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Re: Progress indicators in the Prapatti marga

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sampath Rengarajan • Thu Jun 11 1998 - 10:31:47 PDT 


On Jun 10, 10:19am, Bharadwaj, Jaganath wrote:

> > Murali Kidambi wrote:
>> When and how will we see an assuring
> >"prapannas, stay in this lane" sign?  And then even if we take final success
> >for granted (for we know that that success is attributed to the Lord alone),
> >how will He let us know of his displeasure of our ways or otherwise during
> >our now-confirmed ephemeral stay here on earth?
> >[Bharadwaj, Jaganath]
> If our mind is not peaceful, there is some unforgiven offence for which
> Prayaschittam has to be done.  If we do not know how to do this, that
> mental anguish itself is the Prayaschittam and the suffering will go
> away if do not use our limited freedom of choice to further disobey
> Sriman Narayana.
>
>
> >Any inputs are welcome.

PramAnam for the following part is from this pAsuram:

uLathAna val vinaikku uLLam veruvi uLagaLantha
vaLar thAmaraiyiNai van saraNAga varitthavar than
kaLai thAn ena ezhum kanman thuRappar thuRanthidilum
iLai thAm nilai sega eNgAL pirAn aruL thEn ezhumE
				(aparAtha parihAram)
				adikAra sagraham - 25
				Swami Desikan

For most  cases  All the sins  committed  prior to  prappatti  are
absolved  by  doing  prapatti.  Some  sins  that  may  have  to be
committed  due  to  circumstantial   situations   knowingly  after
prapatti  and  some  other  sins  that  may  have to be  committed
unknowingly after prapatti are kept away from prapannAs.

When a chEthanan undertakes saranAgathi with a feeling of fear for
the pApams  (type of  repentance  at the moment of prapatti  being
ordained)  that he has  accrued so far, he will never do pApams or
sins that are  impediment  to bagawath  kaimkaryam or bAgawatha or
AchArya kaimkaryam in his rest of the life after his prapatthi.

Many a times a surrendering  soul may not realize this at the time
of  prapatti.  Lord  brings such  realizations  for those souls in
strange ways.  i.e., repentance once prapatti is performed.

While  there  are  several  materialistic  sins  that  may also be
committed, the most important sins that a prapanna must definitely
watch out for and realize from that are as follows.

pApams or sins committed as an impediment to the service of either
of the three (bagwAn bAgwathA and AchAryA) are bagwatha  bAgawatha
achArya  apachAram  and  prAyachittham  can be done  only with the
respective  above for each of such apachAram.  By chance one's ego
or lack of wisdom and  knowledge  induces  one to do such  serious
sins, it is said that such ego or lack of wisdom is enacted due to
one's past karmA prior to his undertaking  prapatti and due to his
failure  to have the  feeling of  repentance  at the time of doing
prapatti for such past sins that are carried  over and enacted and
that an  opportunity  is provided  by the Lord to absolve it in an
easier way.

A  question  may arise in one's  mind i.e., Why a prapanna  may be
still doing sins despite the  assurances  given during  prapatti ?
"thirutthip  paNi  kolvAn"  - It is  the  desire  of the  Lord  or
perumAL's  thiru uLLam that such bAgawathA has to be corrected and
made to serve the kula dhANam.

Also  as per  the  second  sentence  of the  sarama  slOkam  it is
understood  that  Lord has  given  assurance  that  both  the sins
committed prior to saranAgathi and after  saranAgathi are relieved
(aham twA sarva pApEbyO  mokshayisyAmi !   mA  sucha! )  from  the
prapanna by the Lord.

What are the options made available to get these absolved ?

What a  prapanna  can do here is first to  understand  that when a
fellow  prapanna  or  bAgawathA  or  achArya  kaimkaryam  is being
performed if it is seen that he is an  impediment  to that he must
know that he is committing  bagwatha  bAgawtha achArya  apachAram.
There are other types of bAgawath bagwatha and AchArya  apacharams
as well.


path 1:

Some prapannAs may know that they are  impediments to others doing
these kaimkaryams  merely due to their egos but may not be able to
reconcile the fact that what they are doing is an apachAram of the
highest order.  This is called murattuth thaNmai or being brutally
ignorant.  For such a soul Lord  punishes  them within  their life
time  i.e., in this life  itself and  absolve  them of their  sins
prior to their ascending to mOksham.

path 2:

The best thing a prapannA can do is to reconcile  that he has such
ego and lack of  wisdom  that  comes in the way of doing  bagwatha
bAgwatha achArya kaimkaryam.  And that such ego and lack of wisdom
is  contained  by the  realization  that these are due to the past
karmAs and that they are being  enacted by the Lord in the process
of absolving  the sins.  At this time perumAL  either  chooses the
path 1 for certain  prapannAs to go through or path 2 which is the
path of  seeking  to  correct  and serve the kula  dhAnam.  Mostly
puNNya athmAs (i.e.  one who has several punniyams in additions to
some   pAvams)   are   chosen   by  Lord  to  seek  this  path  of
reconciliation or prAyach chittham. There are others as well who
are made to follow these path. Tune into sarangathi journal for more
details.

perumAL makes them do another  saranAgathi (*) for seeking relief from
these  pAvams or sins that causes  these ego and lack of wisdom to
commit more apacharams.  By doing such, perumAL absolves such left
over karmAs as well and let the prapanna do certain kaimkaryams in
the rest of the life.


When a prapannA commit the apachArams after prapatti when there is
no  circumstantial  need or danger, such sins are  absolved by the
followings i.e.  knowingly well that it is a bagwatha  bAgwatha or
AchArya apachAram.

The first quarter of the sin:
0  to 25 %    Feeling bad and repenting in one's mind for
              such apachArams

The second quarter of the sin:
25 % to 50 %  Refraining from committing such sins anymore

The third quarter of the sin:
50 % to 75 %  thinking and attempting to do prAyacchittham

The fourth quarter of the sin:
75 % to 100 %  is finally absolved by doing prAyacchittham
               at the feet of those for whom the apachAram
               was committed

Doing  prayacchittham  is the final phase of the absolving.  For a
prapanna the praychittham  are best followed in the ways mentioned
below.  if due to brutal  ignorance  one may not want to reconcile
his apachAram a punishment will be given by the Lord during this life
of such and the sins will be absolved.

If someone has done some parts of the above prAyacchittham and didnot
complete the rest, a punishment will substitute the such imcomplete
prAyachitthams and the sins will be absolved.

But it is the desire of teh Lord that the following may be followed
in doing a prAyacchittham.

A bAgawatha  apachAram  committed to a prapanna has to be relieved
mainly by seeking relief or prayachittham  performed at the feet of
such prapannA HIMself or HERself.

An AchArya apachAram  committed to an AchArya kaimkaryam has to be
relieved at the feet of the AchArya HIMself.

A bAgwath apachAram is sought to be relieved only by the Lord.

Thus for a prapanna who has done sarangathai there is no pirAvi or
birth due to his past pAva  karmAs  after this life one way or the
other.

note:  I learnt the importance of sarangathi from thiruk kudanthai
ANdavan in amuthan  sannithi and that certainly is an "aRivin payanE"
in my teens.  The tamil knowledge of Andavan is unquestionable and
even tamil  scholar from every walk used to admire his  holiness's
pulahAngitham  in  tamil.  His  rasam or  bAvam in  conveying  the
essence of  saraNAgathi  makes even a sAmAnya as similar to adiyEn
understand  these.  I simply  surrender this ramblings at his holy
feet and seek  forgiveness  if I have  committed  any apachAram in
writhing these.

adiyEn
Sampath Rengarajan



(*) quoted from vyAkyAnam of navaneetham swami and kAlakshEbams.