Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: Dear Mukunda and devotees, Dear VEnkata KrSNan of Tiru AllikENi,has the unique majestic look that other DD PerumALs don't possess! Whenever I look at Him,i only think of His revealing the cosmic form to Arjuna. Let me share a few thoughts with you all. Vedic understanding of bhakti/devotion is interpreted in terms of the Gita's category of bhaktiyOgA(GitabhASyA). BhaktiyOgA,as explained in RAmAnujA's GitabhASyA and SribhASyA,primarily involves loving meditation on the Lord and His qualities as described in the upanisads. It's to be accompanied by the rites and sacrifices as specified in the sAstrAs according to one's own varNa and AsramA. KarmayOga and jnyAnayOga are anicillaries to bhaktiyOgA. But these can't lead to salvation without culminating in bhakti and hence they are not separate means. That is,bhaktiyOgA demands the performance of sacrifices,meditation,worship etc culminating in the "antimasmrti" or the final remembrance of the Lord at the end of one's life. Any mistakes/omissions along the way for which proper atonement/prAyascit is not performed,will delay the mOksA until the next life time when bhaktiyOga's requirements can be fulfilled and bhaktiyOgA is limited to males of twice-born castes. Prapatti/saraNagati(same for RAmAnujA and pUrvAchAryAs),a simple surrender to the Lord as one's upAya for mOksA,is documented in the hymns of AzhwArs,the epics,purANAs,pAncharAtrAs and is open to all regardless of birth,learning or ability(RAmAnujA quotes pAncharAtrA Agamas in SribhASyA and directly defends their validity and authority). To qualify for prapatti,one neeed only be "akincana" and "ananyagati"- helpless and with no other refuge. Prapatti is a one-time performance that achieves its result at the end of this very life time. When one surrenders to the Lord,He Himself takes the place of all the auxiliary activities and becomes the upAya for salvation(RAmAnujA gives two interpretation to carama slOka). Hence this upAya is called nirapEksOpAya,the upAya which needs nothing else and it is also siddhOpAya,an accomplished upAya. According to pAncarAtrA,once one has surrendered himself to the Lord for his salvation,engaging in any other upAyAs for salvation is forbidden. This is beautifully illustrated through the incidences namely "brahmAstra","rAvaNA" and "dasaratha" in RAmAyaNA;(i)the demons bound hanumAn with supremely powerful brahmAstra weapon but doubting its efficacy,they tied him further with a jute cord. So brahmAstra slipped of and hanumAn escaped (ii) when RAmA and rAvaNA were engaged in combat,rAvaNA wanted to withdraw but RAmA would not let him go as rAvaNA still had bow in his hand. But the moment rAvaNA dropped his bow,RAmA granted him permission to leave (iii)dasarathA lost the fortune to live with RAmA,Eternal dharma,by clinging to the dharmA of truthfulness which is only a semblance of dharmA. Same is true with bhISmA and karNA. On the other hand,vibhISaNA sought His feet as the soul refuge and nothing else. This clearly shows that clinging to false upAyAs actually impedes with the attainment of God. RAmAnujA himself taught and practised an alternative spiritual path to the bhaktiyOgA that he saw as central to vEdAntA:saraNAgati/prapatti.In saraNAgati gaDyam,RAmAnujA performs his own solemn act of surrender and follow temple practice byfirst approaching the Goddess Sri,gaining her blessing and then surrendering to the Lord. He uses arjunA's words in the Gita,in reuqesting the Lord for forgiveness and gAndhAri's words(in another passage in the mahAbhAratA)in addressing the Lord as his "father,mother,friend,teacher,wealth,knowlege",in short,as his "all". The Lord's promises to his devotees in various scriptural passages are also brought into the conversation. In Sriranga gaDyam,RAmAnujA admits that he doesn't deserve the privilege of service that he has requested since he is unable to practise bhaktiyOgA and possesses no other good quality. Therefore he takes refuge at NArAyaNA's lotus feet. Bhakti,practiced as a sAdhanA proceeds in three stages as mentioned in RAmAnujA's saraNAgati gaDya (1)parabhakti-desire to realize the Lord (2)parajnyAna-realization of the Lord (3) paramabhakti-love arising from the joy of realization. When prapatti is done independently as sAdhanA,takes the place of parabhakti. You see only prapatti in AzhwArs hymns because the Lord Himself out of His nirhetuka krpa,provided the first two. Direct Reference to BG in NDP NammAzhwAr's TiruvAymoshi 7-5-9(3389)"kaRpAr" mAyamaRibavar mAyavarkALanRiyAvarO?* dAyamseRumorunURRuvarmanga OraivarkkAy* dEsamaRiyaOrsArathyAychchenRu sEnaiyai nAsamseithittu* nadanthanalvArththaiaRinthumE nalvArththai-BG Kaliyan's Periya Tirumozhi 11-4-8(1939) "nilaiyidam" Lord KrSNA teaches in the Gita that one must abandon the idea that the self can do anything for its salvation. Concept of freewill is ruled out! HE is both the actor and the One worshipped through the action,the upAya and as well as upEya. HE Himself is the phala and we are mere instruments. Pardon all my errors/mistakes in this. We will see how MaNavALamAmnuigaL explains these things in the next mail. AzhwAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam sarvam KrSNArpaNam astu nappinnai sarva dharmAn parityajya mAmEkam saraNam vraja | aham tvA sarvapApEbhyO moksaiSyAmi mA suca: ||
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