We read a bit about Prapatti . This is One question we all have.The practicality of following the karma...One of the readers of the blog shared this doubt. Since I found this as a topic
of discussion in itself I am drafting it as a post along with the answers I got from my father in law.
Here goes the question....
If an individual has done Prapathi at a age when he did not understand, but has never followed the five code of conducts and even after growing up he claims he has done it and still does not follow the code of conduct, then what is the purpose of prapathi for that individual or the family he or she represent or the acharyan who has performed this to the individual, do they all still go to vaikundham after their death, if so then what is use of Dharma here.
Devanatha perumal and Hemambujavalli Thaayar, Thiruvahindrapuram (Nadunaattu Thirupathi)
Meaning of Prapatti is essentially that it is a direct means of attaining moksha. It requires the complete surrender of the individual to God and His mercy. The term prapatti is derived from the root words pra-pad. Pad means to move and pra implies in the best manner. In the context of upaya, the term implies total self-surrender to God as the sole refuge. A more appropriate Sanskrit language term for prapatti is atma niksepa or bharanyasa, that is, to place the burden of the protection of the self in the care of God. It is also known as saranagati, or seeking God as the sole refuge.
The famous Rik hymn addressed to Agni which is reiterated in the Isavasyopanisad states,
"O Agni, lead us along the auspicious path to prosperity, O God, who knowest the means of attainment, remove all the obstacles coming in our way; we shall offer unto Thee salutation with the expression of namah."
According to the interpretation of Vedanta Desika, Agni in the hymn refers to the Supreme Being as its antaratma and the word namah signifies the act of self-surrender to God. Another hymn states explicitly that the person who offers prayer with the expression of namah (implying self-surrender) is to be regarded as one who has performed a good sacrifice (sodhvarah) almost equivalent to the formal sacrifice done in the consecrated fire by offering the faggots (samit) along with the recitation of the mantras. The interpretation of this hymn in favour of self-surrender (atma-nyasa) is upheld by the Ahirbhudhanya Samhita. The Vedic seers were fully conscious of the fact that none other than the Divine Being is capable of protecting man from bondage. God is regarded as a dear friend and near relative of all human beings. He is compared to the non-leaky boat that can safely take persons from one shore to the other, through the turbulent waters of life. The Vedic seers have, therefore, sought in all their prayers the grace of God for achieving their desired objectives.
My humble opinion is this.... Going to Vaikuntam is not a physical concept alone..it is more of a psychological understanding of goodness
good one. was listening to this topic. have my questions about understanding . will write up sometime. to answer the child's question. the child will not go to srivaikuntam because prapatti/sarangathi is done through mind. It is maanaseeka vyaaparam and not karmaadheenam. A fish swimming in Ganges will never be cleansed of it papas, becase the very being of being in Ganges will not take it anywhere . The thought that comes to the fish (this is only through Perumal's nirhetuka kripai)that "I am in Ganges and so I will be free of papas" only will cleanse it. It is not akin to the fact that "Fire will burn you even if you know it will burn or not". Prapatthi is done through mind through His grace and so the child in this question would never be taken to Srivaikuntam, for he has never done prapatti in the first place.
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ReplyDeleteExcuse me if any of the below mentioned information is offensive.
I am the person who asked the question, based on the your answer is my understanding is correct "if the Bharanyasam on a child has no significance when done at a age when he or she realizes the purpose of it".
Another question, what happens when an acharyan has performed the Bharanyasam on a grown up and he is not following the five code of conducts of Bharanyasam is it still worth.
All I am trying to understand if such thing as Bharanyasam has no significance until that individual has not followed all the moral aspects of the same. Also I have seen people using this to project that they are pure vaishnavam where as those who are not performed the same are subjected to sin. I am speaking from my true experience, I am confused why people has to use this as a escape mechanism. I belong to Vaishnavam and I like all the aspects of that except when these things shows up, I would really love to see the different acharyans perform this not for money but purely on sampradhayam's and Dharma.
Bharanyasam/Prapatti/Saranagathi ( am going to use these three interchangeably since all mean the same thing in one form or the other) all has to do with transactions of mind with respect to Perumal and are not related with body whatsoever. What i mean by that is that a person who is doing prapathi should accept with his mind that he cannot do anything on his own , he cannot control anything on his own and that it is all being done unto him by Perumal. The only thing needed for saranagathi is the knowledge and realization that "I do not have anything / any arhathai to do any other means to salvation and I surrender unto the Lotus feet of Sriman Narayanan".
ReplyDeleteNow, coming to the point, unless and until the person realizes that it is saranagathi and the reason he is performing it, there is no point in doing it. Example, if we wash ourselves in Ganga, they say the papas will be cleansed because Ganga is the Sripaadha theertham of Thrivikrama Perumal. So if one questions, does the fish which lives in Ganga forever, will be devoid of any papas? The answer is no, because, it is being there in Ganga but it does not have the knowledge that being in Ganga will cleanse it papas. So being there does not cleanse its papas automatically. Having the knowledge of purity of Ganga and then cleansing only will wipe off the papas. It is not akin to an analogy that people say "though an adult who knows about fire and a child who does not know about fire, if they both touch it, the fire will scorch both of them, hence the knowledge of fire is immaterial here". This analogy is inapporpirate for the saranagathi, since it is a "maanaseeka vyaapaaram" and so realization of the mind is the important thing which the fire analogy does not hold good. It is also important to use analogies that suits the situation fully and not partially.
Okay. after doing baranyasam, what if people does bad/good things (bad karma or good karma). Once you perfrom sarangathi with your mind with 100% of it in it, then whatever karma you do in that janmam in which you did sarangathi and whatever karma (both papas and punyas) you have done in previous janmas,and whatever karma that you might have done in the future would be wiped off and at the end of that janmam, you will be attaing moksham due to the ramanuja sambandham through your acharyan. Krishna has developed a detailed mechanism to deal with the various clauses of karma and the way He deals with it. "How Krishna liberates us once we do saranagathi". "Kannanin mugangalul ezhu" by Velukudi Swami talks about it. He talks about Kapisthalam Perumal and His classification scheme of pokifying our karma that are from anaadhi kaalam. At the end of the janmam in which we did prapatti, our net balance of papas and punyas will be 0, which is needed to attain moksham.I am going to write an article about the classification scheme soon.
I have been seeking truth through meditation I learned from my mother years ago and thought I had received the concept of my higher power.
ReplyDeleteLately though I am not sure and I want to live well inside, to be loving and caring in action as well as heart and that has brought me to India's chants and philosophy.
One thing I have learned in my time on earth is...What I know is subject to change, especially what I know about the truth, thanks for your wonderful site!~
I have one dout I want to ask for bagavatas, I am 20 years old can I perform prapatti now, and what anushtanas are to be followed after prapatti. Mainly is their any conditions of cancelling of moksham for that person who did prapatti in this janma only
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