“Oh ! Lord Krishna, now at this moment let the royal swan of my mind enter the tangled stems of your lotus feet .. Prana-prayana-samaye kapha-vata-pittaih. kanthavarodhana-vidhau smaranam kutas tey.

 

 Once a  great Acharyar  was  explaining to his disciples about the King Yayati life in Sri Vishnu Purana .  The discussion became more interesting .

Two of his disciples asked..

Swamin ..  .

Please tell us the difference between Bhakthi and Prapatti..

which is the best ?

 Acharyar replied……

My child !

Bhakthi is a slender stream of love proceeding from puny efforts a creature is capable of producing in his heart cavity and this is necessarily subject to many slips…

whereas   Prapatti   ( Unconditional surrender ) is the mighty flood of grace pouring down from the All  compassionate  SUPREME  LORD the creator nothing withstanding the rush of the torrent…..

Bhakthi as it is,  needs  constant efforts  with exertion whereas 

  Prapatti is mighty flood of grace  pouring down from the Supreme  Lord as  a  natural downpour …

 The disciples continued  ..

Acharya  !!

What chief moral lesson needs to be derived from  the  episode  of King  Yayati in  Sri Vishnu Purana …..

 My dear Child !!! replied the Acharya …

The jiva experiences several pleasures as he is infatuated with many things in his previous births .

Unsatisfied he once again takes birth and falls into samsara which is a succession of unfulfilled desires .

 

Under delusion imagining his parents , brothers , sisters , wife , children and grand children would fulfill his desires and give happiness he craves for their long lasting company. However as years pass , the karmas mature and then the realization starts . He faces unlimited sorrows .

Even the so called pleasures becomes meaning less as the drops of honey which rests on a mustache .

In the beginning of Life he is surrounded by pangs of hunger and during his childhood he suffers from ignorance  .  The middle age passed with some knowledge but having strength in body and senses he faces misfortunes , dangers , humiliation from powerful people .    After retirement the body grows older , the heart grows fonder and the mind becomes younger ...

Now this old body has a young mind and a fond heart .

.Everyday becomes a week end .

This continues and in his old age forgetfulness and then weakness  of senses and the body inevitable to accept the calamities .  

Now the realization  begins .

He understands that  Life in this world is the source of all sorrow.

As Thondaradipodi Aazhwar states this life is…………………………..                                                            full of “Pini pasi moopu thumbam” (i.e) Disease-hunger-oldage-suffering.

He realizes that the five senses are responsible for this suffering.

The senses  bewitch and hypnotize the  jiva  dragging it into the  samsara .

Even the learned men  are not spared from the atrocities of the senses and the worldly temptations that  arouse which would ultimately lead to the continuous chain of birth and death.

“Innamudena thondri oraivar yavaraiyum mayakka”(Thiruvoy. 7-1-7).

The peak of sorrow is surrendering to the senses and being tossed about in the samsara sagara repeatedly .

 Now the realization reveals that the reasons for all  his suffering  was due to 

1.Lack of Knowledge about  Lord 

2. Lack of Knowledge about the soul

3.Lack of Knowledge of the way to reach the Lord

4. Lack of Knowledge of the obstacles to this pursuit and

5. Lack of Knowledge of the final fruit in this life ( Moksha)

With  Acharyar’s   grace he understands that the chain leading to Moksha  is 

Bhagavad Sambandha

Bhagavad Krupa-

Bhagavad anugraha

Satva guna

 Moksha.

 

Just as for mundane benefits we cultivate the association of influential people who have either money, status or power, so also for acquiring  spiritual wealth  one has to cultivate the association of spiritually  advanced devotees .

When a holy association  begins , spiritual quest germinates which makes one enthusiastic for  bhakti to sprout  towards the  Supreme Lord .

And once he surrenders to LORD unconditionally Prapatti takes over …

“shraddhA ratir-bhaktir-anukramishhyati”

(III – 25 – 25).( Kapila Gita )

It is the  association  with the holy that will generate, through the continuous contemplation of My glories,  a distaste for sense gratification here and hereafter.

*bhaktyA pumAn jAta-virAga aindriyAt dRRiShTa-shrutAn mad-rachanAnucintayA*

(III – 25 – 26). ( Kapila Gita )

 

For  devotees who are attached to devotional service even moksha is not attractive.

I am their loved one like their soul,  friendly like their son, trusted confidante like their friend, mentor like their guru and respected like their favorite Lord.

Their minds are always fixed on me.

This is all that is needed for Moksha ….

 

 

The endpoint of bliss is surrendering to the Lord alone and attaining SriVaikuntam.

As Thirumangai Azhwar says- “Pettra thayinum ayina seyyum“

The Lord  like our Mother derives happiness by showering His devotees with His  abundant  grace.

Just as the Mother does not expect anything from the child in return for her love …

the Lord showers His grace on the souls without expecting anything from the soul in return.

 

 

The realised jiva now reflects on the various verses of Azhwars and Acharyas .

The great king Kulashekhara Azhwar reminds the jiva in his magnum opus ” MUKUNDA MALA “

prana-prayana-samaye kapha-vata-pittaih………….

At the time of death,” prana-prayana-samaye kapha-vata-pittaih , “when the physical condition of the body will be in disorder,” kapha, pitta, vayu will not be in order…. Prana-prayana-samaye kapha-vata-pittaih kanthavarodha , “At that time I shall not be able to speak.

O Krishna, At the time of my death, in the situation  when my throat will get choked by phlegm, air and bile, how is p  ossible to think of You?

 

Hence O Lord !!!

Now itself, May the royal swan of my mind please enter the edges of the enclosure  and enter the network of the stem of Your lotus feet.’ 

Periyazhwar in his works calls    

Oh  Lord  ….

Eippu ennai vandhu naliyum pOdhu
angu Ethum naan unnai ninaikka mAtten
appodhaikku ippodhe solli vaithen
arangatharavanai palliyAne”

Azhwar  prays to Lord Ranganatha, that when old age and poor health takes over   he will not be able to remember .Hence   Oh Lord !!! therefore I surrender to you right now,

The revered saints  speak of various karmas as the means to salvation. These karmas  leads to upasana of various Devas without realizing that the devas  antaryami is also Srimannarayana.

They are like lumber cut and floated on the Ganges to be carried downstream from the hills to the plains .

The logs group and regroup during this travel .

Some may get destroyed. Some may get stuck .

Some logs may go to the wrong owner.

Only a few reach their correct destination.

 

The revered  Aazhvars explain   the correct way to salvation is  surrendering or performing saranagati  ( Prapatti) to Lord  Srimannarayana.

There is no necessity to go to any other Devas  for  attaining salvation .

Namami Narayana-pada-pankajam

Karomi narayana-pujanam sada

Vadami narayana-nama nirmalam

Smarami narayana-tattvam avyayam

Sri-natha narayana vasudeva

Sri-krishna bhakta-priya chakra-pane

Sri-padmanabhachyuta kaitabhare

Sri-rama padmaksha hare murare

Ananta vaikuntha mukunda krishna

Govinda damodara madhaveti

Vaktum samartho api na vakthi kaschid

Aho jananam vyasanabhimukhyam

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics credits : Google images uploaded by several devotees in social media

Adapted from a discourse shared by a advanced devotee