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srImathE rAmAnujAya namaha
srImadh varavara munayE namaha

Dear Smt Sumitra,

Let me try and answer your queries to the extent of my
knowledge and I request learned scholars 
to correct me if I am wrong.
----------------Quote 1---------
According to what adiyen has heard anyone born in all
three varnas(brahmana, 
kshtriya and vaishya) are supposed to do their nitya
karmas regularly. But 
there are two types of dharmas. One is
sadarana/sAmAnya dharmam and vishesha 
dharmam. There is one legend in our guru paramparai. 
Sri Parasara bhattar had 
a practice to go at the back of Sri Namperumal during
perumal's purappadu. 

Once the purappadu was going on and it was time for
the sAyam sandhya. 
When nanjeeyar asked bhattar about it bhattar replied,
"edhai chitra guptan 
kanakkile ezhudamattan"(this will not be calculated as
a sin). So according 
to our acharyas namperumal purappadu and kainkaryam to
perumal and bhagavatas
was considered as vishesha dharmam and other nithya
karmas to be sAmAnya dharmam. Whenever there was a
clash between the sAmAnya dharmam and vishEsha 
dharmam they gave more preference to vishesha dharmam
and never felt for 
leaving the sAmAnya dharmam. But never did they say
leave the sAmAnya dharmam just because you are a
prapannan. Remember Sri Ramanujar even in his last
days when he was very old never forgot to go to kaveri
to do his nithya karmas. 
-------------------Unquote 1----------------------
The case of sAmAnya dharma and visEsha dharma are very
true and so is the incident involving Sri Bhattar as
quoted by you. But why sAmAnya dharma is required
first of all. What good it is? You may say, it will
please Sriman Narayanan and hence one need to do it.
Agreed if it is pleasing Him and if we do it only for
His pleasure. But in periya thiruvandhAdhi, Sri
nammAzhwAr says 'neRi kAtti neekkudhiO'. What does
the word 'neRi'refers here. It refers to the same
sAstrAs as prescribed by emberumAn. If the sAstrAs
were laid down by emberumAn, why Sri nammAzhwAr needs
to say 'neRi kAtti neekudhiO'(Are you pushing me away
from you by asking me to follow these sAstrAs). It is
because, though emberumAn has laid down all these
sAstrAs, it is very clear from our poorvAchAryAs that
the sAstrAs are for a particular kind of people, who
follow sAdhanAnushTAnams and believe the these
sAdhanAs will earn mOksha for them. Yes, those
sAdhanAs will earn mOksha for them. But the
thennAchAryAs side is that this mOksham 'earned'by
the chEtana is a shade inferior to the mOksha
conferred by emberumAn out of His apAra kAruNyam, by
Himself as siddhOpAyam. Look at this slOkam,
'asAram alpasAram cha sAram sAratharam tyajEth, bajEth
sArathamam sAstrE ratnAkara ivAmrutham'(One should
renounce the asAra,alpasAra, sAra, sArathara portions
of the vEdAs only follow the sArathama portion, just
like renouncing all the other available things in an
ocean and take only the ratnAs). For this slOkam,
there are different interpretations for the sabdhAs
between the vadakalai AchAryAs and thennAchAryAs. They
are as follows:

asAram:
VK ?EThis refers to the Buddhist and other anti-vEdic
religions code.
TK ?EThis cannot be the Buddhist and other anti-vEdic
codes as for them, the sAstratvam cannot be attributed
as they are not a part of the vEdAs. It is a well know
fact that the sAstrAs are nothing but the subsect of
the vEdAs. So if this is the case, then what does this
word 'asAram'refers to? It refers to those portions
in the karma kAnda of the vEdAs, which will help a
person to kill his enemy and other such dastardly
acts. One such yAga is ?AbhichArika yAgam?E For this
Sri maNavALa mAmunigaL thiruvuLLam is, a prapanna
should certainly renounce this as his objective is
only mOksha.

alpa sAram:
VK ?EThe position taken by the TKs in 'asAra?EsabdhA
is taken by the VKs here.
TK ?EThis refers to those yAgams and other things in
vEdas, which when performed will give the chEtana,
swargam. This is slightly better than the first one as
atleast nobody is killed or destroyed. This should
also be renounced, however, by the prapanna for his
pursuit of mOksha

sAram:
VK ?EThe position taken by the TKs in 'alpa sAra?Esabdha is taken by the VKs 
here.
TK ?EThis is the portion which helps the chEtana to
come above the materialistic pleasures and find out
the nature of the soul. However, if this is followed,
this will lead to only kaivalya mOksha, which if
attained will be eternal and there will be no chance
to attain mOksha at all.

sAratharam:
VK ?EThe position taken by the TKs in sAra sabdha is
taken by the VKs here.
TK ?EThis refers to those portions which when followed
will ofcourse earn mOksha. These are the sAdhyOpAyams
of Bhakti and Prapatthi, when performed as sAdhyOpAya.
This is a shade inferior when compared to the
siddOpAya mOksham.


sArathamam:
VK ?EThey take the position of TKs in sAratharam, but
do not accept that this mOksha is inferior.
TK ?EThis is the siddhOpAya mOksham which is better
than all.

Sri Velukkudi Krishnan swamy once gave me a good
analogy in this regard when I asked him, how can the
mOksham be inferior or superior. A father has a son.
In the first case, when the father has become old, the
son takes care of him without any problems. He feeds
him, he gives whatever he wants, but the control is
with the son. Though the father is happy, he has to
expect the hands of his son everytime for everything.
In the second case, though the son is grown up earning
etc, the father still has control over everything and
the son still obeys his father in everything. Which is
the best desired one for the father? Surely it is the
second. The first is the sAdhyOpAyam mOksham and the
second is the siddhOpAya mOksham.

Now why I wrote all these, which looks like getting
away from the topic taken for discussion. It is
because, when one says that the nitya karmas have to
be performed otherwise it is a fault on the part of
the chEtana, it means to say that by doing so he can
earn something, which actually is not the case. 

Also if you read through my message clearly, I did not
say one should not at all do any nitya karma. It can
also be done, but only as a kainkaryam (which you also
agree) and a spiritual time pass. I also quoted the
relevant verse from Sri Thirumazhisai AzhwAr's
nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi in which the AzhwAr says,
'theritthezhudhi, vAsitthum, kEttum, vaNangi
vazhipattum, poositthum pOkkinEn pOdhu?E The nitya
karma has to be done in this vein only.

I wrote this because Sri AV Krishna in his mail had
written as if, if the nitya karmas are not performed,
it is not possible to attain mOksham.

----------------------Quote 2----------------------

Even after doing saranagathi(gathya trayam) in front
of the divine couples he continued his karmas till his
final breath. If we are always involved in Bhagavat
kainkaryam then it is ok but then do we do it today. 
Ofcourse none of our acharyas did the nithya karmas as
a way to attain moksha they did it as a kainkaryam
too. As bhagavan says, "sruthi smrithi mamai
agjya....agjna chEbhi mama drOhi". So if a prappannan
leaves the karmas specified by bhagavan in the
shastras he becomes drOhi(cheat to bhagavan). So
prapannas do the nithya karmas for following
bhagavan's words as a kainkaryam to him and not as a
upayam to attain moksha. Here we have to remember
both what lakshmana and bharatha did were kainkaryam
to Sri Rama. Lakshmana was near perumal but bharatha
did kainkaryam by acting according to perumal's words.
So listening to what he says and doing things
accordingly(parathantriyam) is considered to be a
great kainkaryam. Both sesashatvam and
parathanthriyam are regarded equally important by our
poorvAcharyas. 

------------------Unquote 2------------------------
After having clarified my words as above, I think, you
will appreciate that what I wrote is in no way
different from what you have written here. However, I
would only say that doing nitya karmas is not
mandatory to achieve anything. It has to be done only
to lead a purposeful life while on the earth.

----------------------Quote 3--------------------
Krishna in bhagavat geetha also says that each one has
to do their duty "karmamyEva dekA rasthE mA pAlEchu
kadAchana". If we really do bhakthi non stop then it
is ok if we miss nitya karma. Once koorathazhvan was
involved in some bhagavat vishayam that he even forgot
to do thiruvArAdhanam to bhagavan. Such should be the
concentration. Do we all possess the same? Then
where comes the question of leaving our nitya karmas?
--------------------Unquote 3-----------------------
Nice question. The answer is, I do not know about
others, but atleast I am sure I do not possess such
high virtues. But true to our poorvAchAryA's words, if
we are to believe that we are just slaves of emberumAn
and all our actions are controlled by him, I would say
even the non-performance of these nitya karmas by the
chEtanAs is also driven by Him. Just take this case, I
am not in temple doing any service, neither am I
learning divya prabhandhams at my house, at a
particular time, instead I just sit watching a cricket
match and miss my sandhyavandhanam. Everyone will, for
sure, say that I am not doing the right thing, just in
the same vein as you have asked. But let me ask a
question here, when all my actions are controlled by
Him, how is it that I be blamed for not doing my
sandhyavandhanam. Am I sounding weird here? I don't
think so. This though requires, a complete
understanding of the relationship of the jeevAthmA
with that of emberumAn. Please do not mistake me. I do
not claim that I know all and everything and I am the
Mr Perfect. I am only saying that I believe that I
have no independent thoughts as I live like an achit
at the mercy of its master.

This only reminds of a Tamizh movie song. I do not
remember who wrote this song, but it is from the
movie, 'marupadiyum' The verses goes like this 'nAyakam mElirundhu noolinai 
aattuginRAn, naamellAm
bommai enRu nAdagam kAttuginRan?E?Eand then goes
further. What a beautiful verse is this. The essence
of the Sri Vaishnavism as thought beautifully by our
AzhwArs and AchAryAs are clearly stated in this. Yes
we are just the bommais in the bommalaattam and Sriman
Naryanan is the master who activates these bommais.
But with out the activation of these Bommais by the
master, these bommais cannot move even an inch.

In AzhwAr's words, the same thought is conveyed as
'en uNarvinuLLE irutthinEn, adhuvum avanadhu
innaruLE'. A beautiful pAsuram by Sri Thirumangai
AzhwAr in his Periya thirumozhi. He says, he took
emberumAn in his feelings and thoughts, but
immediately says, that too was because of His grace,
as, as a slave I do not have any independence to do
anything.

So where is the freedom. We ourselves, out of our
ignorance think that we have to do something. But we
may still say that this will not earn moksha. I would
say first of all, even to think that WE have to do
something, is against what our AzhwArs and AchAryAs
have told.

-------------------Quote 4------------------------------
True. A true prapannan should be like that only. It
is a idealistic case. Even our acharyas did not leave
all the nitya karamas and live like that.
--------------------Unquote 4----------------------------
I think while writing this, you forgot the incident
involving Sri ThirukkaNNamangai AndAn. He lived
exactly like that leaving everything. Sri Ramanuja or
other poorvAchAryas may have done their nitya karmas,
but it is only that they did them as a spiritual time
pass as indicated by Sri Thirumazhisai AzhwAr. So
while doing nitya karmas for just spiritual time pass
(naRpOdhu pOkku) cannot be said as wrong, the non
performance of them cannot be called wrong too.

I know will address your worry of misleading the
people. Yes, you are right, unless this point is
clearly explained, this will mislead people to stop
doing everything by just saying that it is okay not to
do anything. The only explanation that needed to be
given is that, to come to this state, one should have
the same vairAgyam that Sri ThirukkaNNamangaiANdan
had, same faith on emberumAn that he had. There should
be no fear of anything as you have now believed
emberumAn completely. But I tell you it is very
difficult to be like that. I know that this is the
worry of Smt Sumitra that the words may mislead the
people. I can only say that I have told the truth and
it is upto emberumAn's grace to make the chEtana do
what he is doing.
-------------------------Quote 5-----------------------------
I accept that we should not do anything to earn
anything but then we should do all the karmas as
kainkaryam to bhagavan. Sure nothing we do can earn
us moksha only his nirheduka krupai can but then why
did the alwars sing paasurams and cry since once we
are involved in bhakthi we cannot just sit. We do
everything for his sake and enjoy seeing him smile at
what we do(padiyai kidandhu vun pavala vAi kAnbhEnE) 
-------------------Unquote 5-------------------------------
I agree with you fully. What you have written above is
nothing different from what I mean to say, except that
the performance of nitya karmas should NOT be insisted
upon.

----------------------Quote 6------------------------------
True the acharya didnt do anything to earn moksham but
did he leave his nithya karmas and kainkaryams. Sri
Venkatesh adiyen understands what you are trying to
convey but then your words may highly mislead others. 

---------------------Unquote 6-----------------------------
Yes, he did leave his nitya karmas, that is what his
charitram says.
------------------------Quote 7---------------------------
When we act according to the words of bhagavan in the
sastras and in the bhagavat gita it surely pleases
him.
-----------------------Unquote 7------------------------
We should only act according to His words. Whether to
get pleased or not is His decision. I agree that if we
act according to His words, He will be pleased, but we
can only hope so and remain with that hope. He may get
pleased. But we do know. He does not come before us
and say that He is pleased. Practical.

----------------------Quote 8------------------------
I strongly abjuct to this. Do you think perumal
doesnt have the capacity to guide us when we consider
him as our driving force? A prapannan acts according
to the orders of perumal and do you think perumal
cannot point out our mistakes when we look at him for
clarification. When we consider emperuman as
everything, surely emperuman answers our queries and
guides us in the right path. Sri Parthasarathi in gita
declares that he does so. "Ananyath chintayanthOmam yE
jana par yupAsathE thEsham nithyAbhiyukthAnAm
yOgashEmam vahamyaham" So whatever kainkaryam we do is
only to please him.
-----------------------Unquote 8----------------
Sorry, you have misunderstood my intentions. I agree
that He will correct us and in fact if He doesn?t, He
is the loser, like in that watch-owner analogy. But
what I meant to ask was, in this present day, does He
appear before us and correct us. The answer is a
definite NO. But how does He do it? That is through a
?gnyAnam anuTTAnam ivan nanRAga udaya?EAchAryan. Which
is why the AchAryAs are considered even more prominent
than emberumAn Himself.

-----------------------Quote 9---------------
Kainkaryam is for his happiness and not for ours. So
whatever we do should be aimed to please him only. We
are not impossing anything on him and we can never do
so. We do it for the sake of pleasing him and by his
apara karunyam he gets pleased that is it. He is a
svathantran getting pleased or not is left to him but
he also has karunyam which makes him accept our even
small bit of kainkaryam and get pleased with the same.
As you have said acharyas do show us the right path
but even they are given to us only by the emperuman. 
True in our sampradayam acharyas are considered as par
or even more than bhagavan himself but whatever the
acharya preaches is also only to please the bhagavan
nothing against it. Again we prapannas do not thing
pleasing perumal to be a upaya to attain moksham it is
just the gratefulness we show for what all he has done
for us to the extent we can or rather we should call
it to be our svabhavam to do kainkaryam to bhagavan
and please him rather than for anything else. Like our
acharyas say that nammazhvar's bhakthi was not sadhya
bhakthi or sadhana bhakthi it was sahaja bhakthi. It
was his svabhavam to do bhakthi. 
--------------------------Unquote 9------------------
I don?t have any objections at all for all the above.
I only say that the performance of nitya karma should
not be insited upon. 
---------------------------Quote 10------------------
Sri Venkatesh adiyen totally know what you feel and
what you wanted to convey. But then in some places
adiyen felt that your words may mislead others so just
to clarify, this mail.
------------------------Unquote 10------------------
Smt Sumitra, do not worry. As we know each other well
right from childhood (sorry for the personal remark) I
do know, what you are trying to say. But I hope I have
clarified the position taken by me regarding this
issue in a more clearer way. Please correct me if I am
wrong. Also this is not just a position taken by me. I
have only reproduced the words of our poorvAchAryas in
this matter. I know it is diffcult to accept this. But
the fact is, it should be.

Any mistakes may be please pardoned and corrected by
the learned bhagavatas.
AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh


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