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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00097 Sep 2004

 
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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA. 

Sri Balaji Sundarrajan has raised  3 pertinent issues
? that have all been raised in the past too by the
sAdhakAs desirous of knowing Him and attaining Him. It
is amazing to note that Sri Ramanuja had in fact dwelt
not only in these but countless other queries and
doubts and had established the Truth with the help of
scriptures. If we go into his treatise on various
issues, there is little we can do by way of addition
or clarification as regards to answering these
questions and therefore let me just present here the
relevant portions (primarily) from VedArtha Sangraha.
The three questions are taken up in three mails. 
The first one is dealt with in this mail. 

Sri Balaji says,
?-almost 30% of Vishnu sahasranaamam is saying that
our almighty has no form, but he is big,great , he
encompasses everything (in the universe) & he has no
matter within himself(like a bliss)
> His Formful explanation.
 Given this case ,why all the other descriptions say
that he has four hands, 5 aayudhas, lotus eyed , with
a shri vatsa mark on his chest , he has vaijayante
(always fresh ) maala ,lotus feets, lotus hands,
beautiful limbs , soundarya thirumeni , blue bodied ,
white face (kathir mathiyam pol mukathaan) - ,tall
glittering crown?..?

Now the replies:-
Sri Balaji is correct in his observation but the ratio
seems to have been mixed up:-), in that the texts
describing Him as formless but having innumerable
attributes are many compared to the ones describing
Him with form. VedArtha Sangraha tells us how to
?cognize? such descriptions and how such ?cognition?
is essential to ?know? Him and enjoy Him as described
by those forms or attributes. Eternal joy or Bliss is
attained when the seeker realises Him in such Blissful
forms or formlessness. That is the import of the
verses quoted below.

(verse 198):-
??there are thousands of srutis which describe Him as
follows; his divine form is wholly agreeable and
appropriate to Him: many kinds of numberless and
infinitely auspicious ornaments adorn Him suiting Him
eminently: He bears numberless wondrous weapons,
suited to His prowess: His divine consort is agreeable
and suited to Him in her essential nature, form,
beauty, glory, sovereignty, compassion and unsurpassed
greatness: He is served by (divine) accessories of
service and numberless (divine) servants, who are
suited to Him and are endowed with holy knowledge and
power of action and countless other virtues: His
boundless and magnificent divine abode, containing all
objects and means of delight suited to Him, is
indescribable and inconceivable: all these are eternal
and perfect.?

(verse 199):-
?the texts are as follows: ?I know this great Purusha,
who is the colour of the sun, and is beyond all
darkness (Pu 20)?. ?He who dwells within the sun,
havinga  form as if made of gold ? has eyes like the
lotus just opening at sunrise (cha I, vi,8)?. ?In the
space of the heart resides this Purusha, abounding in
mind, immortal and resplendent (Tai I,vi,1)?.
?Abounding in mind? means that he can be apprehended
only by a pure mind. ?All moments originated from the
Purusha, brilliant like lightening (Maha I,2)?. The
meaning is that the Purusha has the colour of
lightening.?

(verse 200)
? ?Luminous like a streak of lightening enclosing a 
blue cloud (Maha)?. This means that the subject spoken
of is like a streak of lightening enclosing a blue
cloud. The sentence as a whole means as follows: the
flame burning in the space in the centre of the lotus
of the heart has within it the Supreme Self whose
radiant colour is like that of a  blue cloud.
Therefore that flame bears resemblance to a streak of
lightening enclosing a  blue cloud.?

The succeeding verses, particularly verse 220
describes Him on the basis of forms or attributes. To
enjoy His from as described in this verse (220) as
told by SUtrakara  (based on Bra, I,i,21), a part of
it is being reproduced here:
? His lustre is like that of a fine mountain of molten
gold. He has the splendour of hundred thousand suns.
His pure eyes have the beauty of the petals of a
lotus, just unfolding under rays of the sun and
crowning a rich stalk, that has sprung up in deep
waters. His brow and forehead and nose are charming.
His coral-like lips radiate a pure smile. His cheeks
are tender and radiant. His neck is lovely like a
conch. His exquisitely tender ear-lobes are almost
touching his high shoulders. His arms are well
developed, round and long. His beautiful and roseate
palms are adorned with fingers of the same hue. His
waist is slender and chest broad. All parts of his
person are proportionate and symmetrical. The divine
harmony of his features beggars all description. His
complexion is effulgent. His lovely feet are like
full-blown lotus. His gold-hued raiment eminently
suits his person. He is adorned by pure, divine an
definitely marvelous ornaments like kirIta, kundala,
hAra, kaustuba, keyUra, kataka, nUpura and
udhara-bandhana.  He is bedecked with conch, discus,
mace, sword, bow, srivatsa and vanamAla. He has
captivated the eyes and hearts of all by his
surpassingly sublime beauty?..?

(Verse 222)
??. He (VakhyakAra)  himself repudiates the suggestion
that the form is temporal. He takes note of the
objection, ?The form may be artificial being assumed
to favour the individual self, as it is possible for
the omnipotent Lord to assume such forms?. This prima
facie view means that the form is taken by the Supreme
Purusha for favouring graciously those who meditate on
 Him. He answers, ?But His form is real and
super-sensuous, because the srutis state that it is
perceptible to the inner eye.? His meaning is that
just as knowledge etc, are taken as inherent
attributes of the supreme Brahman, because they are so
stated in the scriptures, this form also, described as
inherent to the supreme Brahman, must be so taken.?

The description  goes on to drive home the point  how
He is attained with devotion or love on His form
and/or  formless attributes.  Sri Ramanuja says that
;bhakti is a particular kind of love (prIti). Love is
a particular kind of cognition.? (verse 238)

?The cognition which is said to result in joy, is
itself that joy.?(Verse 239)

(From verse 240) ?To explain:  Cognition of objects is
common to all the three types of experiences ?joy,
pain and emotional neutrality. Cognition which depends
upon its objective content for its specific quality,
acquires the aforesaid qualities (of joy or pain or
the neutral state) as determined by its objective
content. The cognition of that object ?the cognition
qualified by which object is said to lead to joy ?is
itself the joy in question. Nothing other than this
cognition can be discerned in the  experience of joy.
By this cognition itself the experience of joy is
accounted for.?

(verse 241) :- ?Entities other than Brahman can be
objects of such cognitions of the nature of joy only
to a finite extent and for limited duration. But
Brahman is such that cognizing of Him is an infinite
and abiding joy. It is for this reason that the Sruti
says, ? Brahman is Bliss (Tai II,6)?. Since the form
of cognition as joy is determined by its object,
Brahman itself is joy.?

(verse 242):- ? This has been stated in the sacred
text, ?He is rasa: attaining this rasa, the cognizer
becomes blissful (Tai II, 7)?. It means that, as
Brahman is joy, the person who attains Brahman becomes
joyous. The Supreme Purusha is unsurpassed and
infinite joy by Himself and in Himself. He becomes the
 joy of another also, as His nature as joy is absolute
and universal. When Brahman becomes the object of
one?s contemplation, he (the meditator) becomes
blissful.?

The inference:- The forms and formless attributes
described by srutis are infinite, eternal and of
blissful nature. The meditation on the Brahman as with
forms or as formless is intended to cognize the
Brahman as an object of infinite, absolute and eternal
qualities, by which the meditator himself attains the
supreme Brahman of such nature (qualities contemplated
upon) which is nothing but a joyous state. 

(To be continued)




                
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