srichoorna paripAlanai- reason

[Guest guest]

srimatE rAmAnujAya nama:

 

Pranamams.

 

A few months ago I had posted a question in this forum asking for the

reason for doing "srichoorna paripAlanai" to a prapanna's body after

the soul leaves the body. I had not received any response from anyone.

Yesterday in U.Ve. Sriman M.A.Venkatakrishnan Swamy's discourse on

Tiruppalandu he happened to mention the reason. Since someone else at

a later date may have the same question, I am recording it in this

list via this posting.

 

The only reason Srichoorna paripalanai is done is, since the Atman in

that body reached paramapadam after leaving that particular body,

that body is considered very very special and needs to be honored.

That is because, unlike the countless other bodies that the Atma took

prior to that, this one is a "special body" in view of the fact that

while in that body, the Atman went thru pancha samskaram through the

grace of an Acharya and ultimately attained paramapadam due to

rAmAnuja sambhandham. It is to show respect for this body that

"srichoorna paripalanai" and recitation of certain manthrams are done

for the body.

 

Sriman MAV Swamy went on to say how in the case of Jeeyars and

matAdhipathis, their bodies are even given "tirumanjanam" and the

theertham from it is given to all those present.

 

If anyone has more questions on this, they can ask the same during the

Q & A session that Swami MAV is planning to hold in the coming weeks.

 

rAmAnuja dAsi

[Guest guest]

bhakti-list, bvsheela wrote:

> That is because, unlike the countless other bodies that the Atma

took

> prior to that, this one is a "special body" in view of the fact

that

> while in that body, the Atman went thru pancha samskaram through

the

> grace of an Acharya and ultimately attained paramapadam due to

> rAmAnuja sambhandham.

 

In the interests of accuracy, it should be pointed out that

the attainment of moksha is possible only through the grace

of the Lord who is the paramAtman seated within the heart.

Association with Sri Ramanuja or Sri Ramanuja's tradition

is neither necessary nor sufficient to attain the moksha;

rather, it is a helpful factor (perhaps the most helpful

factor) on the way to becoming a jnAni, a 'wise one'. As

Sri Ramanuja explains, following up on Lord Krishna's remarks,

the jnAni is one who has an unbearable thirst for the Lord and

the Lord alone. Sri Ramanuja also clarifies so explicitly in

Sribhashya, the Lord alone is once again the 'setu' to 'amRta'

-- the bridge to immortality. The jnAni recognizes this in his

or her very being and is therefore is that rare vessel that is

completely filled with the grace of the Lord.

 

Being such a jnAni is concomitant with the attainment of

moksha -- so, if I may clarify your statement above, to be

faithful to Sri Ramanuja's own teachings, we must say that

we anoint the lifeless body with tirumaN kAppu to recognize

that *the Lord's grace* was fully operative in respect to

the jIva who ensouled that body, and in this last earthly

sojourn this jIva attained the state of 'jnAni'.

 

With regards,

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

Mani

[Guest guest]

srImathE rAmAnujAya namaha

srImadh varavara munayE namaha

 

Dear Sri Mani

 

Probably what Sri MAV mentioned and what Smt Sheela paraphrased as "mOksha

due to Sri rAmAnuja sambhandam" comes from the well know incident mentioned

in the Guruparampara prabhAvams, where Sriman nArAyaNan declared mOksham,

out of ecstasy, to all who have rAmAnuja sambhandam. This, however, does

not invalidate your point that, it is only the grace of Sriman nArAyaNan

which will enable the jeevAtmA to attain mOksham.

 

The first statement is more out of compassion towards swamy emberumAnAr, by

emberumAn Himself. So both are to be considered as parallels, though the

former, as you said, is not necessary. But sufficiency.....?, yes, it is

the word of emberumAn Himself. So the possibility is very much there that

it is sufficient.

 

But the point to be remembered is that, just undergoing pancha samskaram

and claiming that we have received the rAmAnuja sambhandam is utterly

wrong. Yes, we might have gained the sambhandam but we have to sustain it

with our "krtya karaNAs"(prescribed deeds). This is more like the saying

that " Sustaining is more difficult than Getting the ISO Certification".

Needless to explain here what is ISO certification.

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh

[Guest guest]

> > prior to that, this one is a "special body" in

> view of the fact

> that

> > while in that body, the Atman went thru pancha

> samskaram through

> the

> > grace of an Acharya and ultimately attained

> paramapadam due to

> > rAmAnuja sambhandham.

 

The speciality of the body is that it belongs to

the Lord. The process of samskaram basically is

performing ahuti with the body. The body is offered

as havis into the funeral pyre. The sankalpa,

apparently,

is done as "paramapada prAptyartham". The soul has

already departed to its owner. There is no use for

the body. Now, the body is offered through fire

to the Lord. Since the body belongs to the Lord,

and is going to be offered to Him, it is adorned

with the markings of a vaishNava vasthu - i.e.

thirumaN/srIchUrNam. It is interesting to note that

many communities (predominantly the non-brahmin

communities) call the whole process as "nArAyaNa

bali" or "thirunArAyaNa bali". For some reason,

the brahmin community in tamizhnAdu does not use

that name, which seems quite apt for the process.

 

similar to the above, the process

of samasrayaNam signifies our thinking

ourselves as acEtana vasthus in complete servitude

to the Lord, and the putting of markings that denote

the ownership - i.e. the sanku and chakkaram on the

vasthu - recall periyAzhvAr thirumozhi

senniyOngu pathigam - ennaiyum en udaimaiyaiyum un

chakkarap poRi oRRik koNdu; thiruvAymozhi - uruvaar

chakkaram sangu sumandhu ingu ummOdu

 

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,

varadhan

 

 

 

 

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