This was an interesting read from Facebook I am sharing. Credits to Shri SAR Prasanna Venkatachariar Chaturvedi Swami.
"Thus Thinks Chaturvedi Swamy"
Issues-Social and Spiritual solutions
The world is viewed as abode of problems by the frustrated minds
whereas for the positive minds, it also carries infinite splendours,ways and
solutions. To balance the world and ensure solace, solution and success, we
have two routes; First is a social process and second a spiritual one.
Social process suggests four tools; awareness, guidance,
empowerment and transformation. The ignorant society needs awareness and
aimless needs guidance. The weak is lifted by empowerment and the misguided
needs transformation. Great social workers strive to eliminate evils like
poverty, illiteracy, disharmony and corruption, through these four channels.
The second route to enrich our morale and energies, to ward-off
sins and their offsprings; ‘problems’ and to receive and retain progress and
spiritual elevation, is ‘spiritual and religious’ services. These may be temple
construction, renovation, restoration, maintenance, offerings of all forms,
prayers, rituals and worships. In our tradition, the services to Lord is extended
to His devotees (Bhagavathas) and glorious masters (Acharyas) by offering them
everything possible, needed and ordained in our treatises.
Supreme, temples and society
A common doubt resides in the minds of sceptics as well as
beginner-devotees. It is about the necessity of the omnipotent opulent Supreme
to ‘reside in a finite deity form and within a limited temple space-frame’ and
to encourage, expect, accept and rejoice our simple and great praise, offerings
and celebrations.
Our scriptures say that He assumes divine forms and abodes only out of His own
will, to facilitate easy view, relation and services for his beginner-devotees
and to propitiate his mature devotees by this beauty, simplicity and bounty.
(‘Bhaktaanaam tvam prakaashase’).
● Temples and their festivals are meant for assembling, uniting and integrating
the devotees enabling them to rejoice divine company and bliss. This is a
rehearsal for fostering social unity and transformation.
● Supreme is the seed of every glorious attribute. If we could maintain the
standards, sanctity and richness of His temples, we can harvest their impact in
the society as order, peace and prosperity. Serving Him in temples increase our
mind and might to serve, increase in multiples. Paucity and struggles emerge from
negligence and misuse of divine centres and resources and their proper care and
application result in sustainable goodness.
● Temples and festivals also serve as source of livelihood of many industries
and dependents apart from being the gateways of wisdom, realization and
liberation for the mature.
● We are seeing two unpleasant contrasts in the society. First is between the
rich temples and the temples of the same Lord inactive and struggling for
functioning. Second is between the Lord of justice, unconditional love and
wealth seated inside the temple and the surrounding environments of
commercialization, corruption, beggary and social negligence. He has provided
us enough knowledge, courage and energy not only to use his grants but also to
liberate them from misuse, deficits.
Temples and wealth flow
● An affectionate mother takes care of the child and attends
with utmost care even before or without the demand of her child, understanding
its instinct and needs. Similarly a devotee can understand the soft and simple
instincts of the powerful Supreme who is complete and has no needs, and serves
accordingly. He wants nothing from us or demands simplest offerings. That is
His magnanimity. Devotees want to give big and bigger, more and more, and this
is their competitive magnanimity; reflection of His generosity on them. The
Lord, in His Bhagavad Gita says that it is enough if a pure devotee offers Him
a leaf, flower, fruit or even water (‘patram pushpam phalam thoyam’). But the
fervent devotees interpret His verses as diamond, precious gems, gold and
silver (Vajram, ratnam, swarnam, rajatham) as per their volume of love and
service-enthusiasm.
● A prescribed pattern of richness and its demonstration is a divine tool for
alluring, retaining and transforming simple devotees, by name ‘Akarshana’.
Gorgeous decorations, elegant festivals and regal shows attracts more people
and influences them more strongly.
● It is true that wealth attracts insecurity and mismanagement. But the same
problems are common in all other essential centres of wealth such as banks, big
shops and companies. What we need is to increase vigilance and security
measures and not to develop wealth-allergy. Any form of wealth is meant for the
adorning and serving the Supreme only. As mentioned earlier, Lord and His
temple are seed and epicentres of all needed benefits. If you need prosperity
and security for the society, we have to keep temples reasonably prosperous and
completely secure. Any devotee who ends his contract with Lord after giving something
to or receiving something from Lord, shares the sin of misuse and thefts. Our
duty is to pray, monitor, follow and work for our temple’s safety by all
connected means.
● Aishwaryam also induces more awareness, attention and sincerity (jaagarana, avadhana
and sraddha). When we commit to maintaining of richness and celebrating grand
festivals, we become more responsible. Hence our planning, organizing and
executive skills due to necessity of circumstances get naturally shaped,
disciplined and enriched. Eventually these qualities will flow into the society
and produce good capacity builders and efficient agents. So wealth is required
but wealth preserved beyond a limit and is increasing endlessly if not diverted
for support of the mass welfare will erode sanctity and safeties of the abode.
Similarly, unnecessary shows and ostentatious procedures should be avoided.
● Just as a nation hosts not only royals and elite but also the poor and
ignorant, temples also host not only mature and pure devotees, but also gives
room to sinner, repenting, beginners, aspirants and practitioners, along with
those people who come for entertainment, food, shelter, timepass and tourist
visits. These extras, who don’t serve Him are blessed with the benefits of
upasthithi (just being inside the temple premises). To shelter, feed, entertain
and enlighten masses, wealth and its demonstration in His forms and festivals
are components of his beneficial trap.
● He provides opportunities for all types and levels of people. He directs
services to those who want to serve, to those want to ward-off sins and purify
their wealth and souls and those who want to avoid major or greater losses in
their lives or avail major or greater benefits by offering a fragment in
temples. It is the foremost function of temples to attract, elevate and settle
all those who approach them. He needs a initial grip in them, holding which he
may promote their spiritual standards. So wealthy offerings are essential.
Giving to ‘God’
In mature stage, men who are accustomed to only rejoice
receiving huge and more, are tempted to offer to right recipients. Supreme, the
nourisher of world and repository of richness, in His simplified form, craves
for receiving from us.
We have a natural instinct to give and gift to our beloved, whatever we wish or
they want. In devotion also, devotee craves to give something to Him due on
account of his love and satisfaction. Just as a simple visitor thinks about his
family and welfare when he sees the Lord, an advanced devotee will get reminded
of Lord and His service even when he sees his beloved and belongings. For Him,
Lord is his family or a vital or general part of it. Supreme has manifested
himself as Deities in temples only to provide ample provisions for their
service.
Everybody in the world is aiming for relief and success. Our great ancestors
have prescribed different forms of divine services and described their positive
effects on our lives. Simple worships and great festivals of temples such as
Brahmotsavam and Theppotsavam are all ordained by Sastras for all-round
wellbeing. We can faithfully follow and experience the philosophy and benefits
rather than analyzing the same.
Lord Himself is asking us to offer a leaf, flower, fruit or
water. His demand of glorification, offering and services and His enjoyment of
the same, is not because that He is arrogant, rigid or fame-maniac but only due
to His concern on our welfare. When we worship, praise and serve Him, He is
happy because we move in an uplifting path by such pious processes (sathgathi)
and are deviated from the illusory degrading one (asathgathi). Any father will
be pleased to see his child on a progressive direction. As a sensitive and
love-packed father, He relishes every word of love we utter and every bit of
anything we offer.
In context of divine offering, we often counter the following
silly opinions.
● Lord, the creator and owner of this universe has everything in
and with Him. Hence we need not offer anything.
● We can never offer something befitting the status and greatness of that
unique Supreme personality
● There is nothing in the world that can be offered to Him as everything is
what He has created and given to us.
● God never asks for anything as He is only a giver.
Respective brief counters to these misconceptions are;
● Completeness is of two types; personal and mission-oriented.
Even though He is personally complete, He feels incomplete without our love,
service and surrenders that could lift us from our bondage and make us
complete, which is His sole mission. Hence we have to offer our mite.
● Our offering out of love never bothers about His status and standards of our
offerings. Even though He is the greatest, our simple submission, endowed with
supreme devotion will certainly be greater than that ‘greatest’ and will be
duly acknowledged by Him in the same way.
● Everything is His creation and grant. But still, our offering has three
meanings. a) As a servant, we should inform the status of our assignments and
progress to the management (Master of the Universe) and also offer a very
negligible part of whatever He has given. As a gracious master, He wants us
just to inform, think and thank, offer a miniscule and serve the needy, and
allow us to rejoice everything safely, unlike masters who suck all the gains of
their workers. These formalities stipulated by Him are also meant for our
sustained welfare only rather than for His personal satisfaction or happiness.
b) As a token of gratitude, we should and can offer only what we have, which is
nothing but what He has given us. c) Devotion cannot control our urge and fervour
to serve Him with whatever we have and we could get. A product of His creation,
becomes entirely a new and distinct element, out of ‘creation’ system, when the
same is offered back with pure devotion. He feels that the devotee’s offering
is different from and greater than what He has created and granted and a
devotee can feel that whatever given as His Prasadam is entirely different from
and greater than what He has created and given and what he has offered.
● Supreme is also a receiver. He asks for offerings and His injunctions through
scriptures also endorse and prescribe the fruits of different types of
offerings to Him. Offerings are of two types; that which we offer to Him and
are distributed to us and others (like prasadams) and that which are retained
for His own rejoicement (like jewels and constructed structures). He receives
from us only to relish the love-part of our offering and gives back the same to
all of us, filling them with His love, familiar by the name ‘grace’. Even in
the case of offerings that He rejoices and retains, He transfers His grace for
gaining greater perennial benefits in multiples, to us, through His simple
grants like holy basil, holy water, flowers and fruits. The belly of earth
receives seeds to foster them and give the same back in multiples whereas He
receives simple material things from us and reciprocate with great life gifts
and spiritual elevations.
His responsibility and Our responsibilities
There is a mutual exchange or dependence deal between Lord and
His devotees. We offer food to Him who feeds the entire cosmos. We decorate Him
who has fashioned numerous planets and stars and adorned us with intelligence
and spirit. He always praises His devotees and we are singing His immeasurable
glory. He is protector of all. He takes responsibility of lifting, elevating
and liberating all of us. He is the creator of and ruler immanent in all. His
assurance of relief (‘aham tva sarva papebhyo mokshayishyami’) in Geetha, may
be more appropriate to the surrenderers but it latently covers every being in
His fold. Still, we are guardians of His temples, scriptures, tradition and
subjects. Neither Lord needs any protection nor do we have the capacity to protect
Him. But He wishes and prefers to induce potential and responsibility (Aasrita
sakthi-kartrutva) in us and silence His supremacy (Sarveswaratva). Hence
audaciously we can declare ‘mamaadheenaa tava sthithi:’ (you may be our
protector. But if anything happens to you before me, your relief is my duty and
at my disposal).
Hence we have the prime duty of safeguarding Him; His sthapanas, siddhanta,
parikaras and samajam.
● Sthapanam denotes establishments like temples and their
properties and can be extended to other institutions and belongings connected
to His close associates. We have to be take responsibility for their safety and
smooth functioning.
● Siddhanta deals with the glory of Lord and philosophy. Any attempt to damage
His glory, dignity and honour should be extirpated and our philosophy should be
saved from misinterpretations, interpolations and mispropaganda.
● Parikaras are the beloved associates of the Lord; Bhagavathas and Acharyas.
They also should be supported through all possible ways.
● Samajam means the society; His creations. We have to respect and safeguard
nature, other species and all humans. Thus the universal meaning and vision of
Vaishnavism is emphasized here.
In devotion, mere affinity and knowledge, without responsibility
and execution, like loving a child without feeding and caring for it, can make
no sense. Real devotee takes complete responsibility of caring for the Lord and
all others come only for lip-service, courtesy-visit and exchange offers.
Adoption of a temple does not mean mere support but our personal commitment to
organize, develop and glorify the temple.
Devotees and services
All temple visitors cannot be brought under a single category.
Many people are formally attached to the Lord and still carrying the illusion of
this material ties.
Some are more attached but are mere emotional and do nothing practical or
productive.
Some are very formal in their devotion and follow customs due to their
inheritance and long term practice.
Some do service in exchange for something that they expect.
Some are sincere but limit their services to the financial limits they set for
those services.
A true devotee is the one who feels worried on even hearing about the need or
issue of a temple. He would crave to rescue or support the temple by extending
his resources or by influencing and connecting others.
When we parent our child, we never fix a limited frame for our
services. Dress, education, marriage and anything needed for the child is
organized as per the need and the best possible that we could do is rendered,
stretching our boundaries. Similarly when we adopt divya desams, more than our
limits, we should view only the needs of the temple and ways to enrich
ourselves or organize the resources with our prayers and networking.
Divya Desa Sveekaram
This herculean and magnificent ‘adoption’ or Sveekaram project
of our entire Sampradaya can be simply started by adopting one of His
significant temples that are popularly known as divyadesams.
‘Divyadesam’ or earthly divine abode is the seat and centre of
the Supreme, where He resides in the deity form. But specifically it refers
only to temples and Supreme forms that have been glorified in the hymns of
super-mystical Alwars (Nalayira Divya Prabandham). Similar or even greater
glory is attributed to the birth, action and liberation centres of Alwars and
Acharyas (avataara, sambandha kshetras and thiruvarasu). All such stations
carry the enhanced energies and bliss of Perumal, Alwars, Acharyas and
Bhagavathas.
It is pitiable that many Divyadesams don’t even have the basic
facilities and foundation today. We have to attend to them as per their
immediate, self-propulsion and development needs.
● Temples in ruin or in an unmaintained position need to be
renovated with good kitchen, water sources such as well and pond, electricity
and holy garden (nandavanam) facilities. Cleanliness should be maintained with
utmost care.
● Our next attention should be on daily needs for thiruvaaraadhanam - such as
Prasadam (groceries, firewood and other needs), clothes (vastra), basic simple
jewels (earrings, nose-rings, sacred threads-mangala sutram and yagnopavitham;
and crown) pushpam (flowers, garland), gandham (sandal), doopam (incense) and
other accessories, and deepam (lamps). Existing accessories such as utensils,
jewels and vehicles (car and other vehicles) should be repaired and replaced
and kept in a condition suitable to serve Him.
● Our third concern is about the welfare of temple employees. Their monthly
salary, family needs and post-service support should be organized in such a way
that both the beneficiaries as well as the supreme benefactor can be worry-free
and continue their duties of worship and grace. We can construct revenue
generating community halls, guest houses and shops in suitable adjacent areas
or handle any other reliable profit-means and divert the income for these
primary care needs.
● One of our serious concerns is safety. Many temples don’t have the
appropriate facilities to safeguard the temple resources. Even deities and
simple elements have become centres of attraction for smugglers and thieves and
their mischiefs have become part of daily news.
● The backbone of every temple is its tradition; Sampradaya. One should ensure
that ‘chastity of worship’ (focused and exclusively committed to the service of
Sriman Narayana and his associates) and traditional rules (as per the agamas
(Pancharatra and Vaikhanasa) and Sishtachara (precedent records) and
conventions) should never be compromised. Entry of new practices and fading of
traditional observances both should be curbed at the earliest.
After elevating temples upto this level, the next paradigm is
‘development’.
● The first step is colonization. Many divyadesams are in and
around cities and are all reasonably fertile. In areas, where the population is
scarce, initiatives for establishing industries and institutions around the
temple will result in development of accessory units, facilitating public
attention, participation and safety. Similarly NGOs can establish old age
homes, orphanages and social service centres in temple areas and enhance both
God-consciousness and service consciousness levels of that zone.
● Special colonies for Vaishnavas should be formed in every divyadesam. Retired
professionals/ NRIs, admirers and neighbourhood Vaishnavas can prefer to stay
in divyadesam areas either as a permanent resident or even as a temporary guest
for a specified period of 2, 3, 6 or 12 months. This continuous flow of
Vaishnavas in such centres will make their lives meaningful as well as make Him
cheerful. We need to circulate this proposal and motivate many Vaishnavas to
initiate due action.
● Next is amalgamation of proximate energies. We should reach out to all nearby
villages and towns, and mobilize participation from students, youth women and
other public communities, for doing temple services such as cleaning,
maintenance, safety and ‘event and crowd management during festival occasions’.
Such opportunities will increase the faith, attachment and commitment levels of
the participants and develop a strong stable service force for the temple.
● Only after fixing all of these basic problems, we can attempt for making high
level services such as gold and diamond offerings and ostentatious expansions
and expenses.
● And finally, the most challenging step is recovery or rent regularization of
temple properties such as lands, shops and houses that are misappropriated or
mismanaged. This requires long time and high resource consuming legal battles
or a mass revolution
Classification of temples and prioritization of services
● Affluent temples such as Thirumala-Tirupati which are
self-sustained that can also support many other temples also.
● Rich temples such as Kanchipuram and Srirangam
● Temples that can manage day to day rituals, maintenance and festivals with
their resources.
● Temples that are self-sufficient to maintain themselves but cannot afford to
organize huge festivals.
● Temples that are struggling for even routine maintenance and temples that are
defunct and dilapidated.
Every devotee has his own wish; choice of his temple and form of
service he is interested in offering. Those who are much attached to Acharyas
will prioritize service to them rather than to Divya desams. Few are much
engaged only in the service of devotees (Bhagavathas)
But instead of being mere admirers of certain divine forms or abodes or
specific contributions, if we focus the entire system as ‘system healers and
rejuvenators’, we can understand the foremost priorities and secondaries and
collectively serve for the vital needs, even without disturbing the
specifically engrossed communities.
● Divya desams are like the central nervous system of Sri
Sampradaya. We may have our family, village, proximate and beloved temples and
their services. Being a Vaishnava, one should give first preference only to
divya desams.
● Even in Divya desams, most needy ones deserve our immediate exclusive
attention and action.
● More than our personal settlements, welfare of divya desams should be
prioritized which shall consequently bring personal developments.
● When temples are struggling for daily offerings like food and flowers
(prasadam and pushpam), we should never prioritize huge celebration ventures.
● When temples need to repair the existing structure and accessories, construction
of new temples, attachments, extensions and submission of new accessories
should never be prioritized.
● When temples are lacking of accessories in copper, wood and simple materials,
contributions in silver, gold and diamonds should never be prioritized.
● Devotees and Lord are two eyes of temple care, service and administrations.In
the pretext of increasing facilities for the visitors, we should never dilute
the temple’s sanctity by violating and compromising temple procedures and
principles. At the same time, organizing grand festivals for Him without
providing proper basic facilities for the Sevarthis (devotees) is also wrong.
● Many reform works may cause inconvenience, strain or loss. We have to endure
them for solid long term subtle benefits and any adjustment for immediate
interim benefits or comforts will bring solid and irreparable losses.
Empowering temples
Every temple acquires its sanctity; source of its strength,
gaiety and glory, through many ways.
● The best way is Mangalaasaasanam. The sanctity of the Lord is
revived, multiplied and rejuvenated by the earnest wishes that come out of the
pure hearts of unconditionally devoted.
● Conducting routine procedures, festivals and celebrations (utsavams) as per
the scriptures (agamas) and tradition, with love, fear and sincerity.
● Establishing centres of positive prowess like cow-sheds and
Vedic learning centres (Goshala and Veda Patashala) and their due maintenance
will phenomenally induce and guard the sanctity of temples.
● Organizing “beneficial special recitations and rituals, (parayanams and
homams), prescribed in our scriptures and endorsed by our ancestors” and
“wisdom-ritual, enlightening lectures rendered by erudite scholars”.
● All divyadesams are quite spacious and most of the temple spaces remain
unutilized. They can be used for conducting spiritual activities like Homams
and social activities like free tuition and training centres, and awareness
campaigns, without disturbing temple routines and rules. Such activities serve
as sources of both monetary and spiritual incomes.
● Harmony and peace in and around the temple itself is a mega-sanctifying
force. Similarly, genuine sanctity force is capable of bringing harmony and
peace in the surroundings. As they are inter-dependent, parallel measures
should be taken to maintain both sanctity and harmony.
● Whenever we approach temples for service, we can experience different forms
and levels of direct or substream non-cooperation, friction and oppositions,
from the authority groups. Private fights, false egos and personal frustrations
make “responsible people” to revenge on non-targets like temples, festivals and
procedures. Only proper counseling, arbitration and prayers can heal such
complex obstacles and smoothen our march and mission.
Appeal
We have identified about 40 temples that require immediate
attention in terms of meeting the basic needs such as day to day
thiruvaradhanam, kitchen and toilet facilities, water, electricity, appointment
and salaries of archakas (priests), paricharakas (assistants), cook, employees
and security-men, and cleanliness. The entire temples list is given at the end.
You can comment on the list or even add to them with proper details.
As detailed before, ‘adoption’ is ‘serious responsibility
sense’, which is different from mere contributions. We want now more guardians
to take care of field works with personal commitment. We may get support of
many patrons and collectively contribute many things but at the least ‘one’
should take up the responsibility of delivering the maintenance and progress
impacts for the temple either by full-time or part-time personal involvements.
We also need to create a local support team to assist and lead them.
Suggestion and complaint boxes could be kept to get useful feedbacks
which could be considered for rectification and betterments.
We need to create a monthly/quarterly/biannual and annual
progress report that covers developments made, challenges and failures
encountered, investigation and remediation tools. This should be made available
to all concerned for views, reviews and suggestions.
If each one of us can adopt (sweekaram) one temple and ensure
that the adopted temple is developed into a self sufficient and flourishing
one, by our personal, collective and networking means, the 1000th
birth-anniversary (millennium celebrations) of Sri Ramanuja will become more
lifeful, meaningful, colourful and impactful. Such services and glorifying such
‘a great soul’ are indeed pathways to not only our traditional development but
also to all-round wellbeing; peace and harmony.
Let us pray the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujacharya to bestow on us
a stable mind, sharp intelligence and strong will to accomplish this apparently
simple but arduous adventure.
Other Sthalams:
S.NO DIVYADESAM DESCRIPTION LOCALITY
1 Mylapore Birth Place of Peyazhwar Chennai District, Tamilnadu
2 Thirumazhisai Birth place of Thirumazhisai Azhwar Thiruvallur District,
Tamilnadu
3 Mandangudi Birth place of Thondaradipodi Azhwar Kumbakonam District, Tamilnadu
4 Thiruvanchikkalam
(Kodungallur, TKS Puram) Birth Place of Kulasekara Azhwar Thrissur District,
Kerala
5 Thiru Kuraiyaloor Birth Place of Thirumangai Azhwar Nagapattinam District,
Tamilnadu
6 Kattu Mannar Kovil Birth Place of Nathamuni and Alavandhaar Cuddalore
District, Tamilnadu
7 Manakkal Birth Place of Manakaal Nambi Trichy District, Tamilnadu
8 Sriperumbudur Birth Place of Ramanujar Kanchipuram District, Tamilnadu
9 Kooram Birth place of Koorathazhwan Kanchipuram District, Tamilnadu
10 Pettai Birth Place of Mudhaliyaandan Thiruvallur District, Tamilnadu
11 Madhura Mangalam Birth place of Embar Kanchipuram District, Tamilnadu
12 Siruputthur (Kirangur) Birth Place of Anathazhwan Mandya District, Karnataka
13 Vinjemoor Birth Place of Arulaala Perumal Emperumanaar Nellore District,
Andhra Pradesh
14 Chengannur Birth Place of Periyavaachaan Pillai Alappuzha District, Kerala
15 Thirunaarayanpuram (Melkote) Birth Place of Thirunaarayanpuram Aaye Mandya
District, Karnataka
16 Sikkil Kadaram (Kothankulam) Birth Place of Manavala Maamunigal
Ramanathapuram District, Tamilnadu
17 Erumbi Birth Place of Erumbi Appa Thiruvallur District, Tamilnadu
18 Ramanuja Chaturvedhi Mangalam
(Alwar Thirunagari) Bhavisyathaacharya Vigraha Prathistai by Manavala
Maamunigal Tuticorin District, Tamilnadu
19 Kumbakonam Thirumazhisai Azhwar thiruvarasu Thanjavur District, Tamilnadu
20 Mannarkovil Kulasekara Azhwar Thiruvarasu
Birth Place of Vaadhi Kesari Azhagiya Manavala Jeeyar Tiruelveli District,
Tamilnadu
21 Ayyampettai Periyanambi Thiruvarsau Thanjavur District, Tamilnadu
22 Jothishkudi(KodikkuLam) Pillailokacharyar Thiruvarasu Madurai District,
Tamilnadu
23 Srirangam Manavala Maamunigal Thiruvarasu Trichy District, Tamilnadu
24 Sorgap Pallam - NathamunigaL Thiruvarasu , Jayamkondam
25 Kuppanguzhi NathamunigaL avathara sthalam,Kattumannarkoil.
