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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00014 Mar 2004

 
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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha



In the previous posting we saw that the soul remains inside our body but 
doesn't get affected with all the changes that happen to the body. One doubt 
may arise in our minds: We cook food in a vessel. The vessel outside gets 
heated and cooks the rice inside. So we find that the changes that occurs to 
the outside vessel does affect the rice inside. Then how is it that the soul 
inside does not get affected? Sure the argument is correct. But consider the 
case of a stone, which is mixed along with the rice. Does that also get cooked 
like the rice? No it remains without any change. So we see that there are 
objects that remain without any change also due to the changes in the outside 
vessel. Similarly the soul who is a jnana-svaroopan (personification of 
knowledge) does not get affected due to the changes in the body that is made of 
the panchabhoodhas (land, water, fire, air and sky). 



(erappadarkE ennAdhu) Earlier azhvar talked about the shatbhAva vikAram, the 
six types of changes that happen to the body where the last change which 
happens is the death pertaining to the body. But here "erappadarkE" refers to 
the death of the soul. That is kaivalyam. But it was seen all along that the 
soul doesn't undergo any change? Then how can it die? The soul doesn't die like 
the body that falls down lifeless. But due to the separation from the paramatma 
who is the saviour/master (Athmabhoothan) and enjoying once own soul in the 
kaivalyam it is considered to be a form of death, svaroopahAni. Where is this 
kaivalyam and does the soul have a possibility to return back and reach the 
actual moksha etc are debatable topics not pertaining to our subject now. We 
will just see the meaning as per the commentary of swami periya vAchAn pillai 
and geethAbhAshyam of swamy emperumAnAr. So here 'erappadarkE' refers to 
kaivalyam and 'ennAdhu' indicates that it is not the lord's wish to put us into 
that ditch instead he always wishes that we go and join him in the nithya 
Ananda anubhavam of the nithya vibhoothi like the other nithya sooris.



Where is the proof that emperuman is against us reaching the kaivalyam and 
doing athmAnubhavam? Let us track it from bhagavan's words,



"jarAmarana mOkshAya mAmAsrithya yadhanthi yE I

thE brahma tadhvidhu: krisnamadyAthmam karma chAkilam II"



[Those who try to get away from the six types of changes like old age, death 
etc of the body and reach the kaivalya moksha for athmAnubhavam away from this 
prakruthi sambhandam, they should fully know about the brahmam, adyAthmam and 
karmam.]



The above sloka clearly shows that there is something beyond the kaivalya 
moksha that a kaivalyArthi should know. So it cannot be the ultimate moksha. 
Since a kaivalyArthi forgets perumal and wants to enjoy his athma alone it is 
stealing of emperuman's property (pirar nan porul, 'chOrEna AthmapahArinam'). 
Atleast for an IshwaryArthi there is a chance to correct himself and attain 
emperuman's thiruvadi but for a person who has attained kaivalyam there is no 
way back and hence it is like athma nAsam. But will that emperuman who has so 
much krupai on us leave us like that? His sankalpam is not to leave us die 
('erappadarkE ennAdhu'). 



Here it has to be noted that the athmAnubhavam talked about by bhagavan in the 
first six chapters has no connection with this kaivalya moksha. In the first 
shatkam of bhagavat geetha emperuman talks about the karma yoga done along with 
jnana that leads to chiththa shuddi further leading to knowledge about the 
athma, which gives one an in-depth understanding of the athma (Athma 
sAkshAtkAram). This is totally different from the AthmAnubhavam, which a 
kaivalyArthi wants to attain. So the first stage of learning is the tattvatraya 
vibhAgam (existence of three permanant tattvas, chit, achit and Ishwaran). Then 
the changes that happen to the body (achit) and the unchanged nature of the 
soul has to be realized then finally the knowledge about the Ishwaran who is 
our sEshi (master) has to be obtained that will lead us to surrender with deep 
love towards the supreme lord (Jnanam kanindha bhakthi) and attain nithya 
mukthi. 



Most of us get mixed up with the nature of the body and the soul and 
concentrate on taking care of the body forgetting the soul. This is the first 
stage (IshvaryArthi). The second category is those who have understood that the 
body is temporary and this leela vibhoothi is filled with sorrow and hence 
wants to get rid of this cycle of life and death and hence he wishes for a 
permanent joy but he lacks to understand the relation of the soul with bhagavan 
and hence wants to attain kaivalyam (kaivalyArthi). This is like a person 
wanting to forget his problems getting addicted to drinking that again doesn't 
give him a permanent solution but further worsens his problems. The 
kaivalyArthi fails to understand that emperuman can get him out of these 
samsAric worries and grant him the nithya moksha where he can enjoy emperuman 
along with the nithya sooris permanently. The final category is the 
jnAni/mumukshu, who understands about the nature of all the three tattvas and 
hence wants to attain the divine feet of emperuman. The different types of 
bhakthas have been stated by bhagavan as,



"chaturvidhA bhajanthE mAm janAs sukrithinOrjuna I

ArthO jignyAsu arthArthi jnAni cha bharatharishabha II" (7-16)



After telling about the kaivalyArthi, geethAcharyan proceeds to do upadesam 
(advice) to arjuna about the bhakthi yoga. The knowledge about the third tattva 
Ishvaran leads us to bhakthi towards him. How will bhakthi develop in our 
minds? We will see in the next posting.



(To be continued)



Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam



Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan



































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