SrI:
SrImatE nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESikAya namaH
namO nArAyaNa!
Dear members,
I am posting this article to explain the tenets of SrI VaishNavism
regarding this issue again, since some views of Neo-Advaitins like
SrI RAmakrishNa, the master of SrI VivEkAnanda, which are not
supported by SAstras were posted earlier :
Lord NArAyaNa is as such an aatma ("spirit" as used by some),
and is all-pervading ie.vibhu. Hence He is omni-present. But,
He while seated as Para-VAsudEva at SrI VaikuNTham also descends
to the material world with His divine suddha-sattva form for the
pleasure of His devotees + lOka-kshEmam {thru upadEsam of SAstras
etc}. One such avatAram is the archA-avatAram, which is for
the devotees to have very easy direct loving reciprocation with
Him, serve Him, develop bhakti / perform Prapatti etc. It is
through this avatAram that Lord directly makes Himself available
to His devotees. The archa-avatAram is the object of worship
which is non-different from Para-VAsudEva at SrI VaikuNTham.
As explained earlier, a picture/photo/doll etc representing Lord
is not archa-avatAram due to the lack of consecration as per
Aagama SAstras. However, since it resembles Lord as He is in
other avatArams, the pictures etc are very sacred and devotees
gets the oppurtunity to meditate/reciprocate lovingly with
thoughts filled upon Lord SrIman NArAyaNa. There are many specific
ways of performing worship to Archa-avatArams - Be it either as
SAlagrAma Or Vigraha.
Lord's Form is made up of Suddha-Sattva and not merely made of
materialistic substances like clay. Suddha-Sattva material as
such is highly luminous - the radiation of light from Lord's
thirumEni (divine form) is described very well in various
Scriptures. But many do not see this luminosity from the
thirumEni of Lord in archA-avatAram because, its finally
Lord who makes a person to see His divine Form completely,
based upon the qualifications {in terms of bhakti} present
in that devotee. While the likes of AzhwArs were able to
cognize the suddha-sattva thirumEni of Lord with its multitude
splendour, the likes of me can only cognize whatever
Lord chooses to reveal. The ardent devotees of Lord would have
certainly experienced the splendor of Lord's form during His
vibhava-avatAras like that of RAma and KrishNa, while the
likes of DuryOdhana could never experience it.
ParamAtma, who is characterized by Satyatvam,jn~Anatvam,anantatvam
etc {Which is also called as Divya-Aatma-Swaroopam <DAS>},
eternally has a form as at SrI-VaikuNTham. Those who claim that
they meditate upon God without His divine form, should actually
be meditating upon DAS characterized by Satyatvam etc. But, its
almost an impossibility, especially for the people of this
progressing kali-yuga.
The penultimate chapter of SrI VishNu PurANam describes
the various stages of bhakti yOga, wherein the yOgi starts
with the meditation of PerumAL <DAS> alongwith divine body +
ornaments + weapons, and slowly reduces one by one {weapons,
ornaments etc} in the focus of meditation and finally attains the
*sAkshAtkAram* {realization} of the divyAtma-swaroopam as
"satyam,jn~Anam,anantam,nirmalam etc" without the divine body.
Only at this stage of Bhakti Yoga, can one claim that he sees God
everywhere. Then, the yOgi can finish the upAsana of his liking
from the Upanishads and attain moksham - eternal Bhagavad
anubhavam and kai~nkaryam to the Divya-Dampati.
But, even the performance of jn~Ana yOga is almost impossible
these days {not for merely ordinary people; To also those
who are well versed in SAstras, VairAgya,bhakti etc}. While one
can know that God is everywhere because of the teachings by
SAstras, its extremly difficult to meditate upon and that too
to attain the SAkshAtkAra {Full realization}. The pre-requisite
for meditating upon the "infinite" Lord is the "SAkshAtkAram"
upon the finite JIvAtma, which is also "jn~AnAnanda" in its
swaroopa like Lord. The twin disciplines of karma-jn~Ana yOga
should appropriately be practised to perfection to meditate upon
JIvAtma and attain its sAkshAtkAram. The intermediete step involved
in this process is the continuous meditation upon Lord's
Divya-ma~ngaLa-vigraha {Divine Form made of Suddha-Sattva},
which burns the sins that obstruct the yOgi from attaining
JIvAtma SAkshAtkAram {For more details, refer Bhagavad GIta} -
Here, the focus is not upon the meditation upon DAS, but on the
thirumEni of Lord, which by itself is "SubhAshrayam". Only after
attaining JIvAtma SAkshAtkAram,which is beyond the reach of
almost everyone at present, can one start the process of
bhakti-yoga.
Its just a fancy, if one claims that he is meditating upon God
without Form, while he has no idea of what is meditating upon
"jn~Anatvam", "anantatvam" etc aspects of God - While for
that matter, he would not see even Lord's thirumEni will
its multitude splendour in the first case.
--------
Lord is always personal because of His infinite kalyAna guNAs.
Just because Either He is all pervading Or He is different
from His Divine Form, it does not mean that He is impersonal.
The infinite qualities like mercy, easy accesibility to devotees
etc of Lord NArAyaNA are different from the qualities of His form
like fragrance of His body, shape of His eyes, ears etc. Some
refer to Lord NArAyaNA alongwith His suddha sattva body as
"Personal God", and while referring Him (DAS) directly, they use
he terminology "impersonal" (ie. referring to Lord alone, and
not along with His suddha sattva body). But, some refer to the
"nirvisEsha Brahman" (attributeless Brahman) of advaitins
also as Brahman, which is impersonal. So, this may cause
some terminology confusion; but from the context, one
can understand what the author is trying to explain.
It is also to be noted that meditation on DAS ie. Lord NArAyaNa
which is characterized by many attributes is completely different
from the theory proposed by mAyAvAdins regarding the
meditation on Brahman which is nirviSEsha (attributeless ) .
------
Teaching SAstras unto others is not at all a forbidden act in
SAstras. On the contrary it is regarded as the highest
form of service to the human kind and also Lord {Refer Bhagavad
GIta's conclusion by Lord KrishNa <18.68-69> wherein such a
person is regarded as the most dearmost / One who performs
best service unto Him ; Refer PradhAna Satakam of SrI VEdAnta
DESika in declaring this as the most important form of
service of Lord etc}. But, only the issues like the
qualifications of one who is teaching and the one who is
being taught, the subject matter which is taught, the mind-set
with which it is being taught etc are the issues that needs to
be taken care off appropriately.
AzhwAr, yemperumAnAr, dESikan thiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
anantapadmanAbhan
KrushNArpaNam.
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