VirOdhaparihAra
This work of Desika is for the sake of
the aspirant who wishes to clarify the doubts regarding the real purport of the
three Rahasyas, namely, Moolamanthra, dvayamanthra and the
charamasloka.
The three principles of visishtadvaita, thathva,
hitha and purushartha are the essential requisites for an aspirant
of knowledge that lead him to salvation.
1.Thathva -is the knowledge of
the three reals, namely, jeeva, the sentient, jagath, the
insentient and Isvara, Narayana, the Brahman of
Visishtadvaita.
2.Hitha-the means of
realisation, that is, bhakthi and
prapatthi.
3.PurushArtha- the goal to be
attained , moksha.
To the one who strives to understand
the above through the means of knowledge, perception, inference and
scritural testimony, there is bound to be certain doubts due to the profoundness
of the subject and the limitation of the human intellect. Unless these doubts
are cleared the knowledge will not arise and the one without knowledge is like
an animal says Desika, 'mumukshooNAm
avasyajnAthavyEshu arTHEshu
pratheeyamAnAnAm virODHANAm aprasamanE "jnAnEna heenah
pasubhissamAnah"ithyavasTHA bhavEth.'
Desika further says that when it
appears to an uninitiated student that there are contrdictions in the scriptural
statements it has to be clarified because if, only those which agree with one's
own view point is accepted by rejecting others, it will land us in advaita and
accepting both kinds of texts will result in bhedhabhedha philosophy while
rejecting them because they seem to be self contradictory, is tantamount to
accepting the views of those outside the pale of the vedas like buddhists and
the like. So the Acharyas proceed to clarify the doubts that may arise in the
mind of the aspirants and first the Moolamanthra is taken up for
discussion.
Desika says the ashtakshara manthra is
sArathamam, the essence of
vedas with their angas,
'thrayO vEdhAh shadangAni
cchandhAmsi viviDhAh svarAh;, sarvam ashtAntharAnthasTHam yaschAnyAdhapi
vAngmayaam,'(Naradheeya kalpa-1-9), and therefore the doubts that may arise regarding
the moolamanthra are only like a piece of grass that is found in drinking water
which can be easily discarded before drinking .
MoolmanthrADHikAram
1. anAdhikAlAnuvrttha
samsAra duhkhasahithAn kshEthrajnAn sarvajnathvAdhi guNasambhavEapi anuddharan
Isvarah sarvarakshakah ithi vyavahArah kaTham
ghatathE?
When the Lord is not redeeming the
jivas who suffer in the samsara inspite of their real nature being all knowledge
etc. how can He be called sarvarakshaka,protector of
all?
The answer is given by
Desika:
svaroopasya
svabhAvasya niyamEnaiva rakshaNATH anishtavAraNAdhEscha
yOGythvAth
nithyrakshakah.
He is indeed sarvarakshaka , protector
of all, because of His protection of the essential nature of all souls by rule
and His removal of the suffering as far as
the individual soul
deserves.
There are two kinds of protection by
the Lord.
(i).sarvavishayasatthAdhirakshaNaroopamEkam
nithyarakshakathvam.
The protection of the very
existence,satthA, the essential nature of the individual self. Just
because He extends His protection to the essential nature and existence the
released to soul is able to regain its natural state on attaining
moksha.
(ii) samsArivishayE api
anishtanivAraNAdhi rupam kAdhachitkam.
The protection from suffering of the
jiva in the state of samsara only when asked for. In fact the jivas are
experiencing duhkha due to their karma and making them exhaust their karma by
experiencing it, is also a kind of protection and when the jiva approaches Him
with bhakthi or prapatthi the Lord will redeem the jiva through His grace. Thus
His protection from suffering is yathkinchithvyAjasApEksham, depends on
the effort on the part of the jiva.So in all ways He is the
sarvarakshaka.
2.paragatha-athisaya-ADHAna icchayA-upAdhEyathvam Eva yasya svarupam sa
seshah, parah seshee ithi sribhAshyakArAh niraNaishuh;thaTHA cha sathi
bhagavathah svathassiddhAthisayathvatm kaTHam
upapadhyathE?
The Lord has been
denoted as seshee and everything else both permanent and impermanent as
sesha to Him, by Sri Ramanuja.This means that the sentient and insentient beings
are dependent on Him and exist for His use and enjoyment and controlled by
Him.So if all beings exist for His use and enjoyment, how can He be called
svathssiddhAthisaya, one who possesses
wonderful and natural glory, not relying on anything else to add to His
eminence, is the question.
Desika gives the answer to this as
svathO
athisayithasyApi jnANAdhyaih nikhilaih guNaih
yuktham guNa
vibhoothyAdhEh api sarvAthisAyitha.
When one who has natural beauty wears
ornaments it not only enhances the beauty but even the ornaments are made
beautiful by his wearing them. The Lord who is naturally endowed with jnAna,
Anandha etc., His seshithva, AdhEyathva
and other qualities in connection with the universe, which is His sesha,
only enhances His glory is like that of a gem whch is invaluable, is enhanced by
its lustre, while its value is natural to it and not due to its lustre.
'svayAdheepthyA ratnam bhavadhapi mahArgham na viguNam na
kunTasvAthanthryam bhavathi cha na cha anyAhithaguNam'(sri guNa.31)
Moreover the sentient and the insentient, permanent or impermanent, form
part of the glory of the Lord by the very reason that they owe their existence
to Him.
3.Nanu Ekasyaive
sarvaseshithvam sasthrathah prathipAdhyathE;aTHah kaTHam ubhayAdhishTAnathvAm
Ekam seshithvam ithi?
The sasthra declares that the Lord is
the seshi to everything other than Himself. If so, how can the divine couple,
the Lord and Sri are ascribed seshithvam
together?
visvam prathi thu
seshithvam mAthA pithrOriva dvayOh
pathnyAscha
pathiseshathvAth sarvaseshee parah pumAn
Desika points out that even in the
wordly sense all the possessions like house etc are sesha, or property of both
father and mother of the family and because the wife is the sesha of the husband
the Lord is said to be sarvaseshi.' athO bhagavathah sarvaseshithva
vyavasTHApanAth lakshmyAscha bhagavathvyathiriktha
sarvaseshithvavyavastTHApanAth cha na upaplavAvakAsah.That is, the
Lord is the sarvaseshi and Lakshmi is the seshi of all except the Lord and hence
there is no contradiction to say that Ekaseshithvam belongs to both of
them together.
4. Ittham
sarvEsvarasya svAbhAvikE sarvasEshithvE 'parijana-paribarhA-bhooshNAnyAyuDHAni'
ithyAdhyuktha prkArENA tasyApyAsritha seshathva-kaTHanam kaTHamiva
upapadhyathE?
In VaradarAjasthava it is said that
the Lord along with His weapons, ornaments auspicious qualities etc. becomes the
sesha of His devotees.The doubt is raised as to how can He become a sesha to His
devotees while He is the sarvaseshi.
The answer to this is given as
follows.
satthAdhibhirupAdhAnAth svArTHam
chidhachidhOrapi
seshithvam
seshabhAvasthu guNAdhEva upapadhyahE
The upanishads say that the Lord
creates sustains and controls the sentient and the insentient for His own use
and hence the seshithva of the Lord. But the seshathva towards His devotees is
due to His looking after them without expecting anything in return.So both
seshithva and seshathva apply to Him and the seshathva is not due to dependence
but because of the attraction by
the gunas of the devotees.This was the reason He became ready to do the bidding
of Visvamitha in RamAvathAra and that of Yudhishtira in KrishnAvathAra.This is
not in any way undermines His seshithva.
5.jeevasya
bhagavanthamprathi sEshathvasya svabhAva siddhathayA nithyathvE 'niranjanah
paramam sAmym upaithi,' ithi mukthAvasthAyAm paramsAmyavachanam
pralObhanamAthram syAth; athah yAvan mokshameva seshathvam ithi vAdhah
parigrAhyhah.
As the seshithva of the jiva to the
Lord is said to be natural and eternal, the statement of the upanishad that the
jiva attains paramam sAmyam , equal status with the Lord in released state
cannot be true. Hence the seshathva is to be ascribed to the jiva only till he
attains moksha.
Desika refutes this saying
bhOgamAthrasamAnathvAth
jagathvyApAravarjanAth
EkadhEsEna sAmyam
syAth suvarNa silayOriva.
In Brahmasuthra we have the statement
'jagathvyApAravarjam prakaraNAth asannihithathvAth cha, (BS.4-4-17), The
released soul does not have any part in the functions like creation etc. which
are exclusively belong to the Lord.This has been declared by the sruthi.' Hence
the equality, sAmya is only in respect of knowledge and bliss. The brahmasuthra
also says,'bhOgamAthrasAmyalingAccha,there is equality in enjoyment
only.' Therefore the seshathva continues even in apavarga, release.Desika
says that the equality is as in the case of gold and stone when weighed as
equal, that is only in form and not in any other qualities.
'thoolAdhrtha-suvarNa-vyApAra-nyAyEna EkEnApyAkArEna paramasAmyam aparENa cha
AkArENA vaiDharmyam,' equality
is in one respect and difference in another.
6. Evam seshatvasya
nithyathvE thaththulya nyaya siddhasya pArathanthrasyApi mukthAvasthAyAm
anuvarthamAnathvAth 'sa svarAt bhavathi' ithyAdhi sruthisiddham svAthanthryam
kaThamiva anuvarthathE?
If the seshathva is eternal then the dependence also being continued
in the state of release, how can the statement of the sruthi ' he becomes his
own sovereign 'will be applicable to the jiva?
The reply is given as
sruthisidhasya
jeevasya pARathanthryavyavasThayA
svAthanthryam apavargE
thu kainkaryAthmasu karmasu.
The jiva who stands in relation of
AdhEya,viDHEya and sEsha,with the Lord, that is, being supported by , controlled by and belonging to Him, has independence
in the state of release which is in respect of service to the
Lord.
The relationship between the jiva and
the lord is one of sarira-sariribhAva, that of body and soul. Hence as the body
is always dependent on the soul there is no absolute independence but he has the
freedom in the setrvice of the Lord like the one belongng to the retinue of the
king and subject to the will of the Lord, he is free to move about and discharge
his duties as ordained by the Lord. The freedom consists in being free from the
shackles of karma.
May god bless you,
Dr.
Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.
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