SrI UpakAra Sangraham - III (5)

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srI:

 

SrI UpakAra Sangraham - III (5)

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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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[9.2 Favours being done after crossing the river, VirajA]

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In the previous sub-section, Swami Desikan described in detail the favour the

Lord does to the mukta after he crosses the Viraja river through the eternal

inmates of the nitya vibhooti. In this sub-section, Swami Desikan refers to yet

another favour the Lord does when the new comer arrives at the MaNimaNtapam:

(ii) “thanmai peRutthit than thALiNaik keezh koLLu†mathuvum;

Before the mukta-jIva enters the MaNimaNtapam, he has been provided with a

divine body just as the Lord’s, with four hands and two hands holding the

conch and the discus and adorning shining yellow garments and spreading

fragrance all around. This special body is given to him to show that he is no

more a bonded jIva who is caught in the cycle of births in the material world.

In fact, he used to eagerly long for attaining the Lord’s feet in His abode as

stated in these verses:

“anayAham vasheebhootah kAlamEtanna buddhavAn /

ucca-madhyama-neecAntAm tAmaham kathamAvasE //

apEtyAhamimAm hitva samshrayiShyE nirAmayam /

anEna sAmyam yAsyAmi nAnAyAhamacEtasA //

kShamam mama sahAnEna hyEkatvam nAnayA saha //†(MahAbhArata, SAnti Parva,

312-30,38-39)

(I do not know how long I have spent my time in vain with this prakruti being

subject to its sway. How can I remain associated with this prakruti, which takes

the excellent bodies of dEvas, the middle bodies of men and the mean bodies

which experience the pains of hell? I will depart from this prakruti and attain

the Lord Who is free from blemish. I will become one with Him and will not be

one with this non-sentient prakruti. It is only appropriate that I should be one

with Him and not with prakruti.)

“kreedhantam ramayA sArdham leelAbhoomiShu kEshavam /

mEghaSyAmam vishAlAkSham kadA drakShyAmi cakShuShA //†(Jitanta Stotram 2-21)

(When shall I see with my eyes Kesava Who is black as a cloud, Whose eyes are

broad and Who is playing with LakShmee in the gardens?)

“mEghashyAmam mahAbAhum sthirasattvam druDavrutam /

kadA drakShyAmahE rAmam jagatah shOkanAshanam //

druShTa Eva hi nah SokamapanEShyati rAghavah /

tamah sarvasya lOkasya samudyanniva bhAskarah //†(rAmAyaNa, 2-83-8,9)

(When shall we all see SrI RAma with His complexion black as a cloud and with

His long arms, -- RAma Who is firmly set in sattva, Who has taken a staunch vow

to protect those that seek His help and Who is bent on relieving the sorrows of

the world? Just as the rising sun dispels the darkness of the whole world, SrI

RAma will dispel all our sorrow the moment we see Him.)

As stated in these SlOkas, the Lord reveals to the mukta-jIva His blissful

form, so that he gets rid of all his sorrows, and enables him to acquire his

essential nature as stated by SrI nammAzhvAr: “thanmai peRutthit than

thALiNaik keezh koLLum appanâ€, as quoted by Swami Desikan. We shall study the

verse in full:

“canma canmAntharam kAththu adiyArkaLaik koNdupOy

thanmai peRutthith than thALiNaikkeezhk koLLum appanai

thonmai pithaRR vallAraip pithaRRumavar kaNdeer

nanmai peRuththu emmai nALLuyyak koLkinRa nambarE.†(Thiruvaimozhi, 3-7-7)

(The Lord also takes births during every birth of His devotees, protects them

and later takes them to Sri Vaikuntam, where He helps their svaroopa --

essential nature to manifest and keeps them eternally under His feet just like

the lines on the soles of His feet.)

In this verse, there is so much for us to understand going beyond the words.

That is the reason why SwAmi Desikan seems to have quoted merely one line from

this verse, instead of the verse in full.

We will be able to understand this better, if we raise questions on the basis

of the expressions of the AzhvAr included in the verse.

The first question is: Why should the Lord takes so many births just as we take

because of our poorva karmas?

The AzhvAr answers this question thus: “canma canmAntharam kAththu†-- in

order to save us. But, the question is: Why so many births?

Here, the answer is known to us. Every one has to be reborn to experience the

fruits of our karma, whether good or bad. This is the rule laid down by the

scripture which He Himself has handed down to us. But, He is so compassionate

that He does not leave us in distress just like that. By undergoing the results

of our karma, whether good or bad, we exhaust that much of our poorva karma.

There is a possibility during our life, of our turning virtuous even if it is

very minute. The Lord is waiting for that opportunity so that He can help us

move further on the virtuous path which will ultimately take us towards Him. In

case, we move forward according to His expectation, He can step in and help us

further. Such an opportunity can not be known in advance even for Him, as the

individual soul is free to take any step either for the better or for the worse.

As He doesn’t want to lose that opportunity, He takes birth repeatedly in this

world on His own to be

in readiness to provide us a helping hand if such an occasion arises. If we are

lucky and turn towards the virtuous path with the sAtvika quality in us

increasing, the Lord helps us to move further on that virtuous path, so that the

sAttvika quality in us further increases to higher level.

It is just like a person who locates a gem in a dirty mud, takes it out and

start cleaning it so that it regains its original purity and shine. The time

taken for purifying it depends on the quantity of the dirt the gem has got on

it. In a similar position is the jIvAtma with his original shine is covered to a

great extent. That cover is our poorva karma. It has to be removed to regain our

essential nature. In the process, we undergo both miseries and pleasures. Only

by experiencing these in life after life, we can remove the cover little by

little to regain our original shine.

When the Lord finds that we have become pure after several generations, He

takes us to His abode, SrI VaikuNtam and restore our natural svaroopa which is

similar to His own and keeps us under His feet. He is our “appanâ€, Father.

The AzhvAr futher says:

“than thALiNaik keezhc cErtthu avan ceyyum cEmatthai†(ThiruvAimozhi,

7-5-10)

(The Lord looks after our welfare by taking us to His feet and by preventing our

fall from there.)

Here, we recall the description of the mukta-jIva’s approach to the Couch on

which is seated the Lord. The Couch is on AdiSEsha whose hood with its numerous

watchful heads as a protection for the Lord. How the Lord is seated on SEsha is

described in the SlOka:

 

“savyam pAdam prasArya shritaduritaharam dakShiNam kuncayitvA

jAnunyAdhAya savyEtaramitarabhujam nAgabhOgE nidhAya /

pashcAdbAhudvayEna pratibhaTashamanE dhArayan shankhacakrE

dEveebhooShAdijuShTO janayatu jagatAm sharma vaikuNThanAthah //â€

(Tirumantra DyAna shlOka)

(The Lord Who is known as VaikuNThanAtha, is seated on AdhiSEsha, with the right

leg folded; the right hand kept on the right-knee; left leg hanging down; the

left hand resting on the snake-bed; the other two hands holding the Discus and

Conch that remove the miseries of His devotees; and His Consorts SrI and Bhoo on

His both sides; graces the world.)

The mukta-jIva holds the Lord’s left feet hanging down from the Couch and

slowly climbs up to the Lord’s thigh. The Lord keeps him on His left thigh and

asks him ‘Who are thee?’ and the mukta replies, “aham brahmAsmi†(I am

Brahman). This means that the mukta-jIva has acquired the essential nature with

eight great qualities, just as the Brahman, Who is SrIman nArAyaNa. The eight

qualities are:

“apahatapApmA, vijarO vimrutyuh vishOkah vijighatsah apipAsah satyakAmah

satysankalpah†(ChAndOgya UpniShad, 8-7-1)

(opposed to all sins, free from old age, without death, sorrow, hunger and

thirst, with true desires and with true will.)

The Lord takes him and accords him the sAyuja mOkSha, which is bliss, enjoyment

equal to His. Later, He places the mukta in the midst of the nitya sooris, His

eternal servants who enjoy eternal bliss and the new mukta will be of the same

class as they are.

The attainment of the supreme goal by the mukta-jIva is dealt with in the

VEdAntasootra, in the fourth part of the fourth Chapter, in particular, the

first two adhikaraNas: (1) sampadyAvirbhAva adhikaraNa and (2)

avibhAgEna-druShTatv adhikaranam. The first one is about the mukta-jIva who

manifests himself in his own nature after reaching Brahman and the second one

speaks about the mukta-jIva experiencing Brahman as inseparable from himself.

The second has received different interpretations. SrI BhaShyakAra’s view is

that the liberated self experiences Brahman which is the self of the individual

self without distinction as “I am Brahmanâ€, as he has realized his essential

nature of having ParamAtman as his inner-self. For SrI RAmAnuja, Brahman and

jIva are two distinct real entities though they are integrally related as

substance and its attribute. The term ‘avibhAga’ (inseparable) in the sutra

is interpreted by SrI RAmAnuja as non-distinct in the sense that jIva is a

prakAra or mode of Brahman is inseparable from Brahman. When the jIva attains

Brahman after he is liberated from bondage, he realizes that he is integrally

related to Brahman.

Non-realizing this inseparable relationship is the cause for our bondage in the

material world and the cycle of rebirths. Once by the grace of the Lord, the

jIva realizes this ultimate truth, his attains mOkSha, ever enjoying the fully

expanded attributive knowledge and the bliss, similar to the Brahman, SrIman

nArAyaNa.

This is the favour the Lord does to the jIva who turns towards Him. He accords

him to attain his essential nature in totality, says SwAmi Desikan in this

sub-section.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S.SrInivasan

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