Re: a ? on vaishnavism

From the Bhakti List Archives

• June 14, 2001


Hello 

Please accept my sincere greetings, appreciation
and regards for your contribution.

I would be "mis-representing" if I practiced
one thing and professed another. Sriman Narayana
is the smallest of the smallest and biggest of the
biggest. Sriman Narayana subsumes the known and
the unknown. Sriman Narayana is the ultimate.

Learned and qualified including Sriman M.S. Hari has
posted several articles
with vedic pramana on this subject matter.
A simpleton like me can borrow text from Gita
and Purusa Suukta in support of this.

The ultimacy of Sriman Narayana is not in question
and was never one.

What is rankling to this simpleton SriVaishnavite,
Sriman Narayana baktan is the following:
What right do I have to call someone a sinner
when Lord Krishna has declared in 
Rudranam Sankaras c'asmi
--Gita 10.23
Certainly it is not efficient as Sriman Narayana
Himself declares elsewhere in Gita. 
But is it sin?
If so where is it stated? I will accept Gita,
Upanisad and Samhitas in support.
>From a layman point of view, may be I am here
because of 100000 births before this and so
I am able to appreciate the significance
of "Tad Vishno Paramam Padham"
May be athma is not ready for prappatti
but does it become sin?
Is it not one's inability to distinguish
and completely contemplate on "purushothama".

Furthermore, Sriman Narayana out of infinite
compassion for those of who are fickle 
minded and not steadfast, enunciates
the results of worshipping other deities
in Gita 7.20-7.23.

Surely, not being singularly contemplative
of Sriman Narayana and not saturating 
ones thoughts with Sriman Narayana
is contradictory to "prappatti".

But please help me understand why 
worship would be prohibited or become sin?
Who is the looser? One who is distracted
or?

Let me end with Sriman Narayana's promise to 
all of us:
teshAm aham samuddhartA mRtyu-samasAra sAgarAt    
bhavAni na cirAt pArtha mayyAveSita cetasAm (12.7)

“Of those whose minds are thus focused on Me, 
I become soon their savior from the 
ocean of mortal life”.
" divyO dEva ekO nArAyaNa :" (There is one and only
one Divya dEva who is nArAyaNA)

" AgniravamO dEvathAnAm, paramO VishNu :" 
(Amongst the dEvas, the lowest is
Agni and the Supreme is Vishnu)

"EkO ha vai nArAyaNa Aseeth, na brahmA nEsAna :"
(There was [at the
beginning] one and only one Existant who is nArAyaNa,
not brahmA, not even Siva)

Tad Vishno Paramam Padham
Namo Narayana

"Katril thulli visum kodiyum sirikum
vinnil nilavai thedum ennai kandu 
nuurayeram piravi kondum Udayavan Unnai 
kaannatha pithan pethai ennai kandu
ini kanda pinnum thamatham vendaam
Uyarthanthil Uyarnthavan Mudayan Unnidam 
UnEnnam Matrondu enrum Vendam 
vendugirom iniathul inniavane Unnidam"

Having said all of this, I doubt if is 
proper for a Sri Vaishanavite to be intolerant,
to be exclusive, or to think less of others.
I am unable to do so! Because while I might
have taken 100,000 births to be here in this
Blissful state of understanding and accepting
the "Para Tattvam", these other athma may
attain might have just started and might 
attain my state in 1000 births. Obviously
I am the one to be sympathized with.
Where is "Adhambitvam"? if I should think
less of them?

Help me!

Thank you

--
Anandavalli Dasan
PS: For those who do not know Tamil
in the quoted prosody, I am lamenting that
for 100K births I was searching for the full
moon amidst twinkling little stars in the
night sky. That even a "achethana" tree that
singlepointedly brings breeze to multitude
tired bhagavathas and archa moorthy will
laugh at my inability.
Having seen "That" finally I beseech upon Sriman
Narayana the unqualified owner of everything
the bestower of sweetest of the sweetest
and highest of the highest to grant this
incapable idiot the bliss of His thoughts
and only His thoughts. Nothing more.


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