Ch 6. pt 2- Shraddha

[Guest guest]

Michael-ji writes :

 

(Dhyanasaraswati in her lyrical post says love is

the answer which throws us beyond mind forged

paradox. It's never wise to go against Mother!)

 

Thanx Michael-ji for the compliments. Did you know that one of the

108 names of the Divine mother ( sri lakshmi) is 'shraddha' ?

 

i will quote here a favorite verse of mine from Srimad Bhagvatam !

 

Yukti yukto vacho graahyo baalaad api shukaad

api<br>Yukti heeno vachas tyaajyo vriddhaat api shukaad api

 

Translation

 

"Words endowed with reason are to be accepted even if

from a child like Shuka (Vyaasa's son). Words bereft

of reason are to be rejected even if it is from

someone elderly like Shuka-a great muni! ( shuka also means parrot)

a parrot)." And vice versa - the meaning of Shuka can be

interchanged.

 

 

We respect personalities, but we do not have to believe everything

they say. Healthy doubt is the prerequisite for further learning.

And so is shraddha - trust (healthy belief).

 

The Bhagavad Geetaa specifies both:

 

Tad viddhi pra-nipaatena pari-prashnena -

 

"Gain that knowledge through surrender and repeated

questioning.">Shraddha-vaan labhate jnaanam - "The one endowed with

trust (in the teacher and scripture) gains knowledge."

 

Lord Dattatreya (incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh) is said

to have 24 gurus. In fact, all of nature, including birds, animals,

and trees had something to teach him. We are all constantly learning

from everything around us. As long as we are learning we are alive.

And when we stop, we die! To look for contradictions is easy.

Opinions differ. It requires an Einstein to put it all together and

say that light travels both in a straight line as well as in waves.

Perhaps truth is neither synthesis nor contradiction. It is the

reality of both. And that is what Advaita is all about.

 

on another note , the origin of the word 'shraddha' first occurs in

the vedas along with Manu - shraddha and ida are manu's wives ! ( i

may be wrong = sundar-ji please correct me) i read this in my hindi

literature class while reading Jishankar prasad's epic poem

Kamayani!

 

 

with love and regards