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Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

Dear Devotees,

This example is important as it shows the nature of
sharanagati and nirhetuka krpa clearly.

Even though the rabbit had performed the act of
surrender, it did not bear fruit until mercy was
born in the heart of the hunter. This is a key
point in nirhetuka krpa. Our acharyas have not said
that we should not surrender to Him. In fact, such
surrender through an acharya is essential to being
a Srivaishnava. However, we cannot assume that 
moksha is automatic at this point (though due to 
Ramanuja sambandham, we can). Being a sarva 
svatantra, He can reject one who has surrendered,
if He so wills and no one can question Him. 
However it is His infinite mercy that allows Him 
to accept this feeble surrender and grant moksha
in return. Therefore, the bottomline is that, it
His nirhetuka krpa that is the means; not the act
of surrender.

The question that might follow is this. Isn't the
act of surrender a cause for the mercy to flow? On 
the surface it might appear to be the case. However, 
studying it, one realizes that there is no one-on-
one relationship here. For one act to be considered
a cause of another, the two should be close. In our
case, we have committed countless crimes and have
not performed a single worthy act in all our lives.

(adiyEn is reminded of a story here. An acharya was
discoursing and came to the point where he was 
describing the vedic statement that the Lord has
infinite guNas and doShas. We all know that He has
countless auspicious qualities (guNas), but how is
that one can say that He has countless deficiencies?
The acharya explained: His auspicious qualities
cannot be counted because they are infinite. His
deficiencies cannot be counted because there are
none - we can start counting only if there is at
least one; when there are none, how can we count?
At this point, a listener stood up and said that
his guNas and doShas too could not be counted, 
because he had no good qualities and infinite 
doShas. Therefore, he has achieved equivalence with
the Lord :-) ).

Then, we perform a single act of surrender and 
expect that in return He give us the grandest favor
of all. Where is the comparison? It is like taking
the first step in a staircase of a zillion steps; 
He then carries us through the remaining steps. 
Once we reach the top, we claim that it is out first
step that brought us to the top! Since the two are 
not comparable, how can we say that it is our act 
and not His mercy?

We could claim that we will be performing service
to Him, so He is getting something out of it. But
what does He lack that He needs from us? Andal 
says that all we can do is "kuRREval".

We can say that He is gaining our soul. But then He
already owns it. So how do we demand something from
Him for returning something which belonged to Him in
the first place. Azhvar says "unakku Or kaimmARu nAn
onRilEn, enadhu Aviyum unathE".

It is through these beautiful little examples and 
episodes that our acharyas explain to us the great
wealth that is our sampradhayam.

Azhvar Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Sharanam

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan


--- vaidhehi_nc <nappinnai_nc@xxxx> wrote:
> Sri:
> Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:
> 
> Dear devotees,
> Sometime back we had lot of discussion on
> nirhEthuka and 
> sahEthuka krpa from AzhvArs,human and the Lord's
> perspective:-) This 
> example of Bhattar is a clear indication that even if one
> does 
> sharaNAgathi without even knowing "what it is",the Lord
> (&sharaNAgathi) does wonders for the jIvAtmA. Isn't this
> example 
> alone a pramANa for sharaNAgathi? If the mere hunter
> shows 
> sharaNAgatha rakshathvam to the mother rabbit(which was
> not 
> taught "sarva DharmAn...mA shuca:") which sought
> protection,how much 
> the omnipotent,omniscient Lord will show towards His
> subjects? Thanks 
> to TCA Venkatesan for citing this great example.
> 
> AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam
> NC Nappinnai
> 
> 
> 
> 


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