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Re: Adiyen Narasimha Dasan

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • August 31, 1998 


Sri Narasimha Dasan wrote, regarding sankalpa: 
> Vaishnavas also also
> do Sathvika Tyagam where we declare " svasmei, svaprithyei,
> swayameva karayati" meaning I do this myself, for my own pleasure.
> Thus you see that there are four elements in the sankalpa, the
> command of the Lord, His pleasure, individual's effort and
> individual's (doer's or kartha's) pleasure.

Dear Sri Narasimhan,

I think you are slightly mistaken. Please pardon me if I
have understood you incorrectly, but the sAttvika tyAga
starts with:
 
  bhagavAn eva svaniyAmya svaSeshabhUtena mayA ...
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

which means that the Lord Himself (bhagavAn eva) by His
own hand performs this act through His SeshabhUta (the
individual). The pleasure of the individual or kartA plays
no part in the sankalpa or the act.

In other words, Vaishnavas do not perform the act "for myself".
They perform it purely for the Lord, thinking that it is being
performed by the Lord Himself through the individual.

Mani