Guest guest Posted August 26, 2000 Report Share Posted August 26, 2000 ===================================================================== Part II - Swami DESika Prabandam - artha Panchakam ===================================================================== SrImAn vEnkata nAthArya: kavitArkika kEsarI | VedAnthAchArya varyOmE sannidhaththAm sadA hrudi || ===================================================================== rAmAnuja dayA pAtram jgnyAna vairAgya bhUshaNam | SrImath vEnkata nAthAryam vandE vEdAntha DESikam || ===================================================================== SrImathE vEdAntha mahA dESikAya nama: ===================================================================== All scholars know Swami DESika as a paramount scholar in all vidyAs. His greatness of infinite wisdom has got revealed to the world not only through his works in Samskruta language but also divinely in Tamil language. His verses in Tamil are collectively referred to as " SrI DESika Prabandam " . Just like AlwArs composed the nAlAyira Divya Prabandam as outpouring of the transcendental experiences that they had with SrIman NarAyaNa, Swami DESika has composed these Prabandams. The AlwArs, being blessed with ultimate knowledge " mayarvara mathi nalam " by BhagawAn, made the VedArthAs easily ascertainable in its absolute form to all. Swami DESika mentions this as " theLiyAda marai nilangaL theLigindrOmE " . Swami DESika Prabandam is comparable to nAlAyira Divya Prabandam in all these aspects. Just like the nAlAyira Divya Prabandam, Swami DESika Prabandam occupies an important place in our Ubhaya-VedAnta SrI SampradAya because it makes the meaning hidden in the VedAnta to get revealed in a very easy manner. Swami DESika Prabandam is " Muth-tamizh sErtha mozhi-thiru " meaning " peerless divine work considered in Tamil language which has systematic literature, music and drama aspects in it " Just like the Divya Prabandam which originated because of Bhagavath-anubhavam, Swami DESika prabandam has divine origin. Swami DESika tells this in his prabandam " AdhikAra Sangraham " as follows: VeLLai Parimukar DESika rAivira kAladiyO MuLLath thezhudhiya dOlayi littanam yAmidaRken KoLLath tuNiyinung kOden Rigazhinung kUrmathieI RELLath thanaiyuga vAdiga zhAdem mezhinmathiyE Swami DESika says that " SrI LakshmI HayagrIva as AchArya, wrote the essence of Veda (as SrImath Rahasyatraya sAram) in my heart. I wrote the same in book form for the benefit of the entire world. Therefore there is no scope to talk anything against these works. O scholars! Whether you accept them as peerless or reject them, I will be neither happy nor have a mind to criticize you because my words are actually the words of SrI LakshmI HayagrIva. Therefore, SrI LakshmI HayagrIva is the person who will actually bless you for accepting the works or punish you for criticizing the same. " Therefore comparing our Swami Desika Prabandam with Divya Prabandam is appropriate. In fact, Swami Desika Prabandam is the essence of Divya Prabandam itself. It is also comparable to Bhagavath Gita (being the essence of Veda told by BhagawAn himself), Panchajanya Sanka (being jgnyAna-prada:) and VirajA Tirtham (being full with divinity and purity). SrIman NarAyaNa enjoys the DESika Prabandam just like he enjoys the Divya Prabandam - " tEnuLa pAda malarth-thiru mAlukkuth thith-thithkumE " From this I understand that when a person gets an opportunity to enjoy and learn Swami DESika Prabandam, then definitely SrIman NarAyaNa and AachArya have already blessed him fully. Tatva, Hita and PurushArtha: ============================ I request the readers not to get tired with lot of Sanskrit and Tamil terms used in these articles. When they are studied with enthusiasm along with English notes, definitely, the greatness of our SrI SampradAya can be appreciated. In the series of articles on Swami DESika Prabandam, let me first highlight the concepts of Tatva, Hita and PurushArthas of our Visishtadvaita SrI VaishNava philosophy and practice through the prabandam " artha-Panchakam " . " artha-Panchakam " - Prelude =========================== A person, who wants to get liberated, has to know five concepts properly from the sAstra, which are collectively referred to as " artha-Panchakam " . These five concepts are: 1. PrApya swarUpam 2. PrAptA swarUpam 3. VirOdhi swarUpam 4. upAya swarUpam 5. Phala swarUpam PrApya swarUpam is Iswara-tatvam's nature - the divya dampathi - SrI and NArAyaNa: " PrApya " means " goal, which is attained " . PrApta swarUpam is the jIvAtman's nature. " PrApta " means " he who attains the goal " . VirOdhi swarUpam is about the nature of obstacles in attaining the goal for the PrApta. VirOdhi means " obstacles " , mainly the " karma " and its related aspects. upAya swarUpam is about the nature of " means " to reach the goal. Here it means Bhakti and Prapathi. Phala swarUpam is the nature of result on attaining the goal. It is eternal service - kainkaryam to the lotus feet of the divya dampati at SrI Vaikuntam and enjoying the infinite kalyANa guNas of the divya dampati. These five concepts outlined above are explained in the prabandam titled " artha-panchakam " . Swamy DESika has talked about himself in his " Sankalpa SUryOdaya " as " trimSadvAram SrAvitha SArIraka SAstra: " meaning, " Swami DESika has taught the SrI BhAshya (which is the only commentary on Brahma sUtra - SarIraka SAstra) to his disciples thirty times " . When this is the case, there is no wonder in finding the ultimate knowledge of Veda-VedAnta, Brahma-sUtras and Githa packed in these verses of Swami DESika. Swami says in his YatirAja Sapthati, " parichita gahana samyamIndrasya sUktha: " meaning, " the works of Swami SrI BhAshyakAra are of highest standards that they are tough to be comprehended even when it is studied several times " . Swami DESika through his Prabandams, in a simple form, conveys the purport as told in SrI BhAshyam, so that all can understand them and get benefited. This sort of mahOpakAram (great help) done by our Swami is matchless and all we can do to respect this is sincerely executing the order of our AachArya. Swami DESika in his SrImath Rahasya Traya Saram - SAstrIya niyamanAdhikAram has ordered the prapanna (he who has adopted prapathi properly at the lotus feet of divya dampathi) to do the following: 1. The prapanna has to study the SrI BhAshya and preach it. If he does not have qualification or ability to do this, then 2. He has to study the " aruLichcheyal " which is nAlAyira-divya-prabandam. If he does not have qualification or ability to do this, then 3. He has to do kainkaryam (services like supporting Bhagavath-ArAdhana, thadiyArAdhana etc) in divya-desams. If he does not have qualification or ability to do this, then 4. He has to contemplate on the secret meaning of the Dwaya-mantra. If this is also not possible for him, then 5. He must do service without any ego obeying a qualified SrI VaishNava who is mercifully accepting him. On listening to the order of our Swami in this manner, one must realize the importance given by our AchAryas to the study of grantas like SrI BhAshya and Divya-Prabandams. These grantas cannot be studied just with the mere help of books and translations. We being prapannas, must approach a qualified SrI VaishNava AchArya and surrender to him and request him to kindly teach these grantas. The importance of learning these grantas in this traditional manner ensures that a person gets the precise comprehension regarding the tatva-hita-purushArthas told in SAstra, which is ascertained only in our Visishtadvaita SrI VaishaNava philosophy and practice. When this is stressed, there was someone who questioned me - " What is the need for a person to study these difficult grantas? " I replied that " when you get some trouble regarding your health, are you not running behind all the doctors to get it cured? You do so just because you have got extreme dedication to save your body. Why not you think of having atleast a fraction of that dedication towards the jIvAthma-vastu, which is the property of MAlOla Nrusimhan. To save yourself, you have to study our pUrvAchArya grantas and submit His property at His lotus feet. Our AachArAs are full of mercy that they have written the grantas in various levels thinking of various levels of readers. Not all their grantas are tough. Nothing is comparable to our pUrvAchArya grantas. Atleast listen to the easily comprehensible explanations given by " BhAgavatAs " . The person, who questioned me, considered my answer as a practical answer, which made him to think. One must not give excuses (like " I do not know Sanskrit or Tamil " , " I have lowkika works which will get affected if I spare sometime for the study of these grantas " , " I will study after I get retirement " etc.,) to avoid the study of our pUrvAchArya grantas. Without proper understanding of our SrI SampradAya a person is likely to get agitated and confused with mathams like Advaita (implicit atheism), ChAruvAka (explicit atheism) etc, and starts practicing something irrelevant and irrational. Our Visishtadvaita SrI Vaishnava philosophy and practice is not " belief " or " superstition " . It is the only philosophy and practice which is flawless, eternal and clearly established using Sruthi and pramANa-based-logic. It is the only matham, which enlightens and leads a person straight to Parama-Padam-SrI Vaikuntam. That is why prapanna is always directed to study the pUrvAcharya grantams under the guidance of SrI VaishNava AchAryas in traditional kAlakshEpam method. These points are not having any prejudice in them. The reader will clearly get to know this when Swami DESika's Para-Matha-Bhangam is explained. What is SAstra? What is its importance? ======================================= " SAstra YOnithvAth " and " VedAth SAstram Param nAsti " ------------------ At this point, we need to understand that only the SAstra is the pramANa in knowing the Brahman and hence the tatva-hita-purushArthas. Without understanding this, we cannot proceed with anything in the philosophy and practice. Bhagavath rAmAnuja explains the Brahma sUtra " SAstra YOnishtvAth " as follows: " Evam chit-achit-vastu sarIrathayA thath-visishtasya BrahmaNa Eva jagathupAdAnathvam nimiththathvancha nAnumAnagamyamithi sAstraika-pramANakathvAththasya " yathO vA ImAni bhUthAni " ithyAdi-vAkyam nikila-jagathEka-kAraNam Brahmaiva bhOdhayathyEvEthi sidhdam " " The Brahman - SrIman NArAyaNa: who is having all the sentient (chit) and insentient (achit) entities as his body and inseparable attribute, is the material cause and instrumental (efficient) cause of the universe. This cannot be known through AnumAna (mere inference). As the Brahman can thus be known only through the SAstra, which is the Veda. The verses of VEda (like " yathO vA ImAni bhUthAni " ) is established that it definitely imparts knowledge about Brahman " . Let us see this in a little elaborate form as follows in series of five steps: Step 1: Vishayam - Subject ========================== SAstra is the only source of knowledge regarding Brahman. Step 2: Samsayam - Doubt ======================== Is the SAstra the only source of knowledge regarding Brahman? Step 3: pUrva-paksham - Opponent view ===================================== SAstra is not the source of knowledge regarding Brahman. AnumAna itself is sufficient to prove the existence of Brahman. Step 4: SidhdAntham - Established Philosophy ============================================ AnumAna cannot prove the existence of Brahman. It is only the SAstra, which is Veda, which is the only source of knowledge regarding Brahman. The Veda is flawless, eternal, dependable source of knowledge, which is not authored by anyone. The Veda is the independent pramANa - by virtue imparts knowledge regarding Brahman thus proving the real existence of Brahman - SrIman NarAyaNa: Step 5: PrayOjanam - Benefit of this SidhdAntham ================================================ Thus, knowing SAstra as the only source of knowledge regarding Brahman and hence the tatva-hita-purushArthas, the precise knowledge can be got from it in this regard for attaining permanent and limitless results. The Brahma-VichAram (detailed analysis of the Veda vAkAyas to know Brahman) is started. The discussion starts in the SAstra-YonithvAdhikaraNam in Brahma-sUtra. The verse of Veda like " yathO vA ImAni bhUthAni jAyantE " which state that " Brahman is the cause of the universe " is considered in debate. An objection is made by a person that these verses of Veda do not impart knowledge regarding Brahman. The person, who objects like this, gives a reason. He says that the Brahman is already known by anumAna. That is, when the universe is accepted as an effect (creation), there has to be a great cause for it - like a pot (effect) has potter as cause. That great cause is inferred as God (Brahman). When the Brahman can be known like this by anumAna itself, there is no need for the Veda in this context to " impart " knowledge about the Brahman. On hearing this objection, another person tries to overrule it by telling " why not anumAna and Veda, both together be considered as source of knowledge in the context of Brahman? " For this argument, the person, who objected first, answers that this substantiation is not valid because the Veda can be a pramANa only in the case when it imparts knowledge regarding something, which cannot be known by other sources. He further says that the karmas like jyothistOma as means for attaining swarga etc prescribed by the Veda are pramANa because such things can be known only through the Veda and cannot be known through other sources. At the same time, there is a vAkaya " Agni: himasya bheshajam " - meaning, " fire is remedy (medicine) for ice " . This need not be known through the Veda because it is already known by other pramANa namely Pratyaksha. Therefore it is logical to say " aprApte sAstram arthavath " - meaning " the sAstra is meaningful (in imparting knowledge) only when it tells something which cannot be known by other pramANas and can be known only through it " . The Brahman is known by anumAna itself. Therefore there is no point in telling that sAstra is the pramANa in knowing the Brahman. Further the person continues his objection as follows: When effects like pot are seen, we can observe its creation and infer as follows. In such creations, the efficient (instrumental) cause creates with proper knowledge regarding the material cause, the accessories involved in the creation, the benefits that he is going to get out of the creation (effect) etc. Similarly we can infer that in the creation of the universe (which is an effect), a God, who has surpassed the jIvAthmas, having independence, full knowledge and extraordinary powers, creates the universe. Therefore, when anumAnam itself establishes the " God-Brahman " , there is no need for the sAstra in this context. He finishes his argument with this. Up to this, Vishayam, Samsayam and PUrva-pakshams were explained. Now the siddhantham is explained as follows: The pUrva-paksham is illogical though it appears to be very appealing. The following mistakes and errors are in the above-mentioned anumAnam, which is mentioned in the pUrva-paksham. The anumAnam states that the God is just the instrumental (efficient) cause. It does not explain the cause for the " material cause " and accessories in the same. If a cause of the " material cause " is accepted again using another anumAnam, then it leads to recursive illogic. If the anumAnam is admitted, then the inferred God can administer the material cause only by having a body and accessories. What is the cause for his body? If no body is admitted, then the God becomes disabled to create. If another anumAnam is used to dismiss this counter-arugment " Just like the jIvAthman who administers his accessories like sense organs without a body, the God also administers the material cause without a body to create " , then this counter-argument will be fatal for the anumAna. This is because, the jIvAthman does so because of his karma. The God too will turn up to be bound by karma, suffering and enjoying because of the results of his own action, which is creation. Then the anumAna has not established God to be different from the jIvAthaman. The inferred God does not turn up to be a God but one among the jIvAthamans who are bound by karma, with ignorance and fluctuations. Further, the anumAna is inadequate to establish that only one God created the universe. Why not the same anumAna be based to argue that many jIvAthamans, each with some special powers created various portions of the universe and in the due course, the entire universe got created? Also, the same anumAna can be used to dismiss the inferred God. This is because; the anumAna can also be used to argue that the God need not be sentient at all. Therefore, God-Brahman cannot be established by anumAna pramANa. The Brahman - SrIman NArAyaNa: who is having all the sentient (chit) and insentient (achit) entities as his body and inseparable attribute, is the material cause and instrumental (efficient) cause of the universe. This cannot be known through AnumAna (mere inference). As the Brahman can thus be known only through the SAstra, which is the VEda, the verses of VEda (like " yathO vA ImAni bhUthAni " ) imparts knowledge about Brahman. The Veda is flawless, eternal, dependable source of knowledge, which is not authored by anyone. The Veda is the independent pramANa - by virtue imparts knowledge regarding Brahman thus proving the real existence of Brahman - SrIman NarAyaNa: who is the only God. With this prelude to this prabandam, let us see the purport with detailed explanation of the pAsurams (verses) in this prabandam - " artha panchakam " PrApya swarUpam =============== amalanavi yAdasuDa raLavillA vAramuda mamalavuruk guNangaLaNi yAyudanga Ladiyavark Lamalavazhi yAdanaga razhindezhungA vudanellAng Kamalayuda narasALung karigirimER kAvalanE ===================================================================== To be continued… ===================================================================== Thanks & Regards M.S.HARI Ramanuja Daasan. ===================================================================== Please note: Tamil-transliterations can be easily read if the sounds in the language regarding r, R, ra, Ra, la, La, zha etc are distinguished. Further, the Tamil verses are written here as per the grammatical poetry construct of the language. This is the reason behind words in the verses, which are split in a manner different from prose. ===================================================================== __________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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