Swathanthiryam.

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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

 

 

ramanuja, vedantham chary

<vedantham_krishna> wrote:

> Human beings are supposed strive for eliciting

PERUMALS’ kripa is what generally religions preach. Is

this not swathanthryam as opposed to Sheshatwam and

parathanthryam and hence may be preaching not correct.

Otherwise.how these seemingly contradictory concepts

are reconciled..There must be shasthra pramanams cited

by our purvacharyas,adiyen would beg to know. Kindly

parden adiyens ignorance ,if any sampradaya dosham

crept into my way of addressing my doubt.

>

> Dasanudasan

 Krishnamachary

 

Respected Swamin,

 

Your mail is raising further interest to know about

the state of swathanthiryam for the jiva. It is

difficult to think that we are denied free-will (if

that is what you mean by swathanthiryam for the jiva

in eliciting kripa). Let us see what scriptures say

about this (while admitting that this is a very

difficult topic capable of inviting differences in

perspectives.)

 

The important verse that is oft quoted by learned

people to decide about the amount or level of freedom

to act for the jiva is verse 2-3-41 of the Brahma

sutras which says, “ But according to the efforts made

(by the soul) (the Lord makes it act); (thus only

would) injunctions and prohibitions etc., be

relevant.”

 

The explanation goes like this (Sri bhashyam): “ The

Lord makes the soul act by granting it permission,

taking into consideration the efforts put forth by it;

But action is not possible for the soul without this

permission of the Lord. Though the Lord’s permission

is essential, yet the responsibility for the initial

volition is the soul’s.”

 

The above explanation gives the opinion that the

initial effort or thought to do something that must

originate from the jiva. This view is given by

Ramanuja in this context while he was replying to 2

questions which are as follows:

(1) If it be said that the jiva has no freedom to do

or act on its own, why are there injunctions such as

‘do this’ or ‘do that’ (like satyam vada, dharmam

chara)? If we say that it is Brahman which does things

in Its capacity to reside in the jiva as Its body,

does this mean that the injunctions are commanding the

Lord to do this or that?

(2) The Lord gives buddhi yoga (BG 10-10) to the one

who is steadfast in worshipping Him. Fine. But He also

says that He would hurl those evil-doers into the

wombs of asuras (BG16-19).If He is one who is the

in-dweller those evil-doers too, why couldn’t He do

something about their betterment?

 

In the context of explaining these two questions,

Ramanuja tells about soul’s initial ‘volition’ whereby

it is indicated that the soul has freedom to do.

(another corollory is ‘yatha icchasi, thatha kuru’

advice to Partha)

 

These questions are replied in the subsequent sutras

whereby it is said that as nothing touches or inhibits

the Brahman, It remains unaffected. The so-called

cruelty of the Lord (Q-2) in making evil-doers doomed

further (another pramana is from Kau III-9 which says

“ He gets good actions done by those whom He wants to

lift up and gets evil actions done by those whom He

wants to cast down”) is explained in verse 124 of

Vedartha sangraha by Ramanuja.

 

“…the general equipment needed for the performance as

well as non-performance of actions is furnished by

Him. Then in order to manage the situation, He becomes

the support and basis of all, enters into all beings

and governs from within by His approbation of acts of

individual will. He abides as the fundamental seshin

of all, all the individuals being subsidiary to Him.

The individual thus equipped with all the requisite

powers and facilities, ENDOWED WITH THE POWER OF

INTIATIVE , engages in actions and abstinence from

action by his own spontaneity of will. The supreme

Being, witnessing his activity remains unconcerned.”

 

The letters in caps in this verse takes the inquiry

further. If the jiva is ‘endowed’ with the power of

initiative, where does the ‘spontaneity of will’ come

from? Is it (the jiva) not (then) also endowed by the

one who is the In-dweller? Even though the actions and

fruits are accrued to the jiva, (“of these two, one

eats the sweet fruits with relish, while the other

looks on without eating” – sve –IV-6), is it not He

who is causative of these? It therefore follows that

the will also is endowed by Him. So too the actions

that follow. But this doesn’t answer the question on

‘vora vanjanai’ (if it be called so!!) of the Lord in

showing partiality to some. The answer lies in Karma.

 

Ramanuja himself comes to the conclusion that the

conception of one self as someone (like x or y or z ,

like in the verse 246 of VS lion or tiger or man or

yaksha etc) ‘is due to the apprehension of the self

arising from karma, even so is the conception of

oneself as self-dependent’. By karma, thinking of

having freewill comes and when the jiva thinks he has

freewill, it is an act of self-dependence, (explained

in verses 245 &246 of VS) To understand what this

‘spontaneity of will’ is all about, let us look into

what Gitacharyan says in 3-5.

“ everyone is caused to act, inspite of himself, by

the Gunas born of Nature”. (kaaryathE hyavasha: karma

sarva: prakruthijai gunai:)

 

‘Than vasamillaamal jivan kaaryam seigiraan’ The jiva

acts under the control of tri gunas which is due to

karma and he is not under ‘his’ own control. That is,

jiva: guNAnAm vashE asthi. The spontaneity arising out

of guNAnAm vasha: is once again due the combination of

the apportioning of gunas that went into his making in

the beginingless creation. Those who had Narayana

sambhandam then had more or all of sattwa and became

fortunate to be lifted by Him. Those who didn’t get

it, are spiraling down into abysmal depths. Those in

between, like us, are still vying to catch up the

thread!

 

The Will of the jiva actually comes to be manifested

after Release as in “He is the self-ruler: he moves

according to his wishes in all the worlds” (Chan

VII-xxv) and “He moves through these worlds enjoying

what he desires and assuming what forms he likes” (

Tai III-x. 5) Even then, he remains a sesha to Him is

what seshatwam is all about.

 

But pArathanthiryam coming in the wake of or after

mulling over the so-called swathanthiryam by thinking

that he has freedom of will and doership, is what

the Lord is immensely pleased to see. That is why

krupaiyaalE varum pArathanthiryathatthai-k-kaattil

swathanthiryatthaalE varum parathanthiryam prabhalam.

Such an evolution of thought (on the part of the jiva

who eventually attains Knowledge as an attribute after

Release) is enjoyed by the Lord who has made all

these as part of His Leela. If the jiva had been in

all its Brahmanic attributes while living, what is

there for enjoyment by the Lord? That is why Prakruthi

sambhandam is brought in and variation is achieved.

The variation continues in deeper hues with karma

sambhandam. All the jobs of carpenter, fisherman,

hunter etc who are regarded as Brahman (by Brahma

sutras) are in fact done by the Lord Himself to

prepare us for the Ultimate Joy!! So where is

swathanthiryam for us?

 

Inviting corrections,

Jayasree saranathan