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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00019 Jan 2003

 
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For most of you, this post is irrelevant. But please read on, if only 
for an 'eye-opener' on the depravity into which some of us in your 
kulam have sunk). 

------------------------------------------

Respected members of the Ramanuja List,

Many thanks for the excellent Azhi Mazhai Kanna post from the erudite 
Vanamamalai Padmanabhan swamy. We do well to place the general-
managers of our universe in their proper perspective. 

Moreover, the vyakyanam's stress on the folly of worshiping minor 
gods made me realise that some of us have a related problem. We have 
replaced deva worship with an alternative infidelity. Like Trshanku, 
we have substituted the traditional deities for our own perverted 
kingdom of gods. Therein, we don't worship Kubera, we worship our 
Rupees; we don't worship Kamadeva, we just surrender to our own 
Lusts; we don't worship Saraswati, we just exalt in our own Intellect 
(try to show how clever we are whenever we get half a chance). There 
is a Gujarati saying that pretty well sums up our problem:

Paisa maro Parameswar
Bairi mari Guru
Dikro maro Shaligram
Tho kohni puja karu?

"Money is my God, my wife is my Supreme authority, my children are my 
deities; You tell me whose devotee i am?"

Worst of all, we seem more concerned about what the society might 
think of our religious piety than the hardening of our once tender 
heart. We are in a far worse state than those who don't know their 
Agni from their Ayyappa [1]. 

Please pray for those like me. As Srivaisnavas, you have not only the 
devas but Sriman Narayana Himself at your beck-and-call. It is only 
His Grace that can save us from ourselves. 

Your servant, S. Ramanujadasan

Notes:

[1] Most people worship either vedic (e.g. Agni) or non-vedic (e.g. 
Ayyappa) gods because they have not yet been blessed with an Acaryan 
who has given them the knowledge of the Supremacy of SrimanNarayan. 
These poor people innocently worship all sorts of gods, not really 
knowing one from the other, i.e. "Agni from their Ayappa". 

But then, at least those who worship minor gods have a spirit of 
sheshatva (though it is misguided). In time, association with the 
teachings of our Purvacharyas might well turn those misguided souls 
towards the correct perspective. 

Now contrast these deva worshipers with someone who already knows 
Sriman Narayana is Supreme, yet who continues to serve himself - that 
incorrigible person is worse than a naive follower of one deva or the 
other. 

(learned members: please take time to correct me if i am wrong on 
this, or any other, point).





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