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Swaarttham and Paraarttham!

From the Bhakti List Archives

Lakshmi Narasimhan • February 20, 2003 


Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Dear Shri Swamis,

I wanted to share this thought with everyone and request them to 
correct/validate the same. I've heard from quite a few that we should 
not indulge in swaartha kainkaryam(self help, is this swaarttham or 
swayaarttham?) while the paraarttha kainkaryam(helping others) is the 
best of the kainkaryams. Even if I suffer, I should help others it 
seems. But, I somehow felt that once a person attains the state of 
prapannan or atleast is in the path of attaining that state, how 
could he/she feel that it is his/her body and/or mind. Once I know 
that I belong to him and this body that is associated with the 
faculty "I" also belongs to him, don't I and this body deserve the 
same attention and respect as that of others. In otherwords, should 
not I take care of this body associated with "I" very well - Why 
would this be perceived as being selfish?. How could I help others 
while compromising my health or my body state (when the concept 
of "my" doesn't exist anymore and is now perceived as "his") ? 
Doesn't the concept of "Swaartham" disappears? Is this correct? Am I 
missing something. Please feel free to correct me/clarify and kindly 
help me out.

Yatheendra Pravanam Vandhe RAMYA Jaamaatharam Munim

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan,
Lakshmi Narasimhan
PS: Dear moderator, if this post is too confusing or doesn't go with 
the objectives of this list, kindly reject the same.



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