From a Srivaishnava conference

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees,

 

This is a wonderful article on attaining the lotus feet of Sri Guru.It takes

5 mts to go through this message and sure this broaden's our love for Sri

Guru.

 

 

The Ultimate Refuge

 

 

We find that people are as different in death, as they are in life.

>From the obituary references, we learn that some people “attained Siva

loka praapti”, some “slept in Jesus”, some “attained immortality”, while

some others just “passed away”, depending upon their religious

persuasions. When it comes to Sri Vaishnavites, we find that there are

several

variants in use, as far as obituary references are concerned. Some say,

“Tirunaadu alankaritthaar” (the departed soul now adorns the halls of

Sri Vaikunttam), and some others, “attained the Lord’s lotus feet”. By

far, however, the accepted formula appears to be “Acharyan tiruvadi

adaindaar” (the deceased reached the glorious feet of the Preceptor).

 

This sets us thinking. Why should we say that the departed soul

attained the feet of the Acharya? Is it because we want to set ourselves

apart from others in death, as in life? (it is the complaint of many a

non-Vaishnavite that our Sampradayam is exclusive, much like an elite club,

with unique precepts and practices). Would it not be good enough for

the soul to reach the Lord’s lotus feet, rather than the Acharya’s? And

is there any scriptural authority for saying this?

 

We owe an immense debt to our parents. Even the Shruti tells us to

treat our parents as living Gods. Such being the case, why don’t we say

that the departed soul reached its parents’ lotus feet?

 

Here, we need to make an important distinction between the role of

parents and that of the Acharya. Parents are indeed responsible for

bringing us into this world and providing us with the wherewithal for

survival, in this ugly mundane jungle filled with predators. However, their

support, assistance and aid are useful only in this world. It does nothing

for us, as far as emancipation is concerned. Further, their

relationship with us is physical in origin and confined to one particular

birth,

among the countless janmas the soul passes through.

 

Though one can never belittle the contribution of parents to one’s

life, yet when one looks at the broader Cosmic canvas, parental or filial

relationships are as fleeting and ephemeral as those of two pieces of

wood floating in the broad ocean, coming together due to a quirk of fate

for a second, before being torn apart again by the buffeting waves (as

the Ramayana tells us). Thus, it may not be appropriate to describe one

as having reached the lotus feet of one’s parents, upon one’s release

from the mortal coils.

 

The Acharya, on the other hand, is solely responsible for our spiritual

welfare. It is he who shows us God, His nature, our own character as

individual souls, the path to Paradise and what stands as a stumbling

block on our way to Liberation. It is through him that we adopt an

appropriate strategy like Bhakti or Prapatti, for ridding ourselves of our

mortal shackles. It is he, whom we have to thank, for enabling us to reach

Paramapadam and enjoy infinite bliss in the service of the Lord. It is

an accepted tenet that the mediatory services of an Acharya are

indispensable for God-realisation—“Acharyavan Purusho Veda”. Thus, vis-à-vis

the birth that parents afford us, which only leads us to more and more

mundane births, the Janma that the Acharya gives us (by eradicating the

ignorance entrenched in us, thereby entitling us to emancipation), is

extremely beneficial. The birth the Acharya bestows on us destroys the

poisonous seed of Karma, preventing further births—“Janma pradhva

msi janma” as Swami Desikan puts it.

 

Thus, if we attain Sri Vaikunttam after our sojourn here, it is solely

due to the Acharya’s munificence and mercy. If we have to be eternally

beholden to the Acharya, then so has the Lord too. Having taken

numerous avataras and failed to attract mortals into his fold in any big

measure, he takes avataras as Acharyas, lives and moves with the sinful

populace, bringing them around slowly through patient guidance. The Acharya

ultimately entrusts their souls to their rightful owner—the Lord--

cleansed of all the dirt and grime of Samsara, through the unfailing

strategy of Prapatti or Surrender. Thus, the Lord has as much to thank the

Acharya for, as we mortals do.

 

Being an “Atma Sambhandam”, a special Spiritual Relationship, the tie

with our Acharya continues much beyond our worldly life and persists

even when we ascend to Sri Vaikunttam. Due to the glorious nature of the

benefits he has conferred upon us, we tend to value him as much in

Paramapadam, as we do here, perhaps more so. And the liberated soul deems it

as much a pleasure to perform service to the Acharya in the eternal

abode, as in this mundane one.

 

Further, we Vaishnavites value and treasure Acharya Sambandham much

more than any other relationship. We hold it even higher than that with

the Lord. After all, just as we know our father only because our mother

points him out to us, so too, we know God only due to the Acharya’s

munificence and mercy. Hence, there is hardly anything strange in our

considering the Guru’s feet as our sole refuge, not only in this world, but

also in Sri Vaikunttam. The Acharya is thus not only the “Praapakam”

(the Facilitator) but also the goal to be attained (“Praapyam”). Thus,

when we say that someone reached his or her Acharya’s lotus feet, we are

only recording the soul’s journey to its logical destination.

 

All this is fine, but is there any authority for saying so? Or is it a

new-fangled practice that has sprung up during recent times, like so

many others of its kind?

 

Allaying our misgivings is Sri Alavandar, who lays down clearly that

the Acharya’s tiruvadi is as much a refuge to him in this mundane world,

as at Paramapadam—“atra paratra cha api nityam yadeeya charanou

sharanam madeeyam”. Recording his debt of gratitude to his grandfather and

Praacharya, Sri Nathamuni, Sri Alavandar codifies the Vaishnava’s conduct

towards his Guru, here and elsewhere. Expanding on this, Swami Desikan

tells us that the Acharya is a refuge to us in this life, due to his

catalytic role--ensuring germination of the seeds of Bhakti and Gnaanam

in the barren soil of our soul—“Mukte: poorva avastthaayaam Gnaana,

Bhakti utpaadana mukhena sharanatvam”. And in Sri Vaikunttam too, when one

recollects the invaluable assistance the Acharya has been in one’s

ascent to the Lord’s abode, one tends to accord the same exalted pedestal

to the Acharya, as one has on earth—“praacheena mahopakaara

saakshaatkaarena visesha pratipatti vishayataya”. The word “api”, which

follo

ws the phrase “atra paratra cha”, dispels any lingering doubt as to the

possibility of the Preceptor forming the liberated soul’s refuge.

 

Swami Desikan adduces further scriptural authority in this regard, by

quoting from the Pancharatra text of Saatvata Tantram—

 

“Gurureva param Brahma, Gurureva paraa gati:

Gurureva paraa vidyaa Gurureva paraayanam

Gurureva para: kaamo Gurureva param dhanam

Yasmaat sat upadeshta asou tasmaat gurutaro Guru:”

 

This beautiful verse tells us that the Acharya is the highest of

deities we can worship, the safest of refuges we can ever find, the best of

all knowledge that can ever be acquired, the best of goals we can ever

aspire for and the most precious of treasures we can hope to find.

 

The Acharya being both the Goal to be attained and the strategy

therefor, is borne out by the quote, ”Upaaya upeya bhaavena tam eva sharanam

vrajet”.

 

With all this wealth of scriptural evidence, is it strange that we

SriVaishnavas consider the Acharya our all, both in this mundane world and

in Paradise?

 

And more than anything else, that the departed soul’s ultimate refuge

is its preceptor’s holy feet, is borne out by the immortal words of the

wise Sabhari, renowned for her righteous conduct-- “Dharma chaarineem”.

Srimad Ramayanam tells us that after a long tenure of blissful service

to her Acharyas, Sabhari, after shedding her mortal coils, attained the

sacred feet of her Gurus—

 

“teshaam icchaami aham gantum sameepam bhaavitaatmanaam

Muneenaam aashramo yeshaam aham cha parichaarinee”

 

And when you consider the fact that the Acharya is none other than the

Lord Himself in human form (“Peetaka aadai Piraanaar Pirama guru aagi

vandu”—Sri Periyazhwar), there is not much difference between attaining

the Lord and the Acharya. Hence “Acharyan tiruvadi” is as good as the

Lord’s lotus feet. Thus, when the individual soul, having performed

Prapatti, attains Paramapadam, it is the Acharya’s feet that it reaches.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan