GADYA-TRAYAM OF SWAMI RAMANUJA - Part 2 (Prapatti sastra - Sources)

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Sri:

Adiyen's humble pranam to all devotees:

 

This article appeared in Vedics Magazine: Sri Ramanuja Darsanam

http://www.vedics.net/magazine/index.html

=============Part 2 ============================

 

The two pillars on which this prapatti sAstra proudly stands are Sri

Ramayana and swami nammAzhvAr's Thiruvaimozhi. Sri Ramayana is

replete with the idea of SaranAgati from beginning to end and only a

few well-known passages are quoted here.

 

SitA pirATTi says to the evil Ravana –

 

"viditassAhi dharmagnyaha saraNAgatha vathsalAh".

(He, verily knowledgeable and steeped in dharma, is filled with

compassion and consideration for those that surrender onto him.)

 

In the kAkAsura episode (sundarakAnDa), the rAmAyaNa says,

 

"vadhArahamapi kAkustha krupayA paryapAlayan"

(though deserving to be slain (kAkasura), he was saved by Sri rAma’s

compassion).

 

Sri Rama says in the VibhIshana SaranAgati episode

"dOshO yadyati tasyasyAt” (Even though the sharaNagatha has wronged)

It is this dOsAbhOgyatva’ (treating faults as something to be enjoyed)

that our Azhvars revel in extolling. The Lord enjoys the short comings

of the prapanna, much like the cow licking the dirty secretions on the

body of the just-born calf. Nothing needs to be said about

Thiruvaimozhi because it propounds dheergha saraNAgati.

 

It is instructive to note, in passing, that the son of KrimikanTa chOLa (the

fanatic shaivite chOLa king instrumental in persecution of swami

Ramanuja and Sri Vaishnavas during his time) is reported to have

lamented that his father, foolish to destroy a few Vaishnavas and Vishnu

temples, did not realize that Sri Vaishnavam would flourish as long as

Sri Ramayana and Thiruvaimozhi exist.

 

There are multiple references to prapatti as a superior means in the

Vedas, Upanishads, ithihAsAs and purANAs:

"tasmAdapivadhyam prapannam na pratiprayaccanti”

(Taittariya UttarA 6-5);

"tasmAn nyAsamEsAm tapasAm atiriktamAhuh; nyAsa EvAtirEyavat"

(Taittariya UttarA NarAyana 79-10)

"yO brahmANam……..mumukshurvai, sharanamaham prapadyE"

(SvEtAsvatAra) etc.

 

The JitantAstOtra, which is an adjunct to RgvEda, is a saranagati stOtra-

"tvamEva Sharanam prApya nistaranti manishinah"

 

VishnupurAna (1-9-73) says

"tAvadArtih tathA sukham / yAvannayAti saranam tvam asEsAghanAsanam!!"

 

The RsIs led by Brahma say in Ramayana (YuddhakAnda 120th sarga)

"saranyam saranamca tvamAhurdivya mahasAyah: "

 

The celestial song Bhagavad Gita, a prapatti Sastra, has multiple

references to prapatti, such as,

"mAmEkam saranam vraja"

"mAmAvayE prapadyantE";

 

Like these, any number of quotations can be quoted from our scriptures

in support of prapatti as the ultimate, and a fundamentally superior

means to attain mOksham (liberation)

 

=================Continued on part 3 ===========

 

GADYA-TRAYAM OF SWAMI RAMANUJA

Dr. V V Ramanujam, M. A., M. Sc., Ph. D., Editor, YatirAja

pAduka

 

(With the maNipravALa commentary by vyAkhyAna chakravathi swami

periyaAcchAn piLLai. Serialized with permission from the original publisher,

Sri Parampara Sabha, Bangalore)

 

This article appeared in Vedics Magazine: Sri Ramanuja Darsanam

http://www.vedics.net/magazine/index.html