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

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TV, Venkatesh [FRCO/TOK] • March 28, 2002 


srImathE rAmAnujAya namaha
srImadh varavara munayE namaha.

Dear srImAn Sadagopan swamy.

First let me reciprocate the Panguni Utthiram greetings to you. Thank you
for your blessings on this holy day. I thank you very much for the immediate
and elaborate reply. I still have that original doubt. The analogy of the
mother's milk flow to the baby sucking it fits very well. But my doubt is
that, do you say, the jeevAtmA has a little svAthanthryam on his/her part to
do something so that it becomes a pretext for Sriman nArAyan to grant
him/her the mOksham? 

If that is so, what actually the jeevAthmA is doing on his part. You have
clearly stated that Sriman nArAyaNan shows a sadhAchAryan to the jeevAthmA
and from there the sadhAchAryan takes the jeevAthmA to the point of doing
prapatti and actually helps him in doing it. If that is the case, the seed
is sowed by emberumAn only and once the seed is sown, it is natural on the
part of the jeevAthmA to proceed in just the same way as the plants grow.
However, if you are to say that, just sowing is not enough and someone has
to water the plant, please note that, here the watering is done by the
sadhAchAryan and no effort is needed on the part of the plant. But when the
plant is watered properly it is natural for it to grow. So the plant is
actually doing nothing and that is the position of jeevAthmA. Again
superimposing this analysis on the krupa issue, please note that
Thirumazhsaii AzhwAr in his Thirucchanda viruttham, says that emberumAn is
capable of turning the back the jeevAthmA into wrong ways, if He wishes and
this is due to His nirankusa swAthanthriyam.

pAsuram 85: 
nacharAvaNaikkidandha nAdha! pAdha pOdhinil
vaittha sindhai vAnguvitthu neenguvikka nee inam
meitthan vallaiyAdhalAl aRindhanan nin mAyamE
uiytthu nin mayakkinil mayakkal ennai mAyanE

[AzhwAr says, "vaittha sindhai vAnguvithhu". This means He is capable to
taking back the thoughts (about Him) that He has given to the AzhwAr (and
hence the jeevAthmA) and also "neenguvitthu", meaning, completely getting
rid off. His capability is expressed by the words " meitthan vallai" (surely
you can). Finally says by doing this He is mesmerising (mayakkinil) him
(AzhwAr) and hence "please do not do this to me"].

This pAsuram clearly, with any sibling of doubts in one's mind, brings out
the "nirankusa swAthanthriyam" of emberumAn. So if He can change the
thoughts as per His wish as per the above pAsuram, what is the need for Him
to expect anything at all from the jeevAthmA to bestow His grace. So it
seems that, it is only emberumAn who out of His own wish and sankalpa &
kAruNyam and krupA, takes the jeevAthmA on the right path and hence give the
salvation. 

On the other hand, if, as you said, He bestows this grace on the jeevAthmA,
only based on his past good deeds according to the karma theory, then it is
again a shortcoming on the part of emberumAn. This time it is on His guNA of
"nirankusa swAthanthriyam" (Unfettered independence). This attribute of
emberumAn is one of the main attributes glorified by all our poorvAchAryAs.
As said above, if He is to bestow the grace, based on karma theory, then He
will be only called as "sAstra vasyan" (bound by sAstrAs) and not "nirankusa
swathanthran". Well, one may say that, the sAstrAs were created by Him, so
there is nothing wrong if He follows it. Please note, there is nothing wrong
if He "follows" it, but it cannot be that He is bound by it. As all of us
know, He created the sAstrAs, basically as a guideline for us to lead a
peaceful life. So He cannot be bound by the sAstrAs. 

Also, the nyAsa dasakam slOka which you have cited very clearly proves that
there is no independant effort on the part of the jeevAthmA to earn His
grace. Please note that the slOkA ends with the arterious words "nyasyathi
mAm svayam" ("You" make me surrender to you). So how is it that the
jeevAthmA is doing something at all on his part to attain His grace.  

Recently I was reading a book by Sri P.B Annangarachariar swamy in which he
has quoted from MunivAhana bhOgam of swAmy dEsikar, the following. In the
avathArikai, swAmy dEsikar says "kAraNa vasthu innadhenRu aRudhiyida
mudiyAdha krupaiyinAlE......". Very clearly swAmy dEsikar says, that there
is no reason for His grace. So how is it that some thing on the part of the
jeevAthmA is required to receive His grace. I ask this question, as you have
stated this as swAmy dEsikar's view. Maybe if there is a different
interpretation to the above avathArikai, please enlighten me about it.

Request you to kindly enlighten me on the above. 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh



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