> > And Sivaram's and SPS's mail about vivekananda - Vivekananda took > > sanyasa, when his father had died, family was in debts, starving > for > > one meal a day etc.
Dear Satish / members
It is true that when swami vivekananda took sanyaasa, his family was not in good shape. He and few of the core disciples of SriRamakrishna took sanyaas only after the death of their master.
Vivekananda's family continued to suffer. Swamiji spent some time much later with his mother - but other than that there was nothing he could do for his own family. When ramakrishna repeatedly asked to pray to mother kali for money, all young naren could wish for was knowledge and thirst for ultimate - not money !
Same is the case with Adhi Shankara. He just came for the last moments of his mother and did her final rites
Sri Raghavendra had to desert his wife who committed suicide. Later on he blessed her soul and that is what is today celebrated as "Sumangali prarthanai" after marriages. On that day alone, ladies eat first :-) and men eat later.
Sri Ramanuja also had to desert his wife.
This needs to be viewed with a different perspective of mind.
This is something i have never understood probably because i am a normal person when compared to these great souls. If a person wants to search for the ultimate for the rest of his life then he is definitely entitled to do so and that probably what makes them great. But why do you have to get married, bear children and the leave them to the mercy of this world. The girl was married to this person as the girl's parents believed that he would take good care of her. By becoming a sanyas or a rebel you are actually making a whole bunch of people suffer (wife,kids,inlaws,etc,etc) and then you are searching for god. God is in your duties..if you have not performed your duties then how do you expect god to accept you? Please note im not questioning the greatness of these souls or thier teachings im just asking why do they make a whole bunch of people suffer when they go after whatever they seek? Why dont they remain unmarried..earn a small sum of money which would take care of thier parents for the erst of thier remaining lives and then go and seek god. God would definitely accept them with open arms.
sorry got trigger happy before completing the sentence.... :)
Sorry, I dont mean to offend... its just that some statements here are unfounded... the moment you are able to see the statements are just lame excuses of souls like us caught in the grind of the daily life, you will at least understand why these men felt justified in 'fleeing' thier homes....
I can literally see Buddha saying to himself, watching his wife and kid sleep, just before he left...
I dont my questions are unfounded. Its pretty simple why do you have to make a bunch of folks suffer in order to search for the ultimate. God is defintely in our duties..if u dont feed you take care of your parents then there is not greater sin atleast that is what i have learnt. I think the truth is that the teachings of these great souls are so invaluable to us that we tend to overlook thier other side. Im sorry but these are not my excuses because i cant escape the grind of everyday life....these are my questions to those souls who had shirked thier responsibilities and gone on to search for god. Seeing his wife and kid on the cot i dont think Gautama's thought would have been as you have put it..it would have been a doubt on how the world would treat his wife and son after he leaves.
Im of the opinion that taking care of your dependents without expecting anything out of them, like all our parents have done, is a greater deed than leaving your family and going in search of god.
if what you say were true and that shirking thier responsibilities is wrong, why are we calling still them 'great' people? shouldnt we be shunning them as irresponsible?
theres definitely something more to it than meets the eye...
During the freedom struggle thousands left thier families and went to fight for our country. Even Gandhi neglected his family to free our country. I think even though at that particular moment the deed of one leaving his dependents without support doesn't look good..once these great souls attain whatever they have searched for that deed tends to get justified. the end justifies the means...
in case of vivekananda and buddha how do you know that they attained what they searched for? how can you verify that they made the end justify thier means?
I think the reason why Vivekanada and Buddha and others like him are revered even after so many years is that, they belived in their ideals and dared to do it in their day today life. Only a very few could dare to do what they really belive in. That is why even when some criticize them for their actions many see them as God.