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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00122 Jan 2003

 
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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is no longer applicable to the person unless or otherwise the person 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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