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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00096 Sep 2002

 
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srisailEsa dayapAtram dhIbhaktyAdi guNArNavam |
yatIndrapravaNam vandE ramya jAmataram munim ||

Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Dear devotees,
Most of us have faith in PerumAL/Lord but all of us are 
not fortunate to have the Lord Himself as an AchArya. So,the Lord 
corrects us through an AchAryA and contact with bhAgavatAs. So, the 
grace of an AchAryA is essential for "knowledge". I have been 
obsessed with AdisEsA/Ramanuja since my third grade,though he might 
have been dormant initially,without his grace i would not be writing 
this post and couple of years back,for fraction of a second I got 
attracted to Advaita philosophy,but was gripped tightly by Ramanuja. 
Therefore I attribute this knowledge to only Ramanuja. TirumUla 
mantram explains the significance of the "need of an AchAryA" and 
those who are not familiar with the TirumUla mantram/ASTAkshara 
mantram,please read the postings of Sri TCA Venkatesan. 

Remember that the Lord has both mercy and unlimited 
autonomy! Although AchAryA's love and God's grace are virtually the 
same,resorting to the all-merciful AchAryA is without the danger of 
resorting to the Lord who has both mercy and autonomy. Sri Vachana 
BhUSaNam argues that AchArya abhimAna is not only a 
separate/independent means but also superior/ultimate means
(caramOpAya)given the ultimate limits of the soul's nature and 
destiny. 

AbhimAna means bhakti-love

The relationship between the AchArya abhimAna and prapatti 
is similar to the one between prapatti and bhaktiyOgA. 

PiLLai lOkAchAryA[SVB 444-5]says:from fear of one's own 
autonomy,bhakti is dropped;from fear of the Lord's autonomy,prapatti 
is dropped. In SVB 462,PL says,"prapatti is for one who is incapable 
of bhakti;AchArya abhimAna is for one who is incapable of prapatti".

MaNavALa mAmunigaL in his commentary on the same[SVB 444-
5,462] says: bhakti is dropped in favor of prapatti primarily because 
of the autonomous/self efforts that bhakti demands is contrary to the 
soul's true nature of dependence and secondarily it is very difficult 
as compared to prapatti. Prapatti is dropped in favor of AchArya 
abhimAna primarily because of the fear that the Lord,out of His 
autonomy,may again decide to keep the soul in samsAra and punish him 
according to his karma and secondarily due to the difficulty of 
maintaining the "great faith(mahA vishvAsam)" essential to prapatti.

Madhurakavi AzhvAr and Vaduga nambi(Ramanuja's disciple)are 
the classic examples of holding "AchArya abhimAna" as their "sole" 
upAya and service to AchAryA as their only upEya. Other AzhvArs 
praised bhAgavata kainkaryam and sometimes yearned for the Lord,while 
Madhurakavi AzhvAr was fully satisfied to serve his 
AchArya,NammAzhvAr. Vaduga nambi was so devoted to Ramanuja that he 
didn't feel the need to go and worship Lord SriRanganAtha in the 
temple! Infact Vaduga nambi accused MudaliANdAn and KUraththAzhvAn 
being two-faced for alternatively seeking the Lord and Ramanuja! Such 
was their bhakti towards the AchArya.

MudaliANdAn:when the lion leaps over from one hill to another,the 
little insects, on the lion's body,also get transported with the 
lion. Similarly when Ramanuja(lion),leaped over the cycle of birth 
and death,we were also saved because of our connection with him. 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam
EmperumAnAr tiruvadigaLE saraNam
nappinnai







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