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Re: Bhishma-stuthi-1

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Krishna Kalale • June 4, 1997 


Dear Bhagawathas,

I read all the three parts of this Bhisma-stuthi.  The translation of the
stuthi itself is excellent and written in Sri M.K. Sudarshan's usual unique
rich style.  I am a great admirer of Bhisma's character who has another
great work to his credit : The Vishnu Sahasranama.  

Regarding Antima Smriti I would like to make a comment. If you have
noticed, the antimasmrti (remembrance of Narayana when dying) is advised
and is sort of a must for a Bhakti Yogi (traditional Bhakti yoga - as per
Srimad Bhagawad Gita and not just Gaouna Bhakti - or ordinary Bhakti;  Some
folks may be confused regarding the difference between these two concepts).
 In fact, Bhisma being a bhakti Yogi, himself waited for several days on
the bed of arrows for the Uttarayana Punya kala to appear and then left his
body meditating on Lord Krishna.  Bhakti yogi has to leave his body only in
uttarayana so that he will pass through sun's orb to Vaikunta. (As per some
reference in SRimad Rahasyatraya Sara : niryanadhikara.  (Kausitaki
Upanisad adds some more issues to this topic).

The key feature for a prapanna is that he does not have to necessarily work
for or aim to have antimasmrti of Lord Narayana.  This should not be
mistaken for one need not care for Narayana anymore; only that it is not
obligatory on the part of a prapanna to have antimasmrti for prapatti to
work. Even a prapanna can and probably try to  do "nama samkirtanam or
sahasranama japa etc. to constantly remember Narayana.  On the otherhand
for a Bhaktiyogi, Antimasmriti is a must.  Jada Bharata, who was a great
yogi could not attain Lord in his penultimate birth, since he started
getting attached to a deer in his last days and had to take a birth as a
deer before finally attaining God.  There is a verse in Srimad Bhagawadgita
in reference to this topic:

 yam yam vaapi smaran bhavam tyajyatyante kalebaram
tam tam eva eti kaunteya sada tad bhava bhavitah
tasmat sarvesu kaleshu maam anusmara yudhya cha
mayyarpita mano budhhih maam evaishyasi asamsayam

translation:

"Oh Kaunteya (Arjuna), one will attain the very same form, whichever, one
thinks of, when dying; Hence, remember me always and fight too; Having
offered your mind and intellect, you will certainly attain me.

 Note: The above verse applies to bhaktiyogis and others. it should be
noted that most of bhagawadgita does not specifically address prapatti
except in the carama sloka.  In fact Sri Ramanuja aptly states :
bhakti yogam avatarayamasa, in his Gitabhasya, which, in my opinion
(several others) is the clearest and most exact bhasya on Srimad Bhagawad
Gita.  I formed this opinion after deeply researching several bhasyas on
srimadbhagawadgita in the last 18 years!(thanks to all my gurus : Sri
Sampath Iyengar and 44th Jeer of Ahobila Mutt) and not because I belong to
srivaishnava community. Incidentally, Sri Uttamoor Viraraghavacharya has
written an analysis of other bhasyas on Srimad Bhagawadgita, in his
introduction to Gitabhasya with Tatparya Candrika.  This work is a
masterpiece and I got to read it, just recently and I have translated a
good fraction of this work. It is so amazing that the amount of
understanding I got with so many years of work I put in,  in understanding
Srimad Bhagawadgita was sort of made to appear insignificant in comparison
to the precise summary given in this article. (someday I will publicize
this translation).  SORRY FOR GOING ON A TANGENT!



Srimathe Srivan Satagopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yateendra Mahadesikaya Namaha
Srimathe Sri Lakshmi Nrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka Srivan Satagopa Sri
Narayana Yateendra Mahadesikaya Namaha.


At 08:17 AM 6/4/97 +0300, M K Sudarshan wrote:
>srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha
>sri vedanta guravE namaha
>
>Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s",
>
>Hasn't it struck some of you as singular that SriVaishnavism has so much to
>say on "antima-smriti" ("reflection on the Lord in the moment of final
>departure of the soul from the body") ?
>
>Personally, I've never ceased to wonder at the copious references in the
>literature of our "sampradAya" dealing with those final moments a man spends
>in this world before he passes away to the other.
>
>For instance, the Upanishad, while listing the 32 "bramha-vidyA-s" or
>"techniques of salvation-seeking" clearly gives pride of place to
>"antima-smriti" as an excellent expedient to secure spiritual liberation. 
>
>In Ch.VIII.10 of the 'Bhagavath-Gita' the Lord, too, makes mention of
>'antima-smriti' in very pointed terms:
>
>"prayaNa-kAlE manasA-chalEna, bhaktyA yuktO yOga-balEna chaiva;
>  bhruvOr madhyE prANamAvEshya samyaksa tam param purusham upaiti divyam".
>
>(Translation : One who, in the moment of death, engages himself in devotedly
>remembering the Supreme Lord will certainly attain to Godhead.)
>
>Periya-Alwar in one of his oft-quoted "pasUram-s" ("appOdhikku-ippOdE
>sollivaiythEn...".etc) graphically paints the picture of the mortal struggle
>an ordinary soul puts up in the agonising moments before clinical death
>occurs and of the mixed reactions of kith and kin who stand by helplessly
>watching its final exit from this world.
>
>Swami Desikan, too, in one his celebrated verses (#12) from the
>"gOpala-vimshati" has poetically dealt with "antima-smriti" :
>
>  aDharAhita charu vamsha nALA:
>   makutalambi mayUra pincha mAlA:
>  harinILa shilA viBhanga nILA:
>   pratiBhA: santu mamAntima prayANE !!
>
>
>(My free, non-literal translation):  May the Effulgent One,
>                                     Whose lustre does exceed
>                                     The lovely hue of blue-diamonds ...
>                                     
>                                     One with a Crown 
>                                     All gilded with peacock finery ...
>                                     
>                                     One with His lips curled 
>                                     In eternal kiss 
>                                     Around a tuneful reed... 
>                                     
>                                     May that One, I pray, 
>                                     Yea, that One alone,
>                                     Reveal Itself to me
> 
>                                     In the fleeting moments 
>                                     My journey ends ....
>
>
>Now, reading all the above passages and references, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s",
>I could not, sometimes in the past, help asking myself some UNCOMFORTABLE
>questions relating to "antima-smriti" :
>
>A) Is SriVaishnavism, as religious faith, obsessed with "dying" and "death"
>in the, more or less, morbid way of some present-day "spiritual-cults" of
>the world and which, reportedly, preach or prescribe, in one form or the
>other, their own brand of human responses to "Doomsday" or the day of the
>imminent "apocalypse" ?
>
>B) Is pre-occupation with "antima-smriti" some sort of "death-wish" ?
>
>C) In the parlance of modern pychology, would "antima-smriti" be regarded as
>a symptom of the clinical condition known as "acute anxiety-syndrome" ?
>
>D) When stressing that "antima-smriti" is a condition of mind which all
>adherents of the Faith should desire to achieve in the final moments of
>life, is Sri Vaishnavism not actually inducing "anxiety" in the hearts of
>men and filling it with that most primal of human fear -- the fear of
death  ?
>
>E) If one is constantly pre-occupied with "antima-smriti" is there not
>danger of he/she being afflicted with "pathological anxiety" ("bheethi")? If
>one, therefore, goes through life in perrenial anticipation of the final
>moments of "antima-prayANE", couldn't one be said then to possess a "sick
>attitude" to life .... a sort of spiritual hypochondria ?
>
>F) Does one's carefully cultivated yearning for "antima-smriti" make the
>prospect of "dying" any less bleak and painful than it otherwise appears ?
>
>G) If one were to cultivate a yearning for "antima-smriti" and adopt such
>yearning as a life-long attitude in life (as described in the above verse
>from the "gOpAla-vimshati") then does such attitude promote a cheerful
>outlook in life? Or is such an attitude, which is basically "death-centred",
>bound to make one's outlook in life depressive and doleful ?
>
>These and other related questions on "death" and "antima-smriti" used to
>agitate my mind, dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s", many years ago.
>
>Then one day I sat listening to my "manaseega-guru", the revered
>U.Ve.Sri.Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar recite and explain 11 simple
>"shlOkA-s" from the "bhisma-stUthi".
>
>I believe it helped me acquire a slightly deeper, more meaningful insight
>into what SriRamanuja "siddhantam" really means by "antima-smriti".
>
>None of us ordinary "sAdhakA-s" can, of course, claim complete knowledge of
>the "brahmha-vidya" called "antima-smriti". Still, a little understanding,
>or enlightenment acquired from learned and devout souls like Sri Mukkur
>Swamy is surely better than none. Hence, I made an effort to seriously study
>the "bhisma-stuthi" to the best of my ability. 
>
>If you all don't mind, dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s", and with the Grace of the
>Lord of the YadavA-s who appeared before Bhishma in his dying moments, I
>would like to share with you all a portrayal of the "bhishma-stUthi".
>
>srimathE srivan satagOpa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha
>sudarshan         
>
>
>

Adiyen
Krishna Kalale
619-658-5612 (phone)
619-658-2115 (fax)