--- In Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "malaseenu" <malaseen@xxxx> wrote:
Regarding anya devatha worship, adiyen is having a doubt. Adiyen read
> a posting (may be a posting dated 2 years back)regarding Saraswathi
> pooja. If adiyen remembers correct, in place of Saraswathi pooja
> vaishnavites are to do Sri Hayagreeva pooja. Adiyen doubt is - can
a
> vaishnavite especially who had the baghyam of Saranagathi, keep the
> picture of Sri Saraswathi along with Perumal and Thayar? Some one
> told adiyen that there is nothing wrong to keep the picture of Sri
> Saraswathi with Perumal and Thayar. Adiyen will be very greatful for
> clarification.
> Dasan Srinivasan
**************
Dear members,
In the past few weeks I've been closely following the thread of
discussion on this subject both on this list as well as 'SriRangasri'
group. The subject of 'anya-devata arAdana' has been debated earlier
also many times in the Bhakti list years ago (often ending in
needless acrimony). Amongst SriVaishnavites everywhere in the world
this topic is very, very controversial -- it's the proverbial red rag
for the bull. The discussions, both past and present, always end up
in more heat than light and in the process many good and kind-hearted
correspondents get slighted or hurt.
Take the case of the above member, for example.
The above correspondent, for example, obviously is a good devotee of
Saraswati. Alongwith other 'arAdana murthi-s' he is probably already
having a portrait of the Goddess in his 'puja' and offering it
worship faithfully for many years.
Now after witnessing the debate on 'anya-devata-arAdana' on the
internet, a serious doubt has arisen in his mind and completely
besieged it ("Should I keep the portrait or 'vigraham' of Sarasvati
in my puja room alongwith the main 'nitya-arAdana-murthi' of say,
Lord Narayana, Rama or Krishna?"). I'm sure now our good friend will
go on worrying about this matter 'ad infinitum' until he gets a
resolution for his doubt. Everytime he now looks at the Sarasvati
idol in his puja, I'm sure the grave doubt festering inside his mind
will simply encroach upon the space within his heart where earlier
there was only pure unalloyed devotion and worshipful attitude.
Furthermore, if at the end of this great debate on the lists, our
good member receives more enlightenment about the perils of "anya-
devata-arAdana' and the grave strictures against it contained in
the 'sAstra', one can be sure, our poor friend will come close to
contemplating the eviction of the portrait of Goddess Sarasvati from
his 'puja'. If such an event were to really come to pass, one can
imagine how heavy with feelings of complex guilt and anxiety his
heart would be... It would be a sad and heart-breaking thing indeed
for a devotee to discard, all of a sudden, an object of worship that
he/she had been tending with loving care all the years...
*************
Bhakti is a rare and precious feeling. It is also extremely fragile.
The feelings of Bhakti residing inside the deepest quarters of a
devotee's heart may be compared to a little sapling. It does not grow
by itself. It needs careful, patient tending. It is seeded by the
Almighty, no doubt, but it is the devotee himself, through his own
efforts, who must cultivate the sapling of Bhakti. It is slow,
painstaking toil akin to farming. It takes years. Objects of worship -
- like an idol or portrait of even a so-called "anya-devata" in one's
home -- all only serve to help the devotee in much the same way as
the plough or sickle serves the farmer. We may look upon them as
simply tools and implements with which the devotee ('upAsaka')
patiently ploughs the field within his heart ("akAsa-hrdaya" is the
special Vedic term for it) in order to reap the final harvest of
Bhakti.
I think it would be useful if paused and asked ourselves what really,
in the final analysis, is the harvest we hope to reap -- Bhakti
itself or the implements that aid in Bhakti-realization?
*************
Whatever may be the sectarian denomination we belong, we should all
know that our faith has one common root -- the Vedas. The Vedas
unequivocally say that there is but One God but his forms and
functions are manifold ("yAni nAmAni gowNaNi vikhyAtAni mahAtmA",
says the Vishnu Sahasranamam). The One God, is not given any special
names; the Upanishads has for Him one name only -- 'Brahman'. But the
same Vedas also reveal the reality of a number of lesser gods and
goddesses that are ensouled by this very Brahman. These gods and
goddesses are never antithetical or antagonistic to Brahman but
subservient to Him. They only carry out the many great and glorious
functions ('vyUhA-s' and 'leelA-s') of the Brahman.
The glory of the Almighty Brahman is not one bit diminished when
praise of His lesser forms -- be they gods or goddesses -- is sung.
The glory of the agent ("dEvata") only adds to, not diminish, the
glory of the principal ("purusha"). This is the reason why the Vedas
pay homage, through wonderful hymns of revelation called "sUktam-s",
to even lesser gods and goddesses. It is the reason why we
find "sUktam-s" in the Vedas being sung in praise for what might seem
to be (for the uninitiated) a rather overcrowded pantheon of gods and
goddesses -- like "vishnu-suktam", "rudram", "navagraha-
suktam", "nakshatra-suktam", "medhA-suktam", "sarasvati-
sUktam", "durga-sUktam", "neelA-sUktam" etc....
When you read these "sUktham-s" you will notice that in each of them
the 'devata' is being hailed as though it were the Supreme Deity.
When you read the "vishnu-sUktam" you see Vishnu being hailed as the
Supreme One. When you read the "rudram" you see Rudra being hailed as
the Supreme One. This does not mean the Veda 'sUktam' is
equivocating. The Vedas must never be mistaken to be saying one thing
one moment and another thing in the other ... The 'suktam-s' must be
understood rather to be celebrating a particular function or facet
(amongst countless others) of the one and same Brahman. Vishnu for
example represents the function of cosmic sustenance. Rudra
represents the function of cosmic destruction. Brhaspati represents
the function of cosmic regulation and order. Varuna represents the
physical forces of the Cosmos. Lakshmi, the Vishnu-patni, represents
the function of cosmic compassion. Sarasvati represents the function
of cosmic intelligence... and so on and so forth...
*************
If we understand well the above essential aspect of the Vedic faith,
we will not have any difficulty in understanding the theological
pitfalls in 'anya-devata-arAdana'.
The worship of a particular 'function, aspect or facet' of the
Almighty is quite valid. As ordinary people keen to cultivate
devotion, our worship of gods/goddesses may serve really well to
kindle Bhakti within our hearts. Such worship surely does help
strengthen in the long-run an attitude of worship and adoration
within us. Such worship in fact leads us slowly but certainly to a
superior form of worship --- the worshipful contemplation of the
Supreme One ("brahmOpAsana"). That indeed is true Bhakti, for it is
directed towards the the One supreme Reality, the Brahman of the
Vedas.
************
All said and done, my humble advice to our good member- friend above
is therefore simply this:
Do not give up your practice of worship or 'upAsana' of Sarasvati. Do
give an important place to the portrait of this Goddess in
your 'puja'. Do not discard Sarasvati who is but a representation of
the power and function of Cosmic Intelligence. Your efforts will not
go in vain. You need have no doubts about this. But while doing so,
please keep in mind constantly (and all our great Vedantic "AchAryAs"
attest to this fact) that there will come a time, a certain moment in
life, when your intense 'upAsana' will have gradually moved to a more
lofty plane ... a plane of experience where you will be enabled to
apprehend the reality of a greater Cosmic Entity -- the One Supreme
Brahman, the One reality the Upanishad describes as "sa ekah"...
Rgds,
dAsan,
Sudarshan
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