Vadakalai and Thenkalai viewpoints on Prapatti

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SrI:

SrI Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha

SrI Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaN SaThakOpa-

SrI nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESikAya namaha

 

namO nArAyaNa!

 

Dear devotees,

 

One of the main differences between the Vadakalai and

Thenkalai SampradAyams is their exposition on the

nature of Prapatti. This article dwells upon this

issue.

 

Earlier, there has been many articles about Bhakti and

Prapatti that were posted to the net. Please refer the

archives and also SrI Ahobila Muth Website (Link :

About SrI VaishNavam).

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ThennAchArya SampradAyam on Prapatti :

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According to SrI PuttUr SwAmi of ThennAchArya SampradAyam,

the classification of muktAs according to his sampradAyam

is as follows (*) :

 

1. Those who aspire for jIvAtma-anubhavam and completes

jn~yAna yOga, attains Kaivalyam (for eternity), which is in

the outskirts of SrI VaikuNTham. This is a type of moksha.

 

2. Those who perform upAsana as prescribed in Upanishads

aspire for ParamAtma-anubhavam and obtain it at SrI VaikuNTham.

But, they also have " selfishness " in the sense of

(i) wishing to attain bliss for themselves ;

(ii) Importantly, " wishing to enjoy ParamAtma " .

 

As a result, they obtain only the type of moksha which

is predominant with " SwArtha-Mixed ParamAtmAnubhavam " (SMP)

(ie. With " I " -ness still present in their ParamAtma anubhavam).

For them, Kainkaryam (Service) is restricted to be secondrary

in comparison with their SMP.

 

Basically, performing bhakti-yOga (ie.upAsana) is

contradictory to the nature of a jIvAtma. Thus, those who

adopt it still have ahankAra. As a result, in SrI

VaikuNTham, the best type of moksha is not obtained by them.

 

3. Those who perform Prapatti as a upAya, has got rid of

most of Swa-pravrutti (ie. Indulgence by oneself for

obtaining moksham). In other words, their Swa-pravrutti

is not as worse as that of those who perform bhakti yOga.

As a result, they obtain the type of moksha at SrI

VaikuNTham to perform SwArtha-mixed Kainkaryam (Existence

of " I " -ness while performing kainkaryam), which is the

overflow of ParamAtma-anubhavam. For them the performance

of kainkaryam is primary and ParamAtma-anubhavam becomes

secondrary.

 

Thus, SrIman nArAyaNa makes Swagata-sweekAram for those who

adopt prapatti with the thinking of " Prapatti " as an upAya

and He awards only the above state of moksha.

 

This is to make a point that Prapatti as followed by

Vadagalai sampradAyam will result only in this state

of moksham and that they can't obtain superior state of

moksham.

 

Note:

The anga GOptrutva varanam is a prayer towards SrIman nArAyaNa

for attaining moksham / eternal kainkaryam. This is done

during the act of Bhara-nyAsam and hence is different from

other angAs which can be cultivated earlier in a general way.

Ofcourse, the wish to attain moksha has to be there prior

to obtaining moksham.

 

ThennAchAryas do not accept the " positive " act of prayer from

the side of jIvAtmas to be the superior mode of achieving

moksha.

 

4. Those who do not indulge in performing any act for their

moksham are those who have got rid of Swa-pravrutti. They

are aware that performce of acts such as upAsana etc is

contradictory to their essential nature as jIvAtma.

 

These superior-most mumukshus leave also their SvArthabaram

unto Lord. They are firm that, " what I perform

is not upAya; What Lord Himself performs is the upAya " .

For such mumukshus, Lord by His nirhEtuka kripa performs

the Paragata SweekAram and awards them the superior-most

state of moksha, which is the performance of ParArtha

kainkaryam (kainkaryam for the sake of enjoyment of

ParamAtma only).

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(*) : Reference : Discussion in 18th Chapter of Bhagavad GIta -

Commentary by SrI PuttUr SwAmi in Tamil - It reflects Bhagavad

RAmAnuja's GIta BhAshyam and SwAmi DESikan's TAtparya Candrika;

Ofcourse he states the views of ThennAchAryas when it is

in conflict with SwAmi DESikan's exposition.

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Thus there are four types of muktas accordingly and this has

some resemblance with the theory of Dwaitins, who uphold

difference in the anubhavam(aananda) of muktas based upon

the extent to which they have performed bhakti prior to

obtaining moksham.

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Corresponding Viewpoints of Vadakalai AchAryas :

**************************************************

 

1. Kaivalyam is not eternal. It is in the material world itself.

Those who have attained kaivalyam can later attain

SrI VaikuNTham.

 

2. The upAya viz. bhakti-yOga(upAsana) is not contradictory

to the essential nature of a jIvAtma. Since there

are strict injunctions in SAstras to perform it (eg: KrishNa

commanding Arjuna says " mAm bhajasva " to attain Him

ie. commanding him to perform bhakti-yOga) as a means

to attain Lord, a mumushu with such adhikAram

(qualification) should neccessarily perform bhakti-yOga.

 

Many rishis of great fame like Sage VasishTha, Sage ParAsara,

Sage VyAsa, Sage Suka and others have adopted bhakti-yOga

and they are not persons with dull-intellect to perform

a upAya contradictory to their essential nature. Even

grest SrI VaishNavas like SrI Thiruk-kurugaik-kAvalappan

has performed upAsana to obtain moksham, after having

duly obtained such upadEsam from SrI NAthamuni, who obtained

such upadEsam on the secrets of " Bhakti-yOga " from NammAzhwAr.

These great SrI VaishNava AchAryas wouldn't have performed

such upadEsam and practiced such acts which are contradictory

to one's own essential nature.

 

Actually, the mumukshu performing bhakti-yOga neccessarily

observes SAtvIka-tyAga as explained well in Bhagavad GIta.

They can't be accused of being the possesors of ahankAra.

Though they perform a positive act, it is performed alongwith

Kartrutva tyAga (a component of sAtvIka tyAga) and thereby

they are still renunciants of the performance of the act.

Similarly so are the implications of mamata and phala tyAga

components.

 

3. Similarly, Prapatti is also a SAstric injunction ( " SaraNam

Vraja " ) to be performed compulsarily by a mumukshu of certain

qualification, in-order to obtain moksham. They also can't be

accussed of having ahankAra and mamakAra since they also

perform SAtvIka tyAga. Such Prapannas knows that the fruit of

such Prapatti is for SrIman nArAyaNa only (with themselves

obtaining the bliss, due to being a chEtana with knowledge

and feelings, as per Lord's arrangement only). They know that

SrIman nArAyaNa is their only (Siddha)upAya and Prapatti by

itself is not the upAya.

 

4. Prapatti as a positive act (Essentiality of Goptrutva varanam

etc) + How is this Prapatti a vyAja + Discussion on SahEtuka

Kripa can be referred for the corresponding views of

Vadagalai AchAryas to the fourth type of mukta/mumukshu

considered by Then-AchAryas. In essence, this theory of

ThennAchAryAs not acceptable for them as one leading to

moksham.

 

5. There are no distinctions amongst muktAs. All muktAs are

entitled to have selfless ParamAtma-anubhavam and

its overflow namely selfless Kainkaryam (Divine Service) unto

SrIman nArAyaNa.

--

 

These theories of ThennAchAryas do not have support from SrI

BhAshya, GIta BhAshya and even SaraNAgaThi Gadyam for that matter

wherein a positive act is performed by EmperumAnAr. But, the

reply from them is that in the midst of VEdAntins, BhAshyakArar

has written about Bhakti (in SrI BhAshya and GIta BhAshya) to

please them ; and SaraNAgathi Gadyam is for pleasing those who

are suffering in general (incapable of understanding many

esoteric concepts of nirhEtuka kripa of PerumAL etc, but have

attained good enough knowledge to grasp general concepts on

Prapatti). This reply stems from the ThennAchArya SrI PeriavAccAn

PiLLai's (PVP) " Paranda Rahasyam " , wherein he states

" arthOpacandanam gadyam bhAshyam tu para-ranjanam "

< arthasya-upacandanam => Speaking Very nice words etc unto those

who are suffering, just for the sake of pleasing them>. Thus,

according to ThennAchAryas, their theory on the fourth type of

mukta is a topmost rahasya and it is seen in sampradAya

anushtAnam also for them.

 

Interestingly, DoDDayAchArya alias VAdUla SrInivAsAchArya alias

MahAchArya, a great ThennAchArya of the 16th Century has supposed

to have accepted Prapatti as NyAsa Vidya, with all the five

angAs etc as explained by SwAmi DESikan. It is told that, during

SamASrayanam, he would make the disciple recite NammAzhwAr's

" akalakillEn ... " pAsuram in front of Divya Dampati after he

recites it etc. This way, he used to perform " Ukti nishta "

Prapatti it seems. Some Vadagalai AchAryas feel that, the above

theories of ThennAchAryas (as presented by SrI PuttUr SwAmi now)

has come into existence only within the recent three or four

centuries. In the book " YatIndra Mata DIpikA " by SrInivAsAchArya,

the ardent disciple of SrI DoDDayAchArya, the section on Prapatti

lists the five angAs and eqautes it to a Brahma Vidya as a

positive act and leaves the rest of the information to be attained

through kAlakshEpam, since Prapatti is a rahasya. YatIndra-Mata -

DIpika is an excellent manual on ViSishtAdvaita, following mainly

SwAmi DESikan's NyAya-SiddhAnjanam. By the way, SrI DoDDAyAchArya

was an ardent devotee of SwAmi DESikan and is highly evident

through many sources. He wrote " SwAmi DESikan Vaibhava PrakASika "

which describes very well the various life-events and achievements

of SwAmi DESikan. SrI DoDDayAchArya pays very high tributes to

SwAmi DESikan in it. He also wrote many works in VEdAnta, notable

of which the famous CaNDamAruta, as a commentary to SatadUshaNi.

 

Also, SrI PVP in some places of his commentaries advocates

anushtAnam of Prapatti as a positive act to be performed.

 

Anyway, the current theories as presented above, is one way of

reconcilation by the thennAchAryas, based on the writings of

their pUrvAchAryas. But, there are some Vadakalai AchAryas like

SrI MadhurAntakam VeerarAghavAchArya of the last century who

has written many articles to make the point that SrI -

PiLLailOkAchArya has not advocated a concept of Prapatti

which is different to that of SwAmi DESikan's. These Vadakalai

AchAryas state that while PiLLai-lOkAchArya mostly wrote on

a certain mode of Prapatti (BhAgavatha Nishta), SwAmi DESikan

has given the whole picture about it. This is another way of

re-concilation. SrI MadhurAntakam SwAmi has also written on

the interpretations of certain key texts of PiLLai-lOkAchArya

and has re-conciled it with that of SwAmi DESikan's advocation

of Prapatti. But, it is to be noted that this re-concilation

does not accept the fourth type of attaining moksham (as stated

above) viz. NirhEtUka Kripa by itself is the means without any

positive act as a Prapatti anushtAnam.

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adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

anantapadmanAbhan.