saranagati deepika

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Slokam 56
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Today , adiyEn will cover the Fifty Sixth slOkam 
of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan
describes his helpless state and begs the Lord of 
ThirutthaNkA to fulfill his desire to experience
Moksha Sukham as a Prapannan .He acknowledges his
recognition of the seven blemishes associated 
with the enjoyment of the SvargAnuhavam as well as
kaivalyAnubhavam and begs to be rescued from these 
temptations and begs for true MokshAnanadham :

alpa-asTirai: asukhajai: asukhAvasAnai:
dukkhAnvithai: anuchithai:abhimAna-moolai:
prathyak parAg anubhavai: parigUrNitham mAm
Thvayi-yEva NaaTa charitArTaya nirvivikshum 

SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 56

Meaning: 
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Oh ViLakkoLi PerumAnE! adiyEn's mind has been swirling over 
the thoughts of enjoying the sukham of Svargam ( temporary
bhOgam of perishable pleasures)and the sukham of Kaivalyam 
(pure enjoyment of aathmA). adiyEn until now was torn between
these two choices since they looked attractive to pursue.
adiyEn's confusion is all over now. adiyEn has clearly
understood the insufficencies of Svarga and Kaivalya 
sukhams and recognize both have following seven dhOshams:
(1) These two sukhams are paltry and insignificant , when
compared to the adhbhutha sukham of enjoying You 
(2) They are not lasting (3)To enjoy them , there is
the need to goad the indhriyams and the body (4) at 
the end of enjoying these two sukhams , there is no
aanandham (5) during the course of their enjoyment ,
the worries about the births to be taken at the end
of the svarga and kaivalya anubhavams haunt the jeevan
and mar the enjoyment.There is therefore no tranquil
enjoyment of these two sukhams (6)These pleasures are
not inappropraite for the Jeevan's svaroopam , which is
all about deriving aanandham from enjoying You(Seshi)
as Seshan (7) Finally , disturbing thoughts arise during
the enjoyment of these sukhams in that it makes 
one conclude that one is enjoying these sukham for 
one's own sake.

These are the seven imperfections in enjoying
the Svarga and Kaivalya sukhams. In the case of 
Kaivalyam , one can concede that two of the seven
imperfections can be taken out (viz)., Kaivalya anubhavam 
does not have the admixture of Dukkham and is not caused by 
Dukkham. There are still five imperfections that still
cloud the Kaivalya anubhavam.Now that adiyEn fully understands
the pitfalls and consequences of these two types of "sukhams",
the intensity of my desire to enjoy ParipoorNa BrahmAnandham 
through Saayuya Moksham has grown tremendously. adiyEn
rejects Svarga Sukham and kaivalya Moksham of enjoying
the AathmA alone. Oh DhIpa PrakAsA ! Please bless adiyEn
with the true Moksha Sukham of performing nithya kaimkaryam
for You at SrI Vaikuntam as a Muktha Jeevan and spare me 
from the pits of Svaragam and kaivalyam! This is the only 
lasting sukham that adiyEN longs for .

Additional Comments 
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Indra"s lOkam is known as Svargam . He is the Lord
of this lOkam . His subjects are the DEvAs. They have
partaken nectar and are free of aging and disease .
Thet enjoy exquisite sukhams with celestail damsels 
and other Iswaryams . In to this world arrives a jeevan
because of the accumulated puNyams and spends some time 
partaking all the pleasures of Svargam . Once the Jeevan's
puNyams are spent , it returns to the samsAric world 
to work out its residual karmAs. Hence staying in Svargam is
siRRinbham and is insignificant (alpam ) compared to
the pErinbham of residence in SrI Vaikuntam from where
one never returns to the karma bhUmi to undergo repeated
cycles of births and deaths. 

The residence in Svargam is asTiram or impermanent.
When the jeevan thinks of what is awaiting at the end of
its stay in Svargam wearing the best of clothes ,jewelery 
and enjoying good food in the company of celestial women ,
it is frightened over the prospects and gets saddened
( asukhajai: asukha avasAnai: anubhavams). The jeevan forgets
that these svarga anubhavams rejected by AzhwArs as unfit 
and inappropriate (Indira lOkam AaLum acchuvai peRinum VENDEn ).
The pride and ego arising from such svargAnubhavams makes
the jeevan forgets its svaroopa Jn~Anam and deludes
the jeevan to think that it is enjoying these pleasures 
for its own sake. 

SvargAnubhavam is therefore Vaikunta VirOdhi. In his
SrI Sookthi known as VirOdha ParihAram , Swamy Desikan
points out that SrIman NaarAyaNan drives away these
Moksha virOdhis like Svarga anubhavam and Kaivalya anubhavam 
for those , who perform Prapatthi or pursue Bhakthi Yogam 
so that such fortunate ones can attain SrI Vaikuntam 
and enjoy true Moksha Sukham:

SrIman NaarAyaNa: SwAmi SaraNya: sarva-dEhinAm
bhUyAth nija-padha-prApthi VIRODHI VINIVAARAKA:

--VirOdha ParikAram : SlOkam 1

Kaivalyam is also Vaikunta PrApthi VirOdhi ( hindrance
to the parama purushArTam of attaining Saayujya Moksham).
What is this Kaivalyam? It is the direct vision of the true
nature of the Self ( aathma svaroopa saakshAthkAram ).
Kaivalya is the state of existence of the soul enjoying
the bliss of JivAthman.It is not considered as the true 
state of Moksham. It is considered as an inferior version
of Moksham because there is no Bhagavath sAkshAthkAram 
(BhagavAn realization ) here. In his ThiruvAimozhi 1.7.1,
Swamy NammazhwAr comes to this conclusion:

" It is a pity that the gracious Lord is worshipped 
constantly by those , who desire to overcome the dukkham of
repeated births and deaths and resort to Jn~Ana Yoga for
the purpose of attaiing the blissful experience of the soul
(Kaivalyam)".

Therefore Swamy NammAzhwAr instructs us not to seek 
Kaivalya but to seek the eternal aanandham of Moksham,
where the Muktha jeevan is engaged in nithya kaimkaryam
to the Lord at SrI Vaikuntam.This Kaivalyam or KevalaavasthA,
the individual Self becomes free from bondage , but does not
experience the bliss of the Lord as Parama Purushan.In kaivalyam ,
ParamAthma-SaakshAthkaram is missing and the focus is on
aathmAvalOkanam ;kaivalyam is considered the final stage in
Jn~Ana Yogam , which in turn is considered as an auxillary 
means to Bhakthi Yoga, which alone is the direct upAyam to 
Moksham just like prapatthi yOgam.

After dismissing both kaivalyam and SvargAnubhavam as 
alpam , asTiram , asukhajam ,asukha-avasAnam , dukkha-
anvitham ,anuchitham to one's svaroopam and abhimAna
moolam , Swamy Desikan states that he is no longer
tossed about by the desires for Svarga and kaivalya sukhams.
He says that the ever-lasting , woe-free sukham that 
he is seeking is the sukham of ParipoorNa BrahmAnandham
realized through Nithya kaimkaryam to the Dhivya dampathis
at their Supreme Abode of SrI Vaikunam. Swamy Desikan
prostrates before the Lord and asks Him to fulfill 
His desire to enjoy the true Sukham of Saayujya mOksaham
( Thvayi yEva nirvivikshum mAm charitArTaya).