The Life After..

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra

Mahadesikaya nama:

 

The Life After...

 

The Scripture exhorts us to get out of Samsara by adopting a

suitable strategy therefor. This is because this world of ours is both

impermanent and sorrow-filled-“anityam asukham lOkam”.

Things regarded by us as pleasures prove to be both short-lived and

puerile-“alpam, astthiram”. The Lord Himself tells us the

way out too-“anityam asukham lOkam imam prApya bhajasva

mAm”. Having suffered enough from the unrelenting shackles of

Karma, the only way we can obtain relief is to surrender to Him,

either directly through Prapatti or indirectly through Bhakti. Since

the latter strategy is beyond the contemplation of frail mortals like

us due to its long-drawn-out and continuous nature, involving strict

adherence to numerous tenets requiring super-human discipline, we

have to plump for Prapatthi through our Acharya. This done, we live

the rest of our lives on this earth in sweet relief-“nirbharO

nirbhayOsmi”, looking forward to the day when this life would

end, the day the Lord would take us away to His abode. Why does Death

scare us? Because of the inherent fear of the Unknown.

 

Once we are assured that what awaits us at the end of this mundane

life is nothing but Bliss, we cease to be concerned about the end,

and in fact look forward to it, as we do to the arrival of a beloved

guest-“priya athitim iva”. When we go to a new

place, we are always apprehensive of the sort of welcome we would

receive. Azhwars seek to allay such apprehensions by providing

graphic descriptions of what awaits us at the doors of Paramapadam

and en route, once we rid ourselves of our mortal coils and soar into

the skies in our quest for the liberated life, in the gentle embrace

of the Lord, who serves as MArgabandhu or VazhitthuNai, not only

during our sojourn on this earth, but also when we leave for our

permanent abode.

 

Sri Nammazhwar devotes an entire decad to the description of the

Reception Party for the Liberated Soul, in the ten pAsurams beginning

with “Soozh visumbu aNi mugil”. The Kousheetaki Upanishad,

Sri Bhashyakara’s Vaikuntta Gadyam and Swami Desikan’s

“Gati VishEsha adhikAram” provide us graphic accounts of

what happens when a PrapannA leaves his mortal coils.

 

Once the time comes for the spirit to leave the body, the Lord

arranges for some plausible cause like a heart attack. All the ten

external senses like speech, sight, smell etc. are merged with the

mind, the mind in turn with the life spirit (“PrANa

vAyu”). This composite of twelve items is then merged with the

JeevAtmA, accompanied by the subtle aspects of the five elements

comprising the mortal remains. The Lord, as the antaryAmi or

Inner-dweller, keeps the JeevAtmA beside Himself, affording it

much-needed rest and recuperation from the immeasurably long travails

of Samsara. After this, the Soul leaves the body, destined for its

final journey, soaring up into the skies towards liberation and

endless bliss.

 

During the commencement of the journey, the Lord ensures that the

Jeeva leaves the body through the right exit (“Brahma

nAdi”), as it would otherwise be led astray again to places of

impermanence like heaven or hell.

 

There are two routes leading from earth, the Divine Road (“DEva

YAnam”) and that of Ancestors (“Pitru YAnam”). The

Lord takes the Jeeva through the DEva YAnam, which passes through the

Solar orb (“tErAr nirai kadirOn mandalattai keeNdu pukku”)

and through the “archirAdi mArgam”, the path to Paradise,

with the deities controlling the Day, Shukla Paksham, UttarAyaNam,

Year, the Wind, Moon and Lightning. The Soul is helped on its way by

Varuna, Indra and PrajApati.

 

The liberation of a soul is a matter for such great rejoicing for the Lord and

His acolytes at SriVaikuntam, that they arrange for a scintillating welcome,

using both natural and manual phenomena. The thunderous rain clouds

provide a tumultuous band,(“aNi mugil tooriyam

muzhakkina”), while the waves of the deep ocean raise their

foamy hands in hearty welcome-“Azh kadal alai tirai kai

edutthu Adina”. We are told in Srimad BhAgavatam that the birth of Sri Krishna

was greeted by deep rumbling in the skies, indicative of the glee at the Divine

arrival-“mandam mandam jaladharA: jagarju: anu sAgaram”. It is a measure of

greatness of the liberated soul that it is afforded an equally joyous reception.

 

We have seen VIPs being accorded a traditional welcome

with an

ornamental pot of water-a “poorNa kumbham”. Unsatisfied

with a mere vociferous welcome, the beautiful clouds shape themselves

into enchanting pots, to be offered to the guest of honour--the

liberated soul. The Sun, shining

through these clouds, bestows them with a golden hue, making it appear

as though the Atma is being offered a golden pot of water in welcome,

adhering to the Shruti vAkya-“HiraNya pAtram madhO: poorNam

dadhAti”. Unwilling to be left behind in the reception party,

the water-filled ocean adds its stentorian voice to the chorus of

welcome-“neer aNi kadalgaL nindru Artthana”. The entire

path of the soul’s progress to Paramapadam is adorned with

giant festoons, adding to the general atmosphere of festivity and

celebration.

 

As the liberated Atma passes, those above rain soft petals

of fragrant

flowers and burn perfumed incense (“dhoopa nal malar mazhai

pozhivanar”), while Devarishis assemble on either side in good

numbers, welcoming the soul to their respective places, happy to see

another devotee of the Lord being accorded his due.

 

All along the route to Sri Vaikuntam, dEvatAs put up specially

decorated

stalls for the blessed soul to relax for a second, while the clamorous beat of a

rolling drum heralds its arrival to all those en route. The Sun and

his associates hold out their innumerable ray-like arms in welcome

and also point out the way to Paramapadam (“Kadiravar avar avar

kai nirai kAttinar”). When there is a drumbeat, can song and

dance be far behind? KinnarAs and GarudAs, specializing in the

performing arts, provide a touch of melody and music to the

proceedings (“GeetangaL pAdinar Kinnarar GarudargaL”),

while the divine music of VEda ghOsham reverberates in the background

(“VEda nal vAyavar vELviyuL maduttE”).

 

Throughout the path of the Pilgrim’s Progress, divine damsels

burn incense, to make it fragrant. They watch the fortunate

soul’s ascension with sword-like eyes widened in wonder.

Stentorian conches are blown to announce the arrival of the liberated

Atma. The Maruth dEvatAs and the Eight “Vasu”s, who hold

such sway over a human being belonging to the mundane world,

respectfully follow the liberated soul, singing his praise

(“Marutarum VasukkaLum todarndu engum tOttiram

sollinar”).

 

When the Jeeva nears journey’s end, the Lord rids the Soul of

the subtle body and enables it to cross the river VirajA. Now, the

Soul is endowed with a celestial and non-material body, quite

different from its erstwhile mundane coils.

 

After crossing the pond Irammadeeyam and passing the great Peepal

tree known as Somasavanam, the soul is almost at the gates of

Paramapadam. Just as a VIP is received a little distance ahead and

brought with honour to the intended destination, Nitya Suris, the

permanent residents of Sri Vaikuntam, accord a warm welcome to the

Atma just outside Paramapadam. Clad in all their finery, their heads

adorned with long and beautiful headgear (“Mudi udai

vAnavar”), these Nitya Suris lead the liberated soul to the

much-decorated ramparts of Sri Vaikuntam (“Kodi aNi nedu madiL

gOpuram kuruginar”).

 

Immediately upon entry into Paramapadam, Nitya Suris in charge of the

gates welcome the soul and are so happy at the addition to their

number that they are prepared to surrender their particular

kainkaryam in favour of the new entrant. Since the liberated soul is

close to Sriman Narayana, Nitya Suris consider the newcomer to be

their master and treat the former with all due deference. They are

struck by wonder at the good fortune of the Atma, to have risen from

the lowly mundane worlds of distress, disease and debilitation, to

the eternal and glorious worlds above, beyond death and darkness

(“Vaikundam puguvadu maNNavar vidhiyE!”).

 

The Liberated Soul is still apprehensive-- he is after all a new

entrant into the elite club of Sri Vaikunttam, consisting of exalted

members like Adisesha, Garuda, VishvaksEna, et al. Even if Emperuman

were to be happy at the soul reaching His abode, how would His

intimate acolytes, entrenched for eternity in His service, treat the

newcomer? Would they look down upon him, treat him patronisingly as a

junior and a late entrant and allot for him only the left-overs in

kainkaryam?

 

Dispelling such doubts, Azhwar assures us that the Liberated Soul, as

soon as he enters Paramapadam, is received with honour by no less

than the principal officers of the Lord, viz., SEsha, VainatEya and

VishvaksEna, each vying with others to welcome the soul to their

respective palaces. The soul is seated on an exalted throne, with

even Nitya Suris performing the tasks of washing his feet to relieve

the strain of the journey from Samsara to Sri Vaikunttam.

 

After the initial reception at the innumerable palaces of nitya suris,

the Lord sends His female acolytes to bring the liberated soul to His

abode. These divine damsels bear, as a measure of welcome, lighted

lamps casting bright light, ornamental pots filled with water

(“PoorNa Kumbham”) and TirumaN and SreechoorNam for the

newcomer. Above all, they bear in their hands the holy Sri SathAri,

the coveted holy foot-rest of the Lord, a treasure every Sri

Vaishnava craves for, and adorn the liberated soul’s head with

the same. This is similar to the current practice of receiving

Acharyas a little distance ahead of the sannidhi, by an advance party

of arcchakAs bearing the Sri SathAri. Azhwar tells us that the faces

of these damsels glow like the full moon, exulting at the prospect of

another kindred soul joining the Lord’s kainkaryam

(“nidhiyum narchuNNamum nirai kuda viLakkamum madi mukha

madandayar Endinar vandE”).

 

To cap it all, as soon as the liberated soul nears the Lord’s

Court, Emperuman Himself, along with His Consorts, meets the Jeeva

and escorts Him to the gem-studded DurbAr (“vandu avar edir

koLLa”), embracing the newcomer warmly to remove any vestiges

of distress resulting from aeons of SamsAric suffering. Immediately,

SridEvi allots to the new entrant the particular kainkaryam which is

dear to his heart, so that he doesn’t lose even a moment of the

coveted service, for which everyone longs. Though Azhwar doesn’t

mention this, Sri Ramanuja makes it clear in his Vaikunnta Gadyam that

it is the Divine Consort who is in charge of allotting to the muktAtmA

the particular service desired by the latter, as also by

Emperuman—“tat tat paricharyAyAm AgyApayantI”.

 

Accorded his due place of honour in Paramapadam, the Liberated Soul

starts performing blissful service, affording himself and Sria: Pati

eternal and immeasurable delight, in the company of kindred souls

similarly immersed in Bhagavat Kainkaryam.

 

Does a contemplation of the aforesaid contribute in any way to us

while we are in this world? Can we not enjoy our lives here

peacefully, without a thought of what awaits us later? Anyway, we are

destined to reach the Lord after our earthly sojourn, having performed

Prapatti. Should we at all think of it now itself?

 

Swami Desikan says that, just as the mere contemplation of an

impending marriage is extremely pleasurable to the young bachelor, so

too, it is decidedly delightful for the Prapanna to think of the great

bliss that lies ahead. It makes the rest of the mundane sojourn pass

in a jiffy, with the sorrows and shortcomings of this life mattering

not at all, in view of the incomparable treasure that awaits him at

Journey’s End. More than anything, it cures him entirely of the

fear of death (which afflicts all ordinary mortals), making his life

here peaceful and free of tension.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan