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Sri VaishNavam-5

From the Bhakti List Archives

Madhavakkannan V • April 7, 1998 


SRI:

SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAH:

SRIMATHE NIGAMANTHA MAHADESIKAYA NAMAH:

SRIMATHE GOPALA DESIKA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAH:

SRIMATHE RANGANAYIKA SAMETHA SRI RANGANATHA PARABHRAHMANE NAMAH:

Dearest Sisters and Brothers, the bhakthAs of Sriman NarayaNA! 

Ennuyir thandhu aLitthavaraich charNampukki/ yaanadaivE avargurukkaL 
niRai vaNanghi/
	PinnaruLaal perumpudhUr vandha vaLLal/ periya nambi Alavandhaar 
maNakkal nambi/
NanneRiyai avarkku uRaittha uyyakkoNdaar/ nathamuni sadagOpan sEnai 
nAthan/
	Innamudhath ThirumagaLenRu ivarai munnittu/ Emperumaan ThiruvadigaLai 
adaiginREnE!


Twenty Commandments:

1.  As per our saasthrAs, traditions, as stipulated, we should continue 
to do our Nitya karma anushtaanams (like trikaala sandhyaa vandhanams). 
There is no statement in our saastras that say that we need not perform 
our anushtaanams after surrendering to the Lord completely. (Even 
sanyaasis are required to do sandhyavandhanams as per Sri Ramanuja 
siddhaantham).  Of course, there is mOksham for our surrender to the 
Lord; but, the karmAs (nitya karmAs) are His command to us; If we do not 
do that we are disobeying the Lord. And even after Prapatti, we should 
not antagonise the Lord- He may not punish us severely; " vaaL koNdu 
veesinaappOlE!" means ; He will take the sword and with a pretending 
anger He raises His sword at our neck but stops there! He scares us 
only; do we need that?- hence, do the tri kaala sandhyavandhanams 
regularly- Here again Srimad Andavan Swami said: if one misses the 
sandhi during the flight or due to any other reason, one can still 
perform when it is possible at the earliest opportunity and say that it 
is for that time- of course, we can NOT do ten sandhis together and skip 
the next ten sandhis- This is only for exceptional cases, especially 
when you fly!)
2.  We should live in a good place and should speak truth always; Speak 
softly and sweetly;  (But by speaking truth is going to hurt otherÂ’s 
feelings, let us be silent).
3.  If someone scolds us or shows disrespect to us, never get angry or 
feel bad; All that happens is His leelA, Bhagavadh sankalpam; Good or 
bad is His game; we are only His property. We have performed Swaya 
ssmarpaNam, Bhara samarpaNam and Phala samarpaNam.
4.  We should be ALWAYS CLEAR ABOUT THE PARATHVAM OF SRIMAN NARAYANAN 
and know for sure that all others are only jIvAthmAs wherein He, Sriman 
Narayanan stays as antharyaami. 
5.  There is nothing wrong in gratification of desires that are not 
banned in saastrAs; (for example, marrying, having children, etc..), 
earning for livelihood, etc.. But we SHOULD NOT CRAVE FOR worldly 
pleasures and material pursuits.  
6.  When we get more money or wealth or position or promotion or 
whatever, we should always think that it is all HIS GRACE and His 
blessing only. We should not unnecessarily jump with joy; nor should we 
feel unduly depressed and feel like committing suicide if we get 
failures or lose something or any calamity comes due to unforeseen 
circumstances; We should not lament and pray to Him for granting us the 
strength to withstand such sorrows. (In fact, we should even consider 
the fellow human beings, the poor, the orphans and the destitute (the 
Nara Narayanas) and try to help them by sending little bit of our 
earnings regularly to charitable organisations; a good and 
non-religious, organisation in Madras is Udavum KarangaL (Helping 
Hands). Jana seva is Janaardhana seva.  (You may like to see the web 
page created by IIT Madras on this good organisation- It is my humble 
request to my dearest fellow bhAgawathALs, sisters and brothers of this 
group to contribute liberally to this organisation for helping those 
less fortunate orphans and destitute. Thanks- ThiruvaLLuvar says: 
vaRiyaarku onRu EvadhE eegai maRRellaam kuRi edhirppai neerathu 
udaitthu- means: helping the poor only is the donation; all others are 
done with an expectation from the recipient.)      
7.  We should NEVER FEEL PROUD and have ahankaaram that we have done 
kaalakshEpam, we have studied ph D, we are Engineers, we have a Mercedes 
Benz, We hail from Sri Rangam, we belong to Vaishnava traditions, etc. 
etc., It is all His grace that there is nothing in us- We should 
consider ourselves lower than the lowest straw in the street; We should 
NEVER look down at others who have not done what we have done (or who 
are not blessed with what we are blessed with) or who do not understand 
the philosophy like what we do; NEVER HAVE KALVI, SELVA and KULA 
CHERUKKU. Being proud of oneÂ’s education (or knowledge), oneÂ’s wealth, 
or oneÂ’s kulam is NOT GOOD, It is all due to His grace. 
8.  We should be kind to all including the animals, trees and plants; we 
should be kind hearted and never get jealous of othersÂ’ growth or 
prosperity. Since Emperumaan is an antharyaami in all lives, all are to 
be considered equal to us;  This should always be at the back of our 
minds.
9.  We should do PaarAyaNam of any (or all of) VedAs, Divya Prapandham, 
RamayaNam, BhAgawatham, Vishnu sahasranaamam (on Saturday evenings at 
least), Vedanta Desika Slokas, etc., We should attempt at reciting at 
least ThiruppalaaNdu, ThiruppaLLi yezhucchi, Thiruppaavai, 
Amalanaadhipiraan and KaNNinun chirutthaambhu (if not daily at least on 
Sundays- if some one needs a copy of them, it is my pleasure to post 
English transliterated version or in Tamil- but please recite them. ) 
10.  We should eat sAtvik food; Especially the food that increases the 
rajasic, thamasic qualities of ours (like onions, garlic, Drum stick, 
etc.,) shall be avoided. (of course Non vegetarian stuff including eggs 
and consumption of alcoholic drinks shall completely be avoided.)
11.  we should try to eat, as far as possible, at home and avoid hotel 
food because the food becomes the thought. At home, naturally (we hope), 
the food is prepared with affection and love for us; Then the mind will 
not go after rotten things. 
12.  we should offer whatever that we eat or drink to the Lord before we 
take in; That will naturally prelude us to avoid taking stuff that we, 
naturally do Not want to offer to the Lord (For example, can you offer a 
hot cup of coffee or a coke to the Lord) let us try to avoid the 
beverages like coffee and tea;
13.  we should try to observe fasting on EkAdasi days (If not 
completely, at least eat only fruits, milk and avoid solid food like 
rice; It is also told that ladies and children need not observe Ekadashi 
fasting). Also try to persuade your spouse to cook at least poruccha 
saaRUmudhu on dwAdashi day (if someone does not know, I can ask my 
better half to send the recipe), because for having fasted on the 
previous day, one should not eat "turmeric" stuff for its acidic effect 
on the empty stomach; Poruccha rasam is good for health. Of course, if 
one can get agatthi keerai, Nellikkaay pacchadi, suNdaikkay, it is 
great. - But never mind.)
14.  We should not cheat, deceive, people and get benefited thereby. As 
far as possible, let us perform kaimkaryam to bhAgawathAs and AchAryA. 
15.  we should be scared and feel disgusted to do things that are 
against the saastrAs. (Now, we do not know all saastrA; if in doubt ask 
the Bhakti Group; there are great scholars; or if it pricks your 
conscience, it is against saastrAs- definite.)
16.  We should always recite ( utter) the dwaya manthram and while 
reciting imagine a fully bloomed Most Beautiful red lotus flower with 
hundreds of petals on which the Most Loveliest red Lotus like Feet of 
Sriya: Pathih Sriman NarayaNA just in front of your eyes; one can 
continue to visualise himself prostrating completely holding those two 
Lotus feet. Thinking of this scene, please always recite Dwaya manthram.  
17.  We should perform kaimkaryams at the LordÂ’s temples/sannidhis by 
lighting lamps, offering sandal paste, garlands, flowers, etc.,
18.  When we see other bhAgawathAls, we should feel as if we have seen 
freshly bloomed flowers, the full bright moon, the lovely charming kid, 
etc., and feel so much happy. On the same token, when we see a nAsthikA 
(an atheist), or a person who hates Sriman NarayanA or one who considers 
the Primordial Chief Sriya: Pathih Sriman NarayaNan as equal to other 
demi Gods- we should ignore their presence and try to avoid them. (and 
not enter into arguments with them)
19.  here again, when we see someone who does not recognise the 
Supremacy of The Lord, we should not feel proud that we are better off 
than them; That thinking will make us feel proud and make as inflate our 
ego; On the contrary, we should be thankful to the Lord for His mercy on 
us and pray to Him for showing such mercy on that person, too.
20.  We should ignore and be indifferent to those who are also 
indifferent to Sriman Narayanan. They are worse than atheists.

All these are to be always followed by each and every bhakthA of Sriman 
NarayanA.  

Greatness of Prapatti (Surrender)

It is our fortune that the Lord was so compassionate to us and took a 
vow to save all of us if only we surrender to him unconditionally, 
completely, and take refuge at His Most Beautiful Lotus feet. He assured 
and promised that those who surrender to His Feet and Him alone will 
NEVER be deserted by Him; What He speaks is Truth because Sri Rama never 
talks twice; He is a Satya vrathan, He is Druda vrathan. He will never 
leave us once we surrender to Him and Him alone with complete faith in 
Him (mahAvishwasam). That is performing Prapatti. Prapatti is only an 
act of surrender. Once, we have surrendered to Him once, there is no 
need to do it again. He will DEFINITELY GRANT US MOKSHAM.  The question 
is: what happens to the karmAs and paapams knowingly and unknowingly 
being committed after performing Prapatti ? (Whatever sins and karmAs 
committed during all our previous births before performing Prapatti are 
all removed by Lord KrishNA as promised and assured by Him). If due to 
lots of circumstances, we perform paapams (which we will definitely), 
they all will also be removed by the Lord for the prapatti which we had 
done before. If at all we have committed any sins KNOWINGLY, we are 
supposed to do Praayaschittam; Emperumaan accepts that. 

But, if someone (a vidhaNdAvadhi), argues that what happens if someone 
performs Prapatti, and commit sins knowingly afterwards, will he still 
attain mOksham? Emperumaan is, no doubt, compassionate; But He is the 
Most Shrewdest maayavan KaNNan. He can understand all our ill-intentions 
crystal clear. If someone does any sins knowingly after performing 
Prapatti, and does Not do any Praayaschittam, He punishes them, in this 
birth itself (by making him disabled, or blind or lose his children, 
etc., etc., )and STILL grants him the fruit of mOksham for performing 
Prapatti (unconditionally and completely). VaaL koNdu veesinaap pOlE- As 
if someone is just raising the sword to cut our neck and kill us, but 
not actually killing us- That is the sort of punishment one gets.

But Please remember: All that we need is MAhA Viswaasam- the Complete 
Faith in Him; unflinching faith in Him; Prapatti is only the means for 
getting His grace. He is the One who grants us mOksham. Have faith in 
Him; Then, simply forget about all other births and deaths, He is sure 
to save us! 

Enough for today. In the next CONCLUDING post, we will see how one 
travels to Sri Vaikuntam (Archiraadhi Maargam) and enjoy the eternal 
Bliss performing kaimkaryam to Divya Damapti.   

Narayana Narayana 

Sri RanganAyikA samEtha RanganAtha ParabhrahmaNE namah:

AchAryAL ThiruvadigaLE saraNam

NarayaNa dAsan MadhavakkaNNan     
   
 


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