carama slOkam-1: (Grants mOksa)

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srisailEsa dayapAtram dhIbhaktyAdi guNArNavam |

yatIndrapravaNam vandE ramya jAmAtaram munim ||

 

carama slOkam(Supreme secret that grants mOksa)

 

sarvadharmAn parityajya mAm Ekam saraNam vraja |

aham tvA sarvapApEbhyO mOksaiSyAmi mA suca: || (BG 18:66)

 

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Bhagavad Gita : Brief Introduction

 

SriKrSNA - Divine Charioteer & Divine AchAryA

Arjuna - disciple

 

BG has 700 verses in total with one verse attributed to

dhrtarAstra,40 to samjaya,85 to arjunA(not all are in question

format) and 574 verses to the Lord. It'snot an ordinary chariot but a

Divine one which represents an allegory taken from the KathOpanisad

and BG elaborates the famous "Tat Tvam Asi" of ChANdOgya Upanisad

(both Upanisads come under sAma vEdA,the Lord says HE is the "sAman"

among the vEdAs). Chapters 1-6 deal with "tvam"(karma and jnAna

yOgAs),7-12 deal with "Tat"(bhaktiyOga),13-18 with "Asi"(universal

relation between Him and the rest).

 

Chapter 4 deals with jnAna yOga and chapter 18 deals with

SamyAsa/mOksa yOgA.

 

paritrANAya sAdhUnAm vinAsAya ca duSkrtAm |

dharmasamsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE || (BG 4:8)

 

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Most of the disputed issues(between Srirangam and kAnchi

AchAryAs)regarding the relative value of prapatti and sAstric

sAdhanAs are brought out in the first phrase "sarvadharmAn

parityajya" of the carama slOkam

 

sarvadharmAn - all dharmAs enjoined in sruti and smrti as sAdhanAs

for mOksA that is karma,jnAna,bhakti yOgAs along with

their accessories and pre-requisites namely daily

(nitya) and occasional(naimittika)rites

 

parityajya - relinquish/abandon

 

PiLLai lOkAchAryA[Mumu 191-7]says: "having relinquished all

dharmAs/duties"

 

MaNavALa mAmunigaL raises the question:"why these are here called

dharmAs which instead ought to have been caleed adharmAs as they are

contrary to the soul's true nature"

 

PiLLai lOkAchAryA says there is a reason(hEtu)for calling these as

dharmAs[Mumu 198]:

 

"These things viz.,karma,jnANa etc,ought to be called adharmAs

because they are contrary to the soul's aim(uddEsya)which is extreme

dpendence on the Lord(bhagavad atyanta pAratantrya). But these are

called dharmAs because arjunA was confused thinking that "fighting"

was adharmA and these "other things" as dharmAs

 

PiLLai lOkAchAryA[Mumu 200-1]interprets "parityajya as follows:

 

The verb "tyAga" means to consider these upAyas & relinquish

them with the particular attitude that says "like those who have

conceiived mother of pearl to be like silver or like those who have

set their minds on a wrong direction,we(PL and other pUrvAchAryAs)

have attributed the notion of upAya in things which are not upAyas".

The upasarg/prefix "pari" states that just as giving up serious sins

(pAtaka),one has to give up the desire and tendencies to "these

things" again so that they don't recur.

 

MaNavALa mAmunigaL in his commentary[Mumu 201] quotes ViSNu dharmA to

show that engaging in other upAyas(other than NArAyaNA)is tantamount

to sin;one should feel ashamed and remorse that one has been engaging

in other upAyas which are contrary to his nature,just like sins. MM

makes an exception:"learned" people may continue to do these dharmAs

out of compassion in order to keep others from being mislead,in the

spirit of lokasangraha as taught in BG 3:23-4. MM in his commentary

[sVB 278]says:"performance of dharmAs appropriate to varNa and Asrama

done with the idea that they are for the sake of others is desired.

But those performed with the idea that they are for one's own

purposes are not desired; performed out of fear in accruing some sin

to oneself if they are omitted for this would be contrary to svarUpa"

 

When a sanyAsi like Ramanuja does nitya karmas,it will vibrate with

tremendous "positive" energy that it has the power to uplift the

entire society;on the other hand,if someone does with selfish

motives,it will have a negative effect which is dangerous to the

svarUpa. This is what highlighted by PL and MM.

 

To be continued...

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

rAmAnujasya caraNau saraNam prapaDyE

nappinnai