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srI:

SrI  UpakAra  Sangraham - II (19)
-- 
SAdhanAdhikAram 
--
Section - 8 (2)  
---  
(The Favours being done by the Lord to the mumukShu
 when he leaves the body)
---- 
We studied, in the previous sub-section, SwAmi
Desikan?s description of the favour being conferred by
the Lord to the seeker of mOkSha who is leading a pure
life totally dedicated to Him, at the time of leaving
of his body.   
In this sub-section, SwAmi Desikan reveals that the
Lord is kind to His devotee who has adopted the
bhakti-yOga as the means:  
(2)      ?yam yOginah prANaviyOga-kAlE yatnEna cittE
vinivEshayanti? enkiRapadiyE, bhaktiyOga-niShThnukku
svayatna-sAdhya-antima-pratyaya-vishEShatthait
thalaikkattik kodukkumathuvum;
SwAmi Desikan begins with a quote from a verse in the
MahAbhArata. We shall study the verse in full:
?yam yOginah prANa-viyOga-kAlE yatnEna cittE
vinivEshayanti /
  sa tam purastAt harimeekShamANah prANAn jahau prApta
phalO hi bheeShmah //?
                  (MahAbhArata, ShAnti Parva, 47- 189)
(The yOgis think of the Lord with great effort at the
time of leaving their bodies. BheeShma gave his body
looking at the Lord in front of him.) 
        This brings us to the important factor of the last
thought at the time of death. 
        It is an accepted fact that there must be some last
thought or other for the jIva at the time of casting
off his body.  It must be about an object. The object
should be the Lord for a jIva to attain Him.
Otherwise, it would be dangerous. It has been said:
 ?antakale ca mAmEva smarnmuktvA kalEbaram /
  yah prayAti sa madbhAvam yAti nAstyatra samshayah //
? (Bhagavadgita, 8-5)
(He, who at the time of the end of his life,
remembering Me exclusively, gives up the body and
departs from life, he attains My nature. In this there
is no doubt.)
        Thus says the Lord to Arjuna. He further says:
 ?yam yam vApi smaraN-bhAvam tyajatyantE kalEbaram /
  tam tamEvaiti kauntEya sadA tadbhAva-bhAvitah // ?  
                   (Bhagavadgita, 8-6)
(Whatever object one thinks of, at the time when he
gives up the body at the end of his life, he attains
the same object after death.) 
        Therefore, the Lord advises Arjuna:
 ?tasmAtsarvEShu kAlEShu mAmanusmara yudhya ca /
  mayyarpitamanObuddhih mAmEvaiShyasyasi asamshayah
//?             (Bhagavadgita, 8-7)
(Therefore, remember Me constantly at all times and
fight. With your attention and intellect dedicated to
Me, you will attain Me surely. There is no doubt about
this.)
        Remembering the Lord at the time of death has to be
done by one?s own effort for the mumkShu who has
adopted other means than prapatti. For a bhakti-yogi,
if such a last thought of the Lord does not occur, he
will have to take birth again and continue to practice
the bhakti-yOga and again has to go through the
process at the time his death. His next birth takes
place in a yoni in accordance with the object he
remembers as the last thought. We have the episode of
Jadabharata narrated in SrImadbhAgavata. Though he was
practicing bhakti-yoga, when the end came he was
thinking of the deer which he had been looking after
with great attachment. He had to take the next birth
as a deer. But, as he had the memory of his previous
birth, he could overcome this block. The essential
requirement of the last thought has been clearly
stated by the Lord Himself in the Gita slOka we just
saw. He advises Arjuna to remember Him at the last
moment of his life. 
        But, BheeShma had surrendered at the feet of SrI
KriShNa and had great devotion for the Lord as he said
during his discourse to Yudhishtira. That was why the
Lord Himself was present in front of BheeShma to
enable him to leave his body directly seeing Him with
his own eyes. 
        This is the crux of SwAmi Desikan?s statement in this
sub-section:
 ??bhaktiyOga-niShThnukku
svayatna-sAdhya-antima-pratyaya-vishEShatthait
thalaikkattik kodukkumathuvum?
        The Lord graces the bhakti-yogi to succeed in his
self-effort for remembering His form as He did in the
case of BheeShma. This is yet another favour the Lord
confers on His devotee. 


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



      
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