The Ultimate Refuge

[Guest guest]

Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya

nama:

 

The Ultimate Refuge

 

One of the habits, which we were told to cultivate as children, is reading the

newspaper. Not only was it considered important for keeping oneself abreast of

what was happening in one’s own town and in the wide world outside, it was also

touted to be a means of developing one’s language and vocabulary. My father used

to exhort me to read “The Hindu” every day, to improve my knowledge of English.

Thus the newspaper habit was inculcated in us early in life, so much so that it

has become an addiction—on the rare days that the daily is not delivered due to

a holiday, we feel as if the day is rather incomplete. Even after the advent of

television, with its numerous 24-hour news channels, the newspaper has managed

to hold its own so far.

 

People have different ways of reading the newspaper. Some (like my eleven-year

old son) go straight to the Sports page, working their way backwards. Some

prefer to be more methodical, beginning with the front page and the headlines

and plodding patiently through the entire paper. I had a friend with the

ghoulish habit of glancing at the “Obituary” column first—his justification for

according priority to that particular page was that it was a “life and death”

matter. We too do see this column, but in its turn. Somewhat funnily, you find

the Obituary column tagged on to the Sports page (especially in “The Hindu”),

indicating perhaps that human life and death represent an unending sport

–“alagilaa vilayaattu”-- to Emperuman.

 

We find that people are as different in death, as they are in life. From the

obituary references, we learn that some people “attained Siva loka praapti”,

some “slept in Jesus”, some “attained immortality”, while some others just

“passed away”, depending upon their religious persuasions. When it comes to Sri

Vaishnavites, we find that there are several variants in use, as far as obituary

references are concerned. Some say, “Tirunaadu alankaritthaar” (the departed

soul now adorns the halls of Sri Vaikunttam), and some others, “attained the

Lord’s lotus feet”. By far, however, the accepted formula appears to be

“Acharyan tiruvadi adaindaar” (the deceased reached the glorious feet of the

Preceptor).

 

This sets us thinking. Why should we say that the departed soul attained the

feet of the Acharya? Is it because we want to set ourselves apart from others in

death, as in life? (it is the complaint of many a non-Vaishnavite that our

Sampradayam is exclusive, much like an elite club, with unique precepts and

practices). Would it not be good enough for the soul to reach the Lord’s lotus

feet, rather than the Acharya’s? And is there any scriptural authority for

saying this?

 

We owe an immense debt to our parents. Even the Shruti tells us to treat our

parents as living Gods. Such being the case, why don’t we say that the departed

soul reached its parents’ lotus feet?

 

Here, we need to make an important distinction between the role of parents and

that of the Acharya. Parents are indeed responsible for bringing us into this

world and providing us with the wherewithal for survival, in this ugly mundane

jungle filled with predators. However, their support, assistance and aid are

useful only in this world. It does nothing for us, as far as emancipation is

concerned. Further, their relationship with us is physical in origin and

confined to one particular birth, among the countless janmas the soul passes

through.

 

Though one can never belittle the contribution of parents to one’s life, yet

when one looks at the broader Cosmic canvas, parental or filial relationships

are as fleeting and ephemeral as those of two pieces of wood floating in the

broad ocean, coming together due to a quirk of fate for a second, before being

torn apart again by the buffeting waves (as the Ramayana tells us). Thus, it may

not be appropriate to describe one as having reached the lotus feet of one’s

parents, upon one’s release from the mortal coils.

 

The Acharya, on the other hand, is solely responsible for our spiritual welfare.

It is he who shows us God, His nature, our own character as individual souls,

the path to Paradise and what stands as a stumbling block on our way to

Liberation. It is through him that we adopt an appropriate strategy like Bhakti

or Prapatti, for ridding ourselves of our mortal shackles. It is he, whom we

have to thank, for enabling us to reach Paramapadam and enjoy infinite bliss in

the service of the Lord. It is an accepted tenet that the mediatory services of

an Acharya are indispensable for God-realisation—“Acharyavan Purusho Veda”.

Thus, vis-à-vis the birth that parents afford us, which only leads us to more

and more mundane births, the Janma that the Acharya gives us (by eradicating the

ignorance entrenched in us, thereby entitling us to emancipation), is extremely

beneficial. The birth the Acharya bestows on us destroys the poisonous seed of

Karma, preventing further births—“Janma pradhva

msi janma” as Swami Desikan puts it.

 

Thus, if we attain Sri Vaikunttam after our sojourn here, it is solely due to

the Acharya’s munificence and mercy. If we have to be eternally beholden to the

Acharya, then so has the Lord too. Having taken numerous avataras and failed to

attract mortals into his fold in any big measure, he takes avataras as Acharyas,

lives and moves with the sinful populace, bringing them around slowly through

patient guidance. The Acharya ultimately entrusts their souls to their rightful

owner—the Lord-- cleansed of all the dirt and grime of Samsara, through the

unfailing strategy of Prapatti or Surrender. Thus, the Lord has as much to thank

the Acharya for, as we mortals do.

 

Being an “Atma Sambhandam”, a special Spiritual Relationship, the tie with our

Acharya continues much beyond our worldly life and persists even when we ascend

to Sri Vaikunttam. Due to the glorious nature of the benefits he has conferred

upon us, we tend to value him as much in Paramapadam, as we do here, perhaps

more so. And the liberated soul deems it as much a pleasure to perform service

to the Acharya in the eternal abode, as in this mundane one.

 

Further, we Vaishnavites value and treasure Acharya Sambandham much more than

any other relationship. We hold it even higher than that with the Lord. After

all, just as we know our father only because our mother points him out to us, so

too, we know God only due to the Acharya’s munificence and mercy. Hence, there

is hardly anything strange in our considering the Guru’s feet as our sole

refuge, not only in this world, but also in Sri Vaikunttam. The Acharya is thus

not only the “Praapakam” (the Facilitator) but also the goal to be attained

(“Praapyam”). Thus, when we say that someone reached his or her Acharya’s lotus

feet, we are only recording the soul’s journey to its logical destination.

 

All this is fine, but is there any authority for saying so? Or is it a

new-fangled practice that has sprung up during recent times, like so many others

of its kind?

 

Allaying our misgivings is Sri Alavandar, who lays down clearly that the

Acharya’s tiruvadi is as much a refuge to him in this mundane world, as at

Paramapadam—“atra paratra cha api nityam yadeeya charanou sharanam madeeyam”.

Recording his debt of gratitude to his grandfather and Praacharya, Sri

Nathamuni, Sri Alavandar codifies the Vaishnava’s conduct towards his Guru, here

and elsewhere. Expanding on this, Swami Desikan tells us that the Acharya is a

refuge to us in this life, due to his catalytic role--ensuring germination of

the seeds of Bhakti and Gnaanam in the barren soil of our soul—“Mukte: poorva

avastthaayaam Gnaana, Bhakti utpaadana mukhena sharanatvam”. And in Sri

Vaikunttam too, when one recollects the invaluable assistance the Acharya has

been in one’s ascent to the Lord’s abode, one tends to accord the same exalted

pedestal to the Acharya, as one has on earth—“praacheena mahopakaara

saakshaatkaarena visesha pratipatti vishayataya”. The word “api”, which follo

ws the phrase “atra paratra cha”, dispels any lingering doubt as to the

possibility of the Preceptor forming the liberated soul’s refuge.

 

Swami Desikan adduces further scriptural authority in this regard, by quoting

from the Pancharatra text of Saatvata Tantram—

 

“Gurureva param Brahma, Gurureva paraa gati:

Gurureva paraa vidyaa Gurureva paraayanam

Gurureva para: kaamo Gurureva param dhanam

Yasmaat sat upadeshta asou tasmaat gurutaro Guru:”

 

This beautiful verse tells us that the Acharya is the highest of deities we can

worship, the safest of refuges we can ever find, the best of all knowledge that

can ever be acquired, the best of goals we can ever aspire for and the most

precious of treasures we can hope to find.

 

The Acharya being both the Goal to be attained and the strategy therefor, is

borne out by the quote, ”Upaaya upeya bhaavena tam eva sharanam vrajet”.

 

With all this wealth of scriptural evidence, is it strange that we SriVaishnavas

consider the Acharya our all, both in this mundane world and in Paradise?

 

And more than anything else, that the departed soul’s ultimate refuge is its

preceptor’s holy feet, is borne out by the immortal words of the wise Sabhari,

renowned for her righteous conduct-- “Dharma chaarineem”. Srimad Ramayanam tells

us that after a long tenure of blissful service to her Acharyas, Sabhari, after

shedding her mortal coils, attained the sacred feet of her Gurus—

 

“teshaam icchaami aham gantum sameepam bhaavitaatmanaam

Muneenaam aashramo yeshaam aham cha parichaarinee”

 

And when you consider the fact that the Acharya is none other than the Lord

Himself in human form (“Peetaka aadai Piraanaar Pirama guru aagi vandu”—Sri

Periyazhwar), there is not much difference between attaining the Lord and the

Acharya. Hence “Acharyan tiruvadi” is as good as the Lord’s lotus feet. Thus,

when the individual soul, having performed Prapatti, attains Paramapadam, it is

the Acharya’s feet that it reaches.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan