If Vishishtadvaitam declares he is only with Good attributes and no bad attributes how come he is poison, gambling etc?From vikraminside
Vikram swamy, namaskaram. English is a funny language; you move the words around slightly and we get a completely different meaning. And when we process such twisted meanings we fail to understand the philosophy in its original form.
Sastram / Acharyas do not say “Perumal has only good qualities”. They say “In Him everything is good”. The words ‘good versus bad’ does not have any meaning with reference to Him. Whatever is in Him it is good for us.
A very simple easy to understand example. Whether my mother hugs me or she slaps me both are good. Perumal is much more than a mother!!!
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Regarding Perumal’s opulences described in 10th chapter of Bhagavad Gita, please see the context the opulences are listed. Understanding the big picture first helps us understand the finer nuances correctly.
10.12- 10.18: Arjuna acknowledges Krishna as the Supreme most person and revealed by Himself and as declared by great sages of the past. No one can fully understand Krishna; only He know Himself; He is the origin of everything and everybody. By His great opulances He spreads all over Existence. Then Arjuna request Krishna “how can I / anyone think of you constantly? What are the different ways you can be remembered? Please tell me your endless greatness and opulances and powers so that whenever I witness these I can remember You”.
In response to this ernest request Krishna says “Okay, I’ll tell you how to remember Me constantly; I’ll give you a list of examples of some of my greatness. But remember, since My greatness is endless I will not list everything now; I’ll just mention some of the prominent things one is likely to encounter in routine life” (until 10.19).
From 10.20 Perumal lists His greatness and opulences. Basically, He makes a list of things we say “wow! so great” or “wow! so beautiful” or “wow! so strong” or “wow! so powerful” (so on) and declares that He is the source of such greatness. For example, of all ways of cheating everyone knows gambling is the best way of cheating. So He declares the same. Of all the ways of correcting an incorrigible person punishment is most effective. So He declares “of all things that can establish justice I am punishment”.
Of course the list is endless. So at the end He once again says “whatever greatness you may find around you, it is just a tiny tiny tiny fragment of my original greatness (10.41). So, simply know that I pervade all over Existence and I support it all.
Thus He gives us easy way to remember Him in course of our daily life.
adiyen dasan.
PS: If I may add on a humourous note: “of all the questioners on dharma sandheha, I am Thiru Trivikram” 🙂
