----- Original Message -----
From: Saroja
Ramanujam
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 8:31 PM
Subject: Virodhaparihara-Q.9 9.sEshathva
avaDHAraNAth sareerAthmasiddhEh ithi vAchOyukthih
anupapannA
How can the sarira-sariribhAva
explained in terms of seshathva?
Ramanuja defines sarira as a substance which a sentient
soul completely supports, aadhara-aadheya bhava, and
controls, niyantha-niyaamya bhava for serving its own
purpose and which is subordinate to the sentient soul,
sesha--seshi bhava..
The world of cit and acit form the sarira of Brahman because they
are supported, controlled and used by Brahman. The entry of Brahman into the cit
and the acit in order to diversify them into name and form is supported by the
sruti 'tadhaikshatha bahusyaam prajaayeya'
Hence they exist in an inseparable relation with Brahman similar to the body
and soul.
This is what is referred to here as
'seshathva avaDhArNAth sarirAthma siddhi'
The appropriateness of
sarira-sariribhAva resulting from seshathva is establshed by Desika
thus:
vyavacchEdhAdhayOgasya
sareerAthmathvamishyathE
anyayOgavyavachEdhah
nirvEdhAdhEsthu kAraNam
In the moolamanthra 'a' stands
for the Lord and 'u' is explained
as none else while 'm' refers to the jiva. So the praNava of the moolamanthra
indicates that the jiva is sesha to the Lord and to no one else. Thus the the
meaning of 'u'kAra and 'm'akAra imply
a dative case ending to 'a'kAra, that is, 'a' denoting Narayana, the word
'for' is affixed to it giving the meaning that the individual soul is sesha only
to Narayana. The seshathva can be explained in two ways, namely, through
ayOgavyavacchEdha and through anyayOgavyavacchEdha.What the
'a'kAra of the praNava denotes is the seshathva in the former sense,which is
seshathva for no reason but natural one. Being such it has to be
eternal.
anyayOgavyavacchEdha
on the other hand is what is
denoted by the 'u'kAra o the praNava, that is seshathva to no one else.The doubt
arises on account of misconception of one with the other.
The sarira-sariri bhAva through
seshathva is questioned for the following reason.
All things of a person may belong to
another but his sarira cannot be
that of another.If it is argued that the sole criterion of sarira being that it cannot belong to another it will
apply even in the case of the wife of a person, this is not so because even the
wife or his own sarira can be made sesha to others but it does not mean
that it has become the sarira of
another. So seshathva cannot imply sarirathva.
This confusion, says Desika is due to the inability to
distinguish between ayOgavyavacchEdha and
anyayOgavyavacchEdha.Sarira is something which never ceses to belong to
the sariri and hence the sentient and the insentient which can never be said not
to belong to the Lord through ayOga vyavacchEdha, must be His sarira.
anyayOgavyavacchEdha is that the jiva is not sesha to any one else
except the Lord which is implied through the 'u'kAra. This knowledge comes to
the jiva through nirvEdha,that is, the sorrow born out of being slave to
others, like the indhriyas so long, and he attempts to change this state of
affairs through the means of prapatthi denoted by 'namah' in the
moolamanthra.Thus the 'a'kAra of the praNava denotes sarira-sariri bhAva through
aYogavyavacchEdha and the 'u'kAra implies the regret through the knowlege of
anyayOgavyavacchEdha impelling the jiva to resort to upAya, the means of
salvation denoted by the word 'namah.'
Dr.
Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.
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