Oru Mithuname Uththesyam - 3 - PBA Swami

July 13, 2007

Sri:Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama: oru mithunamE uththEsyam By Sri U Ve P.B. Annangarachariar Swami1963 An abridged translation by TCA VenkatesanContd 9. It is not right that purushakAratvam and upAyatvam are present together in the same entity. PurushakAratvam is mediating on someone's behalf. Upayatvam is the power to give something on theirown. If a person is able to give something on their own, it is inappropriate that they plead with someone else to make that happen. Foe example, a person asks for and collects funds for gooddeeds such as building a temple or digging a water tank or buildinga home for the poor. If a person has enough money, he gives all thefunds needed for that by himself. If he is not able to do that, then he recommends to someone who can do that, to support the good causes. There are those who

give some and also recommend to others for the same. However, it is not right for someone to recommend toanother to give exactly what he is already giving. If Piratti has the power to give moksha by Herself, then that power would be complete with Her. If that is the case, why would She plead with the Lord who is capable of giving out punishment, when She Herselfis incapable of that? She is full of kindness only - what would stop Her from just giving out moksha? Seeing that all Sastrassoundly say that She mediates on behalf of the chetanas, it is clear that She cannot be associated with being the means. VedantaDesikan was the leader amongst acharyas who asserted this. Let us see what he has said in both Tamil and Sanskrit works. 10. The fourth statement in his thirteenth rahasya grantha called Rahasya Ratnavali: "sarva svAminiyAy sarvEsvaranukku sEshamAy sahadharmachAriNiyAna periya

pirAttiyAr iththalaiyil vAthsalyAdhisayaththAlum aththalaiyil vAllapyAdhisayaththAlumpurushakAramAyk koNdu ijjIvargaLukkuth thanjchamAgiRAL". He wrotea commentary for this rahasya himself which is called Rahasya Ratnavali Hrudhayam, where he explains this sentence in detail. He concludes there with "pirAtti sAparAdharAnavargaL ellArukkumsAsithAvAna sarvEsvaran abimatham koLLa mAttAdhE thayangkAdhapadiavanudaiya pithruthva prayukthamAna UshmaLI bAvaththai 'uchitairUpAyairvismArya' ennumpadiyAkki ivargaLai avan thiruvadigaLilE sErththu 'thannadiyAr thiRaththagaththuth thAmaraiyALAgilum sidhaguraikkumEl ennadiyAradhu seyyAr' ennumpadi paNNik koNdu 'bhaveyam sharaNam hi va:' enRu aruLich seydhapadiyE ivargaLukku rakshA hEthu AgiRAL enRapadi". Here it is important to note the use of the phrase "rakshA hEthu AgiRAL". From this it is shown that the Lord is the one giving the protection (raksha) and She only becomes the

cause of that (hetu) through Her mediation. 11. There are many statements similar to this in Desikan's Tamilworks. But we will stop with this. Now, let us look at his Sanskrit works. In his Chatushloki, Alavandar says "shreyo na hyaravinda lochanamana: kAntA prasAdAdrute samsrutyaksharavaiShNavAdvasu nruNAm sambhAvyate karhichit". With this, it is said that without Sri Mahalakshmi's favor, no good will come out of any path including that leading to moksha. To show how Piratti's favor leads to good, Vedanta Desikan gives an explanation in his Bashya. With the statement "moksha prade bhagavati mumukshUNAm ghaTakatayA eSHA tiShTatIti sarvasammatam", he says that everyone agrees to the fact that the Lord alone gives moksha and Piratti provides only the mediation. 12. Desikan has also said more. "paripUrNAnubhavapradAna samkalpastu bhagavata:

svasyaiva vA, sapatnIkasya veti yathApramANam bhavatu:, sarvathA vaiShNavAdhvashreya: pradatvamasyA ihochyamAnam na viruddham" - with this, he says:'His being the means is His decision to give the complete experience to the mumukshu; let the pramANa show whether He makes that decision by Himself or along with Piratti; but there is no way it does not fit that She helps with the means to moksha'. Through this, it is clear that Desikan willnot even tolerate the question whether the decision to give moksha is His alone or whether Piratti can do it also. The useof "yathApramANam bhavatu" shows that he does not have any adverse opinion here. 13. In this prakaraNa, he also says "asti karmArhaphalatepatyau krutya dvayam shriya:, nigrahAvAraNam kAle samdhukshaNamanugrahe". The meaning of this is - the Lord is the one who gives the fruits of the karmas; Piratti has two things to do: if He is

going to punish, then She prevents that through appropriate means; if He is going to show kindness, then She makes that grow even further. To Be Continued Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Sharanam adiyEn madhurakavi dAsanhttp://www.acharya.org

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