Advaita Bhakti through Contemplative Practice of Narayaniyam (ABCPN - 0)

[Subrahmanian, Sundararaman V [IT]]

Sorry, I meant to send it to his personal address.  Sitting on the
Derivatives trading floor between traders is not the best place to
read/respond to Advaita-L postings.

Once again apologies, that was meant for his personal address.

SVS

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Subrahmanian, Sundararaman V [IT]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 5:32 PM
> To: ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG
> Subject: Re: Advaita Bhakti through Contemplative Practice of
> Narayaniyam (ABCPN - 0)
>
>
> Dear Professor,
>
> I am a former student of yours from BITS Pilani.  I am
> currently working for
> a Wall Street firm in NY city and live in NJ.  I am indeed
> very happy to
> read your postings in Advaita-L of which I am a member too.  I still
> remember the days when we used to come to your house for
> "aavaani avittam"
> and change the "poonal".  I have also attend a couple of your
> classes in the
> Institute.  Please accept my pranaams.
>
> I have a request.  Can I forward your postings to some of my
> friends who are
> not part of the list, but are interested in such reading.  I
> will ofcourse
> send it with the right attribution to you and leave your
> signature as such.
> Please let me know.  Please decline if you would like to preserve the
> copyrights.
>
> Regards,
> S. V. Subrahmanian.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: V. Krishnamurthy [mailto:profvk at YAHOO.COM]
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 8:23 AM
> > To: ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG
> > Subject: Re: Advaita Bhakti through Contemplative Practice of
> > Narayaniyam (ABCPN - 0)
> >
> >
> > ABCPN - 1
> >
> > (Note: Please read the Introduction  (ABCPN - 0)
> >  if you have not already read it)
> >
> >
> > Sloka No. 1 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 100 - 10)
> >
> > yogIndrANAM tvad-angeSh-vadhika-su-madhuraM mukti-bhAjAM nivAso
> > bhaktAnAm kAma-varSha-dyu-taru-kisalayaM nAtha te pAda-mUlaM /
> > nityaM citta-sthitaM me pavana-pura-pate kR^iShNa-kAruNya-sindho
> > hR^itvA nissheSha-tApAn pradishatu paramAnanda-sandoha-lakshmIM //
> >
> > Tr. Oh Lord! To the great yogins, Thy feet are the most
> > beloved of all Thy
> > limbs. They form the abode for the emancipated ones. For the
> > devotees they
> > are like the celestial tree which yields them all their
> > wants. Oh Lord of
> > Guruvayoor! Oh Krishna! Oh Ocean of Mercy! May those feet of
> > Thine ever
> > rest in my heart, destroy all my sufferings and bestow on me
> > the treasure
> > of Supreme Bliss!
> >
> > Comment. The first ten of this series of 36 slokas constitute
> > a variety of
> > different prayers to the Absolute Lord Krishna. These prayers
> > are intended
> > to help us embark on the divine path to Realisation.  This first one
> > offers prostrations to the lotus feet of the Lord. Quite
> > fittingly we are
> > asking for the Lord's Grace to descend on us by figuratively
> > asking for
> > the Lord's feet to rest in our heart. Here the heart is the
> spiritual
> > heart. The spark of the Absolute is already there, whether we
> > recognise it
> > or not. whether we want to admit it or not.  By requesting
> > God to have his
> > feet rest in our heart we are only praying that His
> > omnipresence there may
> > be 'felt' by us.
> >
> > Sloka No.2. (Ref. nAryaNIyaM: 92 - 9)
> >
> > gangA gItA ca gAyatry-api ca tulasikA gopikA-candanaM tat
> > sAlagrAmAbhi-pUjA para-puruSha tathaikAdashI-nAma-varNAH /
> > etAny-aShTApy-ayatnAny-api kali-samaye tvat-prasAda-prasiddhyA
> > kShipram-mukti-pradAnIty-abhidadhur-R^iShayas-teShu
> > mAM sajjayethAH //
> >
> > Tr.:  Oh Supreme Lord! there are just eight items, namely,
> > Ganga, Gita,
> > Gayatri, Tulasi leaves, sandal paste, the worship of
> > sAlagrAmaM, (the fast
> > on the day of) Ekadasi, and Divine names. These eight,
> > declare the sages,
> > are the easy and quick means of salvation, in this age of
> > kali-yuga, as
> > they secure Thy abounding grace. May I be intensely devoted
> > to them all!
> >
> > Comment:  This asks for karma-yoga with the stamp of bhakti.
> > There is a
> > folk-lore sloka which says:
> > gangA gItA ca gAyatrI govindeti catuShTayaM /
> > catur-gakAra-samyukte punar-janma na vidyate //
> >
> > Meaning, 'when the four that begin with the consonant 'ga'
> > are integrally
> > present, the four being gangA (the river Ganges), gItA, gAyatrI and
> > govinda (standing for God's name) - then there is no rebirth'.
> > Bhattatiri  adds to these four, another four.
> > In the orthodox traditions initiated by Adi Sankara, five
> > main divinities
> > are worshipped through a sophisticated ritual called
> pancAyatana-pUjA,
> > meaning, worship at five altars. Here the divinities are
> > worshipped not in
> > their human-like forms but in certain symbols in the form of
> > stones, which
> > are nothing but certain rock formations available in
> > specified locations
> > in India. The Sun-God, sUrya, is taken as inherent in
> certain crystals
> > normally found in Vallam in Tamilnadu. The Mother Goddess,
> shakti, is
> > represented by the svarNamukhi stone found in the bed of the
> > river of that
> > name in the Andhra region of South India. VishNu is
> worshipped in the
> > sAlagrAma (mentioned in Bhattatiri's verse) stone that can be had in
> > plenty on the bed of the river Ghantaki in the Himalayas.
> > Ganesa is the
> > red shonabhadra stone found on the bed of the river Sone
> > flowing into the
> > Ganges. Finally shiva is the bANa-linga found in the
> > Omkarakunda of the
> > river Narmada, near the island of Mandhata. The pancAyatana
> > pUja tradition
> > may be taken as an intermediate stage between the worship of
> > Godhead with
> > form and the worship of the formless, because the symbols of
> > worship as
> > rock formations have certainly a form but they are also
> > formless in that
> > they have no parts like face, eyes, body, hands and feet. It
> > is as though
> > the devotee trains himself to take the mind from the formful to the
> > formless while at the same time allowing full scope for one's
> > devotional
> > feelings. Also note that in the Vaishnava tradition, the
> > emphasis is on
> > the sAlagrAma to such an extent that the other four of the
> pancAyatana
> > tradition are mostly omitted.
> >
> > Sloka No.3: (Ref. nAryaNIyaM: 94 - 10)
> >
> > aikyaM te dAna-homa-vrata-niyama-tapas-sAnkhya-yogair-durApaM
> > tvat-sangenaiva gopyaH kila sukR^iti-tamAH prApurAnanda-sAndraM /
> > bhakteSh-vanyeShu bhUas-svapi bahumanuShe bhaktim-eva tv am-AsAM
> > tan-me tvad-bhaktim-eva dR^iDaya hara gadAn kR^iShNa vAtAlayesha //
> >
> > Tr.: That state of supremely blissful union with Thee, which
> > is difficult
> > to obtain through (disciplines like) charity, (ritual) sacrifices,
> > observance of vows, self-control, austerities, knowledge
> > (sAnkhya), and
> > yoga, was attained by the blessed gopikas (cowherdesses) of
> Brindavan,
> > through just personal attachment to Thee as their own
> > beloved. Numerous
> > are Thy other devotees, but it is this loving personal
> devotion of the
> > gopikas that has received Thy highest appreciation. Therefore
> > Oh Krishna,
> > Oh Lord of Guruvayoor, May Thou strengthen devotion in me and
> > destroy my
> > ailments.
> >
> > Comment. This underscores the importance of personal
> > involvement with the
> > Lord in intimate terms, from the heart of hearts. All the
> > formalities of
> > our religious observances pale into insignificance before
> > such a personal
> > relationship with God. So whatever we may do, we must strive
> > to see that
> > this innate feeling of love for the Lord is the undercurrent.
> > This is the
> > only thing He asks from us. More than intellectual
> > understanding of the
> > various nuances of scriptures and philosophy, what He expects
> > from us is
> > this self-negating love for Him and all that stands for Him,
> > namely, the
> > universe.  One may recall here Gita Ch.IX - 34:
> > manmanA bhava madbhakto madyAjI mAM namaskuru /
> > mAmevaiShyasi yuktvaivaM AtmAnaM mat-parAyaNaH //
> > meaning, Saturate your mind with me; be devoted to me; work
> > for me; bow
> > down to me; having thus united your whole self with me,
> > taking me as the
> > supreme goal, you shall come unto me. This self-negating
> love has been
> > defined by Narada in his bhakti-sutra, as follows.
> > guNa-rahitaM kAmanA-rahitaM pratikShaaNa-vardhamAnaM
> > avicchinnaM sUkShma-
> > taram anubhavarUpaM.
> > Meaning, (This pure love is) without attributes, without
> the poison of
> > desire, every moment increasing, unbroken, subtlest, and of
> > the nature of
> > sheer immediate experience.
> >
> > (To be continued)
> > praNAms to all seekers of spirituality
> > profvk
> >
>