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Re: Question : SaraNAgati-gadyam

From the Bhakti List Archives

vaidhehi_nc • Wed Jun 05 2002 - 16:47:47 PDT 


Sri:
SriRAmaJayam
SrimatE RAmAnujAya nama:

Dear Ramkumar,
            Based on my small orbit of experience and knowledge,I 
would like to share my views. I also want to caution you that "little 
knowledge is dangerous". 

> In SaraNAgati-gadyam SrI rAmAnujAcArya repeatedly asks the Lord for
> para-bhakti, para-gyAnam &  parama-bhakti .
> 
> This repeated requisitioning by rAmAnuja seems inappropriate with 
> respect to the true nature of the jIva.

When you make a statement about "the true nature of the jIvA",you 
have to be careful. Suppose I ask you "do you know what bhagavad 
RAmAnuja says along these lines in His SribhASyam",do you have the 
answer with you? One has to go to the person who is an expert in 
that? I am learning slowly and I was told that RAmAnujA addresses 
bhakti(sADyOpAyam)and nowhere addresses prapatti(siDOpAyam). Later in 
Gadya trayam he pours out in the form of prapatti. I don't want to 
say more along these lines as I'm myself in an infancy stage(and as 
such my mind is occupied with various things). 


> A realized jIva  knows that it is totally dependent on the 
unconditional saving Mercy  
> of the Lord and would not ask for anything, rather leave it up to 
Lord's discretion.
> Would not a mere knowledge that God's unconditional Mercy 
automatically provides everything 
> without having to ask, enough ? 

Provides everything: Are you refering to material bliss or eternal 
bliss(mOkshA)?

Many of us worship God daily. Are we all freed from EGO completely?
HE will grant mOkshA only if you're freed from EGO. So many rishis
were all experts in vEdAs but do they enjoy the vaikuNTam? Rishis had 
ego,they had some flaws. 
 
> Why rAmAnujAcArya would then repeatedly ask for para-bhakti, para-
gyAnam & parama-bhakti ?

RAmAnujA's life was spent for a jIvAtmA like you and me. He didn't 
not ask anything for himself. He could have kept quiet after hearing 
the secret(rahasya trayam). Why should he tell the entire world? His 
mission was to uplift all the souls. How many times do you think of 
Lord Sriman NArAyaNA in a day? If this is the state of affairs,we 
need to ask that God to give us the mind(KriSNA says that HE is the 
manas which undergoes conflict)to concentrate on Him and do eternal 
service. RAmAnujA on behalf of us asks Lord SriRAnganAthA to give us 
such a mind! One can get rid of the EGO only through single 
minded/undivided devotion to God and nothing else. Can you say with
100%(I'm not asking for infinite % !)accuracy that whenever you pray 
to God that your mind is fixed only on Him,Him,Him alone and nothing 
else? Mind is like a monkey which jumps from one branch to another 
constantly. So is samsArA. I honestly do not know if Draupadi was 
granted mOkshA. But all I know is Lord vAsudEvA came to her rescue 
when she was disrobed and sincerely prays to Him giving up her ego
(momentarily). Just by being an expert in vEdAs one is not going to 
see the "shankha chakra gadA DAri" face to face(that's what Lord 
Parthasarathy says). Giving up EGO momentarily is different from 
giving it up ETERNALLY!(I always think of the movie Mira & Mira's 
devotion was so much tested by KriSNA,ThyAgarAjA is another example) 

This is my silly thought. I don't know if it carries any weightage.

AzhwAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam
sarvam krSNArpaNam astu
gita 

Quote: If you want to make an apple pie from scratch,you must first 
create the universe - Carl Sagan



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