DEIVATHIN KURAL # 35 (of Vol 3) Dated 29 Dec 2008

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 35 (of Vol 3) Dated 29 Dec 2008

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyavaal of Kanchi Kamakoti peetam, over a period of some sixty years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published in Tamil by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each, as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page number 150, of Vol 3, of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein the word 'man' includes 'woman' too. )
(Note:- These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com constantly up-dated.
192. God's Grace is flowing eternally, everywhere. But, our minds and heart are like stones which will never be wet. So, we are never aware of God's Grace. If you put a cloth in flowing water, it absorbs water like a blotting paper. We should make our hearts light like a piece of cloth or paper, by getting involved in 'paropakaaram', so as to become aware of His Grace and absorb His Blessings! The best help you can give a man, is to get him interested and become aware of God's Grace and Blessing, available everywhere.
193. That is the best 'Thiruppani', i.e., service. To run a school, establish a hospital, provide food and water; are all services only. But only those services which result in taking us closer to awareness of God, are given the prefix, 'thiru' and called 'Thiruppani', the epitome of all services.
194. In this poor country of India, all these huge mammoth temples were not constructed by spending a lot of money. Yes, those Kings did take care of the mass of people with food and funds, especially the artisans and craftsmen. But, mostly people did contribute by hard work more as a 'poorta dharmam' than for a livelihood. Kings gave much on their own out of love and admiration to the working labour and artisans. The ambient social and economic atmosphere of those days were completely different than what is obtaining these days. Population was less. There were less disparities in people's standard of living regarding food, clothing and abodes. Luxuries such as air conditioned residences and marble flooring, were unheard of. There was no need for mass production of goods in factories and irrigation dams. Other than maintaining a functional army, Kings had no other major expenditure.
195. So, construction of temples was the major social endevour. Kings tried to do one better than what was happening in the neighbouring state, to construct new ones, repair and expand old ones, there by generating employment to many when they were not too preoccupied in agricultural activities of sowing and harvesting. The masses were thus religiously oriented, that many great devotees could evolve from every strata of the society, irrespective of the caste! Amongst 63 Nayanmar-s famous as foremost amongst the devotees of Siva, there were only 13 Brahmins. The so called re-formers of Hindu religion may please note!
196. They were not demanding 'workers rights' and going on strike at the drop of a hat! They worked and contributed whole heartedly. The effect can be seen to the astounding wonder of visitors till date! Despite having so much manpower and engineering skills, we do not have the wherewithal to even repair those edifices, to-day! (KTSV adds:- Periyaval has not seen the atrocities being done to those temples and premises in the name of repair and maintenance, by the very governmental agencies meant to take care of monuments! Monumental failure or planned destruction and desecration? I wonder!)
197. "makkalukku seivadu mahesanukku seivadu" "jan ki seva janardan ki seva" "nar ki kam narayan ki kam" are all very rhyming statements to mean that doing work for human beings is as good as doing for God! But when such social service has been disconnected from religion and God, they only end up in avoidable blunders! In olden days, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari as all people were united by religious sentiments, North Indian visited South Indian temples and vice versa. Now, whether it is construction of a dam or factory every state wants it in their own state; for a greater share of the central funds for obvious reasons.
198. Education for all, is a good idea. But, is education totally disconnected from religion, (for reasons of secularism,) a good idea? By cutting out religion, we have cut out the morality aspect also, to our collective detriment! This problem is critical and requires our immediate attention. Those who could have remained quiet and well behaved when uneducated, seem to be egged on to greater refinement and sophistication in crime.
199. It is one thing to increase hospitals and availability of medicines. Simultaneously, the restrictions and taboos imposed by religion have all gone by default. This has led to the situation wherein the common man is motivated to total lack of discipline. 'Drink anything, eat anything, have free sex, because you can always get treated; if you get pregnant, you can get aborted', seems to be the motto! (KTSV adds:- Further this has escalated to 'living-in', 'lesbianism' and 'same sex marriages'! This has gone on to ridiculous levels as indicated by a letter to the editor which I read recently, in which, a living-in couple have expressed a wish to know about their legal rights!)
200. In the name of social welfare, nationalized banks open branches in each village and extend loans. To cut out the exorbitant interest demanded by usurious money lenders, is OK. But, in the bargain, we have encouraged corruption in various strata of society, in applying for the loan, in sanctioning, in return of the loan and so on! Most importantly, we are teaching people to be shamelessly in debt and incorrigibly corrupt.
201. (KTSV adds:- Compare this with a sentiment depicted in Ramayanam in Tamil. In the battle field of Ramayana, after much fighting, Ravana was rendered weaponless. At that moment there was also night fall with the setting sun. Sri Rama was gracious enough to tell his opponent Ravana, to go home and come back to fight the next morning saying, "inru poi naalai vaa!". At that moment, "kadan pattaar nenjam pol kalanginaan ilangai vendan!". This means that, 'the King of Lanka felt extremely dejected as though he had incurred a debt!' Look at the difference in attitude, between then and now! Then, Ravana was feeling extremely embarrassed for having been given one more day to live. Instead of being honorably killed, he had been given one more day of life in charity! Today individuals, business corporations and national governments, pride themselves for being deeply in red, giving it a fancy name of, 'deficit financing'!)
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.