Religious Posts by Nischel

Types Of Devotees

Dear ILIts,
In MahaBharata "LORD KRISHNA" said to ARJUNA that there are Four(4) kinds of Devotees who devote him. They are
1) AARTHO 2) GIGNASI 3) ARTHARTHI 4) JNANI
Let us one by one what it is ? ( B.Geetha 7th chap,16,17,18 sl)
1) AARTHO means Those who are in difficulties of different types like serious illnes to any member of the Family,disputes,
liferisks,examination success etc.In generl Middle class family
members,business men when they are in any situation which cannot be tackled by them in their favour will generally remember God at the time of distress, pray God to turn the
situation in favour of them. They offer some Kind or Cash to
God as per their wish and might as a gratitude towards God
to the act of favour shown by God. As per Krishna no doubt
such people are also true Devotees because they remember
God at least in their difficult times, and such type of devotees
are categorised as AARTHO. we come across such people
many in number in our society. All most all devotees visiting
Temples like Lord VENKATESWARA of THIRUPATHI,KANAKA
DURGA temple of VIJAYAWADA and many other temples are of
this type only.The huge earnings of these temples are only
due to the offerings of these type of devotees only.There are
many such temples in india which receive offerings in kind
ex "Thulabharam " in Guruvayur Temple in Kerala.The First type of people (AARTHO) are responsible for this income.so we can definitely say that this type of Devotees to God are many in India than other 3 types.Most of their Desires may be fullfilled by the God as They are of short time and reasonable. By this they may think that they can utilise God's
power in favour of them at the time of Distress as Emergency
sarvices like Fireengine or police,Ambulence calling number
108.So we must Thank God for this fecility given to Mankind.
so such people neednot mind God under their Normal situations.This procedure may also prevail in countries other
than india also.
Sd/NISCHEL
continued........

 

Re: Types Of Devotees

PART 2
Dear ILits,
There are other type of Devotees whom LORDKRISHNA
coined as GIGNASIS. Gignasa means Thirsr for knowledge. That means these people are in search for knowledge about GOD.They wish to know the existance of god.For that they read authoritative religious scriptures,attend various Types
of Religious Meetings,functions,participate in debates, and seminars,discussions,festivals,Enquire religious leaders about
the Nature and qualities of God even they are not in distress
They do not expect any thing from god.simply they wish to
know about God.we come across such type of people here
and there in our society.Most of the foreigners are of this type.Nowadays many of them are anxious to know about other religions especially hidu religion where there are different
branches.They come forward to donate for the renovation of temples,purchase religious books etc. for example most of the members of ISKON are foreigners only.in almost all of the
cities of USA and UK etc they allowed indians to construct their
own temples and to conduct Pujas and other cerimonies as usual in their own way.They never interfere.This shows that
they are really GIGNAS.
we shall discuss the other two types in next parts.
with best wishes
Sd/Nischel

 

Re: Types Of Devotees

PART 3
ARTHARTHI : means The Seeker of Wealth one who aspires Wealth from God is coined as Artharthi by Lord KRISHNA. Not only wealth but also power,victory in a battle etc are also come to this category. A Devotee of "Artharthi" type is he who
cherishes in his heart the craving for one or more enjoyments of this world or the next such as the possession of a wife or progeny wealth, honour,eminence, fame and heavenly bliss etc. Devotees like SUGREEVA and VIBHEESANA are recognised as belonging to this class and the name of DHRUVA is cited as the foremost among them
Devotees who worship GOD in any form or shape with
unclinching faith are all noble souls. All these are treated
as true devotees by GOD(KRISHNA)
The seekers of wealth seeks favourable (desirable)
circumastances, the sufferrer seeks todo away with suffering
by praying God.They are different from those selfish persons
who perform actions for their fruit because their wisdom has
been carried away by various desires.
continued...

 

Re: Types Of Devotees

PART 4
JNANI A Devotee of JNANI type is he who has realized GOD. in whose eyes God alone remains as the abiding reality and
there is nothing else than God and whose desires have altoghter ceased as a result of that realization and who there
fore worships God under the natural impulse of his heart.
Sri SUKADEV,SANAKA and his three brotheers,Devarsi Naradha,Bhisma and others are well known figures belonging to this category. PRAHLADA too was recognized under this
category even in his boy hood.
The Devotees who want to know the self and the reality,
depend only on GOD having exclusive devotion for him.UDDHAVA can be named among such devotees.LORD
KRISHNA imparted to him divine knowledgewhich is known as UDDHAVA GEETHA.
continued........
Sd/Nischel

 

Re: Types Of Devotees

PART 5
"UDARAH SARVA........gatim" ( 7th chap, 17 sloka)
"Of all the above mentioned 4 types of Devotees,the best is the Man of wisdom ever established Identy with Me and possessed of exclusive Devotion. for I am extremely dear to the wise man( Who knows in Reality) and he is extremely dear to Me."
A devotee who has fully realized the truth and Mysteries of God,who sees every thing as god and beholds him everywhere and at everytime,may in whose eyes nothing remains apart from God, and where mind and intellect having
realized God as the sole and supreme reality and the beloved of all are altogether freed from all attachments and desires
and are merged wholly in God.
who can measure the depth of love such a devotee
cherishes for the Lord. He who renounced fo the sake of God
all craving for the pleasures and enjoyments of this world and next which are so dear and agreable and extremely rare in the eyes of worldly minded men.others cannot imagine how dearly such a devotee loves the Lord and in what great esteem he holds him.
By calling the JNANI His own self the lord shows that there
is no difference whatsoever between the Man of Wisdom and
himself. Such a devotee is same as God and God is the same as the Devotee. There is absolute Identity between the Two
Sd/Nischel

 

Departure

Dear ILIts,
DEPARTURE :-means LEAVING. we are familiar with these
words of ARRIVAL and DEPARTURE in connection with train timings.we know that Time of coming of a particular Train at a
Station and departure means Time of Leaving the same station by the same Train. These timings are known to us as they are framed by us( human beings) only.But when we apply to our life journey we know the time of Arrival( Birth)but we do not know the time of departure of soul from our body(Death).What is its importance?
As per Geetha (6th sloka 8th chapter)
"Yam Yam VAPI........TADBHAVABHAVITH"
"Arjuna, thinking of whatever entity one leaves the body at the
time of death, that and that alone one attains,being ever absorbed in its thought."
The meaning is "The last thought at the time of death resposible for the nature of one's coming birth."
Now one can easily understand that a man dying with the thought of a celestial,humanbeing, animal or plant or any other living object uppermost in his mind is reborn in a
corresponding species.If he thinks of wealth at the time of death he will born as a snake
As a man rearing a domestic dog thinks of it at the time of death he is born as a dog. The soul with subtle and casual bodies enters the body of the dog with water air or food etc.
Then it enters the body of the bitch and takes birth as a dog
at yhe ripe time.
But how does a man who dies with the thought of a lifeless material objects such as land or home attain the object in the next birth. The Answer is such a person takes birth in a higher
or lower speces according to his nature and character of his actions.just as the owner of a house idetifies himself with the
house so does a bird building a nest in it,or a mouse or ant or
a snake which connect with that property.
Although in the majority of cases only that thought which has been uppermost in our mind throughout life comes to the forefront at the moment of death there are exceptions to this rule.
As in the case of jadaBharatha who died with the thought
of a fawn which he had nurtured only during his last days f his life.That is why our elder advise to bring all the kith & kin of a
dying person nearer to him so that he cannot have any desire
( remained) to see any one of them.
There is a small parable about this. Once a person's
relatives just before his dying,brought some quantity of Jute
before him showed it to him and asked him what is its name,
with an expectation that he will say word as NARA (in telugu ).
But that fellow uttered as PEECHU another name for jute which
means that he had no habit of uttering NARAYANA during his life time. so he could not utter that word NARA. so it is clear
that our habits allow us to speak accordingly.

 

Re: Departure

PART 2
Dear ILIts,
No body knows his Time of death. so it is good on the part of every individual to get Better birth in future to pray God always. That is what was said by LORD KRISHNA with ARJUNA in Geetha as follows
"tasmatsarvesu.....nasamsaym(8chp,7thsloka B.Geetha)
The meaning is" Therefore think of me at alltimes and fight.
Mind and intellect thus surrendered to me.You will surely come to me."
The intention is to emphasize that the human body is transient.The end may come at any monnt.if constant rememberence of God does not become habitual with us and
life departs from the body even while we are engaged in the thought of enjoyments of the world.Human life will be wasted.
Therefore rememberence of God should be constantly
practised.
Rememberences is of 3 kinds.
Born of Knowledge:- rememberence obtained by the
knowledge of God never ends.So one must have thorough
understanding of what God is.
Born of affinity:-affinity means contact.Here contct means we
must always move nearer to the God like praying looking to
the Idol or picture etc.
Born of action or practiseerforming actions while remembering God. Ex Bhakta TUKARAM.
performing actions Thinking them as God's.
Ex Bhakta PRAHLADA
So finally we can conclude that Human Beings shoud utilise
properly this very birth of(Human) to get liberation by the
rememberence of God by all means always intheir lifetime.
Because scriptures says as " DURLABAM MANUSHA JANMA"
meaning is it is very difficult to get Human life. This is the only kind of Birth by which one can get Liberation.
HARI OHM
Sd/Nischel

 

Re: Departure

Madam,
I have seen your post just now. you are Right in your saying. only due to this reason in many Hindu Families parents
put their children's names as the names of Gods or Godesses.
Even such names are not put for some or other reason they may be called By any God or Godesses name by putting such name as Nick name.
You might have heard the name of "AJAMILA".He put his Son's name as NARAYANA. He did so many sinful deeds during
his full life time.But at the the time of Death out of affection only He called his son by his name " Narayana".for this simple
reason only Vishnu Dhootas came to take his life .As he is a
great sinner YAMA DHOOTAS came to carry his soul.and
astonished to see Vishnu Dootas there. Both of them argued
with each other there about the deeds of Ajamela.But at last
VishnuDHootas convinced YamaDhootas and carried the soul
to VAIKUNTAM. This story you can see in KARTEEKAPURANA
9,10 chapters.
Sd/NISCHEL