Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: Dear Smt Geetha, Humble pranams to you. I would like to share my thoughts. You know what is the difference between great men like Gandhi,Socrates and so on and small people like me? It is the path they choose without compromising their principles at "any" cost. So the answer to your question lies in the "levels" of thinking one has reached in life! One reaches higher levels of thinking only when one's mind is shaken about what's life and its purpose. Adi shankara wrote his commentary on brahmasutra(impersonal brahman) when he was in early twenties(or may be even before) and composed bhaja govindam in his later life saying "punarapi jananam punarapi maraNam...pAhi murArE(nArAyANa)". When I know the President(nArAyaNa) why do I need to seek middlemen(anya dEvatas)? Based on one's level of mental maturity(knowledge and wisdom),one worships the gods and the God(this has been explained by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad Gita). While worshipping anya devatas,it is difficult to develop the "state of mind" where one can visualise and experience the "antaryAmi" Sriman nArAyaNa residing in those demi- gods. Atleast self is incapable of doing it as it requires lot of self effort! So if one wants to get released from this samsaric ocean,one has to go to ONLY Sriman nArAyaNa and if not one can seek anya devatas. For this to happen,His grace has to flow on us first only then we do prapatti(not an upAya),a mental phenomenon! Last but not the least some readers had quoted AzhvArs pAsurams for devathAnthara bhajanam. One has to keep in mind the word "sangraha" which means consistency. One can not randomly pick up some AzhvArs' pAsurams and say that AzhvArs themselves have prescribed devathAnthara bhajanam. One has to see whether the context is in consistent with the entire work of the respective AzhvArs. A srivaiShNava is he who worships only Sriman nArAyaNa. If he worships other devathas alongside,i feel that the definition breaks down and is no longer applicable to the person unless or otherwise the person does "brahma viDhya" to realise that "antharyAmi". In short,the answer lies in the "clarity" of thinking. Seek forgiveness if unintentionally affected others' feelings. AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam NC Nappinnai
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