sarvadharmAn parityajya ...

From the Bhakti List Archives

• August 12, 1997


Sri Srikanth Hemmige asks: 
 
>Why is there an apparent contradiction between "karmaNye vadhikArasthe....."   
>and "sarvadharmAn parithyajya..." ? 

Actually they both relate to the same ideal.

Our Jeeyar of Sri Rangam tells us in his commentary on yethirAja
sapthathi that 

sarvaDharmAn parithyajya mAm Ekam sharaNam vraja ...

actually does not mean relinquishing everything and surrendering to the
Lord, but by actually performing your duties righteously and dutifully
so that one can attain the feet of the Lord.  It is the duty of every
one to perform their karmAs in this birth of ours, and by not performing
them dutifully, one actually ends up inciting bhagavath apachAram.

During a conference of NAMA in New Jersey a few months back, shrI
vEnkatAchAri of University of Toronto very eloquently explained this in
detail, where he goes to say that parityajya actually is a combination
of pari + tyAgam, and means that one sacrifices attachments to the
fruits of one's actions in performing his duties.  
The Lord actually implies here that "Do not look at the fruit of your
actions in performing your deeds, for if you perform them with true
uncorrupted zeal and righteousness, you will attain the greates of
rewards - that of becoming one with me..."

adiyEn rAja Krishnasamy

raja@cyberdude.com