Pushtimarg on Faith - Anandbava

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I I Shr i Gokulendur Jaya t i I I

I I Shr i Chhabi la j i Vi jaya te I I

Pushtimarg on faith Freeing oneself from the quagmire of

Superstition

G o s w a m i A n a n d b a v a

n eclipse (Grahan) is a unique

spectacle, a celestial marvel;

something quite beyond the human

capacity to duplicate artificially. We can

give lectures explaining it, submit papers

examining it , but we cant create it .

But for all its astronomical, astrological and

religious significance have you e ver heard

of anyone trying to setup automatic lifelong

reminders for it?

A


I dont think so. Why even bother in the

first place?

But then, I have had my eureka moment

having managed to stumble on to a method

to do exactly that; not that i t gives me any

feeling of achievement, though.

I will not be dwelling into the intricacies of

an eclipse , but revealing the unfortunate

and rather humorous aspect of our belief

system, which emerges when we overwhelm

our faith with our fears and desires.

So here is how things have come to such an

unintended pass.

In meeting with vaishnavs , advertently the

topic veers to the ups and downs that they

are presently facing in life. There is nothing

wrong in discussing that with your Guru.

On the contrary, he should be the authority

in your life who is able to impart to you

appropriate advice without a need to being

diplomatic or tactful .

The problem arises when the seeker has

already decided the type of answer he

would like to receive.

For every problem then, the Guru is

expected to come up with solutions that are

instantaneous, easy and ones that dont

involve any long term commitment.

The restaurant of misguided

religiosity should have on its menu

varieties of yantra-mantra-tantra

ready to be served. The more exotic

you serve the better.

The all time favorite being something that

one can just wear and start getting results;

an amulet or taviz or a charm collectively

called a bhojpatra by some in Pushtimarg.


This never ending search for such

illusory remedies would immediately

end if one would but wade beyond the

shallow waters of materialistic

mysticism and dive deep into the

blissful ocean of pure spirituality

known as Pushtimarg.

For Mahaprabhuji Shri Vallabhacharya, the

founder of Pushtimarg, seeking such a

delusory solution goes against the

fundamental principle of what He wishes to

inculcate in vaishnavs by the means of Seva

and Satsang.

He doesnt want us to base our life on

a makeshift foundation of weak

assurances.

Any practice which undermines the

meaningfulness of the kanthi we wear

around our necks, the tilak we apply on our

foreheads, the Ashtakshar Maha-mantra we

chant or the seva that Shri Thakurji accepts

from us, is a chink in the armor of a

vaishnav which will make him forever weak

and vulnerable to such never ending and

misleading suggestions.

That is what is referred to as

anyashraya in Pushtimarg.

The ever compassionate Acharya repeatedly

advises us

:-- - (.. | 9)

In hopelessness , only Shri Shrinathji is the

refuge by which everything occurs. (Vivek

Dhairya Ashraya | 9)

Out of our ignorance of the infinite strength

and compassion of Gopijan Vallabh Shri


Shrij ibava arise the doubts which are the

root cause of the gut wrenching anxiety that

paralyzes us at will .

Shri Mahaprabhuji doesnt want us

sitting around stressed and depressed

at every real & imagined difficulty

that life throws at us, but instead

guides us to immerse ourselves in the

unlimited reservoir of strength and

divine bliss that lies at the feet of

Shri Govardhandharan.

Revealing these as his source of infinite

strength, Ashta-Sakha Surdasji sings the

glory of the refuge at the feet of Shri

Mahaprabhuji in the kirtan,

. . . - . . .

. . .

. . . . . . ( , )

Strengthen your faith in these feet.. .In this

kalyug there are no other means by which

we can liberate ourselves. ..Without the glow

of the moon-nails of Shri Vallabh the whole

world would be steeped in darkness. . .What

more can Surdas say for he is twofold blind

(physically & spiritually) and a worthless

servant... Strengthen your faith in these feet

(Surdasji, Ashraya pad)

But, aah, sometimes. . .for all the goodness

that you may want to shower on a seeker,

he just isnt willing to accept it . He wont

take no for an answer and on the contrary

expects you to wave your hands in the air

and miraculously come up with some

thingamabob that will solve all his past,

present and future problems in a j iffy.


You could go on and on about the futility of

misplaced belief and the permanence of

faith but all that would be just some more

water off a ducks back.

Things then come to a head because all that

denying has made the object o f desire all

the more precious. He declares that he is

ready to compensate me for the parishram

that I will have to undergo in creating it!

The lure of money got him into trouble

in the first place and now he thinks he

can just spend some more to get

himself out of it.

A person once even went to

the extent of quietly

slipping in an empty amulet

in my side bag. The kind

soul called afterwards to say

that he understood that I

couldnt openly accept such a thing in front

of other un -enlightened beings.

So there I was, smuggling divine

contraband, something that I wouldnt

want to be caught dead in. What if the

gates of Gaulok opened at that very

moment and I was security checked..! I

would be stuck here forever.

I have since given up reacting with anger

to such situations. Instead I came up with

an explanation that I initially thought

would be win-win. It would appeal to the

misguided psyche of those who just dont

wish to see reason and at the same time free

me from the annoying task of saying no all

the time.

So when someone was particularly

insistent, I would suddenly drop my voice

to a whisper and say, Look, such things

must be prepared on request and that too


should be done only during the surya

grahan (Solar eclipse). Anything I give you

now wont be the real thing.

Now, nobody wants to be saddled with a

dud that doesnt deliver , so that would

invariably settle the subject there and then.

My reasoning at that time was that since

solar eclipses occur so infrequently the

issue would be long buried when one

finally came along.

Or so I thought.

Shakespeare writes, be stirring as the time, be

f ire with f ire . . .but the great man forgot to

add that fighting fire with fire just adds to

the blaze.

Since then, Bhagvad Leela se this year we

have had two surya grahans one after the

other and I am already being made to pay

for my burst of ingenuity; for, as the day

approaches - phone calls and messengers

start descending on the haveli from those

that I thought must have long forgotten. All

reminding me that I had better be fulfilling

my duties this t ime!

I stopped giving the excuse long back, but

the deed has been done. All that I have

managed to do is unwillingly outsource the

task of reminding myself of the eclipse to a

huge group of very persistent people.

So the reminders continue.. .

The Shrinathji Tippani on my desk tells me

that the next Chandra Grahan is on the 31 s t

of this year and the next Surya Grahan is on

the 15 t h of next month.. .no, dont even think

about it .


Surdasji s ashraya kirtan mentioned in the

article should be sung after every satsang, Shri

Thakurji s shayan or at least once before going

to bed - by everybody in every Pushtimargiya

Vaishnav household . It has been a source of

infinite strength to generations of vaishnavs. I

have included an mp3 fi le containing the ki rtan

as a tutorial . (Full credits to the original

singers.) Click here to download

You can read this article online with any

updates right here

I will be in Braj - Kamvan, Jatipura, Gokul

from the 23 r d of this month to the 3 r d of Jan

2010. Wish you all with a vinanti in the

Charan-kamal of Shri Vallabh to f i l l the coming

year with the divine l ight of Seva and Satsang.

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Pushtimarg on Faith - Anandbava