Don't tell your gardener how much you love your husband!!!

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Sri Lakshmi nrisimha parabrahmaNE nama:

Sri Lakshmi nrisimha divya paduka sevaka

srivan satakopa sri narayana yatindra mahadesikaya nama:

 

As prapannas and mumuksus, what is the nature of relationship between us and

Perumal? Lack of understanding gives rise to a myriad of problems, some of

which strike at the heart of our swaroopam and prapatti. To properly

understand this relationship the analogy of a poor girl betrothed to be

married to the king of the land is sometimes cited. adiyEn has heard this

from upanyasams and it is elaborated in this post.

 

Consider a poor girl who is engaged to be married to the king due to

unexplainable circumstances (adhrushtam). As a poor girl she may have

worked as a servant maid for the officials of the king's court. But, after

the betrothal it is no longer natural for her to continue as a servant.

That would be a dishonor for the king. Neither would the officials accept

the servitude of the girl who is to marry the king. Note that all this

occurs immediately after the " nicyatartham " . The actual marriage may take

place much later. But the privileges and _responsibilities_ as a member of

the royal family confers upon her immediately upon engagement. From then

on, she must not fall at the feet of these officials. On the contrary, the

officials are the ones who will bow down to her from this point in time.

 

The high officials do have power to alter the lives of the citizens of the

land. But these powers are given to them by the king. The king is the only

sovereign. The king can dismiss one official and name someone else to a

post at any time. There are limits to the power of these officials and they

wield it only in the name of the king, and that too only upon the general

population, not upon the king's wives.

 

It is important to note that their powers do not extend to the residents of

the king's palace (andhappuram). They are not even allowed to enter the

andhappuram. There, the wives and would be wives of the king enjoy supreme

power, even over the king himself in some ways. The officials of the king's

court remain powerless in front of these wives and would be wives. These

wives and would be wives will never go with folded hands to any of these

officials for anything at any time. That would be an insult to the king.

 

From another perspective, when the general public honors a given (honest)

official by offering gifts, the offering goes all the way up to the king.

The officials accept the gifts only on behalf of the king. But, this does

not mean that even the wives and would be wives will take their gifts to the

officials. They will offer their gifts directly to the king and only to the

king. It is absurd to even think that there is nothing wrong for these

wives to offer gifts to the court officials with the assumption that the

gifts will ultimately go the king.

 

Here is another example from our day-to-day lives. If a wife wishes to

express her deep love towards her husband, she would do so directly. It is

absurd to suggest that there is nothing wrong for the wife to declare such a

love to say the gardener with the expectation that the gardener will convey

it to her husband. It is just absurd.

 

Similarly, it is absurd to think that one can do anya devata worship with

the mind set that such worship will ultimately reach Sriman Narayana. That

would be the same as a wife telling the family gardener that she loves her

husband very much.

 

srimad azhagiya singar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

-- adiyEn ramanuja dasan