Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: Thiruvaaimozhi 4.1- Transitory lives! momentary pleasures! Terrible sufferings!

From the Bhakti List Archives

Krishna Kalale • March 18, 1998 


At 08:47 PM 3/16/98 PST, you wrote:
>SRI:
>


Dear madhava kannan,

I really enjoy madhava kannan's alwar pasurams.  Particularly for folks
with less tamil knowledge this wonderful translation is divine to read. It
reminds us to not run after pleasures. Probably this is one of the major
ailments for some folks , particularly for me than anyone else. We have to
remind ourselves of this statement :

paramatmani yo raktaha viraktaha aparamatmani
aparamatmani yo raktaha viraktaha paramatmani

" one who is attached to God is naturally unattached to other than God
(matter)
one who is attached to matter is without doubt detached from God"

ie. Matter and God are far away (literally not philosophically) from each
other.  One closer to one of these two entities is far away from the other.
This rule cannot be broken. This is verily why lord Krishna in Bhagawadgita
states :

Bhogaisvarya prasaktanam taya apahrita chetasam vyavasayatmika buddhih
samadhaou na vidhiyate

One who is attached to wealth, power etc. and whose intellect is stolen by
pursuit of wealth etc., his mind cannot concentrate on the spirit.

No wonder Lord Krishna states to Sudhama in Bhagawatam -

niskinchana vayam nishkinchana jana priyah -

O sudhama, we (ie. I and probably Lakshmi) do not have anything (ie. are
the nature of asamsaritvam) ie. we are not attached to this world and
wealth; and we like folks who do not have anything ie. as poor as you!;
meaning "non-materialistic" folks .

The idea here is that Sudhama was poor no doubt but had the greatest trust
and bhakti in Krishna.  He did not even want to ask Krishna anything
eventhough his wife suggested that he should take the help of Krishna to
get out of the terrible poverty they were experiencing. 

By this instance Lord Krishna is reminding us that we should have least
attachment to matter to be liked by HIM.

adiyen Krishna Kalale