SrI UpakAra Sangraham Part - 32

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srI:

SrI upakAra sangraham – 32

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adikAram – 1

poorva upakAra paramparai

(The Foremost Series of Favours)

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SECTION – 5 (4)

(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for

MOKSHAM)

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The next favour of the Lord, taken up by SwAmi

Desikan is the creation of a lineage of AchAryas:

 

(4) pravartaka-paramparai-yai srushtittavum;

 

Pravartaka means, setting on foot, founding,

advancing, promoting, furthering, producing, causing,

prompting, urging, inducing, instigating (in a bad

sense) (ref: Apte's dictionary)

Of these, advancing, promoting, furthering, prompting

and inducing may be suitable to understand the mind of

SwAmi Desikan.

 

We may be able to fix the exact meaning of this word

if study the other word used by him:

Paramparai -- means an uninterrupted series,

succession, lineage etc.

All these will fit in this context.

So, pravartaka-paramparai can be understood as a

lineage for furthering, a succession to promote, a

un-interrupted series for furthering.

 

SwAmi Desikan says it is the Lord's another favour to

create a lineage for furthering, a succession to

promote, a uninterrupted series of AchAryas for

advancing.

 

The question may arise as to what is to be promoted,

what is to be advanced and what is to be furthering.

 

We can arrive at the conclusion that SwAmi Desikan

means to say that the Lord created a succession of

leaders for propagating the ideals spelt out by the

Scriptures which He had created earlier. Since the

Lord's compassion is unlimited, he wanted to ensure

that the virtues and the conduct as proposed in the

scriptures continue to be followed by the generations

to come in the future. Without a strong succession of

personalities who are of good nature, these ideals

cannot be promoted. People will go astray if there are

no proper guides to take them on the right path. Then

only, the Lord can help individual souls to turn

towards Him to get them-selves liberated.

 

This series of AchAryas has to begin with SrIman

nArAyaNa Himself as He is the Supreme Lord of all the

worlds, having cit (the sentient ) and acit (the

non-sentient - matter) as His inseparable attributes.

He is the " advaita-tatvam " , the sole Reality, one

without a second. It is also an established fact that

He alone is the goal to be attained by one and all. He

also stands as the means to salvation.

 

SrIman nArAyaNa is the ultimate Reality. SrI is

LakshmI. SrI and nArAyaNa are inseparably united and

constitute the highest Brahman. So, He is referred to

SrIman nArAyaNa and as the " SarvEshvara " , the Lord of

all.

He is also the first Guru, Teacher. It was He who

first gave the Vedic knowledge to Brahma even before

the creation of all the lives began.

 

The Lord, who is the paramAcharya, taught the VedAs

to Brahma and restored them to him when they had been

snatched away from Brahma. He also gave out all the

scriptures through Brahma. It was He who made Brahma's

sons, Sanaka and others, to spread the dharma in the

worlds. Similarly, He ensured the succession of Gurus

to continue the transfer of spiritual knowledge

through the sages, like nArada, ParAsara and others.

He Himself took the incarnation as KrushNa DvaipAyana

VyAsa to produce various scriptures and the

MahAbhArata and Brahma-sootras.

 

The Lord Himself took various incarnations including

Sri Krishna to teach the Scriptures such as

Bhagvadgita etc., to the world, out of compassion.

 

The Lord also ensured that His teachings are

established on a strong basis through highly

knowledgeable men like SrI BhIshma.

 

The importance of AchArya to acquire the right

knowledge has been highlighted in VedAs and other

scriptures. For example, the MuNdakopanishad says,

 

" tadvij~nAnArtham sa gurumEvAbhigacChEt "

(MuNdakOpanishad, 1-2-12)

(One should approach a teacher for knowing the

Brahman.)

and also,

 

" AchAryavAn purushO vEda "

(Only he who has a good AchArya can realize Brahmam)

 

The lineage of AchAryas go up to the Lord. This has

been stated in another scripture:

 

" sa ca AchAryavamshO j~nEyO asrAvasaviti AbhagavataH "

(RahasyAmnAya BrAhmaNam)

(One should think of the line of his AchAryas upto the

BhagaVan.)

 

This line of teachers has continued through the ages

and the great ideals have been kept up till today.

 

Thus, SwAmi Desikan points out that this un-broken

succession of AchAryas is also a favour conferred upon

us by the Lord.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S. SrInivAsan

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