DEIVATHIN KURAL # 71 (Vol # 3) Dated 29 Mar 2009

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 71 (Vol # 3) Dated 29 Mar 2009
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the last paragraph on 307 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)
27. Our Religion repeatedly insists that all the seen-manifested and unseen-unmanifested, are so many forms of the One God only! So as not to let this underlying principle become forgotten, we address every Devata and even other human beings only as Swami! We refer to every deity as Swami, the Omnipresent(Sat), Omniscient(Chit), Omnipotent(Sarva Shakti), and Satchitananda Swarupam. Even if that Deity is not aware of his oneness with the one and only God, our job it is to remind him of the fact and not let him forget his true source of identity! Thus we are believers of One God only and not Multi-Theists! We believe in One God as the 'Antaryami' the indweller of all forms and species! Thus while reminding them of their oneness, our religion emphasizes that those individual deities should be venerated in ways and means specially meant for them!
28. If you ask me as to, 'why should this be so ?' I would ask you a counter question, 'what is the human being after all ?' He is also another seen manifestation of God only! Those secular people interested purely in social service too, claim that service to people is to service to God! Though they are all one God only, service to them means to help them where they need help! A blind man needs to be guided in the right path. A sick man needs medical care. Unemployed needs to be employed. Uneducated requires education. A hungry man needs food. Helping them means that you have to provide what they need and not one uniform treatment! Exactly similarly, each of the Devata needs to be venerated and revered in his own special way, while not forgetting that “...sarvam brhma mayam jagat...” , 'everything of the world is God only!' 29. But to get that vision is well nigh rare. Before this happens to become ones constant vision, he has to have his mind thoroughly cleansed to a very high degree. For that laundering of the mind are all the daily and peridical duties laid out for each individual of each Varna and Ashrama. His duties as a son, brother, husband, wife, friend, king, soldier, servant, parent, student, devotee and so on; are all meant to cleanse that individual mind of all the cob-webs of Karma of many life times past! To do obeisance to each individual Deity, is also part of this process only. By doing Yaga, Yagna, by giving alms, donation, by doing social service, by persevering in the path of abnegation and by doing japa and meditation; is all part of the process towards that purpose. 30. Bruhad Aranyaka Upanishad says, “...yagnena, daanena, tapasaa...”, laying out the preparatory activities in comprehending the principle and concept of 'What is God!' Daanam is not only what is done with money but, includes all help rendered with the mind, speech, body and material. Similarly, the Upanishads which claim from their exalted heights that, “...'there is no father or son; no deity or devotee and so on'...”, also come down to ground level and say, “...'deva pithru kaaryaabyaam na pramati tavyam'...” , meaning that we are not to let go by default our duties towards the Deities and Forefathers by our absent mindedness! 31. Though on the one hand we presume symbolically relationships such as wife, husband, father and son, between Gods, it is also true that there are many such life forms in existence wherein such relativity does happen to be! When we reach such perfect vision and comprehension of one God in all that exists, then all other representative, intermediate, transitory existances will vanish from our perception! By then the urge to do Paropakaaram will also cease. It does not mean however that a person has become inert, uncaring for others. But, once a person has arttained to universal vision at the end of devotion or Gnana, then without any intension or will on his part enormous amount of benefits will automatically accrue to millions of people. (It is said that when one man attains to Gnana, seven generations of past and future will benefit! One can site clear cases of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Amirtanandamayi Amma as proof of this statement!)
32. The argument that other religions by not talking of 'multi theism', facilitate concentration of attention on the one God are all only verbal claims, without much basis on reality! In truth, they are struggling without much opportunities of experiencing the ultimate. At the cost of repeating myself, I would reiterate that relatively there have been a plethora of God Realized Souls in Hinduism than any other religion put together! That prompts me to say something else in a lighter vein.
33. What is selfishness? What is the highest benefit that can accrue to You? Is it not self realization as a goal than any other achievement? “Whatever the number of deities and or manes, I do not need any of them. I have nothing to do with them. After all, they are all your creations only, is it not so? Whatever they need, it is your job to fulfill! The one who planted the tree has to provide the water also. Whether you do it or not, it is your look out! If they get annoyed and trouble me in the bargain, it is still an insult to you only! You are the supreme power. By my adhering to you, if I were to win disfavour from all these minor powers in being, it is totally your responsibility only!” Such could have been the approach of our religion. Instead, our religion which is accused of being too selfish; has made its followers care for all varieties of creations of God, as though they are all Gods! In other words, this religion has enormously more Paropakaaram content than any other religion! That is the reason that, there have been more Saints and Sages than any other religions of the world! Not only in the past, but in the present too there are more God Realized Souls who have evolved through this religion. Such will be the case in the future too, for millions of decades yet to come!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.