Prapanna-Jivanamritam continuation...

द्वितियो ऽध्याय

Dvitiyo ‘dhyāya

Second Chapter

श्री शास्त्र-वचनामृतम्

द्वितियो ऽध्याय

Dvitiyo ‘dhyāya
Second Chapter

श्री शास्त्र-वचनामृतम्

Śrī Śāstra-Vacanāmṛtam
Holy Scriptural Nectar

CHAPTER  II

श्रुति-स्मृत्य्-आदि-शास्त्रेषु, प्रपत्तिर् यन् निरूप्यते
तद् उक्तं द्वितीयाध्याये, श्री-शास्त्र-वचनामृते [१]

śruti-smṛty-ādi-śāstreṣu, prapattir yan nirūpyate
tad uktaṁ dvitīyādhyāye, śrī-śāstra-vacanāmṛte [1]

In Śruti,  Smṛti and all the other śāstras the path of surrender is revealed; so in this second chapter, called Śrī Śāstra-Vacanāmṛtam, the nature of surrender is established and explained on the basis of those scriptures.(1)

प्रपत्तिः श्रुतौ—
यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति-पूर्व्वं यो ब्रह्म-विद्यं
तस्मै गाः पालयति स्म कृष्णः
तं हि देवम् आत्म-वृत्ति-प्रकाशं
मुमुक्षुर् वै शरणम् अमुं व्रजेत् [२]
तापन्यां (ब्र्. सं., टीका)

prapattiḥ śrutau—
yo brahmāṇaṁ vidadhāti-pūrvvaṁ yo brahma-vidyaṁ
tasmai gāḥ pālayati sma kṛṣṇaḥ
taṁ hi devam ātma-vṛtti-prakāśaṁ
mumukṣur vai śaraṇam amuṃ vrajet [2]
Tāpanyāṃ Br: Saṁ, Ṭīkā

Śaranāgati in the Śruti (Vedas):

He who created the creator, Brahmā and gave divine wisdom to the creator is the same Kṛṣṇa who is both the giver of the Vedas (gāḥ pālayati) and the Lord of cows, Govinda. Those who wish for something that makes liberation look poor by comparison should surrender to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful.  Such surrender (śaraṇam) reveals the true position of the soul (ātma-vṛtti-prakāśam), in other words, in surrender, the soul will find that his purest, finest ego, who he really is, also has a part to play in such a position. He will see his own soul in a particular place, a particular location there.  He will see, "In this exact spot, I am there; my self is there." In this way, the infinite wave will come.

Tapanyam (Br: Sam, Ṭika)

तादात्म्य-याथार्थ्यं स्मृतौ—
अहङ्कृतिर् म—कारः स्यान्, न-कारस् तन् निषेधकः
तस्मात् तु नमसा क्शेत्रि-, स्वातन्त्र्यं प्रतिषिध्यते [३]
भगवत्-परतन्त्रो ‘सौ, तद् आयत्तात्म-जीवनः
तस्मात् स्व-सामर्थ्य-विधिं, त्यजेत् सर्व्वम् अशेषतः [४]
पाद्म-उत्तर-खण्ड

tādātmya-yāthārthyaṁ smṛtau—
ahaṅkṛtir ma—kāraḥ syān, na-kāras tan niṣedhakaḥ
tasmāt tu namasā kśetri-, svātantryaṁ pratiṣidhyate [3]
bhagavat-paratantro ‘sau, tad āyattātma-jīvanaḥ
tasmāt sva-sāmarthya-vidhiṁ, tyajet sarvvam aśeṣataḥ [4]
(Pādma-Pūrana, Uttara-khaṇḍa)

Prapanna or  Śaraṇāgati according to  Smṛti (Puranas):

The Padma Purana gives the definition of namaḥ: "The syllable ma means Me and ma is a negation. Na-maḥ  means "No Me." Me is ahaṁkara, ego.  Namaḥ is the negation of ego, of independence. "Me" implies independence. We have fallen prey to our senses, so we are not independent. What we experience now is not fit to be called independence. It is a diseased thing, a diseased form of independence.

In Sanskrit and Bengali, the word for independence is svādhīnatā, which means submission to one’s own soul; it does not mean slavery to the senses. Lust draws us towards something, anger draws us towards another thing, and greed draws us towards another thing. In this way, the senses are our masters, and as they are quarrel with each other, our condition is hopeless. We are not independent. Our senses and so many different inclinations draw us in different directions, and we are their slave. We are helpless.

Independence proper must be understood. A part cannot claim the independence of the whole. So, independence has its jurisdiction. If I desire independence, then I can think that everyone desires independence. But if one independent person approaches another and attacks or consumes them, then the other’s independence is checked. When one person’s independence has encroached on the independence of another, then that type of independence is a diseased form of independence; it is not healthy independence. Healthy independence has limitations and means we must work together with others; it means we must have connection with a higher harmony.

When we seek independence, do we seek to encroach on the independence of others? Is freedom to destroy the independence of others independence proper? It can’t be. What we conceive of at present as independence—independence to harm others—is diseased independence. Does having more opportunity to exploit mean we have more independence? That is not independence proper.

I want independence, you want independence, he wants independence, everyone wants independence. Then, there must also be harmony. There must be cooperation amongst us for there to be healthy independence for us all. Independence and rowdiness are not one and the same. We should be educated to aspire for real independence.

So, what we think to be independence—to lord it over others, to acquire mastery—is not independence proper. Independence does not mean to increase one’s capacity, or have more power, to exploit others. There must be harmonious movement, and our aspiration must be towards harmony. So, we need to understand what is independence proper.

In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, independence ends in slavery. You are to conceive this. The māyāvādīs have much reverence for independence, and they seek to merge into the nondifferentiated area. Their idea is, “We don’t want anything, but we can’t give our independence to anyone. Rather, we shall sleep. We shall die. We can’t give our independence to anyone.” 

The Vaiṣṇava conception is that independence is slavery to the highest infinite. There, we will get the maximum. We will get the maximum when we come to realise the truth that I am a part of the whole, not a master of the whole. That is mania, madness, and that is not independence. 

We are to understand the concrete truth that we are a part of the whole. So, our independence must be part of the independence of the whole. Consequently, I must utilise my independence in accordance with the harmony of the whole. That is healthy independence. 

The reactionary school is māyāvāda: “We can’t give our independence to anyone. Rather, we shall commit suicide in Brahmaloka.” Seekers of independence are exploiters in this mundane world of action and reaction, and in withdrawal from that in Brahmaloka, one has no existence of one’s own, what to speak of independence. The concrete and realistic view of independence, that I am independent, you are independent, he is independent, and all others are independent, is that our independence should be that of a part within the independence of the whole, the independence of the absolute. So, we must cooperate with others and submit to the supreme independent being. That is a normal, healthy, wholesome thing. 

Otherwise, we what we seek is only for a madman: what is not, what cannot be the fact. We are after phantasmagoria: in the name of independence, we will be the master of the whole. This is impossible. We must come to a realistic way of thinking. So, many with independence must live together, and it is possible that all will enjoy independence if they are in a common harmony. Who is representing that common harmony? We should be a slave to Him. By submission to Him, the centre, we get the maximum independence.

तादात्म्य-याथार्थ्यं स्मृतौ—
अहङ्कृतिर् म—कारः स्यान्, न-कारस् तन् निषेधकः
तस्मात् तु नमसा क्शेत्रि-, स्वातन्त्र्यं प्रतिषिध्यते [३]
भगवत्-परतन्त्रो ‘सौ, तद् आयत्तात्म-जीवनः
तस्मात् स्व-सामर्थ्य-विधिं, त्यजेत् सर्व्वम् अशेषतः [४]
पाद्म-उत्तर-खण्ड

tādātmya-yāthārthyaṁ smṛtau—
ahaṅkṛtir ma—kāraḥ syān, na-kāras tan niṣedhakaḥ
tasmāt tu namasā kśetri-, svātantryaṁ pratiṣidhyate [3]
bhagavat-paratantro ‘sau, tad āyattātma-jīvanaḥ
tasmāt sva-sāmarthya-vidhiṁ, tyajet sarvvam aśeṣataḥ [4]
(Pādma-Pūrana, Uttara-khaṇḍa)

As a general rule, the prayers found in the Puranas begin with the formula "namaḥ." In this negation of ego, we find that the essence of all the good counsel of the Pūranas is surrender: śaranāṇgati.

Surrender begins with namaḥ: giving up the ego of independence.  As we are subservient slaves of the infinite, we must surrender. 

In other words the prayer to the highest degree that we find in Śruti and Smṛti is: "I want Your connection. You may utilize me. You may think me to be Yours and keeping me in Your connection utilize me according to Your sweet will. I have no particular claim nor aspiration that I must attain this or that, but only I want to be Your faithful servant and so You please utilize me in any way You like. Only that inseparable connection with You I want. I am Your slave: I want to be Your slave. Your connection I want: Your sincere connection, and You know best what connection that is. I do not know what is what, but You know what is best. Only consider me as Your own and utilize me." 

That should be the nature of our prayer. This is the internal meaning of all prayer beginning with the word namaḥ  as represented here by Padma Purāna. (3-4)