Guest guest Report post Posted July 21, 1999 Dear Shrivaishnavas: Just like Sri.Mani's question on material wealth which resulted in many, thought provoking ideas, the following doubt has been in my mind for quite some time now and some recent events in my life have made the question re-surface once more. The question is - Should preventive health care be something a Shrivaishanva (or attempting to be a Shrivaishnava) under go periodically? Or should the person just follow "Vaidyo Narayano hari:" and leave it to Him? After all, we all desire the Ultimate - Moksham. As Alwar was supposed to have said "maranamaakki vaikundham..." which they say was later changed to "maranamaanaal....." so people will not stop reciting it for the fear that it will hasten their death. On the other hand, even if preventive health care IS needed, how far should one go? Where does one draw the line? At what point does one let nature take its course? Hoping that I would get some satisfying answers, Adiyen Sriranganayaki- Ramanuja Dasi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 21, 1999 Sri: Dear Smt Sheela, Yet another thought provoking topic. I remember having read the emblem of All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, which reads "sarIra maadhyaa: kalu dharma saasthram", which, when I checked up with my father, he said " is a Vedic statement, meaning, in other words, one needs to take care of the sarIram. A healthy mind in a healthy body. Under that pretext, we shall not concentrate only on that. Another thing this reminded me of (though not exactly related is):H.H Srimad Pundareekapuram Andavan had once said (during Chilaarai Rahasyam kaalakeshEpam) "even one is in unconscious state, and is not able to perform any nithya karmas, (sandhyavandhanam), and if one wants to help him and do something to him, he can simply perform sandhyavandhanam (thrikaalam) for the patient also, additionally and separately. That is the greatest help one can do. Swami always talks about the essentiality of performing sandhyavandhanam, without which whatever one does - be it 106 Divya Desam visits, or 108 pradhakshinam of PerumAL Koil, it will not equal. He is Karma chaNdaaLan. He has nithya theettu and is not even qualified to enter the temple, actually. It is the aajnyA karma. One has to perform. Any other prayers, japam, will not please Him. How? You child does not go to school, does not study, but hugs you and kisses you, and says "appaa, I like you." Are you happy and pleased? Chinthaa nadhiyil oru kaakidha kappal. (in the words of Laa. Saa. Raamaamirdham) Regards Narayana Narayana NarayanadAsan ____ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 21, 1999 sri: Sri Madhavakannan wrote: "Swami always talks about the essentiality of performing sandhyavandhanam, without which whatever one does - be it 106 Divya Desam visits, or 108 pradhakshinam of PerumAL Koil, it will not equal." This reminds me one of the recent upanyAsam by Srimad Azhagiyasingar. Performing karmas like sandhyavandhanam is like the regular work hours and visiting temple is working overtime. We cannot tell the employer that I will just do the overtime and skip the regular work hours. dAsan Diwakar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 21, 1999 Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha Dear Sri Lakshmanan: Thank you very much for your quick and thoughtful response. I agree that it is ones duty to take care of the sarIram given by Him. But how far does one go? For example, if one finds out that one needs an open heart surgery or even a heart transplant to prevent a possible cardiac disease should one undergo that? Does our sampradayam accept organ donation or acceptance? The other points that come to my mind include whether in critical conditions, its okay to keep a person from dying on life support? These are some of the questions I would like to see addressed although I may not have posed it correctly in the first place. Thank you once again. Regards Sriranganayaki - Ramanuja Dasi On Wed, 21 Jul 1999, Gopaul Lakshmanan wrote: > SrImatE Gopala DesikAya nama: > Sri: > > Priya Srivaishnavas: > > The "sarIram" is given by HIM. So, every one has to take care of it. > Whether one is ugly or beautiful, one has to maintain the body free from > afflictions. Otherwise, you are destroying HIS property. > > Preventive health care is largely unknown in India and unavailable to the > majority. In industrially advanced countries it is available. I feel one > should use it. > > This is my opinion only. > > adiYen dAsan > Lakshmanan > > > ----Original Message Follows---- > Sheela Belur <sbelur > bhakti > Bodily health > Wed, 21 Jul 1999 10:20:04 -0400 (EDT) > > > Dear Shrivaishnavas: > > The question is - Should preventive > health care be something a Shrivaishanva (or attempting to be a > Shrivaishnava) under go periodically? > Or should the person just follow "Vaidyo Narayano hari:" and leave it to > Him? > > > _____________ > Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com > Sheela Belur Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 21, 1999 > Sri Madhavakannan wrote: > > "Swami always talks about the essentiality of performing > sandhyavandhanam, without which whatever one does - be it 106 Divya Desam > visits, or 108 pradhakshinam of PerumAL Koil, it will not equal." I am sure Sri Gopala Desika Swami did not mean this, and perhaps neither did Sri Madhavakkannan, but there is a hint in the above paragraph that all these forms of worship are reward driven -- we do 1000 pradakshiNams, daily sandhyAvandanam, etc., to secure some benefit or favor. If I may say so, such an attitude strikes at the very heart of the Sri Vaishnava sampradAya. We, in contrast to all other sampradAyas, are counselled *not* to do umpteen pradakshinas, not to roll around the temple with our bodies, not to go climb Tirupati with the idea we will benefit. All our worship is to be done absolutely selflessly, out of love, with the idea that Narayana will take care of us as he sees fit. He is not a machine who gives more for every pradakshina, or for every sandhyAvandana. (Recall Bhattar's words? It's the attitude that's important, not the elaborateness of the worship.) Once we see any of our worship as being result-driven and not service-driven, our ego gains prominence, which certainly is not the message of our acharyas. So please -- sandhyAvandana is an ordained karma, but it is nonetheless done purely as loving service. His grace is not conditioned on its performance! aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan Mani Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 21, 1999 Sri: Dear Sri Mani, Well said! That's why one needs ot have a good writing skill. Thanks for your clarification. It is quite true that we need to have a loving sincere service in perfromance is what is required. No doubt Sri Bhattar's statement of "It's the attitude that's important, not the elaborateness of the worship" is great. But, people like me may misconstrue this and says" BhattarE selliyirukkaar. manasudhaan mukkiyam..(only sincerity in mind and attitude is all that is required; more than mere action. ) Here we take undue advantage in stretching this most beautiful statement of Sri Bhattar's and uses to our advantage. There is a saying in English: Hell is paved with good intentions. Mere intention is not enough is the inner meaning of this saying. On the other hand, mere action alone is also not correct. (with no sincerity in attitude) Just supplementing your excellent explanation. Regards Narayana Narayana Narayana dAsan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 22, 1999 SrImatE GopAla DEsikAya namaha Sri: Dear Srimathi Sheela: I have the same questions in my mind too about transplants, lifesupport and other modern methods to conceive. I would like to know the answers but I am not comfortable to pose these questions to my Acharya. Your question raises anxiety in my mind. If in the near or distant future I am forced to decide to accept some one else's organ, what would I do? In the last month or so, I read in a Tamil weekly magazine about a 70 (seventy)year young lady(she had maintained her sarIram well and she deserves to be called a TRUE SRIVAISHNAVA)who donated one of her working kidneys to her neighbor few years younger to her. That is commendable. Is that act of kindness and generosity in accordance with the sAstrAs? On the other end of the spectrum, I am deeply disturbed by the fact that lot of pregnancies are terminated before their term in India (for whatever reason). If that is acceptable to Hinduism(I am not saying SriVaishnavism since I do not know enough about it) then I would say transplants and life support are perfectly O.K. for all. May be some one in the Bhaktilist can give the answers. I remember to have read somewhere that in vedas there is mention of cryogenic surgery. So, it is quite possible that these have been mentioned in vedas or upanishads. Thank you for a thought provoking question. adiYen dAsan Lakshmanan _____________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 22, 1999 Dear Smt sheela Belur In this matter I'm reminded of what my guru Sri Rangapriya Swami used to say.He would quote Kalidasa's line from Kumara sambhavam: "SarIra-mAdyam khalu dharma sAdhanam". One's body is the first and ultimate instrument do good in this life.Hence like any other instrument it should always be kept in a totally workable condition.So whatever cure is needed is automatically included.I suppose one could draw a line at those rejuvenation treatments (at Kerala ?) which some people go for.In any case no such treatment has been known to put forward the moment of death. EmberumAnAr TiruvaDigaLE SaraNam! aDiyEn BHARAT Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted July 22, 1999 Thanks for the excellent topic. Adiyen would like to add few sentences to this. A piece from Gita, would aptly fit in here. "Etham shariram kauntheya skhetram" - Oh Son of kunti ! your body is the field (for your karma). Gita also insists only who maintain the sharira gets to conquer the path of yoga - bhoga(bodily happiness) - roga(disease) . The paramapurusha - "Purusha" - as addressed by the Upanishads gives him four attributes. Poornathvath Purusha - Puranathvath Purusha -Bahudanath Purusha - Purisayanath Purusha . The last attribute - Purisayanath Purusha - the one who is inside us - within our body. The Paramathma is within us. Hence we have to maintain this body as a abode of God. This truth should clarify the questions on maintaining the sanctity of ourselves - to sustain our mind and soul in to the innerself. The beautifications of the body or undergoing medical treatments - the bhoga and the roga - needs to be conquered in order to achieve and conquer the yoga. ----- When I just finished the previous mail one of the kalakshepam stories came to my mind. The upanishads (as well Gita) describes the body as a tree where the soul - the bird resides. The Paramathma also resides within the same body. A normal question that could arise is that - does paramathma undergo the pains and joy of the body ? The Paramathma remains in the body unaffected just the same way as a feathered bird would be uneffected by the climate unlike the unfeathered one. The climatic changes of rain and heat stick to the body of unfeathered one while the feathered one remains un effected. A teacher was explaning the same at a Gurukulam when one of the students started arguing. "How's that it would stick to one bird but not to other? " He argued that he was not ready to accept unless Guru gave concrete proof. The Guru - calm and knowledged - advised that it was not him but the vedas which say that. And that vedic truths shouldn't be doubted. The student was unconvinced. To put the end to the discussion the guru said he couldn't prove it at that time and would do so later. The student now was pride enough that he was asking questions that the guru couldn't answer. All these were happening in the month of Kaarthigai(Nov-Dec). Then came maargazhi. The 27th day - the Koodaravalli day. Unlike the second day of Margazhi where it advises of fasting and praying, the 27th paasuram (Koodarai vellum), asks us to enjoy. It asks us to feast with Pongal- with ghee floating over the Pongal - the ghee should flow over the hands while having it (mooda nei peithu muzhangai vazhi vara). The guru asks 'our' disciple to come first and have it. He made him more happy by offering him second time. Then he said to the other disciple to bring in some cheeyakai powder, so that he could wash his hands (which was now sticky with ghee) off and start serving others. Guru retained some cheeyakai powder and gave some to the disciple to wash off his hands. The desciple came back and the guru offered him some more cheeyakai. The disciple declined it saying his hands are clean now. The guru said back that this was to clean his tongue of the ghee. The disciple retarded that ghee wasn't sticking to his tongue. Guru calmly said - "Can you make the meaning of THAT veda truth now ?". The disciple prostrated. The Guru continued "if a ordinary ghee can have the property imagine Paramathma - He is Purisayanath Purusha. The sun rays fall on Gopuram as well as mud. It livens the lotus while scorches dry twigs. The sun rays themselves remain uneffected. Just the same way the Paramathma remains in us uneffected " Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
