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Re: ARTICLE : Just say no to "Hinduism" (was Re: ARTICLE : On
In article <ghenDy7Ety.8KI@netcom.com> you write:
>In whatever way men identify with me, in the same way do I carry out their
>desires; men pursue My path, O Partha, in all ways.
>
> I realize that you will find my understanding of the scriptures
>hopelessly wrong. I just wanted to make it clear why I said Sri Krishna is
>the Ultimate Reality but the Ultimate Reality is not Sri Krishna.
We should clarify one thing:
What you say or even what the Bhagavad Gita says is not the
final authority. The final authority must be the eternal Veda
itself. What does the Veda say?
viSvam nArAyaNam devam aksharam paramam prabhum ...
sa brahma sa Siva: sendra so'kshara: paramasvarAt
[Taittiriya Aranyaka of the Yajur Veda.
Check it out in the Ramakrishna Mutt edition
of the Mahanarayana Upanishad.]
Everything is the highest God Narayana, the resting place of all
creatures, who is the supreme Imperishable described in the
Upanishads, who is the supreme Lord. As their very Self,
Narayana alone is Brahma, Siva, Indra, the Imperishable, the
supreme Independent.
And it should go without saying that throughout Indian tradition and
philosophy, Narayana is identified with the personality known as
Krishna.
One may ask, ``Why is this important? Why quibble over `minor'
details?''
First of all, when the Vedas go to the great effort to
delineate the nature and attributes of the Supreme Self,
and if we are believers in the teachings of the Vedas,
we should not downplay their importance.
But more importantly, from a procedural point of view,
the yogic meditation as prescribed by the ancient and traditional
teachers has to be performed in a particular way to achieve
desired results. The Vedas and the teachings of the
traditional acharyas are our guides here. Unequivocally,
in their authentic commentaries, Sankara, Ramanuja and
others prescribe meditation on Narayana (or, using His other
names such as Vasudeva, Krishna, Hari, etc.) as being
conducive to achieving the highest goal.
One can worship other deities for lesser things if one
wishes; this is of course one's own prerogative. But as Pradeep
himself pointed out, all these prayers are granted in the
end by Krishna Himself, as Krishna alone is the Supreme Self.
I urge others to look at Sankara's or Ramanuja's commentaries
on the Bhagavad Gita, or Sankara's commentary on the
Antaryami Brahmana of the Brhad Aranyaka Upanishad, if they
doubt the veracity of my statements.
namo nArAyaNAya,
Mani
