156. தந்தாய்
உயர்வை நீயே தந்தாய்-உன்னருளாலே
உனதென்ற எண்ணம் தந்தாய்-உன் செயலாலே
என தென்ற எண்ணம் நீத்தாய்-என் மனதாலே
எல்லாம் எனக்கானாய்-என் வாழ்விலே
கேட்டால் தருவார் பெற்றோரும்-என் தேவை எண்ணி
கேட்காமலே தருவாய் நீயும்-என் உறவை எண்ணி
சேர்ந்தால் மகிழ்வார் உற்றோரும்-அவர் மனதின்படி
சேர்ந்து மகிழ்வாய் நீயும்-என் மனதை எண்ணி
நமக்குள்ள உறவும் புதிராம்-உலகோருக்கு
நாம் மட்டும் அறிவோம்-அதன் கணக்கு
உன்னருள் ஒன்றே போதும்-நாளும் எனக்கு
உவப்புடன் என்றும் நான் வாழ்வேன்-உனக்கு.
06-03-2013 5.30 காலை, குருகுலம்.
156. You gave
You uplifted me because of your grace
You made me to think that I am yours through your action
You removed the sense of ‘mine’ in my heart
You become everything through my life
Parents will give according to our need if we ask them
But you will give without asking thinking about our relationship
Relatives will enjoy our company as per the mood of their heart
You will mingle with me happily knowing my heart
Our relationship is a riddle to the world
We alone know the nature of it
Your grace is enough for me everyday
I will live happily for you.
06-03-2013 5.30 a.m. Gurukulam.
I have experienced the limitation of every human relationship. Though mother’s love is unconditional, yet that too based on our response to that love. But our relationship with the Lord is unconditional in the sense that He won’t reciprocate based on our response but remains unchanging in His relationship with us. Though our Lord came as a human, yet His nature, character, attitude, approach cannot be measured as per human standard and understanding. He can become any kind of relative to us based on our needs. But in human relationships that is not possible. For example a wife can serve as a mother to her husband but a mother cannot serve her son like a wife. Whereas God’s relationship is all inclusive catering to our particular need in that time. That is why for me, though we use human language and categories to express our understanding about God, yet He stands beyond this. This one way contradicts my recent article ‘Mother’s Love is Unique’. Though God’s love is conditional and He won’t impose it on our throat, still unlike human love even that of a mother it remains unchanging for ever.
9-8-14
157 துதிக்கும் நேரம்
உன்னைத் துதிக்கும் நேரமிது
உன்னடி வந்திடும் காலமிது
என்னை மறந்திடும் வேளையிது
எல்லாம் நீ என்று ஆன பின்பு
காலமெல்லாம் கீதம் பாடிடுவேன்
காலையும் மாலையும் துதித்திடுவேன்
நடுப்பகல் உன்னை நினைத்திருப்பேன்
நாளும் உன்னில் வாழ்ந்திருப்பேன்
உன் சொல் எனக்கு மந்திரமாம்
உன் செயல் எனக்குத் தந்திரமாம்*
உன்னடியார் எனக்குச் சொந்தமுமாம்
உலகே எனக்கு ஒரு போர்க்களமாம்
ஆயினும் வெல்வேன் அதனை இனி
அதற்கு உண்டு துணை நீ இனி
என்னில் கலக்கமும் இனி உண்டோ
வெற்றியே அன்றி தோல்வி உண்டோ
08-03-13 காலை 8.30
*ஆகமம் = செயலுக்கான விதிகள்
157 Time to praise you
This is the time to praise you
This is the time to come at your feet
This is the time to forget about myself
Once you become everything to me
I will sing song all through my life
I will praise you in the morning and evening
In the mid-day I will remember you
I will live in you each day
Your Word is the mantra for me
Your acts are the work manual for me
Your bhaktas are my relatives
The entire world is a battlefield for me
But I will overcome it hereafter
You are there to give support for that to me
Is there a place for any disturbance in my heart?
Other than success is there any scope for defeat?
08-03-13 8.30 am.
Once we keep focused on the final victory then we will never be overwhelmed by the challenges that we face in life. Of course disturbances will come, but when we allow the trouble to hide, we cannot see the victory beyond it. When I keep my hands very close to my eyes it will black my vision. But if I keep it at some distance, the vision will be still blocked a bit, yet I can see the entire vision keeping the hands part of it. The same way, when we learn to see the victory which we inherit from the Lord, though challenges won’t disappear immediately, it will never block for us to see the victory completely. Even if the result is against our wish, yet once we accept it as the will of God, then we can see that as the victory rather than accepting any defeat.
158. பரிகாரம்
தொங்கினாய் நீயும் சிலுவையில் அன்று
தெய்வமே நீ என் கருமம் கண்டு
உருகினாய் நீயும் மனதில் அன்று
உலகோர் பாவம் போக்க வென்று
மானிடர் பாவம் போக்க வேண்டி
செய்த பரிகாரம் கொஞ்சம் உண்டோ
ஏது செய்தும் மாறவில்லை-அவர்
தம்செயல் கொண்டு உய்ய வில்லை
ஆயினும் நீயே பரிவு கொண்டு
அவரின் நிலையை மனதில் கொண்டு
பாவம் நீக்க உன்னையே தந்தாய்
பரிகாரம் செய்து அவரை மீட்டாய்
என்ன இதற்குக் கைமாறு உண்டு
ஏது இதற்கு மறு வழி உண்டு
உன் செயல் தன்னை மனதில் கொண்டு
உன்னடி பணிவதே எமக்கு உண்டு.
29-03-2013.
158. Propitiation
You hang on the cross on that day
Oh my God seeing my karmas
You took compassion that time
To remove the sin of this world
To remove the sins
People have done lot of prayaschitta
But there is no change in them
And they cannot be saved through their act (of prayaschitta)
Yet having pity on them
Thinking about their condition in your heart
You offered yourself to remove their sin
By becoming the prayaschitta you redeemed them
What can be given in return for that?
Is there any other alternative path to that?
Keeping your act in heart
Bowing at your feet is the only proper way for us.
29-03-2013.
Though I used the word ‘prayaschitta’ (propitiation) yet it could not be the correct word to use for the atonement of the Lord for our sin. Because prayaschitta done by Hindus is for various reasons but not taken in the sense of atonement. It is done most of the time for moral lapses or to come back to the community after excommunication.1 it is worth nothing what Young says about this:
… praayascitta is better understood as penance than as atonement or propitiation. It is more a demonstration of regret or an attempt to terminate undesirable karmic repercussions than an act designed to appease divine justice. Another problem is that the Hindu tradition has scant precedent for substitutionary praayascittas, although in Dharmasastra texts one finds that close relatives may undergo penance for children below the age of responsibility who have committed certain minor sins (KANE, PANDURANG VAMAN. History of Dharmasastra, 4. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,1953:78-80)…..— Richard Fox Young, Resistant Hinduism: Sanskrit Sources On Anti-Christian Apologetics in Early Nineteenth-Century India, by Vienna, 1981 (Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi). p.62
Having said that it is also interesting to note the origin about the concept of atonement itself in Christian tradition:
Although monks and clergy pledged to renounce those ideas of personal honor as meaningless vanity, they easily transferred these loyalties to institutions. This might mean a new loyalty to the church as a whole, or to a particular see or monastery, and clergy fought for that church or religious house with all the zeal they might earlier have applied to defending the honor of a city or a clan…we can hardly comprehend the astonishing venom that marked the long battle between the great churches of Antioch and Alexandria unless we realize that we are dealing here with a quite literal blood feud that spanned a century or more. In later eras, the idea of satisfying aggrieved honor even became central to Western theology. Around 1100, the monk Anselm depicted Christ as the only sacrifice meritorious enough to pay the debt of honor to God, which he did through his death on the cross. This theory of the atonement became standard for both Catholic and Protestant churches.— Philip Jenkins. Jesus Wars. How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years. New York, Harper One. 2010. p. 29
It is worth noting what Dr. Hoefer wrote back in his response to BT Song 63
Song 63
For the gospel writers also Jesus’ final days of suffering and death were a prime focus, though they give hardly any theological interpretation to the events. Those last hours seemed to epitomize/reveal for them Who Jesus was and what His character was.
The focus on Jesus’ shedding blood is found only in the book of Hebrews where the significance of Jesus’ death is presented in terms of the Old Testament sacrificial system, a metaphor that spoke meaningfully to a Jewish audience.
Significantly, the earliest Christian theological traditions do not present the penal/substitutionary model. This came only in Medieval times to explain Jesus’ death in terms of the penitential system of the church at that time. The Deception Theory and the Christus Victor theme were the primary themes among the Western church fathers.
A whole different theological system was developed in the eastern church, which still continues today among the Orthodox churches. In this system, Jesus’ suffering and death are not the focus. Rather, the central focus is on the Incarnation and its consummation in Jesus’ resurrection and Ascension. Their theme statement is : “God became man so that man could become God.” Since Christ is “in all,” all creation is caught up in Him, and that is our salvation. We rise with Him.
God bless.
Herb
11-7-14
Also read my article “On Sacrifice” in my blog for various views about this both in Hindu and Muktiveda.
Notes
1…But when the sinner performed the appropriate prayascitta [penance], the smrtis declare that he became fit to be associated with [vyavahara], he was to be welcomed by his relatives who were to take a bath along with him in a holy river or the like and who were to throw in the water an unused jar filled with water, he should offer grass to cows in the midst of his relations, they were not to find fault with him later on. Vide Manu XI.186-87, Yaaj.III.295,299, Vas.15.20, Gaut.20.10-14 (which prescribes the recital of certain Vedic mantras and the offering of clarified butter into fire)…—P.V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra.vol.III, p. 615.
…if a man became patita and refused to undergo prayascitta, he was driven out of the Hindu fold by the procedure of ghatasphota (vide H.of Dh.vol.IIpp.387-88), and Gaut.Dh.S.20.2 and Manu XI.182-183 provide that such a man was to be held to be dead and his relatives were to perform all rites for him such as offering water and sraddha and were also to observe aasauca for him.–ibid. vol.IV, p. 261.
159 புதிய காலை
புதிய காலையில் புனிதனை தொழுவோம்
புதிய கிருபை பெறுவதில் மகிழ்வோம்
இன்றைய நாளும் நலமுடன் இருக்க
கிருபை அளிக்க இறைவனும் இருக்க–புதிய…
இன்றைய நாளிலும் பாடுகள் உண்டு
அதனை வெல்ல உறுதி கொண்டு
செயலில் இறங்கி செய்து முடிக்க
உடன் வந்து அவன் நம்முடன் நடக்க–புதிய…
தோல்வி எண்ணிச் சோர்ந்திட வேண்டாம்
வெற்றி எண்ணிப் பெருமையும் வேண்டாம்
வெற்றியும் தோல்வியும் வாழ்வில் உண்டு
அதில் மேன்மை அளிக்க இறைவனும் உண்டு–புதிய
வாருங்கள் செல்வோம் வள்ளளை அண்டி
வாழ்த்துவோம் அவனை நாளும் வேண்டி
ஒருநாள் வாழ்வதும் அவனின் அருளால்
அவனே தருவான் அதனை நிறைவாய்–புதிய….
10-04-2013 குருகுலம், காலை, 6.45
159 New Morning
In this new morning let us worship the Holy One
Let us rejoice in receiving new grace
For this day to be a good day
God is there to bestow grace
Troubles will be there even today
To take firm resolution to overcome it
To accomplish it through our acts
For Him to come and walk with us— In this new morning
Don’t be discouraged by defeat
Don’t brag about success
Success and failures are in life
And to overcome them God is there– In this new morning
Come let us go unto the Charitable One
Let us praise Him every day through prayers
Living even one day is because of His grace
He will give it abundantly — In this new morning
10-04-2013 Gurukulam, 6.45 am.
Though I don’t give importance to being with the Lord at any particular time, the morning climate, bird’s songs, cool air, freshness of flowers and the good rest that we had had some effect on our body and mind. And at the ashram as I go to get my milk at the gate, I will drown the calmness around me and think a lot about God. And today when I was immersed in that calmness around me, I wrote this song.
11-8-14
This song I wrote after I listened to one song about Krishna in which the bhakta sings that ‘she came running unto Him to tell her by thinking about the relationship between her and Him’. Then I wrote this song.
160. உறவைச் சொல்லி உரிமை கொண்டாட
ஓடி வந்தேன் ஐயா நானும்
என் உறவைச் சொல்லி உரிமைகொண்டாட
தேடி வந்தாய் நீயும் தானே–என்னை
நாடி வந்தாய் நீயும் தானே
ஆதலால் அந்த உரிமை கொண்டாடி
ஆதரிப்பாய் என்ற நம்பிக்கை கொண்டு
உலகோர் அறிவார் இந்த உண்மை-நான்
உன் பிள்ளை என்ற மேன்மை-அதை
கூற வேண்டுமோ உனக்கு-என்னுடன்
இன்னும் உனக்கு என்ன பிணக்கு?
தாயறிவாளே சேயை-நீ
அறியாயோ என்னை-அந்த
உரிமையினால் நானும் வந்தேன்-உன்
உறவைக் கொண்டாடியே நின்றேன்.
குருகுலம், 18-06-2013. காலை, 9.15
160. To claim my right by declaring my relationship with you
I came unto to you by running
By telling my relationship with you and claiming my right with you
You alone came seeking after me
You alone sought after me
Therefore claiming that right
With the hope that you will accept me– I came unto to you
The people in this world know
About the honour that I am your child
Is it necessary to tell it to you?
Why then this tussle that you have with me?
A mother knows her child
Don’t you know me?
I came with a right
And approached to celebrate it.
Gurukulam, 18-06-2013. 9.15 am.
What a privilege it is to be ‘related to God’ through some bhava (feelings, see various kinds of bhava in Hindu bhakti tradition as mentioned above) and relationship. Of course in that song about Krishna she tells her unique relationship with Him as His lady love. But for me bhakti with the Lord is ‘standing in personal relationship with Him’ rather than a distant devotion to Him based on gratitude or fear or mere reverence. In our Brahmanical tradition in Tamilnadu, we address our close relatives—particularly parents not with ‘honoric’ words like ‘Neengal’ (Aap in Hindi) but ‘Nee’ (tum in Hindi). But when we refer to them to others we use ‘honoric’ form. But when it comes to God both in addressing Him and also referring to others we will use only singular forms. It is like a friend telling about her/him to another person where s/he will be referred to in singular form (that aspect will be specific to tell them how they are very close). Though in Muktiveda some terms like calling God as Father and our Lord telling that He will no more address us His servants but brothers are there, yet the closeness which we have in bhakti tradition in India is unique.
One additional point to know is that while Hindus will address God in singular form (avan, aval, tum) with non honorific words when it comes to refer to saints and devotees of God only honorific words will be used (avr). Gods can be addressed in singular form but His devotees and saints should be addressed only in plural form.
I still remember a heated debate among the sannyasis in Bageshwar beyond Kosani on the way to Munsiyari (glacier in Uttarakhand) whether we should use ‘tum’ or ‘tu’ to address God. I too was there when the debate was going on. After listening to others’ views, the main swamiji finally said’ ‘tum’ is used in human relationships when we address younger ones but only ‘tu’ for God. This is also true as in several Hindi bhajans God is addressed only with the word ‘tu’ like ‘Tu pyaar ka saagar hai’ (तू प्यार सागर है).
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