BHAGAVADGITA

Sunday, November 1, 2015

GITA 8.20

We are at the sannidhi of Sri Chakrapani. Great Saints and Alwars have always praised the weapons of the Lord as in the famous verse pallandu, pallandu by Perialwar. The Lord graces always with the weapons held by Him. Firstly it guarantees protection to the devotees. During Utharayanam, that is six months starting from Tamil month thei [தை ] and next six months starting from Aadi (ஆடி), it is Dakshinayanam [indicating the transition of the Sun from South to North and North to South, as we see from earth]. In the garbagruha, the Lord is gracing with Eight arms, three eyes and raised hair on the head.

MOOLAVAR SRI CHAKRAPANI (in sketch)

The feet are well pressed on the peetam. Near Him are Surya, sage Ahirbudhnya and god Agni are on one side. On the other side lord Brahma is gracing. All these prayed to pardon Surya and give back Surya's brilliance. In the right four arms, the Lord is holding the discus, a pestle, a goad and a lotus. In the left four arms are held conch, mace, noose and bow with arrow. The Lord's discus has Five parts. Rim with whirling fire is one part and is called jwala. Inner circumference is called nemi, is the second part. Third part is spokes joining rim centrenter called aram. Four- center with one side dented is aksham and raised is called kumbham. Five- the Central Force of the Lord is called Purusha. Our mind also is constantly revolving like the discus. Discus, though a weapon, also stands to decorate the Lord. Also Sudarsana identifies the Lord. Chanting the Panchayuda stotram in the morning will relieve us from all fears, sorrows and ills, and success will be achieved.

SRI SUDARSANA

Now we will see 19th sloka. We saw that Universe gets created in Brahma's day time and gets destroyed and reaches the original 'raw' form during his night. This cycle continues endlessly. Sudarsanam is sowmyam darsanam - pleasing to look at. Su + darsanam means auspicious direction. He is also called as Nemi, Chakrarajan, Hetirajan, Rathangam, etc. Even 10 Million [koti] Suns' brilliance can not compare with Sudarsana's dazzling. In sloka 16, the Lord told the lifetime of Brahma. In sloka 17, He told that the Universe gets created in Brahma's daytime and destroyed in his night time. These get created from his body during creation and in the destruction they all become one with Brahma's body again and this was explained in sloka 18. Now, sloka 19:

bhuta-gramah sa evayam
bhutva bhutva praliyate
ratry-agame ’vasah partha
prabhavaty ahar-agame

"Again and again, when Brahma’s day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahma’s night they are helplessly annihilated because of karma."

Reading Arjuna's mind the Lord tries to clear a doubt in Arjuna - why should this cycle of creation and destruction happen? Can't the created ones remain for ever? Avasa = because all are bound by karma, they are born and die. Bhutha-grama = all living beings bound by karma, as an entity, avasa = bound by karma, bhutva = get created. By repeating this word it is implied that they get destroyed and re-created, again destroyed and again created, and so on. Praliyate = gets dissolved [to reach the original status], ratry-agame = in the night time [of Brahma]. We have the present body. Did we have birth before we were born? Will we have birth after death? Many may not believe in rebirths and past janma. Vedas, Itihasa and Purana, elaborately say that rebirths are there. For argument's sake, let us assume there was no birth for any of us earlier and after death there will be no rebirth. Many of us are enjoying or suffering, many for no reason in this birth. We see identical people having totally different experience in life. No tangible reasons could be found for this difference. We are living now is the effect. Then it means there should be a cause for the effect. It is common to see wicked people enjoying life and pious persons suffering. This finds explanation in the past birth's good or bad deeds. Similarly, there should be some effect for all our actions in this birth. If we do bad things then there should be punishment for that. Suppose in the midst of a very bad action, one dies suddenly, then should he escape punishment? So, only rebirths answer these questions. Thus, past births and rebirths are realities. If we do not agree on this, then we can not get answers for experiences in the current life nor will we ever do good things in this life. So, subject to karmas, all these three worlds - bhu, buva and suva - get created in Brahma's daytime and get dissolved in his night time. So any position in these worlds are never permanent and only the Lord's place is ever present. We will now move on to the next temple in Kumbakonam.

(continued)

GITA 8.19

MAIN ENTRANCE

From Chakkara Theertham we have come to Sri Chakrapani temple and today's [22nd May 2008] lecture is from the main sannidhi. The main entrance has a tall tower and as we cross it we come to a beautiful mandapam.

MAHA MANDAPAM

On the right side of the mandapam is Chakkara pushkarini, capable of washing all our sins. As we take bath and sprinkle the water on our head and go inside the temple, we first come across the sannidhi of Anjaneya. Then we reach the sannidhi of Sri Chakrapani; and, like in Sri Sarngapani sannidhi, there are two entrances -Utharayana and Dakshinayana.

SRI CHAKRAPANI PERUMAL SANNIDHI

We come around the sannidhi in clockwise direction. We come to Sri Vijayavalli Nachiyar sannidhi.

SRI VIJAYAVALLI THAYAR SANNIDHI

SRI VIJAYAVALLI THAYAR

It is a separate sannidhi. This is because alongside Sri Chakrapani, Sri Sudarsanavalli Thayar is gracing. But Kalyanotsavam of Sri Chakrapani is performed with Sri Vijayavalli Thayar only. She is gracing with the right lower arm showing protection [Abhaya hastham] and left lower arm pointing to Her Divine feet. Upper two arms are holding lotus flowers. True to Her name, by worshiping Her, all our efforts will be successful. Swami Koora Narayana jeer had composed 100 verse Sudarsana sathakam. Swami Vedanta Desika had composed Eight verse Sudarsana Ashtakam. They all convey a theme. In Vaikuntam, Sriman Narayana was in conversation with Sri Sridevi. It was opined by the Lord that He could delegate granting powers of some requests of the devotees, to others so that all devotees need not come to Him for those requests. Longevity, health and wealth were, thus delegated to Sri Sudarsana. Sri Chakrapani grants all these and Moksham. With the support of Sri Vijayavalli Thayar, He grants longevity, health and wealth. Just because He can grant, we need not worship Them for these earthly benefits; but, consider worshiping Them itself, as a big boon conferred. All other benefits would automatically follow.

We will now see sloka 17 of Chapter 8. We saw that the Lord is the Propeller of the Kala chakra, Jagat chakra and Yuga chakra. We also saw the lifetime of lord Brahma. Thousand chatur yug make one daytime and another 1000 chaturyug make one night and thus his one Brahma year consists of 365 such day and night and he lives for such 100 Brahma years. So, one day, even such long life of lord Brahma would end. By reaching the feet of the Lord, however, even this end we need not face. In Thithriya Upanishad, this is explained.

'Bhishasmadvatha pavathe bhishodhethi soorya: |

Bhishasmadhgnischendrascha mrutyur dhavathi panchama: ||

Fearing the Lord's anger, gods like Vayu, Surya, Agni, Indra, Mrutyu and all, obediently do their duties. Their tenures are all defined; while the Lord remains forever. To reach the Lord, should be the single objective of bhagavallabharti. In sloka 18, Sri Krishna brings up yet another aspect. He tells which are the entities that get created at the beginning of the life of Brahma and which all end at the end of Brahma's life. We have to clearly understand these. Earlier, it was told that moola prakruti or avyaktam is responsible for the generation of mahan, which generates ahankaram. Ahankaram is divided into three parts satvika, rajasa and tamasa ahankarams. From these, the Five great elements or Pancha bhootha, Pancha tanmatra, karmendriya and gyanendriya and manas emerge. All these creations are carried out by the Lord Himself and are called samashti srushti. Then the Lord creates lord Brahma, who starts other creations, under His control. These creations are called vyakti srushti. We should remember that what Brahma creates are also with the blessings of the Lord. Now, Sri Krishna tells what are all created in the daytime of Brahma and which all get destroyed in Brahma's night time. Sloka 18:

avyaktad vyaktayah sarvah
prabhavanty ahar-agame
ratry-agame praliyante
tatraivavyakta-samjnake

"At the beginning of Brahma’s day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again."

Avyaktad = from Brahma's body [earlier we saw this word denoted moola prakruti]. Here this sloka describes all those emerging from the body of Brahma. Brahma was the creation of the Lord. Vyaktya = explicit creations like bhoo, bhuva and suva worlds, sarva = and all the contents of these worlds; it includes all the living beings in these three worlds; all experiences in them; all inanimate objects in these worlds. That is all humans, devas, animals, birds, insects, etc., are created by Brahma, the objects of their senses like what they eat or listen, etc. These are all explicit and so vyaktam. Avyakta is abstract and not perceived by senses. We are able to distinguish all items in vyaktam. Though these emerge from Brahma, these are not perceptible in Brahma's body and so his body is avyaktham. Prabhavanti = all these are created. Ahar-agame = during day time [of Brahma]. All these sense perceived vyaktam get created during the day time of lord Brahma. Brahma controls seven worlds - Bhoo, Buva, Suva, Maha, Jana, Tapa and Satya lokas. This is to be split into two groups and we are talking of the first three worlds Bhoo, Bhuva and Suva. These three are administered by Indra. Brahma is the leader of all gods and Indra is a sub-leader assisting Brahma. Ratri-agame = in the night [of Brahma], praliyante = they get dissolved [layam means an object attaining its natural status. Mud pot becoming layam means it becomes mud. Karyam or end product, attaining its karana or starting status]. That is, all these three worlds get back into the body of Brahma and lose their vyakta form. Tatraiva = in the same place, avyakta samjyate = which is called avyaktam, ie.in Brahma they get dissolved. This is called Naimishtika srushti and naimishtika pralayam. So in one Kalpa kalam or in 1000 chatur yug time, creations in this Universe are done and in the next kalpam, they are all destroyed and reach their original status in Brahma. Therefore, as a corollary, we have to understand that just like us even the lord Brahma has an end; but the Lord Sriman Narayana is ever remaining and by reaching Him, we also will not be subject to these periodical creations and destructions by Brahma.

(continued)

GITA 8.18

SRI SARNGAPANI TEMPLE

We have been drinking the nectar of Gita from various Kshetrams. The Lord at each kshetram is a nectar. All the pasurams on these Kshetrams are also nectar. But the Kshetram from where we are to see Gita in the next few days, is connected with nectar [Amrutham in Sanskrit and Amudham in Tamil]. Yes, we are at the Kshetram of Sri Aravamudhan [Sri Apariamrutham in Sanskrit], also known as Sri Sarngapani (not sarangapani!). We are at Kumbakonam aka Thirukkudanthai. The Lord also has a special name Sri Aravamudhazhvan. Sri Sarngapani is holding the bow Sarngam. This Kshetram is called Kumbakonam, Thirukudanthai, Kalyanapuram and Bhaskara Kshetram. We could see all the remaining slokas of Gita from this place itself. Such is its greatness. We have the temples of Sri Sarngapani, Sri Chakrapani and Sri Ramaswamy. Apart from these, there are many temples in this place. Today [21st May 2008] we are at Chakkara Theertham on the banks of river Kaveri. Very near is Sri Chakrapani temple. We will visit one by one these temples. To begin with we will see Sri Chakrapani temple.

SRI CHAKRAPANI TE,PLE

In Chakkara Theertham, Sri Chakrapani appeared. Let us know how this name Kumbakonam came about. It is called Kuda Mooku, Kudanthai and Kumbakonam. Once, lord Brahma, packed in a pot [kudam in Tamil and Kumbam in Sanskrit], all necessary seeds and herbs for the creation and left the pot up in the Himalayas. During pralayam, this pot floating on water moved Southwards and with the prayers of all, and the blessings of the Lord, it settled at this place and from the pot, all the seeds and other contents flowed out. Creation was started. Because the Creation materials came out of the mouth of the pot, it got the name Kuda Mooku. Kumbakonam means from a corner of the pot, all materials flowed out. So all names are related to the pot. It is also called Bhaskara [The Sun] kshetram. Once Sun out of pride dazzled the earth with more brilliance and heat. People suffered. All prayed to the Lord to humble the Sun. The Lord accepting the prayer sent His discus, Sri Sudarsana, and he emerged in this Chakkara Theertham.

SRI CHAKKARA THEERTHAM

Lord Brahma installed the Lord Chakrapani's image here itself. This temple is situated North of Sri Sarngapani temple, North of Aswatta tree and in the midst of Kaveri. The bathing ghat is called Chakkara padithurai [சக்கர படித் துறை]. During festival, Sri Chakrapani graces the devotees on theerthavari. A bath in Aippasi Amavasya day, is believed to erase all our sins. Thirukkudanthai and Thirumazhisai Alwar are closely connected. He was a great devotee of the Lord, and is believed to be the incarnation of the discus of the Lord, Sri Sudarsana. He was born in Thirumazhisai, near Chennai, in the star constellation of Magham. Masi month Magham star is connected with this place (famous for Mamangam). He donated his Azhvar title to the Lord, and thus the Lord Sri Sarngapani is known as Sri Aravamudha Alwar. Sri Sudarsana, emerging with the brilliance of thousands of Suns, humbled the Sun. Sun was given back its brilliance and so this place is Bhaskara Kshetram.

In the 17th sloka, Sri Krishna tells the period of reign by lord Brahma, the highest of the gods.

sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmano viduh
ratrim yuga-sahasrantam
te ’ho-ratra-vido janah

"By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahma’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night."

Aho = day, ratra = night, vidu = those who know, jana = people. Those who know clearly, the day and night times, tell these. That is, those who know Shastras reveal this. Brahmana = lord Brahma. The Four-faced Brahma, who is created by the Lord, is indicated here. These pundits tell the time of a day and a night of lord Brahma. Sahasra = thousand, yuga = time of one Chatur yuga, aha = is a day [for lord Brahma]. Yuga = chatur yugs, sahasrantam = thousands of, ratrim = is one night for lord Brahma. These are revealed by these knowledgeable pundits. Thus, lord Brahma's life term is very large. Though it is a very long period, it is never permanent or everlasting. One day lord Brahma's life has to end. His world [satya lok] also ends and is destroyed. The Lord's abode has infinite time. We are seeing the cycle of time. Thousand chatur yug is one day and another thousand chatur yug is one night. This is one full day for lord Brahma. In the epic Mahabharata, it is told that Kala chakra, Jagat chakra and Yuga chakra are Sri Kesava. Kala chakra is the wheel of time. Jagat chakra is the cycle of births and deaths. Yuga chakra is the periodic cycle of the four yugs - Kritha, Thretha, Dwapara and Kali. It is said that the Lord by His mere sankalpam or determination, administers all these various cycles. Appropriately, we are at Sri Chakrapani's temple. Let us see the time frame. We have 365 days make one year and our life is 100 years. Lord Brahma also has 100 years of life, but the year here is Brahma year and not our earth years. To know how much is Brahma year, we have to know that one chatur yug has 4,320,000 our earth years. Thousand such years or 4,320,000,000 earth years is Brahma's one day time! Therefore, two such periods make one full day or 8,640,000,000 earth years [Eight billion and six hundred and forty million years] make one complete day for lord Brahma. 365 such days make one Brahma year and 100 such years completes his lifetime [=100X365X8,640,000,000 human years]. Some say this yug refers to the period in deva lok. Our one human year is one full day for devas. Based on this, one can work out one deva year and 4,320,000 deva years make one chatur yug and then calculate lord Brahma's lifetime! Anyway, the lifetime of the lord of the Seventh upper loka - Satya lok- is surely very, very long compared to ours. Even then, one day it is going to end. But Sri Vaikuntam will always remain true to its name Nitya vibhoothi and has no end whatsoever! Whoever attains the Lord is not subject to Kala chakra nor Jagat chakra nor Yuga chakra.

(continued)

GITA 8.17

SRI THAYAR SANNIDHI

Today's [20th May 2008] lecture is from the sannidhi of Sri Ranganayaki Thayar, the Consort of Sri Ranganatha, at Mandangudi. The Universe is protected by this Divine Couple. When She is there the Lord protects, otherwise, He is angry. We should always first worship Thayar and pray for forgiving our sins and then we should go to the sannidhi of the Lord. Because the Alwar sang in praise of the Lord and His Consort in Srirangam, here in this temple also the Divine Couple is gracing the Alwar. In Thondaradipodi Alwar's pasurams we understand the great significance of nama sankeerthanam. By chanting His Divine names our long-standing sins are all destroyed. Sri Andal in Her Thiruppavai, in the pasuram 'ungal puzhakkadai...', says 'senkazhuneer vai negizhndu ambal vai koomina kann' [செங்கழுநீர் வாய் நெகிழ்ந்து ஆம்பல் வாய் கூம்பின காண்]. The flower senkazhuneer blossoms and at the same time flower aambal closes its petals. Accordingly, in this temple, Sri Ranganayaki Thayar holds a fully blossomed flower in one hand and in the other a flower with closed petals. This is unique here.
With the blessings of the Alwar, we will now proceed to sloka 16. As mentioned earlier 14, 15 and 16 slokas explain the greatness of the objective and means to attain the objective of a devotee eager to attain the Lord. In sloka 14 Sri Krishna told that for such devotees He is very easily available. In sloka 15, He explained the difference between aiswaryarti and bhagavallabharti. Aiswaryarti gets, again and again, the abode of sorrows, and temporary, this world. Bhagavallabharti never returns to such sorrowful places for ever. We are seeing the three types of devotees - aiswaryarti, kaivalyarti and bhagavallabharti. Of these, aiswaryarti, even if attains any great position and happiness, has to be born again in this Universe. Kaivalyarti once attained his objective never has a rebirth and so, never returns to this Universe. He can neither go to Sri Vaikuntam. He has to remain in an isolated place enjoying his own atman, forever. Since he is experiencing his own atman he does not have a body. He remains bodiless. He will neither have the perceptible body [sthoola sareeram] as we are having currently; nor will he have a very minute body [sookshma sareeram ]. So he can neither return to prakruti, that is our Universe; nor can he go to Vaikuntam, the abode of Sriman Narayana. Alwars and Acharyas pity this devotee as he would not be able to get Vaikuntam ever. Kaivalyanubhavam and Bhagavath anubhavam, both ensure that the atman does not return to this Universe. Arjuna asks why this is so? Why do persons reaching high positions of Indra or of Brahma or the likes, return back to this Universe? Sri Krishna replies this in the 16th sloka:

a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah
punar avartino ’rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

"From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again."

Sri Krishna tells why the person who attains Him does not return back to this Universe. As a simple answer, we should realise that once we have attained Him, neither we will have a desire to leave that, nor will He wish to leave us. Even if a person gets the Indra position, which tenure extends for many thousands of (earth) years, at the end, one will feel disgusted or stale, and would like to return. This we realise in real life also. All new ventures become stale one day and we feel bored with those sooner or later. It is not so with experience with God. We listen to Srimad Ramayana umpteen times, still every time it appears fresh and new and never we get bored with that. All other things appear stale very early. So getting stale or bored in Vaikuntam can never arise. Therefore, return never happens. But the experience in other world will make us bored one day. This sloka does not tell this reason. Sri Krishna tells, a person reaching the world of Brahma or Indra or Pithru, one day will have to return to this Universe. But a person reaching Vaikuntam will never return. Lokah = worlds of, a brahma = starting from Brahma's [satya loka] , bhuvana = all the worlds. The so called 14 worlds [upper seven and lower seven] are all created for the play of the Lord. Punar avartina= one day are bound to be destroyed. Where as the World of the Lord, Sri Vaikuntam, never gets destroyed. This is a reason. If one reaches Satya Loka, how long he could remain there? Perhaps till that world lasts. In this world, we are here. Our lifetime is much shorter than the life of this earth or Universe. Of course, we should bear in mind that the atman never gets destroyed and only the body is destroyed. So even after the separation from the current body, one may get newer bodies in future and continue. Even after the pralaya, when all the Universe are destroyed, this atman will continue and be born again when creation takes place. All the worlds are to be destroyed one day. Vaikuntam remains forever and so it is called Nitya mandala or Nitya vibhooti. It has other names like Sri Vaikuntam, Aparajita, Ayodhya, etc. It has no end nor depreciation. 'Tad vishno paramam padam sada pasyanti sooraya:', etc. - Veda pronouncements speak of the everlasting nature of Vaikuntam. The Lord's abode Sri Vaikuntam is reached by these devotees and so there is no return for them. Tu =but if, upetya = [this devotee] attains, mam = Me [Sri Krishna], punar janma = rebirth, na vidyate = never gets. All the other worlds of Brahma and others are all to end one day as also the Chiefs of those positions. Thondaradipodi Alwar exhibits the same theme in his Thirumalai pasuram, 'membadu..'. Without ego and with humility, we should discard the material and worldly pleasures and seek the Lord's grace by controlling our senses and with uninterrupted devotion. We should learn from this Alwar the greatness of Total Surrender [Saranagathi] and the bestowing power of nama sankeertanam. We should also realise that the dust [podi] of the feet [adi] of His devotees [thondar] can absolve us from all our sins. Let us so, make a trip to this Kshetram and receive the blessings of the Alwar. We now move on to the next Kshetram.
(continued)

GITA 8.16

ALWAR WITH LORD OF TIRUMALIRUNCHOLAI AND LORD OF TIRUMALA

Thondaradipodi Alwar lived only to serve Sri Ranganatha. He composed the 45 verses Thirumalai and 10 verses Thiruppaliyezhuchi. In the latter one, the Alwar wakes up the Lord. We are in his birthplace Thiru Mandangudi. In his sannidhi, on one side the Lord of Thirumaliruncholai, Sri Azhagar and on another side the Lord of Venkata hills, Sri Srinivasan are gracing. Indicating his ever service to the Lord, the Utsava Moorthy of the Alwar is with a basket used for gathering flowers and for storing garlands. On both sides of the Alwar, Swami Ramanuja and Swami Manavala Mamunigal are gracing. Sri Ranganatha, Moolavar, is in the standing pose. Normally Sri Ranganatha is seen in the reclining pose only in all other temples. The devotees here mention that here Sri Ranganatha has got up from the bed, after listening to Alwar's Thiruppalliyezhuchi! Utsavar is with Abhaya mudra in right lower arm and left lower arm holding the mace. Upper arms are holding discus and conch. True to the word satatam in the 14th sloka of Chapter 8, this Alwar remains the servant of the Lord, ever. For such devotees, He is easily available. This same theme is going to be explained by Sri Krishna in the next slokas 15 and 16 also. This Alwar stands as the best example conveyed in all these slokas. He says in his Thirumalai, that seeing the Lord in the midst of the two rivers in Srirangam, tears flow from his eyes like Kaveri; that seeing the Lord with feet in East, head on West, facing South and back to North, how could he go away from Him. He says after worshiping Him, Alwar is unable to stand and his mind melts. Such is his bhakti and is reflected in all the 45 pasurams. Thirumalai is considered as a stimulator for Nama sankeerthana. He says by constantly chanting His names, the Alwar is not scared of lord Yama nor his messengers and says further that he would tread on their heads. In the famous pasuram, 'pachchaima malai pol meni...', he lauds the sweetness of chanting His names.

Sri Krishna told in sloka 14, that he who constantly chants His names and does not divert his thoughts elsewhere, is able to reach Him easily. In sloka 15, He is telling the difference between aiswaryarti and bhagavallabharti:

mam upetya punar janma
duhkhalayam asasvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah

"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection."

One who attains Him will never be born in this Universe, the abode of sorrows, again. Why does He say that? Because, even if one goes to the position of Indra or Chandra or even Brahma, after that tenure, one has to be reborn in this world. Whereas, if one wants to attain Him and attains Him, He will never be reborn; this is the difference between aiswaryarti and bhagavallabharti. Mahatmana = mahatmans. He calls bhagavallabharti alone as mahatman and not the aiswaryarti nor kaivalyarti. In Chapter 7, Sri Krishna told, ' sa mahatma sudurlabha:'. He said that He is unable to find that person, mahatman, who is totally dependent on Him and who can not bear even a moment of separation. Here, we have to keenly observe a point. We saw kaivalyarti was superior to aiswaryarti, and, bhagavallabharti was superior to kaivalyarti. There are two types of devotees in bhagavallabharti: one assumes that by one's efforts one gets the Lord. The other variety is that the Lord should grace, select and induce bhakti in that devotee and He Himself should grant the final reward of reaching Him. Both the types of devotees reach the Lord and there can be no doubt on that. One assumes one's efforts and actions; while the other leaves everything to His grace. Swami Ramanuja in his Gita Bbhashyam has explained this, using some Shastra quotations. He says that our knowledge of Him or our constant talk about Him, etc,. alone can not reach Him. But if the Lord decides to shower His grace or decides to reward us, nothing can stop Him. So to think that by His grace we get bhakti, is the more sublime level of bhakti. Also, it is not correct to think that we performed bhakti and so He granted the rewards. We should think that it is His grace to make one perform bhakti and one's effort is not there. The Lord desired to grant the rewards and not because one performed bhakti. Such a bhakta (devotee) is mahatman and he performs bhakti for the sake of bhakti. Sam siddhim = supreme level of attaining the Lord [siddhi = attaining atman and sam siddhi = attaining the Lord]. Paramam = nothing superior to that [sam siddhi]. Upetya = after reaching, mam = Me [Sri Krishna], alayam = abode of, dukha = sorrows, asasvata = temporary or non-permanent, punar janma = re-birth in a body, napnuvanti = [they] will never have. By meditating on the Lord and attaining Him, they are mahatman. They will never be reborn in this sorrow filled and transient body. This is a major difference. Aiswaryarti has to have rebirth in some body and suffer. Bhagavallabharti, on the other hand, once reaches Him, never is reborn and so no more sufferings. He is in a permanent bliss. Thondaradipodi Alwar in his pasuram,'veda nool pirayam..', says that Vedas say that the age for humans is 100 years. If some one is born as a human, none is guaranteed of 100 years. Even if that person has 100 years, 50 years is spent on sleep, provided he does not sleep in the day time also. In the wake up state his time is spent as a child, boy and on hunger, disease and old age. What remains alone can be spent on the Lord. Do we need this suffering? asks Alwar and says no more of rebirths. So, reaching Vaikuntam should be our objective.

(continued)