SrI UpakAra Sangraham - II (18)

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SrI UpakAra Sangraham - II (18)

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SAdhanAdhikAram

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Section - 8 (1) [continued]

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(The Favours being done by the Lord to the mumukShu

when he leaves the body)

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We just saw how the Lord does a favour to the jIva,

who has adopted the means for mOkSha and led a life of

virtue, through His will that there is no restriction

in regard to place and time of death. It has been

stated in the scripture that the devotee who is

totally attached to the Lord is not designated as

belonging to a certain village or a certain family,

but as belonging to the Lord, for He alone is

everything for him. It has also been stated that the

places inhabitated by BhAgavatas are the most suitable

for the man who has adopted a means for mOkSha.

It has been said:

“nigruheetEndriygrAmO yatra tatra vasEnnarah /

tatra tatra kurukShEtram naimisham puShkaram tathA

//” (ItihAsa Samucchaya, 25-18)

(The place where a man in full control of his senses

lives, has in it KurukShEtra, Naimisham and

PuShkaram.)

This means that, when a religious person lives in

some insignificant place, because of his inability to

live elsewhere, that place becomes sanctified by his

residence. This is illustrated in the episode of the

ascetic woman, shANdhilee:

shANdhilee, a great ascetic woman and devotee of the

Lord, was living on an island in the sea. Garuda,

along with his maternal uncle, sage GAvala, was

proceeding to the world of VaruNa to fetch 800 white

horses each having an ear in black colour, to help his

uncle to fulfill on order by Sage VishvAmitra. On the

way, both saw the hermitage of shANdhilee and halted

there. She received them with due respect and

hospitality. Seeing her ascetic life, Garuda wondered

why should such a religious lady stay in a dirty slum.

He went to sleep mentally deciding to take her to

either the world of Brahma, or the world of SrI

ViShNu, or a pure location where religious rites are

performed regularly, which, he thought the right place

for her to live. The following morning when Garuda

woke up, he saw that he had lost his all wings and

become a mass of flesh and realized that it was

because of his offensive thought about shAndhilee’s

condition before going to bed the previous night. He

sought pardon at the feet of the woman ascetic who

graciously pardoned him resulting in the restoration

of his wings as before.

This is cited to show that no place is unworthy of

stay for a parapanna and also that even a small

offence, however virtuous it may be, will cause

misery.

For a prapanna, there is no place fixed as a must for

his death. Its significance is shown by the following

slOka from SrI VarAha PurANa:

“j~nAna samakAlamuktvA kaivalyam yAti gatashOkah /

teerthE shvapaca-gruhE vA naShTasmrutirapi parityajan

dEham //”

(The person, who performs prapatti by uttering the

mantra at the very time when he attains this

knowledge, attains mOkSha wherever he may die losing

his consciousness, whether it be in a holy place or

the residence of one who eats dog’s flesh.)

This statement that there is no special place for

death should be understood that the place of death

will not be a hindrance to attaining mOkSha.

SwAmi Desikan summarizes this point in a beautiful

verse:

“sA kAsheeti na cAkasheeti bhuvi sAyOdhyEti

nAdhyAsyatE

sAvanteeti na kalmaShAdavati sA kAnceeti

nOdancati /

dhattE sA madhurEti nOttamadhurAm nAnyApi mAnyA puri

yA vaikuNTa-kathA-sudhA-rasabhujAm rOcEta nO

cEtasE //” (43)

(The place which is not to the liking of the minds of

those who taste the nectar of the stories of the Lord

-- that place does not shine in the world, merely

because it is called KAshee (KAshee means that which

shines); it does not become a suitable place of

residence merely because it is called AyOdhyA; it does

not save us from our sins merely because it is called

Avanti (Av means to protect); KAncee is not excellent

because of its name; nor is Madhura considered a seat

of excellence merely because it is called Madhura. So

also other cities do not become worthy merely because

of their names, if they are not to the liking of those

who delight in the ambrosia of stories concerning the

Lord [VaikuNta].)

This way the lord favours the prapanna making any

place he spends his last days maintaining his purity,

a holy one.

Now, with regard to the time of leaving the body, the

prapanna has no fixed one as auspicious. Any time is

good for him, with the grace of the Lord.

Whether in the day or in the night, whether in the

day of the pitrus (shukla-pakSha) or in the night of

the pitrus (kriShNa-pakSha), whether in the day of he

gods (uttarAyaNa) or in the night of the gods

(dakShiNAyana), at the time fixed by the Lord, He

makes the prapanna remember all his previous thoughts

and desires for mOkSha. Like a graceful king who cuts

off the fetters of the prince lying in the prison, the

Lord takes the prapanna along with Him, without regard

to auspicious or inauspicious time.

This what Swami Desikan intends to convey in these

words:

“anthima-shareera-vishlESha-kAlatthil

prashasta-aprashasta-dEsha-kAla-nimitta-niyamam-illAthapadi

sankalpitthathuvum.”

Here is a brief description of the process of the

jIva leaving the body:

The Lord makes the ten senses merge in the mind and

the mind with the senses merge in the vital breath

(prANa) and the prANa join with the jIva. Then the

Lord churns out the subtle elements (sookShma-bhootas)

from the gross body (sthoola-deha) and fixes them with

the jIva. He keeps the jIva with the senses, the vital

breath and the subtle elements by His side in the form

that He assumes in the heart, as He is the friend and

well-wisher of the jIva. The Lord gives the jIva some

rest, making him to relax after the strain that would

have caused him by the churning of the gross body.

Later, He sees to it that the jIva passes out of the

body. So far, the process is the same for both for the

jIva who has knowledge of Brahman and for the jIva who

has not.

There are one hundred and one veins (nAdis) in the

body proceeding from the heart in different

directions. One of them, called Brahma nAdi, proceeds

upwards. The Lord sees to it that the self of the

prapanna passes through this vein and leads it to the

shining path, called archirAdi, and helps it to reach

the highest state. The other one hundred veins go to

different directions through which whichever self goes

reaches either the worlds of gods or hell or takes

re-birth in the samsAra to experience the fruits of

his karma. The veins are like rays having various

colours proceeding from the heart which is like a

lamp.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S.SrInivAsan

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