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Re: Some Reflections

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Sampath Rengarajan • April 15, 1996 


I think Swami Desikan's nyaasa thilakam (I posted the first few verses) clearly
explains this. It is enough even you surrender once, even if such a prapannaa
errs, HE will put them on the corrective path and take them to mOksham. In this
slOkam swami desikan explains the two maargams for getting mOksham and explains
how simple is surrender or saraNaagathi. when I have heard advaithins say that
"saraNaagathi is only a means and not the end", I would like to point out that
"knowledge whether so called absolute or partial is only a vehicle and not the
final destination by itself. Even the knowledge that it itself is free from
anyaanaa and is itself is ablsoulute and is itlsef is the final destination is
only a partial knowledge and not the final destination. It is partial knowledge
becuase no one can completely either talk or describe Lord and his kalyaana
gunangal and until such complete knowledge on The Lord's is known no knowledge
is complete (SRimath Bagwath Geetha) and only the LORD in HIS true form can
have such complete knowledge on HIM. Hence all the other so called knowledge is
only partial and cannot be considered complete to clear the so called anyaanaa.
 As said by our poorvaachaaryaaL, this so called absolute knowledge needs to be
an object for this only one real soul to realise that it is the only one real
soul, and that once there is one soul and an object is in this process, it is
neither absolute nor void of attributes, though one may claim that after this
process only this absoulteness is achieved. It is becuase of the irony that
this process will even make the very "vedams" with which all the souls thrive
as false at the end due to its absoluteness. Hence such process that destroys
their own foundation (by saying that this absoluteness is the only real and
that even void of vedams) and  would render the vedams as false is considered
non saathvik by our achaaryaals. In short, even as per the process of our
counterparts the highest possible knowledge (for us the "unreal" perceivers) is
only a vehicle and need not be considered as most important for mOksham except
that one must know the knowledge on surrender. Our nammaazhwaar says on the
paasuram for Lord Oppilaippan that our Lord is in the form of both the
opposites moodam and nyaanam

3367:
nagaramum naatugaLum "NYaanamum mootamumaay",
nigarilsoozh sudaraayiru LaaynNila Nnaayvisumpaay,
sigaramaa tangaLsoozh thiruviNNagarch chErndhapiraan,
pugargoL keerththiyallaalillai yaavarkkum puNNiyamE.	6.3.3

					Thiruvaaymozhi

Since our Lord is also present in  (as in above "NYaanamum mootamumaay")
"moodam", one need not worry about acquiring only enormous knowledge to either
know or qualify for mOksham. Hence one need not worry about mastering the
knowldege but simply get such knowledge to surrender to the Lord is sufficient.

nammaazhwaar thiruvadikaLE saraNam
Swami Desikan thiruvadikaLE saraNam
Sri BoomaDevi samEthara Sri Oppiliappan thiruvadikaLE saraNam

Sampath Rengarajan