Ramanuja starts Sribhashyam with a prayer to Lord Srinivasa of Venkatadri – Akhila bhuvana janma…… Srinivase….bhakti roopa. The name Srinivasa connotes a mithunam, the duo to whom all Srivaishnava prayers are addressed.
2. Two factors which turn people away from religion are talk of sin and death. In the West ,with the Abrahamic rule “the wages of sin is death”, the alienation is complete. But Vedanta takes the sting out of the subject.
3. Vedanta lifts us out of gloom when we are oppressed by doubts about right and wrong. It tells us we are not mere frail flesh, but effulgent atma, untouched by sin. When we are swayed by pride ,Vedanta makes us humble, declaring “sarvArambhA hi doshena..aavruta”- all human endeavours are enveloped by faults.
4. Sins can be in action (controllable), in words (controlled with some difficulty) and by thoughts (almost uncontrollable). A sinful act actually calls for great effort, because it means overpowering law, social code, defensive resistance, personal pride and honour, human traits of kindness and kinship,etc., Wisdom dictates that each hurdle is viewed as a helpful hand guiding us in the path of righteousness.
5. Vedanta teaches that adherence to dharma fries the seeds of sinful tendencies, thoughts and words, so that they will not sprout into action. Till the dharma way becomes strong and settled , action should be controlled with great effort. Thus the word papam is generally taken as kayika – physical sin. Papa kriyasya saranam Bhagavat kshama eva – the Lord’s pardon is the only means of escape from consequences. Sankara in Prasnottara Malika talks of memory of sin as the ultimate torment while breathing one’s last. Gita charamslokam XVIII-66, and the very last sloka of Srimad Bhagavatam and Taittiriya Upanishad II-9 Brahmanandavalli are important concluding passages of sastras which give us hope of redemption and cleansing of sins.
6. The ancient name of Tirupati Tirumala was Tiruvenkatam. Vem katam in Tamil means “sins turn to ashes”. There is a stream at Tirumala named Papavinasanam. The Lord wears Daya and Kshama as Sridevi and Bhudevi on his chest, and hence called Srinivasa, the abode of vatsalya. Vatsa means calf in Sanskrit, and vatsalya means the act of the cow licking off the dirt on the body of the calf and cleansing it of impurities.
7. The names Madhava, Sridhara and Srinivasa are dear to srivaishnavas, because the parabrahmam Narayana is not ekayana or kevalanarayana, but Lakshminarayana, a mithunam (duo) that should never be separated in our thoughts. Lakshmi is a complex tatvam. Sri Desikan ,in his Daya satakam paints a vivid picture of Lakshmi as the personification of Srinivasa’s mercy. Her influence is so overpowering that the Lord can not adopt a stern view about devotees’ faults.
8. Lakshmi is commonly thought of as bestower of wealth, dhAridrya nAsini, but dharidram actually means craving. Craving is the cause of sin; it clouds reason and blocks jnana. Ramanuja ,at the start of Sribhashyam, seeks Srinivasa’s grace for a clear devout intellect, emboldened by the obvious presence of Lakshmi, Bhuma. Ramanuja’s followers are called srivaishnavas, because Lakshmi is given prominence equal to Narayana. Incidentally there is a mistaken view that Laksmi is counted as jivA in Tenkalai sect. This is incorrect. LokAcharya’sTatvatrayam and ManavAla Mamuni’s vyAkhyAnam do not include Lakshmi in any of the three categories of jivA. She features only in the Easwara tatva. If we ascribe all the attributes of Brahmam to Lakshmi individually, it could lead to confusion. It is worth noting that Mahalakshmi, Varalakshmi, Vaishnavi, Narayani, etc are names of parabrahma swaroopini in shAktam, one of shanmatha postulated by Sankara.
9. Srinivasa removes our sins which block our karma, jnana and bhakti, by his vatsalya and the benign presence of divyamahishis. Ramanuja was treading the footsteps of Nammazhwar who made his kainkarya prarthana (dhvayam poorva vakhyam) in Tiruvaimozhi
3-3-1
ஒழிவில் காலம் எல்லாம் உடனாய் மன்னி
வழுவிலா அடிமை செய்ய வேண்டும்…
In the next post we shall see the role of Athigiri Varadan, whose kripa is matchless.
About Sribhashyam 