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RE: saranAgati - Many thanks to Sri Mohan sAgar

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kmahesh • July 17, 2000 


SrI KrishnAya namah:

Dear BhAgavatAs, 

NamasKarams. My dandavat pranAmams to Sri Mohan sAgar. This mail cleared
most of my doubts and produced clarity of thoughts and provided me with
basic flow. I was not even clear of my questions. Sri Mohan sAgar understood
me correctly and answered in a way that I can easily understand. Many Many
Thanks to him. 

It was like mother feeding sweet pAL sAdham to her child. Although the child
is not clear what to ask, mother feeds him appropriately with Love. 
I also could feel the sweatness as well as Love in his mail. 

I would like to thank Sri Anand also for his direct explanations in clear
terms. - especially regarding Angi and AngAs, 

I think, I have a basic understanding of prapatti now. 

I would like to read Sri Anand's articles on saranAgati & prapatti on
Ahobilamutt's home page. 
Recently I also bought the Book " VAISNAVISM - Its phylosophy, theology and
religious decipline by SMS Chari" 
I will carefully read 13th Chapter ( Prapatti as means of attainment of
Visnu ) 

After reading of the above two I would like to present my understandings on
this forum again to make sure that my understanding is right. 

Thanks for the encouragement I got from all of you. 

 If somebody asks me what is the first step one should do for attaining
moksha - I suggest the very first thing as 
Subscribe to bhakti-list@egroups.com  


dAsan,
Mahesh



		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Mohan Sagar [mailto:msagar@uswest.net]
		Sent:	Saturday, July 15, 2000 9:36 PM
		To:	kmahesh; bhakti-list@egroups.com
		Subject:	Re: saranAgati

		Dear Sri Mahesh:

		prapatti or saranAgathi is the quintessence of our
philosophy and
		tradition. So, although it is the surest and easiest means
to
		realizing the Lord, it is the most complex to describe and
fully
		understand.   However, in an attempt to answer your
questions, I
		would like to provide a brief and rough synopsis of the two
		prevailing understandings of prapatti, at least to the best
of my
		limited understanding of them:

		The first understanding of prapatti along with its 5
accessories
		can best be described by your term, "a mood," a
psychological and
		spiritual awakening -- perhaps analogous to an epiphany in
		Christian faith -- in which the devotee becomes
unquestioningly
		aware of the fact that in his true state, he is completely
		dependent upon and wholly subservient to Sriman Narayana.
As
		this state of being is the true nature of the soul, nothing
is
		really "performed" on the part of the aspirant other than an
		acceptance of this awakening.  The 5 accessories that were
so
		eloquently described by Sri Mani are both contained within
and
		are the result of this realization.  What naturally follows
is a
		life of humility and service to the Lord, and the firm faith
that
		since He is the Lord and Protector, one's salvation will
surely
		occur when the Lord feels the time is right.   No one can
really
		limit what conditions and at what time such an awakening
occurs.
		But, for the sake of practicality, most people regard the
		receiving of samAsrayanam under an AchAryan  -- the solemn
		occasion when the devotee is initiated into the 3 Sacred
		Mantras -- as being the moment when  such a state of mind
can
		begin to be cultivated.    But, as the Lord Himself is
solely
		responsible for all souls, proponents of this view are quick
to
		point out that even this very realization or prapatti is due
to
		His Grace Alone.  Consequently, nothing on the part of the
		individual has really brought this realization into being,
and
		there is really nothing that the individual need do further,
		other than humbly accepting the joy and peace of mind that
comes
		from this awakening.

		The second understanding of prapatti only slightly differs
from
		the first.  While it is recognized that prapatti is in line
with
		the soul's natural state, the question arises as to whether
we,
		after so many eons of avoiding the Lord, can really be sure
that
		we have all the 5 qualities to be able to come to this
		realization properly.  As we really can never really be
sure, the
		best alternative is to seek out someone who embodies these
good
		traits, an AchAryan, and have him/her teach us, or better
yet,
		have him/her serve as a mediator, beseeching the Lord for
		protection on our behalf, as we are unqualified to do so.
This
		latter method presumes that prapatti does involve a
conscious and
		sincere effort, in which we, guided by the Lord, go before
an
		AchAryan and beseech him to surrender to Him on our behalf.
		Since such an opportunity involves a time, a place, and a
		specific set of actions on our parts, it can best be
achieved
		through participation in a solemn ritual, bharanyAsam.

		Whether through a mental affirmation, or through the
mediation
		via bharanyAsam, prapatti really rests on our unswerving
faith in
		our Supremely Kind and Accessible Lord, who promises us that
He
		will take care of us unconditionally and unceasingly
throughout
		our lives on this earth, and will indeed give us mOksham, if
we
		simply leave ourselves to His care.   Since this promise is
		unconditional, performing prapatti more than once would, in
		essence, show our lack of faith in Him.  It would be like
		accepting a promise from a true friend, and then making sure
that
		the friend holds good to his words by asking to him to make
that
		promise again.

		Giving in to the Supreme Promise of such an Endearing Being
as
		Sriman Narayana is something so irresistible and so engaging
that
		it would be virtually impossible to fall from it.  But, even
if
		we were to transgress in our path, the Lord out of His
Kindness
		will never forget His promise to us, and will either, ignore
the
		transgression, as proposed by those holding the first view,
or
		punish us mildly as a reminder to us to stay with the path
that
		our AchAryans have tread in performing prapatti on our
behalf.

		The above is a brief synopsis of a very complex subject,
based on
		my limited understanding of what has been taught to me.  Any
		errors in the above are mine alone.

		I hope this helps.

		Ramanuja Dasan
		Mohan



	
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           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
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Visit http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/ for more information