"The Choice"

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

The Choice

 

If the Lord is indeed infinitely merciful, why doesn't He spare

everybody the miseries of Samsara? Why doesn't He liberate everybody from the

constricting fetters of Karma and afford the boundless bliss of Paradise to all?

Is it not His duty, as our Divine Father, to see that we are happy always?

 

Why does He let some people, in fact most of them, go astray in paths that lead

nowhere? Why does He watch unconcernedly while most of us go round and round in

circles, knowing not the way out of the mundane maze? Sri Nammazhwar defends the

Lord against such accusations by pointing out that if everyone were to be

liberated, these elaborate worlds, the Karma bhoomis, created for the purpose of

the Lord's leela and for affording good and bad experiences to the righteous and

the evil, would go barren and unpopulated - "elleerum veedu pettrAl ulagu illai

endrE". Another fallacy of the Sarva Mukti Prasangam or advocacy of liberation

for all, is that there would be no reward for good behaviour nor any

disincentive for sinful conduct, plunging the world into anarchy, utter disorder

and chaos.

 

There is another aspect that is equally puzzling, when we realize that

it is He who directs all our actions, sitting in our heart as the Inner

Controller-"anta: pravishta: SAshtA janAnAm sarvAtmA" says the Shruti, attesting

to the fact that we are mere puppets suspended on a string, dancing to the tunes

of the Paramatma, who is the "SUtradhAri". We are thus incapable of lifting even

our little finger without His say-so. This being the case, why does He want to

play with us and our lives, instead of taking us away us to His eternal abode?

The Upanishad clarifies this further by emphasizing the role of the antaryAmi,

who, unbeknownst to us, controls all our actions, good and bad-"Ya AtmAnam

antarO yamayati sa ta AtmA antaryAmi amrita:"

 

If we think about it, we appear to be mere toy horses on a

merry-go-round, helplessly going round and round in circles, willy-nilly,

activated by the Lord who holds the lever of the machine in His hand, sending us

whizzing into the machine's orbit or letting us stay still in our respective

positions, as He wills. The Gitacharya Himself confesses this to Arjuna-

 

"Isvara: sarva bhootAnAm hrit dEsE Arjuna tishttathi

BhrAmayan sarva bhootAni yantra AroodAni mAyayA"

 

As if this were not enough, the Kousheetaki Upanishad tells us that the

Lord Himself induces us to perform good deeds if He wants to liberate us, and

leads us astray, if He intends us to spend our lives in this sorrow-filled

mundane morass-

 

"Esha hi Eva sAdhu karma kArayati yamEbhyO lOkEbhya: unnineeshati

Esha Eva asAdhu karma kArayati tam yam adhO nineeshati"

 

The wisdom and goodness to pray to the Lord as well as the indifference to His

attractions or outright ill will towards Him, leading respectively to the higher

worlds or the accursed ones below, are also the result of His own prompting,

says the Gita-

 

"dadhAmi bhuddhi yOgam tam yEna mAm upayAnti tE"

 

"tAn aham dvishada: kroorAn samsArEshu narAdhamAn

kshipAmi ajasram ashubhAn Asureeshu yOnishu"

 

It doesn't appear fair- if it is indeed the Lord who induces us to engage in

good deeds or bad, why should we be made to shoulder the burden of their

inevitable fall out? Everybody knows that the agent, acting upon instructions of

the principal, is not liable for any consequences flowing therefrom. Similarly,

why should the fruit of good and bad action stick to us, and not to the Lord,

who is really responsible, being the driving force behind the action? When a

hunter directs an arrow at a dove, would the dove blame the arrow for hitting

it? What logic is there in penalizing an instrument, when the real culprit is

the person using it?

 

It is indeed true that the Lord directs the activities of individual

souls. However, this is after the Jeevatma is afforded the freedom of initial

action (prathama pravritti). When it acts in the very first instance, the

Jeevatma is endowed with a small measure of independence, enabling it to choose

its path. The Lord doesn't interfere in this choice, which is solely the soul's.

However, once the choice is made, the Lord lets the Jeevatma go its chosen way,

channelling its efforts in that direction. Thus, though Emperuman is the inner

controller, the primary path to be traversed is indeed selected by the

individual soul, making it responsible for subsequent developments, good or bad.

When we are at the crossroads, the Policeman manning the crossing does not

require us to go any particular way. It is we who, of our own volition, choose

the road we want to travel on. Whatever we encounter on the chosen road, be it

robbers armed to the teeth who relieve us of our possessions, or a wedding party

who takes us for a free lunch, is the result of our own free choice. It is this

element of initial choice which the Jeevatma is endowed with, that makes it the

Karta, the Doer, responsible for his deeds, even though his subsequent actions

in the chosen direction might indeed be prompted and actively aided by the

Paramatma.

 

If the Jeevatma were to lack even this initial independence, then the vast

body of Shastras, enjoining upon the individual soul to do this and to refrain

from doing that, would all become purposeless. What is the use of a Scripture,

if it is addressed to a remote-controlled slave, who has neither the

independence nor the capability to obey its dictates? Thus, for the Shastras to

be meaningful they must have as their audience people with some measure of

liberty and this is one of the reasons for the Jeevatma's limited freedom during

prathama pravritti.

 

It would therefore appear that the Lord has three roles- one of

indifference, one of permission and one of active facilitation.

 

The Lord just watches the Jeeva during his initial endeavour, allowing

the latter to choose the right direction or wrong, of its own free will. At this

stage, the Lord is just an observer, and doesn't interfere in any way.

 

At the second stage, the Lord permits the soul to proceed on the path of

its choice and perform actions appropriate to the same. This permission of the

Lord is required because the Jeeva is incapable of independent action. Emperuman

is thus the "anumanthA", according approval for the Jeeva's deeds. Approval here

doesn't mean that the Lord is pleased or otherwise with the soul's efforts, but

merely allows unhindered progress on the chosen path.

 

There comes a third stage, where the Lord , by now convinced of the Jeeva's

proclivity for the righteous path or otherwise, actively aids the progress of

the individual soul by propelling it along the way to wisdom and liberation, or

on the disastrous route to destruction, to rot forever in the hellish worlds

below, with no hope of redemption.

 

The Lord thus doesn't play favourites-He gives everyone the freedom of

choice to exercise their preference for a particular path, and then helps them

along their way, whether good or bad. For those who hold Him dear, cherish His

memory as precious, spend their time in singing His praises or in His constant

worship-for these bhaktAs, He too responds by bestowing them with wonderful

wisdom, whereby they choose a suitable strategy like Bhakti or Prapatti and

reach His lotus feet for performing uninterrupted and unhindered service to the

Lord.

 

On the other hand, for those who display only hate, ill will and disdain for the

Lord, He too responds in kind as He did in the case of Ravana, Hiranyaksha,

Hiranyakasipu and others of their ilk, and hastens them along on their chosen

route of ruin.

 

Even when we are at the crossroads, we thus have very clear

pointers-one pointing towards the Lord, leading to righteousness, devotion,

overwhelming love, wisdom and liberation-and the other away from Emperuman,

being the perilous path of evil, of disregard for the Shruti and Shastras,

leading to accursed births in Asuric clans and ultimate annihilation.

 

The choice is ours.

 

Srimate SriLakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan