The Endless Entity

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

The Endless Entity

 

 

 

All things we see in this world have an end. This is a universal law,

applicable to all beings and things. What is created, be it man or material,

surely has an end too, says the Gitacharya- " JAtasya hi dhruvO mrityu: " We may

say that this or that building stands proud, " defying the test of time " , but in

reality, nothing can defy the test of Time. You may build with stone or any

other material considered invincible, and may employ the latest construction

techniques. The fact remains that all edifices are susceptible to dilapidation,

decay and destruction. The same applies to human life too, as we see with our

very own eyes day after day. While the length of our sojourn in this world may

differ, none can stay on indefinitely and go we must, some day or other, sooner

or later.

 

 

 

Finiteness can be of three types- Limitation by Time, Limitation by Place and

Limitation by Object.

 

 

 

We have seen above how all beings, sentient and non-sentient, are limited by

Time- that is, they are present at one point of time and not later, when their

lives come to an end. If a person were alive in the last century, he would not

be in the current one. And it is a fair deduction that those who inhabit the

earth now would not be around in the 22nd century.

 

 

 

Limitation by place indicates the inability of a person to be present at more

than one place at a time. If I am present at Coimbatore, ipso facto, I am not at

Chennai, at the same time. We refer here to physical presence and not mental

attendance, for all of us are aware how our minds have no frontiers and can take

us from place to place, country to country, in no time at all. We may thus be

present physically at one place and mentally at another (which happens all the

time in our class rooms and KalakshEpa ghOshtis), but it is impossible for us to

be physically present at more than one place at a time.

 

 

 

The third type of Limitation, that by Object, means that as Jeevatmas, we occupy

one body only at a particular point of time and are not present anywhere else,

during our lifetime. Our spiritual presence is limited to the body we currently

use, and there is no way we can enter or inhabit another piece of matter. The

soul may discard one body and assume another, much in the fashion of a man

casting off a torn shirt in favour of a new one, but it cannot occupy two abodes

simultaneously. Thus all earthly beings are limited by matter.

 

 

 

The three limitations described above appear axiomatic, in no need of any

elaboration, as there is no question of its being otherwise. It would be

contrary to all laws of nature, if it were otherwise. We have not known anyone

transcend these constraints imposed by Time, Place and Object.

 

 

 

However, there IS somebody who is not subject to these curbs and who admits to

no such fetters on His freedom. He is a free bird, who cannot be caged by such a

trivial constraint as Time, being the Cosmic Timekeeper, who cannot be subjected

to restrictions of place or country, nor is constricted by Visa formalities, and

has no restriction regarding inhabiting a single shareeram at a time. It is none

other than the Lord, who refuses to be subjected to any restraint whatsoever.

The TaittirIyOpanishad testifies to this by extolling Him as " ananta " ( " Satyam,

GnAnam, anantam Brahma " ).

 

 

 

When the Shruti calls Him " ananta " (The Endless), it attributes to Him

endlessness in respect of Time, Place and Object-without KAla paricchEdam, DEsa

paricchEdam and Vasthu paricchEdam.

 

 

 

If we take up KAla paricchEdam first, we find that He has been around all the

time. In fact, He was there when nothing else was there ( " SadEva Somya idam agra

Aseet " ). He is the oldest inhabitant of all Creation and has been there as

Creator, Protector and Destroyer, watching with amusement and pity, countless

billions being born, live their lives in the erratic fashion common to all

humanity, and pass away when their time was up, only to be recreated. He has

been witness too to some of them making heroic efforts to throw off their

shackles and attain emancipation, to be welcomed by Him to His own abode with

open arms. As He is not created, He is not susceptible to an end too, and is

forever. He is the Lord of the past, present and the future ( " Bhoota bhavya

bhavannAtha: " ) and is without a beginning and end ( " Adi Madhya anta rahitha: " ,

" anAdi " ). He was there when Brahma, the creator and Rudra the destroyer, were

yet to be born ( " EkO ha vai Narayana aseet, na Brahma na IsAna: " ). He is

" ajAyamAna: " , the one without birth and " nitya: " , the ever present. Though these

attributes of " ajatvam " and " nityatvam " are shared by the individual soul too,

the Jeevatma is unaware of its own permanence and believes itself to be finite.

Hence we may say that it is only the Lord who is infinite and knows it too.

 

 

 

As far as Limitation by Place goes, the Lord simply cannot be constrained to a

single place or more, because He is omnipresent. " VisatIti Vishnu: " -the Lord

pervades everywhere and is present everywhere " Sa bhoomim visvatO vritthvA " adds

the Purusha Sukta. He is thus present at all places at all times, demonstrating

His DEsa paricchEda rAhityam. He is a " Vibhu " , with all-pervading attributes.

 

" sarvagatO Vishnu: " says the Vishnu Purana, attesting to His omnipresence. Not

only He but His Consort too is omnipresent, according to the same Purana- " Yata

sarvagatO VishNu: tataivEyam dvijOtthama! " .

 

To a layman, it is clear that this should be so. If the Lord is omnipresent and

Piratti is always with Him without a second's separation ( " nityA Eva Esha

JaganmAtA VishnO: SrI anapayinI " -Shri Vishnu Purana again), then Piratti too

must be a " Vibhu " . If this were not so, there would be some places where only

the Lord would be present and not SrI, which runs counter to their

inseparability. Thus, both the Lord and Piratti are unlimited by place too,

apart from both being timeless. While the Jeevatma shares the attribute of

timelessness, it is however limited by place.

 

 

 

We are left then with Limitation by Object. Here too, the Lord scores, for He is

present in all objects and beings, sentient and non-sentient, past, present and

future. He resides in all beings as their inner dweller or antaryAmi, guiding

them through the jungle of samsara. He pervades all things live and otherwise

and fills them with His presence. " antar bahischa tat sarvam vyApya Narayana:

stittha: " says the Narayana anuvAka, attesting to His presence in all that

exists. " udal misai uyir ena karandu engum paranduLan " paraphrases Sri

Nammazhwar. He enters all beings and objects and directs them from inside-

anta: pravishta: ShAstA janAnAm sarvAtmA " says the Aranyakam. And when He

resides in the Atma of every being as the antaryAmI, He does so with His

Consort, for, as shown above, She is inseparable from Him always, whatever form

He assumes.

 

 

 

All these demonstrate beyond doubt that the Lord is indeed infinite, beyond any

limitations of time, place or object. He is the unique soul, the Paramatma, who

can be everywhere at the same time and at all times and in every object,

irrespective of size or shape.

 

 

 

However, when we look really closely at the matter, the Lord is not so free as

He would have us believe. Like others, He too is indeed subject to fetters.

These may not relate to time, place or object, but they are fetters nonetheless.

Love, untainted by expectations and unalloyed Devotion, are two bonds He has

been known to be susceptible to. He has proved Himself to be vulnerable to being

immobilised by the bonds of Bhakti. This is the person who permitted Himself to

be tied-up hand and foot to the grindstone by an irate cowherdess, with a flimsy

rope ( " KaNNinuN siru thAmbinAl kattuNNa paNNiya perumAyan " ). This is indeed

paradoxical-the Lord of all the Universe, who destroys the bondage of all those

who think of Him, the all-powerful Emperuman who annihilates asurAs without

effort, the Supreme Being without a beginning and an end, bigger than the

biggest and subtler than the most subtle- it is this Lord who was tied up by a

mere GOpa sthree. What made this possible was the boundless maternal affection

showered on Him by the cowherdess. Watching with amusement her strenuous efforts

to bind Him with an inadequate rope, He took pity on her when her endeavours

proved tiring and impossible (It is no easy job to truss up the Parabrahmam) and

let Himself be immobilised ( " kattuNNa paNNiya " ) at last. The synthetic sorrow on

His bewitching countenance, the beginnings of a sob that emanated from His

beautiful throat, the look of abject vulnerability that His eyes displayed-all

these appear to be the height of Soulabhyam to Sri Nammazhwar, who marvels,

" etthiram uralinOdu iNaindu irundu Engiya eLivE " .

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImatE rAmAnujAya namaH

 

namO nArAyaNa!

 

> Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dear all,

 

Thanks once again to SrI Sadagopan Iyengar SwAmi for a nice

article. Encouraged by swAmi's kind words in his private mail

earlier to comment further on his postings, aDiyEn would like

to add few lines since it may be of use to many ....

 

> The third type of Limitation, that by Object, means that as Jeevatmas, we

occupy one body only at a particular point of time and are not present anywhere

else, during our lifetime. Our spiritual presence is limited to the body we

currently use, and there is no way we can enter or inhabit another piece of

matter. The soul may discard one body and assume another, much in the fashion of

a man casting off a torn shirt in favour of a new one, but it cannot occupy two

abodes simultaneously. Thus all earthly beings are limited by matter.

 

 

Limitation by space, which is the second type of limitation

needs to be different from limitation by objects. However, since

different objects represent different space locations,

presence localized to one object amounts to limitation

by Space only.

 

> We are left then with Limitation by Object. Here too, the Lord scores, for He

is present in all objects and beings, sentient and non-sentient, past, present

and future. He resides in all beings as their inner dweller or antaryAmi,

guiding them through the jungle of samsara. He pervades all things live and

otherwise and fills them with His presence. " antar bahischa tat sarvam vyApya

Narayana: stittha: " says the Narayana anuvAka, attesting to His presence in all

that exists. " udal misai uyir ena karandu engum paranduLan " paraphrases Sri

Nammazhwar. He enters all beings and objects and directs them from inside-

> anta: pravishta: ShAstA janAnAm sarvAtmA " says the Aranyakam. And when He

resides in the Atma of every being as the antaryAmI, He does so with His

Consort, for, as shown above, She is inseparable from Him always, whatever form

He assumes.

>

 

Limitation by Object goes like this in distinction from

limitation by Space :

 

A chair can only be be chair. It can't be a Computer.

A Computer can only be a Computer. It can't be a Chair.

This is the limitation of objects. An object can't

be another object.

 

But, ParamAtma is verily all the objects - rf Sat VidyA.

ParamAtma is simultaneusly chair, computer etc due

to the SarIra-SarIri bhAva that exists between Himself

and others. In a nut shell, since ParamAtma is the

upAdAna kAraNa of jagat, He is verily everything. He

has no limitations by Object.

 

By Himself being not limited by space, we understand that He is

everywhere. Since He is not limited by Objects, we understand

that He is everything ie. more on the way in which He is present

everywhere.

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

Anand.