Search:
Bhakti List Archives

cleanliness

From the Bhakti List Archives

sampath kumar • October 16, 1999 


I read on bhakti-archives lot of posts by Sriman Anbil
and really I learnt a lot from him. I have lot of
respect for Sriman Anbil. He is really great and I
sincerely mean it. I am very thrilled that he himself
is coming down and with kindness is responding to the
rubbish someone like me is writing on the bhakti
group.

In the same nice and patient way usual to him he has
commented on 'cleanliness' also. I don't want Sir to
misunderstand me as "adiga-prasangi" (upstart). 

Sir, I said what I said because I know many people who
wear "pancha-kaccham" or "madisaarai" only when they
go to pay visit to "achAryA"  because they know
otherwise "azhagiyasingar" or "andavan" will not see
them unless they wear "pancha-kaccham". 

Some people I know wear 12-tiruman because they know
azhagiya-singar will not see them otherwise. Some
other 'mahapurushas' I know will take their 'poonul'
off the bathroom-hook and wear it only on their way to
Mutt or Ashram because they know they will not be
allowed inside without it.

In Tirupati some people will join "saatrumarai-seva'
after quickly, quickly cutting off side-burns and
whiskers and painting tiruman on forehead, that too
crookedly ("konna-monnala"),and joining saatrumarai
queue so that they can get 'green-channel' darshan.

All this they are doing because of what, I ask
Sriman.Anbil? Because of "incentives" like what
P.B.Anand-sir correctly wrote.

So that is why I feel if "acharyas' like
Azhagiyasingar and Andavan or Vananamamalai jeeyar,
Tridandi swami and all put a rule that those who come
to them for "samAshrayanam" or 'baranyAsam", besides
having all other "lakshanam" for it, should also have
done some physical cleaning-work at DDs, temples and
mutts/ashrams then only there will be real "incentive"
for people to keep cleanliness in temples and DD etc.

This is my humble feeling, Sir. Please adiyEn should
not be misunderstood as committing apachAram. I am
saying all this because if "achAryas" say things like
this it will have real weight and people will
definitely make effort to pay some heed. 

Otherwise if like Sriman.Anbil says, acharyas are
thinking that "they have better things to do" then who
will say these things and emphasise about cleanliness?
And who will follow? Who will listen or care to pay
heed to lowly,  loukeeka people or "alpa" or
"assatu-brahmana" like me? Then how our temples and
mutts can be kept clean? This is all I am saying, Sir.
Nothing more.

Many sishyas will form committees for samprokshanam
and utsavam or abharanam-making or building additional
sannidhis or parayanam etc. But I have not seen one
single case of sishyas forming a committee solely for
bringing back cleanliness to our temples. We have
vidvats sadas many times for discussing abstruse
matters of siddantam but there is no sadas for those
who are concerned about cleanliness of temples, DD
etc. 
Sir, because cleanliness is "basic matter" no one is
bothering about it too much. But Sir, I think time has
now come to start from 'basics'. And who else but
acharyas to best take us back to basics? This is what
I am thinking. I hope you also will have same
'abiprAyam'.

Once again respected Sir, sorry for talking too much
and behaving like an 'adigaprasangi', please forgive
me but I had to say what I felt I must say. 

Sampathkumaran 

     

=====

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com