Recent Postings on Nirhethuka and Sahethuka Krupa of the Lord & Prapatthi

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Prapatthi group :

 

I read once more the erudite postings on the subject

and wish to concur with Sri Mani Varadarajan that the

philosophies of grace can not be reduced to stark ,

one dimensional points of view . They are not black and white .

As in real life , there are shades of gray . The two AcharyAs,

Sri PiLLai Lokachaar and Swami Desikan's views do not

differ too much about the Lord's ever-existent Daya

and the need for us " to make the proper mental

affirmation for it to bear fruit ".

 

As Sri Vidyasankar has referred to , many religions based

on VedAs focus on the abundant saving grace of the Lord . In Saiva

Siddhaantham , the cardinal text is " Thiruvarut Payan " .

These are written as SutrAs and have been commented upon

heavily to emphasize the Lord's infinite grace and " its interplay with

our Behavior " .MaaNickka vachakar's Thiruvaachakam and

the works of othe rNaayanmArs are rich with thEvaara paNNgaLthat

deal with this important subject . I will focus in this posting on

the concept of grace in Sri VaishNavism as I understand it

and relate it to recent postings to continue

the discussions on this important and cardinal doctrine .

 

Sri Mani has analysed the issues related to the two types of KrupAs

referred to in Sri Vaishnavite Philosophy in depth in his

informative posting of May 7 . I agree with the statement that

the Lord's grace is always there for us and our self-surrender is

a VyajA to benefit from its full power .

 

In one of the Acharya Hrudhayam SutrAs , the brother of

Sri PiLLai LokAchAr , Sri Azhagiya MaNavALa erumAL

nAyanAr describes the agitated and impatient state of the Lord

waiting for the dawning of the pakkuvam of NammAzhwAr . He compares

the Lord's state to that of a very hungry man waiting by the fire side

impatiently looking at the rice pot , where the rice is being cooked

and checking on the progress of cooking constantly and eagerly

waiting for the cooked rice to be ready for eating (padam )

enjoyment . The relevant sutram is :

 

" BhOgya paakadvarai teLindha sandhaikku munnil

moonRilum prakatam " .... Sutram 176 , Aacharya Hrudhayam

 

The reference here is to the impatient waiting of the Lord

at ThiruppuLingudi , VaraguNamangai and Sri Vaikuntam divya

desams . AzhwAr is Bhogya boothar and the Lord is AnubhokthA .

The Lord has padaRRam (agitation and impatience ) since

his grace is ready to flow and the " maturation " of the parama bhakthi

of the Azhwaar is progressing ever so slowly towards its state of fruition

and ultimate union with the Lord .

 

The author of Acharya Hrudhayam says that the Lord waited

impatiently first by stretching on Adiseshan at ThirupuLingudi ,

second by sitting at VaraguNamangai

and standing at Sri Vaikuntam for His Nirhethuka KrupA to flow .

At these three divya desams , the Lord has sayana , Veerirundha

and ninRa thirukkOlams .

 

The reference here is to the Thiruvaimozhi Paauram (9.2.4 ) ,

where Azhwar says :

 

" PuLingudi Kidanthu VaraguNamangai irundhu

VaikunthatthuL ninru , teLinthaven chinthaham kazhiyAthE

Yennai aaLvAiyenakkuruLi ----" .

 

At ThirukkAtkari divya desam , AzhwAr describes as to

how the joyous Lord lifted him up

and tightly embraced him and enjoyed him with great joy :

 

" aatkkoLvaanotthu yennuyir unda Maayan " , " Vaarikondunnai

vizhungavan kaaNileru aarvuRR yennai ozhiya yennil munnam

paaritthu taan yennai muRRa paruhinAn , kaarokkum

Kaatkaraiappan " .

 

The union between the Bhogya bhoothar

(Azhwaar ) and anubhokthA (the Lord ) after pakkuvam

or the maturation of the mental affirmation is described here .

Else where , we hear AzhwAr describing the Lord entering

and pervading his " nenju " as a vyajam for his uttering the

word , Thirumaalirumcholai and ThiruppErai :

 

" Thrumaalirumcholai malai yenREnenna

Thirumaal vandhennenju niraya puhundaan --" TVM 10.8.1

 

" pErEyuraihinra pirAn inru vandhu

pErEnenRennenju nirayappuhundaan " --- TVM 10.1.2

 

In the next pasuram , BhOgya bhootha Azhwaar describes

his joy over "catching " the Lord firmly and holding Him in

his heart with great aanandham. Azhwaar also wonders

about the simplicity of his union with Him and the banishment

of the maayaa of Samsaaraic sorrow for him as a result :

 

" piditthEn piravi kedutthEn piNi saarEn

maditthEn manai vaazhkaiyuL niRpathOr maayayai

kodikkopura maadangaL soozh ThiruppErAn

adicchervathu yenakku yeLithAayinavARE "

---- TVM 10.9.3

 

Here , Azhwar celebrates with thankfulness about how

easy it became to rest at the feet of the Lord of ThiuppEr

through the fruition of his SaraNAgathi thru the simple

act of uttering the name of the divya desam ,

Thirumaalirumcholai and ThiruppEr .

 

Azhwaar is 28 paasurams away here from concluding his

Thiruvaimozhi vaachika sevai and is about to describe his

ascent to Parama padham via the archiraadhi margam .

His choice of words to describe his bhaagyam are very

relevant for the ongoing discussions on sahethuka

and nirhethuka krupaa and their effect on SaraNAgathi .

 

In the next posting , I will write furhter about the intertwining of

the sahethuka and nirhethuka krupaas and the flow of

the Lord's sahaja and aparimitha karuNaa towards a prapannan .

 

Azhwaar , AchaaryAL , Divya DampathigaL thiruvadigaLE saraNam,

 

Oppiliappn Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan