reflections on Azhi mazhai kanna pasuram

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

Dear bhAgavthAs,

 

Humble pranams to all. Thanks for the excellent posts on

TiruppAvai by the erudite(ilove that word) Sri Vanamamalai

Padmanabhan. Would like to share my(nay borrowed)views. We live in a

ripened kali yuga and we fall prey to worldly temptations at light

speed. Majority of the population is in the pursuit of

money,power,lust and what not. How do we extricate ourselves from

this infinite loop? We have been reading lot of articles on bhakti vs

prappti/effort vs grace etc.

 

Many SVs worship anya dEvatAs. On one hand they claim

that Sriman NArAyaNa is the supreme and on the other hand they would

be visiting shaivite temples and circumambulating navagrhas. Is it

j~nAnam or aj~nAnam? Surely the second category. A "true" SV will

only worship Sriman NArAyaNa. I have read couple of articles on "how

a SV should be?" in related e-lists. Seriously I don't think it's

possible for us to develop good traits on our own. One has to

remember Sri PiLLAn's milk analogy. It's the Lord who fosters in us

all the good qualities(which is like mother's breast milk)and the

qualities developed by ourselves is like the milk bought from the

store. We have ignorance in abundance! If we realise that NArAyaNa is

the Supreme then we will not resort to any other demi-god or will not

be desparate of material benefits either. The Lord says in BG that

such realisation happens only after so many auspicious births! All we

have to do is to wait patiently for that auspicious moment.

 

When the mind is after material benefits,we dare to do

business transactions with demi-gods and the Supreme God(NArAyaNa).

One of my friend(we are birds of same feather) bet with the Lord of

Tirumala Hills and had a pact that for every one lakh profit he makes

(stocks in $),he would do kalyANa utsavam (the costlier one)for the

Lord. He was making lot of profit(50 lakh)and decided to visit the

Lord. Look at the beauty of the human mind. The mother said that both

the kalyANa utsavams(cheaper and the costlier)are the same and they

should perform the cheaper one. My friend also did and the next day

he was in debt. I was telling my friend about the greatness of

TiruvEnkatamudaiyAn and one should keep up the word with Him

otherwise He will teach us what business is as He is the real "dAdA"

in business. I also told him the greatness "ozhivil kAlamellAm(third

decad and third tiruvAymozhi)and the power that TiruvAymozhi has and

that Lord can grant anything from the lowest of the low to highest of

the high puruShArthams that one need not go to any anya dEvathAs.

 

People resorting to demi-gods instead of Sriman NArAyaNa

reminds me of Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya's words. It is analogous to the

wife's seeking another man(otherthan the husband)for "some"

pleasures. Sometimes we are worried about what others think of us and

even try bend our principles for no good reasons. My godsister asks

me why I'm so picky about worshipping only Sriman NArAyaNa when she

worships all gods. If I explain to her the greatness of Him,it will

not get into her head. Instead I(being an admirer of Bertrand Russell

in this mundane world) gave her a blatant reply saying that equality

can be made at all levels and hence one can even exchange husbands

and wives. She got zapped and told me that I was arrogant and rigid.

At such times I only think of "thURRuvAr thURRattum pORRuvAr

pORRattum pOgattum kaNNanukkE". Even EmperumAnAr could only convert

some(and not all)people to SrivaiShNavam. Classic example is

UyyakkoNdAr who believed in bhaktiyOga and couldn't appreciate

prappati. EmperumAnAr replied that UyyakkoNdAr lacked His Grace and

that's why he isnot able to appreciate SV.

 

When His grace falls on us,we are blessed with

an "authentic" AchArya who bestows on us the "authentic" knowledge.

Untill then we are inside the circle of aj~nAnam with infinite

radius. Pardon all errors graciously.

 

I dare to say that Lord SriRanganatha has the power to

deprive us of all material pleasures with the exception of the sole

yearning for Him alone.

 

"aNdarkOn aNiarangan en amudhinaik kaNda kaNgaL maRRonRinak kANAvE"

samastha lOka DhArka rAm;sakala jIva samrakshaka rAm

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Dear Srirangapriya Ramanuja dasan,

 

Humble pranams to you. I missed some of your points and

hence this post. I am nowhere near your humility in speech,thought

etc. So pardon me in the name of Ranganatha. What I'm going to write

is based on my personal observation.

 

> But then, at least those who worship minor gods have a spirit of

> sheshatva (though it is misguided). In time, association with the

> teachings of our Purvacharyas might well turn those misguided souls

> towards the correct perspective.

 

It's only He who possesses the infinite knowledge(sathyam,j~nAnam,

anantham brahma). So it's quite unlikely for the worshipers of demi-

gods to gain that knowledge in this human birth itself. Right infront

of my eyes,I see two guys(who are actually SVs,and were taught URM

first in their childhood!)who follow advaita and worship shiva. And

the acharyan is ofcourse advaitic! I pity those guys. EVerytime I see

them I end up in a fight with them and they would say that they

wouldn't want to talk about Ramanuja or other things because that

acharyan has brainwashed them with shankaram shankaram lOka

shankaram. I scold them mercilessly but still they are attached to

me. They will realise only when He casts His spell on them. It may

not happen in this birth also.

 

> Now contrast these deva worshipers with someone who already knows

> Sriman Narayana is Supreme, yet who continues to serve himself -

that

> incorrigible person is worse than a naive follower of one deva or

the

> other.

 

I still feel the second category is better than the first category.

As long as he worships Sriman NArAyaNa,he is saved. This reminds me

of Purandara dAsa who was a miser,hot tempered,and headweighted. But

the Lord slowly removes all his negative traits and makes him a great

devotee of Him. The moment a person starts worshiping Sriman NArAyaNa

will get rid of the obstacles and gain the true knowledge and will be

liberated while a demi-god worshiper will fall back to the cycle of

samsAra(by BG 8:16). That is the difference between a demi-god and

NArAyaNa worshiper!

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai