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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00225 Jan 2008

 
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--------- 
srI:
SrI  upakAra  sangraham ? 56
--- 
adikAram ? 1
poorva upakAra paramparai
(The Foremost Series of Favours) 
---   
SECTION ? 5 (13)  
(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for
MOKSHAM)  
-----   

        In the last sub-section, SwAmi Desikan showed us how
the Lord does a favour by way of refining the virtuous
souls to enable them to give up hatred and acquire
friendly attitude.  After such refinement, what is the
next favour the Lord does to such jIvas is indicated
by SwAmi Desikan in this sub-section: 

(13) ?avishrAntamanAlambham?, ?atakarakarAgrAhyam?,
?tadEbhiralamartyartam?, mahatA puNyapuNyEna?,
?AcArya: plAvitA tasya? EvamAdikaLAna sAttvika
sambhAShaNattai uNdAkkinatuvum; 

        The jIva, after refinement by giving up negative
qualities like anger, hatred etc. and acquiring a
friendly attitude towards all others, further proceeds
by involving himself in dialogues on virtuous topics.
This is yet another favour conferred by the Lord, says
SwAmi Desikan. In support, he quotes from various
scriptures. We shall see them one by one.

1)  ?avishrAntam anAlambham apAthEyam adEsikam /
       tamah  kAntAram adhvAnam katham EkO gamiShyasi?
// 
                                                      
                                   (Mahabharata,
ShAnti Parva, 337-34)

This is part of an advice given by Sage nArada to
Shukha about the nature of the mundane world and the
means for mOkSha, liberation. In this verse, nArada
asks Shukha, ?There is no place to rest; there is no
support; nor food for survival; there is none to
guide; there is thick darkness only all over; this
appears to be a hellish path; how will you go alone??
        This quote describes the miserable world one is
living in, and thereby indicating that it has to be
transcended by him who has developed sAttvika nature. 

2)  ?ataskaragrAhyam?   -- (The virtues developed by
the sAttvika) cannot be robbed by a thief.  That is,
unlike the material wealth which is likely to be
robbed by a dacoit, the sAttvika cannot be deprived of
his wealth of virtues.  [The source of this quote is
not known.)

3) ?tadEbhiralamartyartham druShtArambhOkti-vistaraih
/ 
      avidhyAntargatairyatnah karttavyastAta shObhana
//?       (VishNuapurANa, 1-19-39)

        This is the advice given by SrI PrahlAta to his demon
father, HiraNya. He says, ?Father! Enough of your
advice about this world?s material benefits which are
based on ignorance and nothing to do with the study of
spiritual scriptures. You must take interest in the
Vedanta which will give the highest and auspicious
benefits to one.?

        This quotation has been mentioned by SwAmi Desikan to
show how one should reject the attempts even by the
parents to halt our progress towards spirituality with
a firm resolve. SrI PrahlAta was not carried away by
the parental advice based on wrong ideas just because
it was his own father who gave him such advice. One,
who has even a small discriminative knowledge about
the Self and the physical body, will not go after
promoting materialistic pleasure. Sri PrahlAta who was
aware of the Ultimate Reality, that is, SrIman
nArAyaNa did not allow himself to be coerced even by
his father.

4)       ?mahatA puNya-paNyEna  kreetEyam  kAynaustvayA /
   prAptum dukhOddhEah pAram tvara yAvanna bhidyatE
//?                 (varAha PuraNa)

(Hurry up to go across this ocean of misery before the
destruction of this boat of the physical body which
you obtained at a great price of virtuous deeds [done
in your previous births]).

        This quotation has been mentioned by SwAmi Desikan to
emphasize on two points. One is that, it is very rare
for a soul to get a human body as it is the result of
a lot of good deeds in the previous births. And the
other point is that this human body is not permanent
and any moment it will disintegrate and become
useless. Hence the human being should without the
waste of time adopt the spiritual path so that he will
cross this miserable ocean of samsAra. 
        
Here, we must recall what SrI nammAzhvAr advised us:

 ?minnin milaiyila mannuyir AkkaikaL
 ennumidattu iRai unnumin neerE?                      
  (TiruvAimozhi, 1-2-2)

(The bodies in which are housed Atmas are momentary
just as the lightning. Knowing this, you should think
a little.) 

        SrI nammAzhvAr advises us to stop for a while to
reflect a little within, as our physical body is not
going to last long. Its life time is just as short as
the lightning that occurs in the cloudy sky. The souls
have taken residence in these physical bodies to
experience the material pleasures. But, these bodies
can collapse at any moment, as these are composed of
five elements, namely, earth, water, fire, air and
space. These have been provided to us in return of
some good deed done by us in our previous births. The
AzhvAr advises us to make use of this body before late
for attaining the spiritual knowledge and for taking
steps to avoid any more births in this world. 

        The AzhvAr has already spoken what should be done by
us in the previous verse because of his anxiety to
convey the message at the earliest as it is likely we
may not even survive even to listen to his second
verse! 

 ?veedumin muRRavum veedceitu, ummuyir
  veedudaiyAnidai  veedu ceimminE.?                
(TiruvAimozhi, 1-2-1)

(Discard everything barring the Lord, who is the
granter of mOksha, and submit your soul at His feet.) 
        Here, a question may arise: What are the things that
should be given up?
The AzhvAr, without keeping us waiting, gives the
answer in the third verse:

 ?neer numatu enRivai vErmudal mAittu, iRai
  cErmin uyirkku atan nErniRai illE?                  
            (TiruvAimozhi, 1-2-3)

(Root out the ?I? and the ?mine? and attain the Lord.
For the soul, there is nothing equal or better to do.)


        This is what is conveyed by the quotation from the
VarAha PurANa.  
        SwAmi Desikan comes with a suitable answer to the
query, ?How to go about?? :

5)  ?AcAryah  plAvitA tasya? (SAsvata Samhita)

(AchArya helps him to cross the sinful life.)

        When one realizes the uselessness of this
materialistic existence, he should approach a teacher   
who will guide him to go across this mundane life,
using this very existence for the purpose. One must
hurry up as the time left is very short and because of
the un-predictability of the length of this human
life. 
        
SwAmi Desikan points out that this is another favour
conferred upon the sAttvika jIvas by the Lord by
getting them involved in a dialogue on virtuous
topics. 

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




      
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