Question-BhAgavatha kaimkaryam

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

Dear bhAgavathAs,

Humble pranams to all. I have a doubt with respect to

bhAgavatha service to the bhAgavathAs belonging to other sampradayam

(different from Ramanuja sampradayam). How do you handle devotees

belonging to other cults? Do you say hi and bye when the

mentality/doctrines clash? Why I'm asking is I happened to meet one

ISKCON person who initiated the whole talk and then he made a

statement that I don't listen to him! He showed me his guruparamapara

(as the authentic one) and he was confused between bhakti yOga and

bhakti(used in a loose sense that people often misinterpret)and

exactly at that time I tried to tell him that I only believe in

prapatti(sarva dharman...) as it is the only option for an

unfortunate soul like me. He told me that all the time,while he was

in conversation with me,he was thinking of the Lord and he was also

insisting on "nama sankirthanam"(as if it was the only upAyam for

attaining mOksha) and I told him that he is an enlightened soul and I

am not even fit to stand within 10 mile radius of him. He made a

statement that everybody is sudra in this kaliyuga(which is a

possibility)but the word "sudra" means one who is grief-stricken and

I was wondering "does he not contradict himself,a brahman,who thinks

of the Lord all the time?" Anyways I told the devotee that I do not

want to argue and my acharya is Sri Ramanuja(and Sri MM). If he had

not heard much of Sri Ramanuja it is highly unlikely that he would

have heard about Sri MaNavALa MAmunigaL. The devotee is an american

but finally he asked me if I could cook dosa and idli for them and i

said it's my pleasure as long as(thought within myself)he doesn't

impose their doctrines on me.

 

I am pretty sure he doesn't know anything about Ramanuja

siddhantam otherwise he would have got my point or the differences

between Ramanuja siddhantham and ISKCON philosophy. This thought came

to me as I was reading through Acharya Hrdayam in particular

TiruvAymozhiyin sAram,"uyirnilai" and the sutram is 211: "payil ERu

kaN karu". The pAsuram TVM 3.7.1 "payilum sudar oLi" insists that

bhAgavatha kaimkaryam, rather than bhagavath kaimkaryam, is the

nature of the souls(Have I understood it correctly?). Also it

reminded me Sri Periya VAccAn PiLLai's(or was it some other acharya?)

words: one can stop bhagavath kaimkaryam in favor of bhAgavath

kaimkaryam but not vice versa.

 

We always come across people who follow a different

tradition. The conversation goes smoothly until the two sides get

deep into the topic and the differences of opinion arise. Can we put

a full stop to the conversation without offending the other party?

Does this bhagath refer only to Sriman Narayana or other demi-gods

too? Most of the times this type of discussion seems unavoidable and

the apacharam also turns out to be mutual with exceptional rare

cases. For example,when the devotee(who follows Sri Pabhupada's

teachings) said that I didn't listen to him,I felt bad momentarily

and I could have said the same thing that he doesn't listen to

NammAzhvAr, Sri Ramanuja, Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya or Sri MaNavALa

mAmunigaL. The only remedy I can think of is that one keeps one mouth

shut or say politely that one is not interested in any form of

conversation or do not associate so that the question itself doesn't

arise. But the last option sound unhealthy because if one doesn't

interact(based on some assumptions)one may miss out a devotee, who is

a follower of Ramanuja darshanam, which is a great loss for the

person. Do you, bhAgavathAs, have any other suggestion?

 

mayar vaRa mathi nalam aruLappeRRa AzhvAr thiruvadigaLE sharaNam

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam

NC Nappinnai