SaraNAgati Gadhyam : Part XI: ChurNikai 13-15

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SrI:

 

Dear AchArya RaamAnuja SampradhAyins:

 

 

13. Prayer for Purification

 

ManO-Vaak-Kaayair-anAdhikAla-pravrutta ananta akrutyakaraNa-ktutyAkaraNa BhagavadhApachAra asahyApachAra-roopa nAnAvidha anantApachArAn Arabdha-

kAryAn anAraBdha-kAryAn , kruthAn , kriyamANAn , karishyamANAmsccha sarvAn aSEshata: Kshamasva. anAdhikAla-pravrutta-vipareetajn~Anam , Aatmavishayam krutsna-jagathvishayam cha , vipareetha-vruttam cha aSEsha-vishayam , adhyApi vartamAnam vartishyamANam cha sarvam kshamasva

 

13. Translation of the Text

 

Pray grant me forgivenness without reserve of all my sins without exception, sins of various kinds , committed , being committed or to be committed -endless and beginningless , i.e., commission of acts forbidden , omission of acts enjoined to be performed , all committed by mind , or tongue or body towards Thee or Thine devotees --sins unforgivable ( so many in number) whether connected with acts starteed or not so started. Forgive me , Oh Lord , my (poor) knowledge or action , however , perverse.

 

13.commentary

 

Sri Ramanuja then starts to expound the latter portion of "Dhvayam". In doing so , he first deals with the meaning of the word "Nama:"( I salute). The word Nama: is taken first and even before the passage ,"SrimatE NaarAyaNAya"( though it is earlier in sequence) , because good follows only after driving out the evil."SrImatE

NarAyaNAya" indicates the attainment of good and "Nama:" , the destruction of the evil.

 

Then RaamAnujA prays for purification from his sins. AnAdhikAla pravrutta ( collected over a long period of endless time) is the readon for its being "anantaa".

The earlier word Ananta is an adjective qualifying all kinds of apachAra ( offences-the doing of prohibited acts and omititng to do acts prescribed in general).The second " ananta"qualifies ApachAra.After referring to offences geenrally in the first instance , Sri Ramanuja goes on to specific offenses in in the passage beginning with " Bhagavat". Bhagavata apachArAs are offenses like the one committed by SisupAla. Bhagavata apachArAs ( towards the Lord's devotees) are taken to mean as offenses against Himself by the Lord because of His atyanta preethi for His BhaagavatAs.

 

Asya apachArasya means offenses against AchArya or it may mean offenses committed against BhagavatAs , believing that they are not His devotees or it may mean the belief that the idols in the temples are not any different from ordinary play-dolls. By the word "nAna Vidha " is denoted that there are many subdivisons in each of these various offenses . The word "Sarva" is used to include all and every offences in its fold. Karmas have the capacity to make a man unfit for Vaidhik ceremonies , to make him suffer the consequence of his sinful acts and to create in him a tendency to commit similar sinful acts . With a view not to exclude any of these categories , the word "aSEshatha " is used .

 

Next , Ramanuja prays to the Lord that He should forgive acts in form meritorious, but really sinful that may be committed by him .

 

Vipareetha Jn~Ana relating to Atman: this would consist of the knowledge that the Atman and the world are entities that are not subject to control but independent entities by themselves , or that they are subject to the control of Gods other than NarayaNa , or the idea that the things ( which are really under the control of BhagavAn) are under one's own service or control . Even a meritorious act , if it arises out of the feeling that one's soul is an independent entity, is one of perversity. When a man performs an act solely out of a desire for gain to himself or to his family , even that meretorious act as being the worship of BhagavAn , BhagavatAs or other Gods, it is said to be vipareeta vrittA contained in the word

" aSEsha ".

 

"AdhyApi vartamAnam --even though clearly instructed by AchArya and through the knowledge gained is comprehensive , because of the inherited tendencies , which can not be shaken off ( Viparetha Jn~Ana) and Vipareetha Vritta do result.Hence "adhyApi".

 

14. Prayer for Being Saved : Sanskrit Text

 

14. madheeyAnAdhikarma-pravAha-pravruttAm Bhagavathsvaroopa-tirOdhAnakareem, vipareetajn~Anajananeem , svavishayaayAscca bhOgyaBuddhEr-jananeem , dEhEndhriyatvEna bhOgyatvEna sookshmaroopENa cha avasthitAm , dhiveem guNamayeem mAyAm , "dhAsabhUta: SaraNAgatOsmi TavAsmi dhAsa: " iti vaktAram mAm tAraya.

 

14. Translation ofthe Text

 

" I am Thy servant. I haev surrendered myself unto Thee. Help me, Thy servant , Oh Lord to cross over Thy Moolaprakriti of three guNams , which flow like a current of the beginningless and endless Karma , which hides from my vision Thy natural Form , and produces in me a perverted knowledge about Thee and a sense of (false) satisfaction in me in enjoyment of material matters existing (in the worlds) in all manners of forms , subtle and gross--in body , senses and objects of enjoyment.

 

14.Commentary

 

Then , Ramanuja goes on to describe the Moolaprakruti in the passage beginning with the word "Madeeya". Karma is called " Anadhi " on account of the Nyaaya " Tree from the Seed"

( BeejAnkura Nyaaya) . " TirOdhana Kareem" reminds us of the passage in Geeta-GuNamaya samaavrta.Vipareetha guNa is that knowledge , which comprehends dEha (body) as Aatman(soul) .The passage "dEhEndhriya" connotes that the Prakriti manifests itself as bhOgya ( enjoyable thing) and bhOgOpakaraNa ( means for enjoyment). The world "dhaiveem" denotes that all these are for His recreating purposes. "DhAsabhOthaham " is the adjective qualifying "maam". ( The other reading is DhAsabhUta: adopted by Swamy Desikan and he renders an interesting meaning to to the words. According to him , " dhAsabhuta:" denotes PraNavam ; SaraNAgatOsmi denotes Nama:--TavAsmi DhAsa: denotes NaarAyaNa .

 

The first half of shvaya mantram is contained in its essence in SaraNAgatOsmi and the second half is in " TavAsmi dhAsa: ".

 

" VaktAram" Even an utterance of the words " Bhava SaraNam" gets one to salvation .Cf. " Bhava SaraNam iteerayanti".

 

15.The desired end result: Eternal services

 

The Text :

 

tEshAm jn~Ani nityayukta: yEkabhaktiviSishyatE

priyA hi jn~AninOatyartham aham sa cha mama priya:

 

udhArA: Sarva YEvaitE jn~anee ThvAtmaiva mE matam

Aasthita: sa hi yuktAtmA mAmEvAnuttamAm gatim

 

BahUnAm janmanAmantE Jn~AnavAn mAm prapadhyatE

VaasudEva: saravmiti sa mahAtma Sudhurlabha:

 

iti SlOkatrayOdhita Jn~Aninam mAm kurushva

 

Purusha: sa para:Paartha ! bhaktyA labhyastvanyayaa

BhaktyA Thvananyayaa Sakya: , madhbhaktim labatE parAm

 

iti sthAnatrayOdhita parabhaktiyuktam mAm kurushva

 

Parabhakti Parajn~Ana ParamabhaktyEkasvabhAvam mAm kurushva

 

Parabhakti Parajn~Ana paramabhktikruta paripoorNanavarata nityaviSadhatama

anayaprayOjana anavadhikAtiSayapriya bhagavadhanubhAvOham tathaavidha

bhagavadhanubhavajanita anavadhikAtiSaya preetikArita aSEshaavasthOchita aSEshaSeshataikaratiroopa nityakinkarO bhavAni

 

15. The Desired End : Eternal Service /Commentary

 

Please , Oh Lord ! Favour me and make me a Jn~Ani like one described in the following three slOkAs:

 

a. Of them ( the four classes of devotees ) , the one who is steadfast and concentrates his devotion on Me Only is above the other three--for to him , I am excessively dear : so also is he dear to Me.

 

b. Indeed , I consider all these ( the four classes) are generous ; but of them the Jn~Ani the wise is My inner Self. He being steadfast in his mind , rests on Me, as the Supreme Goal.

 

c. At the end of many births , a man having realized that that VaasudEva is All , comes to Me, He is a MahAtmA , rare indeed to find .

 

Also make me endowed with Parabhakti described in the following three passages in Bhagavad Geeta:(1) Oh Arjuna! That Supreme person is attainable only by Bhakti undistracted (2) He is to be attained onlyby Bhakti , which seeks no other benefit than that of attaining Him (3) He obtains that supreme devotion to me.

 

Make me also endowed with constant Para Bhakti , Para Jn~Ana and Parama Bhakti. I pray that I may become Thy servant in ever constant service to Thee--having acquired the experience of the Lord , i.e., full and clear and constant , highly desired , having no other object in view and produced by Para Bhakti , Para Jn~Ana and Parama Bhakti , a service which is the result of grat urge to perform services of all forms suited to the conditions and circumstances of the moment , which are produced by unlimited love and devotion to Thee arising out of the experience as stated above.

 

15. Commentary

 

Next , SrI Ramanuja prays for the securing of the desired gains , which are implied with the dative (fourth) case from SrImatE NaarAyaNAya contained in the dhvaya mantram. Then a question arises as to whether in the case of a Prapanna, a person who has completely surrendered himself as a helpless person to Iswara.Para Bhakti , Para jn~Ana and Parama Bhakti are necessary steps for salvation . Because it is the accepted doctrine that by Parabhakti alone Moksha is secured to the surrenderer.How then does Sri Ramanuja pray for Parabhakti etc.? Prapatti stands in the place of Para Bhakti. In the previous passage, "Maam Taaraya" , Sri Ramanuja has made the surrender and so he is a Prapanna. So he does not intensely pray for Parabhakti but, only for the other two, i.e., Para Jn~Ana and Parama Bhakti so as to be obtainable by him during his life time here. Even in the case of a person engaged in Bhakti yOga, these two are obtainable by him during his lifetime here.Even in the case of a person engaged in Bhakti Yoga, these two are obtained by him during the time his connection with the body continues. They are however, Upaaya ( means) for salvation in his case. But in the case of a Prapannan , they are not UpaayAs but really gains ( upEyAs) obtainable just before MOksha. Of these two , Para Jn~Ana is prayed for in the first instance by the passage "tEshAham " etc,. And by the next passage beginning with Purusha: sa Para: , Parama Bhakti is prayed for and not Para Bhakti.

 

The words "sthAna traya" are used to denote that the passages are found disconencted and in three different places in the geethA . In the next sentence, he again refers to Para Bhakti , Para Jn~Ana and Parama Bhakti , but they are qualities attainable by a released soul only in the stage of Moksha.That is why the qualification, " yeka svabhAvam " ( One pointed natural qualification - a stage not attainable in SamsAra).

 

Next , SrI Ramanuja prays for that feeling of satisfaction arising out of the conscious experience of the Lord and also for its consequence , i.e., various services to the Lord. ( The next passage has been already explained). "SEshataika rati roopa " is a Bahuvrehi compound.

 

In the concluding three ChUrNikais (16-18) , Lord RanganAthA responds to the prayers of Sri Ramanuja.

Achaarya RaamAnujar ThirvadikaLE SaraNam

DhAsan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchri Sadagopan

 

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka SevakaSrivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: