Nitya Suri, Jeevan Mukta, Ontological Status of Maha Lakshmi

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Dear Lakshmi Narayana Dasaas:

 

Recently Murali Rajgopalan started us off to think about the nettlesome

question, which has

been heavily commented upon by the Acharyas of Sri Bhagavat Ramanuja Siddhantam.

Although I am not a scholar under any sense of the term, I must confess that

the Subject

has intrigued me. I did a lot of looking up of the original source literature

and Bhashyas

to find clues to the doctrine of Goddess Sri in Sri Vaishnava Sampradhaayam. I

will be happy to

share these thoughts with you , mostly from the point of view of stimulating

additional

discussions. May I ask as to how many among the group have a copy of the

following two books ,

WHICH PROVIDE A LOT OF PERTINENT REFERENCES TO BEGIN WITH:

 

1. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam book on Visishtadvaitam by Sri A. Srinivasa

Raghavan.(Publication

no.277, 1985).

2. Vaishnavism , its Philosophy, Theology and Religious Discipline by Dr.

S.M.Srinivasa Chari

 

The reason for asking is that these two books cover extensively the essence of

the answers

for the questions on the Status of Sri Devi vis a Vis Her Consort , Sriman

Narayana.

 

If these books are not available to the majority of the members, I would have to

include lengthy

Quotations from them to avoid commentary or summarization. You can send me a

note online

directly on this , so that I can get an idea of how extensive the reference to

the source literature has

to be included in the postings. This is a very important subject for all of Us

and therefore,

I do not mind spending some time on it as a Labor of love and NOT for purposes

of pompous

pontification by a novice. What I may be able to put together might still not

anticipate all questions and doubts. That is the exciting part in so far as it

sets the stage for further discussions amongst us..

 

Swami Desikan himself has said that doubts are likely to arise in the minds of

people about

the Vaishnava Tattvas and it is essential that the doubts should be cleared.

He has anticipated

such doubts in many of his works and has also cleared them as he understood from

his

Acharya Parampara. He probably had all of us in mind , who are some what

stranded here without

the benefit of direct contact with our own learned Acharyas to ask the

questions and have the doubts

cleared. My attempt will be a poor substitute, but I am willing to make an

attempt to

stimulate discussions on this important topic..

 

The questions related to the Bhaddha Jivan, Mukta Jeevan, Jeevan Muktan, and

Nitya Suris are much

easier to explain in the light of our Acharya"s views. I will start with that

first and then focus on

the issues discussed by our Acahryas on the Unique status of SRI in Our SRI

SAMPRADHAYAM.

 

Our Siddhantam has its roots in the Vaishnavite Doctrines understood and

explained by Alavandaar,

Natha Muni and Nammazhvar. Swami Desikan clarified much of it for us in his many

works

and reconciled many apparently conflicting views. He has established the

Vibhutvam,

Iswaratvam and Jagat Kaaranatvam of SRI and reconciled it with her role as the

Saha Dharmacharini

of her consort . He has written Bhashyams on Chatusloki and , Gadya Trayams. He

clarified further

for us the role of SRI in Visishtadvaitam in his other works known as SaaraSaram

and Nyaya

Siddhanjanam. In his Chatusloki Bhashyam (a Commentary on Yamuna"s Chatusloki) ,

he

establishes that the nature, Power and position of Goddess Lakshmi is equal to

Her Lord.

In other Rahasya Granthas such as Rahasya Ratnavali, Sarasara and Sarasangraha

, he

sheds light also on this subject. His Virodha Parihara summarizes 109 doubts

and objectons

to Rahasya Trya Mantras -the topic of his Magnum Opus, Rahsya Trya Saaram-- and

answers

them. This was more or less the last work with which he blessed us as he

approached

his last years of his one hundred and one years of life on this earth. The

questions on her receiving

Upadesam form her Lord and her relation to the Nitya Suris can be the topics of

our discussions.

 

V.Sadagopan