Charama SlOkAdhikAram (91-100) : The
AakshEpa-SamAdhAnams
regarding the meanings of Charama
SlOkam are covered here .
91. The explanation for the word
"Parithyajya" in Charama slOkam :
(Question) : If a Prapannan
following the instruction of the Lord to abandon
all dharmAs , how can one do that
and live like the bird and the beast
and roam around ? This is worrisome
.
(Answer ) : one has to focus on what
are the dharmAs
that are to be
abandoned .The chEtanan has already
abnadoned the performance of
dharmAs beyond his capacity as
undoable . The instruction is that chEtanan
is standing powerless to perform
Bhakthi yogam and gain its Phalans that
he aspired for . Technically ,
he has abandoned that dharmam due to his
incapacity . This point of view
clearly indicates that
the chEtanan
can not abndon those dharmAs , which
he can do and he must
perform
them .Explained in another way , the
act of Prapatthi does not
expect
the help of any dharmams beyond its
five angams.Therefore ,
all the other dharmAs are not angams
of Prapatthi and can be abandoned .
Included in this view is the
assumption that the dharmAs related to
Aasramam and VarNam (
VarNAsrama dharmams) have to be observed for
the pleasure of the Lord .
There is also no
injunction against doing things
that please the Lord
without expecting any
Phalan for oneself .
92.Which is the UpAyam : Prapatthi
or Emperumaan ?
(Question) : Charama slOkam commands
: " Perform Prapatthi "
and implies that Prapatthi is the
UpAyam . Other vachanams state
that EmperumAn is the UpAyam .There
is doubt here about which one is
the correct UpAyam .
( Answer ) : EmperumAn is
SiddhOpAyam , the UpAyam that exists
eternally and not invented by anyone
. SaadhyOpAyam is the upAyam
performed by a chEthanan
( Prapatthi) . Both are
UpAyams . Among the two ,
SiddhOpAyam
is mukhyam . The role of
Prapatthi ends when the Lord's anger
over trespasses is quenched by the act of Prapathti. The
most merciful
Lord accepts the burden of
chEtanams' protection and is siddhOpAyam.
Hence , EmperumAn is the most
significant upAyam and not the act of
Prapatthi .
93. Doubts about Prapatthi
being the direct cause for Moksham :
(Question)
: In Charama
slOkam , Prapatthi is indicated as an angam
of Bhakthi yOgam . For the
successful execution of Bhakthi yOgam ,
it is assumed that the
performance of Prapatthi as an angam of
Bhakthi yOgam will remove all
sins and permit rapid success in
gaining Moksham . There are
others who state that Prapatthi does not
need any other upAyam
and can lead to Moksham directly . Which
position is right
?
(Answer) : The Prapatthi
referred to in Bhakthi yOgam is anga Prapatthi
and is practised when the
saadhakan uses Prapatthi to overcome
obstacles that he faces to
progress in bhakthi yOgam . On the other hand ,
any one who performs
Prapatthi with Moksham as a sole goal gains
Moksha Phalan .This type of
Prapatthi is described as Svatantra Prapatthi.
This type of Prapatthi is
explained in the Gadhyams . There is no conflict
in accepting Prapatthi as a
direct means to Moksham .
94. (Question): Is Prapatthi
just PrAyscchittham for Paapams ?
If so how can it
compare favorably with Bhakthi yOgam ,
which is
the direct cause
for Moksham ?
( Answer ) :There is no
virOdham in recognizing Prapatthi
Yogam as a direct cause for
Moksham just as Bhakthi yOgam .
Both bhakthi yogam and
Prapatthi yogam remove all paapams
and qualify us for the
limitless grace of the Lord and His
ParipoorNa anubhavam , which
is Moksham .
95. Doubts about the
assurance that the Lord will free the Prapannan
from every kind of sin :
( Question) : Sruthi , Brahma
Soothrams , Sri BhAshyam state that
the sins committed after
Prapatthi do not stick to one as long as
they arose from unconscious
acts . While this is so , Charama slOkam
says : " Sarva PaapEbhyO
MokshayishyAmi ". How can we accept
this , when Sruthis do
not include sins acquired consciously after
Prapatthi
?
(Answer)
: There is no virodham between the two
statements (Sruthi
and Smruthi) . Yes , both
agree that the sins acquired unconsciously
do not stick and hence there
is no punishment . The power of Prapatthi
ends in recieving laghu (
light ) daNDanai ( Punishment ) for paapams
acquired deliberately . What
the Charama slOkam states in a condensed
manner is that I will release
you from the effects of all kinds of sins
including those acquired
consciously and you will recieve a lighter
punishment for
them because of your special status as Prapannan .
I will release you
from the severe punishments that a non-prapannan
would recieve . Further ,
when a Prapannan regrets over his sins
( acquired deliberately ) and
performs the appropriate PrAyascchittham
( Expiatory act ) , those
paapams will also be destroyed .
96. Question about release
from Sarva Paapams: Charama slOkam
says that a Prapannan is
released from all Paapams as a result of
Prapatthi anushtAnam . If
that were to be so , should not the Prapannan
gain moksham right away since
all his Punyams and Paapams (KarmAs)
have been dispensed with
?
(Answer): Charama slOkam says
: " Sarva PaapEbhyO MokshayishyAmi ,
Maa Sucha:". That can be
read as sakala karmaas creating all the sorrows are
destroyed and Moksham should
be immediate . It is not so . First of all not every one
wants to have
instant Moksham after Prapatthi . The karmAs
responsible
for the existence of dEham (
sareeram) remain .The phalans of such karmaas are enjoyed in this life and
then Moksham comes into effect . Sareeram and
Indhriyams stay as a result
of residual karmaas responsible for their
continued existence until the
appropriate time of dissolution of them
thru their anubhavams right
on this earth .
97. Question: It has been
stated that those karmAs beginning to yield
Phalans permits the
continuation of holding on to sareeram after
Prapatthi . Incase of Bhakthi
yOgam , it is accepted that moksham
is realized only after all
karmAs are dissolved . How come in the case of
Prapannan , Moksham is
realized before the entire disolution of KarmAs
in contrast to the experience
of Bhakthi yOgam ?
(Answer) : In case of
Prapannan , the karmAs yielding phalans have to be
split into two categories and
understood : (1) The KarmAs that yield
sareeram after this birth and
bring one back to this Karma bhUmi
(2) Those karmAs yielding
phalan as long as this body exists .
Prapatthi was performed with
the prayer to eliminate the cycles of
Births and deaths and
repeated garbha Vaasam .When that Prapatthi
is successful , one
gains Moksham at the end of this birth and does
not return here ever .
The Prapannan, who intensely longed to gain
Moksham at the end of his
prapatthi ( Aartha Prapannan) can be
granted Moksham instantly
after Prapatthi . Thus the depth of
hatred against SamsAric
existence defines the duration of existence
on this earth with the
body and enjoy Moksha sukham after Prapatthi .
98. (Question) : EmperumAn is
said to be so pleased with the Prapatthi
performed by the jeevan that
He destroys all the karmAs . If that were to
be so , how can we reconcile
with the situation that one experiences all
kinds of sufferings in
this embodied state ?
(Answer ) : Prapannan did not
perform prapatthi in anger to get rid of
the bodily ills. Therefore
that portion of the KarmAs did not go away.
The reoccurence of these
bodily ills makes the chEtanam not forget
about the ills of samsAram .
These sufferings are sikshai for
conscious trespasses after
Prapatthi that has to be meted out even if
they are light for a
Prapannan . All these sufferings are for
the betterment
of the Prapannan
in his remaining life on this earth .
99.( Question) : Even if the
Lord means well , why does not the Dhruptha
Prapannan does not have
freedom from these bodily sufferings like
the Muktha Jeevan
?
(Answer) : One should not
perform Prapatthi for Moksham in this manner.
A dhruptha Prapannan wants to
gain Moksham at the end of this embodied
life on earth . Implicit
in this wish is to enjoy the sukhams and not the dukkhams .
Sukham can only be
appreciated in the context of dukkham . If there is no
hunger and thirst , one does
not need food and water. Therefore , acceptance
of staying here until
the end of the present life results in acceptance of some
dukkham as well. One can
perform prapatthi for removal of bodily sufferings
and
can be cured .Even
this will happen only when that Prapatthi is done
without
blemishes in the
angams of Prapatthi .
100. ( Question) : Charama
slOkam has the upadEsam : "Maa Sucha: " .
( Do not grieve ) . How
can we relate this upadEsam to a Prapannan?
He has already surrendered
all his bharams( burdens) to the Lord and
lives in a state of freedom
from grief ( nirbharam , nirbhayam) . If he
grieves over some thing ,
does not it lead to deficiencies in his nishtai ?
It is said that even great
ones like Sage VyAsa experienced grief some times .
Therefore how can one in the
embodied state cast away all sorrows ?
(Answer) : The sorrows to be
abandoned meant by "Maa Sucha: "
are different
from typical worldly sorrows . For instance , the sorrow of
a chEtanan about his
insufficency and unfitness to do Bhakthi yOgam
to gain Moksham is one type
of sorrow. Another kind of sorrow is
about the worry whether he
has to do some thing else to retain the boon
of Moksham after the
performance of Prapatthi . These are the kinds of
worries and doubts that the
Lord wants the Prapannan to foget about .
Sri NigamAntha Mahaa Desikan
ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,
Oppiliappan Koil
VaradAchAri Sadagopan
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
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