> Malola Dasan, > > Balaji Narasimhan > > *** > > Today morning, a gold chain, which I have worn daily > since 1996, snapped. > > I took it to my jeweller, who said that because of > over a decade of wear and tear, it would be better to > exchange it for a new one. > > I selected a new chain, and paid the difference. > > "By the way," said the jeweller as I completed the > transaction, "I think that the new chain will last a > lot longer if you didn't have any pendants hanging > from it." > > This irked me--I wore the chain specifically for > hanging these three pendants: > > 1. A round gold "R" symbol from an IT column called > "Anti Column" that I wrote in 1996 > > 2. A small gold Srinivasa image > > 3. A silver Narasimha Yantra > > Since two of the items above pertain to God, I was not > at all keen on removing them from my chain. The chain > was for the images of God, and to me, it had no > independent meaning. > > "Do you know the difference between God and gold?" I > asked him. > > My jeweller, a very religious man himself, asked me to > explain. > > "If you love God, He will love you back." > > Later, after coming to the office, I decided to search > the Net for more information. I discovered some > interesting details. > > For instance, in the Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, > Chapter 16, it is mentioned that, when Dasharatha > performed a sacrifice for begetting progeny, a divine > form emerged from the fire, carrying a vessel filled > with a divine dessert, which, when consumed by > Dasharatha's wives, would enable him to secure > children. Here, the vessel was made of gold, > signifying rajas, and the lid was made of silver, > signifying sattva. > > According to the Bhrigu Sutras, silver is associated > with Chandra and Sukra, while gold is associated with > Surya, Kuja and Guru. > <http://www.jyotishvidya.com/part1_1.htm> > > This is funny--how can a sattvic graha like Guru be > associated with rajasic gold? And how can fickle > Chandra and passionate Sukra be associated with > sattvic silver? > > Is it because Guru denotes the power of the priests, > and the association holds true because of the > relationship of gold with power? > > Is it because Chandra rules the mother, and silver has > a certain association with being "cool?" > > Is it because the passion of Sukra and the fickleness > of Chandra lead one to temptation, which blemishes > one's reputation the way silver gets tarnished? > > Is it because Guru, being a natural benefic, is > associated with gold, the highest good? And Sukra and > Chandra, being lesser benefics, have been assigned a > less-valuable metal? > > Be it as it may, the corrupting influence of these > precious metals is well known! > > Maybe, it is best for us to remember Krishna's words > from the Bagavat Gita, Chapter 6--"The Yogi who is > satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the > Self), who has conquered the senses, and to whom a > clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, > is said to be harmonized (that is, is said to have > attained the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi)." > <http://jyotishvidya.com/gita6.htm> > > Many of us may not be able to attain such > Vairagya--but, even if this is not possible, let us > remember to revere God above gold, and treat gold as > one of His creations, and therefore, as something that > is insignificant when compared to Him. > > *** > > ~~~~~~~~~ > Balaji Narasimhan > Author & Editor > http://www.balaji.ind.in/ > ~~~~~~~~~ > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Sucker-punch spam with award-winning protection. > Try the free Yahoo! Mail Beta. > http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/features_spam.html > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:Oppiliappan-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:Oppiliappan-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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