Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

Some worship Vishnu, while some others worship Siva. They don't see

eye to eye with one another. There seems to be constant rivalry

between these two groups, the Vaishnavites and the Saivites. Kindly

tell us how these two groups of devotees of God can be united.

 

This is utter ignorance and foolishness. The scripture

says, `ekamevadvitiyam brahma,' which means God is one without a

second. It also says, `advaitadar s'anam jnanam,' true wisdom is non-

dual. Every seeker of truth or spiritual aspirant should know the

essential unity in diversity. You should experience unity in

divinity. The worshippers of Lord Vishnu address the Lord of the

seven hills of Tirupati as Venkata Ramana while the worshippers of

Siva call him Venkatesvara. But, you know both are the same.

 

Once a king convened a conference of scholars of both these groups to

deliberate, discuss and finally decide as to who was the greater of

the two, Vishnu or Siva. Both the contending groups presented their

viewpoints convincingly .The king, therefore, wanted his Chief

Minister to consider all the points of the scholars and then give his

verdict on the issue. The latter got up and said, " Oh King! I do not

think if either of these two groups has ever experienced reality.

Those who argued in favour of Vaishnavism saying that Vishnu is

greater than Siva knew little of Vishnu. Had they been genuinely

devoted to Him, they would have seen Siva in Vishnu also. Similarly,

those who held that Siva was superior to Vishnu would see Vishnu in

Siva also " .

 

There is another episode to illustrate this fact. One day Lord Sri

Rama was passing by and on the way He saw a stone. Hanuman observed

it and wanted to pick it up and throw it away. He used all his

strength, but could not lift it. That very stone was the Sivalinga

installed by Sri Rama in Ramesvaram, a pilgrim centre in Tamilnadu.

Rama, being Vishnu Himself, proved that He and Siva are basically one

and the same by installing a Sivalinga. Isn't it so? Know that all

names are His and all forms are His. He is the only one who responds

to our prayers.