Bhakthi is indeed well rooted in faith. By and large, we see that when meeting a friend and asking, "Why did you not come to the discourse?" or "Why did you go to the temple?" or "Why are you not performing namakeerthanam?", we get this answer - "I am not able to!, If I could have, will I not do it". Look, "they are performing ramayanam and bhagavatham discourse there, can you not attend?"
They would say "Yes. I have the desire to come, but sitting there for a long time causes pain in my hip", like this some would normally say.
But, on the other hand, if there was a marriage or a party function, they still would go to that immediately and will not complain of hip pain then. In whatever activity one's desire is prominent, one will not bring forth difficulties forward. One may also fear that this event may be cancelled or would be told not to go there. There is this desire to be part of it and if asked about the hip pain and being able to sit at the party event, the answer would come quickly that all this hip pain is now gone and he or she is fit to go. One would then say, "I can go, please do not keep saying, I can't and spoil me like this" and they will get dressed to start immediately".
But, when listening to a discourse or performing namakeerthanam one would say - "Sir! How long should I do this:-)", keep looking at the watch... "How many minutes have passed, 5 minutes, 10 minutes... If we keep chanting for a long time, I fear my throat will pain:-). Should I not take some butter for my throat."
But when gossiping, fighting, shouting with rage, there is no fear of throat pain then. But only when chanting the nama, the fear of throat pain comes for him and thinks that if he chanted for a longer time, the body will become hot :-) - All this is nature! What it really means is that there is not too much of an interest it.
Because of the lack of the interest in nama, one comes to realise how much bhagavan is also having an interest in giving his kripa. The reason of bhagavan not having this interest is because one has not got nor desired the association of the azhwars who have had such a great devotion towards the bhagavan.
Bhakthi is described like this.
In the Prahlada Charithram, Hiranyakashipu takes the child Prahlada and throws him in the fire, but Prahlada comes out of the fire. Then Prahlada is put in the mouth of a lion, but Prahlada comes out unscathed. A mad elephant is brought in front of Prahlada, instead of hurting Prahlada, the elephant garlands him! Prahlada is pushed from a mountain, but he comes out alive without getting hurt. Thrown into the sea, given poison, whatever, our Prahlada comes our unscathed.
What is the tathwam behind this?
Let's take an example. One would usually say,
"If my office was comfortable, I would perform bhakthi.
If my wife was adjusting, I would perform bhakthi.
If my children were comfortable and adjusting, I would perform bhakthi."
But the Prahlada tathwam is - "If one performed bhakthi with a true heart, all of the above will become anukoolam towards him. When poison, the fury of the sea, the lion, the snake themselves became anukoolam, will not the ordinary human become anukoolam towards him".
With such a "drida vishwAsam" / faith, if one performed bhakthi and if one keeps the bhagavan and places him in his heart, if bhakthi is true, bhagavan will make everything anukoolam for him.
"kimalabyam bhagavathi prasannE srinikEtanE" - as is said in the Srimad Bhagavatham.
If one begets the bhagavan's kripa, chanted namakeerthanam and made bhagavan happy, then everything will become anukoolam. If he touched a business, it will grow. If he laid a foundation stone, the house will be built and whomsoever house he enters in it, will get soukyam. If the same bhagavan becomes "vimukhan", then it will be the opposite. One laid a foundation for a house, but the house could not be built - all things become vimukham and does not happen.
So to make bhagavan happy, the only way and the easier way is to chant his name.
Some go to the temple thinking of a lot of things in their mind, their difficulties. "Will my child who has written the exams, pass?" So when they go in front of the perumal and desire that their child has to pass and if a flower falls from the perumal, they feel that perumal has spoken to them. There has been a good omen now. Likewise, when we prayed for our difficulties, we hear a bell, a good omen. If the priest offers us a prasadam and blesses us that whatever you prayed for will be granted, that is a good omen too. When performing a pradakshinam of the temple, there is a small newspaper cutting on the floor. Someone who has bought some camphor has dropped the paper on the floor. In that there is a mention of this note "vetri nischayam".
Like this, depending on one's shakthi of his bhakthi, the bhagavan indeed speaks. If one were to perform more bhakthi, the bhagavan will come and speak in his or her dream and tell him to do this and do that. If one were to continue to perform more bhakthi, the bhagavan will come when one is in meditation, why he may even come in front of him or her, even.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsar will tell this often. He will tell as to how we can see the bhagavan and just like how a devotee sees Paramahamsar, one will be able to see the bhagavan as well. Some will imagine the bhagavan to be a vision, just a mental darshan. It is not so as one would be able to touch bhagavan. Sri Andal got married to the bhagavan in person, wasn't it real. It was not an imagination. There was "thirumagalyadharanam", "ammi midhithal", "aundhathi" seen, "theevalam" was done - it was a "pratakshya" marriage that had happened. Will happen. In order for one to have the presence of the bhagavan and for that to happen, one should increase his bhakthi to a very great level. If our bhakthi is 1%, the kripa of the bhagavan is also 1%. As the bhakthi grows to 2%, 3%, 10% etc, the perumal, depending on our bhakthi will match his kripa towards us.
Therefore, azhwar says
"meyyarkkE meyyanAgum vidhiyilA ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum"
OK, why can't the perumal in the temple talk to every visitor to the temple. Why is the perumal bent only on speaking with azhwar? The reason is that it is only azhwar, amongst all the devotees and the visitors to the temple who always thinks of him and be with full faith that perumal will speak to him and therefore the perumal talks to azhwar. Whereas the ordinary person thinks, how will the perumal speak to him, likewise the perumal also will not speak to him. If you think the perumal will walk, he will indeed walk.
Why because,
Sri Ramanujar goes to Melakottai. When he is performing meditation there in Melakottai, Sri Ramanujar looks around and looks around for the "Ramapriyan" in this place and where is he to be found. Where has Ramapriyan gone? Just like how King Dasarathan suffered from the pang of separation from Sri Rama, like that enperumAnAr Ramanujar, when staying in Melakottai suffered from the pang of separation from Ramapriyan. Where has Ramapriyan gone, where is he? Immediately, in his meditation itself, perumal appears to enperumAnar Ramanujar and says that in Delhi, at the palace of a certain king, I am staying. Then enperumAnar Ramanujar travels to Delhi to the palace of that king and sees him. He finds that the daughter of this king has developed a great affection for Ramapriyan. Just like how Andal, Meera performed bhakthi with love to towards perumal, likewise the daughter of this king developed the kathal bhakthi and as a result, bhagavan came before her and was playing with her. When the king enquired of Ramanujar as to the reason for coming as far as Delhi, Ramanujar says that he was missing Ramapriyan in Melakottai.
"meyyarkkE meyyanAgum", "vidhiyilA ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" - azhwAr tells about himself as very low here, he describes himself ("vidhiyilA ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum"). But this interpretation is not acceptable to periyavAchAn pillai. How we can we accept azhwAr as low in our goshti since he described himself thus.
PeriyavAchAn pillai considers splitting it like this,
"meyyarkkE meyyanAgum vidhiyilA"
and the other
"ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" - when we tell about ourselves as low we can tell like this but we should not mix azhwAr and compare with us.
Therefore, azhwar tells about us in this "ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" but still he adds himself to the list.
Let us leave azhwAr from this and focus only on us.
Our Bhakthi will come and go and will not stay constant.
One day suddenly we will feel great bhakthi within us and the next day, we will find that the bhakthi has dropped down a bit.
Another day, we will think that maybe God is not there. Yet another day, we may even speak alongside the non-believer.
So, we cannot believe our bhakthi! We will not be sure if this bhakthi will stay constant.
Whereas, the bhakthi of the mahAns is "DridamAna bhakthi" - Strong, unflinching faith.
Satsangh is Satsangh. There are 100 people performing namakeerthanam, 1000 people are listening to a discourse, 1000 people are witnessing a porappAdu in the temple and getting the blessings, 1000 people are performing bhajans, there is a thiruvizhA. Satsangh is Satsangh.
But, we can tell that this is indeed a Satsangh and this is not a Satsangh as well. Because these 1000 people are those who, even at the stroke of a small difficulty that come their way, may get hurt and tell that God is not helping them. "I performed such a seva to the perumal but perumal deserted me". Need not be a big problem, even for a headache there are some who may say this. We cannot say these are not bhakthars, they are indeed bhakthas, however, they have not reached a greater state of bhakthi yet. This bhakthi is often a shaky one. Such a shaky foundation will not grow fully.
If a seed is planted, then if one takes the seed out and checks if it has grown, replants it and then checks again after after 4-5 days, again replants it. Then the seed will never grow.
Likewise, the bhakthi, when it is shaken, oscillating between faith and non-faith time and again as the seed is replanted, bhakthi will never grow.
We are all bhakthars, but the moment a difficulty arises, our bhakthi will disappear. If we get a distress, gone is our bhakthi.
Therefore, when it will become a satsangham?
Only when these 1000 bhakthars who have the alpa or mandha viswAsam, weak faith come under the protection of one who possesses a mahA viswAsam. Why because,, only when under the protection of a mahan who has the mahA viswAsam, will the mahan control the shaky faith and make it stand firm and strong.
In the Ramayana, there is Sugreeva. Sugreeva is doubting Sri Rama and asks how he can demonstrate that Sri Rama has the power to destroy Vaali and asks him to lift the bones of the Rakshasa dhundhubi, hit 7 trees with an arrow. Such an alpa or mandha viswAsam was with Sugreeva, but he obtained satsangham because he was with Hanumar, who had mahaviswAsam. If there are 1000 with alpa or mandha viswAsam but under the protection and being with a mahan who is with mahaviswAsam, then they will beget satsangham.
Therefore
"poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" - "putkodi udaiya kOmAn" - So what is bhakthi? Believing in the bhagavan completely, that is raga bhakthi, prema bhakthi and the most greatest bhakthi. Bhagavan is there and very much in presence. Even if there is a swami in our home and we perform pooja, like we have the family members, parents and children in our home and all are living characters in our home and there is bhagavan also living with us and with such a faith, we should perform bhakthi. Bhagavan is not someone who is kept in a shelf and locked. Bhagavan is living with us and is a part of our family.
Such a bhAvam we should possess and this is indeed the greatest form of bhakthi.
"meyyarkkE meyyanAgum", "vidhiyilA ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" - azhwAr tells about himself as very low here, he describes himself ("vidhiyilA ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum"). But this interpretation is not acceptable to periyavAchAn pillai. How we can we accept azhwAr as low in our goshti since he described himself thus.
PeriyavAchAn pillai considers splitting it like this,
"meyyarkkE meyyanAgum vidhiyilA"
and the other
"ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" - when we tell about ourselves as low we can tell like this but we should not mix azhwAr and compare with us.
Therefore, azhwar tells about us in this "ennaip pOla poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" but still he adds himself to the list.
Let us leave azhwAr from this and focus only on us.
Our Bhakthi will come and go and will not stay constant.
One day suddenly we will feel great bhakthi within us and the next day, we will find that the bhakthi has dropped down a bit.
Another day, we will think that maybe God is not there. Yet another day, we may even speak alongside the non-believer.
So, we cannot believe our bhakthi! We will not be sure if this bhakthi will stay constant.
Whereas, the bhakthi of the mahAns is "DridamAna bhakthi" - Strong, unflinching faith.
Satsangh is Satsangh. There are 100 people performing namakeerthanam, 1000 people are listening to a discourse, 1000 people are witnessing a porappAdu in the temple and getting the blessings, 1000 people are performing bhajans, there is a thiruvizhA. Satsangh is Satsangh.
But, we can tell that this is indeed a Satsangh and this is not a Satsangh as well. Because these 1000 people are those who, even at the stroke of a small difficulty that come their way, may get hurt and tell that God is not helping them. "I performed such a seva to the perumal but perumal deserted me". Need not be a big problem, even for a headache there are some who may say this. We cannot say these are not bhakthars, they are indeed bhakthas, however, they have not reached a greater state of bhakthi yet. This bhakthi is often a shaky one. Such a shaky foundation will not grow fully.
If a seed is planted, then if one takes the seed out and checks if it has grown, replants it and then checks again after after 4-5 days, again replants it. Then the seed will never grow.
Likewise, the bhakthi, when it is shaken, oscillating between faith and non-faith time and again as the seed is replanted, bhakthi will never grow.
We are all bhakthars, but the moment a difficulty arises, our bhakthi will disappear. If we get a distress, gone is our bhakthi.
Therefore, when it will become a satsangham?
Only when these 1000 bhakthars who have the alpa or mandha viswAsam, weak faith come under the protection of one who possesses a mahA viswAsam. Why because,, only when under the protection of a mahan who has the mahA viswAsam, will the mahan control the shaky faith and make it stand firm and strong.
In the Ramayana, there is Sugreeva. Sugreeva is doubting Sri Rama and asks how he can demonstrate that Sri Rama has the power to destroy Vaali and asks him to lift the bones of the Rakshasa dhundhubi, hit 7 trees with an arrow. Such an alpa or mandha viswAsam was with Sugreeva, but he obtained satsangham because he was with Hanumar, who had mahaviswAsam. If there are 1000 with alpa or mandha viswAsam but under the protection and being with a mahan who is with mahaviswAsam, then they will beget satsangham.
Therefore
"poyyarkkE poyyanAgum" - "putkodi udaiya kOmAn" - So what is bhakthi? Believing in the bhagavan completely, that is raga bhakthi, prema bhakthi and the most greatest bhakthi. Bhagavan is there and very much in presence. Even if there is a swami in our home and we perform pooja, like we have the family members, parents and children in our home and all are living characters in our home and there is bhagavan also living with us and with such a faith, we should perform bhakthi. Bhagavan is not someone who is kept in a shelf and locked. Bhagavan is living with us and is a part of our family.
Such a bhAvam we should possess and this is indeed the greatest form of bhakthi.
