ref: prapatti

[Guest guest]

dileepan writes:

 

.. 2. Is Bhakti a means or is it an end in itself?

 

...To me it is neither. From (1) above I must reject Bhakti as a means to

..salvation. Swami Desikan considers Bhakti too demanding. How can

..I presume to even understand bhakti let alone practice it as a means of

..salvation. Next, is Bhakti an end in itself? All our scriptures tell us

..hat paramapatham is the goal. I think it is fanciful to consider Bhakti

..s the goal.

 

..Then what is the role of bhakti? To me, bhakti is the result of prapatti.

..Having surrendered to the Lord, bhakti flows out uncontrollably from

 

..----- End Included Message -----

Please note the work Bhakti does not mean just Bhakti or devotion but

a methodology described in the sastras and termed - Bhakti Yoga. This

yoga is described in the chapters 7 thru 12 of Bhagawadgita. it needs

Karma yoga and jnana yoga as accessories before one can become qualified

for bhaktiyoga. When one says Bhakti is a goal or phala bhakti it means

that what is attained in the state of paramapada. In the state of

paramapada there is this eternal un diluted devotion of the aspirant towards

his saviour Srimannarayana. This can be taken as a goal. In fact Ramanuja

himself has stated that "Kama" is the ultimate purushartha! but not the

material form of it. but the Kama between jeevatma and paramatma is the

purushartha. In that sense bhakti can become a goal. then it is not the

same as bhakti yoga. so phala bhakti is same as paramapada and it can

be attained by bhakti yoga or prapatti according to Sri Ramanuja.

 

of the 5 angas of prapatti - one is very essential - Mahavishwasa - or

trust that GOd will certainly protect us. Even though one may have problems

in other angas of prapatti. one should have Mahavishwasa. Do not think

that in the case of kids performing prapatti, mahavishwasa is not needed.

the parents or who ever takes the kid to Acharya should have mahavishwasa

 

some times Acharyas observe "Acharya Nishta" method of prapatti for kids

this means only leaving the kid to the care of Acharya is sufficient and

Acharya takes the responsibilities of this kid's "nivritti marga" ie. salvation.

 

 

Krishna

[Guest guest]

I think in Ramanuja's time, the terms "bhakti" and "prapatti" were

not quite as distinct as they became two centuries later, i.e., in

the time of Pillai Lokacarya and Vedanta Desika. For example,

Parasara Bhattar, who was a boy at the time of Ramanuja's death,

uses the terms "bhakti" and "bhaktiyoga" to mean simply chanting

the names of the Lord, singing his praises, and clasping ones

hands together in surrender. (Bhagavad-guNa DarpaNa, a commentary

on the Vishnu SahasranAmam -- the name of the work itself is quite

wonderful -- "Mirror of the Lord's Qualities".) Tirukurukai Piraan

Pillaan, the first commentator on the Tiruvaymozhi, uses bhaktiyoga

in a similar manner.

 

Regarding the term bhakti, in fact, Vedanta Desika is obliged to say

in his commentary on Sri Ramanuja's Vaikuntha Gadyam that Ramanuja's

statement that he wants "bhakti" means that he wants bhakti as an end,

not a means for moksha. Similarly, I think one of our acharyas has

said that once one has dedicated oneself to PerumaaL, she or he

should pray only for bhakti and jnaanam; that is the sign of true

surrender.

 

Anyway, I don't think that anyone would deny that bhakti

and prapatti go hand in hand; one really cannot have one without

the other, no matter how one defines "bhakti".

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

It is interesting to note these passages from Dr. N.S. Anantharangachar's

thesis

"The Philosophy of Sadhana in Visistadvaita". He draws heavily from the

Rahasya Traya Sara of Sri Vedanta Desika.

I think this throws light on the interrelationship between Prapatti and

Bhakti : ---

 

 

" ... Desika declares that Ramanuja has expounded the doctrine of Bhakti

in his Sri Bhasyam & Gitabhashyam and that he has expounded the doctrine of

Saranagati in his great Gadyas."

 

"Bhaktiyoga and Prapatti are the two chief upayas to be adopted for attaining

salvation. These two means are quite different and distinct and are meant for

two different types of aspirants.........."

 

" ..... Bhakti and Prapatti are very closely interrelated and are generally

given

a common name as Prapatti or Bhakti. The diffrence between the two, viz.

Bhakti and

Prapatti is pointed by terming them `SadvAraka' or `Anga Prapatti' and

`AdvArka' or

`Angi Prapatti', respectively. Bhakti is included in Prapatti and Prapatti is

included

in Bhakti. That is why Bhakti is called Sadhana Bhakti and Prapatti is called

Sadhya

Bhakti. Those who adopt Prapatti as the sole and direct means, are adpoting

Sadhya

Bhakti whereas those who adopt Prapatti as an auxillary means to perfect

another

means (viz., Bhaktiyoga) are adopting Sadhana Bhakti."

 

"The fundamental difference between these two means is this, namely, that

Prapatti

is a sub-means in one, and the Chief means in another. Both the aspirants of

the

path of Bhaktiyoga and Prapatti are virtually prapannas since the former adpot

it as

an anga or part of Bhakti, whereas the latter adopt it as an independent

means.

Likewise both of them are Bhaktas, for Bhakti is the Phala or fruit for one

and the Sadhana or means for another."

 

"....The speciality of Prapatti is that it has universal appeal, without any

restriction like Bhaktiyoga."

 

Another interesting feature of Prapatti:-

 

" ... Prapatti is capable of destroying even that part of the PrArabdha

Karma

that has not yet begun to result in addition to the Samchita Karmas. So the

Prapanna is not obliged to be born again and again to exhaust the PrArabdha

Karma just like the aspirant of Bhaktiyoga."

 

To sum it up he adds :-

 

"...Prapatti has all the merits of Bhaktiyoga without its limitations".

 

 

regards,

-sudarshan