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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00088 Oct 2004

 
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               continued from Part 3
------------------------------------------------------

Just as unconquered Fear drives the "ArthA" into
seeking God through Worship, so does unfulfilled
Desire lead the "arthArthi" to the doorsteps of the
Almighty.

For most men, it is their numerous desires that give
meaning and substance to life. To them the relentless
pursuit of material, sensual, emotional and soulful
self-gratification is what existence is all truly
about. There is an old saying that characterizes such
men quite well: "Where there is Hope, there is Life".
That proverb can be best understood when paraphrased
into: "Where there is yet Hope of desires being
fulfilled, there will be Life". 

For most men in this world, Life ceases when Desire
ceases. Such men hence see good reason to go on
desiring more and more in life. "After all", they say,
"What better way to stay alive and prolong the
experience of life itself?"   

It is very,very common to see such men and women
amidst us. At the great Sri Venkateshwara temple, for
example, at Tirumala-Tirupati (my native town in
India), it is quite common to see worshippers of the
"arthArthi" variety publicly petitioning the presiding
Deity there ("yEdukondaluvAdA gOvinda!") to please
grant them their life-desires --- a home, a car, a
son's success in examinations, a daughter's marriage,
profits from a business venture, the birth of a
grandchild... and so on and so forth...

Another common sight in every part of India, are the
countless little roadside shrines of gods like
Ganesha, Hanuman, Devi and others. These local deities
are very dear to the community. Men and women of the
neighbourhood will petition these deites and shrines
to fulfill ordinary desires of even an average
workaday life. The busy office-goer, for example,
hurrying to work will often be seen pausing a few
moments at the doorsteps of the shrine just to mutter
a fervent, silent prayer, "O Ganesha, please let this
day at work ride smoothly for me... Save me from my
boss, the big, bad bully..." or "O Anjaneya, won't you
please help me get that promotion I was promised last
year?".
 
No more, thus, really needs be said about the nature
of Worship of the "arthArthi". It is without doubt
quite business-like in form and character, but then
it's the sort of business the Almighty does not mind
regularly doing with His devotees. Going by the
Bhagavath-Gita, God actually finds it pleasureable to
do business with such devotees. It is His own way of
contributing to the continued economic well-being of
the one paramount thing that is all important to
Mankind --- Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

                  **************
                  (to be continued)
Rgds,
dAsan,
Sudarshan




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