०६ परदेवता-पारमार्थ्याधिकारः

Paradevata Paramarthyadhikara

CHAPTER - VI

Paradevata Paramarthyadhikara

After having taught the nature of the three entities viz. Matter, Jivatman and Paramatman, in a general way, Desika has established in this chapter i.e. Paradevata Paramarthyadhikara, the nature of the particular deity which is the supreme reality. According to the teaching of the scriptures, the Supreme Brahman described in the Upanishads is verily the same highest divinity of religion. The distinction made by Advaitins between Supreme Brahman and Iswara is not tenable because there are no valid ‘pramanas’ for positing such a difference. The argument of the advaitins that on account of the T ’ or auspicious limiting adjuncts, the undifferentiated brahman is appearing as Ishwara, is not acceptable, as it is only ‘kalpitha’ or a fabric of imagination.

Ramanuja has declared in the introductory verse itself of his Sri Bhashyam, that the Supreme Brahman is Srinivasa or Sriman Narayana inseparably associated with Goddess Mahalakshmi. While defining the word ‘Brahma’ of the first sutra - 32TT) CESETH (.4.—8) - Ramanuja says - ‘ब्रह्मशब्देन च निरस्तनिखिलदोषः अनवधिकातिशय कल्याणगुणः पुरुषोत्तमो ऽभिधीयते। सर्वत्र बृहत्वगुणयोगेनहि ब्रह्मशब्दः । बृहत्त्वं च स्वरूपेण गुणैश्च यत्र अनवधिकातिशयं सः अस्य मुख्योऽर्थः । स च सर्वेश्वर एवं’।

In the Brahma-sutras, while explaining the meanings of the sutra “f*4ral alcania:” (.. - 3-3-83) Ramanuja declares that the essential nature of the Supreme Brahman, to be meditated upon in all Brahmopasanas, is determined as Sriman Narayana. It is the conclusion of the Sutrakara according to Ramanuja that the object of meditation that is described in the Upanishads differently as Akshara, Shiva, Shambu, Parabrahma, Paranjyoti, Paratatva, Paramatman, Sat, Akasha, Prana, Dahara, Jyoti and others, culminate in Sriman Narayana. The analogy of “Chagapasu Nyaya” is followed in determining the name of the particular dcity that is to be meditated upon in all modes of Brahmopasana. The general names or terms culminate in Sriman Narayana. This fact of Sriman Narayana being the ultimate Rcality to be meditated upon is expressly declared in the Mahanarayana Upanishad. The same truth is established in the Itihasas, Puranas, and Divya Prabhandhams. There are profuse authorities that establish the fact of Narayana being the supreme deity to be meditated upon for obtaining ‘Moksha’ or liberation.

In view of all these facts, Vedantha Desika has expounded the whole reality of the ‘Paradevata Swarupa’ in one section where he has drawn quotations from innumerable authorities to prove that the supreme deity is Sriman Narayana.

In an introductory vecse to this chapter, Desika declares that well-meaning people who depend upon valid means of knowledge never give credence to the different doctrines o Ishvara, proposed by unwise people. Those different doctrines arc of different forms such as

आत्मैक्यं देवतैक्यं त्रिकसमधिगता तुल्यतैक्यं त्रयाणां अन्यत्रैश्वर्यमित्याद्यनिपुणफणितीः आद्रियन्ते न सन्तः । त्रय्यन्तैरेककण्ठैस्तदनुगुणमनु व्यासमुख्योक्तिभिश्च श्रीमानारायणो नः पतिरखिलतनुः मुक्तिदो मुक्तभोग्यः ॥

Paradcvata Paramarthyadhikara

(A) Oneness of all the three entities - Atmaikyam ; (B) Oneness of all deities with Paramatman - Devataikyam ; (C) Equality among the trinity viz. Brahma, Vishnu and

Shiva ; (D) Supreme deity higher than the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu

and Shiva - TT RR ‘I

Yadavaprakasha’s view was that there is only one Brahman (Dravyam) and that it has undergone change to assume the state of chetana and achetana. His view is that the Supreme Brahman alone has undergone change to become Ishvara, Jiva and Matter.

The second view - Devataikyam - posits oneness of the nature of the deity and there is no difference in nature of that divinity, though there is ‘Sarira-Bheda’ of deities such as Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Indra, Agni, etc.

The next view is ‘fachaTICI Ra’i This view posits that the three gods viz. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are equal in jnana, shakti and other qualities. All the three are equals.

The next view is ’n voi’ | Oneness of the three deities. The next view is that the supreme is higher than the trinity; that means faucitura’

Desika suggests that there are certain views that try to establish the supremacy of Brahma or Rudra over the other two. All these views are unfounded because there are so many authorities that establish the supremacy of Sriman Narayana over all others.

Desika says that the Upanishads in one voice declare that Sriman Narayana is the Gea He says Pant: acud; because in the Purva-Bhaga", many other deities have been - in the context of karma - spoken as supreme. But in the Upanishads, it is universally declared that Vishnu - Narayana

is the ‘Paradevatha’. This kind of scriptural authority is not to be found in support of other doctrines of paradevatha.

These scriptural statements are corroborated by the teachings of Manu, Vyasa and others that are according to the Veda. This is suggested by the term suur’ and excludes the rajasic and the tamasic puranas that are opposed to the teachings of the Veda. The teachings of Valmiki, Parashara, Shuka and Shaunaka and other such masters also are implied in this statement. So, it is suggested here that certain statements that are contrary to this doctrine found in rajasic and tamasic puranas are not to be considered as authoritative. Desika declares the conclusion in the fourth line of this verse -

‘श्रीमान् नारायणो नः पतिरखिलतनुः मुक्तिदो मुक्तभोग्यः’

In this statement, it is established that the supreme reality is inseparably associated with Goddess Sri. The paradevatha is both Sri and Narayana. Sri also is paradevatha. He is the Lord of everything other than himself. The word ‘ufa:’ signifies that he is ‘Sheshin" and all entities other than Sriman Narayana are for subserving his purposes.

‘Akhila-tanuh’ signifies that Sriman Narayana is the antharyamin’ in every other entity and when other doctrines such as Rudra, Indraprana, are ordained to be meditated upon, they signify the one, non-second antaryamin in all. Every other entity than the supreme Narayana, is his body; that means, it is supported, ruled over and used for his purposes.

Paradevata Paramarthyadhikara

‘Muktida’ and ‘Mukta-bhogyah’ are very significant terms. The meaning of the term ‘devatha’ is a chetana that is to be worshipped and that grants the fruits of upasana, and - this happens to be very true in respect of Sriman Narayana. He, the all-self, is to be worshipped and the ‘phala’ is also obtained from Him alone. Sriman Narayana is the Supreme Paradevatha that is experienced in the state of liberation. Thus, in the introductory verse, Desika has described the nature of the Supreme Reality.

At the very outset, a doubt arises whether it is necessary to determine the nature of the particular deity to be meditated upon. Would it not be enough if one understands that Ishvara is different and distinct from the Jiva To realise that the ‘Prerita’ or Ishvara is different and distinct from the Jivatman or bhokta as well as from matter which is the object of enjoyment, would it not be enough for jivatman for gaining moksha?

The answer to this question is that an aspirant should have a definite understanding about the nature of the paradevata or Supreme Deity, for attaining liberation from the contact of matter. His efforts for gaining the knowledge of Paramatman, should not be misdirected and wasted. Because ‘Moksha’ is possible of attainment only by one who is solely attached to the Supreme Deity – who is the means as well as the end. Only a paramaikantin can gain liberation immediately from the Supreme Deity. As it is established by valid authorities that there is real difference and distinction between the chetana and achetana, the view point of Yadavaprakasha and others that everything is Brahma-Dravya or Brahman in substance is incompatible. The difference between the jivas and Ishvara is established. Similarly, difference between one Jiva and another jiva is also

OswerEssence of Srimad Rahasyattaya Saram

established. The variations in respect of different jivas in their abilities, knowledge, experience of joy and sorrow and others, are established by the scriptures and as these differences are real, the doctrine that all gods such as Brahma, Rudra and others and Ishvara are non-different is not correct. The gods such as Brahma, Rudra, Indra and others, are all labouring under the stress and strain of karma and they are all created by the one Supremc Deity, and so it cannot be held that they are all one with Ishvara. Except the one, non-second Supreme Lord, who is the creator of the universe, all others including the hicrarchy of gods, beginning with the four-faced Brahma, are subordinatcd to Him and therefore, they cannot be one with Ishvara. They are all ‘samsarins’ holding different positions due to their different kinds of karma, good or bad. The scriptures declare in one voice that the Supreme Narayana is the cause of the origination, sustenance and destruction of the universe comprising of sentients and non-sentients.

Vedantha Desika quotes innumerable ‘pramanas’ from the scriptures, the Itihasa, Puranas, the Agamas and the Divyaprabandams, to establish the fact that Sriman Narayana is the one paradevata, who is the innerself in all other entities. The Taittiriya Upanishad, the Mahanarayana Upanishad, the Atharvashiropanishad, the Subalopanishad, expressly declare that Sriman Narayana is the Supreme Devata.

Some of the authorities that declare that Vishnu or Narayana as the Supreme Deity, may be mentioned as follows :

“At the time of the dissolution of this universe, when the ‘Mahat’ tatva merged in the primordial matter, the great universal-self, the Lord Sriman Narayana existed. ‘16 Hoa प्राप्ने प्रलीने प्रकृतौ महान् । एकस्तिष्ठति विश्वात्मा स तु नारायणः प्रभुः’।

Paradevata Paramarthyadhikara

“The primeval being was Sriman Narayana. From Him was born the four-faced Brahma, and from him was born Shiva.”

‘परो नारायणो देवः तस्माज्जातश्चतुर्मुखः । तस्मात् रुद्रोऽभवत् ।

“For protecting all entities, you incorporated yourself, out of your will, in the midst of the trinity, as ‘Vishnu’ ‘रक्षार्थं सर्वभूतानां विष्णुत्वं उपजग्मिवान्’ ।

__ “Except that one ‘Purusha’, the primeval Vasudeva, there is no entity either moving or non-moving that is eternal.”

‘नित्यं हि नास्ति जगति भूतं स्थावर जङ्गमम् ।

ऋते तमेकं पुरुषं वासुदेवं सनातनम् ।

“All gods worship Vasudeva, all gods bow down to Vasudeva”. ‘सर्वेदेवाः वासुदेवं यजन्ते सर्वे देवाः वासुदेवं नमन्ते’।

“All gods including Brahma, Rudra and Indra, and all great sages are solely worshipping the Supreme God, Narayana”.

“सब्रह्मकास्सरुद्राश्च सेन्द्रा देवा महर्षयः । अर्चयन्ति सुरश्रेष्ठं देवं नारायणं हरिम्”।

It is decidedly declared in the scriptures that gods like Brahma, Rudra and others, are creations of the Supreme Lord Narayana and that Supreme Narayana, is the antaryamin of all those gods. It is pointed out that the gods that occupy. positions of Brahma or Rudra, have attained those positions by means of their services to the Lord. They hold such positions on account of the grace of the one Supreme Lord.

Essence of Srimad Rahasyattaya Saram

‘ब्रह्माद्यास्सकला देवाः मनुष्याः पशवस्तथा । विष्णुमायामहावर्तमोहान्धतमसा वृताः’ ॥

These gods are subordinated to the delusion of matter or prakruthi and are dominated by the interplay of the threc ‘gunas’ viz. Satva, Rajas and Tamas and their knowledge is subjected to expansion and contraction and they serve the Lord, their antaryamin, in accordance with their understanding of the Supreme Lord.

They are also the Vibhuti or the inseparable attributes of the Supreme Lord who is the Master of the two vibhutis viz. the ‘Leela’ Vibhuti and ‘Nitya’ Vibhuti.

The following reasons establish that Sriman Narayana alone is the one Supreme Deity ruling over all other entities :

Sriman Narayana is the ‘Sarveswara’ who is the creator of all others including Brahma, Rudra, Indra, Agni and others. These different deities are all in fact jivatmans occupying different positions on account of their meritorious karmas.

The “purusha’ who was created by Sriman Narayana is called in this world as ‘Brahma’. ‘Ka’ is the name of the chaturmukha Brahma. I am the master of all living beings called by the name ‘Isa’ Both of us were born of your body. So, you are called ‘Keshava’. a la CEMT-14 $21156 Hd देहिनाम् । आवां तवांगे सम्भूतौ तस्मात् केशवनामवान्’ । 2. All jivatmans - other than Paramatman - are dominated

by karma (Karma-Vashya) and worshipping the Supreme Narayana, they have gained their respectable positions. They worshipped the Lord and the Lord being pleased

Paradcyata Paramarthyadhikarą

with their worship, has granted them those celebrated positions of ‘Brahma’, ‘Shiva’ and ‘Indra’.

All gods including Indra, Rudra and Brahma and all great sages worship the supreme deity Srihari otherwise known as ‘Narayana’.

“I seek refuge with that great Lord whom even Brahma, Isvara and others do not understand, as he is, in spite of meditating upon him continuously”.

युगकोटि सहस्राणि विष्णुमाराध्य पद्मभूः ।

पुनस्त्रैलोक्य धातृत्वं प्राप्तवानिति शुश्रुम’।

“The louts-born Brahma worshipped Vishnu for thousands of crores of yugas (yuga-koti-sahasrani) and once again obtained the position of that Chaturmuka-Brahma”. 3. All gods are subjugated to the ‘Maya’ or Prakriti of the

Lord. They are dominated by the trigunas. Their Dharma-Bhuta-Jnanam, is subjected to contraction and expansion. This is evident from the very many episodes of vedapahara, the sin of brahma-hatya and others. It was the Lord who came to their rescue at the times of their peril and so these gods cannot be considered as the

‘Paradevata’. 4. All these other gods depend upon the Lord - their

antaryamin - for gaining knowledge and for serving the Lord according to his commands.

“All these gods are not pure, because they are all born differently according to their respective karma”.

आब्रह्मस्तम्बपर्यन्तं जगदन्तर्व्यवस्थिताः । प्राणिनः कर्म जनित संसार वशवर्तिनः ॥ “All living beings beginning with the Brahma, upto the smallest insect, are beings that are migrating in this world on account of their different karmas.”

Beginning with that Brahma, all living beings are not pure and auspicious as they are all floundering in ‘samsara’ on account of karma. So, for a ‘virakta’ the Supreme Goal is Vasudeva alone.”

‘कर्मणां परिपाकत्वात् आविरिश्चादमंगलम् । इतिमत्वा विरक्तस्य वासुदेवः परागतिः’।

The Supreme Narayana is the ‘ashrayaneeya’ or ultimate refuge to all other gods. But for that Supreme Narayana, there is no one who his “ashrayaneeya”. ‘ममाश्रयो न कश्चित्तु सर्वेषां आश्रयोऽह्यहम् ।

Gods take refuge in Rudra. Rurda has Brahma as his refuge and that Brahma takes refuge in me and I have no one to take refuge. I am the final refuge.” - says the Lord. The Supreme Narayana is the Lord of both the Nitya vibhuti and Leela-vibhuti. All others are the vibhutis of that Supreme Lord. The auspicious term ‘Narayana’ itself

signifies that ‘Supremacy’ of Narayana. 8. All entities - sentient and non-sentient - are the bodies of

the Lord, and the Supreme Lord - ‘Sriman Narayana’ - is the antaryamin in all entities. All others are subservient to the Supreme Narayana.

In ‘Mantraraja-pada-stotra, the most eminent Rudra himself declares as follows :- ‘ALGU: Fag: HI HATA: परमात्मनः । अतोऽहमपि ते दासः इति मत्वा नमाम्यहम्”।

Paradevata Paramarthyadhikara

“All atmans are the servants of that Paramatman by their nature. So, I am also your ‘dasa’. Knowing thus, I seek refuge with you.” 9. Those who are blessed with the glances of Supreme

Narayana at the time of their birth, are said to gain the preponderance of ‘satva’ that leads them to become ‘Mumukshus’. But the glances of others are leading to

rajas and tamas that bind them to samsara.

It is declared clearly that gods like Brahma and Rudra,

are not ‘upasyas’ for a person who desires moksha. Sriman Narayana is the “upasya” of even Brahma and Rudra, as well as all other aspirants of liberation. संसारार्णवमग्नानां विषयाक्रान्तचेतसाम् । विष्णुपोतं विना नान्यत् किंचिदस्ति परायणम्।

“For people whose minds are over powered by the objects of the senses and who are drowning in the ocean of samsara, there is no refuge other than the boat of the form of Vishnu”.

They can be worshipped by those who wish for earthly benefits and even in that case, the one, non-second, antaryamin is in fact the ultimate object of worship and the benefits granted by that Lord are given through those gods. Just like acharyas, other gods may be moksha-upakarakas or promoters of liberation. Those who crave for liberation, do not worship Brahma or Shiva or any other deity from whom one can get little benefit. “Srihari alone is to be meditated upon always by you who are established in satva”. “That Supreme Lord is verily the ‘upasya’. I am only a means to that meditation of the Supreme” (the statement of Rudra).

Essence of Srimad Rahasyattaya Saram

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34RTIST HET Pàm:341415 : nt’ll 11. It is learnt from the epics and the puranas that the

Supreme Lord is ‘sathya-sankalpa’ and if he wills to punish anybody, no other person can save him. If he

wills to protect some one, no one on earth can avert it. 12. There is a hierarchy of gods. These gods, their powers to

grant phala, and the modes of their worship are all ordained by the Lord himself. Any one who seeks benefits from such gods, gets those benefits according to the will of the Supreme himself. But, those benefits are little and impermanent. If, on the other hand, one approaches the Lord for even earthly benefits, he gets those desires fulfilled and notwithstanding those little benefits, he will ultimately gain dispassion and attains the Lord himself gradually, by some spiritual discipline or other.

This wisdom of the nature of the Supreme Deity is very essential particularly for a '

Mumukshu’. One has the liberty to choose any god he pleases and pray for any benefit he desires. If it is in the powers of such gods, he can gain them. If he realises that he is worshipping the one Supreme Narayana, in worshipping the other gods, he will gain immense benefits and will be endowed with the necessary knowledge for liberating himself from samsara. But, it is decidedly declared that for gaining liberation one has to seck thc ‘Paradevata’ and worship Him ardently.

This exposition is only placing the facts before aspirants and is not in any way belittling other gods.

Paradevara Paramarthyadhikara

One may worship any god. It is better than becoming an atheist. The Lord says in the Gita, that he is going to strengthen the faith of a person who is devoted to some other god. That person may, after a long time, gain the real knowledge of the ‘paradevara’ at some time or other and save himself. But, it is wise to determine in the very beginning itself the nature of the ‘paradevata’.

Desika points out that the three mantras or rahasyas, enshrine the truth of the ‘paradevata’. In the Mulamantra, the letter ‘Aa’ in pranava and the third word, ‘Narayana’, point out to this Supreme Deity. The term ‘Narayana’ qualified by ‘Sri’ in the ‘Dvaya-mantra’ and the words ‘Mam’ and ‘Aham’ in the ‘Charama-sloka’, signify the reality of the ‘Paradevara’. The Taittiriya Upanishad and the Mahanarayana glorify the ‘Paradevata".

As pointed out already, the ‘paradevata’ consists of a duality viz. Goddess Sri and Narayana.

Sri Parashara in Vishnu Purana expounded this doctrine of ‘paradevata’. Sri Yamuna expounds in Stotra Ratna, the Supreme Paradevata.

All other Acharyas have taught this Supreme Reality very clearly in their noble works and a person who studies all these texts realises that the Supreme Lord ever associated with Goddess Lakshmi, is the Supreme Deity or ‘paradevatal in whom one has to take refuge.