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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00093 Feb 2003

 
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Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Dear bhAgavathAs,
Humble pranams to all. I have a doubt with respect to 
bhAgavatha service to the bhAgavathAs belonging to other sampradayam
(different from Ramanuja sampradayam). How do you handle devotees 
belonging to other cults? Do you say hi and bye when the 
mentality/doctrines clash? Why I'm asking is I happened to meet one 
ISKCON person who initiated the whole talk and then he made a 
statement that I don't listen to him! He showed me his guruparamapara
(as the authentic one) and he was confused between bhakti yOga and 
bhakti(used in a loose sense that people often misinterpret)and 
exactly at that time I tried to tell him that I only believe in 
prapatti(sarva dharman...) as it is the only option for an 
unfortunate soul like me. He told me that all the time,while he was 
in conversation with me,he was thinking of the Lord and he was also 
insisting on "nama sankirthanam"(as if it was the only upAyam for 
attaining mOksha) and I told him that he is an enlightened soul and I 
am not even fit to stand within 10 mile radius of him. He made a 
statement that everybody is sudra in this kaliyuga(which is a 
possibility)but the word "sudra" means one who is grief-stricken and 
I was wondering "does he not contradict himself,a brahman,who thinks 
of the Lord all the time?" Anyways I told the devotee that I do not 
want to argue and my acharya is Sri Ramanuja(and Sri MM). If he had 
not heard much of Sri Ramanuja it is highly unlikely that he would 
have heard about Sri MaNavALa MAmunigaL. The devotee is an american 
but finally he asked me if I could cook dosa and idli for them and i 
said it's my pleasure as long as(thought within myself)he doesn't 
impose their doctrines on me.

I am pretty sure he doesn't know anything about Ramanuja 
siddhantam otherwise he would have got my point or the differences 
between Ramanuja siddhantham and ISKCON philosophy. This thought came 
to me as I was reading through Acharya Hrdayam in particular 
TiruvAymozhiyin sAram,"uyirnilai" and the sutram is 211: "payil ERu 
kaN karu". The pAsuram TVM 3.7.1 "payilum sudar oLi" insists that 
bhAgavatha kaimkaryam, rather than bhagavath kaimkaryam, is the 
nature of the souls(Have I understood it correctly?). Also it 
reminded me Sri Periya VAccAn PiLLai's(or was it some other acharya?)
words: one can stop bhagavath kaimkaryam in favor of bhAgavath 
kaimkaryam but not vice versa. 

We always come across people who follow a different 
tradition. The conversation goes smoothly until the two sides get 
deep into the topic and the differences of opinion arise. Can we put 
a full stop to the conversation without offending the other party? 
Does this bhagath refer only to Sriman Narayana or other demi-gods 
too? Most of the times this type of discussion seems unavoidable and 
the apacharam also turns out to be mutual with exceptional rare 
cases. For example,when the devotee(who follows Sri Pabhupada's 
teachings) said that I didn't listen to him,I felt bad momentarily 
and I could have said the same thing that he doesn't listen to 
NammAzhvAr, Sri Ramanuja, Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya or Sri MaNavALa 
mAmunigaL. The only remedy I can think of is that one keeps one mouth 
shut or say politely that one is not interested in any form of 
conversation or do not associate so that the question itself doesn't 
arise. But the last option sound unhealthy because if one doesn't 
interact(based on some assumptions)one may miss out a devotee, who is 
a follower of Ramanuja darshanam, which is a great loss for the 
person. Do you, bhAgavathAs, have any other suggestion?

mayar vaRa mathi nalam aruLappeRRa AzhvAr thiruvadigaLE sharaNam
AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam
NC Nappinnai





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