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DESIKAMRUTHAM
SRIMAD RAHASYA TRAYA SARAM
By Sri Sadagopa Iyengar Swamin (of Coimbatore)
?Srikaaryam? of the Board of Advisors of ?Sri Ranga Sri?
The Five Fundamentals-7
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We saw so far in considerable detail, the nature of ParamAtma and that of
the JeevAtmA, the two principal players in the Great Cosmic Drama. All
scriptures are unanimous that the ultimate goal of all human endeavors is to
be rid of the mortal shackles, which push us deeper and deeper into the
morass of SamsAra. And every informed human being does direct his effort
towards Liberation from the whirlpool of Karma. However, not everyone
succeeds in this Herculean endeavor, with success rate abysmally low in
comparison with the number of aspirants. What exactly could be the reason
for this propensity for failure in attempts at adhyAtmic liberation? What
precisely are the hurdles that stand in the way of the Pilgrim's Progress,
making him slip down two feet for every foot he climbs? We have heard that
good things always attract hurdles ("ShrEyAmsi bahu vighnAni"), but what are
the almost insuperable impediments that the path to Paradise is paved with?
These and similar questions are dealt with by Swami Desikan, under the
heading "PrApti VirOdhi".

Listing out the chief predators that lie in wait, ready to gobble up the
unassuming aspirant, Swami Desikan indicates five of them-

1. AvidyA-This consists of our overwhelming illusion of identity between our
imperishable AtmA, which is the moving spirit and our physical body, subject
to death and decay, otherwise known as "DEhAtma Bhramam?. When we are unable
to distinguish our real selves from the mortal coils that we inhabit, we
become unable to appreciate our essential nature as the Lord's own servants,
mistaking ourselves to be mere physical entities experiencing pleasure and
pain due to some arbitrary dispensation. This prevents us from even
attempting release from the endless cycle of births and deaths and ensures
our everlasting enslavement to matters mundane.

Even if we are able to differentiate between body and soul, there is yet
another insuperable hurdle that ensures our remaining bound to the shackles
of Karma - this is the secondary illusion that we are independent agents,
endowed with absolute autonomy. While we are actually little better than
puppets dancing on a chain, animated by the Cosmic Puppeteer, we imagine
ourselves to be our own masters, in full control of our destinies. We
realize little that we are, by nature, eternal slaves of the Lord and that
it is His sankalpam which makes it possible for us to even lift a little
finger. This illusion is known as "Svatantra Atma bhramam" and, along with
its twin brother "DEhAtma bhramam", forms a deadly duo defeating any efforts
at Liberation.

It is of these two impediments of "ahankAram" and "mamakAram" that Sri
Nammazhwar claims to have been a victim, prior to being blessed with the
wonderful wisdom of discernment and discrimination- "YAnE ennai ariayagilAdE
yAnE en tanadE endru irundEn".

Even if the Lord were to present Himself before us and claim us as His own,
the aforesaid delusions would make us turn our face away, as Sri Bhattar
portrays graphically in his muktakam, "tvam mE aham mE". When the Lord
declares, with all love and affection, "You are mine!? we rebel, steeped in
dEhAtma and svatantra Atma bhramam, and retort, " No! I am my own master".
This is what avidyA does to us.

2. Karma-The second roadblock on the path to the Promised Land is the
accumulated baggage of good and bad deeds that we have been committing over
innumerable births. While the Lord has been kind enough to endow us with a
physique for the purpose of endeavoring for emancipation, we, in our
ignorance, use it to acquire more shackles, getting deeper and deeper into
bondage instead of unraveling the constricting ropes of Karma. It is again
Sri Nammazhwar who describes graphically the benumbing bondage-
"thiNNam azhunda katti pala seivinai van kayittrAl
puNNai maraya varindu ennai pOra vaitthAi puramE"

By terming this Karma "van kayiru", Azhwar gives us a good idea of how
strong these shackles are and how difficult it is to rid oneself of them.
This is the "tadai Agi tokkiyalum oozhvinai" spoken of in the tanian to
Tiruvaimozhi.

3. VAsanA is the cumulative imprint that the innumerable deeds, good and
bad, leave upon the individual soul, the SamskAra that is generated due to
the unending stream of Karma.

4. Ruchi-The unshakeable VAsanA gives rise to Ruchi or the proclivity to act
in a particular fashion. A sin leads on to more of its ilk, resulting in
habitual offence. And such continual transgression of divine laws makes us
eternally toil in SamsAra, with little inclination to even to think about
liberation.

5. Prakriti Sambandham-This fifth impediment is perhaps the seed for all the
others listed above and refers to the association of the pure and
imperishable AtmA with the impure and decaying physical body, which in turn
gives rise to avidyA, Karma, VAsanA and Ruchi. It might also be said that it
is Karma which gives rise to Prakriti sambandham. However, both being
timeless and without a beginning or end, which gave to rise to which would
be a matter of debate, akin to the irresoluble argument about which came
first, the chicken or the egg.

It is this lethal group of adversaries that act as veritable landmines in
our path of progress and blow up the unwary traveler when he takes a wrong
step.

However, there is a root-cause of all the evils listed above, viz., the
Lord's anger ("Bhagavat nigraham"), caused by repetitive transgression of
His commandments. Emperuman's directives, formulated for our own Atma
kshEmam, are enshrined in the Shruti and the Smritis "Shruti: Smriti:
mamaiva Agya".

Wanton disregard of their provisions and willful disobedience of their
dictates naturally generates displeasure in the Lord. When He has endowed us
with discerning intellects to distinguish right from wrong and good from the
bad, supplemented this in-born wisdom with Shastras which serve as
guideposts whenever we are at life's cross roads, provided us with merciful
Acharyas to guide and enlighten - when He has done all this, if we still
insist on treading the perilous path to destruction, He is naturally
saddened by our waywardness and defiance, which in turn results in
displeasure. It is this divine displeasure that is the greatest hurdle to
our efforts at emancipation.

Swami Desikan lists no less than a dozen ill effects flowing from this
Bhagavat nigraham, which we shall see in the next installment.


DESIKAMRUTAM
SRIMAD RAHASYA TRAYA SARAM
BY SRI SADAGOPAN IYENGAR SWAMIN, SRIKARYAM OF
BOARD OF ADVISORY CONSULTANTS OF SDDS/ SRS
THE THREE TENETS-7
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Swami Desikan continues with his exposition of the various
components of Sri Ramanuja's Gadya phrase, "SvAdhIna trividha
chEtana achEtana svarUpa sthithi pravritti bhEdam", ascribing to
Emperuman the overlordship of the three classes of sentient souls
and non-sentient objects, in all their states of existence and
activity, as also of their essential nature. Thus far, the nature of
the three types of souls, viz., the BaddhAs, the MuktAs and the
NityAs, the three types of objects, viz., Prakriti, KAlam and
Shuddha Sattvam, in their three facets, viz.essential nature,
existence and activity, have been considered.

Let us recap what Swami Desikan told us about the support for the
bound soul's body, in the waking state:-

When we come to "Pravritti" or activity engaged in by the human
body, we are told that the same is due to the support provided by
the Attributive Knowledge or Dharma Bhoota GnAnam, which is one of
the principal characteristics of the Atma (as distinct from its
essential nature or Svarupam). Thus when we walk, when we talk, when
we engage in innumerable endeavours to achieve various goals
in life, when we adopt appropriate strategies to ensure such
achievement, etc.,it is Dharma Bhoota GnAnam or Attributive
Knowledge, which supports us in all this. When we perform Bhakti or
Prapatti for reaching the Lord, it is this Attributive Knowledge
that makes this possible.

We thus see that while the essential nature of the Atma ("SvarUpam")
supports the body during sleep and similar states, in the waking
state, it is the Dharma Bhoota GnAnam, which extends such support to
the body.

Thus, similar to "SvarUpam" or essential nature, "Dharma BhUta
GnAnam" or Attributive Knowledge too is also a substance, as far as
individual souls are concerned. This being so, why doesn't Sri
Ramanuja mention this separately in the aforesaid phrase from the
Gadya? Swami Desikan tells us that since Attributive Knowledge has
been included as an attribute of the Soul, no separate mention has
been made of it.

What are the distinguishing traits of this Dharma BhUta GnAnam?

The first and foremost is that it is luminous by itself to the soul,
which possesses it, while revealing objects. For instance, when the
soul perceives a pen, it is this GnAnam which reveals the object to
the soul as a pen. Simultaneously, Dharma BhUta GnAnam reveals
itself too to the soul.

As far as the Lord and the NityAs are concerned, this Attributive
Knowledge is all pervasive (nitya vibhu) and eternal.

For the Bound Souls, as long as they are in the grip of SamsAra,
this Knowledge expands and contracts variously, depending upon their
Karma. Once they are liberated from their mortal coils, this
Attributive Knowledge reverts to its original nature of being
pervasive and serves them thus, thenceforth.

So far we have seen the differences in the nature of Dharma BhUta
GnAnam, depending on whether it belongs to a Bound Soul, Mukta,
Nitya or the Isvara.

Dealing next with the Pravritti or activity of this GnAnam, Swami
Desikan lists its functions thus-

1. It illuminates objects and makes them amenable to perception
by individual souls.

2. When the body makes an effort, Attributive knowledge directs
the body and the senses therein.

3. When the soul is in a state of bondage, Attributive
Knowledge undergoes expansion and contraction, as already pointed
out, due to Karma.

4. It undergoes experiences, which reveal objects as favourable
or unfavourable.

What exactly is the nature of Experience? It is the process of
feeling a particular object as agreeable or disagreeable,
pleasurable or otherwise. All objects, which form the bounties of
the Lord, are totally pleasurable and favourable to Him, to the
Nityas and the Muktas. However, to the BaddhAs or Bound souls
suffering in Samsara, objects afford pleasurable, painful or
indifferent experiences.

The type of experience derived from an object again depends upon the
person, the time of experience and the place. Thus, the same object
may afford pleasure to one person, while being extremely
disagreeable with another. While Sugar is extremely sweet and brings
a smile to a healthy child's face, to a diabetic, it is nothing less
than poison. The same object may afford pleasure to one at a
particular time and pain at another. Similarly, depending upon the
place too, objects may turn out to be agreeable or disagreeable.

A question arises here-how can the same object offer different
experiences to different people and to the same person at different
times and places? After all, the object is the same and does not
change from person to person or from place to place or from time to
time!

Swami Desikan clarifies that the essential nature of the object
doesn't change. All objects are inherently favourable only. It is
the Karma of the Bound Souls that makes the object agreeable or
disagreeable to the experiencing soul, as reward or retribution for
its good or bad deeds, as ordained by the Lord. It is due to the
Lord's ever-true will, that objects acquire agreeability or
disagreeability, depending upon the soul's baggage of Karma.

What are the qualifications that are present only in Bound Souls,
that make them eligible for and subject to experiencing the sweet
and bitter fruits of Karma?
These are two-fold-

1. The essential nature of the JIvAs, as being subject to the
will of another, Supreme Person.

2. Another and subsidiary reason is their engaging in sinful
activities, resulting in offences against the Lord.

Though the MuktAs and the NityAs too are subordinate souls, subject
to IsvarA's will, they do not have the second qualification of
sinning, making them ineligible for experiencing the fruits of
Karma. The Lord too, being the Supreme Ruler of all, is neither
subservient to another person, nor has any reason or occasion to
transgress the commands of a suprerior, and is totally ineligible to
be tainted by the stigma of Karma.