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Sri Ramanujaya Namaha

 

Sri Vedhantha Desikaya Namaha

 

Srimate Sri Lakshminrisimha Divyapadukasevaka Srivan Satakopa Sri

NarayanaYatindra Mahadesikaya namaha

 

 

Dear Bhagavathas !

 

Pl. read the article below , which was prepared , keeping in mind the youth of

today , for their understanding of the topic , based on informations collected

after reading books and listening to various lectures. Trust all would find it

useful.

May Sriyapathi bless us all.

Regards

yours- Ramanuja Dasan G.Sampath.

 

 

Gita for all .

 

Reason for the Avatars. –Objective .

 

Paramathma Sriman Narayanan , Lord of the Paramapadam , comes down to this

earth, created by HIM and takes different Avatars at different times , only by

his Sankalpam and not through the conventional procedure of birth , as we

witness in this earth. He takes these Avatars only to fulfill HIS own decision

that HE wants righteousness to be maintained and Adharma to be destroyed in this

Universe all the time . Also HE wants to Save good righteous lives from the

Adharma .

 

In Gita itself He narrates this objective very clearly as under :

 

" Yadaa Yadaa hi dharamasya glaanir bhavati bhaarata

 

Abhyutthaanam adharmasya tadaatmaanam srijaamy aham !(ch. 4-Verse 7)

 

Paritraanaaya Saadhuunaam Vinaasaaya cha Dushkritaam

 

Dharma Samsthaapanaarthaaya Sambavami Yuge Yuge !! (Ch.4 -Verse 8)

 

Meaning , " wherever and whenever there is a decline in the religious practices

and a predominant rise of irreligion , at that time I descend on this earth from

Paramapadam and take an Avatar.

 

To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants , as well as to reestablish

the principles of religion I Myself appear , millennium after millennium. "

 

Teachings of Lord Krishna to Arjuna and reasons for such teachings .

 

In the Mahabharatham , Krishna takes the role of the Charioteer to Arjuna during

the war between Pandavas and Kowravas, in the battle field of Kurushetra .

Before the commencement of the war , Arjuna asks Krishna to put the chariot

between the two armies so that he can have an overview of the enemies clearly.

After seeing his own Pithama ( Bheeshma ) , his relations and his own Gurus (

Dronacharya, Kripacharya and Aswathama ) standing in the forefront in the field

, to battle him , Arjuna started breaking down and his sentiments ( heart )

began overtaking his brain .

 

He becomes a confused individual and he tells Lord Krishna that he will not be

able to go through this battle and that he does not want the kingdom to be saved

killing his own dear people . Since it was too late a time to take such a

decision and to make Arjuna do his Karma as a Kshathriya , Lord presents HIS

teachings as the Bhagavad Gita in 700 and odd verses in 18 Chapters , to make

Arjuna realize his responsibility as a warrior to uphold his Kshathriya Dharma

and also removes the Maya surrounding him so that Arjuna turns out to be a

sheresta and Panditha in the end .

 

Our position vis a vis Arjuna

 

Arjuna is a great Archer and a sound Kshatriya . Right from the childhood ,

during his gurukula times itself he has exhibited his talents well to the great

Acharya Drona . Once

 

when he was asked to shoot a parrot on the top branch of a tree by his acharya ,

When all other students including Duriyodhana failed in the test, Arjuna alone

came out with flying colors in the test and was well appreciated by the Guru as

the best Archer .

 

Added to this in the Vishnu Sahasranamam itself a verse comes as a saying of

Sanjaya ( taken from Bhagavat Gita ) , which goes as under:

 

Yatra Yogesvarah Krishno Yatra Paartho dhanur-dharah !

 

Tatre SrihVijayo bhuutir dhruvaa nitir matir mama !! ( Ch. 18- Verse 78 )

 

Meaning , " wherever there is Krishna , the master of all mystics and wherever

there is Arjuna , the supreme Archer , there will certainly be opulence ,

victory , exceptional power and morality. This s my opinion. "

 

With such great qualities and attributes of Arjuna , it is difficult for

ordinary humans like us to digest that Arjuna can take a stand of a coward and

address Krishna to pardon him from fighting his enemies , especially in the

middle of a battle field , at that crucial juncture . What could be the reason

for this disease of Arjuna ? One should carefully analyze in detail here , since

all human beings go through this state of mind at almost every stage of our

lives , when ever we are faced with a problem .

 

 

 

Lord Krishna , has given this Bhagavad Gita not only to Arjuna but to all the

human race of the future as well , since HE knew that the future generation is

likely to get into such difficult situations and at that time HIS own creations

should not find it difficult to find a solution to their problems . In that

respect Bhagavad Gita is for all the human race, past,

 

present and the future.

 

If one analyzes the situation in detail , one can notice that Arjuna is not a

coward. He wanted the Kowravas to be taught a proper lesson and punished for all

their wrong doings . But when he saw his own Gurus and pithama standing in the

forefront , he got confused a bit and in that confusion his behaviour became

somewhat weird. Despite being a Panditha himself, Arjuna forgot to remember that

there is no destruction or annihilation to the soul and that only the housing

gets changed every time the soul travels from one body to another . This is

because he felt that the action of fighting and killing is by him, the results

of such action are by his acts alone and that he does the action only to please

his own self. Any one who does the prescribed duties with such an attitude will

definitely land himself in such a delicate situation like Arjuna and lament for

all their actions.

 

Having said that , one cannot remain silent by refraining from actions . One has

to follow his prescribed Dharma in his Varnasrama , based on his birth and do

the karma accordingly . There is no escape from this act. But one can have a

proper attitude while executing this karma .

 

Way of performing one’s Karma .

 

Lord Krishna narrates clearly in the following verses how such karmas to be

performed.

 

Karmany evaahikaaras te maa phalesu kadaachana !

 

Maa karma phala hetur bhuur maa te sangostv akarmani !! ( Ch.2- Verse 47 )

 

Niyatam kuru karmatvam karma jyaayo hy akarmanah !

 

Sarira yaatraapi cha te na prasiddheyed akarmanah !! ( Ch.3- Verse 8)

 

Yajnaarthaat karmanon yatra lokosyam karma bandhanah !

 

Tadartham karma kaunteya mukthaa sangah samaachara !! ( ch.3- Verse 9)

 

Indriyaani paraany aahur indriyebhyah param manah !

 

Manasas tu paraa buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah !! ( ch.3 – Verse 42 )

 

Meaning , " One can have a right only to perform his prescribed duty , but

cannot demand the fruits of action. One can never consider himself as the cause

of the results of action nor be attached to not doing one’s duty.

 

One cannot escape from the prescribed duty and as such it would be better to

perform them without any further arguments.

 

Action to be done as a sacrifice for Vishnu to avoid bondage to this material

world. So when one performs his prescribed duties to the satisfaction of Lord

VISHNU then the kartha remains free from bondage.

 

The working senses are superior to matter. Mind is higher than the senses.

Intelligence is still higher than the mind and the soul is even more higher than

the intelligence. "

 

While performing an act , apart from self , one’s three Gunas arising out of

Vasanas

 

( results of the previous births ) viz. Satva , Tamo and Rajo Gunas play an

important role. So one cannot consider that he alone is the doer of that action.

Also since no one can predict the end results in advance of the action in this

relative world , he cannot hold himself responsible for the results of all his

actions . More over , all actions are performed in line with the prescribed

duties as laid down by the Almighty . So one cannot say that the actions are

performed only to please himself . Therefore , if one performs the duties with

proper attitude it is called NISHKAMAKARMA and such actions alone would bring in

the ultimate happiness.

 

 

 

If the person becomes free from bondage from this material world , he is not

worried about the end result for any action and he also does not feel that he is

the only kartha of that action , since he will understand that it is Lord Vishnu

, who makes him perform the duties for HIS satisfaction alone. Then the Karma

becomes NISHKAMAKARMA.

 

Any Karma done with self interest will bind the person to this world through its

end result and such a person can never attain the ultimate happiness. A self

realized person has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed

duties nor he has any reason not to perform his duties. He also knows that does

not have to depend on any other living being for his welfare in this

materialistic world , except the Paramathma Lord Vishnu .

 

Hence , if a person surrenders all his karma to Lord Vishnu , understands HIS

greatness fully, without any desires or the anxiety on the end results , free

from lethargy and without any claim for the proprietorship then his karma

becomes very pure and such NISHKARAKARMA leads him to the ultimate happiness by

solving all his earthly problems.

 

Why this Karma ?

 

In this world one cannot remain idle without performing one’s own duty . Lord

Krishna has laid down laws for these Karmas and we have to abide by HIS laws.

Moreover, we are all governed by three Gunas , inherited from our earlier births

based on our Karma in those births. They are Satvam , Tamas and Rajas . Tamas is

nothing but a lazy attitude and we cannot be like that through out our lives. To

satisfy our own desires we do karma and the Guna that governs those Karma are

termed Rajas. Slowly we can change our attitude in doing Karma , by doing them

to the satisfaction of others instead of self and then slowly it could be

changed for the happiness of the Lord Vishnu , in which case it becomes a

Kainkaryam for the Almighty. Then it is said to be governed by Satva Guna. Each

person is supposed to develop this Satva Guna in himself so that when the

prescribed Karma is performed in the Asrama , it becomes a Nishkamakarma ,

leading to ultimate happiness.

 

While doing Karma with Rajo Guna status the end results could be Punyam or Papam

depending on the Karma , whether it is with selfless attitude and for the good

of others or it is selfish oriented and for the unhappiness of others

respectively. Since these Punya and Papa Karmas cannot give the ultimate

happiness of Moksha , one will have to go to heaven or hell depending on the

level of Punya or papa. After that one has to take rebirth again in this world

to continue the journey cycle of births and deaths. But if a person does

Nishkamakarma only with the idea of service to the Almighty for HIS satisfaction

, understanding the greatness of the Lord , then such a person never gets

rebirth and after the present life he gets a place in the Moksha and does

service to Sriman Narayanan. This is our Srivaishnava Philosophy.

 

For doing Karma with Satva Guna status also one requires the material wealth.

But if one is able to use that resource only for the service of the Lord , by

way of a detached attachment , then performing Nishkamakarma will not be a

problem.

 

How to do this Karma in a detached attachment way ?

 

Here an example could be given. Let us take the game of pole vault. The sports

person holds almost one end of the pole and starts running towards the

horizontal bar. Soon after reaching the spot near the bar he plugs the other end

of the pole on hand to the ground and rises himself in the air to cross over of

the horizontal bar. He uses all his force to go as high as required always

gripping the pole in hand pivoting one end in the ground. Once he reaches the

level of the horizontal bar he jumps across using his energy and leaves behind

the pole which he was carrying in hand before cross over. Here the timing of

leaving the pole is very important. If he leaves the pole early , he may not be

able to reach that height to cross over and hence he may fall down before

crossing. If he continues to hold the pole even after crossing he will touch the

horizontal bar and make a fowl. A successful person is one who is able to judge

the exact moment of leaving the pole in hand just before the

cross over.

 

Similarly in this world , we do require all our resources ( like pole in the

earlier case ) for doing our prescribed Karma of crossing over the Jenma, but we

should know when to detach ourselves from them at the right moment for reaching

our life goal of reaching Moksha . Here our Acharya would come to our rescue to

teach us how to go about it. So every one requires an Acharya to liberate

oneself from this worldly activities to reach that ultimate happiness of Moksha.

Acharya will teach us the way to perform our Saranagathi to Sriman Narayanan.

This is again the laid down principles in our Srivaishnava Philosophy.

 

Conclusion.

 

So in this material world if a person , at any time , gets this Arjuna disease

on any issue at any time , then he should attack the problem as under to get the

ultimate happiness .

 

Firstly , work out the plan of action for solving the problem , keeping in mind

that he alone is not the only karmathipathi.

 

Then without any anxiety or interest in the end results , perform the actions

for the sake of performance and to the happiness of Lord Vishnu , putting all

sincere efforts. Since one is doing for the satisfaction of the Almighty , HE

will ensure proper end results .

 

More than these one has to understand and appreciate the greatness of the LORD.

This will ensure that one is in perfect equation with the Almighty , who will

then take the full control and responsibility of bestowing the ultimate

happiness to the person , by solving all his petty problems. Our Acharya would

guide us how to perform the prescribed Karma and proper Saranagathi to Lord

Vishnu sothat the Objective of reaching Moksha is achieved.

 

Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavanthu !

 

--- Ramanuja Dasan - G.Sampath.

 

 

 

 

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