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Re: [t'vengadam] The Stranger

From the Bhakti List Archives

bindinganavale suresh • October 8, 2002 


Dear Sri Sadagopan,
                   Yes,it is really strange and a pain
for us that we seem to know so much of this Stranger??
from the  scriptures and works of acharyas and
alwars,but today when we ask ourselves whether we have
seen him or found him?,we are not in a position to
give a definite and convincing reply though we can
arrive at logical conclusions or answer based on our
faith in the Lord generated in us from our own
experiences in life.

Now,coming back to your question :-    

Would anybody tell me how to find this Stranger?

The Lord or the very Stranger himself has given the
solution to this problem in his own works and
incarnations.

In his work,the Bhagavad geetha the Lord has stated 
the reason for this problem in the 7th chapter as :-

TEXT 13 

tribhir guna-mayair bhavair 
ebhih sarvam idam jagat 
mohitam nabhijanati 
mam ebhyah param avyayam

Meaning :- Bound by the three gunas of prakriti the
whole world does not know me who am above these modes
of prakriti and inexhaustible.

But,he has given the solution in the following
slokhas:

In the 11 th chapter, TEXT 54 

bhaktya tv ananyaya sakya 
aham evam-vidho 'rjuna 
jnatum drastum ca tattvena 
pravestum ca parantapa

and
 
18th chapter, TEXT 55 

bhaktya mam abhijanati 
yavan yas casmi tattvatah 
tato mam tattvato jnatva 
visate tad-anantaram

where both slokhas point in unmistakable terms that by
"Bhakti" one can surely know the Lord,see the Lord and
experience the cummunion with the Lord by transcending
the gunas of prakriti.

Now this Bhakti characterized by a continuous longing
only for the Bhagavan on the part of the Bhagavtha
rises to such heights that the Lord himself graces the
Bhagavatha and appears before him.

The following avataras are proofs for this :-
1. Narasimha avatara for Prahaladha.
2. Lord Narayana appearing for Dhruva's devotion.
3. Sri Rama meeting Shabari.
4. In Krishna avatara he has appeared before and 
   graced many devotees and the list continues.

In short,from the above discussion,we can come to the
following conclusion :-
when a person obtaining knowledge of god "seeks" to
know and see god in reality,the very seeker at some
point in his process of seeking the lord becomes the
sought by the Lord himself or the Lord himself appears
or finds the devotee trying to find him.

Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu
Suresh B.N.
 


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