You are here: SriPedia - Ramanuja - Archives - Jul 2005

Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00067 Jul 2005

 
Jul 2005 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


VaishNavism ? royal patronage

SrI:
SrImatE rAmAnujAya nama:
SrI lakshmI narasimha parabrahmaNE nama:

Dear vaishNavAs,

Today there is no trace of doubt about declining
situation of vaishNavism in the society. Most divya
dEsams of SrIya pati are suffering in severe poverty
stricken state, not having enough facilities even to
perform basic kainkaryams. The great monumental temple
buildings are about to break down. Many contemporary
vaishNavAs forgot their traditions and leading lives
of lust and greed. The term ?VaishNava? lost its
importance in the context of an individual, as if it
were only representing one?s birth in a family. Many
attribute this apparent fall to secular governments,
changed social scenario (work for bread), advancement
in technology,?..

It is clear for historians to find vaishNavism to
flourish between 11th ? 20th centuries as a result of
royal patronage and their generous contributions to
temple and brAhminical culture. However, I disagree
with the view that this is the reason for the flourish
in the olden centuries and fall in the present era. If
we take the examples of all great AchAryas in our
sAmpradAya, all of them withstood the onslaughts of
different political outrages. Many important AchAryAs
had to flee to another safe place to protect the
deities and own lives, when para-mathas(other
religions) attacked us severely. One has to clearly
understand a crisp point that the great royal families
that helped the cause of vaishNavAs originally
belonged to para-mathAs. Our AchAryas CONVERTED them
to our religion by defeating the para-mathas with
their logic, conviction and devotion. This proves the
fact that our AchAryas were in no better position than
ourselves, but successfully turned the tables in favor
of the Almighty. Hence the past vaibhavam(glory) of
vaishNavism can be only attributed to the unflinching
devotion of vaishNavAs of that era. In today?s world
context, most countries are secular and it is free for
people to practice their own religion without being
offended by others. It is such an unfortunate
situation that in a such favorable conditions we are
losing our traditions.

It is also true that, in the present day world, one
has to work very hard to maintain one?s family in good
condition. Yet, there is a trade-off between the
amount of time and effort we put in our culture and
bread. One has to find an optimistic solution so as
not to lose the ultimate goal of life, performing
kainkaryams to the Supreme Lord, SrI hari. We do not
have to build great temples like that of Sri rangam,
but we just need to protect already manifested temples
which are the result of SrimAn nArAyaNa?s and great
AchAryAs grace for us to be blessed with the privilege
of serving them. 

The Technological advancement should be used to
remember the Lord more efficiently than to completely
forget Him. This yahoo-groups is an example of how
technology can help us serving the Lord.

By the mercy of SrI AchAryAs and SrI ranganAtha?s
consort, many vaishNavAs are able to reach good
positions in their professional lives. Accordingly if
we all serve the divya dampathis who are already
Self-satisfied, will be pleased and grant us with much
more bhAgyam of serving Them; eventually leading us to
un-interrupted service (in SrI vaikuntham). Hence let
us not make lack of royal patronage as a hinderance in
our services to Them. Else we are proving vaishNavism
to be a mere droplet of historical royal activities.

May SrI AchAryAs give us more determination to perform
kainkaryams to divya dampathis!

sarvam SrI krishNArpaNamastu.

dAsOham,
SrIperumbUdUru vEnkaTa vinOd.




                
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs 
 




azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam
 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
ramanuja-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list