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RE: Experiences at the Land of Divya Desams - 5

From the Bhakti List Archives

Rajagopalan, Murli, NCSIO • June 29, 1998 


Dearest BhAgawatAs,

Sri Krishna Kalale wrote:

> LET NO ONE STOP AT VARNASHRAMA ISSUES, OR WELL LET ME GET OLDER, I CANNOT
> PROMISE THAT I CAN LEAD A VERY STRICT LIFE. I WOULD LIKE TO GET THIS
> PRAPATTI DONE WITH MY WIFE/HUSBAND; I WOULD LIKE TO GO AFTER MY KID
> BECOMES 7 YEARS OLD AND CLUB IT WITH THE UPANAYANAM OF THE KID; I WILL GET
> IT AFTER RETIREMENT..... WE CAN COME UP WITH THOUSAND REASONS TO POSTPONE
> THIS.   IT IS HIS PROBLEM TO GUIDE US TO LEAD IN WHATEVER STRICT LIFE HE
> WANTS, ONCE WE OFFER OURSELVES TO SRIMANNARAYANA'S LOTUS FEET; WHY DO YOU
> WANT TO MAKE IT YOURS?  
> 
Let me start by sincerely confessing that I am a total aj~nAni.  So, please
forgive my blabbering.

Krishna, your points are well taken.  I agree with all of your comments
before the one above.  Your point has a very noble intention of reminding
the audience about the importance of prapatti.  THERE IS NO DOUBT OF THAT
FACT.  However, if the crux of the above message is "Don't worry about age,
status, inability to lead a strict life;  Don't postpone; go get prapatti
done," then I disagree with that.  If that is not the message, please ignore
everything that follows.

Just getting prapatti done as a karma might not be what our Acharyas
intended.  Perhaps, prapatti has a 99% j~nana content (since Akinchanyam,
mahA vishvAsam, etc. etc. are all what the mumukshu feels deep in his/her
heart ... it is a mental state), and a 1% karma content.  The reason I use
the word "perhaps" is because I am by no means knowledgeable in such lofty
matters.  So, although one can be assured that the Satya Sankalpi BhagawAn
will make sure that the fruits of one's prapatti are realized, one's actions
also have to be sincere.  Just as we follow the sAstras for the other ten
things we do (like performing nithya and naimittika karmas), we should do
the same for prapatti also.  I see a big dilution in the concept of prapatti
itself.  These days when one gets married, the first thing that is done in
families is to get samAshrayaNam and bharaNyAsam (S and B) done for the
couple.  The newly married couple thinks that S and B are the eleventh and
twelfth acts to be done after a hectic ten things they have already done in
the past month.  This is what I mean by dilution.  The bhAgawatA's
intentions are indeed noble when they suggest that S and B should be done to
the person, but the one getting it done has absolutely no clue what-so-ever
as to what is happening.  There is simply no time to get into an education
process.  And two months later life has not changed one bit after S and B.
Shouldn't the life a person change after S and B?  Should a person not be
stricter in his/her life and follow the sastras to the best of their ability
after S and B?  What use is there of S and B if a person does not develop
stricter guidelines for mental attitude and physical conduct?  And all this
should come out of the person's own volition.  The situation is indeed a sad
one which our AchAryas do not approve of but have to live with in the
greater interests of mankind.

I don't have any solutions to the problem.  However, I think spiritual
education should start early.  The smart and true mumukshus will themselves
approach the Holy feet of those great Acharyas we are blessed with like
Andavan, Jeeyar and several others and surrender to the Lord Sriman
NaaraayaNa with the true bhAvam.  Such people will have unshakeable faith in
the glorious concept of prapatti and be true to our siddhAntam.  I think the
Lord will himself show the way to the not-so-convinced ones, just as he is
responsible for the conviction in the smart mumukshus.  If education and
j~nana are not part of prapatti, it is no prapatti from the jeevAtma's end
(may be there is no difference from the paramAtma's end).

To sum it all, a true mumukshu is one who will seek an AchArya with urgency.
If a person would like to postpone matters because they want the child to
grow up, or they want to wait for retirement, or a score of other reasons,
it simply means that the person is not ready for prapatti.  What use is
there in just forcing the person to get prapatti done if all he/she thinks
is that it is a mere ritual?  Doing prapatti as a mere ritual is in my
opinion the highest form of apachaaram on our Acharyas.  Let us not treat
these mahAtmas like toys!!!

I hope this is taken in the true spirit.  I request forgiveness for all my
bhagawat and bhaagawat apachaarams.  If some words I have spoken seem harsh,
that was certainly not my intention.  But if you think they are erroneous,
please do correct me.

> || SarvAparAdhAn Kshmasva ||
> 
> || Sarvam Sri KrishNArpaNamastu ||
> 
> -- Murali KaDAmbi
> 
>