nirhEthuka krupa

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dear srI lakshmi narasimhan,

 

Your queries regarding sahEthuka krupa vs. nirhEthuka

krpa are very good questions. There have been numerous

postings on this in the bhakti list and other lists.

 

This is a very deep topic, and most times it is very

difficult to understand this topic. One needs to

experience it, in my opinion and experience, through

a learned person and bhagavad krpa.

 

Having said that, the following may be of help to you.

Please keep in mind that my understanding is obviously

imperfect, and there may be places where I am not

explaining properly, or am explaining things

mistakenly.

 

1. nirhEthuka krupa: What is nirhEthuka krupa?

 

The meaning of the word "hEthu" is cause, reason,

object

or motive. It can also mean "the logical reason of",

"by reason of", "on account of" etc..

 

Now, when we say that the Lord's granting of mOksha is

sahEthuka, it basically means that His act of granting

mOksha is *because* the jIva did something. The jIva

doing something *initiated* the Lord's act of giving

mOksha.

 

Let us see what could be the problem with the above?

First and foremost problem is this - If we say that

the Lord's giving mOksha is caused by some act of the

jIVa, we are directly reducing the Lord's all-

powerfulness. We are constraining His actions, and

are subjecting His actions to a cause. This is

unacceptable as HE is all-powerful.

 

So, how does He grant mOksha then? Our AchAryAs say

that His grace/mercy is causeless, and acts on

anyone and anything. Now, this definitely smacks

of partiality on the surface.

 

But, look at it this way -

(i) His grace is causeless. It acts on everyone,

without exception. An analogy is rain. The clouds

pour down rain on the ground. The man who has

created a small lake through his efforts gains

as the water stays. If he does not make a small

lake with his maNvetti, then the water just goes

away. Did the cloud pour rain because the man

dug a lake? No. The cloud poured the rain

because it is in its nature to pour rain.

Similarly, the Lord's nature is such that He

pours His grace all the time on everyone

and everything. In fact, the above analogy is

from mudal AzhvAr pAsurams only.

(ii) srI. tridaNdi chinna jIyar svAmi explains

like this - There is a railway track. We do

not know when a train will come, or if a train

will come. We control the signal. If we do not

accept Him/surrender to Him, then it is like

the Red signal. The train comes, and stops.

But if we surrender to Him, it is the green

signal, and the train comes. Now, the train

does not come because we put the green signal.

It is coming anyway. If we allow it to contine,

then it goes. On the other hand, if we reject it,

then it stays.

(iii) svAmi parAsara bhattar, in srIrangarAja

sthavam describes the Lord's grace as the

great flood in a river. It comes, and whoever is

in its way is carried by the flood. One cannot

say when and where the flood will occur. But when

it occurs, it takes everything in its way.

 

 

Now, one can take the above and say

"if so, then the act of surrendering is

essential for mOksha". It is definitely true.

But, is that "surrendering" something we do?

Let us see what our AzhvArs say

 

- nammAzhvAr says "uNarvil umbar oruvanai

avanadhu aruLaaL uraRporuttu, en

uNarvil uLLE iruththinEn - ADHUVUM AVANADHU

INNARULE". He says that he keeping the Lord

in his mind is entirely due to the grace of

the Lord.

- in the decade "enRaikkum ennai", he

repeaatedly says that the Lord did all good

things to him - "aa mudhalvan ivan enRu

taththERRi, en nA mudhal vandhu pugundhu

nal in kavi.."

 

The message is very clear - The *cause*

for the AzhvAr's thinking about the Lord

is the Lord Himself!

 

So, what gives? Can't one make the argument that

the Lord is being partial, because He causes the

people He wants to remember Him?

 

SvAmi piLLai lOkAchAriAr deals at length with the

Lord's grace in srIvacanabhUshaNam. He describes

so many pretexts that the Lord uses so that He

does not get accused or partiality. The sUTram

is a beautiful one, and I will wirte about that

sUTram later. But the pretexts he talks about are

things like "telling the Lord's name",

"telling the Lord's place's name" etc. even

accidentally - like a thief who runs around the

temple in apradhakshiNam. The Lord sees that and

says "He ran around my temple - So, I will

save him"; or like the thief who says "I am

going to steal money from LAkshmiNarasimhan's

house" - The Lord immediately uses the thief

uttering the word LAkshmiNarasimhan as he

uttered His name, a pretext to save that soul.

i.e. only He knows what the pretexts are. He can

make up any pretext. svAmi piLLai lOkAchAriAr

says "madi mAngAi ittu" - like those who

put a mango in the lap of a sleeping person and

accuse him of stealing , the Lord *creates*

a pretext to save the souls.

 

Now, when we take the above into consideration, then

it becomes more clear. The Lord is the only reason

for the souls being saved, and His grace is

uninstigated, and nirhEthuka.

 

So, the next logical question is "Then why are

there countless souls still in samsAra? why did

He not just take everybody to vaikuNtam"

 

The answer to that is simple - Only He knows what

is good for each soul. He takes the soul to His

abode at the time that is right for each soul.

He always does very good things for ALL the souls.

Some souls realize/understand that, and some do

not. That is all. Also, us trying to understand,

with our limited capabilities, His working is

just not possible and feasible.

 

So, what should a soul do then? Why should one

approach an AchArya? Is it necessary to approach

an AchArya? I will try to address those in

a separate mail. This mail is already too long.

 

AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,

varadhan

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

ramanuja, Varadhan T A <tavaradhan> wrote:

> dear srI lakshmi narasimhan,

>

> >

> So, how does He grant mOksha then? Our AchAryAs say

> that His grace/mercy is causeless, and acts on

> anyone and anything. Now, this definitely smacks

> of partiality on the surface.

>

> But, look at it this way -

> (i) His grace is causeless. It acts on everyone,

> without exception. An analogy is rain. The clouds

> pour down rain on the ground. The man who has

> created a small lake through his efforts gains

> as the water stays. If he does not make a small

> lake with his maNvetti, then the water just goes

> away. Did the cloud pour rain because the man

> dug a lake? No. The cloud poured the rain

> because it is in its nature to pour rain.

> Similarly, the Lord's nature is such that He

> pours His grace all the time on everyone

> and everything. In fact, the above analogy is

> from mudal AzhvAr pAsurams only.

 

Dear Sriman Varadhan,

 

Thank you for the educating mail. I would like to write one thing

from my side.

 

>From the above pASuram quoted by you and subsequent paragraphs of ur

mail, one may infer that God has to enable us out of His nirhEtuka

krupA, to make some effrts. But this will not go well with Alwars'

philosophy that He is the means and goal (neri vASal thAnE). I

checked up the meaning of the above pASuram quoted by you, with the

learned in Divya prabandham. I understood that the PAsuram has a

different meaning according to Sri PVP.

 

In my own words, the content is as follows:

 

the Chetana may be having the Lord in mind wihout knowing that he is

subserveint to the Lord. one may dig a small lake, but who will por

rain?

 

Here, Sri PVP says that Chetana may be following a great person -i.e.

a bhAgavata (as gItA says: yadyadAcharati SrEshtah...) and have his

mind on the Supreme without knowing his Seshatvam to the Latter. He

may be having taste for the Lord, but it is for the Lord to shower

His grace on him.

 

So, Sri PVP compares digging lake with having ruchi for PerumAL, and

rain with His krupA. Hence there is no effort or prapatti (as an act)

involved here. Another important thing Sri PVP says is, "having taste

for the perumAL" and NOT "developing it". So this means that taste is

also generated by PerumAL only. Also Sri PVP further says that both

digging the lake and pouring rain will be done by the Lord.

 

mistakes are due to my poor understanding. somebody having a copy of

Sri PVP's commentary for this famous pASuram may please translate it.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Vishnu