You are here: SriPedia - Oppiliappan - Archives - Jan 2008

Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00128 Jan 2008

 
Jan 2008 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


NOTE: Readers having difficulty in reading the text
may need to change their encoding to UTF-8.  
--------------- 
srI:
SrI  upakAra  sangraham ? 44
--- 
adikAram ? 1
poorva upakAra paramparai
(The Foremost Series of Favours) 
---   
SECTION ? 5 (9)[continued]  
(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for
MOKSHAM)  
----- 
        After having had a glimpse of the Lord?s incarnation
as SrI rAma Who not only gave instructions on
different aspects of righteousness, we may now turn to
His another incarnation, SrI KrishNa, in order to
study the deep message conveyed by SwAmi Desikan in
this sub-section: 

(9) ?upadEsha - anuShtAnankaLAlE   dharma-
pravartthanam   paNNumthuvum;? 

        The Lord, as SrI KriashNa is well known for His
discourses especially, those given to Arjuna on the
battle-field of KurukshEtra and to Uddhava, His close
friend and disciple. These discourses are popularly
known as Bhagavadgita and Uddhavagita. 
        The BhagavadgIta of 700 simple and meaning full
slokas is regarded as a highly valuable scripture by
the entire world. It is a record of the Lord?s
delineation of karma-yoga, j~nAn, bhakti and prapatti.

        Our poorvAchArya, SrI YAmunAcArya, has composed a
work of verses bringing out the essence of the SrI
BhagavadgIta in beautiful but simple style. His
GItArtha-sangraha with 32 slokas is a masterpiece
which became the basis for SrI rAmAnuja to write an
exhaustive commentary, the GItAbhAshyam, on the
BhagavadgItA.  This work starts by giving the central
message of the scripture:
        ?svadharma-j~nAna vairAgya-sAdhyabhaktyEkgOcrah /
              nArAyaNa: param brahma gItAshAstrE
samIritah // ? (1)
(In the BhagavdgItA scripture, nArAyaNa is declared as
the Supreme Brahman. He is attainable by bhakti alone,
which is brought about by the observance of one?s own
dharma, by acquiring spiritual knowledge and through
detachment.)
        SrI YAmunAcArya, then in three slokas gives the gist
of every group of six chapters each. It is followed by
the slokas each giving the message of each of the
eighteen Chapters of the GItA. The later slokas
explains karma yoga, bhakti yoga and the j~nAna yoga
leading to exclusive service to the Lord. The AchArya
emphasizes that one should abandon any dependence on
any other means than Him (the Supreme Lord) for
salvation and concludes: ?Such a person finds is
happiness in the continuous and exclusive service of
the Lord. He will attain His realm. This GItA-shastra
is meant mainly for such a devotee.? 
        The Lord advises people through the medium of Arjuna
to do their assigned duties  with a detached mind. He
says:
?karmaNyEvAdhikAraste  mA  phalEshu kadAcana  /
 mA karmaphalhEtuurbhooh mA tE  sangOstvakarmaNi //? 
(Gita, 2-47)

(You have the right only to work and not to the
fruits. Do not get impelled by the fruits of work. Do
not remain inactive.)
        The Lord also advocated that one should be free from
desire and anger which lead to destruction of that
person who does not do so. He explained how to develop
bhakti in this verse:
?manmanA bhava madbhaktO  madyAjee  mAm  namaskuru /
mAmEvaiShyasi  yuktvaivam AtmAnam matparAyaNah // ? 
(Gita, 9-4)

(Focus your mind on Me. Be My devotee. Worship Me. Bow
down to Me. Keeping your mind in this manner and
regarding Me as the supreme goal, you will attain Me.)
        On prapatti, the Lord gave this final advice:
?sarvadharmAnparityajya mAmaikam sharaNam vraja /
 aham tvA sarvapApEbhyO mOkShayiShyAmi mA sucah //?
(GItA, 18-66)

(Being unable to carry out all your dharmas, you
should surrender to Me alone. I will release you from
all sins. Don?t grieve.) 
        Here, our poorvacharyas have commented that, in case
we are unable to practice karma yoga, j~nAn yoga or
bhakti yoga, we should surrender at the feet of the
Lord for liberation from this materialistic life. 
        Apart from giving instructions, the Lord, as SrI
KriShNa, also showed to the world that He practiced
dharmic duties as a human being. Once the divine sage,
nArada, was eager to see how the Lord lived with His
sixteen thousand wives in separate houses all at once
in DwArakA. In the city, there was a splendid row of
palaces of Lord KriShNa, all had been constructed by
the celestial architect, VishvakarmA. In the first
palace, Sage nArada witnessed SrI KriShNa as seated
with His Consort, RukmiNI who was serving Him. On
seeing the sage, SrI KriShNa rose from His seat and
bowed low with His head at the feet of the sage with
joined palms and offered His seat to him. SrI KriShNa,
Who is the supreme Teacher of the world, washed the
feet of nArada and put the water on His head. Then He
worshipped the celestial sage, according to the
prescribed rules. 
        In another palace, nArada saw SrI KriShNa engaged in
pouring oblations in the sacrificial fire. The Lord
was doing the five-fold daily sacrifices as prescribed
in the scripture. 
        At one place, the sage saw Him seated and meditating
on the Supreme Person beyond Prakriti. At another
place, he saw the Lord doing service to the elders by
offering them the desired objects of enjoyment and
worship. 
        After witnessing SrI KriShNa following the ways of a
human being, nArada took leave of Him, when the Lord
told the sage:
?Brahman dharmasya vakttAham kartA tadanumOditA /
 tacchikShayamllOkam imamAsthitah putra mA khidah //?
                                                      
               (SrImad BhAgavata, 10-69-40)

(Oh sage, I am not only a teacher of Dharma, but I
practice it Myself. I follow the path of dharma in
order to teach the world by My example. )

        Thus, SwAmi Desikan has shown how the Lord does
favour to the world not only teaching dharma, but also
through practicing it.


(To continue)
dAsan
Anbil S.SrInivAsan
------------  
       
            




      
____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs


Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
http://www.sadagopan.org  
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:Oppiliappan-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    mailto:Oppiliappan-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list