Q. 3. Please write an article bringing out how in Rahasyatraya saram, it is explained regarding prapannas place of living after prapatti. Liberation of atma from sarira, the path atma takes to paramanubhava and paripurna brahma anubhayam.
Ans. One of the finest chapters in the Rahasyatrayasara is that called the Uttarakrityadhikara. It prescribes the kind of life that a man should lead after the performance of prapati. Bodily purity, freedom from evil thoughts, the performance of nitya and naimittika rites without any desire for the fruits or consequences, good will to all, even to enemies who hate and revile. Service to god and the devotees of God. Contentment with whatever one has, these are some of the virtues that the prapanna should cultivate. His service to God and His devotees is prompted by the mere love of it and is not due to expectation of any reward. When one has performed prapati, one gives up all thought concerning oneself, even the thought of attaining moksha, for the Lord has taken on Himself all the burden or bhara.
The place where it is possible to concentrate all one attention on such things as service at the feet of Bhagavan and His adoration, or the place where one can find some one whose mind is exclusively and staunchly fixed on Bhagwan that is the place of abode for prapanna as it is almost equal to vaikunta.
The prapanna is desirous and eager to live in a manner that would be inoffensive and agreeable to the Lord. He is exclusively and supremely attached to the Lord. For Bhagwan alone is everything to him, the proper place thus is where the practice of Dharma of the four varnas is well established, In regions which are inhabited by Bhagvatas are to be chosen by the prapanna desirous of moksha, must live in places where there are devotees that adore with folded hands Sri Krishna, who has a complexion similar to that of a black cloud and that Look upon Him as their protector. Among those who consider Narayana as the supreme object of attainment.
To literally translate the Rahasya traya sara verses 19 to 22 for which the answer is desired.
19 Location suitability (Stana Visehsa)
Surrender resides in places conducive to prescribed rites.m Holy places extolled by preceptor idols at many great heights, on sacred river banks and where deep devotees always flock. Lives happily and does service humbly until he runs out clock.
20. Soul departure (Niryaana) Given good to friends and sins to foes soon he utters mantras soul unites with organs mind and life air, churned out extra, reaches Lord through bright subtle vein from heart to skull. No need for thought of God at end or curb on place and time.
21. Enroute (Gathi Visesha)
Soul gets into subtle body from gross prime guides takes out of world. Across the river gets divine body beneath a tree and dips in a pond. Greeted by five hundred gets eternal fragrance, flavor and splendor. Pass the city tower seat with divine fame climbs the throne to Lord.
22. Ultimate Bliss (Paripoorna brahma anubhava)
Ascends enjoys equivalent to Lord. His sacred body and prosperity. But not to form, firm and finish the world. neither salvation granting ability. Ecstatic on his share of eternal service by gurus blessings at the empire. Reached once the heavens never he returns to earth on his own desire.
In Sri Narayaniya the devas and the rishis ask "When Dharma stands on a single leg ready to go elsewhere, how are we to live O Lord?"
Bhagavan replies "You should live in places where gurus of good character and possessed of self control are held in reverence and where Dharma has not undergone any deterioration. The places which should be chosen by you, O best of devotees are those where flourish the vedas yajnas austerities (tapas) truth control of the senses and adharma will not touch you.
The holy places where Bhagavan is worshipped in temples are specifically suitable. Among them the holy places where Bhagavan has chosen to be present as archa would be proper for the prapannas residence.
A man should live in a place where there is a temple of Vishnu and do some kind of service there. That place on earth where dwell (the devotees of the Lord) who long for the world above (paramapada) which is the famous residence of Narayana, the Lord of Lakshmi, born of the lotus full of honey (pollen) that place is as sacred as the Himalayas surrounded by forests, the ganga, the cauvery the sea, the holy cities like ayodhya, Mathura, Kasi and Kanchi and Sri Vaikunta all in one.
Liberation of Atma from sharira.
The Lord merges the aggregate of the senses in the mind, the mind with the senses in the vital breath (prana) the vital breath with these in the self or soul, the self in the subtle elements (sukshma bhutas) and the self with these elements in Himself (the Supreme Self) very soon. So far the process of the souls departure is common to both the persons. the ones that have realized Him and those that have not realized Him. there after the Lord leads the self through different veins (nadi) which lead either to the (dark) path of smoke or to the shining path of light (archiradi ) or elsewhere in accordance with the qualifications (of each individual).
Also the soul of the man who has realized Brahman is said to be led through a vein issuing out of the head into the shining path of archis along which it passes into immortality in Vaikunta. The soul of the man who has not realised Brahman is led through other veins into the dark path called dhuma or smoke. He will be born again in samsara.
"Having given up all upayas, and having given up also all desires including the desire to enjoy ones self, I seek as my refuge O Lord thy feet which measured the world." when with these words the prapanna takes to the feet of the Lord, the Lord takes him by the hand, which it has been said is the only support of the prapanna. "The hand of the Lord who is called Janardhana and who has been bought with the price of bhakti is the only support for the prapanna".
The Lord who has been called "the King of all kings of all beings" and who is the possessor of the two glories Lila Vibhuti (in this world) and Nitya vibhuti or eternal glory in paramapada, having taken him by hand fixes him in a place of His own liking and the prapanna leads his life there, being held in as high regard as an anoited queen and following such occupations as are consistent with his exclusive and supreme attachment to the Lord.
Swami Desika describes how the soul leaves the body through the various Nadis (veins) and how the soul of a prapanna and that of a non prapanna take different routes and different destinations. First he emphasises how in the case of a prapanna the attainment of Moksha is certain even if he committed any indiscretions after performing prapatti.
A person who has performed prapatti will not consciously commit any sins. But due to 'prarabda karma' that had begun to yield fruits while he is living in this world, some mat severe :
1. He may display feelings of I and my and commit certain offences consequently. the Lord will make him realize his folly by making wisdom dawn on him.
2. He may display a taste or desire for an object other than the Lord. Even when a prapanna desires and prays for it, Iswara will not grant what is not good for his spiritual upliftment. This is like a mother preventing her child from falling into fire. The Lord declares when I decide to bless someone with Moksha, I strip him of his possessions inflict on him tragedies of death of his near and dear ones if in spite of all these he clings to me (as he surely will) I grant him the bliss which even the Gods cannot secure. Or he might grant him what he desires in such an abundant manner / measure as to create a revulsion and aversion to what he had asked for. The idea behind is that in any case the person chosen would emerge a fully evolved soul to deserve moksha.
3. He may contact other deities. In such cases the Lord would create a situation by associating him with Paramaikantins and make him feel ashamed of his deviate behaviour.
4. Being weak minded he may desire to adopt other upayas. The Lord will in due course dispel his desire to adopt other upayas. By all means the Lord would rid the prapanna of any failings or fallies he might have contacted due to the intention of his prarabda karma and eventually make him fit and qualified for moksha. all before the prapanna actually arrives at the point of departure from this life.
For a prapanna who has not swerved, the delay in securing Moksha is only so long as he desires it. The Lord is anxious to bring him into the company of nityasuris and is actually sorry for the delay desired by the prapanna to attain the goal. He creates a suitable atmosphere for the prapanna to leave his worldly life and decides on the appropriate time and pretext for the event. At the appropriate time the Lord projects for the prapanna to behold a remembrance of all his thoughts, desires and deeds during his life time in a sort of flashback. There is a dictum that one who dies during daytime, sukla paksha (bright fortnight of the moon) and Uttarayana (the six month period when the sun moves northwards alone can reach paramapada through what is known as Archradi marga (the shiny path) and the others go through Dhumadhi marga (the smoky path) only to be reborn. Lord Krishna declares "O Arjuna! I shall declare to you the path following which the yogis attain the state of not returning and also those who attain the state of returning light in the form of fire, the day, the bright fortnight preceding the full moon, the six months of the sun's northern progress departing there in men who know Brahman go to Brahman. smoke, night the dark fortnight of the waning moon and the six months of the sun's southern journey departing in these periods souls attain the light of the moon and come back to be reborn. Indeed those two paths, the bright and the dark, for the world of the departing souls are deemed to be eternal. By the one, one attains the state of non returning; by the other one comes back again.
The same idea has been expressed in Mahabaratha. But, this is not applicable in the case of a prapanna who may die at any time day or night, in the bright or dark fortnight, in Uttarayana or Dakshinayana etc. Since in his case the karma lasts only as long as the body lasts and the moment he sheds his mortal coil he moves to Paramapada through arciradi marg. Brahma Sutra and Chandokya upanishad also make this point quiet clear. Upto this point the preparation for departure of the soul is common to both the prapanna, the bhakta and also others.
The mode of actual departure:- Three specific ways have been identified through which the soul escape, there are 72,000 Nadis or invisible veins which branch off from the heart and ends up with nine major openings (navadwara) as also innumerable pores on the skin. some horizontal and some downwards, these are either colourless or dim, through them go those who had been so wicked during their sojourn in life that they have to expiate the results of their sins only by suffering are born in the world as animate beings, those who's account show a predominance of evil deeds have to remain condemned to being inanimate objects.
2. One hundred nadis of various colors white, black, blue golden yellow and red go upwards from the heart. Those who go through these nadis that go upwards go to the higher worlds to experience the fruits of the extraordinary punya they have accumulated, and after exhausting such punyas they return to the earth to experience the results of their other karmas, both good and bad. this is called the dhumadhi marg (smoky path ) or (Pitruyana).
3. There is one Nadi starting from the naval (mooladhara) which goes past the heart and ends up on the top of the crown. This is a special nadi reserved only for a prapanna. (who attains Moksha at the end of the current life in which he reaches a nill balance in his karma account) The Lord illuminates this nadi at the point where it goes past the heart and the departing soul sensing the flickering radiance leaves the heart and escapes through an aperture like bursting through the push door into this nadi. This Nadi is called Moordhanya Nadi or Sushumna Nadi or Brahma Nadi or Brahma randra since it opens at the top of the skul of the person thus leading him to Brahman itself through the shining path or the ARCHIRADHI MARG.
Anthima smriti.
The prapanna will attain moksha even if he is unconscious and unable to remember the Lord or utter any mantra at the time of his death.
In the Varaha Charma sloka the Lord assures "The man who, when his mind is in its normal condition, when the body is not shattered and when the Dhatus (elementary constituents of the body) are in perfect equipoise meditates on me as the one who has the world as my body and as the one who is not subject to births due to karma.... when that man lies like a log of wood or a piece of stone in his dying moments. I think of him and lead him to attain the highest state.... The last thought is that which arises when all sense organs have ceased to function and the person is in the state of similar to deep dreamless sleep (Sushupti) and if he is the prapanna the Lord confers this remembrance to him purely as a matter of his GRACE Kevalam Madeeya Dayaaya. in the words of Sri Ramanuja.
As for a place of death and the omens and signs under which the death occurs, Swami Sri Vedanta Desika says that whatever and where ever and whenever omens or signs a prapanna dies that becomes auspicious. This is because like a father who descends into a well full of slushy mire to take out his beloved child that has fallen into it, the Lord himself who abides in the cave of the heart ( Dahara) condescends to help the prapanna to enter the special 101'st Nadi through which he reaches Paramapada.
Thus to a prapanna who departs from the body which is as transient as lightning and who is to journey from the central Brahma Nadi along the beautiful and shiny path (of Archiradi) which is free from all impediments, the place of his departure itself an auspicious place, the day of his departure itself an auspicious day, the omens and signs that are there and seen are all auspicious what ever they may be.
Agni, daytime, suklapaksha, uttarayana the year, the intervening vayu, surya, chandra, lightning, varuna the king of devas Indra, with his umbrella signifying rulership and prajapati by these the souls of the mukta is entertained on the way with delights and there after it enters the abode of bliss.
We become exhausted by frequent ascent (to svarga) and descent back to the earth along the path of the Pitris (the path of smoke) like the water pot going up and down the well by the rotation of the water wheel, we become exhausted likewise by incessant journey to and fro, along the route, So Hari makes the various deities (on the shining path) entertain us who are so exhausted and at length confers bliss on us by keeping us as it were under his shade which is like the shade of the sandal tree.
Full and final enjoyment of the Bliss of Brahma.
Led by his guides (archis and others) to the Lord of Lakshmi who is possessed of various glories in the region beyond tamas i.e.prakriti and having attained him the mukta has his essential nature in full manifestation and realises his inseperable connection with the Lord, and as a consequence acquires the eight attributes of freedom from sin and the like and without any question of his returning again to samsara he attains in regard to enjoyment, perfect resemblance to the Lord.
The Nature of the Bliss of Brahman.
The Lords svarupa is delightful. He is all knowledge and all bliss. The attainment of Bhagwan is a remedy for the disease of samsara. It is of the nature of Joy which is unsurpassed and confers joy on others. It is an end itself and lasts forever. The svarupa of Bhagwan is called Parama pada.because it is the ultimate and supreme object of attainment being the unsurpassed agreeableness. Since the perfect enjoyment of the svarupa of Bhagwan happens only after reaching a most delightful region far superior to all others that region is also called Paramapada. The essential nature or swaroopa of the jiva which is the recipient of this joy in the attainment of Bhagwan which is also among the glorious possessions (vibhuthis) of the Lord and which has for its attributes jnana and ananda is also sometimes called paramapada. Along with the others these three have in common only the features of being the object of attainment.
When the mukta jeevan enjoys the limitless and unique Brahman in the form of bliss, he does not experience anything else except that Brahman. This is because all entities are embedded in the superiority and loftiness of the Brahman. Therefore the Mukta jeevan enjoys Brahman with its Isvaryam vibhuthi twath auspicious attributes and magnificient sukha maya annandham and does not recognise anything else.
It is asked what is the full and perfect enjoyment of Brahman by the mukta who has traversed the path described above. the answer is. He will in all places at all times and in all situations have for his unsurpassed joys the supreme ruler with his countless forms, attributes, glories and activities without missing any of them.
Led by his guides (archis and others) to the Lord of Lakshmi, who is possessed of varied glories in the region beyond tamas prakriti and having attained Him, the mukta has his essential nature in full manifestation and realises his inseparable connection with the Lord and as a consequence accquires the eight attributes (of freedom from sin being without old age, without death, without sorrow, without hunger, without thirst, with all desires objects and with a will that meets with no hindrance) and without any question of his returning again to samsara he attains, in regard to enjoyment, perfect resemblance to the Lord.
Ecstasy at the wonder of their experience, thrill because of what they were able to experience. gratitude for what had happened to them. Awe and lack of words to describe what happened. Evangelism in wanting to tell others why they should not fear death. And humility at the overwhelming nature of their experience.
While most people feel bhakti and prapatti are difficult, Nammalwar says Oh! Lord the trade off as it seems is so unballanced. As for so little we do on our part, what we get is so abandant the bliss as it were. we are so many times beniffited. There is nothing that can be compared to the ultimate reality that is attained.
Ans. One of the finest chapters in the Rahasyatrayasara is that called the Uttarakrityadhikara. It prescribes the kind of life that a man should lead after the performance of prapati. Bodily purity, freedom from evil thoughts, the performance of nitya and naimittika rites without any desire for the fruits or consequences, good will to all, even to enemies who hate and revile. Service to god and the devotees of God. Contentment with whatever one has, these are some of the virtues that the prapanna should cultivate. His service to God and His devotees is prompted by the mere love of it and is not due to expectation of any reward. When one has performed prapati, one gives up all thought concerning oneself, even the thought of attaining moksha, for the Lord has taken on Himself all the burden or bhara.
The place where it is possible to concentrate all one attention on such things as service at the feet of Bhagavan and His adoration, or the place where one can find some one whose mind is exclusively and staunchly fixed on Bhagwan that is the place of abode for prapanna as it is almost equal to vaikunta.
The prapanna is desirous and eager to live in a manner that would be inoffensive and agreeable to the Lord. He is exclusively and supremely attached to the Lord. For Bhagwan alone is everything to him, the proper place thus is where the practice of Dharma of the four varnas is well established, In regions which are inhabited by Bhagvatas are to be chosen by the prapanna desirous of moksha, must live in places where there are devotees that adore with folded hands Sri Krishna, who has a complexion similar to that of a black cloud and that Look upon Him as their protector. Among those who consider Narayana as the supreme object of attainment.
To literally translate the Rahasya traya sara verses 19 to 22 for which the answer is desired.
19 Location suitability (Stana Visehsa)
Surrender resides in places conducive to prescribed rites.m Holy places extolled by preceptor idols at many great heights, on sacred river banks and where deep devotees always flock. Lives happily and does service humbly until he runs out clock.
20. Soul departure (Niryaana) Given good to friends and sins to foes soon he utters mantras soul unites with organs mind and life air, churned out extra, reaches Lord through bright subtle vein from heart to skull. No need for thought of God at end or curb on place and time.
21. Enroute (Gathi Visesha)
Soul gets into subtle body from gross prime guides takes out of world. Across the river gets divine body beneath a tree and dips in a pond. Greeted by five hundred gets eternal fragrance, flavor and splendor. Pass the city tower seat with divine fame climbs the throne to Lord.
22. Ultimate Bliss (Paripoorna brahma anubhava)
Ascends enjoys equivalent to Lord. His sacred body and prosperity. But not to form, firm and finish the world. neither salvation granting ability. Ecstatic on his share of eternal service by gurus blessings at the empire. Reached once the heavens never he returns to earth on his own desire.
In Sri Narayaniya the devas and the rishis ask "When Dharma stands on a single leg ready to go elsewhere, how are we to live O Lord?"
Bhagavan replies "You should live in places where gurus of good character and possessed of self control are held in reverence and where Dharma has not undergone any deterioration. The places which should be chosen by you, O best of devotees are those where flourish the vedas yajnas austerities (tapas) truth control of the senses and adharma will not touch you.
The holy places where Bhagavan is worshipped in temples are specifically suitable. Among them the holy places where Bhagavan has chosen to be present as archa would be proper for the prapannas residence.
A man should live in a place where there is a temple of Vishnu and do some kind of service there. That place on earth where dwell (the devotees of the Lord) who long for the world above (paramapada) which is the famous residence of Narayana, the Lord of Lakshmi, born of the lotus full of honey (pollen) that place is as sacred as the Himalayas surrounded by forests, the ganga, the cauvery the sea, the holy cities like ayodhya, Mathura, Kasi and Kanchi and Sri Vaikunta all in one.
Liberation of Atma from sharira.
The Lord merges the aggregate of the senses in the mind, the mind with the senses in the vital breath (prana) the vital breath with these in the self or soul, the self in the subtle elements (sukshma bhutas) and the self with these elements in Himself (the Supreme Self) very soon. So far the process of the souls departure is common to both the persons. the ones that have realized Him and those that have not realized Him. there after the Lord leads the self through different veins (nadi) which lead either to the (dark) path of smoke or to the shining path of light (archiradi ) or elsewhere in accordance with the qualifications (of each individual).
Also the soul of the man who has realized Brahman is said to be led through a vein issuing out of the head into the shining path of archis along which it passes into immortality in Vaikunta. The soul of the man who has not realised Brahman is led through other veins into the dark path called dhuma or smoke. He will be born again in samsara.
"Having given up all upayas, and having given up also all desires including the desire to enjoy ones self, I seek as my refuge O Lord thy feet which measured the world." when with these words the prapanna takes to the feet of the Lord, the Lord takes him by the hand, which it has been said is the only support of the prapanna. "The hand of the Lord who is called Janardhana and who has been bought with the price of bhakti is the only support for the prapanna".
The Lord who has been called "the King of all kings of all beings" and who is the possessor of the two glories Lila Vibhuti (in this world) and Nitya vibhuti or eternal glory in paramapada, having taken him by hand fixes him in a place of His own liking and the prapanna leads his life there, being held in as high regard as an anoited queen and following such occupations as are consistent with his exclusive and supreme attachment to the Lord.
Swami Desika describes how the soul leaves the body through the various Nadis (veins) and how the soul of a prapanna and that of a non prapanna take different routes and different destinations. First he emphasises how in the case of a prapanna the attainment of Moksha is certain even if he committed any indiscretions after performing prapatti.
A person who has performed prapatti will not consciously commit any sins. But due to 'prarabda karma' that had begun to yield fruits while he is living in this world, some mat severe :
1. He may display feelings of I and my and commit certain offences consequently. the Lord will make him realize his folly by making wisdom dawn on him.
2. He may display a taste or desire for an object other than the Lord. Even when a prapanna desires and prays for it, Iswara will not grant what is not good for his spiritual upliftment. This is like a mother preventing her child from falling into fire. The Lord declares when I decide to bless someone with Moksha, I strip him of his possessions inflict on him tragedies of death of his near and dear ones if in spite of all these he clings to me (as he surely will) I grant him the bliss which even the Gods cannot secure. Or he might grant him what he desires in such an abundant manner / measure as to create a revulsion and aversion to what he had asked for. The idea behind is that in any case the person chosen would emerge a fully evolved soul to deserve moksha.
3. He may contact other deities. In such cases the Lord would create a situation by associating him with Paramaikantins and make him feel ashamed of his deviate behaviour.
4. Being weak minded he may desire to adopt other upayas. The Lord will in due course dispel his desire to adopt other upayas. By all means the Lord would rid the prapanna of any failings or fallies he might have contacted due to the intention of his prarabda karma and eventually make him fit and qualified for moksha. all before the prapanna actually arrives at the point of departure from this life.
For a prapanna who has not swerved, the delay in securing Moksha is only so long as he desires it. The Lord is anxious to bring him into the company of nityasuris and is actually sorry for the delay desired by the prapanna to attain the goal. He creates a suitable atmosphere for the prapanna to leave his worldly life and decides on the appropriate time and pretext for the event. At the appropriate time the Lord projects for the prapanna to behold a remembrance of all his thoughts, desires and deeds during his life time in a sort of flashback. There is a dictum that one who dies during daytime, sukla paksha (bright fortnight of the moon) and Uttarayana (the six month period when the sun moves northwards alone can reach paramapada through what is known as Archradi marga (the shiny path) and the others go through Dhumadhi marga (the smoky path) only to be reborn. Lord Krishna declares "O Arjuna! I shall declare to you the path following which the yogis attain the state of not returning and also those who attain the state of returning light in the form of fire, the day, the bright fortnight preceding the full moon, the six months of the sun's northern progress departing there in men who know Brahman go to Brahman. smoke, night the dark fortnight of the waning moon and the six months of the sun's southern journey departing in these periods souls attain the light of the moon and come back to be reborn. Indeed those two paths, the bright and the dark, for the world of the departing souls are deemed to be eternal. By the one, one attains the state of non returning; by the other one comes back again.
The same idea has been expressed in Mahabaratha. But, this is not applicable in the case of a prapanna who may die at any time day or night, in the bright or dark fortnight, in Uttarayana or Dakshinayana etc. Since in his case the karma lasts only as long as the body lasts and the moment he sheds his mortal coil he moves to Paramapada through arciradi marg. Brahma Sutra and Chandokya upanishad also make this point quiet clear. Upto this point the preparation for departure of the soul is common to both the prapanna, the bhakta and also others.
The mode of actual departure:- Three specific ways have been identified through which the soul escape, there are 72,000 Nadis or invisible veins which branch off from the heart and ends up with nine major openings (navadwara) as also innumerable pores on the skin. some horizontal and some downwards, these are either colourless or dim, through them go those who had been so wicked during their sojourn in life that they have to expiate the results of their sins only by suffering are born in the world as animate beings, those who's account show a predominance of evil deeds have to remain condemned to being inanimate objects.
2. One hundred nadis of various colors white, black, blue golden yellow and red go upwards from the heart. Those who go through these nadis that go upwards go to the higher worlds to experience the fruits of the extraordinary punya they have accumulated, and after exhausting such punyas they return to the earth to experience the results of their other karmas, both good and bad. this is called the dhumadhi marg (smoky path ) or (Pitruyana).
3. There is one Nadi starting from the naval (mooladhara) which goes past the heart and ends up on the top of the crown. This is a special nadi reserved only for a prapanna. (who attains Moksha at the end of the current life in which he reaches a nill balance in his karma account) The Lord illuminates this nadi at the point where it goes past the heart and the departing soul sensing the flickering radiance leaves the heart and escapes through an aperture like bursting through the push door into this nadi. This Nadi is called Moordhanya Nadi or Sushumna Nadi or Brahma Nadi or Brahma randra since it opens at the top of the skul of the person thus leading him to Brahman itself through the shining path or the ARCHIRADHI MARG.
Anthima smriti.
The prapanna will attain moksha even if he is unconscious and unable to remember the Lord or utter any mantra at the time of his death.
In the Varaha Charma sloka the Lord assures "The man who, when his mind is in its normal condition, when the body is not shattered and when the Dhatus (elementary constituents of the body) are in perfect equipoise meditates on me as the one who has the world as my body and as the one who is not subject to births due to karma.... when that man lies like a log of wood or a piece of stone in his dying moments. I think of him and lead him to attain the highest state.... The last thought is that which arises when all sense organs have ceased to function and the person is in the state of similar to deep dreamless sleep (Sushupti) and if he is the prapanna the Lord confers this remembrance to him purely as a matter of his GRACE Kevalam Madeeya Dayaaya. in the words of Sri Ramanuja.
As for a place of death and the omens and signs under which the death occurs, Swami Sri Vedanta Desika says that whatever and where ever and whenever omens or signs a prapanna dies that becomes auspicious. This is because like a father who descends into a well full of slushy mire to take out his beloved child that has fallen into it, the Lord himself who abides in the cave of the heart ( Dahara) condescends to help the prapanna to enter the special 101'st Nadi through which he reaches Paramapada.
Thus to a prapanna who departs from the body which is as transient as lightning and who is to journey from the central Brahma Nadi along the beautiful and shiny path (of Archiradi) which is free from all impediments, the place of his departure itself an auspicious place, the day of his departure itself an auspicious day, the omens and signs that are there and seen are all auspicious what ever they may be.
Agni, daytime, suklapaksha, uttarayana the year, the intervening vayu, surya, chandra, lightning, varuna the king of devas Indra, with his umbrella signifying rulership and prajapati by these the souls of the mukta is entertained on the way with delights and there after it enters the abode of bliss.
We become exhausted by frequent ascent (to svarga) and descent back to the earth along the path of the Pitris (the path of smoke) like the water pot going up and down the well by the rotation of the water wheel, we become exhausted likewise by incessant journey to and fro, along the route, So Hari makes the various deities (on the shining path) entertain us who are so exhausted and at length confers bliss on us by keeping us as it were under his shade which is like the shade of the sandal tree.
Full and final enjoyment of the Bliss of Brahma.
Led by his guides (archis and others) to the Lord of Lakshmi who is possessed of various glories in the region beyond tamas i.e.prakriti and having attained him the mukta has his essential nature in full manifestation and realises his inseperable connection with the Lord, and as a consequence acquires the eight attributes of freedom from sin and the like and without any question of his returning again to samsara he attains in regard to enjoyment, perfect resemblance to the Lord.
The Nature of the Bliss of Brahman.
The Lords svarupa is delightful. He is all knowledge and all bliss. The attainment of Bhagwan is a remedy for the disease of samsara. It is of the nature of Joy which is unsurpassed and confers joy on others. It is an end itself and lasts forever. The svarupa of Bhagwan is called Parama pada.because it is the ultimate and supreme object of attainment being the unsurpassed agreeableness. Since the perfect enjoyment of the svarupa of Bhagwan happens only after reaching a most delightful region far superior to all others that region is also called Paramapada. The essential nature or swaroopa of the jiva which is the recipient of this joy in the attainment of Bhagwan which is also among the glorious possessions (vibhuthis) of the Lord and which has for its attributes jnana and ananda is also sometimes called paramapada. Along with the others these three have in common only the features of being the object of attainment.
When the mukta jeevan enjoys the limitless and unique Brahman in the form of bliss, he does not experience anything else except that Brahman. This is because all entities are embedded in the superiority and loftiness of the Brahman. Therefore the Mukta jeevan enjoys Brahman with its Isvaryam vibhuthi twath auspicious attributes and magnificient sukha maya annandham and does not recognise anything else.
It is asked what is the full and perfect enjoyment of Brahman by the mukta who has traversed the path described above. the answer is. He will in all places at all times and in all situations have for his unsurpassed joys the supreme ruler with his countless forms, attributes, glories and activities without missing any of them.
Led by his guides (archis and others) to the Lord of Lakshmi, who is possessed of varied glories in the region beyond tamas prakriti and having attained Him, the mukta has his essential nature in full manifestation and realises his inseparable connection with the Lord and as a consequence accquires the eight attributes (of freedom from sin being without old age, without death, without sorrow, without hunger, without thirst, with all desires objects and with a will that meets with no hindrance) and without any question of his returning again to samsara he attains, in regard to enjoyment, perfect resemblance to the Lord.
Ecstasy at the wonder of their experience, thrill because of what they were able to experience. gratitude for what had happened to them. Awe and lack of words to describe what happened. Evangelism in wanting to tell others why they should not fear death. And humility at the overwhelming nature of their experience.
While most people feel bhakti and prapatti are difficult, Nammalwar says Oh! Lord the trade off as it seems is so unballanced. As for so little we do on our part, what we get is so abandant the bliss as it were. we are so many times beniffited. There is nothing that can be compared to the ultimate reality that is attained.
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