Guest guest Report post Posted January 20, 2003 Dear Bhagavathas please accept my pranams. i have been following the discussions on the above topic. I understand that from a Srivaishnava perspective that Sriman Narayanan is supreme and maha viswasam is very strongly emphasised. But from the current discussions and discussions in sister list as well, I still cannot understand the harm or how anya devata worship impedes a Srivaishnava. I also find that a lot of current generation srivaishnavas are not averse to keep anya devatha pictures on their altar or going to their temples or offer worship. Can someone explain how this has happened? adiyal geetha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 21, 2003 Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: Dear Smt Geetha, Humble pranams to you. I would like to share my thoughts. You know what is the difference between great men like Gandhi,Socrates and so on and small people like me? It is the path they choose without compromising their principles at "any" cost. So the answer to your question lies in the "levels" of thinking one has reached in life! One reaches higher levels of thinking only when one's mind is shaken about what's life and its purpose. Adi shankara wrote his commentary on brahmasutra(impersonal brahman) when he was in early twenties(or may be even before) and composed bhaja govindam in his later life saying "punarapi jananam punarapi maraNam...pAhi murArE(nArAyANa)". When I know the President(nArAyaNa) why do I need to seek middlemen(anya dEvatas)? Based on one's level of mental maturity(knowledge and wisdom),one worships the gods and the God(this has been explained by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad Gita). While worshipping anya devatas,it is difficult to develop the "state of mind" where one can visualise and experience the "antaryAmi" Sriman nArAyaNa residing in those demi- gods. Atleast self is incapable of doing it as it requires lot of self effort! So if one wants to get released from this samsaric ocean,one has to go to ONLY Sriman nArAyaNa and if not one can seek anya devatas. For this to happen,His grace has to flow on us first only then we do prapatti(not an upAya),a mental phenomenon! Last but not the least some readers had quoted AzhvArs pAsurams for devathAnthara bhajanam. One has to keep in mind the word "sangraha" which means consistency. One can not randomly pick up some AzhvArs' pAsurams and say that AzhvArs themselves have prescribed devathAnthara bhajanam. One has to see whether the context is in consistent with the entire work of the respective AzhvArs. A srivaiShNava is he who worships only Sriman nArAyaNa. If he worships other devathas alongside,i feel that the definition breaks down and is no longer applicable to the person unless or otherwise the person does "brahma viDhya" to realise that "antharyAmi". In short,the answer lies in the "clarity" of thinking. Seek forgiveness if unintentionally affected others' feelings. AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam NC Nappinnai Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 21, 2003 Only when you doubt the effectiveness of a drug you seek another drug. when you have the best doctor to care for you it will do you harm to approach another doctor. After marriage, would you keep the pictures of people you might have had interest in before, other than your spouse! There are a lot of Vaishnava Ekaanthis you should interact with. Full devotion with no distraction will make the path smooth. Dr. K. P. Sarathy ramanuja, "geetha_rangarajan2000 <geetha_rangarajan@h...>" <geetha_rangarajan@h...> wrote: > Dear Bhagavathas > > please accept my pranams. i have been following the discussions on > the above topic. I understand that from a Srivaishnava perspective > that Sriman Narayanan is supreme and maha viswasam is very strongly > emphasised. But from the current discussions and discussions in > sister list as well, I still cannot understand the > harm or how anya devata worship impedes a Srivaishnava. > > I also find that a lot of current generation srivaishnavas are not > averse to keep anya devatha pictures on their altar or going to their > temples or offer worship. Can someone explain how this has happened? > > adiyal > > geetha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 21, 2003 Dear Smt Nappinnai My pranams to you. thank you very much for your thought provoking reply. You mentioned that > While worshipping anya devatas,it > is difficult to develop the "state of mind" where one can visualise > and experience the "antaryAmi" Sriman nArAyaNa residing in those demi- > gods. This paragraph probably explains the 'harm' of anya devata worship for a person seeking mukti. Is there any direct evidence for this? Please forgive me for my questioning nature and persisting to know the evidence without just accepting conventional answeres. Please accept my pranams once again. adiyal geetha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 22, 2003 Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: Dear Smt Geetha, Humble pranams to you. With respect to your "questioning" nature I would like to quote Einstein:"the interesting thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing". With respect to your wanting evidence I would like to quote Betrand Russell (Mathematician,logician,philosopher and social critic)"science(goes by evidence and facts)is what you know and philosphy is what you do not know". Can you be more specific about what kind of evidences you want? If one has to realise "antharyAmi", one has to do an eight-fold yOga practice which is not feasible for 99.99999999999999999999999999% (you can add as many 9's as you want). If the anya devathas like brahma,shiva,indra etc themselves fall back to the cycle of samsAra (Cf BG 8.16),then how they can save you and me. Assume that I'm about to drown in water and I'm screaming for help. One can save me only if one knows swimming. Vedas are revelations/shruthi. It is a theory of knowledge and to quote Einstein "It is the theory that decides what can be observed". In bhagavad gita(BG 10.2),KrShNa says that even the great sages(well versed in vedas)and demi-gods do not know the origin of His birth(transcendental appearance). More after seeing your reply. AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam NC Nappinnai Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 22, 2003 Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha Respected Madam, My pranams to you. I don't know whether one would consider the reference to Azhwar's pasuram as a "direct evidence", but I am just posting a reference to Nammazhwar's Thiruvasiriyam in this mail just to support the fact that it is not good to perform anya-devatha worship(though these devathas have to be respected due to their superior post). "Oh! Oh! Ulaginadhu Iyalve! Eendrolirukka MaNai neeraatti, padaitthu idandhu undu umizhndhu alandhu therndhu ulagalikkum mudharperum kadavul nirka, pudaippalanaadhari deivam penudhal, thanaadhu pullarivaanmai porundhakkaatti" - Thiruvasiriyam - Nammazhvar. Meaning: Azhwar exclaims with sorrow that "oh! This is the nature of the people - to praise and take care of only their wife while their mother(old) needs care and affection.". He quotes this as an analogy to - "The ultimate(Shriman Narayanan) is there who creates(padaitthu) (Shrima Narayanan), protects(idandhadhu - varahar), destroys(undu), re-creates(umizhndhu), measures(ulagai-alandhadhu - thiruvikkiraman) this universe while people show their ignorance by worshipping others." The whole of Thiruvasiriyam is a wonderful composition by Nammazhvar. The words are coined in such a simple fashion that it almost resembles a prose more than a poem. Anyone who reads it would definitely be able to feel what Azhwar felt. One would get very good bhagavad anubhavam from this. If this post is irrelevant to your question, kindly ignore the same. My sincere apologies. Yatheendra Pravanam Vandhe RAMYA Jaamaataram Munim Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan, Lakshmi Narasimhan ramanuja, "geetha_rangarajan2000 <geetha_rangarajan@h...>" <geetha_rangarajan@h...> wrote: > Dear Smt Nappinnai > > My pranams to you. thank you very much for your thought provoking > reply. > > You mentioned that > > > While worshipping anya devatas,it > > is difficult to develop the "state of mind" where one can visualise > > and experience the "antaryAmi" Sriman nArAyaNa residing in those > demi- > > gods. > > This paragraph probably explains the 'harm' of anya devata worship > for a person seeking mukti. Is there any direct evidence for this? > Please forgive me for my questioning nature and persisting to know > the evidence without just accepting conventional answeres. > > > Please accept my pranams once again. > > adiyal > geetha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
