SrI UpakAra Sangraham - III (3)

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srI:

 

SrI UpakAra Sangraham - III (3)

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niryANa adikAram

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Section - 9: The Favours the Lord does to a MumukShu

after he leaves his body

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[9.1 Favours being done until the mumukShu reaches the

shore of River VirajA]

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In this sub-section (9-1), SwAmi Desikan has been

describing the favours being done by the Lord to the

mumukShu-jIva by taking him on the archirAdi path till

he reaches the bank of Viraja river. The para (i)

spoke about the happiness of the Lord on recovering

the jIva who had departed from Him and fell into the

samsAra. After his return, the Lord picked him up in

His hands and led him through the Brahma-nAdi out of

the gross body and put him on the archirAdi path where

he was received by various devas in their respective

regions as he proceeded towards the border of the

prakruti mandala.

In the second para, (ii), the Lord ensured that the

mumukShu-jIva crossed the prakruti mandala accompanied

by immortal guides.

In every one of these regions on the way, which belong

to Soorya, Chandra etc., the jIvAtma enjoys all the

delights which are described in detail in the

scriptures like, SrIpAnchrAtram:

“athainamamarAstatra saha divyApsarOgaNaih /

sOpahArAh praharShENa pratyudgacchantyupagatam //

arcirAdikayA gatyA tatra tatra arcitassuraih /

ateetya lOkAnabhyEti vaikuNTham veetakalmaShah //”

(Immortals, accompanied by Apsara women carrying in

their hands presentations, receive the on-coming new

mukta. Thus the mukta-jIva who proceeds on the

arcirAdi path, being received by the immortals,

crossing several worlds and freed from the bonds of

karma, attains SrI VaikuNtam.)

In this para, (iii), Swami Desikan describes the

favour being done by the Lord after the mukta-jIva

reaches the shore of Viraja river, at the end of the

prakruti mandala:

(iii) Virajai enkiRa amrtanadi-yaik kittuviththu --

Akaratthil ninRum eduttha ratthinatthin azhkkuk

kazhaRRumAp pOlE -- AtmAvai anubandhitthuk koNdu

kidakkiRa sookShma-aciththaik kazhitthu ‘oLik koNda

cOthi’ ennumpadi paNNumathuvm ippAluLLa upakArangkaL.

SwAmi Desikan describes Viraja as a river of nectar,

“Virajai enkiRa amrtanadi”. We shall try to know more

about this river. Viraja means free from rajas (rajo

guNa, passionate attachment to things). It is the

river that forms the boundary between the prakruti

mandala which is also known as samsAra mandala and Sri

VaikuNtam, the Sopreme Abode of SrIman NArAyaNa. There

is a reference to Viraja river in KauSheetaki

UpaniShad, which says that the liberated soul crosses

it by sankalpa (mental thought). There he shakes off

his good and evil deeds. Padma-purANa says in

PAdmOttara-khaNda:

“pradhAna-parama-vyOmnOrantarE virajA nadee /”

(VirajA river flows between the prakruti world and the

Parama-padam.)

SwAmi Desikan quotes a sloka about VirajA river in his

SarvArtha-siddhi, a commentary on his own magnum-opus,

“TatvamuktakalApah”:

“gathvAathO VirajAM vimuchya cha tanum sookshmAm

tathOamAnava /

sparsAth KshAlitha vAssanaas-sukruthinO gacchanthi

VishNO: padham //”

(After crossing the VirajA river, the liberated soul

is touched by amAnavan to get complete freedom from

all karma vaasanas, gains sookshma sarItram and rushes

further towards the Abode of SrI ViShNu.)

After reaching the shore of the Viraja river, the

jIva is led into the river. As we have just seen, he

crosses this river using his mind as the boat. The

mind, indriyas (ten in total) and five elements form

his subtle body. We may recall that the mmkShu-jIva

got out of his gross body with this subtle body. The

subtle body is essential for traveling along the

arcirAdi path for the mumukShu. It is also important

for the jIva who has not adopted any means for

liberation, as he has take to re-birth in the material

world. When he is born again, he takes a gross body

which is activated with his subtle body without which

he cannot lead active life in the world in his next

life. The subtle body contains the three qualities of

satvam, rAjasam, and tAmasam in different proportions

according to the nature he had acquired in his

previous lives. Though they are useful for his life in

the material world, they are actually considered dirty

as far as his liberated life is concerned.

Now, as the liberated jIva jumps into the Viraja

river using his mind as the boat to cross it and to

reach the shore yonder which is the entry point of the

Nitya vibhooti where is situated the Lord’s Abode, SrI

VaikuNtam where the mukta has to reach finally.

While crossing the Viraja river the jIva’s subtle

body is removed from the Atma. This is being described

by SwAmi Desikan as follows:

“Akaratthil ninRum eduttha ratthinatthin azhkkuk

kazhaRRumAp pOlE -- AtmAvai anubandhitthuk koNdu

kidakkiRa sookShma-aciththaik kazhitthu” --

The pure Atma of the jIva is like a bright gem. But,

because of his association with the material world,

his brightness had been hidden by the dirty material

and the Atma got buried deep there. It had only a dull

light, like a low voltage bulb. Its brightness also

varied according to the level of the jIva’s spiritual

knowledge, and also the level of the satva quality. If

the proportion of satva is much low and the

proportions of rAjasa and tAmasa qualities are more,

accordingly the jIvAtma’s brightness is too dim to

know the realities, i.e., cit, acit and the Ishvara.

Hence, he was like a criminal undergoing life

imprisonment in a jail. When he completes the jail

term fully as per the judgment, he gets release from

the jail. Or because of his good conduct in the jail

also, he gets release even before completion of the

full term. But if he again commits a crime, he is

again put back in the jail. In the same way, we are

repeatedly born in this world until we stop committing

evil deeds. In some cases, the prisoner is let off on

parole, when he is under observation. In case he

behaves in disciplined manner, he does not come back

to the prison again. He lives a free life. In the

similar position is this jIva who has adopted a means

for liberation and proceeding on the arcirAdi path

receiving honours from various devats on the way. His

final release takes place when he crosses the Viraja

river.

As the jIva comes out of the Viraja waters, he

becomes totally pure with his true form of j~nAna

(knowledge) which attains its original unrestricted

glow which is called “vibhu”. He is compared to a gem

which is picked from a deep mine of dirty mud and

fully cleaned restoring its original glow. This is

what SwAmi Desikan said in these words:

“AtmAvai anubandhitthuk koNdu kidakkiRa

sookShma-aciththaik kazhitthu” --

(Removing the subtle body which had been sticking to

the Atma,)

When the gem is cleaned totally, its gets back its

original brightness even though its size is very small

like an atom. Similarly, the purified Atma shines, as

SrI NammAzhvAr says, “oLik koNda cOthi”. Here is the

full pAsuram:

“kaLippum kavarvum aRRup piRRappu piNi mooppiRappaRRu

oLikkoNda cOthimayamAi udan kooduvathu enRukolO,

thuLikkinRa vAninnilam cudarAzhi cangEnthi

aLikkinRa mAyappirAn adiyArkaL kuzhAngkaLaiyE?”

(ThiruvAimozhi, 2-3-10)

(Small pleasures and miseries having gone, even birth,

disease, agedness and death all having gone, shining

brightness alone being the form, when am I going to

enjoy the crowd of devotees of the Lord, Who, having

the Discus and the Conch in His hands, is playfully

protecting this sky and this world?)

“‘oLik koNda cOthi’ ennumpadi paNNumathuvm ippAluLLa

upakArangkaL” --

Turning the jIva into such a bright glow also forms

part of the favours being done by the Lord on this

side of the Viraja river.

Swami Desikan’s quote is confined only up to

turning the mumukShu-jIva in to a bright glow. When we

see the full verse of SrI NammAzhvAr referred to

above, we can imagine the following conversation

between the mukta jIva as he emerges from the Viraja

river and the Lord Whose compassion has brought him up

to this stage:

The Lord: Hello! Have you attained the full bliss that

you had aspired for? After this, you don’t have

anything to achieve, isn’t it? Do I have anything more

to do for you?

The Mukta (AzhvAr): Oh Lord! There is no doubt. AdiyEn

has received the greatest bliss in this universe. But,

You have still kept me in the midst of sensual

objects. This bliss is not the permanent one! The

bliss will become perfect only when adiyEn joins Your

nitya sooris in Your Abode. What you have given me is

only the kaivalya which is not the ultimate. AdiyEn is

not satisfied in enjoying my own Atma. When will

adiyEn become part of the assemblage of muktas and

nitya muktas serving You eternally in Your highest

state?

SrI NammAzhvAr is our true AchArya and it is our

great fortune that we are his disciples.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S. SrInivAsan)

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