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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00133 May 2007

 
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Srimathe Sri Lakshminarasimha Divyapaduka Sevaka Sri Narayana Mahadesikaya Namah
 
A thought provoking piece indeed.
But to the best of adiyen's knowledge, both silver and gold have no value for ardent bhaktas or prapannas. As per the Mimamsa, silver is prohibited for dana in rites. It is explained that silver was born out of the tears shed by Agni devata and it should not be touched. Gold is also to be rejected as shown by our Acharya, Swami Desikan.
Dasan Srinivasan
"Dr. Sadagopan" <yennappan@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Malola Dasan,
>
> Balaji Narasimhan
>
> ***
>
> Today morning, a gold chain, which I have worn daily
> since 1996, snapped.
>
> I took it to my jeweller, who said that because of
> over a decade of wear and tear, it would be better to
> exchange it for a new one.
>
> I selected a new chain, and paid the difference.
>
> "By the way," said the jeweller as I completed the
> transaction, "I think that the new chain will last a
> lot longer if you didn't have any pendants hanging
> from it."
>
> This irked me--I wore the chain specifically for
> hanging these three pendants:
>
> 1. A round gold "R" symbol from an IT column called
> "Anti Column" that I wrote in 1996
>
> 2. A small gold Srinivasa image
>
> 3. A silver Narasimha Yantra
>
> Since two of the items above pertain to God, I was not
> at all keen on removing them from my chain. The chain
> was for the images of God, and to me, it had no
> independent meaning.
>
> "Do you know the difference between God and gold?" I
> asked him.
>
> My jeweller, a very religious man himself, asked me to
> explain.
>
> "If you love God, He will love you back."
>
> Later, after coming to the office, I decided to search
> the Net for more information. I discovered some
> interesting details.
>
> For instance, in the Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda,
> Chapter 16, it is mentioned that, when Dasharatha
> performed a sacrifice for begetting progeny, a divine
> form emerged from the fire, carrying a vessel filled
> with a divine dessert, which, when consumed by
> Dasharatha's wives, would enable him to secure
> children. Here, the vessel was made of gold,
> signifying rajas, and the lid was made of silver,
> signifying sattva.
>
> According to the Bhrigu Sutras, silver is associated
> with Chandra and Sukra, while gold is associated with
> Surya, Kuja and Guru.
> <http://www.jyotishvidya.com/part1_1.htm>
>
> This is funny--how can a sattvic graha like Guru be
> associated with rajasic gold? And how can fickle
> Chandra and passionate Sukra be associated with
> sattvic silver?
>
> Is it because Guru denotes the power of the priests,
> and the association holds true because of the
> relationship of gold with power?
>
> Is it because Chandra rules the mother, and silver has
> a certain association with being "cool?"
>
> Is it because the passion of Sukra and the fickleness
> of Chandra lead one to temptation, which blemishes
> one's reputation the way silver gets tarnished?
>
> Is it because Guru, being a natural benefic, is
> associated with gold, the highest good? And Sukra and
> Chandra, being lesser benefics, have been assigned a
> less-valuable metal?
>
> Be it as it may, the corrupting influence of these
> precious metals is well known!
>
> Maybe, it is best for us to remember Krishna's words
> from the Bagavat Gita, Chapter 6--"The Yogi who is
> satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the
> Self), who has conquered the senses, and to whom a
> clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same,
> is said to be harmonized (that is, is said to have
> attained the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi)."
> <http://jyotishvidya.com/gita6.htm>
>
> Many of us may not be able to attain such
> Vairagya--but, even if this is not possible, let us
> remember to revere God above gold, and treat gold as
> one of His creations, and therefore, as something that
> is insignificant when compared to Him.
>
> ***
>
> ~~~~~~~~~
> Balaji Narasimhan
> Author & Editor
> http://www.balaji.ind.in/
> ~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
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