NOTE: Readers having difficulty in reading the text may need to change their encoding to UTF-8. ---------- srI: SrI upakAra sangraham ? 66 --- adikAram ? 1 poorva upakAra paramparai (The Foremost Series of Favours) --- SECTION ? 5 (21) (27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for MOKSHAM) ----- Once the treasure-house of valuable messages contained in the three mantras has been opened for us by the Lord through the medium of AchArya, what the disciple has to do is revealed in this sub-section by SwAmi Desikan: (21) ippadi sAnugraha-nAna sadAchArya-nAlE upadiShTangkaLAna sadarthangkaLil ?upadiShTEpyavishvastah? ennum avasthai vArAthapadi paNNinathuvum; The Lord does another favour by preventing the disciple who has obtained the valuable instructions from the compassionate AchArya, from falling in to a situation of non-belief in the messages given by his AchArya: ?upadiShTEpyavishvastah? ennum avasthai vArAthapadi -- not getting in to the situation where the disciple becomes a ?non-believer in the instructions?. This is also a favour conferred by the Lord. To understand this, we must study the scriptural instructions regarding the conduct of a disciple after he receives the valuable knowledge sought from his AchArya. If these are not followed, he will get in to the avoidable situation referred to above. What is expected of the disciple? The disciple bringing the Guru to light before others and not doing so are due to the high devotion or the lack of it on his part. It has been stated the shESha-samhita: ?gurum prakAshatEddheemAn mantram yatnEna gOpayEt / aprakAsha-prakAshAbhyAm kSheeyEtE sampadAyuShee //? (shESha-samhita, 14-50) (The wise man should bring his guru to light, make famous, and should guard the sacred mantra with great care; from the omission to bring his guru to light and by revealing the mantra, he declines in wealth of knowledge and in age (spiritual standing).) It is well known from Kata shruti and JAbAla shruti that all desired knowledge arises from supreme devotion to the guru resembling the devotion to BhagavAn. This is learnt also from the episode of Sanjaya seeing the entire war in detail in KurukShEtra, as if they occurred before him, as the result of his supreme devotion to his guru, VyAsa. In our sampradAya, we should to recite the following verse, which has been given to us by SwAmi Desikan: ?ennuyir thanthaLitthavaraic caraNam pukku yAndaivE avarkurukkaL nirai vaNangkip pinnaruLAl perumpoothur vanta vaLLal periyanambi ALvanthAr maNakkAlnambhi nanneRiyai avarkkuraitta uyyakkoNdAr nAthamuni shatagopan cEnainAthan innamudat thirumakaL enRivarai munnittu emperumAn thiruvadikaL adaikinREnE.? (SrImadrahasya-traya-sAram, 3) (Having sought the protection of my guru who has graciously taught me that BhagavAn is the Inner Self within me, and having also bowed with devotion to the line of his gurus, I seek the refuge at the feet of the Lord; after bowing at the feet of that generous soul who appeared in SrI Perumpoothur owing to his compassion (for his fellow-men), his guru, Periya Nambi, ALavanthAr, MaNakkAl Nambi, UyyakkondAr (who taught the good path of prapatti to MaNakkAl Nambi), NAthamuni (the guru of UyyakkondAr), shatagopan (NammAzhvAr) (the guru of NAthamuni) and ViShvaksEna (the guru of NammAzhvAr) and then, the gracious LakShmI, sweet to the Lord as ambrosia.) SwAmi Desikan has in detail explained the duties of a disciple towards his AchArya in the shiShya-krutyAdhikArah, in SrI rahasyatrayasAram. In the opening verse, he says: ?ashithila-gurubhaktih tatprashamsAdi-sheelah pracura-bahumatih tadvastu-vAstvAdikEpi / guNavati viniyOktum gOpayan sampradAyam krutavidanaghavruttih kim na vindEnnidhAnam //? (The disciple should be staunch in his devotion to the guru; he should be intent on doing such things as spreading the fame of his guru and rendering service to him; he should have the greatest regard for such things as his guru?s property and his home; he should guard the spiritual tradition in order to hand it on to another who is worthy; the disciple who is grateful and is perfect in his performance of the ordained rites, is he not sure to attain the treasure, namely, BhagavAn?) The scriptures say that since the AchArya reveals the meanings of religion like the one who reveals to a poor man the existence of a great treasure within his house, the disciple should feel grateful to the AchArya, who is the great benefactor, and never do anything against his interests. When the disciple is asked to behave properly to the guru, it is not to say that, by doing so, he will make due recompense for what the guru has done to him, but that he would then avoid the evil consequences. Some of the duties of the disciple, like prostration and salutation are mentioned not as a recompense to the AchArya, who does not expect any such return and imparts instruction merely as a matter of duty; for it has been said: ?krupayA niHspruhO vadEt? (shAndilya-smriti) -- The guru should teach out of compassion and without any desire for profit. When the scriptures state that the disciple should behave towards the guru as towards BhagavAn Himself and should have affection as to the Lord, they do not prescribe the offer of a fee or recompense. They give the advice merely in order that the disciple who has the shAstra for his eyes may not become blind of vision with eyes wide open, and in order that he may not lose this blissful experience which resembles the experience of BhagavAn. It has also been prescribed the duties of a disciple, which include the protection of the essence of the three mantras. The imparting of instruction should be preceded by meditation of the succession gurus. SwAmi Desikan summarizes the duties of a disciple in a verse: ?ERRi manatthu ezhil j~nAna viLakkai iruLanaitthum mARRinavarkku oru kaimARu mAyanum kANkillAn; pORRI ukappathum punthiyil koLvathum pongkupukazh cARRi vaLarppathum caRRallavO munnam peRRathaRkE.? (Even MAyan, the Lord, cannot know the AchArya who dispelled all the darkness in the mind by lighting the bright lamp of wisdom within. Therefore, for what was received before from the AchArya; it is indeed very little that is done by the disciple in recounting his praise with delight, in constant meditation of him, and in extending his growing fame.) Thus, the Lord has done a favour by making us to do the duty towards the AchArya who has taught us the essence of the spiritual knowledge; it is by preventing any non-belief to enter in our minds in words of the AchArya. This is the message conveyed in this sub-section by SwAmi Desikan. (To continue) dAsan Anbil S.SrInivAsan --------- ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan http://www.sadagopan.org Yahoo! 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