Sri Parthasarathi thunai Srimathe Ramanujaya
Namaha Sri Vara Vara munayE
Namaha Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE
Namaha In the previous posting we saw that the
soul remains inside our body but doesn?t get affected with all the changes that
happen to the body. One doubt may
arise in our minds: We cook food in a vessel. The vessel outside gets heated and cooks
the rice inside. So we find that
the changes that occurs to the outside vessel does affect the rice inside. Then how is it that the soul inside does
not get affected? Sure the argument
is correct. But consider the case
of a stone, which is mixed along with the rice. Does that also get cooked like the rice?
No it remains without any change.
So we see that there are objects that remain without any change also due
to the changes in the outside vessel.
Similarly the soul who is a jnana-svaroopan (personification of
knowledge) does not get affected due to the changes in the body that is made of
the panchabhoodhas (land, water, fire, air and sky).
(erappadarkE ennAdhu) Earlier azhvar talked about the
shatbhAva vikAram, the six types of changes that happen to the body where the
last change which happens is the death pertaining to the body. But here ?erappadarkE? refers to the
death of the soul. That is
kaivalyam. But it was seen all
along that the soul doesn?t undergo any change? Then how can it die? The soul doesn?t die like the body that
falls down lifeless. But due to the
separation from the paramatma who is the saviour/master (Athmabhoothan) and
enjoying once own soul in the kaivalyam it is considered to be a form of death,
svaroopahAni. Where is this
kaivalyam and does the soul have a possibility to return back and reach the
actual moksha etc are debatable topics not pertaining to our subject now. We will just see the meaning as per the
commentary of swami periya vAchAn pillai and geethAbhAshyam of swamy
emperumAnAr. So here ?erappadarkE?
refers to kaivalyam and ?ennAdhu? indicates that it is not the lord?s wish to
put us into that ditch instead he always wishes that we go and join him in the
nithya Ananda anubhavam of the nithya vibhoothi like the other nithya
sooris. Where is the proof that emperuman is
against us reaching the kaivalyam and doing athmAnubhavam? Let us track it from
bhagavan?s words, ?jarAmarana mOkshAya mAmAsrithya
yadhanthi yE I thE brahma tadhvidhu: krisnamadyAthmam
karma chAkilam II? [Those who try to get away from the six
types of changes like old age, death etc of the body and reach the kaivalya
moksha for athmAnubhavam away from this prakruthi sambhandam, they should fully
know about the brahmam, adyAthmam and karmam.] The above sloka clearly shows that there
is something beyond the kaivalya moksha that a kaivalyArthi should know. So it cannot be the ultimate
moksha. Since a kaivalyArthi
forgets perumal and wants to enjoy his athma alone it is stealing of emperuman?s
property (pirar nan porul, ?chOrEna AthmapahArinam?). Atleast for an IshwaryArthi there is a
chance to correct himself and attain emperuman?s thiruvadi but for a person who
has attained kaivalyam there is no way back and hence it is like athma
nAsam. But will that emperuman who
has so much krupai on us leave us like that? His sankalpam is not to leave us die
(?erappadarkE ennAdhu?).
Here it has to be noted that the
athmAnubhavam talked about by bhagavan in the first six chapters has no
connection with this kaivalya moksha.
In the first shatkam of bhagavat geetha emperuman talks about the karma
yoga done along with jnana that leads to chiththa shuddi further leading to
knowledge about the athma, which gives one an in-depth understanding of the
athma (Athma sAkshAtkAram). This is
totally different from the AthmAnubhavam, which a kaivalyArthi wants to
attain. So the first stage of
learning is the tattvatraya vibhAgam (existence of three permanant tattvas,
chit, achit and Ishwaran). Then the
changes that happen to the body (achit) and the unchanged nature of the soul has
to be realized then finally the knowledge about the Ishwaran who is our sEshi
(master) has to be obtained that will lead us to surrender with deep love
towards the supreme lord (Jnanam kanindha bhakthi) and attain nithya mukthi.
Most of us get mixed up with the nature
of the body and the soul and concentrate on taking care of the body forgetting
the soul. This is the first stage
(IshvaryArthi). The second category
is those who have understood that the body is temporary and this leela vibhoothi
is filled with sorrow and hence wants to get rid of this cycle of life and death
and hence he wishes for a permanent joy but he lacks to understand the relation
of the soul with bhagavan and hence wants to attain kaivalyam
(kaivalyArthi). This is like a
person wanting to forget his problems getting addicted to drinking that again
doesn?t give him a permanent solution but further worsens his problems. The kaivalyArthi fails to understand
that emperuman can get him out of these samsAric worries and grant him the
nithya moksha where he can enjoy emperuman along with the nithya sooris
permanently. The final category is
the jnAni/mumukshu, who understands about the nature of all the three tattvas
and hence wants to attain the divine feet of emperuman. The different types of bhakthas have
been stated by bhagavan as, ?chaturvidhA bhajanthE mAm janAs
sukrithinOrjuna I ArthO jignyAsu arthArthi jnAni cha
bharatharishabha II? (7-16) After telling about the kaivalyArthi,
geethAcharyan proceeds to do upadesam (advice) to arjuna about the bhakthi
yoga. The knowledge about the third
tattva Ishvaran leads us to bhakthi towards him. How will bhakthi develop in our minds?
We will see in the next posting. (To be
continued) Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE
sharanam Adiyen ramanuja
dAsee Sumithra
Varadarajan
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