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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.


 --- In ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, vedantham chary
<vedantham_krishna@xxxx> wrote:
>  Human beings are supposed strive for eliciting
PERUMALS? kripa is what generally religions preach. Is
this not swathanthryam as opposed to Sheshatwam and
parathanthryam and hence may be preaching not correct.
Otherwise.how these seemingly contradictory concepts
are reconciled..There must be shasthra pramanams cited
by our purvacharyas,adiyen would beg to know. Kindly
parden adiyens ignorance ,if any sampradaya dosham
crept into my way of addressing my doubt.
> 
> Dasanudasan
&#61656; Krishnamachary

Respected Swamin,

Your mail is raising further interest to know about 
the state of swathanthiryam for the jiva. It is
difficult to think that we are denied free-will (if
that is what you mean by swathanthiryam for the jiva
in eliciting kripa). Let us see what scriptures say
about this (while admitting that this is a very
difficult topic capable of inviting differences in
perspectives.)

The important verse that is oft quoted by learned
people to decide about the amount or level of freedom
to act for the jiva is verse 2-3-41 of the Brahma
sutras which says, ? But according to the efforts made
(by the soul) (the Lord makes it act); (thus only
would) injunctions and prohibitions etc., be
relevant.?

The explanation goes like this (Sri bhashyam): ? The
Lord makes the soul act by granting it permission,
taking into consideration the efforts put forth by it;
But action is not possible for the soul without this
permission of the Lord. Though the Lord?s permission
is essential, yet the responsibility for the initial
volition is the soul?s.?

The above explanation gives the opinion that the
initial effort or thought to do something that must
originate from the jiva. This view is given by
Ramanuja in this context while he was replying to 2
questions which are as follows:
(1) If it be said that the jiva has no freedom to do
or act on its own, why are there injunctions such as
?do this? or ?do that? (like satyam vada, dharmam
chara)? If we say that it is Brahman which does things
in Its capacity to reside in the jiva as Its body,
does this mean that the injunctions are commanding the
Lord to do this or that?
(2) The Lord gives buddhi yoga (BG 10-10) to the one
who is steadfast in worshipping Him. Fine. But He also
says that He would hurl those evil-doers into the
wombs of asuras (BG16-19).If He is one who is the
in-dweller those evil-doers too, why couldn?t  He do
something about their betterment?

In the context of explaining these two questions,
Ramanuja tells about soul?s initial ?volition? whereby
it is indicated that the soul has freedom to do.
(another corollory is ?yatha icchasi, thatha kuru?
advice to Partha)

These questions are  replied in the subsequent sutras
whereby it is said that as nothing touches or inhibits
the Brahman, It remains unaffected. The so-called
cruelty of the Lord (Q-2) in making evil-doers doomed
further (another pramana is from Kau III-9 which says
? He gets good actions done by those whom He wants to
lift up and gets evil actions done by those whom He
wants to cast down?) is explained  in verse 124 of
Vedartha sangraha by Ramanuja.

??the general equipment needed for the performance as
well as non-performance of actions is furnished by
Him. Then in order to manage the situation, He becomes
the support and basis of all, enters into all beings
and governs from within by His approbation of acts of
individual will. He abides as the fundamental seshin
of all, all the individuals being subsidiary to Him.
The individual thus equipped with all the requisite
powers and facilities, ENDOWED WITH THE POWER OF
INTIATIVE , engages in actions and abstinence from
action by his own spontaneity of will. The supreme
Being, witnessing his activity remains unconcerned.?

The letters in caps in this verse takes the inquiry
further. If the jiva is ?endowed? with the power of
initiative, where does the ?spontaneity of will? come
from? Is it (the jiva) not (then) also endowed by the
one who is the In-dweller? Even though the actions and
fruits are accrued to the jiva,  (?of these two, one
eats the sweet fruits with relish, while the other
looks on without eating? ? sve ?IV-6), is it not He
who is causative of these? It therefore follows that
the will also is endowed by Him. So too the actions
that follow. But this doesn?t answer the question on
?vora vanjanai? (if it be called so!!) of the Lord in
showing partiality to some.  The answer lies in Karma.

Ramanuja himself comes to the conclusion that the
conception of one self as someone (like x or y or z ,
like in the verse 246 of VS lion or tiger or man or
yaksha etc) ?is due to the apprehension of the self
arising from karma, even so is the conception of
oneself as self-dependent?. By karma, thinking of
having freewill comes and when the jiva thinks he has
freewill, it is an act of self-dependence, (explained
in verses 245 &246 of VS)  To understand what this
?spontaneity of will? is all about, let us look into
what Gitacharyan says in 3-5.
? everyone is caused to act, inspite of himself, by
the Gunas born of Nature?.  (kaaryathE hyavasha: karma
sarva: prakruthijai gunai:)

?Than vasamillaamal jivan kaaryam seigiraan? The jiva
acts under the control of tri gunas which is due to
karma and he is not under ?his? own control. That is, 
jiva: guNAnAm vashE asthi. The spontaneity arising out
of guNAnAm vasha: is once again due the combination of
the apportioning of gunas that went into his making in
the beginingless creation. Those who had Narayana
sambhandam then had more or all of sattwa and became
fortunate to be lifted by Him. Those who didn?t get
it, are spiraling down into abysmal depths. Those in
between, like us, are still vying to catch up the
thread!

The Will of the jiva actually comes to be manifested
after Release as in ?He is the self-ruler: he moves
according to his wishes in all the worlds? (Chan
VII-xxv) and ?He moves through these worlds enjoying
what he desires and assuming what forms he likes? (
Tai III-x. 5) Even then, he remains a sesha to Him is
what seshatwam is all about. 

But pArathanthiryam coming in the wake of or after
mulling over the so-called swathanthiryam by thinking
that he has  freedom of  will and doership, is what
the Lord is immensely pleased to see. That is why
krupaiyaalE varum pArathanthiryathatthai-k-kaattil
swathanthiryatthaalE varum parathanthiryam prabhalam.
Such an evolution of thought (on the part of the jiva
who eventually attains Knowledge as an attribute after
Release)  is enjoyed by the Lord who has made all
these as part of His Leela. If the jiva had been in
all its Brahmanic attributes while living, what is
there for enjoyment by the Lord? That is why Prakruthi
sambhandam is brought in and variation is achieved.
The variation continues in deeper hues with karma
sambhandam. All the jobs of carpenter, fisherman,
hunter etc who are regarded as Brahman (by Brahma
sutras)  are in fact done by the Lord Himself to
prepare us for the Ultimate Joy!! So where is
swathanthiryam for us?

Inviting corrections, 
Jayasree saranathan


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