Re: Pl. clarify

From the Bhakti List Archives

• December 16, 2002


Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha
Dear Siddharth,
I am just writing down what I know from what I have heard. Please forgive me
if there are any mistakes.
The statement that you had mentioned: "that god showers his blessings on his
devotees" is one of those that are discussed in the Tharka/Vyakarana Shastra
 The discussion is about how one should interpret statements when he/she
reads them in the absence of the author. It is also important to find out
what was the question behind the statement. One famous example is, person A
asks : "Can I dump trash here?" and then B replies "No you should not dump
trash here." Someone who just heard B's statement alone, might interpret
that "One can dump trash everywhere else other than the place mentioned by B
.
B's reply was only to A's question. B did not comment about whether the
trash could be dumped in other places or not.
Similarly when we read God Showers his blessings on his devotees we should
analyse that carefully. Upon analysis you would find that the actual
question behind that was "Does god shower his blessings on his devotees?".
So, the statement doesn't comment about whether god showers his blessings on
others or not.

Secondly, God gives the fruit of everyone's action. For every action he
gives the right fruit 'cos he is THE perfect judge. In case of his devotees,
they surrender to him and hence he takes care of their actions and that is
what is meant by blessing.
Blessing the devotee - bhakthi yoga / prapatthi (god's devotee)
Getting the appropriate fruit for the action - karma yoga (one need not be
god's devotee, but would eventually become one in the path)

One can attain moksham through both the above paths.

So, my opinion is that, that statement need not be corrected.

My apologies in case of mistakes.

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan,
Lakshmi Narasimhan
 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, December 16, 2002 10:52:03
To: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Pl. clarify
 
sirs,

it is often stated both in free talk and in scriptures

that god showers his blessings on his devotees.can
this 
statement not be wrongly assumed to mean that He
doesn't bless those who are not his devotees?
[i only say this assumption is wrong(or faulty)because
sriman narayana is the parabramhan,who has conquered
all vices,and is the great creator of this universe
and is thus by way of being a parent among other
things.]

if such assumptions exist then should they not be
corrected?

I speak in ignorance and beg you to forgive me if i
have offended your feelings in any way.

dasan


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