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Re: Prappatti

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Anand Karalapakkam • April 7, 1999 


Sri:
Sri Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha
Sri Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrivaNN-
SatakOpa Sri nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESikAya namaha

namO nArAyaNA.

Dear Sri Balaraman,

  thanks for your question.

Balaraman M Sriram wrote:

> Sri Anand Wrote:
>
> >All other processes like nAma
> >sankeertanam, recitation of divya prabandham etc
> >should culminate into either of these (ofcourse, in
> >the current age, only prapatti is possible).
>
> How is it possible to make a blanket statement on
> other processes like this ? Can this be
> substantiated ?

  Upanishads prescribe Brahma vidyAs ie. the 
   sAdhyOpAyAs that can be performed to obtain
  moksham (granted by PerumAL, the siddhOpAyam).

  Bhakti or upAsana can be made in 32 different
  ways. A yogI chooses according to his taste,
  a particular upAsanA and completes it and then
  ascents to Sri VaikuNTham.

  Upanishads also tell us about nyAsa vidya. This
  brahma vidya is the prapatti. This also is
  a sAdhyOpAya.

  There are no other mentioned brahma vidyAs
  in the Upanishads - be it nAma sankeertanam,
  performing archanA to deities etc. 

  This is a well established fact in Brahma 
  sUtrAs, bhagavad gItA etc.

 PerumAL Himself, in Ahirbudhnya samhitA 
  categorically declares:

" bhaktyA paramayA vA-pi prapattyA vA mahAmathe
  prApyoham na anyathA prApyO mama kainkarya lipsubhihi" 

  PerumAL declares that bhakti and prapatti are the 
  only means (sAdhyOpAyam, to be adopted by a jIvAtma) 
  for which He will grant moksham (kainkaryam at Sri 
  vaikuNTham) & for _no other means_ adopted by the jIvAtmA, 
  will He grant moksham.


  Granthams like SribAshyam, Prapanna pArijAtam
  of nadAdUr ammAL, Rahasyatraya sAram of swAmi
  dEsikan extensively deals with these things. 

  This doesn't mean anything bad about nAma 
  sankeertanam - which is supremly glorifiable.
  But, nAma sankeertanam is not directly a 
  sAdhyOpAyam; it has to lead to any of the
  prescribed brahma vidyAs. But, it is for sure 
  that those who perform nAma sankeertanam
  with great devotion will certainly be
  aided by PerumAL to adopt a sAdhyOpAya soon
  to attain Him. Thus, one can also tell that
  nAma sankeertanam gives moksham, though its
  implied that it leads to a sAdhyOpAyam.

>
> In a different thread, Sriman Sadagopan wrote:
>
> >Thyaga Brahmam recited 15,000 Raama Naamms
> >per day and by the age 38 completed 96 crores of
> >Sri Raama naama  Japam and had the Darsanam
> >of Sri raamA and Sri LakshmaNA in the Yaaga-
> >SamrakshaNa pose in front of his door .
>
> Doesnt this show reciting the names of the lord gives us
> his darsanam. Is something more required than this ? An
> average devotee doing nama sankirtanam chants
> 16 X 108 beads X 16 names =27,648 names of the lord.
> I would tend to believe  this process keeps him
> in touch with the lord the whole day than any other
> means. Anything else will be more difficult than this.


  PerumAL certainly reciprocates to His devotees in
  various ways ; no one can comprehend it. He is
  bhakta vatsalan.

  Infact, King Dasaratha was very fortunate to have
  Lord Rama to be his son. He was constantly enjoying
  the company of PerumAL and it was not that he saw
  PerumAL just for a while. But, Dasarathar went 
  only to svargA after his death, since he didn't 
  complete either bhakti yOgam OR prapatti.

  PAndavAs also were very intimate with Lord Krishna.
  But, for moksham, they didn't perform either
  prapatti OR upAsanA, and thus didn't obtain 
  moksham that time.

  But, during the rAmAvatAram, trijadai performed
  prapatti for herself and other rAkshasIs, and
  all of them obtained moksham !!

  PerumAL is sathya sankalpan and according to His
  sankalpam, as given in the sAstrAs one has to complete
  either of bhakti OR prapatti to finally attain
  Him. 

  Ofcourse, its left to the devotee. If he chooses to
  be here and spend time in chanting and serving
  bhAgavathAs etc, PerumAL also doesn't force him
  to adopt a sAdhyOpAyam. Its left to the individual.

  The karmA associated with a jIvAtmA is anAdi. The
   present body of a jIvAtmA is due to the prArabdha
   karmA. This prArabdha karmA by itself may be 
  giving, say 5 bodies in different species. Once this
  prArabdha karmA is over, from the bank of sanchita
  karmA, next prArabdha karmA starts acting ....this
  complicated process goes on. But, along such a 
  journey, the jIvAtma acquires various sukrudams
  also. Thus, though according to the current
  prArabdha karmA, the jIvAtma may be deprived of
  bhagavad anubhavam, but due to the sukrudams it
  has accumulated from anAdi, that jIvAtmA will
  be made to perform prapatti by PerumAL and it will
  ascend to Sri VaikuNTham. For example, all the
  rAkshasIs were torturing sItA pirAtti ; but finally
  obtained moksham. Only due to their sukrudam,
  they were at asOka vanam with trijadai, sIta pirAtti 
  and finally obtained moksham also due to the
  prapatti of trijadai for them.

  In another case, though in the current life one
  is highly devoted, some pApa(s) of the past may
  obstruct that jIvAtma from performing prapatti
  (or other sAdhyOpAyAs). 
           
       
>
> If somebody cannot do this simple process regularly
> where is he/her going to do nitya kaimkaryam in
> Sri Vaikuntam eternally?. Practically speaking
> most of us do not have enough time to complete
> thier office work or education and/or attend social
> functions.Theory is onething and its application
> is another. Anyway adiyen just expressed his
> humble opinion in a practical stand point.Any
> offences may please be excused.
>

  Your point is well taken. But sAstrAs will never
 go wrong. It is important that we understand 
 it properly.     

 Though people may be degraded (whatever relative
 scale you want to adopt), it is the most merciful
 Sri vaishnava Sat sampradAya AchAryas who perform
 the prapatti for them. Infact, there are many  
 instances where prapatti's glories became pratyaksham
 (direct observation) itself (eg: some have performed
 Artha prapatti and have ascended to VaikuNTham,
 immedietly after the performance of prapatti by the 
 AchArya; some have requested PerumAL to make them 
 ascend to VaikuNTham on a specific date   and have 
 thus ascended to Sri vaikuNTham exactly on that date). 
 But, the only thing needed is the "mahA visvAsam" 
 on the Lord's assurance for prapannAs - Prapatti 
 will NEVER be forsaken by PerumAL. There is not 
 even an iota of doubt that once prapatti gets 
 done by a jIvAtmA, in whatever nishta be it, 
 moksham is assured by PerumAL at whatever time  
 the jIvAtmA wanted.
 
 adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
 ananthapadmanAbha dAsan
 krishNArpaNam