GITA 12.15

GITA 12.15

Srisailesa dayapatram deepaktyadi gunarnavam |

Yatindra pravanam vande ramyajamataram munim ||

This sloka was presented by the Lord Sri Ranganatha Himself, in praise of Vishadavak Sikhamani Swami Manavala Mamuni. As already mentioned, Swami Manavala Mamunigal is considered as the last Acharya in Sri Vaishnava Guru parampara. He was a sanyasi. Swami Nampillai made a wonderful commentary on Nammalwar's Tiruvaimozhi. It is known as 'Eedu [ஈடு]'. Swami Manavala Mamunigal lectured on Eedu for one year in Srirangam in the sannidhi of Sri Ranganatha. The Lord listened to this lecture and regarded Swami Manavala Mamunigal as His Acharya; and, in token of gratitude, He presented this sloka. The sloka mentions Srisailesa, Swami Tiruvaimozhipillai, who was the Acharya of Swami Manavala Mamunigal. It further says that Swami Manavala Mamunigal received the grace of his teacher, and he was the repository of qualities like gyana, bhakti, etc.; and, he was deeply devoted to Yatindra [Swami Ramanuja]. Swami Manavala Mamunigal is considered as re-incarnation of Swami Ramanuja - both are the incarnation of Adisesha.

SWAMI MANAVALA MAMUNIGAL

 Swami Manavala Mamunigal visited Sriperumbudur and worshipped Swami Ramanuja here. He remained here for some time, during which, he taught Sri Bhashyam - commentary on Brahma sootram, by Swami Ramanuja - to his disciples and made them to appreciate the precious contents. Today's [31st December 2008] lecture is from the place, inside the sannidhi of Sri Adi Kesava Perumal, where he taught Sri Bhashyam. Just above this place is a picture depicting Swami Manavala Mamunigal lecturing his many disciples and the Lord in the guise of a Young Boy, attentively listening!

SRISHAILES DAYAPATRAM PICTURE

 Like Swami Ramanuja, Swami Manavala Mamunigal also was interested in writing commentaries, rather than composing originals. Swami Manavala Mamunigal wrote commentaries on the works of Swami Pillai Lokacharya. Like Swami Ramanuja, he also never hurt others' feelings. Even when refuting others' arguments, both deployed very descent words. He never displayed an ego or authority and lived a very humble and simple life. Swami Manavala Mamunigal presented Two works on Swami Ramanuja: Yatiraja vimsati in Sanskrit, consisting of Twenty slokas; and, Arthi prabhandam [ஆர்த்தி பிரபந்தம்] in Tamil. Arthi means passion or interest, in reaching moksham. In Yatiraja vimsati, he says that though he was unfit to place his head at the feet of Swami Ramanuja, he clung at his feet as Swami Ramanuja was connected with Nammalwar and then to the Lord. He says that whoever fell at the feet of Swami Ramanuja, were devoid of kama, krodha and such bad qualities and became eligible to develop all the good qualities Sri Krishna has been advising Arjuna in Chapter 12. Therefore, we also have to come to Sriperumbudur and worship Swami Ramanuja, so that all our bad habits are destroyed and develop good ones. Just like we remove weeds so that cultivation of crops improve, we have to first destroy our bad habits. As we go round the temple we find on one side Alwars' sannidhi and on another side Sri Andal's sannidhi.

 We will now see sloka 17 of Chapter 12. Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna the good habits we have to cultivate. Sloka 17:

yo na hrsyati na dvesti
na socati na kanksati
subhasubha-parityagi
bhaktiman yah sa me priyah

"One who neither rejoices nor grieves, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things—such a devotee is very dear to Me."

Sri Krishna mentions some more qualities, which make His devotee dear to Him. Yo = who, na hrsyati = is not rejoicing, na dvesti = is not hating, na socati = is not sorrowing, na kanksati = is not expecting or desireless. These are Four qualities - never rejoice, never hate, never brood and never expect anything. Subha = good deeds or punya, asubha = bad deeds or papa, parityagi = abandoned, bhaktiman = devotee, is dear to Him. Such a person is Karma-yogi. He has renounced good and bad deeds. Are these practical? We have to qualify all these with some more words. We will see with proper interpretations:

1. Never happy means not rejoicing just because we received something pleasing to us. Is it not natural? What Sri Krishna tells is that if we are to rejoice for something pleasing to us, we must be prepared to grieve if we do not get that. What is wrong with that? Then, our time will be spent only on this rejoice and grief. Where is the time for devotion to the Lord? There will not be time to ponder over atman or the Lord. If we avoid worldly pleasures and sorrows, then we can find time for our atman and the Lord. We can rejoice if we are able to have His grace; otherwise feel sorry. The Worldly pleasures are transient and the pleasure lasts for a very small time. So, we should not rejoice for worldly pleasures and take them in stride.
2. Never hating means not hating others just because we did not get what we desired.

Swami Ramanuja in his life has never hated anyone. Great people [மகான் महान] have suffered in many ways. Just because they were great people, we can not say that they never experienced hardships. They are regarded as great people because they never brooded over when they suffered nor they hated the perpetrators. They did not rejoice and danced when happy events were encountered. When Swami Ramanuja brought in certain reforms, some tried to kill him by poisoning. That never discouraged Swami Ramanuja and he continued with his reforms. He deployed Swami Kidambi Acchan [கிடாம்பி ஆச்சான்] and avoided recurrence. Similarly, his teacher Swami Yadavaprakasa tried to finish him and he escaped. But he never showed any hatred for his erstwhile teacher. A King tried to harm him and he escaped to Melkote near Mysore. He remained there for many years. Yet, never Swami Ramanuja hated him or prayed for King's death. Thus great people do not care about any harm done to them. Of course, if their disciples are harmed, they grieve.
3. Never grieving, means not brooding over any loss or injury.
4. Never expects means, they do not do anything with any expectation.
5. Subhaasubha parityagi means that they do not do any good deed to get Punya or for some pleasure. They never indulge in such acts to prevent the occurrence of grief. They do all acts as they are mandates of shastras or they do not do some acts, as they are forbidden in shastras.
These are the characteristics of a Karma-yogi and such person is dear to the Lord.

                                                                                                       (continued)