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srI:

SrI  UpakAra  Sangraham - II (18)
-- 
SAdhanAdhikAram 
-- 
Section - 8 (1) [continued] 
---  
(The Favours being done by the Lord to the mumukShu
 when he leaves the body)
---- 
        We just saw how the Lord does a favour to the jIva,
who has adopted the means for mOkSha and led a life of
virtue, through His will that there is no restriction
in regard to place and time of death. It has been
stated in the scripture that the devotee who is
totally attached to the Lord is not designated as
belonging to a certain village or a certain family,
but as belonging to the Lord, for He alone is
everything for him. It has also been stated that the
places inhabitated by BhAgavatas are the most suitable
for the man who has adopted a means for mOkSha. 
        It has been said:
 ?nigruheetEndriygrAmO yatra tatra vasEnnarah /
  tatra tatra kurukShEtram naimisham puShkaram tathA
//?      (ItihAsa Samucchaya, 25-18)
(The place where a man in full control of his senses
lives, has in it KurukShEtra, Naimisham and
PuShkaram.) 
        This means that, when a religious person lives in
some insignificant place, because of his inability to
live elsewhere, that place becomes sanctified by his
residence. This is illustrated in the episode of the
ascetic woman, shANdhilee:
        shANdhilee, a great ascetic woman and devotee of the
Lord, was living on an island in the sea. Garuda,
along with his maternal uncle, sage GAvala, was
proceeding to the world of VaruNa to fetch 800 white
horses each having an ear in black colour, to help his
uncle to fulfill on order by Sage VishvAmitra. On the
way, both saw the hermitage of shANdhilee and halted
there. She received them with due respect and
hospitality. Seeing her ascetic life, Garuda wondered
why should such a religious lady stay in a dirty slum.
He went to sleep mentally deciding to take her to
either the world of Brahma, or the world of SrI
ViShNu, or a pure location where religious rites are
performed regularly, which, he thought the right place
for her to live. The following morning when Garuda
woke up, he saw that he had lost his all wings and
become a mass of flesh and realized that it was
because of his offensive thought about shAndhilee?s
condition before going to bed the previous night. He
sought pardon at the feet of the woman ascetic who
graciously pardoned him resulting in the restoration
of his wings as before. 
This is cited to show that no place is unworthy of
stay for a parapanna and also that even a small
offence, however virtuous it may be, will cause
misery. 
For a prapanna, there is no place fixed as a must for
his death. Its significance is shown by the following
slOka from SrI VarAha PurANa:
?j~nAna samakAlamuktvA kaivalyam yAti gatashOkah /
 teerthE shvapaca-gruhE vA naShTasmrutirapi parityajan
dEham //?
(The person, who performs prapatti by uttering the
mantra at the very time when he attains this
knowledge, attains mOkSha wherever he may die losing
his consciousness, whether it be in a holy place or
the residence of one who eats dog?s flesh.)
        This statement that there is no special place for
death should be understood that the place of death
will not be a hindrance to attaining mOkSha. 
        SwAmi Desikan summarizes this point in a beautiful
verse: 
?sA kAsheeti na cAkasheeti bhuvi sAyOdhyEti
nAdhyAsyatE
       sAvanteeti na kalmaShAdavati sA kAnceeti
nOdancati /
  dhattE sA madhurEti nOttamadhurAm nAnyApi mAnyA puri
       yA vaikuNTa-kathA-sudhA-rasabhujAm rOcEta nO
cEtasE //?                                   (43)
(The place which is not to the liking of the minds of
those who taste the nectar of the stories of the Lord
-- that place does not shine in the world, merely
because it is called KAshee (KAshee means that which
shines); it does not become a suitable place of
residence merely because it is called AyOdhyA; it does
not save us from our sins merely because it is called
Avanti (Av means to protect); KAncee is not excellent
because of its name; nor is Madhura considered a seat
of excellence merely because it is called Madhura. So
also other cities do not become worthy merely because
of their names, if they are not to the liking of those
who delight in the ambrosia of stories concerning the
Lord [VaikuNta].)
        This way the lord favours the prapanna making any
place he spends his last days maintaining his purity,
a holy one. 
        Now, with regard to the time of leaving the body, the
prapanna has no fixed one as auspicious. Any time is
good for him, with the grace of the Lord.   
        Whether in the day or in the night, whether in the
day of the pitrus (shukla-pakSha) or in the night of
the pitrus (kriShNa-pakSha), whether in the day of he
gods (uttarAyaNa) or in the night of the gods
(dakShiNAyana), at the time fixed by the Lord, He
makes the prapanna remember all his previous thoughts
and desires for mOkSha.  Like a graceful king who cuts
off the fetters of the prince lying in the prison, the
Lord takes the prapanna along with Him, without regard
to auspicious or inauspicious time.
        This what Swami Desikan intends to convey in these
words:
 ?anthima-shareera-vishlESha-kAlatthil
prashasta-aprashasta-dEsha-kAla-nimitta-niyamam-illAthapadi
sankalpitthathuvum.?
        Here is a brief description of the process of the
jIva leaving the body: 
        The Lord makes the ten senses merge in the mind and
the mind with the senses merge in the vital breath
(prANa) and the prANa join with the jIva. Then the
Lord churns out the subtle elements (sookShma-bhootas)
from the gross body (sthoola-deha) and fixes them with
the jIva. He keeps the jIva with the senses, the vital
breath and the subtle elements by His side in the form
that He assumes in the heart, as He is the friend and
well-wisher of the jIva. The Lord gives the jIva some
rest, making him to relax after the strain that would
have caused him by the churning of the gross body.
Later, He sees to it that the jIva passes out of the
body. So far, the process is the same for both for the
jIva who has knowledge of Brahman and for the jIva who
has not.  
        There are one hundred and one veins (nAdis) in the
body proceeding from the heart in different
directions. One of them, called Brahma nAdi, proceeds
upwards. The Lord sees to it that the self of the
prapanna passes through this vein and leads it to the
shining path, called archirAdi, and helps it to reach
the highest state. The other one hundred veins go to
different directions through which whichever self goes
reaches either the worlds of gods or hell or takes
re-birth in the samsAra to experience the fruits of
his karma. The veins are like rays having various
colours proceeding from the heart which is like a
lamp.  

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



      
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