Principles of Bhakti based on Tamil Triads

1. Is there a God? If there is one, why do people in the world worship so many different Gods? 2. If there is one God why are we not able to perceive him, her or it? 3. Who created the world? Did it arise from a rearrangement of physical and/or chemical molecules? 4. What is the relationship between man and God and between God and world? 5. Is there rebirth after death? Is transmigration of souls possible? 6. Is there a heaven or a hell? 7. Is it fair that some people who have sacrificed their entire lives working for the welfare of others, undergo great misery in their own personal lives? The objective of this monograph is to bring to focus the unique features of the theistic bhakti pathway in the Tamil region for the perception of the divine entity... ...The change in the attitude of people from considering the Super Being as a powerful almighty one regulating the life of man but as a guiding principle to the individual in his or her daily execution of personal duties along the virtuous path is the greatest advantage of the bhakti route. The principles of bhakti were based on the Vedas and Agamas and included absolute love towards the divine as the basic tool. Any religion or religious sect based on love is bound to breed religious equanimity among those holding contradictory philosophical beliefs. Because of the complex nature of the divine, the subject matter had so far been the sole avocation of ascetics and scholars. The spread of information to the lower ranks was further retarded because of linguistic and social restrictions. After considerable thought, I have attempted to make the divine principles available to ordinary family people who go to the temples hoping that the benevolent God would alleviate all their personal grievances. Dr. C.R. Krishnamurti Professor Emeritus University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C. Canada,