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Re: Bhakti and Prapatti

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • October 23, 1995 


Krishna Prasad wrote:
* Mani,
* 
* I have serious doubts about your view : that akinchanyam and ananya
* gathitvam are main for tankalais. in fact they are the protogonists for
* the view that "prapattir vishvasaha" ie. prapatti is mainly trust !
* in fact they use this view to retort the need for performance of prapatti
* as a karma - action. instead they state that prapatti is trust which is
* a mental attitude and knowledge.
* 
* krishna


I think my original note was unclear.  As I understand it,
for Pillai Lokacharya and Manavala Mamunigal, prapatti is a
mental attitude, involving non-resistance to the overflowing
grace of the Lord. You are correct about this.  But there
are *no* prerequisites, not even faith.  One cannot
even say that there are co-requisities, since prapatti
stands by itself.  

My reference to Akincanyam and Ananyagatitvam was not
to a unique belief of the Thengalai, but to a general
attitude surrounding prapatti adhered to by both
traditions.

After looking at Sri Lokacharya's Sri Vachana Bhushana,
I have found his comments on the nature of prapatti:

	palattukku AtmajnAnamum apratishetamumE vENDuvadu.

	Only knowledge of the (nature of the) self and
	non-denial (of His grace) are needful for the fruit.

				(SVB 60)

So prapatti involves an understanding of the self
as a "sesha" of the Lord and a non-denial of His grace.

Knowledge of the self as sesha, as far as I know, means
understanding ananyagatitvam and aakincanyam.

Sri Lokacharya goes on to say that the Lord is thinking
about us at all times; such is the nature of His grace.
All that is needed is a change in our attitude, and the
Lord's thought has fruition.  When the individual self
gives up the thought that it is able to protect itself
through its own efforts (aakincanyam and ananyagatitvam), 
the Lord's grace opens like a floodgate upon it.

He quotes the acharya Nanjiyar as saying, ``The refuge
at the time of death is to give up the thought, `What is
our refuge?' ''

Mani