Re: Bhakti
From the Bhakti List Archives
• July 30, 1998
Dear Srimathi Radhika Srinivasan : May I congratulate you on the high points of Sri Vaishnavism that you have touched in your poem ? It is simply beautiful to read some of the lines in your poem dealing with the relationship between JivAthMaa and ParamaathmA . I have underlined those passages on AathmApaharaNam , Kaimkarya Vruthti of a Prapannan and other sublime thoughts of Sri VaishNavism that you have housed in your poem . It reminds me of number of passages from RabindranAth Tagore's GeethAnjali . Thanks for sharing theis lovely poem , which has already answers to your query on Unconditional love .You have touched on Sarira-SaarIri doctrine , Aakinchanyam , NirvEdam and number of other central and uniquely profound doctrines of Sri VaishNavam . Love Offering ************** > > >Flowers and fruits, milk, honey and incense, >Rice cakes and candles, sweet songs and chanting, >Sandal and camphor to fill Thee with fragrance; >All these and more, sense-tingling offering. > >Indeed! what can I offer Thee when I am Thine? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >How can I offer Thee when nothing is mine? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >When Thou dwellest in mine heart pristine, >Can I be anything but Thy Sunshine? > >Yet, Hrishikesha ! why do I feel the way I do? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >Sense controller! Dost Thou feel that way too? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >Oh tell me pray, why do I see stars in my tears? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >Why do I see my heart's murmur as Thy fears? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > >When t'is Thy body I wear and Thy soul I bear, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >T'is then Thee that suffers, through my pain. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >So, what on earth can I truly offer Thee? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >No pain, no gain; not even a sand grain! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Regarding your empathetic resonance to Budhdism , I can comprehend it . For our Darsanam however , Budhdism is not a Vaidhic matham .Professor VasudhA NaarAyaNan is very knowledgable on Buddhism . She might comment more on this subject precisely . I will summarize the issues that made our AchAryAs reject Budhdism and Jainism . I will focus on Buddhism : 1. There are Four Schools of Buddhism ( VaibhAshikA, SautrantikA YogAchArA and MaadhyamikA ); on these following points they agree . 2.All entities are Impermanent , transitory and are in a continous state of Change. 3. Apart from the flow of cognitions , there is no soul or Athman as the seat of cognition or consciousness. 4. Nothing is permanent , Nothing has any Self or inner substratum , and NirvANA is Tranquility . 5.There is no being , but there is only becoming. 6. A Person or a Thing or God is merely an aggregation of component elements. 7. An Entity could only be momentary ; in this context , the so called eternals are nothing but non-existents . 8.Substaratum and Attributes are not mutually seaprate or distinct . As you can quickly recognize , all of the above and other core doctrines are anethma to those , who believe in Vedic and Upanishadic Teachings . Hence Buddhism has been termed as Avaidhika or Veda-Baahya Matham or Soonya Vaadham and Budhdists have been classed as VainAsikAs by our AchAryAs , MaadhvAchAryAs and Advaitins. Volumes have been written about the fallacies in Buddhistic arguments against Vedic Darsanams like ours. The personal relationship between the Jeevan and ParamAthman celebrated in the moving Paasurams of our AzhwArs and the doctrines that you touched in your poem have no connection whatsoever to Buddhistic doctrines quoted above . To take a specific example , Maadyamika does not accept the authority of the Sruthi and denies emphatically the need for a real aadhAram (basis/adhishtAnam ) for unreality. Hence this school of Buddhism like the others deny the existence of Brahman and becomes equal to atheism .The one differnce between Buddhism and AdvaithA doctrine is that the Advaitin rejects the BudhdA's atheistic rejection of Brahman , while agreeing with Buddhists on the concept that the world is illusory ( Brahma Satyam, Jagan mithyA ). As you can see , this is a cause for major disagreement between these philosophies and Sri VaishNavA doctrines that celebrate the World as Real and that it is the body of the Lord just as the Jeevans . The three tathvams , Chith, Achith and Iswaran , are very real in contrast to AdvaithA , where Brahman alone is real and every thing else is false. Our concept of HithA (means/upAyA )by which the goal of life (PurushArthA) is attained by either Bhakthi or SaraNAgathi .The PurushArthm is the transcendental enjoyment of the Lord in the other world (ParamaPadham ) with all His auspicious atributes.The Vedic pramANams like, " niranjana: Paramam Saamyamupaithi "( the muktha jeevan gets supreme equality and gets equality of enjoyment with the supreme being ( BrahmaNa: Saayujyam Gacchathi ) in Sri VaikunTam and engages in nithya kaimkaryam to the divya dampathis . The above vision is a hopeful , fulfilling and energetic vision and that is why our darsana sthApakAs had immense difficulty with Veda-Baahya mathams like Budhdism and those which denies the reality of the World. V.Sadagopan
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