You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Sep 2004

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00220 Sep 2004

 
Sep 2004 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


Dear friends and members,

Have you paused at any time in life to wonder why you
offer worship unto God? 

Have you sometimes found yourself asking, "What makes
me pray? What impels me to go to a temple? Why do I go
on long pilgrimages to worship at far-off shrines? Why
do I observe rites and sacraments? Why do I read the
holy scriptures? Why do I perform "hOma" or "yagnya"?
Why prostrate and genuflect? Why undertake fasts and
similar other austerities?"

Clear and honest answers to such searching personal
questions are never very easy. It is often hard to
fathom the inner intentions or motives for our many
acts of worship, both spontaneous and ceremonial. Why
I worship, and the reasons why I turn to God, is a
complex question indeed and the answers can vary
widely with time, circumstance and self-awareness.

                **************

The "Bhagavath-gita" is an unfailing source of answers
for many such difficult questions in life. In the 18
blessed chapters of the 'Gita', there is one
particular gem of a verse that reveals to us 4
principal reasons behind the human impulse to Worship:

 "chatur-vidha bhajantE mAm janAh: sukritnOr'juna
 ArthO jignyAsur'arthArthi gnyAnI cha bharatar-shabha"
                           (Bhagavath-gita: 7:16)

"There are 4 principal motives, O Arjuna, why men of
this world turn to Me in worship", said the
GitAchAryA. 

There is the (1) "ArthA", the man motivated by Fear,
(2)the "arthArthi", the man driven by Desire (3) there
is the "jIgnyAsu", the man inspired by Wonder, (4) and
finally, there is the "gnyAni", the man of complete
Wisdom. These clearly defined 4 motives for human
Worship --"Fear", "Desire", "Wonder" and "Wisdom"--
each in turn typify what is generally known in the
philosophy of Vedanta as "tri-gUNa" -- the 3-fold
Quintessence, the three intrinsic qualities, inherent
in everything that exists in the world viz.: "sattva",
"rajas" and "tamas". 

                **************

(1) The first motive of Worship, Fear, is said to be
characteristic of men seized by "tamOgUNa" -- the
quality of Negativity. Fear is a truly negative
("tAmas"-ic) emotion indeed that makes all men cringe.
Such men are called "ArthA". 

(2) The second "gUNA", called "rajas", also impels men
towards Worship. It is the Quintessence which arouses
within them all manner of ceaseless, restless and
countless desires. Such men are called "arthArthi".
Their desires drive them to a lifetime of endless,
frenetic and self-acquisitive activity. 

(3) The third motive, Wonder, is a rather special one
(and it is the main theme of this essay). The sense of
Wonder that in some special moments overwhelms the
human mind is said to be inspired by a Quintessence
("gUNa") within called "sattva". It is the quality
that propels men to look at the world around them with
a sense of deep awe, inquisitiveness, disquiet and
quest. It makes mentally probe the Reality of
Existence. The "sattvA-guNA" drives them to constantly
seek answers for  "What?", "Why?", "How?",
"Wherefore?", 
"Whither?"... Such men the Gita calls "jignyAsu". We
will have more to say about the "jignyAsu" later in
this essay. 

(4) The fourth motive for human Worship is rarely at
all, if ever, found amongst men. But it is Krishna's
most favourite and, strangely, Vedanta does not give
it any name at all. It is said to be the "gnyAnI's"
motive, the Wise One's motive. The "gnyAnI's" impulse
to worship is not ignited by any particular "gUNA" or
Quintessence within. It is simply motiveless Worship.
The Wise One worships for no reason other than that he
regards Worship as reward in itself. In a way that is
beyond comprehension of ordinary humanity, the
"gnyAnI's" Worship transcends the 3 "guNA-s" of
'sattva', 'rajas' and 'tamas'. He worships not because
he wants to, or, because he has to. He worships
because Worship is simply second nature to him. It is
his very 'raison d'etre' -- he worships to live, and
he lives to Worship. 

Of such extraordinary men, Krishna in the
Bhagavath-Gita said, "mAmevAnUthamAm gatim..." (7:18)
i.e. such men are possessed of only one aspiration in
life: "To attain Me... They know of no other way
leading to Me other than the path of  Worship".

Sometime around the 7th century AD (according to some
historian-hagiographers), in a small village in South
India called 'Tirukkurugur', there lived a great saint
called 'NammAzhwAr'. This saint is remembered and
revered today as the foremost among  12 'AzhwArs' --
12 great mystic-saints in the long SriVaishnavite
lineage of Vedantic preceptors. NammAzhwAr was a
natural-born "gnyAni". For him Worship of God was as
involuntary as bodily breathing. This AzhwAr's time on
earth was quite short, but he chose to spend it
full-time in constant contemplative worship of the
Almighty. Living like a hermit, he resided under a
great tamarind tree within the temple precincts of the
village of Alwar-Tirunagari... In that rather
remarkable living-quarters of his, he spent his days
like a true yogi -- lost in meditation, unmindful of
everything in the world except the inner object of his
Worship. The saint's waking hours were few, brief and
far between but it was during those lucid moments that
the saint sang the 1000 verses of a Tamil poem, the
"tiruvoimOzhi" -- a hymn of such great mystic power
and revelation it came to be regarded in history as
the equal of the Vedas in much of the Tamil-speaking
country of India.  
 
                   ***********
                (to be continued)

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan




________________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online
Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/VkWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

 
Yahoo! Groups Links

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

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    SriRangaSri-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
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list