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ref: prapatti

From the Bhakti List Archives

Krishna Kalale • May 26, 1994 


dileepan writes:

. 2.  Is Bhakti a means or is it an end in itself?

..To me it is neither.  From (1) above I must reject Bhakti as a means to
.salvation.  Swami Desikan considers Bhakti too demanding.  How can
.I presume to even understand bhakti let alone practice it as a means of
.salvation.  Next, is Bhakti an end in itself?  All our scriptures tell us
.hat paramapatham is the goal.  I think it is fanciful to consider Bhakti
.s the goal.

.Then what is the role of bhakti?  To me, bhakti is the result of prapatti.
.Having surrendered to the Lord,  bhakti flows out uncontrollably from
 
.----- End Included Message -----
Please note the work Bhakti does not mean just Bhakti or devotion but 
a methodology described in the sastras and termed - Bhakti Yoga. This
yoga is described in the chapters 7 thru 12 of Bhagawadgita. it needs
Karma yoga and jnana yoga as accessories before one can become qualified
for bhaktiyoga.  When one says Bhakti is a goal or phala bhakti it means
that what is attained in the state of paramapada.  In the state of 
paramapada there is this eternal un diluted devotion of the aspirant towards
his saviour Srimannarayana. This can be taken as a goal. In fact Ramanuja
himself has stated that "Kama" is the ultimate purushartha! but not the
material form of it. but the Kama between jeevatma and paramatma is the
purushartha. In that sense bhakti can become a goal. then it is not the
same as bhakti yoga. so phala bhakti is same as paramapada and it can
be attained by bhakti yoga or prapatti according to Sri Ramanuja.

of the 5 angas of prapatti - one is very essential - Mahavishwasa - or 
trust that GOd will certainly protect us.  Even though one may have problems
in other angas of prapatti. one should have Mahavishwasa.  Do not think
that in the case of kids performing prapatti, mahavishwasa is not needed.
  the parents or who ever takes the kid to Acharya should have mahavishwasa

some times Acharyas observe "Acharya Nishta" method of prapatti for kids
this means only leaving the kid to the care of Acharya is sufficient and
Acharya takes the responsibilities of this kid's "nivritti marga" ie. salvation.


Krishna