Recently I happened
to meet an elderly couple and the lady is a pious devotee of Lord Shiva. This
person never misses to worship Pradosham no matter which part of the world she
is. Seeing people like her and few others in my day to day life, reading
Arthamulla Indumadam I wanted to pen a
blog on religious matters. I will present the blog in a Q&A manner and
Mr.Wisdom is a fiction character I will have to respond to my questions. I will
be asking questions from a common Devotee’s point of view.
Sundarbuddy: I have been worshiping pretty regularly
and even observe viradham and involve myself in religious activities but
unfortunately my requests are not answered by God ? Why ?
Mr.Wisdom: The same question is there amongst all young
generation, people feel I have gone to padhayatra, I have observed viradham, I
have offered pooja, I have taken Irumudi, I have taken Kavadi, Paal kudam etc.,
but nothing really works. The key is “Faith” ..no matter what you do but if you
do not have full faith in god then that may not bring you desired results.
Unfortunately today’s generation want everything fast right from food, dress
etc., patience is something they have not experienced. Once you have faith and
patience prayers are answered in fact answered in much better way.
Sundarbuddy: There is a construction going on in a
Temple and really wish I can do for much for the temple but financial constraints
are not allowing me to sponsor much. How am I to cope ?
Mr.Wisdom: I can understand your feeling, see not
everyone can sponsor financially. If your intent is good you can try to do good
in many ways. For example you can volunteer and sponsor time, refer friends and
help temple for volunteering in different areas, you can bring guys on board
who can cut down costs for the Temple by either selling their products or
services; Bottom line there are many different ways you can help the temple.
Almighty knows everything, many people in India are so very economically weak and
lord blesses everyone and people can do to the best of their ability. If your
financial status allows you to sponsor you should sponsor and consider yourself
very blessed to do that.
Sundarbuddy: What is your take on VIP darshan?
Mr.Wisdom: Let us take Lord Athivaradar, he came and
talk of the state was about him. Priest made money, temples made money,
Kancheepuram businesses like hotels, lodges, restaurants, Transports all made
money…but Lord Athivaradar came and went inside silently. Just to segregate
crowds based on time availability for devotees there has to be mechanisms and
one such thing is VIP darshan ….if Superstar comes in normal queue then how to
control crowd ? I am not defending VIP dharshan ….if something disturbs you coming
in VIP darshan then go in normal queue.
Sundarbuddy: Why do we have many temples nowadays?
Mr.Wisdom: In 1990’s Tambaram used to be Chennai outskirts
but now it looks like it is in middle of the city. Such is the state of
expansion and it is practically impossible for people to commute long distances
to visit temples on weekdays; Hence we are seeing more new temples in every
locality.
Sundarbuddy: I feel visiting Pazhani on Thaipusam day,
Sabarimala on Mandalam day but scared about the crowd too …what am I to do?
Mr.Wisdom: There is no right or wrong thing ….You can
choose to go whenever your personal space allows. God expects true bhakthi and
he will always bless you whatever day you go; That being said if your schedule
allows you to go on those particular days then you can very well go and you may
just have to be prepared with huge crowd.
Sundarbuddy: Your take on Pariharam?
Mr.Wisdom: You take a course and then you score poor
marks, your next step will be how to improve my scores. Pariharam is one such
thing to improve things in life and unfortunately it is commercialized and some
people start losing hope on it.
Sundarbuddy: Your take on Astrology and 7.5 years sani?
Mr.Wisdom: Astrology is a beautiful subject and it is
like an ocean. Problem is middleman in the name of astrologers know 50% of the
subject and try to teach us where we get only 30-40%; Overall we don’t get to
understand things fully. 7.5 years Sani is law of nature, one must undergo that
phase no matter who you are. It will teach you what life is all about and once
you come over you will be a much matured human being.
Sundarbuddy: Some temples hold lots of significance
but personally not able to go, what am I to do?
Mr.Wisdom: No matter which temple you go but always
pray with Faith. Let me take Thirukadaiyur for example, this is one temple
which is busy all 365 days in a year; It holds lots of significance and once
you try to understand its significance you will start to appreciate more. Once
again if your personal space allows to visit certain temples on the days you
want consider yourself very blessed else pick any temple of your choice and
pray with full faith.
Sundarbuddy: I see temples are too crowded and once
people occupy spots they don’t move. What am I to do?
Mr.Wisdom: Yes ..this happens, people should be considerate
and allow everyone to worship. Next time you face this situation try to worship
and leave room for the next person and am sure you will have more sense of
satisfaction.
Sundarbuddy: Your take on natural calamity and
environmental damages?
Mr.Wisdom: This is purely due to greedy nature of
human beings. If animals have FB account they would pose a selfie with a post
saying people are occupying our land since now we see other way around. It is
high time young generation take measures to improve mother nature since their
future generation needs a good environment to live.
Sundarbuddy: People settle abroad due to several
factors but some still care about where they were brought up and try to donate
in every possible way; I see some completely neglecting their home country and it
is very disappointing to see these folks? Your take
Mr.Wisdom: Desa bhakthi and Theiva Bhakthi are two
things and it is like asking physics question in a biology question paper. So
sorry this question is out of syallabus
Sundarbuddy: These days we see too much of
competition even for religious organizations and we see so many people
contesting elections, your thoughts?
Mr.Wisdom: This is very interesting trend that is
happening …In a way it is good since people are signing up to volunteer their
time. All this election, Title is like a fantasy …if you really want to service
God title doesn’t matter; Some may say Title gives you more authority to pursue
things which is true but God knows everything and you can render your service
to God unconditionally and he is ready to accept.
Sundarbuddy: Unfortunately in this competitive world
everything is considered as a race and Padhayatra is no different ..your take?
Mr.Wisdom: Well Padhayatra is a wonderful opportunity
to enjoy mother nature and experience the bliss; Very unfortunate if people
consider this as a race …You helping fellow devotees and having a nice conversations
with fellow walkers spreading love can be a very memorable experience. Consider
yourself lucky and blessed if your physical fitness allows you to reach the
destination faster.
Sundarbuddy: I feel it is not fair to inherit bad
karma due to my forefathers ? Your take on this
Mr.Wisdom: This is simple law of nature …You inherit
both good and bad deeds due to you and your forefathers, like how we accept
assets from forefathers we also have to accept their wrong doings.
Sundarbuddy: I was very excited that we as a family
was about to host a Pooja, but then realized my wife had Chums and it was very
disappointing not to host the pooja? How to cope up with this?
Mr.Wisdom: No one can control everything beforehand,
things like these do happen but your intent and Bhakthi is important. Be
assured that later we will know that things happened for a better cause.
Though I have written the blog, I myself do not follow some
of the things mentioned. Worship is all about faith and spreading love to near
and dear ones.
