--- In Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "malaseenu" <malaseen@xxxx> wrote: Regarding anya devatha worship, adiyen is having a doubt. Adiyen read > a posting (may be a posting dated 2 years back)regarding Saraswathi > pooja. If adiyen remembers correct, in place of Saraswathi pooja > vaishnavites are to do Sri Hayagreeva pooja. Adiyen doubt is - can a > vaishnavite especially who had the baghyam of Saranagathi, keep the > picture of Sri Saraswathi along with Perumal and Thayar? Some one > told adiyen that there is nothing wrong to keep the picture of Sri > Saraswathi with Perumal and Thayar. Adiyen will be very greatful for > clarification. > Dasan Srinivasan ************** Dear members, In the past few weeks I've been closely following the thread of discussion on this subject both on this list as well as 'SriRangasri' group. The subject of 'anya-devata arAdana' has been debated earlier also many times in the Bhakti list years ago (often ending in needless acrimony). Amongst SriVaishnavites everywhere in the world this topic is very, very controversial -- it's the proverbial red rag for the bull. The discussions, both past and present, always end up in more heat than light and in the process many good and kind-hearted correspondents get slighted or hurt. Take the case of the above member, for example. The above correspondent, for example, obviously is a good devotee of Saraswati. Alongwith other 'arAdana murthi-s' he is probably already having a portrait of the Goddess in his 'puja' and offering it worship faithfully for many years. Now after witnessing the debate on 'anya-devata-arAdana' on the internet, a serious doubt has arisen in his mind and completely besieged it ("Should I keep the portrait or 'vigraham' of Sarasvati in my puja room alongwith the main 'nitya-arAdana-murthi' of say, Lord Narayana, Rama or Krishna?"). I'm sure now our good friend will go on worrying about this matter 'ad infinitum' until he gets a resolution for his doubt. Everytime he now looks at the Sarasvati idol in his puja, I'm sure the grave doubt festering inside his mind will simply encroach upon the space within his heart where earlier there was only pure unalloyed devotion and worshipful attitude. Furthermore, if at the end of this great debate on the lists, our good member receives more enlightenment about the perils of "anya- devata-arAdana' and the grave strictures against it contained in the 'sAstra', one can be sure, our poor friend will come close to contemplating the eviction of the portrait of Goddess Sarasvati from his 'puja'. If such an event were to really come to pass, one can imagine how heavy with feelings of complex guilt and anxiety his heart would be... It would be a sad and heart-breaking thing indeed for a devotee to discard, all of a sudden, an object of worship that he/she had been tending with loving care all the years... ************* Bhakti is a rare and precious feeling. It is also extremely fragile. The feelings of Bhakti residing inside the deepest quarters of a devotee's heart may be compared to a little sapling. It does not grow by itself. It needs careful, patient tending. It is seeded by the Almighty, no doubt, but it is the devotee himself, through his own efforts, who must cultivate the sapling of Bhakti. It is slow, painstaking toil akin to farming. It takes years. Objects of worship - - like an idol or portrait of even a so-called "anya-devata" in one's home -- all only serve to help the devotee in much the same way as the plough or sickle serves the farmer. We may look upon them as simply tools and implements with which the devotee ('upAsaka') patiently ploughs the field within his heart ("akAsa-hrdaya" is the special Vedic term for it) in order to reap the final harvest of Bhakti. I think it would be useful if paused and asked ourselves what really, in the final analysis, is the harvest we hope to reap -- Bhakti itself or the implements that aid in Bhakti-realization? ************* Whatever may be the sectarian denomination we belong, we should all know that our faith has one common root -- the Vedas. The Vedas unequivocally say that there is but One God but his forms and functions are manifold ("yAni nAmAni gowNaNi vikhyAtAni mahAtmA", says the Vishnu Sahasranamam). The One God, is not given any special names; the Upanishads has for Him one name only -- 'Brahman'. But the same Vedas also reveal the reality of a number of lesser gods and goddesses that are ensouled by this very Brahman. These gods and goddesses are never antithetical or antagonistic to Brahman but subservient to Him. They only carry out the many great and glorious functions ('vyUhA-s' and 'leelA-s') of the Brahman. The glory of the Almighty Brahman is not one bit diminished when praise of His lesser forms -- be they gods or goddesses -- is sung. The glory of the agent ("dEvata") only adds to, not diminish, the glory of the principal ("purusha"). This is the reason why the Vedas pay homage, through wonderful hymns of revelation called "sUktam-s", to even lesser gods and goddesses. It is the reason why we find "sUktam-s" in the Vedas being sung in praise for what might seem to be (for the uninitiated) a rather overcrowded pantheon of gods and goddesses -- like "vishnu-suktam", "rudram", "navagraha- suktam", "nakshatra-suktam", "medhA-suktam", "sarasvati- sUktam", "durga-sUktam", "neelA-sUktam" etc.... When you read these "sUktham-s" you will notice that in each of them the 'devata' is being hailed as though it were the Supreme Deity. When you read the "vishnu-sUktam" you see Vishnu being hailed as the Supreme One. When you read the "rudram" you see Rudra being hailed as the Supreme One. This does not mean the Veda 'sUktam' is equivocating. The Vedas must never be mistaken to be saying one thing one moment and another thing in the other ... The 'suktam-s' must be understood rather to be celebrating a particular function or facet (amongst countless others) of the one and same Brahman. Vishnu for example represents the function of cosmic sustenance. Rudra represents the function of cosmic destruction. Brhaspati represents the function of cosmic regulation and order. Varuna represents the physical forces of the Cosmos. Lakshmi, the Vishnu-patni, represents the function of cosmic compassion. Sarasvati represents the function of cosmic intelligence... and so on and so forth... ************* If we understand well the above essential aspect of the Vedic faith, we will not have any difficulty in understanding the theological pitfalls in 'anya-devata-arAdana'. The worship of a particular 'function, aspect or facet' of the Almighty is quite valid. As ordinary people keen to cultivate devotion, our worship of gods/goddesses may serve really well to kindle Bhakti within our hearts. Such worship surely does help strengthen in the long-run an attitude of worship and adoration within us. Such worship in fact leads us slowly but certainly to a superior form of worship --- the worshipful contemplation of the Supreme One ("brahmOpAsana"). That indeed is true Bhakti, for it is directed towards the the One supreme Reality, the Brahman of the Vedas. ************ All said and done, my humble advice to our good member- friend above is therefore simply this: Do not give up your practice of worship or 'upAsana' of Sarasvati. Do give an important place to the portrait of this Goddess in your 'puja'. Do not discard Sarasvati who is but a representation of the power and function of Cosmic Intelligence. Your efforts will not go in vain. You need have no doubts about this. But while doing so, please keep in mind constantly (and all our great Vedantic "AchAryAs" attest to this fact) that there will come a time, a certain moment in life, when your intense 'upAsana' will have gradually moved to a more lofty plane ... a plane of experience where you will be enabled to apprehend the reality of a greater Cosmic Entity -- the One Supreme Brahman, the One reality the Upanishad describes as "sa ekah"... Rgds, dAsan, Sudarshan ------------------------ 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/XUWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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