Adiyens humble salutations to the feet of all bhagawathas here.
Adiyen was once asked a question similar to the current one in discussion . The question is
It is said in Sanskrit that -
"Aakashat patitam toyam yatah gachathi saagarm, Sarva deva namsakarah keshavam pratigachathi"
Meaning : Just as raindrops falling from the sky ultimately end up into the sea, in the same way do prayers to all gods ultimately reach Lord Keshava.
If this were to be true, does it not follow that it may not be wrong to pray to gods other than Sriman Narayana?
Adiyen had then attempted to give a reply to this question which are presented below. Just thought that presenting the same here makes some sense.
Kindly forgive and correct Adiyen for any flaw in the reply.
Adiyen
Sudarsana Ramanuja Dasan
=================================================================
The "SharIra- sharIrI" relationship between paramatma and jeevatma is the answer to this question.
I will first resort to the works of Swami Desikan to explain this philosophy by references from vedic and Upanishad. The tamil Vedas have many many references which I have not touched here fearing the length of the article.
Then I will take the question of what if one worships other gods. To answer this question, I will take refuge at the words of two Vedanthacharyas – Lord Krishna and Swami Nigamantha Maha Desikan.
Part 1 : SharIra-sharIrI bhavam:
In simple terms, The implied meaning of this verse is that paramatma or parabrahmam or Sriman Narayanan resides in every jeevan as antaryami. Bhagwan does the anupravesam in every jeevan. The devas, Brahma, Shiva et al , everyone fall under the jeevatma class and paramatma sriman narayanan resides in them as well.
There is an other analogy similar to this which can be used for understanding.
There is a king. The king wears many gold ornaments and costly vastrams. Whenever a person garlands the king, he just garlands these ornament or the dress. But it is implied and understood that he has garlanded the king.
Can we say that "if I need to garland a king, it is enough to garland the king's dress" ??
The kings dress or ornament whichever actually has the garland, has this greatness only because the king wears it that day.
(Even this analogy is v v superficial. Cos it's the aatma which is in the status of king.. If we assume that garlanding the kings body is garlanding the same, then after the demise of the king, we ve to keep the dead "body" as king and make it rule.. since that is not the case, it's the body which is the king. It's the atma which enjoys the status as a king thru this body. This body is the medium for the atma to suffer/enjoy, rather to reap the karma effect.)
Similarly, the other deities, u n me, all have existence cos of the anupravesam of the Lord in us. Plz note here , I just say that Paramatma resides in us and we (they) are not Paramatma itself.
Any doubt in philosophy, sampradayam has an answer in the works of our greatest Aacharya Sri Nigamantha MahaDesikan. I will take few quotations to my limited knowledge and explain this.
In Saranagathi Deepikai, Swami Desikan says,
"Aavishya dhArayasi vishwam amushya yanta
sEshi shriya: pati asEsha tanu: nidhAnam!
Ityadi lakshna ganai: purushottamam twam
jAnAti yo jagathi sarva vid esha gita:"
Oh Deepaprakasa, You have entered all the entities in the world and have given them this status. With your sankalpam, u rule all these entities. You have both sentients and insentients as your property (sEsham) and as bhOga Vasthus. You are the cause behind them (ChEthanam & achEthanam); both dissolve in you (attain layam). Hence you become the aatma with they becoming your body(sarIram). You never leave Piratti even for a split of second. You become the only reason for this universe. Also you have said in Gita that If one identifies you as the paramatma with all these identities and reasons, he has understood everything that needs to be known.
Also Swami says
"Vishwam Dwathiyam vabu:" ie the entire universe become ur (Lords) body.
"sarwa: kira: twayi padanthi" ie all the words end in you (Lord).
"tatha: sarwa asi" ie hence (Lord) you become everything
At an other place, Swami says
"Sargha sthithi pralaya vibrahma nAtikAyAm
shailUshavath vividha vesha parigraham twam"
Hey Varada, in the playful episode of 'sargha sthithi pralaya' 'creation saving destruction', u assume different forms to do these. 'shailUShavath vividha vesha parigraham' is to clarify that the antaryami of Brahma , Siva et al is Lord himself.
This the saaram of vedas. Lets see a few verses of Vedas and upansihads
Purusha Suktham says
Purusha evedagum sarvam!
Yat bhUtam yacha bhavyam!
Utamrutatvasyeshana:!
All the things in the present, past and future are nothing but purusha. He is the master of eternity.
Who is this purusha? The purusha is identified as
"hreescha te lakshmischa patnau"
Hree (dignity) and lakshmi (shri) are your wives. And this lakshana fits only to Sriman Narayana..
Mahabharatam in a similar tone says,
"Ya yesha dEvaki putra: purasthAdavathishtathe!
Sa yeva purusho nbhUtam bhavyam chApi tatha bhavath!!"
'The Lord, the son of Devaki, appearing before us is verily the supreme person, representing all the things of the past, present and future times.
Narayana suktham says
Yacchhakinchit jagath yasmin drushyathe shrUyathepi va
antarbahischa tat sarwam vyapya narayana stitah:
Anything and everything that is seen in this world by the eyes or which is heard from the sastras, the supreme Lord Sriman Narayana pervades in and out of them.
tasyA: shikAya madhye paramatma vyavasthita:!!
sah brahma sah shivah sah indrah sah aksharah parama swarAt!
The location of the Lord as antaryami of everything has been descripted in NArAyana suktham. The Lord who is located in such a position forms the antaryami of Brahma , Siva, Indra and mukthatmas who are not bound by karmas (swarAt)
Upanishads say,
thath eva anupravishat. thath anupravishya .
The brahman created everything and then entered into everything.
sayaschayam purushe, yaschasa aditye, sah ekah, sah evam vit.
He who is in the purusha, and he who is in aditya, is one and the same. n he is the seed for all that is here.
Padma Puranam distinguishes this difference as
Brahmadya: sakalA devA yaksha tumburu NArada:!
Te Sarve purusha amshatwaduchyante purusha iti!!
The creator-Brahman and other gods, Yakshas, Tumburu, Narada , all these are called Purusha in a secondary meaning as they constitute a part of that Purusha.
Lord Himself says in Gita as
"vishtabyahamidham krutstra eka amshena sthitho jagath"
"I am sustaining all the world thorugh my smallest part (eka amshena)
Sri Nammazhwar conveys the same thing very clearly in simple terms in Thiruvaimozhi.
Avane agal jnalam padaithidanthan
Avane akthu undu umizhnthan alanthan
Avane avanum avanum avanum
avane mattrum ellam arindhaname
He destroys (eats) and creates again (gets them back, umizhthan). avanum (brahma) avanum (siva) avanum (indran) ellarum avane (sriman narayanan) .
In VaradarAja PanchAsath, Swami gives a very clear explanation to this.
"Brahma iti shankara: iti indra: iti swarAt iti
Atma iti sarwam iti sarwa chara achara atman!
hastIsha: sarwa vachasAm avasAna seemam
twam sarwa kAranam uchanthi anapAya vacha:"
Hey Varada (hasteesha) who resides as Antaryami (atman) in all (sarwa) chara (movable) and achara (immovable) vasthus of the world, the imperishable Vedas (anapAya vacha: ) declares you(twam) , the one who is the cause of all worlds (sarwa kAranam), with liking (uchanthi) as Brahma (brahma iti), as siva (sankara: iti), as indra (indra: iti), as the one who is not bound by karmas (swarat iti), as atma (atma iti), as everything (sarwam iti) and as the end of anything and everything that can be described (sarwa vachasam avasAna seemam).
The tatparyam of this is that since Vishnu is the last and final end of everything, any thing which is described has to finally describe him.
Consider there is a person X. When we speak about X, we do not speak of the name X but we speak of X as a person. This in turn not only refers to the body but also to the atma (soul). Further this also refers to the paramatma who stays in the jeevatma named X, Thus jeevatma is the body of the paramatma. Hence Paramatma is Shariri and Jeevatma is shareeram. Anything that is spoken of jeevatma will in turn apply to paramatma. And the chain ends with paramatma .
One more example. A person wishes to water a plant. He waters the leaves and stem. But the water reaches the stem which is actually needed. If one waters the root directly, it will satisfy the leaves and stem as they all depend on this root alone
Same ways, any thing done to any of the demi-gods will finally reach Paramatma.
Now lets look at the words of Lord Krishna in Gita in more detail.
Lord Krishna in Gita says
bahUnAm janmanAmanthe jnanavanmam prapadyathe!
Vasudeva: sarwam ithi sa mahAtma sudurlabHa:!!
After many births and deaths, he who has complete knowledge surrenders to me after knowing that I am the cause of all causes. Such a great soul is very rare.
Kamais tai stair hrita jnana: prapadyante anya devata
Tam tam niyamam asthaya prakruthya niyatha: swaya!!
Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender to demi gods and worship them according to their own natures.
Yepy anya devatA bhakthA yajante sraddhayAnvitah
Tepi mAMeva kauntEya yajanty avidhi pUrvakam
Even those who are devoted to other divinities with faith in their hearts, worship Me alone, Oh ArjunA, though not as sanctioned by the SaasthrAs. (Note the root-stem example applies very aptly here)
Sah tayA shraddhayA yuktas tasyArAdhanam ihate!
lAbhate cha tata: kAmAn vihitAn hitAn!!
Endowed with such a faith, if a person proceeds to worship a particular demi god and obtain his desires. But these benefits are bestowed by me alone.
Yo yo yAm yAm tanum bhaktah sraddhayarchitum icchathi
Tasya tasyAchalam shraddha tAmeva vidadAmyaham!!
I am in everyone's heart as the supersoul. The Lord out of compassion says that "Whichever devotee seeks to worship with faith whatever form, I make that very faith steadfast". All their worship to other demi-gods ends at My feet (Sarva dEva namaskAram Kesavam prathigacchathi). These demi-gods derive their power from a small portion of My omnipotence.
These have been conveyed in simple tamil in a condensed manner by Swami Desikan in GItArtha Sangraham as
thAnn ninRa uNmayait-tann-tani mAyai maRaitthamayum
tAnn anRi maayaitanait-tavirppAn virahu aRRamayum
This the meaning of the Sanskrit verse under discussion. More details has been given by Aazhwars in Prabandham. Fearing the increasing volume of the article I refrain from entering them now.
Part 2: Question: "If this were to be true, does it not follow that it may not be wrong to pray to gods other than Sriman Narayana?"
The answer is given by our 2 vedanthacharyas which we can see one by one.
Swami Desikan in Varadaraja panchasath says,
"Praptha Udayeshu varada twat anupravEshat
Padmasana Adishu siva adishu kanchukeshu!
Tan mAtra darshana vilopitha semushika
tAdAmya mooda mathaya: nipathanthi adhIra:"
Hey Varada, those ill-knowledged (vilobhita semushIka), ill-brained people ( mooda mathaya: ), who view just the external form (tan mAtra darsana) of the shirts (kanchukeshu) that have been formed (praptha udayeshu) because of your entry or anupravesam (twat anupraveshat) ie Brahma etc (padmasana Adishu), Siva etc (Siva Adishu) and thinks that you are one such among them (tAdAmya) will ruin by reaching the lower levels ( nipadhanthi).
i.e. Those who worship other gods will not get moksham and they will have to suffer the samsara world.
Lord Krishna in Gita says
"Anvantu phalam tEsham tat bhavatya alpa mEdhasam!
devAN devayajo yAnti mad bhakthA yAnti mAm api!!
Men of small intelluigence worship demi gods for material desires. The fruits which these demi gos give are limited and temporary. The worshippers of demi-gods will go the world of the demi-gods but those who worship Me will come to Me.
Anyone is free to worship the demigods. But the ideal thing which one should want for is MOKSHAM. This moksham (and all other things) can be granted by Lord Narayana alone.
Purushasuktham says
"Utamrutatvasyeshana:"
Having told about the all pervading nature of Purusa, Vedas say that He alone can give final release from bondage to men and this highest person is the final release. The word Amruta here means this final release and this can be given only by Lord Narayana.
Mokshadharma in Mahabharatham says
"AnnajAthasya bhUtasya manushyAdErakAranAth!
nirvanadAyi bhavathi [krupaya purushOthama:!!"
The supreme person grants through his natural mercy the eternal bliss to men (Moksham) and other beings that grow by food.
The demi-gods with the limited power granted by Vishnu can give some of the wordly pleasures depending upon their authority, but cannot give Moskham.
The so called Brahma, siva, Indra etc are just posts. They do not refer to the person. The jeevatmas who have done enormous punya gets these posts and at the end they will also get dissolved in the maha pralayam.
Swami Desikan says this "ananyagathithwam" in Adaikkalapathu and takes refuge in Lord.
"Sadaimudian sathumugan enru ivar mudhalam tharam ellam
Adaya vinai payanagi, azhindu vizhum padi kandu
Kadimalaral piriyatha kachi nagar athigiri
Idam udaiya arulalar inaiyadigal adainthene"
Thus we have seen how authentic our Ramanuja – Desika sampradayam is. There is no contradiction in Vedas, Upanishads, Itihasams and (SAtwika) Puranams. The works of our Azhwars and Acharya Sarwabhaumas reflect these perfectly. Lets resort to the words of our Acharyas and stick to the principles of our sampradayam to attain Moksha in the easiest way and the only possible way for us.
"Seeronru thoopul thiruvenkatamudaiyan
paar onru sonna pazhamozhiyul - Oru onru
thane amaiyAtho thAraniyil vaazhwarku
vAnera pomalavum vaazhvu"
Till now, I have attempted to answer the doubt to my best. If there are any mistakes committed in this, please pardon and correct me.
Srimathe Nigamantha Mahadesikaya Namaha!!!
On 10/16/07, Ram Anbil <Ramanbil@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dear Bhagavatas
I am overwhelmed by the response to the query seeking PramaaNams for the observance of Pujas like Ayyappa, Durga and Satyanarayana. So many Bhaagavatas have raised these doubts time and again in spite of my explaining to them. That is why the message was posted to elicit authentic authority, if possible with ACTUAL QUOTES from Vedas, Upanishads, Itihaasas and "Saatvic" PuraaNas or from the writings of Acharyas of Bhagavad Ramanuja- Swami Desika Satsampradaayam (from Sriman Nathamunigal to our present day Achaaryas).
Kindly read the original message again. Let me hasten to assure you that, personally, I have no doubts and
I have complete conviction in the saving grace of Sriman Narayana who alone can grant mOksha – (as already indicated in the original message).
Other "Ksudra devatas" may be His Sareeram and His children like all of us and some of them may even be His Bhaktas and we are sure, therefore, that they deserve neither "nindanam" or "vandanam".
The intention of the original posting is to help us –Prapannas, offer clarification on similar questions from others who may have GENUINE doubts in this regard and our replies should be supported by proper authority from our holy scriptures. Otherwise, we will be dismissed as projecting our personal opinions.
Personal opinions, conjectures and speculations and hair splitting arguments in justification of or against the observances are NOT (Repeat NOT) expected as answers to this query. Only PramaaNams (if possible, with actual quotes) may be posted, if only to help us explain better to genuine doubts raised by others – (not by way of "Vithandaavaadam")
Dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy
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- References:
- [SriRangaSri] Reg. Ayyappa, Durga, Sathyanarayana etc Pujas
- From: Ram Anbil
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