhosham pravahikkkiradu! My

pranamams to you again and again.

 

You have beautifully expressed your experience about that Universal

Energy descending on the worshipper.

 

But I think Bhagavad Aradhana is of a different kind and level. I

wanted to bring it in my forth coming mails (only 2 more:-)) but I

decide to bring it out in this mail itself as response to your mail.

 

If we look at scriptures, or more precisely, Gita, the give and take

policy for the balance of created universe in the name of yajna holds

good only for this - the created universe. Recall Bhagavan's words -

that He created Brahma deva onwards with yajna. This is for self

sustainment of creation, one round of which must last 100 Brahma years

or one Para which runs into trillions of years, say, roughly

4,32,00,00,000 x 2 x 365x 100 years.

 

But on what basis can we theorise that Brahman or Bhagavan also needs

to be brought into this Give and take equilibrium? By giving us this

Universe and this body, He has not reduced in his size. By taking up

something from us ,say by aaradhana, He wont be growing in size. By

giving whatever or taking whatever from here, from there or from

anywhere, HE as Bhagavan has nothing to lose, nothing to gain, nothing

to get fulfilled, nothing to get satisfied. Remember the PurNAm verse

from the upanishads.

 

It is in Him we are, it is by Him we work, it is through Him we see

and learn and it is in Him we go back. His is about the Brahma yajna

which He says in verse 3-15. But this Brahma yajna is about the

created universe which must be seen as Brahman Himself, according to

Ramanuja Bhashyam.

This is what is being propitiated in Brahma yajna, the foremost of all

the 5 yajnas.

 

But Bhagavad Aradhana is a class apart.

This question why He must be worshipped and offered something has been

discussed in Shanthi parvam, Moksha dharmam. This question was asked

by Yudhistira, for which Bheeshma replied that this is one question

which can not be replied without Bhagavan's blessings, without gyana-

praapthi, not by arguments and might even take more than 100 years to

explain. But this Bheeshma-Yudhishtira samvaadam itself has been

ordained by Bhagawan in order that we the very ordinary mortals of

this kali yuga may stand benefited. Can anyone of us pay back for this

compassion of the Lord for us??? Can the aaradhana we do compensate

for what ever He has provided with???

 

This doubt was in sage Narada's mind when saw God Himself in 4 forms

worshipping Himself.

 

It was witnessed in the Kritha yuga of the first manvanthra, the

Swayambhu manvanthra. It was then Sriman Narayana became His one son,

as sons of Dharma, as the 4 moorthys Nara, Narayana, Hari and Krishna.

These 4 moorthys began doing tapas and were doing deva karma, pithru

karma etc as per sashtras. Sage Narada was surprised to see this and

asked, what was it that He Himself had to worship.The reply to this

has been quoted by Bhagavad Ramanuja in his bhashyam to the verse 9-26

in Gita on 'pathram, pushpam...'

 

The reply was that whatever was given with extreme devotion, the Lord

accepts them.

"Whatever acts are consecrated by those whose intellects are

concentrated in SINGLE-MINDED DEVOTION, all these the Lord accepts on

His head." (shanti parvam -342).

 

The Lord needs nothing to be fulfilled. He is enjoyer of everything

and is Eternal Bliss. If one offers Him something thinking that he is

paying back, it is like a wife sharing the bed with her husband as a

payment for the comforts he has provided her. If you have a keen eye,

you will get lots of such analogies from Purvacharya's granthams on

how the relationship is not something of give and take or paying back.

 

If you think that you do the aaradhana, with a prayer that He will

fulfil your wishes, acharyas provide us ready quotes - it is like the

son asking the father to give him a promisory note that he will

defintely transfer his property to him (the son) !!

 

So it is not for paying Him back for whatever He has given, nor even

for doing us some favour in return for our aaradhana. If one thinks

so, God will certainly not be pleased.

 

Can you feel pleased, if your son or daughter says that he or she

bought you a gift, because you fed them well or because you are going

to do them some help? Wont you feel beaten then? Wont you feel bad?

Wont you feel let down?

Wont you think that your children have not understood you?

 

As a mother you must have definitely not liked such reasons. I felt

so. Until recently my son was telling that he likes me because I cook

for him, because I help him in studies. I would just tease him, then

engage a cook,you dont need a mother. Engage a teacher, you dont

need me. But nowadays when he says that loves me because I am his

amma, I am just excited, elated, jump to beat his height, run, play

and enjoy him. I can visualise how Bhagavan would have been just

'pleased', if someone worships Him because he just loves Him for His

sake, and not for any thing else, not for any benefit, not for any

kind of repayment.

 

This is what He precisely says in verse 9-26. "priyathaathmana:" With

love, with devotion, with preethi..

If one gives in such mentality, He will go wherever they are, as he

went to eat the small piece of spinach from Draupadi's Akshya

paathram, walked to Vidura's house to eat his simple amudu, walked to

pamba to eat the fruit offered by Sabhari and demaded 'aval' from his

friend KushEla.

 

Under what circumsatnces, He accepts the offer has been told by

Himself. Duryodhana invited Him to have feast in his palace, when

Krishna walked to his kingdom for the sake of Pandavas to ask for

their kingdom.

 

Krishna said, that feast or food is taken under two circumsatnces,

one, when someone offers with prema, preeethi and love, food is

accepted whatever be its nature, two, when one is in extreme hunger,

he will accept whatever is offered, with whatever intentions. Since

He (the Lord) was not hungry or in dire need of food, He was not

taking food from Duryodhana and since Duryodhana was not offering

food with prema, again there was no need for Him to accept the food

offered by Him. So saying He left for Vidura's house and took what was

offered by Vidura with all devotion.

 

This must be remembered by us at all times.

 

 

We do daily aaradhana to Him, because we love Him.

 

We offer worship at temples, because we love Him. That is why our

elders have always done archanas only on PerumaL's name, even when

such archana is done on birthdays of some family member.

 

We offer some vasthram or jewels to Him at temples, because we love Him.

 

We write mails like this, because we love Him.

 

We talk about Him, because we love Him. (Have you watched young

mothers? They always talk something of their child only. Such kind of

obsession must be there. Only then as the Lord says, such a person

will be awake even when the whole world is sleeping. Such a person is

one loved by Him.)

 

We ararnge for 'thaligai' in temples. because we love Him.

 

Do you know, Smt Krishna priya, that the kitchen in many of our

families is called as "thiru-maa-p-padi"? not as thaligai pandra uL or

samayal kattu etc. Thiru-p-padi maattru is the place where the food

items to be cooked for God are stored. In Tamil, the word padi means

food (we say 'avan padi aLAppavan' - giver of food). So our kitchen is

Thiru-maa-p-padi, the place where food is cooked for Him. It is not

for us. It is for Him. There is no thought of even food for our sake.

It ia not that we offer food before we take food. It is that He is

offered food out of preethi and we take the remaining of that food.

 

It is like how a mother always thinks of her child, sees to it that

the child is fed well and taken care well all the time. The only

intention behind all that is 'love' for the child.

 

This is from one point of view.

 

Let me tell from another point of view.

 

Imagine that you are under a king.

The king is the padi- aLappavan, gives you salary with which you run

your family.

 

The king happens to come to your place. You just rush in and bring

whatever you can from the kitchen and offer him. Is it because, the

king is hungry, in need of food?

Is it because you want to pay back the king for the favours he has

done to you? If so, can you really pay back for all that you have

received from him?

 

Imagine, if you say so what the king's reaction would be . He will

laugh at you. Same thing with our Bahgavan.

 

He will laugh at out madamai, if we think that we are paying back by

our aaradhana.

 

He will go cross with us, if we think that we do it for some future benefits.

 

He wants pure love, pure devotion and pure trust. If aaradhana is done

in this mindset, He will definitely come in some form and take it.

Try.

He is waiting for such an aaradhana, such a devotee..

 

And another thing.

This aaradhana must be continuous - happening all the time. This is

what he expects from us when he further said in that chapter that

whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you

give away, whatever austerity you practice, do that as an offering to

Me (Him).

 

The Final one he is asking in this series, is phala-tyagam. If you do

that also, He will pervade You - something you said as Energy entering

your body. A male body or female body is of no difference to Him. It

is you, the Jiva who left Him eons ago for the world of samsara, whom

He is still following and trying to take back to Him.

 

He wants you (me, us) , not your offerings. But by taking those

offerings, He hopes to bring out a mind-change in us someday so that

we will learn to offer sarva dharmaan at His feet, for His

consumption. The first step to this is the daily aaradhana.

 

 

Regards and expect more thought- exchanges from you or from anyone...

because this causes santhushti:-)

He causes santhushti,

His name causes santhushti.

His thought causes santhushti.

See how He is giving without us asking for this santhushti??!! So lets

not think about what He gives. Lets us think about what we can give

Him to express our Love for Him.

 

 

(PS - There is pramana from upanishads too. I have noticed you swiftly

coming up with related material. The above aspect about Love for God

being fundamental is expressed by sage Yajnavalkhya to his wife

Maitreyi. You can find it in Brihadharanyaka upanishad.)

 

-jayasree

 

 

 

 

On 11/18/05, krishna priya <neelakrishna2001 wrote:

>

> Sreemathi jayashree ji;

>

> In the course of answering and convincing my friends and my kids I

> learnt and understood our customs in a particular manner to some extent I

> could successively convince and brought little change among them .But ,I

> would be sending few one by one madam so that I can correct myself if I go

> wrong anywhere. Now since god showed me such wonderful gurus I would like to

> take prior approval before telling them further anything.

>

> This is what I feel about regular pooja /Aradhanam in general:

>

> Aradhanam is done for thanking god and to guide us and requesting god to

> be us or in few cases to please god and to achieve what they/we want

> .Whatever be the reason Aradhana with all prescribed Upacharas have

> manifold effect on the performer .Even though we say it for god or to please

> god it Is we who r finally being benefited. With my little knowledge I would

> try to put it this way:

>

> 1. Having bath before starting pooja /Aradhanam is for physical

> cleanliness. But reciting shloka while having bath after bath clears energy

> around us and also puts us in the mood to start in required /prescribed way.

> 2. Applying urdvapundrams/reciting dwadashapanjara sthotram/keeping

> tilakm protects the places from where higher energy got to be distributed

> all over physical body to subtle body. This implies that we r getting ready

> to invite higher energies to our home.

> 3. Since ladies physical body cannot take energies invited by vedic

> chanting probably they r supposed to recite sthotras, but each sthotra has

> same power like homeopathy .mild but powerful.

> 4. Udakam/water is considered and proved highly powerful, auspicious

> etc., etc., by Vedas, Upanishads as well as science.

> 5. After invitation of god prayers automatically prasadam is sanctified

> by gods blessing or higher energies.

> 6. Once higher energies come person generally feels full cannot or do

> not feel like talking or uttering a word .some pleasantness creeps in .This

> is the stage where probably we sit to meditate to capture and hold back the

> feeling as long as we can.

> 7. sashtangam or normal namaskaram is symbol to show our reverence

> but again it is like small exercise for our good to bring body brain

> into alignment to come back to our senses/to present world to attend our

> regular duties.

>

> But is it so easy to invite higher energies /god and be with it? This

> needs training. Again here how person is trained, and personal effort, many

> comes into focus and needs attention too.

> Without showing any partiality our great acharyas with the grace of god

> depending on the work/nature of work/duty stipulated by shastras each

> person/sect were given different methods depending on the time

> availability again so that they are able to attend their family matters as

> well as spiritual duties. So totally, impartially balance was there as long

> as all were following what our poorvacharyas /sampradayam/shatra told. Those

> days (may be hundreds of years back) there was no restlessness among scholar

> or illiterate .May be education had different meaning those days. Therefore

> peace, tranquility was seen everywhere even though some incidents reported

> they were able to manage easily without disturbing/interfering nature's

> cycle.

>

> Totally Indian /sanathanadharma follower's life was not just meant to live

> a mere physical life.But it was great sadhana to become an aide and was

> healthily taking part to build and rebuild earthly properties and at

> the same time see that he is not deviating from family life /whatever

> pattern of life he chosen and also reach god.

>

> So, Pooja rooms, temples were given important place as it is center of all

> activities

> Connected to universal understanding. (probably)

________________________________

> FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

>

>