65.'sarvam paravasam duhkham sEvA shvavrtthih AkhyAthA'
ithyAdhyukthaprakArENa parasEvA rupasya kainkaryasya kaTHam
purushArTHathvam?
It is said (in Manusmrthi-4-6,4-9)
that to serve others brings sorrow and
service is mentioned as dog's life. Hence how can the state of being a
servant can be a purushArTHa?
Even though a released soul attains
bliss by enjoying the presence of the Lord, he is also said to be doing the
kainkarya of the Lord. How can it be mentioned as a purushArTha, the goal to be
achieved?
Desika says that this is the argument
of those who do not understand what is
purushArTha.
AthmAbhimAnAnuguNa
purushArTha vyavasTHithEh
kimkarathvaparijnAnAth
kainkaryam abhinandhyathE
The end sought depends
on the attribute of the inividual.To the
one who has a proper understanding of service it brings
joy.
Starting from the world
of Brahma the notion of happiness is relative, according to one's own attitude.
To those who are aware of their dependence and seshathva to the Lord the service
to HIm gives happiness. The comparison of service to a dog's life is with
reference to serving others who do not desrve it and does not include the
service to Acharya and the Lord. Serving one's parents and elders is accepted by
the dharmasasthra.It is mentioned in Vishnuthatthva 'VichithrA
dhEhasampatthih eesvarAya nivEdhithum; poorvamEva krthA brahman
hasthapAdhAdhisamyutha,' which means that we have been endowed with hands
and feet and other limbs only to be used in the service of the
Lord.
66. Evam asEvya
sEvAyah nivarthaneeyathvE 'yOgakshEmArTham eesvaram abhigacchEth,'
ithyAdhyuktham prbhooNAm abhigamanam kaTHam vA
upapadhyathE?
When it is said that the service to
others except to the Lord is to be avoided, how can the statement 'one
should approach the king for the well being,' be
appropriate?
It is said in Gouthama dharmasuthra
that one should approach the king for getting wealth and to protect it.How can
this be true when only serice should be to the Lord, is the
question.
Desika says,
prabhooNAm
bhADHashAnthyarTHam
kvachith jnAnam
viDheeyathE
vinA thEnApi
kEshAmchith
vrtthih bhAgyavathAm
bhavEth
The people like a king have to be
approached for protection from trouble but the fortunate ones are able to lead
their lives without them.
The patronage of powerful personages
like kings is needed only for those who want to acquire worldly things and to
protect them. The parmaikAnthis who are endowed with sathva can live in places
inhabited by saintly souls if they can, and this is the lot of a fortunate
few.
67.Evam
vidhyamAnadhasAyam bhagavthkainkaryasya purushArThathvE api mOkshAvasThAyAm
kvachith anubhavah purushArTham ithyabhiDHeeyathE kvachith cha thathkainkaryam;
Evam cha parasparaviruddhayOh vAkyayOh kaTHam
avirODHah?
While in samsara the
service to the Lord may be the purushArTHa but in the state of release,
according to some pramAna the purushArTha consists in enjoying the presence of
the Lord while in other pramANas it is said that doing kainkarya to the Lord is
the purushArTha in moksha. How can these two statements be
reconciled?
Desika says that the
two, namely kainkarya and the anubhava
go together.
pramANAth
purushArTHathvam jnAnakainkaryayOh dhvayOh
Ekasyaikathra
kaThanAthitharasyOpalakshaNam
The purushArThathva is common to both
kainakarya, the service to the Lord
and anubhava, enjoyment of His presence, according to the pramANas.When
one is mentioned the other is understood.
'sAyujyam prathipannA yE theevrabhakthAh
thapasvinah
kimkarA mama thE
nithyam bhavanthi nirupadhravAh' (Paramasamhitha-30-94)
The meaning of the verse is that those
who do bhakthi or prapatthi earnestly will attain sAyujaya and will be doing
service to the Lord and will never revert back to samsara. The same idea is
expressed by Ramanuja in saranAgathi gadhya by 'bhagavadhnubhavajanitha anavaDhika athisayapreethikArithA
asEshAvasthOchitha asEshasEshatha ekarathirupa nithyakinkaro
bhavAni.'
The meaning is as
follows:
Ramanuja in his saranagathigadhya prays that he will be the eternal
servant to the Lord on attaining Him and the love for service is created by the
wonderful and unlimited love on experiencong the joy of the presence of the
Lord.
68.Nanu Evamapi
vishNulokAdhikam prApthAnAm ----kAlavisEshanirdhEsam sathyapi ----bhagavantham prApthanAm kaTham
apunarAvrtthih srooyathE?
For those who reach the world of the
Lord Vishnu, the stay there is restricted, though unimaginably long. But why is it that on attaining the Lord there is said
to be no return?
The reference here is to the words of
the Lord in the Gita, 'mAmupEthya thu kounthEya punarjanma na
vidhyathE,(BG.8-16)
on reaching Me there is no rebirth.'
Desika distinguishes between
Vishnuloka and parampadha(vaikunta).
sambhavEth
punarAvrtthih vishnulOkAdhivAsinAm
nithyam
chApunarAvrtthih vaikunTE thu nigadhyathE
Jivas reaching all the
lokas including that of Vishnu are liable to return to earth when their punya is
exhausted. But on attaiining Vakunta there is no
return.
Here the vishnuloka
means the realm of the trinities and does not indicate that of the Lord. The
abode of the Olrd narayana is the paramapadha or
vaikunta.
69.Evam
punarAvrtthyabhAve sathi mukthAnam 'imAn lOKAnkAmannee
kAmarupyanusancharan' ithi ihalOka
sanchAravachanam nOpapadhyathE
In the event of non-return for those
who attain release, the statement that the released soul moves about in all the
worlds as he wishes taking the form he wishes will not be
aooropriate.
In Taiitiriya upanishad it is said
that the realised soul leaving this body attain the blissful self and afterwards
gets the power to move about in the worlds as he wishes in the form he wishes
doing sAmagana.'asmAth lOkAth prEthya----Etham
Ananadhamayam AthmAnam upasankramayya;imAn lOkAn kAmAnnee kAmarupee
anusancharan;EthathsAmagAyannAsthE.'(Taitt.Brgu.10-5)
There is nothing incongruous in this,
says Desika,
mukthasya
punarAvrtthih vAryathE karmasambhavA
na thu vArya thathO
vishNOh anusancharaNAdhikam
The return to samsara alone is denied
and not the coming to the earth by their own will like the Lord does on His
incarnations.
The free movement to whereever they
want, is granted for the released souls as that for the eternal souls like
Garuda and Anantha but while this is natural for the latter it is only happens
after release for the former.
70.Evam tharhi
eesvaraparathanthrathayA sarvathra varthamAnasya mukthasya 'svAthanthryam
athulam prApya thEnaiva saha mOdhathe,' ithyAdhi svaccahandhavihAravachanam
nirvishayam Eva syAth
When the individual soul is always
under the control of the Lord how can he be said to act as he likes in the state of
release as per the declaration by the sruthi that he attains equal status of
independence as the Lord and is happy with Him?
Desika
says,
asvathanthrasya
mukthasya mukthou svAthanthryamuchyathE
bhOgakainkaryayOh
shakthya svathanthrEsvaraniGhnaya
The independence for the released soul
who is always dependent on the Lord means that in the state of release he has
the freedom to enjoy what he wants and serve the Lord as He
likes.
This is because the Lord never
curtails the wishes of the released soul and he has all his wishes fulfilled
regarding his enjoyment of the presence of the Lord and in doing His kainkarya, alike
the eternal souls, for whom however this freedom is
eternal.
.
May god bless you,
Dr.
Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.
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