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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00080 Apr 2003

 
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dear srI lakshmi narasimhan,

Your queries regarding sahEthuka krupa vs. nirhEthuka 
krpa are very good questions. There have been numerous
postings on this in the bhakti list and other lists.

This is a very deep topic, and most times it is very
difficult to understand this topic. One needs to
experience it, in my opinion and experience, through
a learned person and bhagavad krpa.

Having said that, the following may be of help to you.
Please keep in mind that my understanding is obviously
imperfect, and there may be places where I am not
explaining properly, or am explaining things
mistakenly.

1. nirhEthuka krupa: What is nirhEthuka krupa?

The meaning of the word "hEthu" is cause, reason,
object
or motive. It can also mean "the logical reason of", 
"by reason of", "on account of" etc..

Now, when we say that the Lord's granting of mOksha is
sahEthuka, it basically means that His act of granting
mOksha is *because* the jIva did something. The jIva
doing something *initiated* the Lord's act of giving
mOksha.

Let us see what could be the problem with the above?
First and foremost problem is this - If we say that
the Lord's giving mOksha is caused by some act of the
jIVa, we are directly reducing the Lord's all-
powerfulness. We are constraining His actions, and
are subjecting His actions to a cause. This is
unacceptable as HE is all-powerful.

So, how does He grant mOksha then? Our AchAryAs say
that His grace/mercy is causeless, and acts on
anyone and anything. Now, this definitely smacks
of partiality on the surface.

But, look at it this way -
(i) His grace is causeless. It acts on everyone,
without exception. An analogy is rain. The clouds
pour down rain on the ground. The man who has
created a small lake through his efforts gains
as the water stays. If he does not make a small
lake with his maNvetti, then the water just goes
away. Did the cloud pour rain because the man
dug a lake? No. The cloud poured the rain 
because it is in its nature to pour rain.
Similarly, the Lord's nature is such that He
pours His grace all the time on everyone
and everything. In fact, the above analogy is
from mudal AzhvAr pAsurams only.
(ii) srI. tridaNdi chinna jIyar svAmi explains 
like this - There is a railway track. We do
not know when a train will come, or if a train
will come. We control the signal. If we do not
accept Him/surrender to Him, then it is like
the Red signal. The train comes, and stops.
But if we surrender to Him, it is the green
signal, and the train comes. Now, the train
does not come because we put the green signal.
It is coming anyway. If we allow it to contine,
then it goes. On the other hand, if we reject it,
then it stays.
(iii) svAmi parAsara bhattar, in srIrangarAja
sthavam describes the Lord's grace as the
great flood in a river. It comes, and whoever is
in its way is carried by the flood. One cannot
say when and where the flood will occur. But when
it occurs, it takes everything in its way.


Now, one can take the above and say
"if so, then the act of surrendering is
essential for mOksha". It is definitely true.
But, is that "surrendering" something we do?
Let us see what our AzhvArs say

- nammAzhvAr says "uNarvil umbar oruvanai
avanadhu aruLaaL uraRporuttu, en
uNarvil uLLE iruththinEn - ADHUVUM AVANADHU
INNARULE". He says that he keeping the Lord
in his mind is entirely due to the grace of
the Lord. 
- in the decade "enRaikkum ennai", he 
repeaatedly says that the Lord did all good
things to him - "aa mudhalvan ivan enRu
taththERRi, en nA mudhal vandhu pugundhu
nal in kavi.."

The message is very clear - The *cause*
for the AzhvAr's thinking about the Lord
is the Lord Himself! 

So, what gives? Can't one make the argument that
the Lord is being partial, because He causes the
people He wants to remember Him?

SvAmi piLLai lOkAchAriAr deals at length with the
Lord's grace in srIvacanabhUshaNam. He describes
so many pretexts that the Lord uses so that He
does not get accused or partiality. The sUTram
is a beautiful one, and I will wirte about that
sUTram later. But the pretexts he talks about are
things like "telling the Lord's name",
"telling the Lord's place's name" etc. even 
accidentally - like a thief who runs around the
temple in apradhakshiNam. The Lord sees that and
says "He ran around my temple - So, I will 
save him"; or like the thief who says "I am
going to steal money from LAkshmiNarasimhan's
house" - The Lord immediately uses the thief
uttering the word LAkshmiNarasimhan as he
uttered His name, a pretext to save that soul.
i.e. only He knows what the pretexts are. He can
make up any pretext. svAmi piLLai lOkAchAriAr
says "madi mAngAi ittu" - like those who
put a mango in the lap of a sleeping person and
accuse him of stealing , the Lord *creates*
a pretext to save the souls.

Now, when we take the above into consideration, then
it becomes more clear. The Lord is the only reason
for the souls being saved, and His grace is
uninstigated, and nirhEthuka.

So, the next logical question is "Then why are
there countless souls still in samsAra? why did
He not just take everybody to vaikuNtam"

The answer to that is simple - Only He knows what
is good for each soul. He takes the soul to His
abode at the time that is right for each soul.
He always does very good things for ALL the souls.
Some souls realize/understand that, and some do 
not. That is all. Also, us trying to understand,
with our limited capabilities, His working is
just not possible and feasible.

So, what should a soul do then? Why should one
approach an AchArya? Is it necessary to approach
an AchArya? I will try to address those in 
a separate mail. This mail is already too long.

AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,
varadhan

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