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RE: kamba rAmAyanam

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Krishna K • November 15, 2002 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shreekrishna Akilesh [mailto:sakilesh@artsci.wustl.edu] 
> Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 9:04 AM

> About anya devatas, is their worship forbidden in the Sri 
> Vaishnava tradition? I am curious as to why Sri Maha Vishnu 
> himself worships Siva on two specific occasions. If any ones 
> can explain these to me, I would be grateful...

Dear Shreekrishna,

Though this reply does not answer the two instances you have quoted, it
is a generic reply to question of Vishnu or his avataras worshipping
Shiva (or any other deity for that matter). I am pasting a part of my
mail I had posted on the dvaita list:
http://www.dvaita.org/list/list_44/msg00112.html (uid/pwd =
dvaita/dvaita). 

****
Reference: Shanti Parva of Mahabharata. Verses 12.328.5 onwards. In this
dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, the Lord is the speaker. The
translation is not rigorous.
....

brAhme rAtrikShaye prApte tasya hyamitatejasaH
prasAdAtprAdurabhavatpadmaM padmanibhekShaNa tatra brahmA samabhavatsa
tasyaiva prasAdajaH

In the Brahma muhurta, at the end of the night, due to the mercy of the
extremely brilliant Lord, a lotus emerged from His navel and in that
lotus, Brahma was born, ofcourse, due to His grace.

ahnaH kShaye lalAtAchcha suto devasya vai tathA
krodhAviShTasya sa~njaGYe rudraH saMhAra kArakaH
etau dvau vibudhashreShThau prasAdakrodhajau smR^itau

At the end of the day, the Lord [present as antaryAmi of Brahma *]
created Rudra out of Krodha-guNa, to enable him to be the
'samhAra-kartA'. Thus, these two 'fine-among-wise', Brahma and Rudra,
are known to have been born out of grace and anger respectively.

* This interpretation is necessary because in the later sections of
Moxadharma, Brahma addresses Rudra as a son.

tadAdeshita panthAnau sR^iShTi saMhAra kArakau
nimittamAtraM tAvatra sarvaprAni varapradau

Thus, they carry out the instructed tasks of creation and destruction.
However, they, the givers of boons to all the creatures, are just the
agents.

kapardI jatilo mundaH shmashAnagR^ihasevakaH
ugravratadharo rudro yogI tripuradAruNaH dakShakratuharashchaiva bhaga
netraharastathA

[Rudra has] braided hair with knot of an ascetic and rest of the head
bald. He dwells in the home of graveyard, steadfast on vigorous penance
as a yogi. He is ferocious to tripurasuras, destroyed daxayaj~na and
took away the eyes of Bhaga.

nArAyaNAtmako GYeyaH pANDaveya yuge yuge

O Arjuna, know that in every yuga, Rudra is 'nArAyaNAtmaka'. This phrase
can mean: one whose indweller is Narayana, one who is always immersed in
Narayana.

tasminhi pUjyamAne vai devadeve maheshvare
sampUjito bhavetpArtha devo nArAyaNaH prabhuH

It is the Lord, the prabhu, the Narayana *IN* Maheshvara (the
worshippable, the lord of the devas), who is actually worshipped.

ahamAtmA hi lokAnAM vishvAnAM pANDunandana
tasmAdAtmAnamevAgre rudraM sampUjayAmyaham
yadyahaM nArchayeyaM vai IshAnaM varadaM shivam
AtmAnaM nArchayetkashchiditi me bhAvitaM manaH

O Son of Pandu, I am, indeed, the Atma, the indweller of this universe
and the worlds. Therefore, I worship myself first, even when I worship
Rudra. If I did not worship Rudra, the bestower of boons, in such a way
(i.e., worshipping the indwelling Lord first), some would not worship
me, the indwelling Lord, at all - this is my opinion.

mayA pramANaM hi kR^itaM lokaH samanuvartate
pramAnAni hi pUjyAni tatastaM pUjayAmyaham

Whatever I follow and give due worth as a pramANa, the world follows
that. Such pramANAs have to be duly followed; therefore I follow them.

yastaM vetti sa mAM vetti yo.anu taM sa hi mAm anu
rudro nArAyaNashchaiva sattvamekaM dvidhAkR^itam
loke charati kaunteya vyakti sthaM sarvakarmasu

Whoever knows him, knows Me. Whoever follows him, follows me. (Though)
the world, in all its actions, worships two Gods Rudra and Narayana, it
is actually One only who is worshipped.

na hi me kenachid deyo varaH pANDavanandana
iti sa~ncintya manasA purANaM vishvamIshvaram
putrArthaM ArAdhitavAn AtmAnaM aham AtmanA

O Son of Pandu, there is, of course, nobody who can grant me boons.
Knowing that well, I worhip myself, Who am the beginningless and
universal power, known as Sarveshvara, for the sake of getting sons.

na hi viShNuH pranamati kasmai chidvibudhAya tu
R^ita AtmAnameveti tato rudraM bhajAmyaham

Indeed Vishnu does not bow to any one and [even when He bows to
Himself], for what sake, but for the sake of showing the path to the
wise. Therefore, it is the truth that I worship myself even when I
worship Rudra.
****

I recently noticed that the lines, "tadAdeshita panthAnau sR^iShTi
saMhAra kArakau .." have been quoted in Vedarthasangraha while proving
Vishnu's sarvottamatva: ... iti antarAtmatayAvasthita
nArAyaNadarshitapathau brahmarudrau shR^iShTisaMhArakAryakarAvityarthaH
|

Btw, Vedarthasangraha is available online at:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/ajunamar/e-texts/e-texts_eng.html

What is the difference in contents of Vedarthasangraha and
Vedaantasaara?

Regards,
Krishna


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