Different schools of thoughts.

Prathosham is the day to worship Lord Shiva, in the evening, starting from one and a half an hour before sunset. All sins are washed during this period, if we drench The Shiva Lingam with water. Also, numerous benefits have been enumerated by the saints, for worshipping Lord Shiva during this time.

I used to visit Shiva Temples in the beginning, I stopped doing so, as they were heavily crowded. I preferred to worship Lord Shiva in my Room, by listening to Ilayaraja's Thiruvasagam and watching His pictures by playing a slide of Him on my computer screen. I did miss, not being able to see Lord Shiva being drenched in various types of liquids, fruits and powders. I kept it in my mind that, in the natural flow of my life, if I can get a Shivalingam, I will worship it in my home by drenching it.

As if to answer my prayers, six to seven months ago, one tribal person stood outside the hotel where I was having my Break Fast. It was a Saturday morning, and I was having my Break Fast, after Fasting for Ekadasi the previous day.  That day was Prathosham too. And Prathosham, coming on a Saturday is considered special.
When I came out of the hotel, I saw this person curiously looking at me. As I had just completed Ekadasi Fast, I did not want to disappoint this person and decided to buy some Thulasi Beads from Him. As we were talking buisiness, He tried to sell a few things to me, which I did not need. Then from within His court pocket, He took a small Rudhraksha Lingam with one face. It had a tiny Lingam on it, A snake with Three Heads and the Letter Om inscribed on it.

It was truly a miracle, as it was not man-made. The tribal-man wanted Rs.3000 for it. But I did not have so much. According to me, it had no value. I would give Him even Rs. 10,000 for it. But the thing was I was only having Rs.500 at hand and I could only afford Rs.300 for it.  When I explained about this to the tribal man, He accepted the Rs.300 and handed over the Rudraksha Lingam to me. I realised Lord Shiva Himself became such a Rudraksha Seed and found me to fulfill my wish of drenching Him.

I worshipped Him happily by drenching Him during Prathosham days and Shivarathiri Days until Last Maha Shivarathiri. Powder would emanate from Him, and I applied it on my forehead as ThiruNeeru. (The Holy ash, Shaivites apply on their fore-head.)

Last Maha ShivaRathiri, I worshipped Him from about 12.00 am to 1.30 am (Midnight) by drenching Him with Tender Coconut Water and then decorated Him Reddish Oleander flowers. I then went to Kabaleeshwarar Temple, Mylapore.


The next day, When I took The Rudraksham  in my hands to clean , I saw ants where coming from within it. When I tried to wash it, it broke into pieces. I was both shocked and heart-broken. It was like having a baby and loosing it. It was a very sad occasion. Anyway I realised, it was part of the plan. The Lord, wanted to be with me only until Last Maha ShivaRathiri. He came to me on a Prathosham Day, Helped me cleanse my sins and get some good things from Him by worshipping Him and Then Left me on a MahaShivaRathiri Day.

After that I again returned to worshipping Lord Shiva, by listening to Ilayaraja's Thiruvasagam and slide-show of His pictures on my system. Last Saturday was Prathosham. (Day before yesterday.)

I wrote a poem in Tamil about how MahaVishnu, worshipped Lord Shiva and got His famous Discuss, The Sudharshana from Lord Shiva and posted it on my Tamil blog. One friend objected to it saying that Maha Vishnu is the Supreme Lord and that He need not worship anybody to get anything from anyone.

I answered Him and it became a long answer.

I am giving it below:

Dear Friend, I have not written anything from my Imagination. This story is available in the Puranas. And it is in circulation amidst Hindus. I am open to discussion. Maha Vishnu is Parabrahmam with Sathvik qualities and is The Protector. Lord Shiva is Parabrahmam with Tamasic qualities and the Destroyer.

Now when MahaVishnu wants a weapon with destructive quality, It is natural for Him to ask the Lord of Destructive Nature to provide Him with a weapon with destructive qualities.

Lord Shiva ever chants Vishnu Sahasranam as He wants to incorporate Sathvik qualities from Maha Vishnu. He also chants His favourite Rama Nama as Rama is the Protector of Goodness and Destroyer of Evil. If not for Rama Nama, Lord Shiva will destroy Good things too. Knowing this, and wanting to avoid such mistakes, Lord Shiva ever chants Lord Rama's name, who never makes any mistakes.

They are only balancing each other by giving and taking, their innate qualities.

While the First Truth is very bitter for the Vaishnavas. The Later Truth is very bitter for the Shaivites. Anyway, truth cannot be changed. It is only The Human minds that have to be changed.

Maha Vishnu does not become inferior to anyone because He worshipped some one. In fact, Numerous Times, He has worshipped The Feet of His Devotees.

a. Did Krishna Not Worship Sudama's Feet?
b.Didn't Krishna Worship the Feet of a thousand Brahmins, when He attended Yudhistra's Yagna.
c. Didn't Lord Rama worship Lord Shiva before building the Bridge to Lanka?
d.Isn't it said in Vaishnavism, That The Lord invites His Devotees into Vaikuntham by worshipping their Feet?

In spite of Shri Krishna, mentioning in The Gita, That He is Shiva among all Rudras. Vaishnavites prefer to ignore Lord Shiva or talk ill of Lord Shiva. By which they are , ignoring and insulting the words of The Very Lord They claim to worship.

While I, who strictly practice Bhagavath Gita,

a. Keep awake Every Shivarathiri. Worship Lord Shiva Every Prathosham. As Krishna said in The Gita, That He is Shiva among Rudras.
b. I fast for all Shashti's and also chant Kantha Shashti Kavasam. As Krishna said in the Gita, That Among all War Lords, He is Skantha.
c. I do Thoppukaranam for Pillayar as Maha Vishnu was the First one to do Thoppukaranam for Pillayar. He did that to get the Sudharshanam from Pillayar which Pillayar, as a child had swallowed. I fast for Chathurthi too. As Krishna has said in the Gita, that He is Pranavam, Om. And Ganesha is the form of OM.

I do all these as a part of practise of The Gita.

Maha Vishnu is not about sitting above everyone's Head and being the Master of all. Maha Vishnu is about Keeping Everyone in His heart and Earning a place for Himself in everyone's Heart.

If you go to Maha Vishnu, go to Him because He has the largest Heart. Not because He has the most Supreme Power. He really does not like it.

That was the first part of my answer. There was gain some objection and I explained myself further.

Being focused is a good thing. But there is nothing wrong in theoretically understanding other school of thoughts. Like you say, What we know is Palm-Size and What we do not, is World-Size!

You said, you disagree with certain things. But you haven't mentioned what they are. And you haven't given any reasons to say why you disagree. This approach does not help in developing knowledge.

வேதவாணர் கீதவேள்வி நீதியான கேள்வியார்
நீதியால் வணங்குகின்ற நீர்மை நின்கண் நின்றதே!
-சக்கரத்தாழ்வார்

Experts in the Vedas
Grow the Flames of Knowledge
By pouring questions unto it!
They ask justifiable questions
and bow down
As they realise it is Justice!
This quality
of allowing other's
to judge You!
Is found
only in YOU!
-Chakarathaazhwar

You want to develop your understanding about Shri Manh Narayana, you must be open to discussion. Ask the right questions, understand and then worship Him. You can love Him better. You can serve Him better.

Thoughts and Counter-Thoughts are part and parcel of sharpening the Intellect and Ripening The Wisdom.

I too support Shri Ramanuja Achaarya's Vishishtathvaitham. Not because I think Athvaitham and Dwaitham are wrong. But only because, I see, Athvaitham cannot be practiced and approached only at the theoritical Level. And Dwaitham, though can be practiced to a great extent, is too difficult to Practice.

Vishishtathvaitham on the other hand is simple and very sophisticated and helps the devotee in understanding the Lord much Better.

In Gita all schools of thoughts are there.

Advaitham:

a. When Krishna says, "I have become everything. In me exists, everything and everything exists in me. " He is talking Advaitham. You can see that He is saying, That He is the only One here. And there is Nothing, Other than Him. So in this concept. There is only One. That's Advaitham.

b.When Krishna says to Arjuna, "You have to See Me in Everything. In a Brahmin and a Sudra. In a dog-eater and a dog. etc., He is talking Dwaitham" That is, He is asking The Devotee to assume That He is One and All That surrounds Him as God. Now There are Two. One is the Devotee. Second, Everything Other than Him, which is God. This is Dwaitham.

c. When Krishna says, "I am the Sun in the day and Moon at Night. I am Lion among animals and Garuda among Birds. I am The King among Men and Shark among Fishes" He is talking Vishishtathwaitham. He is showing Arjuna That there are many things all around and all have different and unique natures. So Now there are many. This is Vishishtathwaitham.

a. I do not go by Adwaitham because, according to it, I am also God. If I think of me as God, My Ego will never dwindle and it will only cause more and more trouble.

b. I do not go by Dwaitham because, according to it, I have to see everyone other than me as God. Though I love to do that. When I meet, people who do not have Good Character in the least, I cannot see them as God. Also, If I give them the respect I give to God, Their Ego will be boosted and They will commit more and more mistakes.

c. I go by Vishishtathwaitham. As I can Identify, every single thing as an individual entity. If I see Good qualities in it/that person, I can bow down to it/Him and give as much respect I give to God. If I see Lack of Good qualities, I can treat that thing/person with sternness.

This is well demonstrated by My Lord Shri Rama.

a. He worshiped all the Good Senior People in His life like God. (Dwaitham)
b. He embraced all His contemporaries and Juniors and said to them, 'we are all one' (Adwaitham)
b. When it comes to bad guys, You can see He behaved differently with different individuals. (Vishishtathwaitham).

i.He attacked Tataka after some Hesitation. Because She was female.
ii.He killed Subhahu at first sight. Because, if not the Yagna will be destroyed.
iii. He immersed Maricha in the ocean. Because in an army, one man must be spared.
iv.He with drew His attack on Jayathrathan and Varuna. As they regretted.
v. He made Ravana fall on the Ground and gave Him one day to repent. Because He knew, How much Penance Ravana must have done to attain such Power and construct such a wealthy Kingdom.
(The beauitiful thing about Lord Rama in The Lanka War, was that He tried His best to protect Ravana's Kingdom while Ravana was bent upon walking the path of destruction.)
vi.He killed Vaali from behind a Tree. Because it was Kshatriya Dharma while Hunting down animals.

This is why Vishishtathwaitham becomes important and superior to other schools of thoughts. Not because the other two thoughts are wrong. But because Vishtathwaitham is very much practical and Handy.

I do not know Sanskrit. All that I know, is from hearing the lectures of Acharyas and Reading their books in English and Tamil.

You said that you like my poetry. Thanks! It is all by the grace of Lord Hayagriva, Goddess Saraswathi and Lord Muruga and Recently Sakkarathaazhwar. (My Fav Poet)

a.Lord Hayagriva Gives Vocabulary, Meaning and Message.
b.Mother Saraswathi gives me the flow and supply of words.
c.Lord Muruga Gives me The Rhyme, Rhythm and Sharpness in my poetry.
d.Same with Chakarathaazhwar. But Chakarathaazhwar's poems, I have been reading only for the past six months or so. While the other three Lords have been with me since 2004. Anyway it is true that after reading Chakarathaazhwar's peoms there has been a new upsurge of energy and enthusiasm in me.

Also, If you feel my similes are good, credit goes to Kaalidasar's Raghuvamsa. And Rajendra Tandon who celebrated it so much in His English Translation of Raghuvamsam.

Then of course, The Great Valmiki and The Sweet Kamban too.

(There are lot more poets I have to credit, Here. But that's a list too long, I am feeling too weak to give)