DEIVATHIN KURAL # 36 (Vol # 5) Dated 10 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 36 (Vol # 5) Dated 10 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page No 215 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
54. PiLLaiyar and Murugan are also like that only. Instead of being just ‘Vignaharta (obviating obstacles) and Devasenapati’ (the commander of the divine forces), they are also capable of granting the totality of all that is divine! Anjaneya Murthy similarly, while still being the ‘Rama Daasa’ (something like a slave to Sri Rama), is considered and revered for being Omnipotent! Brhma is not included as one like that. Having carefully perused and analysed all the Saastraas, Appayya Deekshidar has opined ‘Vishnu, Siva and AmbaaL’ as ‘Easwarakoti’ as the ‘PoorNa Brhma Sakthi’, meaning the totality of the power of God; Brhma only is not considered as equivalent to that! Only just a few minutes back we saw that when anybody asked for the boon of immortality, Brhma himself said that he is not capable of giving such a boon, didn’t we?
55. Why is Brhma Excluded from that List? When we talk about one subject, we stumble on another thing. Now we have another reason why there is no temple for Brhma! To worship someone by building a temple in his or her name, that person should be Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent! Or that he is entitled to such powers, should be known to us and suitably such powers should be what we need, such as wealth (Lakshmi), knowledge and education (Saraswathi), removal of obstacles (Vigneswara), health (Danvantry and Surya Bhagawan), removal of negative influences (Nava Grahas), nullifying the powers of ghosts and infectious diseases (Aiyanaar and Maariyamman) and such. That is, their obtained powers should just fit in with our felt needs! In the areas where Brhma is powerful, there is nothing that can ‘foot any of our bills’ so to say! Or for raising a temple on his name he should be a great devotee or Aachaarya of exceptional acumen and reach! In the case of Brhma, there does not seem to be any of these qualitative requirements, (that is Q.Rs) being met with! That is why, while there are temples for even such minor powers such as Aazhwaars, Naayanmaars, Maariamman, IruLan, Veerappan and such; for one despite being part of the Holy Trinity, who is eternally chanting the four Vedas with his four faces; there is no temple! It is very bad indeed!
56. Because he has not known or shown having known, himself to be the Paramaatma, there is no temple for him and he is not being worshipped. Not only that, just a Veeran and IruLan and such minor punishing powers (Kshudra Devatas), without any claims for Paramata-hood, just because they can correct a wrong, they are being adored and eulogised, while Brhma of the stature of being one of the Trimurthy-s, has neither a temple nor are there any worshipping of him; this state of affairs raises another question. (Exceptions of there being some rare temples, only prove the rule) “Even when we are devoted to a mother or father or husband; even when they may have no gnaana or super-human powers of granting the devotee’s wishes; to the one who is devoted like this, the God who is indwelling in them will grant all our wishes and more, as it is said and as you yourself have confirmed earlier, isn’t it? You have said that our devotion and surrender is important which clinches the Anugraha, and not the power quotient of the target of our devotion! So then, why is that, Brhma cannot do what can be achieved by any of these minor Ktchudra Devatas like IruLan or Veerappan or even normal human beings like a mother, father or husband to a child or wife? Why this denial of name and fame and recognition to only Brhma? What heinous crime has he committed?”
57. He has done no heinous crime. He has been given a pride of place only. Though he is not all powerful, he has the next highest status only as seen in PuraNa Itihaasaas. Surya, Chandra, the others of the Nava Grahas and the King of the Devas, the Devendra have all fallen in his feet in respect and awe, many a times, seeking his help in distress! Though not considered as an Easwara Koti, he moves in such circles in equality and proximity as one of their colleagues. So, Brhma can take the Devatas to the presence of AmbaaL, Siva and Vishnu, who are normally not easily accessible to other Devatas and recommend their case.
58. That is why all the Devatas often approach Brhma for their needs. His father is one of the Easwara Koti. When Vishnu himself was roaming about on earth as Sri Rama, after Ravana had been sorted out, Sita was about to enter the fire, it was Brhma who came as the Asareeri (that is sans the body) and announced for all to hear, “Rama! You are not a mortal human being. Do you not remember that you are the very NaaraayaNa and Sita is none else but Mahalakshmi Herself! Even today when a matter has been settled beyond further discussion, do we not say, ‘Brhma Astram has been launched’! That is the proof of his powers!
59. Still, since he is in a peculiar position, there are rarely any temples for him. Yes he bluffed once that he had reached the top of the infinite effulgence of Siva in the Thiru ANNaamalai episode, after a clash with his own father! More than all that, it is our own peculiar attitudinal failure I suppose, that we are not having any temples and are not worshipping him ritually! The indwelling Antaryaami in every form of life being the same Omnipresent reality in all, there is just no doubt that, from within Brhma too, Divine Grace will flow to do the needful. If we set aside devotion to all other Gods and totally keep him as the target of our devotion, I am sure that there will be positive result. It is our nature that is preventing it. We are all copy cats and tradition bound. We look at our parents being devoted to Rama or Krishna as Vaishnavites or Siva as Saivites, or devotees of Sakti, Subrahmanya, Anjaneya or Ayyappa; we also become a devotee of those Gods or Goddesses. So for some reason our minds are not allowing us to give the pride of place to Brhma. Even our own AachaaryaaL when he started the ‘Shan Madam’, the six religions of Saaktam, Saivam, VaiNavam, GaaNaapatyam, Koumaaram and Souram; he did not start a ‘Brhma Madam’! (Yes in recent times, a sect known as ‘Brhma Kumaaris’ have come into being.) So I suppose tradition seems to be the only culprit.
60. Even if we start in a small way, being devoted to any one of these Gods with very limited powers, later we get so close and that God becomes our Ishta Devata (the preferred one) and we become totally convinced that it will do all sorts of Anugraha and we are able to reach a stage of ‘Ananya Bhakti’ that we do not bother about any other God! But in the case of Brhma, at the very start, his power of ‘creation’ of giving us a life time to live, is not only not much popular, but also rather detested, we do not even think of being devoted to him! Though it is true that Paramaatma will grant us Anugraha through whatever the target of our devotion, when there are so many gods available more likeable, knowing that we do not have a natural liking for him, to expect anything from him will be rather unnatural. So, none of us become a devotee of Brhma.
61. Once you have a liking for someone for whatever reason then that liking can become love and that love can expand in to mature devotion. But to start with, if there is no inherent liking then, we can do nothing about it, isn’t it? There is one more thing about human mind. If someone is known to be a great saint or Mahaan, or nowadays what people keep going gaga over what they call ‘Thalaiva’, (alluding to the head of a political party), when you get to know somebody like that, slowly a little respect and admiration can develop in to a deep set liking and that can lead to total ‘SaraNaagati’, thinking of him to be the very embodiment of Paramaatma! (In the political arena, the following that they command is at times mind boggling! People are ready to even immolate themselves for the sake of their Thalaiva’s imagined or alluded smirch!) With a nebulous idea of a God, said to be Brhma, when he is not seen to be the Muzhu Mudar KadavuL or the Primordial God; it is well neigh impossible to imbibe the intimacy that could develop with one’s mother or father or even a Thalaiva! This is as per the dictate of our mind and intellect or buddhi. Without any brain work, blindly if we get attached to a Thalaiva or Guru, then it is an easy transformation to one of total surrender! Though we know that any God can raise us to the pinnacle of spiritual excellence; to start with, it does not happen to easily appeal to our minds, as far as Brhma is concerned. Now let us see as to what would be our attitude if and when Brhma also has a Sannidy of his own in a temple, let us say!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.