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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00018 Nov 2006

 
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22. dhEhAdhivilakshaNathvena vibhakthasvaroopasya jeevasya karthavyAntharam na upalabhAmahe;

athah svarupAnubhanDHi varNAsramAdhirAhithyavedhinah purushAh kaTHamiva karmADHikAriNah bhavishyanthi?

 

There is no karma for the jiva who is different from body etc. and therefore how can  those,  who know that they are the self which is beyond varNa or Asrama be fit for the karma enjoined in the vedas?

 

 The reference here is to the slokas in Vishnupurana and Mahabharatha that declare the self as different from embodied beings.

 

pumAn nA dhEvO na narO na pasurna cha padhapah

sareerAkrthibhEdhAsthu bhoopa EthE karmayOnayah

(VP.2-13-98)

 

Oh king! the jiva is not a deva, man,an animal or even a plant.These differences are due to that in the physical bodies caused by karma.

 

nAyam dhEvO na marthyO va na thiryak sthAvaropi vA

jnAnAnandhamayasthvAthmA seshO hi paramAthmanah

(Maha.AsvamEdhika.43-13)

 

This jiva is neither a deva, nor a man ,nor animal nor a plant. He is of the nature of bliss and knowledge and a sesha to the Lord.

 

hence thereis no karma for the jiva who has the knowledge of his reakl self.

 

Desika refutes this view saying that it will apply only to ChArvAkas, the materialists. Since they do not believe in a life after death they do not follow the karma enjoined in the vedas.For others, especially those who have the knowledge of the self,

 

dhEhAthmanOH vivEkE api dhEhasambandhayOginAm

karthavyam dhrsyathE yadhvath grhakshEthrAdhisAlinAm

 

Even after attaining the discrimination that soul is different from the body the karma is to be performed as the owners of the house and land do their karma.

 

All karma is according to varnAsrama which stays till death and cannot be avoided as the eating and drinking because of the connection with the body.The discrimination between the body and the soul does not preclude the karma that is to be done. Desika cites the example of where the man owning house and land which are different from him discharges certain duties according to the mandate of the king.Here the karma enjoined by the vedas are mandatory because it is ordained by the Lord who is the king of kings,rajAdhirAja, whose command should be followed by all beings, till death,says Desika. 'Abrahmakeetam akhilairapi anuvarthaneeya-sAsanasya rAjADhirAjasya bhagavathah sarvEsvarasya sasanamapi yaTHADHikAram yAvaddhEhapAtham anuvarthaneeyam ithi prAmANikAnAm panTHAh.'

 

23.aTHApi,

 

yasyAythmarathirEva syAth Athmathrpthascha mAnavah

AthamnyEva cha santhushTah thasyaKAryam na vidhyathE

(BG.3-17)

 

ithyukthaprakArENa AthmAnubhavathrpthasya na kinchidhapi karthavyam.

 

The sloka quoted means that for the one who revels in the Self, contented with the Self and enjoys the bliss of the Self , there is nothing to be accomplished, that is, he has no karma.

 

Desika says in answer to this,

 

karthvyasya uparOdhasthu yogE mukthou cha sambhavEth

anyaTHA bhOjanOnmEsha nimEshAdhi kaTHam bhavEth

 

 

 

In the state of yOga and release only there is no karma.Otherwise even the actions like eating or blinking will not take place.

 

The statements in the sruthi and smrthi regarding the non-performance of karma  applies only while doing yoga and after mukthi.If all the karma are denied in the embodied state even the ordinary actions like eating, clothing, breathing etc would not take place.So the actions enjoined by the scriptures have to be performed till death even by the man of knowledge. Visishtadvaitha does not accept the concept of jeevanmukthi of the advaita.

The one who is 'nArAyaNaikanishta,' that is, a paramaikAnthi with ananyabhakthi towards the Lord Narayana, does all the nithya naimitthika karma as bhagavdhArADhana, dedicating all his actions to the Lord and performing them as worship.This attitude is his japa.The perception of the Lord in everything is the dhyAna,meditation. the  water that washes the feet of such a pure soul, who purifies the place where he is,becomes the holy water which purifies all.This is deemed as bhAgavathasnAnam and the remainings of the food which he offers to the Lord as naivEdhya and partakes himself , becomes the prasAdha for his children and disciples.

 

24.BhAgavathAnAm  EthadhananyArha sEshathvajnAnEna svarupayAthAthmyajnAnavathAm anyasEshathvaprApakaagneendhrAdhivyAmisrakarmANi akarthavyAnyEva.

 

To the devotees of the Lord who have the knowledge that they are seshas only to Him, the performance of the karmas that propitiate other devas like agni and Indra become prohibited as they imply anyasEshathva, that they are sEshas to these deities.

 

This is answered by Desika thus:

 

AjnAthilanganAyOgAth antharyAmithva dharsanAth

sAkshAdhapi avirOdhAccha karmakarthavyam ishyathE

 

It is not a transgression of command because of the perception of the Lord as the indweller and also of direct connotation which removes any contradiction and hence the works enjoined in the vedas like yajna are to be performed by the paramaikAnthins also.

 

A paramaikanthin does all the karma as the offering to Lord Narayana only and therefore even when he performs yaga etc with respect to other deities like Indra and agni, his action is directed only to the Lord who is the indweller of those deities. It is like garlanding a person on his shirt ,which is towards the person only and not the garment. When the Lord is meditated as the  whole world consisting of insentient beings, it is not directed to the world but to the Lord whose sarira is the world. Similarly here all the activities propitiating the other deities are  directed only towards the Lord. It denotes anyasEshathhvam only when these deities are worshipped for their own sake  expecting them to yield the desired fruit of the karma instead of the Lord who is the indweller of them.

 

The Lord says in the Gita, 'aham hi sarvayajnaAnAm bhOkthA cha prabhurEva cha, (BG.9-24) I am the enjoyer in all yajnas and the giver of fruit. Prabhu means phalapradhah, one who gives the result of the karma. Brahma suthra ascribes the etymological meaning of all words denoting the deities to the Lord only.The suthra 'sAkshAdhapi avirODHam jaiminih' (BS.1-2-29) declares that the words denoting Indra Varuna etc have direct connotation to the Isvara only and therefore there is no contradiction and so considers Jaimini.

 

Therefore to those who do all the actions as offering to the Lord till the end of their lives there is no possibilty of seshathva to other deities.All the nithya naimitthika karmas have to be done through out life and the prohibition refers only to the desire - motivated activities.

 

 

25. Nanu jnAnasvarupathayA cha jnAnaguNathayA cha pramANasiddhasyApi jeevasya jnAnothpatthivinasayoh prathyakshAdhipramAna siddhathvath jnAna nithyathvavAdhah sarvadhA na sanghatatha.

 

Of this self, who is of the nature of knowledge and has knowledge as his attribute,the attributive knowledge, dharmabhuthajnAna  originates and is destroyed, as seen from pramAnas such as perception and hence it cannot be permanent.

 

Desika says that the dharmabhutha jnAna is eternal as declared by sasthrapramAna.

 

yaTHA na kriyathE jyOthsnA ithyAdhi vAkyAnusArathah

jnAnam nithyam avasTHAbhih uthpatTHyAdhisthu kaTHyathE.

 

As it is said that the light is not produced the knowledge is eternal and its appearance and disappearance is due to the different states in which it is experienced.

 

The reference here is to the sloka in Vishnudharma.

 

YaTHA na kriyathE jyOthsna malaprakshAlanAth manEh

dhOshaprahAnAth na jnAnam Athmanah kriyathE thaThA

(Vishnu Dharma.104-55)

 

The light of the gem is not produced by cleaning it. Like wise the knowledge is not created in the self through the removal of the defect (due to ignorance) that is, it only manifests which is already there.

 

Therefore the appearance and the disappearance is due to the contraction and the expansion of the dharmabhutha jnAna which is permanent.

 

 

26. aTHApi svathah prakAsasyApi jnAnasya kEnApi thirODHAnEna aprakAsathva angeekAre mrshAvAdhimathAvathArah prasjyEtha.

 

If the knowledge which is self luminous is accepted to have been concealed at times it would land one in the school of advaita.So the knowledge when it is not manifest should be considered as having become extinct.

 

Desika  disagrees and says,

 

jnAnanithyathvavAdhasya sruthyaivaprathipAdhanAth

svaprakAsathvam Ethasya vishayagrahanE sathi

 

That knowledge is eternal has been established by sruthi and the dharmabhutha jnAna operates only when it illuminates an object.

 

In sleep the dharmabhuthajnAna seems to be absent due to the non-existence of objects to cognise.This is known by the experience that "I did not know anything." The self illuminating character of the dharmabhuthajnAna consists in the fact that it does not need another knowledge to manifest itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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