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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00092 Sep 2004

 
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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

The second part of Sri Balaji?s mail is about the
abode of God.
His query is as follows:-

?vaikuntam is a (unreachable) place in the universe
with milky ocean which is called as parama padam
(highest abode) so called our moksham(
> our final destination) what is the situation of
those who have already
 attained salvation. ? how can they attain
formless salvation (bliss)?

Let us find the reply from VedArtha Sangraha.
First let us know what is Vaikuntham / Parama padam /
abode of Vishnu.

(Verse 207):-
?(Objection): But the terms ?The supreme abode of
vishnu? need not be taken as referring to any realm.
The very nature of Vishnu is represented as the
supreme abode. No distinction is made between Vishnu
and his realm in texts like, ?The highest abode called
Vishnu, free from all evil (Vishnu purana, I,xii,
53)?.
(Reply): This is not the correct position. The texts,
?He who lives beyond this rajas (Ya II,ii,12)?, ?In
fact imperishable highest heavens?, ?He who is the
lord of this, in the highest heavens (Rg.X,cxxix,7)
and ?He who knows that one treasured cavern, in the
highest heavens (tai,II,1)? definitely proclaim the
existence of the highest abode. The very description
of it as Vishnu?s abode points to the realm as
different from Vishnu. Even in the text adduced, the
qualification, ?The highest abode called Vishnu?
proves that there is another highest abode, not one in
substance with Vishnu. It is this abode that is
described  as being always seen by the enlightened
seers.?

(verse 208):-
?The whole matter may be elucidated as follows: in
some texts, the highest abode is designated by the
term ?parama-pada?, in some, the nature of the
individual self freed from matter, and in some, the
very nature of Bhagavan is designated ?parama-pada?.
The text ?parama-pada? of Vishnu illustrates the usage
in relation to the highest abode. The text ?His
attribute-less and great ?parama-pada; undergoes
modification, owing to the action of the three
attributes of matter, at the periods of creation,
maintenance and destruction (Vi. I, xxiii, 41)?
clearly speaks of the nature of the individual self
freed from matter. The text ?free from evil, that
parama-pada, called Vishnu (Vi, I, xxii, 53)? is
speaking of the nature of Bahgavan. Now all these
three, (the highest realm, the pure status of the
individual and the Lord) are the supreme ideals to be
attained. Hence they are described as parama-pada.?

Now the question how they (individual souls) attain
parama-pada is taken up. (The question, how those who
already attained salvation are accomodated does not
arise because (1) parama-padam is not what sri Balaji
thinks (or most of us think, as evident from the above
verse) and (2) as Brahman is beginning-less and
eternal, His abode also is beginning-less and eternal
and hence the question is out of place.)

(vesre 209) :-
? ?How can all the three supreme ideals, the summum
bonum?? If this be asked, we answer thus; The Lord is
primarily the supreme ideal to be attained and
therefore He is the parama-pada. The other two are
included as constituent factors in the attainment of
the Bhagavan. Hence they are designated ?parama-pada?.
The realisation of the individual self of its real
nature, through emancipation from the bondage of karma
is included in the attainment of the Supreme. The
text, ?These eternal perfections are veiled by evil
(Cha. VIII,iii,1)? intimates that the auspicious
attributes of the Bhagavan are veiled from the view of
the individual self by its own karma. If it be asked
how it is known that the individual?s karma is the
evil that conceals the Supreme, we cite the following
textual authority: ?There is the third power, avidya,
called karma, by which power, the all-penetrating
power of the individual self is covered up, the
individual gets enmeshed in all the persisting
afflictions of bondage (Vi,VII, 61-62)?. Even the
ascent to the highest abode is included as a factor in
the attainment of Bhagavan.?

Now the question how they attain formless salvation:-
(Verse 251):-
???One who ?knows? Brahman attains the Highest
(Tai,II,1)?, ?He who ?knows? Him becomes immortal here
(Pu.20)? and ?He who ?knows? Brahman becomes Brahman
(Mu.III,ii,9)?. In the other text qualifying this
knowledge, ?This atman is attained by one whom He
chooses,? the clause ?whom He chooses? conveys the
idea of the seeker becoming an object of choice to the
Bhagavan. He comes to be chosen, who is the object of
greatest love. He becomes the object of greatest love
to the Lord in whom has arisen supreme love for the
Lord. The Bhagavan says, ?I am ineffably dear to the
man of knowledge and he is also dear to me (Gita,
VII,17)?.Therefore in reality, only knowledge that is
of the nature of supreme bhakti is the means for
attaining Bhagavan.?

Note from this writer:-
The above conclusion may be seen to be running
contrary to a particular school of thought ? a
reconciliation between which and the one above is
being seen as a way to unite  Sri vaishnavas (refer
Sri Pattangi?s mail on unity efforts). But such
discrepancy does not seem to exist (in the very first
place)  if one takes into cognition the Mumukhuppadi
verse (273 ??pEttrukku vEnduvadu ?irrakkamaiyum,
erappum?) whereby (according to Mamunigal urai) it is
maintained that the Lord does NOT eliminate the one
who seeks rakshNam by swa-yathnam, even though it is
maintained (in verse 231) ?avanudaiya sweekAramE
rakshakam?. He treats all equal. The difference is
only in our mind and mind-set.

Similar instance of kripa (call whatever you may) of
the Lord is noticed in His grant of Deliverance to
those who worship anya devathas (on the basis of the
Truth that it is indeed He who is worshipped through
them) in verse 7-30 of Gita, writing on  which Sri
Ramanuja says, ??those others who are now described as
knowing Him with Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva and Adhiyajna
are to be included among those who will know Him at
the time of death.?

And in the  verse 8-5 of Gita ? And he who at the last
moment, while leaving the body, departs, remembering
Me alone, attains My Being; of this, there is no
doubt.?, it is being explained by Sri Ramanuja, ?in
whatever way he mediates on Me, he attains that very
form, in the same manner as the royal sage Bharatha
attained the form of the deer remembered by him at
death. Such is the meaning.?

Hence Sri Balaji?s query ?how does the soul attain
formless salvation?? is replied thus: In whatever form
(or in formless state) the Brahman is meditated upon,
in such a form, the soul attains Him.

(To be continued)



                
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