You are here: SriPedia - Ramanuja - Archives - Sep 2004

Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00090 Sep 2004

 
Sep 2004 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

Now the third part of Sri Balaji Sundarrajan?s mail
about ?seeing?.


> Does athma has eyes ? i am aware that athma has (&
may carry ) knowledge during salvation.
> how can our aathma can see him without eyes.
> am i imagining my aathma like a dust in the air --
> (anur-brihat..krisha-sthoolaa)

>From  VedArtha Sangraha:-
(Verse 252) :-
?He (Bhagavan DvaipAyana) says, ?His form does not
fall within the range of perception. No one sees Him
with his eyes. He, whose mind has been brought to the
state of samAdhi by determined effort, sees him who is
of the nature of knowledge, through bhakti.? The
meaning is that one who by determined effort fixes his
whole mind on the Supreme Purusha, sees him through
bhakti. Here ?seeing? means direct perception and
?direct perception? means attainment. It is thus the
passage would be one in meaning with the Lord?s
declaration., ?I am attainable only through undivided
bhakti (Gita XI 54)?. Bhakti, therefore is only a form
of knowledge. Thus the explanation is complete and
satisfactory.? 

Note:- To know what   ?perception?, ?knowledge? and
?bhakti? spoken in the above verse are all about, one
has to sail through the import of the verses 245, 246,
247, 250 & 251. It is servitude (seshatwa) in the form
of bhakti  that is spoken as  knowledge by texts. ?It
has already been elucidated (in the verses from 245 to
247) that it is this service of the form of bhakti
that is spoken of as knowledge.? (251).

What is this service and servitude?
(Taking cue from verse 245, swami AdidevAnanda has
this to say in the Foreword to the translated version
of VedArtha Sangraha by Sri S.S. Raghavachar.)
?Sri  Ramanuja enunciates a principle ?that what an
individual pursues as a desirable end depends upon
what he conceives of himself to be.? (245) Different
people pursue different and mutually conflicting
values. Hence the notion that independence is
happiness proceeds from the mis conception that one is
identical with the body, mind etc. This attachment to
the body is a sort of dependence itself. Instead of
dependence on God, it is dependence on matter. The
metaphysical fact is that he is not the body and
consequently there must be something else with which
his self is related. There can not be relation of the
principal entity and the subsidiary (sEshin and sEsha)
between any finite objects. The only object with which
such a relation can exist is God. Hence dependence on
anything other than God is painful and subservience to
God is joy and freedom. Similarly bondage is indeed a
dog?s life (Manu says) when one serves those who are
unworthy of service. The only entity which is worthy
of love, adoration and service is God. Sri Ramanuja
clinches the issue by quoting the text, ?He is to be
served by all.? (150) The emancipation consists in
service of God, and true bondage is independence of
God and service of body.?

To continue the logic, let us go into verse 250, ?
?..the only one that ought to be served by all who are
enlightened about the fundamental nature of the self,
is the Highest Purusha. ?He is to be served by people
in all stages of life. He alone is to be served by
all.? The lord says, ?he who serves me, following the
path of undivided bhakti, transcends these qualities
(of prakriti) and will attain self-realisation.? (Gita
XIV 26)

In verse 251 Sri Ramanuja speaks of this service as
bhakti which is spoken as ?knowledge? by texts. ?Only
knowledge that is of the nature of supreme bhakti is
the means of attaining Bhagavan.? This ?attainment? is
?direct perception? which is equated to ?seeing? is
what the last verse (252) of VedArtah sangraha is all
about.

More detailed description of this ?seeing? is found in
Ramanuja Bhashya to Badarayana?s Vedanta Sutras.
(concluded)




                
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone.
http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo 



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/.itolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam
 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
ramanuja-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list