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SrI:
SrImathE lakshmI hayagreeva parabrahmaNE nama:
SrImathE gOpAlArya mahA dESikAya nama: SrImathE gOpAla dESika mahA dESikAya nama:
(Article by Sri U Ve VN Vedantha Desikan)
These are times when myriads of metaphysical theses are propagated though without a real basis. They are often innovations of minds that have fertile imagination that weaves some fictitious castles in the air. They should be spurned by any religious-minded person.
The Visishtadvaita system is built on solid authority, namely, the most ancient literature, the Vedas. The vedas are countless. They along with the Smritis, holy Puranas etc. constitute the rock-bottom of this system. The genius of Ramanuja, that of Vedanta Desika and that of many similarly great minds have built a sold edifice. That is what we call the Sri Vaishnava system.
This religious system has as its ‘Aadharasruti’, so to say, the Sesha-Seshi relationship between individual souls and the supreme soul. Readers ought to imbibe it first and foremost. They must recognise, without any disdain or illwill, however, that the so-called identity – propounded by Advaita – is totally incongruent with the Vedas, is misconceived on a wrong reading of certain lines, and irrational. Brahman, the Supreme Soul and the individual soul cannot be identical, by any stretch of imagination. Why? For that matter, any one to speak of an identity concept is itself a tacit acceptance of two different things! To contend that all else except Brahman is false is an unrealistic postulate. To contend that deliverance from the world’s ills is secured by mere realisation of the oneness of souls sounds very attractive – engaging enough to fashionable aristocrats not given to any serious thought or action or religious duty. “Moksha by mere Jnana’ is very attractive; yes; even to minds which cannot claim any intellectual virtue. Could there be a greater intellect than Sri Desika !
Take real life. Do no disregard it. Sensients and insentients constitute two principles; they are the body to the Supreme Brahman. This Tattva – traya should be first accepted. None of them can be negated at will. The atheist negates God; the so-called spiritualist in Advaitis negates individual souls and the world of matter and insentients. The realist that the Visishtadvaitin is concedes all three realities.
The individual souls and insensients – Chit and Achit as they are called – stand as body to the soul that god is. God pervades all. He is Vishnu. My body subserves my soul. I do things to please my soul. When I taste a delicacy and enjoy it, when I hear (and revel thereby) good music, the actual satisfaction is for my soul. Take it one step further. We should do all things only to please the Supreme Soul, Lord Vishnu, who is the soul of our souls.
Thus from Sareera – Sareeri relation ie. Body-soul relation, we reach a conclusion regarding Sesha – Seshi relation between individual souls and the Supreme.
A word about the Supreme soul; He is Sriman-Narayana. He may have thousands of names; his gunas, all auspicious, noble and pleasing, are countless. But He is the ONLY GOD. Identity of souls is wrong; identity even in respect of Godhood is wrong. Narayana is the inner soul, controller, prime mover to other souls, like Brahma, Indra, Siva etc. Hence according a godhood to these personalities and saying that all are gods, that all gods are equal and so on is wrong premises. There ought to be no mistaking in this regard.
This proposition is not born of hatred, bigotry, fanaticism or narrow-mindedness. Polytheism is for immature minds. The Vaishnavitas has no disregard, contempt or hatred for Brahma, Siva etc. He has no contempt for other men too. Why, he cannot but revere other forms of life, even a plant or a shrub. His love, his reverence is universal in this sense. But recognising as his Master, as His God, as his Seshi, he will accord a unique position only to Lord Sriman Narayana.
Sesha means remnant a consciousness that one is unimportant; one is merely a servant, a subservient, existing to do all kinds of loving service. From seshatva we go to dasatva and kainkarya. This word Sesha is so much vital to our religion and is a unique term too. It will be very interesting to ponder over it.
We cannot serve many masters. If we do, we will have no single-minded devotion. What is to be our way of life ! Then we look to a role model of service that Adisesha is. Look at the name; Sesha. He symbolises the Sesha-spirit uniquely. He serves God in all ways at all times. He serves the Lord as an umbrella, throne, paduka, couch, pillow, lamp and all else. Whatever need arises at whichever moment, Adisesha becomes the necessary material. He has no individual liking. His praise is contained in a verse of Poigaiazhvar, the first of the FIRST AZHVARS (Mudalazhvars):
“Senrl Kudaiyam”” .........53
Very interestingly this verse has been included as the sample from Tamil Vedas in the daily aradhana ritual. This is contained in a verse of Alavandar also, ie. ‘Nivasasayyasana’. Appropriately his name is ‘Sesha’ because no one ever summarizes in his personality, the totality of the ‘sesha spirit’ as Adisesha does.
Two more points are relevant here; Vaishnavism breathes service as its soul. Ramanuja was commenting, in Srirangam, on Thiruvoymozhi. When the decade ‘Ozhivil Kalamellam’ came, his explanation took a new turn: “Azhvar cherished, as his greatest goal, service at Thirumalai with flowers, etc. Whoever will go there? Is there one in this audience?” he asked with a passion.
One listener offered. His name is Anathazhvan. He finally settled on the Hill for rendering flower – service. In those times a thousand years ago, living on the Hill ought to have been a challenging task. Only a bold and vigorous person could have dared to take it up. Hence, he came to be known as ‘Anantaanpillai’ (a real male youth !).
Ramanuja ordained that people should not ascend the Hill except for service. The Hill is holy as it is Advisesha’s body, according to Puranas. If it is said that Azhvars did not go up the Hill, Ramanuja hesitated; he finally walked on his knees. Desika too first refused and had to be persuaded. All had the greatest devotion to the Lord Srinivasa; nevertheless no true Srivaishnava will ever think of a trip up the Hill as anything but a holy pilgrimage. To interpret that Ramanuja’s invocation in Sri Bhashya refers to Lord Srinivasa of Seshadri would not be inappropriate, even if the traditional commentaries do not appear to emphasise it. He wrote his first work, ‘Vedarthasangraha’ before this Lord. In his exposition of philosophy while commenting on Brahma-sutras, the nature and characteristics of Jiva (the individual soul) had to be mentioned. To consciousness or jnana, he added Seshatva too. There is an interesting episode cited in Thiruvoimozhi commentary that this subtle concept Ramanuja imbibed from Thirukkottiyur Nambi to whom Azhvan had to go may a time to get it! Nammazhvar’s ‘Adiyanullan udalullan’ (VIII 8.2) is taken to emphasise that the individual ought to feel, behave and order his life as a Sesha, servant of the Lord.
To crown all these facts mentioned, we may remember that Ramanuja is believed to be the incarnation of Adisesha, the first and foremost of Nityasooris.
There is a particularly phase in Thiruvoymozhi III 6.8 ‘Dayaratharkku Mahan tannai’. It means ‘ the son to Dasaratha’. Azhvar does not speak of Rama here as the son of Dasaratha but as the son to Dasaratha! It implies the dative case, not the genitive. It is reminiscent of the mantras like Namo Narayanaya. What is the great significance? Rama stood as a role model for Vaishnavite seshatva. He behaved as if he existed only for pleasing his father!
Dasaratha : Don the Crown !
Son Rama : Yes, Sir;
Dasaratha : Go to the forest
Son Rama : Yes, I am going
He did not rejoice on the first command, nor grieve on the latter. Rama’s avatara was only to show to us how to behave, may, even to enjoin on us to be true Seshabhoota souls.
Not only this; there are two brother characters. Lakshmana and Bharata. Lakshmana – incidentally an incarnation of Adisesha, so to say!, as the later Rama-anuja or Lakshmana-yogi, as he is called implies. Seshatva implies Dasatva; that is kainkarya. To perform this kainkarya to Rama and Sita, Lakshmana insisted on following to the forest the Divine couple! Ramayana teaches us also to perform kainkarya to the Divine couple. To the Desika-Sampradaya, the Prapatti aims at surrendering to the couple and later at serving the same couple. That is why we prefer to devote the Epic as Srimad-Ramayana. We should ever cherish the goal of service to the Divine Lord, Sriman-Narayana – that is Lord Narayana with Mahalakshmi.
But our individual life in society should bear the stamp of Bharata, in his Paratantra sprit He did not stubbornly and intransigently follow Rama to the forest. He was swayed by Rama’s will rather than by his own desire to serve Rama. In him, the Paratantra spirit is palpable. Bharata was truly service, as a dunt unconscious, being!, to serve the Lord but without any own wish or aspirations. To be an obedient liege, to obey and not to question why, is the sum and substance of Bharata’s character.
May we be all servants of God like Lakshmana, ever serving Him; may we also be, at the same time truly servile, serving Him, as Bharata did, totally in self-abnegation, to efface the own self and its loves and longings; in short, we must combine in ourselves both Lakshmana and Bharata.
To be totally subordinate to the Sankalpa of the Lord – Bhagavat – sankalpaadheenetva – is the true hallmark of a Srivaishnavite. We should reduce ourselves to the level of an insentient matter. Even when you are happy with what you have done as His service behave as though you were fragrant flowers, sandalpaste, or some other article of enjoyment. They furnish great joy to the sensient being, but they themselves do not have a scope for pleasure. You should also be like them; you are not to seek any personal satisfaction; you serve God for His pleasure. Complete self-effacement is the motto!
Pranava is a holy mantra of the Hindu. It is part of all major mantras. Very interestingly most branches of Hinduism try to render some interpretation at will, without adhering to canons of linguistics, etymology and diction. Since it is Vedic, holy and highly sacrosanct, its recitation requires certain purity and austerity.
It is given a simple meaning A-U-M “Akararthaya eva ayam Makaraartha: jivah”
This jiva meant by Ma is only for the Brahman, who is the meaning of A or Akara. A-U-M have this significance.
The consonant Ma implies thinking. It means consciousness. So it is a secret indicator for the soul, the jivatma. Indeed, according to a peculiar enumeration process, tattvas or realities are reckoned upto 24, and the 25th is jiva the 26th being Paramatma. In Sanskrit consonants – only in Sanskrit, mark it, we have Ka series (5), Cha series (5) Ta series (5), Ta series (5) and Pa series (5) – which ends in Ma. This means of reckoning, too, points at the meaning of Ma as Jiva.
Akara means Vishnu, primarily. He is the first, the actual creator of Brahma himself, who is assigned the creation role subsequently. We should remember that Thiruvalluvar, in his first kural, refers to Aadi Bhagavan as the import, and natural import at that, of the Akara (the letter m in Tamil). Indeed A, alpha etc. is the first alphabet in all languages. The letter A incorporated in the Pranava can imply God Vishnu-since He alone in the Hindu theism is origin-less; all else are born of Him. There can be, therefore, no other appropriate interpretation for the A sound.
The meaning of U (which in conjunction with A leads to the sound O), in between A and M, has two interpretations.
it is esoterically taken to imply an emphatic dependence, a stress that Ma, the jiva, exists only for the sake of Lord Vishnu, who is implied by A.
it means the Consort, Mahalakshmi for which a beautiful authority is taken for Srimad Ramayana.
Rama walks first; next follows Sita, with a beautiful (ie. thin) middle limb, the hip. Then follows Lakshmana.
As Lakshmana, the incarnation of Adisesha, the first, the complete and perfect, role model of Seshatva – a concept that is unique to our religion – was, in the Ramayana, the ever-serving liege, dependent, servant, to the Divine Couple that Rama and Sita were, all of us – if we are sensients! – should imbibe the Seshatva and live accordingly.
I am to digress here for a few minutes. This is my own comment useful for the moderns: Sri Vaishnavism gives a new meaning for Man, for his life and goal, for his approach and for his attitude. The world will be beautiful if all humans imbibe this subject of Vaishnavism, even if they do no become transformed into holy Bhagavatas! (Vishnu – worshippers). What is the concept? Individual souls are completely dependent on the Lord; they have an individuality only in respect of contributing to the service of God, His laws and His order of things. All are brethren in His service. Anyone’s goal and ambition, aspiration and strife can only be within this ambit and he should totally negate his self insofaras it violates the Law of God; exists as god’s liege. What a man does ought to be only for the pleasure and satisfaction of Bhagavan (to cite our uniform sankalpa in rituals, “ by the Lord’s mandate, to His satisfaction”). If we order our life in this manner, how would we ever have disappointment, depression, jealousy, etc. Even if someone does you harm, think - that is the actual fact - that he is doing it by God's order of things, as per what God has ordained! He is no longer an independent, a power to reckon; he is merely a liege, another like you. How can my hand work against my chest? Both are links, both are, of course, insensients, you would think. But, then, all beings, even when sensients, act as per God’s laws, almost as if they were insensients. That is why we are hearing a beautiful mandate – that is emphasised by our Acharya at the time of Prapathi- that we should never seek anything from God; that Kamya karmas are taboo, that if we want this or that, which may run counter to the Lord’s order of things, it is violation of our norms of life. Not only that; it is equivalent to your abandoning your Seshatva faith itself. If some one does you harm, that is, if you think that some one has harmed you, the impression is itself basically wrong. It is not permissible. None can do you harm if the particular event – which gives you the impression of that person having done you a harm – had not been so ordained. All things proceed as ordained by God, The moment you harbour ill-will towards anyone on the grounds of your having suffered, (sic), you have betrayed your disbelief in God! You have apparently forgotten your paratantrya, your self-effacing servility spirit. Having surrendered yourself to the Lord-in Bharavyasa- you have entrusted your protection to the Lord. He knows best how and what should occur to you. Then why grieve, why complain, why curse another person for an apparent suffering inflicted on you? “That is God’s will” should be your spirit.
In this context, I wish to emphasise that the import of Bharamyasa should mark our mundane life in all its phases. We ought to have an integrated life wherein our spiritualism, seshatva, atma – samarpana, complete subordination to Bhagavat-sankalpa, etc. should mark our overall spirit and attitude in day-to-day mundane life also. We should not forget the basic implication of Atma-samarpanam in our day-to-day activities. That is, we ought not to play double role; say my Atma is the Lord’s liege and then question what the Lord has meted out to us in life!
It would just then be equivalent to an Advaitin saying that his atma is identical with the Supreme Brahma, which is devoid of qualities, form etc. and then performing panchayatana pooja to a Brahman that is itself his soul in identity! What a paradox!
Ours is true, practical and realistic philosophy. But let us practice it in that spirit every moment!
