virodhaparihara-questions22 to 26

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22. dhEhAdhivilakshaNathvena vibhakthasvaroopasya jeevasya

karthavyAntharam na upalabhAmahe;

 

athah svarupAnubhanDHi varNAsramAdhirAhithyavedhinah purushAh kaTHamiva

karmADHikAriNah bhavishyanthi?

 

 

 

There is no karma for the jiva who is different from body etc. and

therefore how can those, who know that they are the self which is

beyond varNa or Asrama be fit for the karma enjoined in the vedas?

 

 

 

The reference here is to the slokas in Vishnupurana and Mahabharatha

that declare the self as different from embodied beings.

 

 

 

pumAn nA dhEvO na narO na pasurna cha padhapah

 

sareerAkrthibhEdhAsthu bhoopa EthE karmayOnayah

 

(VP.2-13-98)

 

 

 

Oh king! the jiva is not a deva, man,an animal or even a plant.These

differences are due to that in the physical bodies caused by karma.

 

 

 

nAyam dhEvO na marthyO va na thiryak sthAvaropi vA

 

jnAnAnandhamayasthvAthmA seshO hi paramAthmanah

 

(Maha.AsvamEdhika.43-13)

 

 

 

This jiva is neither a deva, nor a man ,nor animal nor a plant. He is of

the nature of bliss and knowledge and a sesha to the Lord.

 

 

 

hence thereis no karma for the jiva who has the knowledge of his reakl

self.

 

 

 

Desika refutes this view saying that it will apply only to ChArvAkas,

the materialists. Since they do not believe in a life after death they

do not follow the karma enjoined in the vedas.For others, especially

those who have the knowledge of the self,

 

 

 

dhEhAthmanOH vivEkE api dhEhasambandhayOginAm

 

karthavyam dhrsyathE yadhvath grhakshEthrAdhisAlinAm

 

 

 

Even after attaining the discrimination that soul is different from the

body the karma is to be performed as the owners of the house and land do

their karma.

 

 

 

All karma is according to varnAsrama which stays till death and cannot

be avoided as the eating and drinking because of the connection with the

body.The discrimination between the body and the soul does not preclude

the karma that is to be done. Desika cites the example of where the man

owning house and land which are different from him discharges certain

duties according to the mandate of the king.Here the karma enjoined by

the vedas are mandatory because it is ordained by the Lord who is the

king of kings,rajAdhirAja, whose command should be followed by all

beings, till death,says Desika. 'Abrahmakeetam akhilairapi

anuvarthaneeya-sAsanasya rAjADhirAjasya bhagavathah sarvEsvarasya

sasanamapi yaTHADHikAram yAvaddhEhapAtham anuvarthaneeyam ithi

prAmANikAnAm panTHAh.'

 

 

 

23.aTHApi,

 

 

 

yasyAythmarathirEva syAth Athmathrpthascha mAnavah

 

AthamnyEva cha santhushTah thasyaKAryam na vidhyathE

 

(BG.3-17)

 

 

 

ithyukthaprakArENa AthmAnubhavathrpthasya na kinchidhapi karthavyam.

 

 

 

The sloka quoted means that for the one who revels in the Self,

contented with the Self and enjoys the bliss of the Self , there is

nothing to be accomplished, that is, he has no karma.

 

 

 

Desika says in answer to this,

 

 

 

karthvyasya uparOdhasthu yogE mukthou cha sambhavEth

 

anyaTHA bhOjanOnmEsha nimEshAdhi kaTHam bhavEth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the state of yOga and release only there is no karma.Otherwise even

the actions like eating or blinking will not take place.

 

 

 

The statements in the sruthi and smrthi regarding the non-performance of

karma applies only while doing yoga and after mukthi.If all the karma

are denied in the embodied state even the ordinary actions like eating,

clothing, breathing etc would not take place.So the actions enjoined by

the scriptures have to be performed till death even by the man of

knowledge. Visishtadvaitha does not accept the concept of jeevanmukthi

of the advaita.

 

The one who is 'nArAyaNaikanishta,' that is, a paramaikAnthi with

ananyabhakthi towards the Lord Narayana, does all the nithya naimitthika

karma as bhagavdhArADhana, dedicating all his actions to the Lord and

performing them as worship.This attitude is his japa.The perception of

the Lord in everything is the dhyAna,meditation. the water that washes

the feet of such a pure soul, who purifies the place where he is,becomes

the holy water which purifies all.This is deemed as bhAgavathasnAnam and

the remainings of the food which he offers to the Lord as naivEdhya and

partakes himself , becomes the prasAdha for his children and disciples.

 

 

 

24.BhAgavathAnAm EthadhananyArha sEshathvajnAnEna

svarupayAthAthmyajnAnavathAm

anyasEshathvaprApakaagneendhrAdhivyAmisrakarmANi akarthavyAnyEva.

 

 

 

To the devotees of the Lord who have the knowledge that they are seshas

only to Him, the performance of the karmas that propitiate other devas

like agni and Indra become prohibited as they imply anyasEshathva, that

they are sEshas to these deities.

 

 

 

This is answered by Desika thus:

 

 

 

AjnAthilanganAyOgAth antharyAmithva dharsanAth

 

sAkshAdhapi avirOdhAccha karmakarthavyam ishyathE

 

 

 

It is not a transgression of command because of the perception of the

Lord as the indweller and also of direct connotation which removes any

contradiction and hence the works enjoined in the vedas like yajna are

to be performed by the paramaikAnthins also.

 

 

 

A paramaikanthin does all the karma as the offering to Lord Narayana

only and therefore even when he performs yaga etc with respect to other

deities like Indra and agni, his action is directed only to the Lord who

is the indweller of those deities. It is like garlanding a person on his

shirt ,which is towards the person only and not the garment. When the

Lord is meditated as the whole world consisting of insentient beings,

it is not directed to the world but to the Lord whose sarira is the

world. Similarly here all the activities propitiating the other deities

are directed only towards the Lord. It denotes anyasEshathhvam only

when these deities are worshipped for their own sake expecting them to

yield the desired fruit of the karma instead of the Lord who is the

indweller of them.

 

 

 

The Lord says in the Gita, 'aham hi sarvayajnaAnAm bhOkthA cha

prabhurEva cha, (BG.9-24) I am the enjoyer in all yajnas and the giver

of fruit. Prabhu means phalapradhah, one who gives the result of the

karma. Brahma suthra ascribes the etymological meaning of all words

denoting the deities to the Lord only.The suthra 'sAkshAdhapi avirODHam

jaiminih' (BS.1-2-29) declares that the words denoting Indra Varuna etc

have direct connotation to the Isvara only and therefore there is no

contradiction and so considers Jaimini.

 

 

 

Therefore to those who do all the actions as offering to the Lord till

the end of their lives there is no possibilty of seshathva to other

deities.All the nithya naimitthika karmas have to be done through out

life and the prohibition refers only to the desire - motivated

activities.

 

 

 

 

 

25. Nanu jnAnasvarupathayA cha jnAnaguNathayA cha pramANasiddhasyApi

jeevasya jnAnothpatthivinasayoh prathyakshAdhipramAna siddhathvath jnAna

nithyathvavAdhah sarvadhA na sanghatatha.

 

 

 

Of this self, who is of the nature of knowledge and has knowledge as his

attribute,the attributive knowledge, dharmabhuthajnAna originates and

is destroyed, as seen from pramAnas such as perception and hence it

cannot be permanent.

 

 

 

Desika says that the dharmabhutha jnAna is eternal as declared by

sasthrapramAna.

 

 

 

yaTHA na kriyathE jyOthsnA ithyAdhi vAkyAnusArathah

 

jnAnam nithyam avasTHAbhih uthpatTHyAdhisthu kaTHyathE.

 

 

 

As it is said that the light is not produced the knowledge is eternal

and its appearance and disappearance is due to the different states in

which it is experienced.

 

 

 

The reference here is to the sloka in Vishnudharma.

 

 

 

YaTHA na kriyathE jyOthsna malaprakshAlanAth manEh

 

dhOshaprahAnAth na jnAnam Athmanah kriyathE thaThA

 

(Vishnu Dharma.104-55)

 

 

 

The light of the gem is not produced by cleaning it. Like wise the

knowledge is not created in the self through the removal of the defect

(due to ignorance) that is, it only manifests which is already there.

 

 

 

Therefore the appearance and the disappearance is due to the contraction

and the expansion of the dharmabhutha jnAna which is permanent.

 

 

 

 

 

26. aTHApi svathah prakAsasyApi jnAnasya kEnApi thirODHAnEna

aprakAsathva angeekAre mrshAvAdhimathAvathArah prasjyEtha.

 

 

 

If the knowledge which is self luminous is accepted to have been

concealed at times it would land one in the school of advaita.So the

knowledge when it is not manifest should be considered as having become

extinct.

 

 

 

Desika disagrees and says,

 

 

 

jnAnanithyathvavAdhasya sruthyaivaprathipAdhanAth

 

svaprakAsathvam Ethasya vishayagrahanE sathi

 

 

 

That knowledge is eternal has been established by sruthi and the

dharmabhutha jnAna operates only when it illuminates an object.

 

 

 

In sleep the dharmabhuthajnAna seems to be absent due to the

non-existence of objects to cognise.This is known by the experience that

"I did not know anything." The self illuminating character of the

dharmabhuthajnAna consists in the fact that it does not need another

knowledge to manifest itself.