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Re: Digest Number 705

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S.V.SWAMY • September 23, 2002 


Namaste. Very deep and thought provoking (disturbing!) questions. 

Amritam does not seem to guarantee immortality beyond a point. Even Ravana
is supposed to have had an Amritha Bhandam in his stomach. Vibhishana had
to tell Sri Rama about it and ask him to direct Agneyastra (An astra
invoked through a Mantra and which produces a fire which normal water can't
probably quench?) so that the Pot of nectar is destroyed! This is what I
remember from Sri Ramayana. Is it correct?

The devotee of Lord may suffer from Ajnana which results in his forgetting
his relationship with Rama and Lakshmana in their next incarnations as
Krishna and Balarama. Jambavanta fought with Sri Krishna and failing to
conquer Him, realised that He is the same Vishnu. So it is Jambavant who
had the memory intact. Sri Krishna did not tell him that He is the same
Vishnu who incarnated earlier as Rama. Am I correct?

While Sri Krishna had the full memory and knowledge of His divine origin, I
do not recollect Sri Balarama having that knowledge or memory intact. He
behaved like any other powerful person, with special powers no doubt, but
not with the memory of his divine origin and his relationship with Sri
Vishnu. Like even Arjuna did not have. In Gita, Sri Krishna had to remind
Arjuna and educate him about his true self. Right?

Having devotion does not always guarantee protection from death. And why
should one bother about death, which after all is destruction of the
physical body? Even Rama and Krishna had to leave their bodies behind.

I know I am not answering questions actually by raising some more
questions. But can a story (or even a factual account) be analysed? Why
some one in a drama did what they were reported to have done? 

And finally, what is the question about Marjala Kishora Nyaya with respect
to the above? As I understand it, that nyaya simply means that a Prapanna
is like a kitten, which has left everything to its mother, i.e. God. Was
Dvividha a Prapanna? 

Respects to all.

Swamy SV

Note: Though it should be obvious, there is no harm in reiterating that my
full name is Swarna.Venkateswara Swamy. Thus Swamy does not denote a monk,
sadhu or sanyasi or even an Acharya. Just part of my name. So what I write
or ask has no authority whatsoever, except that of my understanding and/or
remembering some puranic stories  and of course my limited intellect.   

At 14:52 21/09/02 -0000, Mani's friend wrote:

[...]

I guess the convoluted point I am trying to make (through
all my confusion) is that even Bhakti and kainkaryam dont
seem to be enough to stop someone from drifting. The Lord
does not seem to come to correct this and we ourselves
are powerless to control our senses (which is why we
surrender to Him and serve Him). So how can we be saved?

The other pricking issue is that if we call it Bhagavat
sankalpam - then again it seems to me that the Lord is
not really fixed in His resolve - first permitting this
guy to drink Amrita (Did He not know how Dwivida would
turn out later?) and then disposing him off at a later
time.

The struggle thru all these paragraphs for me is in
trying to figure out the limitations of human endeavour
and the extent of the Lord's Grace and what happens to
the soul subsequent to service at the Lord's feet - why
should he then drift at all? 

I hope you see that I am not writing any of this from the
point of view of idle argument. These are questions
relevant to us and about our vigilance on how to guard
ourselves against slipping (assuming we are on the right
track in the first place). 

Now how does that fit in with "maarjhaala kishore
nyaaya"? 









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