5th follow-up on "PPS"

[Guest guest]

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha

sri vedanta desika gurave namaha

 

Dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s',

 

We take up now for examination the other question (A) raised on the 'PPS' posts:

 

"How does an act of "prappati" suddenly transform strong feelings of

"virakthi" (self-denial rooted in revulsion) for the "material" world into

one of benign "resignation" --- an attitude Bharatha is said to have shown

towards Ayodhya and his ministry after the 'padUkA-pattAbhishEkam" ?

 

The human mind is a biological marvel, no doubt, but it is not a machine to

change gears instantly.

 

The mind can deal with only one set of emotions at one time. It can change

tack and show opposite sets of emotions, too. It can move from "hate" to

"love", from "greed" to "generosity" from "cowardice" to "heroism", for

instance. But such drastic changes in the Mind's psychological orientation

usually occur over a certain length of time and after considerable effort.

 

We all know that the process through which a patient, suffering from severe

"fear-or-depressive psychosis" ("bheethi"), recovers to a condition of

normal mental health is a gradual one. It takes many months, sometimes

years, of painstaking, therapeutic treatment.

 

Given the abject condition of the human mind as we described it after the

'virakthi' or 'bheethi' stage in the "PPS", how can we say that in the

'prasAdana-parva' -- after performing 'prappathi'-- it miraculously

overcomes its feelings of chronic revulsion or fear and thereby, and

thenceforth, assumes a wise and "cool-headed professional" attitude of

"benign resignation" towards the world and fellow-men ??!!

 

We know from the Ramayana, Bharatha did bring about such a change in his own

personality after the 'paduka-pattabhishEkam'. But are such things possible

for ordinary mortals like us ?

 

Are our own petty and "stressed" 20th-century minds amenable to the miracle

of psychological transformation that "prappati" involves ?

 

Dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', in spite of living in an age of "instant-coffee",

"instant car-washes", "instant airline reservations" and "instant

bank-tellers", isn't it supremely ironic that we, in this modern age, cannot

help, however, being skeptical about the "instant personality-shift" that

SriVaishnavism -- or Swami Desikan in his "PPS" -- states is so much

possible through genuine "prappathi" in the 'prasadana-parva' phase of one's

life ?!!

 

But the truth is, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', such a sudden and dramatic shift

in a true "prapanna's" mind -- from feelings of revulsion for the world to

one of "resigned acceptance of it" with all its warts and infirmities -- is

indeed possible !!

 

HOW ?!!

 

To answer that we resort to another of Sri.Parashara Bhattar's famous

"nirvAham-s" !!

 

I will describe it in my next post.

 

srimathE srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha

 

sudarshan