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Re: Article by Sri TA Krishnamacharya Swami

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vinjamoorvenkat • May 1, 2002 


srImathE rAmAnujAya namaha
srImadh varavara munayE namaha

Dear Sri Mani,

I do not know much or rather anything about the vEdAs and upanishads. I am only trying to present my humble views. In fact I am writing this in an off-beat line. 

In my humble opinion, "bhakti" should be more of a soul related experience, rather than a physical act. If this can be accepted, then your very statement that saraNAgathi is part and parcel of Bhakthi cannot be disputed at all. However, if it is construed as a physical act of performing some rituals, with definite postures, etc, then there will be difficulty in accepting saraNAgathi as part and parcel of Bhakti. It depends on the individuals faith.

May be our poorvAchAryAs considered Bhakti as a soul related experience and hence they have said that bhakti and prapatti are means to attain salvation. 

Well this is purely my humble opinion. If this is absurd, please do forgive me and correct me.

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh


--- mani2  *mani@alum.calberkeley.org*
 wrote:


--- In bhakti-list@y..., TCA Venkatesan <vtca@y...> wrote:
> Sriman Narayana has pointed to Bhakti as the path
> to Moksha in many places but He has also 
> emphasized Sarangati as the main path for 
> mumukshus ("mumukshurvai SarNam aham prapadhye").

Venkatesan,

I have some concerns about this interpretation. 
Mumukshu simply means one who is desirous of
liberation and the teaching of saranagati is
presented entirely in the context of bhakti
and upAsana. The interpretation presented above
presumes that saranagati is divorced from bhakti, 
that they are two totally different paths.  This 
assumption appears to be totally absent in the 
Upanishads, the Gita, and for the most part, in 
Divya Prabandham.

For the Svetasvatara Upanishad quote cited above,
it merely declares that one desirous of liberation
takes refuge in Supreme Lord, the First Cause.
As we know, taking refuge is part and parcel of
the devotional attitude in bhakti itself.  Sri
Krishna teaches this many times in the Gita.

   mAm eva ye prapadyante mAyAm etAm taranti te |

   Indeed, those who surrender to Me cross this maya
   (known as prakRti).  -- Gita 7.14

   tam eva cAdyam purusham prapadyet |

   One should take refuge with that Primeval Person alone.
   -- Gita 15.4

These are only a couple of examples and in each case
Bhagavad Ramanuja has interpreted this as an attitude 
to be cultivated in bhakti-yoga, and not as something
different. He also mentions it as the beginning
point of bhakti-yoga in his comments on Gita 18.66.

Without resorting the pAncarAtra Agama, is there
any source in shaastra for the assumption that
prapatti is indeed totally divorced from bhakti
in the manner described above?   

In other words, in Sri Ramanuja's system, does not self-surrender 
dictate a cultivation of one's attitude of the bhakta himself,
since the wise bhakta is defined by Sri Ramanuja as 
'bhagavat-seshataika-rasa-Atma-svarUpa-vit' -- one who knows 
his self's true nature as finding enjoyment purely in existing 
for the sake of the glory of Bhagavan?

  'veedumin muRRavum veedu seydhu; ummuyir veedudaiyaan idai
   veedu ceymminE'

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
Mani



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