Qualities Of Devotees - V

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Srimathe Ramanujayanamah !! Dear Bhagavathas, Jai

SrimanNarayana! Please accept my humble obeisances. Jeeyar ThiruvadigalE

Sharanam. In this letter H.H. describes the scientific structure of mind and

human senses and how to control them. Towards the last part of this mail, we

move on, gradually appreciating the condensed essence of all Vedas, the

Thiruppavai, Mother Andal's unparalleled mercy on all the living entities.

This particular "Pravachanam" delivered by H.H. explicitly shows His

unfathomable mercy upon all of us, our souls being entangled in this darkest

forest called "Samsara". Like a doting father instructing his doting son, H.H.

describes here the anatomy of this material nature, how we are entrapped into

it, and how we can get out of it. How nicely and wonderfully H.H. instructs all

the people to follow the devotional service is something inexplicable. Each and

every word from His lotus face is a great friend of us. As graced by H.H. in

one of His lectures, we have "Sajjana" in our body also! They are the teachings

and instructions of one's guru and great devotees. We have to carefully store

them in the core of our heart. If anybody can make his mind follow them, he

shall advance nicely towards eternal happiness without doubt. In this mail,

H.H. describes the purpose of human birth, the plight of unfortunate souls

trapped in the material world and then, some simple steps one can take to

progress slowly towards eternal happiness, happiness derived by serving Lord.

Many of the paragraphs have a key sentence (in red colour) around which the

rest of the paragraph is built. I request devotees to kindly forgive adiyen for

any of the inadvertent mistakes committed in ignorance and the delay in sending

this part of the series.

We are all extremely fortunate to get this very rare human birth. The very

purpose of this human form of life is to cultivate higher intelligence for

higher purpose, not to waste this invaluable time for some cheap and mundane

purposes. One should utilize this rare human birth to develop one's character.

We neither know when time had started nor can we predict when will it end!

("...Anaadirbhagavaan Kalah....") Time is unchanging and eternal. Except

human beings who are endowed with higher intelligence, no other animal or

species among 8,400,000 species of life can even think of, what to speak of

endeavoring for its development. So, what should we use this invaluable gift

of time for? Mother Andal instructs, “one should utilize one's time in the

association and service of devotees (sathpurushulu)". The association of

Bhagavathas, in itself is a great boon. Their service purifies our mind

unknowingly, in a very scientific way. Their pristine vision purifies us from

inside. Their loving and caring speech has a therapeutic effect on our

consciousness

We have been wandering in this gigantic cosmic manifestation, moving from

one planet to another from time immemorial, taking birth in a variety of

species, sometimes becoming an animal, sometimes, human beings and some other

times, some demigod in higher planets like heaven etc. The concern is, which of

our janmas should we consider as the best? One may be aggressive enough to say

that I am giving many things in charity to people, I am following the religious

principles, chanting different manthras, not paining anybody, I never cheat

anybody, I am always peaceful, my behavior is good....the list is endless! And

therefore, he may proudly say that, he SHOULD get a human body in next birth

also. Yes, he may get a human body OR even a better body in heaven or some

other planet, but, he MUST return back to this planet again, after his "Punya"

balance becomes zero(...."Ksheene Punye Marthya Lokam Vishanthi..."). Therefore

we do NOT consider his janma too, as the "best". We are not this physical

body. Therefore, do NOT act on the bodily platform. If one acts on the bodily

platform, one shall eventually end up in all kinds of troubles. These troubles

need not be in the form of some pains or sufferings in this life, but can throw

your soul eternally into very very abominable forms of existence. When one can

realize that one is not the body but an eternal servant of Lord, that janma is

real janma for him ("...Svalpampysa Dharmasya, Thraayathe Mahatho

Bhayaath..."). Desires are obstacles for our progress. Animals succumb to such

bodily desires. We should not. We have to practise austerity for devotional

service. For all these things to happen, first of all, you should have the

desire to improve yourself, to get rid of this cycle of birth, old age, disease

and death (jaraa, marana...) The best janma or "Shreshtha" janma is that

one, in which one surrenders completely at the lotus feet of one's Acharya and

serves him eternally. Only when you make yourself eligible to receive the mercy

of guru, you are called "Purushah". Otherwise, even if you are taking so many

births, they need not be counted as "janma" at all! And that intelligence comes

by the association of devotees.

Serving "manava" is certainly good. But, while serving them, if you don't

bear the consciousness that you are serving Lord Vihnu, who is residing inside

the core of his heart as "Paramathma", your service comes into some mundane

category, as your target is to serve his physical body, which will perish

anyway. The consequence of such service will again fall in the category of

"Ksheene Punye Marthya Lokam Vishanthi...", as our service is simply based on

bodily compassion, without the realization of the relationship between the soul

and the Super Soul. This has been many times corrected by H.H. "Madhava Sevagaa

Manava Sevaa", not the other way around.

Of all the things one can do with this body, serving Lord Vishnu is the best.

But even better than that, is serving His devotees with love, respecting them,

worshipping them with full of our heart. What it means to respect a devotee?

The best form of appreciation, glorification or respect for our Acharya can be

shown by following nicely what he has instructed us to follow. The action of

unconditional acceptance of what he says exhibits the greatest love towards

one's Acharya. Love is the greatest of all motivating factors. If one doesn't

develop deep love and respect towards one's guru, one CANNOT progress on this

path of Bhakthi for a long time.

It is very important to note that "guru sambhandha" will not be lost after

the soul is regained in "Vaikuntha". No, one is eternally the servant of one's

Acharya, irrespective of what one's relationship is with the Lord. For example,

one may be serving Lord in the mood of friendship like the cowherd boys of

Krishna, or one may serve Him in the mood parental affection like Nanda or

Vasudeva, but one's relationship with one's guru is eternally that of

servant-master relationship. One should consider oneself to be at the level of

a dog before approaching one's Acharya, then only one can remove all the

inauspicious desires in the heart.

The essence is, "guru sambandham" shall last till and after you reach

Vaikuntha. It is eternal. Wherever we are, the causeless mercy and blessings of

his lotus feet are the only savior. H.H. explains how difficult it is to get

the mercy of guru. One requires the following 6 things to get the mercy of

Acharya. 1. Ishwarasyacha Sauhardram 2. Vishnoh Katasksham 3. Adveshaha 4.

Aabhimukhyam (you should be willing to render devotional service) 5. Sathvikaih

Sambhashanam 6. (I couldn't note down)

There is no room for "mithyachara" in devotional service. There is no point

in posing to be a devotee, when one is not able to even control one's own

senses and curb the bad qualities like pride, lust, greed..,what to speak of

eradicating them entirely from the heart! This janma is for "Athmaposhana"

only. Unfortunately we have indulged ourselves in gratifying our senses to so

much extent that we practically forgot this fact. We waste our time learning

about so many useless things in this world, read undesirable literature, listen

to cacophony, eat unhealthy, non-prasadam food etc., but never get taste to read

Ramayana, Bagavadh Githa or listen to the soothing teachings of devotees or

clean a temple courtyard, associate with devotees, chant "Jai SrimanNarayana"

etc. H.H. has said that Srimad Ramayana and Thiruppavai capture the essence of

all Vedic Knowledge. Everybody should read and digest these two epics.

Knowledge not only means to know the things that are to be known, but also not

knowing the things that are NOT to be known. What is the use of increasing this

so-called science in the form of nescience? (H.H. describes, "what is Avidya"

very very elaborately in Isopanishad cassettes") However, occupational

duties MUST be performed. They are NEVER to be abandoned. At the same time, one

should also realize that the work we do is just to earn our livelihood. If it is

NOT dovetailed in the service of Lord and Acharya, IT IS UTTERLY

USELESS.(..."Shrama Evahi Kevalam..."). Bhagavadh Jnana always encourages

Karma. So, a devotee earns money in the proper way, but uses completely in the

service of Bhagavathas (so many examples are set by the disciples of

BhagavadRamanuja, Thirumangai Alwar..). Similarly, if one is gifted with the

talent of singing nicely, one should sing for Lord, to please Him and His

devotees, not to sing mundane songs and pollute one's consciousness. Devotee

does things out of knowledge and love. Then it becomes service to Lord. The

essence is to start utilizing everything we have in the service of Acharya

(More on this in next mail). H.H., in his recent discourses on Srimad

Ramayana in Chicago, was describing about the difference between "BhuBhukshu"

and "MuMukshu". People who think that the very sign and the only purpose of

their existence is to just consume mountains of rice and sambar daily, are

called "Bubukshu". On the contrary, those who eat to just keep the body and

soul together and use their energy, time and everything (Infact, their very

soul too..."sravanam, Keerthanam.....sakhyam, Athma Nivedanam"), in worshipping

the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu, bearing the consciousness of seeing everything as

service to one's Acharya and Lord, are called "mumukshu". Mumukshu is one who

desires to go one step higher, still one more step higher, one more step

higher..

This kind of "Athma Poshana" is done in the association of devotees alone.

Bad desires are always ready to grow in our mind. At any moment, we may be

attacked and become amenable to any detrimental thing in this world. As Lord

says in Bhagavadh Geetha while describing about the most sinful and insatiable

enemies called lust and anger," know that these two are eternal enemies of a

jnani" ("...Jnanino Nithya Vairinaha..")" Why is our mood changing? Why I

am unable to execute what I heard or read? The reason for our mood change is

"Prakrthi" around us. That invokes Samskaras accordingly in your mind,

provoking you to act in a particular way. Mind has 4 stages or synonyms

1. Chittam ====> It will be moving here and there (Chanchalam)

2. Ahankaram ====> Identifying oneself with the body 3.

Adhyavasaayam ====> Steady determination 4. Manas ====>

Peaceful and quiet state Imagine a layered structure. The topmost layer is

skin. Below the skin, there are 10 sense organs (Karma + Jnana). Still below is

the mind, after which there is intelligence, soul and the Super Soul. Mind is in

the middle and is connected to all other sense organs. It is internal organ

(Antharindriyam). You cannot see it. The key to the whole structure is mind.

Controlling point lies in mind. Mind is the repository of all records; we have

been accumulating from time immemorial. There are so many crores, practically

infinite records in our mind. These are technically called "Vasanalu".

These innumerable records can be classified into active records and inactive

records. Mind is also apart of this material word (made of Prakrthi). The

reason why our mood changes from time to time, place to place is our topmost

layer, which is the skin. The above 4 are the general stages for the mind and

it oscillates among those 4 depending on the records that are made active in

the mind.

Our athma is there, but if we are not able to deliver it, it as good as a

dead one. Only those persons who have deep love and complete faith on the lotus

feet of one's Acharya will be able to know the essence of all Vedic literature,

which is Lord Himeself (Vedais cha Sarvair Aham Eva Vedya...), and not those,

who are artificially trying to learn and understand the vast ocean of all the

Vedic literature. The definite way to know the essence of all Vedic imports

is to please one's Acharya and Bhagavathas. Lord is Omnipresent. However,

it is IMPOSSIBLE to recognize him without the mercy of Acharya. Just like

gravity is always existent, but we respect and give importance to Newton, as he

discovered it and showed to the world how it works. If it is true in the case of

such an ordinary mundane example, how much more we should respect and worship

the person who has shown the Supreme Lord to us? Until a pure devotee

graces us, we cannot know the Supreme Lord. There are umpteen number of

examples supporting this fact in the pastimes of Vaishnava Acharyas. One

example I remember is that of Dhanurdhas. It is NOT that Dhanurdhas never

visited Lord Ranganatha before! He visited, but he could not recognize the

infinite beauty of the lotus eyes of Lord Ranaganatha. However, when he was

causelessly graced by Bhagavadh Ramanuja, he could practically "see" the beauty

of Lord. Similarly, we may visit dinosaur number of temples in our life times,

but without proper regard to one's Acharya and devotees, you cannot please

Lord. It is a futile effort. H.H. instructed that, "if you are unable to love a

fellow human being whom you can see, how can you ever love Lord?" Everything,

including an ant, a mosquito should be respected and loved, as Lord Naryana

loves them, and they too, are the progeny of Lord."

It is very very painful to see somebody campaigning on the side of Lord

Vishnu, but at the same time exhibiting hatred, anger, contempt, pride, lust,

greed and other bad qualities. Devotees are always peaceful, quiet and they

have a very heart-soothing disposition ("Sudarshanulu"). Except devotees, no

one else can love you purely. The love of so-called friends and relatives is

not pure. I love a thing thinking that it is "mine"! That means, all the

so-called "loves" in this world are somehow related with "I" in the center,

which is nothing but "Ahankara and Mamakara". What is the sign of a

devotee? He respects and loves all the living entities, who are the progeny of

Lord Hari. This is a simple test H.H. gave us to verify our consciousness. I

remember one event being described. Once a devotee saw a cockroach crawling on

the body of Sri Ranganatha Swamy. He asked H.H. Sri Sri Sri Pedda Jeeyar

Swamiji sarcastically that "if Lord cannot remove a simple cockroach crawling

on His body, how can He ever remove my difficulties..etc". Then H.H. Sri Sri

Sri Jeeyar Swamiji replied, " Just like your own self, every other living

entity is the progeny of Lord. So, as a son out of love may climb on to the

shoulders of his father and play, Lord doesn't mind one of His sons enjoying

the fragrance of His body". A pure devotee of Vishnu has all the good

qualities of Lord, nothing less, may be even more! (The best example is

Bhagavadh Ramanuja's compassion on entire humanity, All the Alwars, Ambarisha

Chakravarthy, Prahlad etc) One specific incident quoted by H.H here is the

compassion showed by Madhu and Kaitabha demons. A devotee enjoying the ecstatic

bliss derived by serving Lord, cannot be silent. Out of his causeless mercy

("Nirhethuka Krpa") he distributes that Love of God freely to everybody. There

is no place for caste, creed, education, bodily beauty, richness etc in serving

Lord. Only Bhagavadh Jnanam and "Ruchi"(taste) matter. That's all. Madhu and

Kaitabha, though by nature they are born in demoniac families, pray to Lord

Narayana so that we can also enter Vaikuntha through the "Uttara Dwaram".

Though they are demons, how compassionate are they? How can we reach to that

position? "Bhagavatha Sahavaasam" will give you such vision. It purifies our

mind from all the bad desires and gives us real knowledge. In next mail:

Some wonderful tips H.H. graced on controlling our mind, continuation of the

qualities (Yama, Satya Vaak Paalana, Astheya....) of devotees and if possible,

slowly we shall start Thiruppavai by glorifying Mother Andal and how She

exhibited the topmost possible Love towards Lord.

---

The best and the noblest path to happiness is devotional service unto Lord

Vishnu and His devotees. Mother Andal bestows this to all of us in the month of

"Marga Sheersha", meaning, the glorious/best of all paths. H.H.

pravachanam on 15th Pashuram, 30th Dec, 2000, Hyderabad. When

the fruit of jnana ripens in a person, he desires nothing else but to remain as

a servant of the servant of the servant of Lord SrimaNarayana. There is no Jnani

as great as Shabari in the entire Ramayana. H.H. pravachanam on

18th Pashuram, 2nd Jan, 2001, Hyderabad.

Who is untouchable? One who doesn't recognize or at least acknowledge the

all-pervading Supreme Father Sriman Narayana, is certainly untouchable. Even if

that person is most educated, he is no better than a dog eater.

H.H. pravachanam on 14th Pashuram, 29th Dec, 2000, Hyderabad.

--

Kindly forgive adiyen for committing inadvertent mistakes out of ignorance,

Jai SrimanNarayana,

Your servant,

Sheshagiri.

 

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