introduction
From the Bhakti List Archives
• September 25, 1995
SRI: My name is Jaganath Bharadwaj. I was born in New Delhi in August 58. I grew up in Bombay where I lived till 1976. I went to college in Calcutta. I then joined State Bank of India and worked as an officer in Assam/Nagaland till 84 and in London till 86. I then migrated to washington where I have been ever since. My uncle had a Lakshmi Nrsimha salagrama and a Tulasi plant. He used to read the Ramayana and do Aradhana but I knew little or nothing about SriVaishnavism except that my ancestors used to worship Narayana exclusively which my other relatives considered to be fanatical. I read the translation of the Geeta in 1983 which changed my life. I went on to read Kamala Subramanium's Ramayana, Bhagavatam and Mahabharata after reading which I began to worship Narayana exclusively. But it was only after coming into contact with Iskcon in London and reading Srila Prabhupada's books that I read about Ramanujacharya and Vedanta Deshikar. I also met the person who introduced me to Ahobila Mutt in the Washington Iskcon temple. After I was given the 44th Jeer's picture and His Dhaniyan, He used to grace me periodically by appearing in my dreams. (He still does on rare occasions). He gave me Prappati and Samashrayam on July 1st 1991. I met the 45th Jeer for the 1st time in Jan 95 when He instructed me to start Sri Ahobila Muth as a non profit trust for tax exemption purposes and raise money for construction of Sri Ahobila Muth's facilities in Tirupati. The trust has been established and in Washington we have been holding pujas on special occasions at various people's houses to celebrate Sri Vaishnavite events. Anybody wishing to contribute to HH the 45th Jeer's project in Tirupati may send their tax deductible contributions to Sri Ahobila Muth. 5539 Columbia Pike #808 Arlington Va 22204. I have a question for the group. The 45th Jeer is reported to have mentioned to a disciple that Nitya Suris do not take birth (on earth I guess). He may have based this statement from Ramanuja's Vedartha Sangraha where Ramanuja says that two types of souls take part in Bhagavan's leela vibhutis (temporary manifestations in the world controlled by Brahma)- the baddha and the mukta jivatmas. But Vedanta Deshikar mentions Adi Sesha and Garuda as examples of Nitya suris in one of His Chinna Rahasyangal. Adi Sesha has however descended to earth many times most recently as Ramanujacharya. Garuda according to one of the Puranas took birth in one of the 14 lokas and is still suppposed to reside in one of them. How does one reconcile the two seemingly contradictory statements? Also why would Nitya Suris want to shun a place where Bhagavan Himself descends to perform leelas? The 44th Jeer often quoted the Padma Purana (I believe) verse " I am not in Vaikuntha or in Yogis' hearts, but where my devotees are singing my praises Oh Narada]" This changes the definition of Sri Vaikuntha from a strict geographical sense to a state of mind and body that is condusive to spiritual bliss. This also seems to be the case from Vedanta Deshikar's definition of Moksha as one who is able to serve Narayana in all places, at all times and under all circumstances. Vedanta Deshikar would not have emphasized "in all places if one stayed in Sri Vaikuntha as the Loka without ever going out of it. Please let me know if you agree that the answer lies somewhere here or if not please enlighten me on this issue. Thank you, Jaganath
- Next message: Mani Varadarajan: "naama sankirtanam"
- Previous message: Raghu Seshadri: "(no subject)"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]