Re: Article by Sri TA Krishnamacharya Swami
From the Bhakti List Archives
• April 29, 2002
--- In bhakti-list@y..., TCA Venkatesanwrote: > 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 -------------------------------------------------------------- - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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