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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00132 Jul 2004

 
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--- 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 





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