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"The Choice"

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sadagopaniyengar • March 10, 2003 


                        
Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

                             The Choice

          If the Lord is indeed infinitely merciful, why doesn't He spare everybody the miseries of Samsara? Why doesn't He liberate everybody from the constricting fetters of Karma and afford the boundless bliss of Paradise to all? Is it not His duty, as our Divine Father, to see that we are happy always?

Why does He let some people, in fact most of them, go astray in paths that lead nowhere? Why does He watch unconcernedly while most of us go round and round in circles, knowing not the way out of the mundane maze? Sri Nammazhwar defends the Lord against such accusations by pointing out that if everyone were to be liberated, these elaborate worlds, the Karma bhoomis, created for the purpose of the Lord's leela and for affording good and bad experiences to the righteous and the evil, would go barren and unpopulated - "elleerum veedu pettrAl ulagu illai endrE". Another fallacy of the Sarva Mukti Prasangam or advocacy of liberation for all, is that there would be no reward for good behaviour nor any disincentive for sinful conduct, plunging the world into anarchy, utter disorder and chaos.

         There is another aspect that is equally puzzling, when we realize that it is He who directs all our actions, sitting in our heart as the Inner Controller-"anta: pravishta: SAshtA janAnAm sarvAtmA" says the Shruti, attesting to the fact that we are mere puppets suspended on a string, dancing to the tunes of the Paramatma, who is the "SUtradhAri". We are thus incapable of lifting even our little finger without His say-so. This being the case, why does He want to play with us and our lives, instead of taking us away us to His eternal abode? The Upanishad clarifies this further by emphasizing the role of the antaryAmi, who, unbeknownst to us, controls all our actions, good and bad-"Ya AtmAnam antarO yamayati sa ta AtmA antaryAmi amrita:"  

        If we think about it, we appear to be mere toy horses on a merry-go-round, helplessly going round and round in circles, willy-nilly, activated by the Lord who holds the lever of the machine in His hand, sending us whizzing into the machine's orbit or letting us stay still in our respective positions, as He wills. The Gitacharya Himself confesses this to Arjuna-

"Isvara: sarva bhootAnAm hrit dEsE Arjuna tishttathi
 BhrAmayan sarva bhootAni yantra AroodAni mAyayA"

       As if this were not enough, the Kousheetaki Upanishad tells us that the Lord Himself induces us to perform good deeds if He wants to liberate us, and leads us astray, if He intends us to spend our lives in this sorrow-filled mundane morass-

"Esha hi Eva sAdhu karma kArayati yamEbhyO lOkEbhya: unnineeshati
  Esha Eva asAdhu karma kArayati tam yam adhO nineeshati"

The wisdom and goodness to pray to the Lord as well as the indifference to His attractions or outright ill will towards Him, leading respectively to the higher worlds or the accursed ones below, are also the result of His own prompting, says the Gita-

"dadhAmi bhuddhi yOgam tam yEna mAm upayAnti tE"

"tAn aham dvishada: kroorAn samsArEshu narAdhamAn
 kshipAmi ajasram ashubhAn Asureeshu yOnishu"

It doesn't appear fair- if it is indeed the Lord who induces us to engage in good deeds or bad, why should we be made to shoulder the burden of their inevitable fall out? Everybody knows that the agent, acting upon instructions of the principal, is not liable for any consequences flowing therefrom. Similarly, why should the fruit of good and bad action stick to us, and not to the Lord, who is really responsible, being the driving force behind the action? When a hunter directs an arrow at a dove, would the dove blame the arrow for hitting it? What logic is there in penalizing an instrument, when the real culprit is the person using it?

         It is indeed true that the Lord directs the activities of individual souls. However, this is after the Jeevatma is afforded the freedom of initial action (prathama pravritti). When it acts in the very first instance, the Jeevatma is endowed with a small measure of independence, enabling it to choose its path. The Lord doesn't interfere in this choice, which is solely the soul's. However, once the choice is made, the Lord lets the Jeevatma go its chosen way, channelling its efforts in that direction. Thus, though Emperuman is the inner controller, the primary path to be traversed is indeed selected by the individual soul, making it responsible for subsequent developments, good or bad.  When we are at the crossroads, the Policeman manning the crossing does not require us to go any particular way. It is we who, of our own volition, choose the road we want to travel on. Whatever we encounter on the chosen road, be it robbers armed to the teeth who relieve us of our possessions, or a wedding party who ta

     If the Jeevatma were to lack even this initial independence, then the vast body of Shastras, enjoining upon the individual soul to do this and to refrain from doing that, would all become purposeless. What is the use of a Scripture, if it is addressed to a remote-controlled slave, who has neither the independence nor the capability to obey its dictates? Thus, for the Shastras to be meaningful they must have as their audience people with some measure of liberty and this is one of the reasons for the Jeevatma's limited freedom during prathama pravritti.

       It would therefore appear that the Lord has three roles- one of indifference, one of permission and one of active facilitation.

       The Lord just watches the Jeeva during his initial endeavour, allowing the latter to choose the right direction or wrong, of its own free will. At this stage, the Lord is just an observer, and doesn't interfere in any way.

      At the second stage, the Lord permits the soul to proceed on the path of  its choice and perform actions appropriate to the same. This permission of the Lord is required because the Jeeva is incapable of independent action. Emperuman is thus the "anumanthA", according approval for the Jeeva's deeds. Approval here doesn't mean that the Lord is pleased or otherwise with the soul's efforts, but merely allows unhindered progress on the chosen path.

     There comes a third stage, where the Lord , by now convinced of the Jeeva's proclivity for the righteous path or otherwise, actively aids the progress of the individual soul by propelling it along  the way to wisdom and liberation, or on the disastrous route to destruction, to rot forever in the  hellish worlds below, with no hope of redemption. 

      The Lord thus doesn't play favourites-He gives everyone the freedom of choice to exercise their preference for a particular path, and then helps them along their way, whether good or bad. For those who hold Him dear, cherish His memory as precious, spend their time in singing His praises or in His constant worship-for these bhaktAs, He too responds by bestowing them with wonderful wisdom, whereby they choose a suitable strategy like Bhakti or Prapatti and reach His lotus feet for performing uninterrupted and unhindered service to the Lord.

On the other hand, for those who display only hate, ill will and disdain for the Lord, He too responds in kind as He did in the case of Ravana, Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakasipu and others of their ilk, and hastens them along on their chosen route of ruin.

          Even when we are at the crossroads, we thus have very clear pointers-one pointing towards the Lord, leading to righteousness, devotion, overwhelming love, wisdom and liberation-and the other away from Emperuman, being the perilous path of evil, of disregard for the Shruti and Shastras, leading to accursed births in Asuric clans and ultimate annihilation.

        The choice is ours.

Srimate SriLakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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