Articles for SharaNagati Journal prepared by Oppiliappan Sannidhi U.Ve. Dr.V.N.VedAntha Desikan : Part I

[Guest guest]

SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

As the editor of SarNAgathi Journal,

adiyEn had requested Vangipuram NavanItham

VedAntha Desikan Swamy of Oppiliappan

Sannidhi to bless us with few articles for

the SaraNAgathi Journal .

 

He has been gracious enough to send me

two excellent articles , which would be

of wider interest beyond the readership of

SaraNAgathy Journal .Hence I am releasing

these articles to You on this birth day of

Swamy Desikan instead of sitting on

them because of the long queue that we

are experiencing now for the articles

awaiting release in the SaraNAgathi Journal.

 

Dr.VedAntha Desikan(VNV) is one of the most distinguished

Sri VaishNavite Scholars ,who has the command of

English , Tamil and Sanskrit. He is doing yeoman

service to Sri VaishNavite Community by bringing

the AchArya Sri Sookthis and Dhivya Prabhandham

within the reach of one and all .

 

He contributes a series of articles to

Nrusimha priyA . The most recent series

is on Sri GuNa Rathna KOsam , the matchless

tribute ofParAsara Bhattar to Sri RanganAyaki

ThAyAr.

 

adiyEn is glad to share these articles

of Dr. V.N.Vedantha Desikan with you all,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan

 

 

The first Article by Dr.V.N.VedAntha Desikan

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Sri:

 

A SPIRITUAL OVERVIEW - I

 

These are times when myriads of metaphysical theses

are propagated though without a real basis.

They are often innovations of minds that have fertile

imagination that weaves some fictitious castles in

the air. They should be spurned by any religious-minded

person.

 

The Visishtadvaita system is built on solid

authority, namely, the most ancient literature,

the Vedas. The vedas are countless. They along with

the Smritis, holy Puranas etc. constitute

the rock-bottom of this system.

 

The genius of Ramanuja, that of Vedanta Desika

and that of many similarly >great minds have built

a sold edifice. That is what we call the Sri

Vaishnava system.

 

This religious system has as its 'Aadharasruti',

so to say, the Sesha-Seshi relationship between

individual souls and the supreme soul. Readers ought

to imbibe it first and foremost. They must recognise,

without any disdain or illwill, however, that

the so-called identity - propounded by Advaita -

is totally incongruent with the Vedas, is misconceived

on a wrong reading of certain lines, and irrational.

Brahman, the Supreme Soul and the individual

soul cannot be identical, by any stretch of

imagination. Why? For that matter, any one to speak

of an identity concept is itself a tacit acceptance

of two different things! To contend that all else

except Brahman is false is an unrealistic postulate.

To contend that deliverance from the world's

ills is secured by mere realisation of the oneness of

souls sounds very attractive - engaging enough

to fashionable aristocrats not given to any

serious thought or action or religious duty.

"Moksha by mere Jnana' is very >attractive; yes;

even to minds which cannot claim any intellectual virtue.

Could there be a greater intellect than Sri Desika !

 

Take real life. Do no disregard it. Sensients

and insentients constitute two principles;

they are the body to the Supreme Brahman. This Tattva -

traya should be first accepted. None of them can be

negated at will. The atheist negates God;

the so-called spiritualist in Advaitis negates

individual souls and the world of matter and

insentients. The realist that >the Visishtadvaitin

is concedes all three realities.

 

The individual souls and insensients - Chit and Achit

as they are called -stand as body to the soul that god is.

God pervades all. He is Vishnu. My >body subserves

my soul. I do things to please my soul. When I taste

a delicacy and enjoy it, when I hear (and revel thereby)

good music, the actual satisfaction is for my soul.

Take it one step further. We should do >all things only

to please the Supreme Soul, Lord Vishnu, who is the soul of

our souls.

 

Thus from Sareera - Sareeri relation ie. Body-soul

relation, we reach a conclusion regarding

Sesha - Seshi relation between individual souls

and the Supreme.

 

A word about the Supreme soul; He is Sriman-Narayana.

He may have thousands of names; his gunas, all auspicious,

noble and pleasing, are countless. But He is the ONLY GOD.

Identity of souls is wrong; identity even in respect of

Godhood is wrong. Narayana is the inner soul, controller,

prime mover to other souls, like Brahma, Indra, Siva etc.

Hence according a godhood to these personalities

and saying that all are gods, that all gods are equal

and so on is wrong premises. There ought to be

no mistaking in this regard.

 

This proposition is not born of hatred, bigotry,

fanaticism or narrow-mindedness. Polytheism is for

immature minds. The Vaishnavitas has

no disregard, contempt or hatred for Brahma,

Siva etc. He has no contempt for other men too.

Why, he cannot but revere other forms of life,

even a plant or a shrub. His love, his reverence

is universal in this sense. But recognising as

his Master, as His God, as his Seshi, he will accord

a unique position only to Lord Sriman Narayana.

 

Sesha means remnant a consciousness that one

is unimportant; one is merely a servant, a subservient,

existing to do all kinds of loving service. From

seshatva we go to dasatva and kainkarya. This word

Sesha is so much vital to our religion and is

a unique term too. It will be very interesting to

ponder over it.

 

We cannot serve many masters. If we do,

we will have no single-minded devotion.

What is to be our way of life ! Then we look to

a role model of service that Adisesha is.

Look at the name; Sesha. He symbolises the

Sesha-spirit uniquely. He serves God in all ways

at all times. He serves the Lord as an umbrella,

throne, paduka, couch, pillow, lamp and all else.

Whatever need arises at whichever moment,Adisesha

becomes the necessary material.He has no individual

liking. His praise is contained in a verse of

Poigaiazhvar, the first of the FIRST AZHVARS

(Mudalazhvars):

 

"Senrl Kudaiyam"" .........53

 

Very interestingly this verse has been included

as the sample from Tamil Vedas in the daily

aradhana ritual. This is contained in a verse of

lavandar also, ie. 'Nivasasayyasana'. Appropriately

his name is 'Sesha' because no one ever summarizes

in his personality, the totality of the 'sesha spirit'

as Adisesha does.

 

Two more points are relevant here; Vaishnavism

breathes service as its soul. Ramanuja was commenting,

in Srirangam, on Thiruvoymozhi. When the decade

'Ozhivil Kalamellam' came, his explanation took

a new turn: "Azhvar cherished, as his greatest goal,

service at Thirumalai with flowers, etc. Whoever will

go there? Is there one in this audience?" he asked

with a passion.

 

One listener offered. His name is Anathazhvan.

He finally settled on the Hill for rendering

flower - service. In those times a thousand years ago,

living on the Hill ought to have been a challenging

task. Only a bold and vigorous person could have

dared to take it up. Hence, he came to be known

as 'Anantaanpillai' (a real male youth !).

 

Ramanuja ordained that people should not ascend

the Hill except for service. The Hill is holy as it is

Adhisesha's body, according to Puranas. If it

is said that Azhvars did not go up the Hill,

Ramanuja hesitated; he finally walked on his knees.

Desika too first refused and had to be persuaded.

All had the greatest devotion to the Lord Srinivasa;

nevertheless no true Srivaishnava will ever think of

a trip up the Hill as anything but a holy pilgrimage.

To interpret that Ramanuja's invocation in Sri Bhashya

refers to Lord Srinivasa of Seshadri would not be

inappropriate, even if the traditional commentaries

do not appear to emphasise it. He wrote his first

work, 'Vedarthasangraha' before this Lord.

In his exposition of philosophy while commenting on

Brahma-sutras, the nature and characteristics of Jiva

(the individual soul) had to be mentioned.

To consciousness or jnana, he added Seshatva too.

There is an interesting episode cited in Thiruvoimozhi

commentary that this subtle concept Ramanuja imbibed

from Thirukkottiyur Nambi to whom Azhvan had to go many

a time to get it! Nammazhvar's 'Adiyanullan

udalullan' (VIII 8.2) is taken to emphasise that

the individual ought to feel, behave and order

his life as a Sesha, servant of the Lord.

 

To crown all these facts mentioned, we may remember

that Ramanuja is believed to be the incarnation of

Adisesha, the first and foremost of Nityasooris.

 

There is a particularly phase in Thiruvoymozhi III 6.8

'Dayaratharkku Mahan tannai'. It means ' the son to

Dasaratha'. Azhvar does not speak of Rama here

as the son of Dasaratha but as the son to Dasaratha!

It implies the dative case, not the genitive. It is

reminiscent of the mantras like Namo Narayanaya.

What is the great significance? Rama stood as

a role model for Vaishnavite seshatva. He behaved as if

he existed only for pleasing his father!

 

Dasaratha : Don the Crown !

Son Rama : Yes, Sir;

Dasaratha : Go to the forest

Son Rama : Yes, I am going

 

He did not rejoice on the first command,

nor grieve on the latter. Rama's avatara

was only to show to us how to behave, nay, even to

enjoin on us to be true Seshabhoota souls.

 

Not only this; there are two brother characters.

Lakshmana and Bharata.Lakshmana - incidentally

an incarnation of Adisesha, so to say!, as

the later Rama-anuja or Lakshmana-yogi,

as he is called implies. Seshatva implies Dasatva;

that is kainkarya. To perform this kainkarya to Rama

and Sita, Lakshmana insisted on following to

the forest the Divine couple!

 

Ramayana teaches us also to perform kainkarya to

the Divine couple. To the Desika-Sampradaya,

the Prapatti aims at surrendering to the couple and

later at serving the same couple. That is why

we prefer to devote the Epic as Srimad-Ramayana.

We should ever cherish the goal of service to

the Divine Lord, Sriman-Narayana - that is Lord Narayana

with Mahalakshmi.

 

But our individual life in society should bear

the stamp of Bharata, in his Paratantra sprit

He did not stubbornly and intransigently follow

Rama to the forest. He was swayed by Rama's will

rather than by his own desire to serve Rama.

In him, the Paratantra spirit is palpable.

Bharata was truly service, as a dunt unconscious,

being!, to serve the Lord but without any own wish

or aspirations. To be an obedient liege, to obey

and not to question why, is the sum and substance of

Bharata's character.

 

May we be all servants of God like Lakshmana,

ever serving Him; may we also be, at the same time

truly servile, serving Him, as Bharata did, totally in

self-abnegation, to efface the own self and its loves

and longings; in short, we must combine in ourselves

both Lakshmana and Bharata.

 

To be totally subordinate to the Sankalpa of

the Lord - Bhagavat ->sankalpaadheenetva - is the true

hallmark of a Srivaishnavite. We should

reduce ourselves to the level of an insentient

matter. Even when you are happy with what you have

done as His service behave as though you were

fragrant flowers, sandalpaste, or some other

article of enjoyment. They furnish great joy to

the sensient being, but they themselves do not have

a scope for pleasure. You should also be like them;

you are not to seek any personal satisfaction;

you serve God for His pleasure. Complete

self-effacement is the motto!

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Sannidhi V.N.Vedanta Desikan