virodha parihaaram

You are here: SriPedia - ebooks - Vedanta Desikan - Works

virodha parihaaram

Introduction

Segment One

70.(PraNavam) SvatantrAshtOtthrasatha virOdha-parihAra-
vidhE nama:

Salutations to the SadAchAryan , who identified the 108
doubts that might arise in VisishtAdhvaitha darsanam and 
came up with the answers for resolving them in his
SrI Sookthi, VirOdha ParihAram .

The Rahasya Grantham , VirOdha ParihAram contains
the 108 potential doubts that might arise and Swamy
Desikan's responses to clear these doubts. VirOdha
ParihAram is the Rahasya grantham created by Swamy
Desikan after he completed his magnum opus , 
Rahasya Thraya Saaram out of compassion for us . 

------------
Segment Two

VirOdha ParihAram is organized  along four topics : Moola ManthrAdhikAram ,
DhvayAdhikAram , Charama SlOkAdhikAram and NigamanAdhikAram.
Swamy  Desikan answers 80 possible doubts of a Mumukshu about
Moola Manthram ; 10 doubts on Dhvyam , 10 sandEhams about
Charama slOkam and 8 doubts about general matters are answered by
Swamy  Desikan  in VirOdha ParihAram.

--------------
Segment Three

Swamy Desikan's VirOdha PrihAram is considered 
as His Swan Song.This was written to help us , who
might have still unresolved doubts about the tatthvams
covered in Srimad Rahasya Thraya Saaram.

Slokas

VIRODHA PARIHARAM : PART 1 

SrimAn VenkatanAthArya: kavithArkika kEsarI
VedhanthAcharya VaryOmE SannidhatthAm sadhA Hrudhi 

RaamAnuja DayApAthram Jn~Ana VairAghya BhUshaNam 
Srimadh VenkatanAdhAryam VandhE VedhAnhta Desikam 

Dear Members of Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntham :

Enormous and magnificent indeed are the granthams 
that Swami Desikan blessed us with for our ujjevanam
( uplift and salvation ) .They arose from him as 
UbhayaVedAntham , PrakaraNa granthams , SthOthrams , Rahasya
granthams , Kaavyams , Naatakam , Tamizh Prabhandhams ,
VyAkyAnams , Vaadha Granthams , RakshA Granthams and 
anushtAna granthams . His great upakAram to us flowed 
forth in four forms : Works in chaste Sanskrit , 
Sundara Tamizh , Sweet PrAkrutham and the MaNipravALam 
"language" used first by Thirukkuruhaip PirAn in 
his 6000 Pati . Swami Desikan's power of Jn~Anam 
Pravachana sakthi , anushtAna srEyas and 
debating skills are a direct result of the anugraham 
of Sri Hayagreeva BhagavAn .

In his ninth & final decade of life , after a rich life 
involved in grantha nirmANam , Sri Bhagavadh RaamAnuja 
SiddhAntha Pravachanam and Para matha Kantanam , Swami Desikan 
had a concern . He felt that he has left some thing undone .
This concern related to the creation of an all-encompassing 
grantham that dealt with :

1. a lucid explanation of Tattva-Hitha -PurushArthams
at one site 
2. a detailed exposition there on the richness of the meanings 
of the three rahasyams dear to Sri VaishNavAs
3. a grantham that incorporated all the hithOpadesams 
for the chEthanAs in MaNipravALam format .

With the blessings of his AchaaryAs and Sri Hayagreevan
arose the magnificient and incomparable grantham of
SRIMADH RAHASYA THRAYA SAARAM (RTS ) . In its 32 chapters ,
the three TattvAs , the Three RahasyAs, the Artha 
PanchakA and Prapatthi are discussed . Today , it 
is one of the four granthams ( Grantha chathushtayam ) 
that Sri VaishNavAs have to learn thru KalakshEpam 
under their AchAryAs besides Sri Bhaashyam , GitA
Bhaashyam of AchArya RaamAnujA and the Bhagavad Vishayam by
KurkkEsA .

After completing this magnum opus of RTS ,
Swami went one step further out of his great compassion
for aRivilis ( ignoramus ) like us and created his final
grantham in his very last years of his life on earth .

This very last grantham given to us as Kula dhanam by
Swami Desikan is " VIRODHA PARIHAARAM " .This is the grantham
that clears the lingering doubts of a Mumukshu ( one who
desires Moksham thru an understanding and practise
of the three Rahasyams ). Swami Desikan achieved his goal 
through a list of 108 Questions and answers based on 
PramANa Vaakhyams .It is also written in MaNi pravALam , 
a mixture of Sanskrit and TamiL .

VirOdha ParihAram has the following four chapters:
(1) Moola ManthAdhikAram (2) DhvayAdhikAram
(3) Sarama slOkAdhikAram and (4) NigamanAdhikAram .

There are a total of 108 doubts that Swami Desikan 
anticipates from the Mumukshu and answers them one
by one under the headings of the above four chapters . 
The largest number of doubts that he answers , Eighty ,
pertain to Mula Manthram ; the number of doubts addressed
in the Dhvaya , Sarama and Nigamana adhikArams are Ten ,
Ten and Eight respectively adding upto the grand total of 
108 doubts and corresponding answers for those doubts .

Swami Desikan's VirOdha ParihAra Grantham was translated 
and annotated by Oppiliappan Koil Navaneetham SrirAma 
DesikAcchAr Swamy , my manaseeka AchArya . Few months 
back , the prakrutham Pundareekapuram Andavan brought 
out a new edition of this grantham commented by 
Navaneetham Swami , which had been out of print for a while . 
Number of BhaskthAs of the Bhakthi List contributed funds 
for this effort and have become blessed . I will be following 
this recent edition of VirOdha ParihAram for a series of 
postings in SaraNAgathi Journal as it starts on its 
second decade of issues . May Swami Desikan's and his
UpAsanA murthy"s blessings be with us as we engage in 
studying together the most magnificient rahasya grantham
conceived as a sequel to Srimadh Rahasya Traya Saaram 
and try to prepare it for SamarpaNam for the BahudhAnya 
samvathsara Thirunakshthrams of Swami Desikan (October 1 )
and the First Jeeyar of AhObila Mutt , AdhivaNN SatakOpa
Yatheendhra MahA Desikan , whose 600th aaniversary of 
the establishment of Ahobila Mutt that we will be 
celebrating on September 11 ( Kettai ) .

Mangala SlOkams in Sanskrit and Tamil for VirOdha ParihAram
************************************************************

SlOkma 1 
********
Sriman NaarayaNa: Swaami SaraNya: SarvadEhinAm 
bhUyAnn nijapadha prApthi VirOdhi vinivAraka: 

( Meaning ) : May Sriman NaarAyaNan , who is the protector
of all Janthus and who is the Master of all the Jeevans 
chase away all the obstacles and enemies in your efforts
to reach His aasthAnam , Sri Vaikuntam .

slOkam 2 
********

udhitham bhavatha: pAyAth OushadhAdhri sameepatha:
Oushadham chEthasA sEvyam apuna: sthanya paayinAm 

(Meaning ) : Our Lord Hayagreevan appeared near 
the Hill of Medicinal plants ( Oushadha Giri ) at 
Thiruvahendhrapuram and He is the Oushadham (Medicine)
for those , who want to be cured of the afflictions 
of SamsAram . May that Lord , who is the nectar for dhyAnam 
by the mind ,protect you all , who wish not to drink again 
mother's milk ( not to be born again in this earth ) .
ApunarArvruthti is hinted here . The very last Brahma
sUthram asserts : AnAvrutthi SabdhAth , AnAvrutthi SabdhAth
{ There is no return (for these released souls ) because
the scriptures say so }. That is what Swami Desikan 
is requesting the Lord as a boon for us .

SlOkam 3 :

prapadhanamayE vidhyAbhEdhE prathishtitha chEthasa:
prathipadhamiha praj~yA dhAyam disanthu dayA dhanA :
Sataripu sukha vyAsa prAchEsAdhi nibhandhana
sramapariNatha suddhA-suddhAsayA mama DesikA : 

May my AchAryAs , who are profoundly conversant with
the different aspects of Prapatthi Vidhyai serving as
the means for Moksham , who have the sraddhA ( faith 
and deep trust ) in Prapatthi arising from their 
tireless study and clear understanding of the granthams 
of NammAzhwAr , Sukhar , VyAsar and VaalmIki , 
who have the purest of hearts brimming with compassion 
for us as their wealth , May those revered AchAryAs 
of mine bless every word of this grantham , VirOdhi ParihAram 
with the wealth of true knowledge ( JN~Ana Sampath ) . 

--VirOdha ParikAram : SlOkam 1

Kaivalyam is also Vaikunta PrApthi VirOdhi ( hindrance
to the parama purushArTam of attaining Saayujya Moksham).
What is this Kaivalyam? It is the direct vision of the true
nature of the Self ( aathma svaroopa saakshAthkAram ).
Kaivalya is the state of existence of the soul enjoying
the bliss of JivAthman.It is not considered as the true 
state of Moksham. It is considered as an inferior version
of Moksham because there is no Bhagavath sAkshAthkAram 
(BhagavAn realization ) here. In his ThiruvAimozhi 1.7.1,
Swamy NammazhwAr comes to this conclusion:

" It is a pity that the gracious Lord is worshipped 
constantly by those , who desire to overcome the dukkham of
repeated births and deaths and resort to Jn~Ana Yoga for
the purpose of attaiing the blissful experience of the soul
(Kaivalyam)".

Therefore Swamy NammAzhwAr instructs us not to seek 
Kaivalya but to seek the eternal aanandham of Moksham,
where the Muktha jeevan is engaged in nithya kaimkaryam
to the Lord at SrI Vaikuntam.This Kaivalyam or KevalaavasthA,
the individual Self becomes free from bondage , but does not
experience the bliss of the Lord as Parama Purushan.In kaivalyam ,
ParamAthma-SaakshAthkaram is missing and the focus is on
aathmAvalOkanam ;kaivalyam is considered the final stage in
Jn~Ana Yogam , which in turn is considered as an auxillary 
means to Bhakthi Yoga, which alone is the direct upAyam to 
Moksham just like prapatthi yOgam.

After dismissing both kaivalyam and SvargAnubhavam as 
alpam , asTiram , asukhajam ,asukha-avasAnam , dukkha-
anvitham ,anuchitham to one's svaroopam and abhimAna
moolam , Swamy Desikan states that he is no longer
tossed about by the desires for Svarga and kaivalya sukhams.
He says that the ever-lasting , woe-free sukham that 
he is seeking is the sukham of ParipoorNa BrahmAnandham
realized through Nithya kaimkaryam to the Dhivya dampathis
at their Supreme Abode of SrI Vaikunam. Swamy Desikan
prostrates before the Lord and asks Him to fulfill 
His desire to enjoy the true Sukham of Saayujya mOksaham
( Thvayi yEva nirvivikshum mAm charitArTaya).


Commentary

Segment One Two Three
------------------------------------------------------------
Segment One

The VirOdha ParihAram by Swamy Desikan (1268-1369 C.E).

It is a rahasya grantham , which houses 108 doubts and 
objections relating to the topics covered by Swamy Desikan's
SrIMad Rahasya Thraya Saaram (SRTS). At a very ripe
old age , Swamy Desikan took the trouble to write
this brilliant SrI Sookthi to banish from our minds 
the doubts that might have arisen from our poor 
comprehension of the topics covered in SRTS .

Swamy Desikan's precocious son and AchAryA in 
his own right wrote a Sanskrit commentary about 
VirOdha ParihAram by his illustrious father and
AchAryan . BTW , KumAra VaradAchAran (1316-1401 C.E) 
has commented on many SrI sookthis of his father 
(avidhyA KaNDana , AasrayAnupatthi , Tatthva Traya 
chuLakArtha Sangraham , VirOdaparihAra ).

Swamy Desikan answers 80 doubts that might arise
from improper understanding of Moola Manthram , 
10 doubts that might plague one about Dhvayam and 
10 more doubts associated with the Charama SlOkam 
and 8 more doubts linked to NigamanaadhikAram.

The first Question/doubt for which Swamy Desikan gives
the answer is: How does EmperumAn , who watches the troubles of 
the Jeevan can be called Sarvarakshakan(protector of All)? 

The seventh Question is: How can you call animals and plants 
as the Daasans of EmperumAn? How do you explain that?

The 37th question for which Swamy Desikan gives His
answer is: " Is there specific time limits to Bhagavath
Kaimkaryams or can they be performed at any time we choose ?

The 38th doubt is about:If the AchAryan makes a mistake ,
what should the Sishyan do? 

The 47th doubt raised and answered is: Is it the AathmA or
SarIram that experiences pleasures and pains ?

The 67th Doubt removed with the brilliant answer is:
What is the parama PurushArtham for a liberated 
soul in SrIvaikuntam? Is it Bhagavath anubhavam
or Bhagavath Kaimkaryam?

The 68th doubt is: Is Parama Padha prApthi and 
VishNulOka PrApthi one and the same ?

Moksham is described both as anishta nivrutthi and
Ishta prApthi ? How can this be reconciled ?
( Anishta Nivrutthi is the removal of inauspiciousness ;
Ishta prApthi is the gaining of what one seeks as
auspicous)...76th doubt .

In his 102nd question Swamy Desikan asks and answers 
why each of the three rahasyams essential ?

The final doubt (108th) addressed is: How can one 
clear one's doubts further about the three rahasyams?

Just a sampling to demo the scope of the doubts ,
which Swamy Desikan anticipates that a student of
Rahasya Thrayams might have .

Hopefully , adiyEn would have the bhAgyam in future 
about each of these doubts and Sawmy Desikan's 
authoritative responses to banish them.

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Segment Two

127) Gaining tranquility of Mind through Bhagavath Kaimkaryam
*************************************************
Paasurams 127-129 summarize selected doctrines covered in
the 27th chillaRai Rahasyam of  VirOdha ParihAram dealing with
the doubts that arise in the understanding of the three rahasyams
by the Mumukshus. The Rahasyam is set in the form of Questions
and answers to 108 doubts that cross the mind of the Mumukshus.


( Meaning of the 127th Paasuram ) :The entire Vedam salute the glories of
the sacred feet of the Lord . That Lord as PaarTasArathy used His Sudarsana
chakram to bring in night during day time at Kuru KshEthram in the middle of
BhAratha Yuddham . Periya Thiruvadi ( Garudan) and ThiruvananthAzhwAn
(AadhisEshan), who are natural enemies , perform Kaimkaryam to His sacred
feet  with great devotion .This is VirOdha ParihAram in acrtion. Our Lord
has
given us the firmness of purpose to perform Kaimkaryam to His holy feet
and has blessed us with His sacred feet worshipped by the Nithya sooris.

128) The Vaibhavam of AchArya RaamAnuja: Conversation between Two
*********************************************************
The converstion between two BhakthAs devoted to AchArya RaamAnujA
sitting on the banks of a pond is the Question and answer format
for this Paasuram .

( One ) : The Swan in this pond is sitting on the lotus flower but it does
not taste the honey inside that flower .It does not imitate the gait of
beautiful women ,which it likes to do . It appears weak and famished .
My friend ! What could be the reason ?

(Other) : I know the answer. It is grief stricken over losing its pride.

(One): What could that be ? What did it lose ? Please explain.

(Other): Swans have the capacity to separate water from Milk. This Swan
has lost that power , which makes it proud and hence it is sorrowful .

( One): That power was bequeathed to the Swans by Brahma Devan .
Why would this Swan lose it ?

(Other) : I will tell you why. Many  deluded ones thinking that they were
experts in SaasthrAs came to debate RaamAnujA. Our AchAryan
defeated them all in fair debates and roared that he will meet with
any kudrushti , who wants to debate with him on the impeccable
doctrines of VisishtAdvaitham. As a result of his many victories ,
AchArya RaamAnujA's fame spread like the white hue of  conch.
That fame with white color spread all over the world and made all
matters that it came in to contact with a white hue . Thus all the waters of
the world became white. As a result , there was no need anymore for
the skills of the Swan to separate the water from the milk .
This unique skill made the Swan until then proud became irrelevant .
Now , the  Swan is sad over loss of this fame. Blemishless indeed is
the glory of RaamAnujA ! Hail to Him !

129) Inability to recieve the essential meanings from other Gods
************************************************
Saasthrams state that a SaamAnya adhikAri can obtain Jn~Anam from
Lord Siva by pleasing Him with worship. Even if such an adhikAri
gets abundant Jn~Anam form Lord SivA , they would still not have gained
the quintessential meanings ( SaarArTams) of the Rahasyams. These
SaarArTams can be acquired only through the UpadEsam route from
SadAchAryAs , who have the BhAgyam of the auspicious glances of
Lord KrishNa on them . We have learnt these SaarArTams from
such blessed AchAryAs.

Swamy  Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka
SrivaNN Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Segment Three

Jaya and Vijaya episode
From: Anand Karalapakkam (kgk_at_md2.vsnl.net.in)
Date: Wed Jun 07 2000 - 11:08:13 PDT 

Jaya and Vijaya Episode :
****************************

 The question is to know whether the curse took place in either
 SrI VaikuNTham Or kArya VaikuNTham (replica of SrI VaikuNTham
 in the material world). This question is dealt by SwAmi Desikan
 Himself in His VirOdha ParihAram ( part of Chillarai rahasyam).


Swami Sri Desikan says in VirOdha parihAram #107:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"ippadi sila janmAntara SamskArAdikaL upakarikka
anukUla SvabhAvarAyp piRandu muktarAkap prAptarAnAlum,
janmAntarankaLilum pratikUlanAy antima janmattilum
tAn padumaLavum (i.e. until death) etirambu kOttu
ninRa sisupAlanukku "pratibhavam aparAddhu: mugddha
SAyujadObhU:" (stOtra ratnam #63) enkiRapadiyE mOksham
koduttapadi en? ennil,

adiyilE sri vishnu lOkattilE dvArapAlapadam peRRAr
iranDu ksEtrajyar bhAgavatapachAra-visEshattAl moonRu
janmam pratikUlarAyp piRandu, avvapachAra phalavasAnattilE
pazhaiya padam peRRu kramENa muktaRAy ninRArkaL enRu
purANasiddham AakaiyAlE ippadippatta vishayangaLilum
munpuRRai (that which was present earler) adhyAtma-
sikshai adiyaaga mOksham ennumidam siddham."

Essence of the above (Using Sri SrirAmadEsikAchAryA's 
vivaraNam, published by Poundarikapuram Ashramam ):

Qtn 107 :

It is understandable to see someone who is born as a good person,
with good habits (due to sukrudams of previous births), get the 
opportunity for mOksham. But, how come someone, like Sisupalan, 
who committed offenses in previous births, and continued to commit 
offenses even in the current birth till the time he died, got 
moksham, as described in ALavandhAr's sthOthra ratnam #63?

Answer :

There is a lOkam under Sri Vaikuntam called Vishnu lOkam (kArya
VaikuNTham). Two exalted jIvas who were holding the post of guards
for the Lord in this lOkam committed offenses against bhAgavathas.
Because of this they were born three times as opponents of the Lord.
In this way they suffered the consequences of their bhAgavatha
apachaaras. After that they got their old posts back. Then, in 
due course of time, due to the upAyas they undertook they attained 
mOksham. This history is clear from purANas. Thus, in matters such 
as this, it is clear that moksham can be attained through an upAya 
(either bhakti or prapatti) because of the already present 
knowledge on vEdAnta .
---------------------------------------------------

 Thus Jaya and Vijaya who were being cursed, were dwArapAlakAs
 at Vishnu lOkam and not at SrI VaikuNTham. Some devotees didn't
 knew about the declaration of SwAmi dESikan regarding this issue
 and thought that this incident took place at Sri VaikuNTham,
 for PerumAL to just have a vyAjA(excuse) for incarnation. This
 reasoning was strongly based on the fact that there are nitya
 soorIs named Jaya and Vijaya, who are at Sri VaikuNTham
 as dwArapAlakas.

 Actually, Jaya and Vijaya at Sri VaikuNTham were not at all
 involved in this episode. They being nitya soorIs were serving
 PerumAL at Sri VaikuNTham. Vishnu lOkam has the exact replica
 of Sri VaikuNTham and the "post"/service of the gatekeeping
 was performed by two baddha jIvAtmAs. The name of the "post"
 got identified with their name ie. Since at SriVaikuNTham, the
 nitya soorIs Jaya and Vijaya serve as gatekeepers, any baddha
 jIvAtmA serving as gatekeepers in Vishnu lOkam are also called
 as Jaya and Vijaya.

 Lets take the example of Siva, Indra, Brahma etc. These are
 actually posts. A baddha jIvAtma will take these posts for a
 particular period and later on, that post will be occupied by
 some other baddha jIvAtma. Similarly , in the Vishnu lOkam,
 the dwArapAlaka kainkaryam ( Jaya and Vijaya) is a specific
 post obtained by certain exalted baddha jIvAtmas. Ofcourse, not
 all the posts in Vishnu lOkam be given to baddha jIvAtmAs. Here
 also nitya soorIs will be performing kainkaryams. We can't make
 any blanket statements that everyone at VishNu lokam are only
 baddha jIvAtmas.
--------------------------------------------------------

   But a question naturally arises here : In the kArya
   vaikuNTham , exalted devotees perform the kainkaryam of gate
   keeping. Why then they have to suffer like that of being born
   in earth as HiraNyakaSipu and HiraNyAksha in Kruta yuga,
   RAvaNa and KumbhakarNa in trEta yuga, SisupAla and Dantavakra
   in dwApara yuga ?

   Answer : BhAgavatha apachAram to the rishis (Already answered).

   This BhAgavatha apachAram is made as a vyAja for perumAL to 
   start His avatAra leelAs. NityasoorIs like AzhwArs demonstrated 
   how a baddha jIvAtma should behave ; jaya & vijaya ( non-nitya 
   sooris) in their three births demostrate in a way as to how a 
   baddha should not behave. The bottomline is that PerumAL needs 
   different roles for His fulfilment of avatAra leelAs. Such key 
   roles are occupied by nitya soorIs, baddha jIvAtmas from kArya 
   vaikuNTham etc.
-----------------------------------------------------

  Finally, lets look into what Srimad BhAgavatham actually says
  regarding this issue :

  Sage NArada tells King YudhiSThira (7.1.36) :
  " yekadA brahmaNaha putrA vishNu lOkam yadrucchayA |
    sanandanAdayO jagmushcarantO bhuvanatrayam || "

  " Once upon a time, when the sons of (chatur mukha) Brahma, 
    namely, Sanaka, Sanandana, SanAtana and Sanat-kumAra were 
    traveling throughout the three worlds, they by chance came 
    to _VishNu lOka_".

  Here it is explicitly told that Sanaka and others (who are not
  muktas yet) went to VishNu lOkam only. Also, when they are
  traveling inside the material world, they can't by chance enter
  Sri VaikuNTham.


  adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
  ananthapadmanAbha dAsan
  krishNArpaNam

Further Reading: External Links


Spelling: virodha pariharam parikaram priharam