Search:
Bhakti List Archives

RE: [sv-poetry] Sri Vilakkoli Perumal, Thoopul/ThirutthaNkA dhivya Desam: Nithya AarAdhana kaimkaryam for VilakkoLi PerumAL and Swamy Desikan : Part XVII: Fourteenth SlOkam

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • March 28, 2002 


Dear SrImaAn Venkatesh:

Please accept my Panguni Uttharam day greetings 
to You . May the SrIrangam Dhivya Dampathis' blessings
be with you always!

Your question is most welcome . I will respond to 
it to the best of my ability. This issue of our Lord's
spontaneous grace (nirhEthuka KrupA)versus conscious 
human effort (sahRthuka KrupA) to qualify for it 
has attracted the attention of brilliant minds 
from AchArya RaamAnujA's time onwards to today . 
What I am going to say is hence nothing new . 
Different AchArya paramparais have taken different 
positions . I was explaining the view of
Swamy Desikan . Yet , there is a way that bridges 
the nirhEthuka KrupA and sahEthuka KrupA. 

The quick answer to your query is that BhagavAn 
out of His krupA directs the Jeevan to a sadAchAryan 
and the Prapatthi done thru that SadAchAryan results 
in the Lord's acceptance of that Prapatthi. SadAchaaryan
essentially prepares the jeevan with sadupadEsam
on Tathtva Thrayam , performs upadEsams on
the three manthrAs and offers that " prepared" jeevan
back to the owner. Thus the Lord  as Sarva rakshakan , 
Sahaja Suhruth , Sarvajn~an , Sarva SakthimAn and 
avAptha samastha kaaman has a dual role here to play  
without contradiction to His nirhEthuka KrupA.
Spontaneous grace of the Lord is thus intertwined
with the minimal human effort that precedes it.
The usual analogy given is the spontaneous flow of
Mother's milk and the minimal effort on the part of
the infant to gain it .

To avoid any thought of arbitrariness and 
partiality ( Vaishamya NairguNya DhOsham ), 
Our Lord accepts the vyAjam of Prapatthi 
to shower His abundant grace . The opportunity 
to seek a sadAchAryan and engage in the path of
a spiritual discipline is provided by the Lord 
Himself in rcognition of good and meritorious 
deed performed by the jeevan consciously 
or otherwise . Our Lord's grace is recognized here
as the prime cause (pradhAna hEthu ) and Prapatthi
is viewed as the accessory cause (SahakAri KaaraNam).
The vyAja of Prapatthi is the link/bridge between
the two kinds of KrupA.

The third verse of NyAsa Dasakam of Swami Desiakn
has been my guiding light in these matters as pointed
out by my AchAryan, who has placed aatma-rakshA-bharam
at the Thiruvadi of MaalOlan : 

SvAmi svasEsham svavasam sva-bharathvEna nirbharam
svadhattha-svadhiyA svArTam svasmin nyasyathi maam svayam

This powerful slOkam emphasizing Saathvika ThyAgam 
consisting of the three parts ( Karthruthva ,
MamathA and Phala ThyAgams) underlines the following
important points pertinent to NyAsa VidhyA or Prapatthi
yOgam:

1. SrIman NaarAyaNan is the Supreme Lord of all (SvAmi).

2. I am Your bonded servant/adimai (Sva-sEsham).

3. I am  controlled by You (sva-vasam).

4. You have blessed me with the Jn~Anam about You
   (Sva-dhattha sva-dhiyA)." You have enabled me 
   to know Your nature.You have endowed me with 
   the capacity to think."

5. SvArTam nirbharam sva-bharathvEna Svayam Svasmin
   nyasyathi ( " You Yourself have made me surrender
   myself to You for Your own pleasure with the responsibility
   of protecting it and getting rid of that burden from me").  
  

The Fourteenth slOkam of SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai 
echos some of the thoughts of the above NyAsa Dasakam
slOkam .

SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan 

At 09:11 AM 3/28/02 +0800, you wrote:
>srImathE rAmAnujAya namaha
>srImadh varavara munayE namaha
>
>Dear Sri Sadagopan swamy,
>
>You wrote:
>
>karmasvanAdhi vishamEshu samO DayALu:
> svEnaiva kluptham apadesam avEkshamANa:
>svaprApathayE tanu-bhruthAm thvarasE Mukundha
> svAbhAvikam Tava suhrutthvam idham gruNanthi
>
>--SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 14
>
>Oh Lord! You have no natural likes or dislikes about anyone. You are
>equanimous in Your conduct towards all of the chEthanams. Even then,You can
>only grant the fruits to each jeevAthmA according to their karmAs. Your dayA
>guNam is matchless. Inspite of that abundant compassion , You will be
>accused of partiality if You grant  mOksham to a ChEthanam that has not used
>the means  (upAyam ) to seek Your grace. If You do that for one jeevan ,
>then You have to grant the mOksham to all jeevans independent of whether
>they have performed any UpAya anushtAnam or not . Theredore , You await the
>performance of the easiest to practise upAyam of Prapatthi.Even that
>performance of Prapatthi by the Jeevan is caused by You. You facilitate the
>performance of that UpAyam and immediately after rush to the side of the
>ChEthanam  to grant him the  parama gathi of Moksham. This generous and
>compassionate act of Yours has been described by sages as a proof of Your
>innate deep affection and friendship towards the Jeevans.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>--------------------Unquote-------------------------------------------------
>------------------------------
>I have a small doubt regarding the above. In this sloka Swamy Desikan states
>that He is waiting for a small pretext on the jeevAthmA, i.e., performing
>prapatti, to take the jeevAthmA unto Him. Swamy Desikan also says that this
>performance of prapatthi by the jeevAthmA is also induced by Him only. If
>that is so, what is the act on the part of the jeevAthmA [that he did
>something (sAdhyOpAyam)] to earn mOksha. On the other hand, if one agrees
>that the jeevAthmA is completely bound by the leela of Sriman nArAyaNan, and
>that is why He Himself induces the jeevAthmA to do prapatti, then why should
>He look for a vyAja (pretext) at all on the part of the jeevAthmA to grant
>mOksha. Isn't this a short coming on Him that He is expecting something and
>does this not go against the very title "avAptha samastha kAman" (The one
>who is completely fulfilled and needs no more from anybody). 
>
>Request you to kindly enlighten me on the above.
>
>AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
>adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
>Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Stock for $4.
No Minimums.
FREE Money 2002.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/7RdplB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
sv-poetry-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/