ARCHIRADHI MARGAM

Paryanka Vidhya describes the path taken by a jeevatma en route to Parama Patham when it attains mukthi.  The jeevatma exits the body through the 101^st nerve which opens up on the top of the skull. Only this nerve which exits from the top of the skull leads to Parama Patham. Other nerves lead a soul to various other worlds like hell and heaven via the path called dhoomadhi margam i.e the path of smoke.

The moment the jeevatma exits through the 101^st nerve Brahma nAdi, it gets on to the path made of Sun rays and climbs up towards the solar orb. It enters a small hole in the sun and the moment it reaches the other side of the sun, it is welcomed by many Devas who guide the jeevatma further along the path of light till it reaches Parama Patham. The path of light is known as archiradhi margam.

Sri Swami Vedanta Desikan has described this divine path in slokam 28 of Adhigara Sangraham.

நடைபெற அங்கி பகலொளிநாள் உத்தராயணமாண்டு

இடை வருகாற்றிரவி இரவின் பதி மின் வருணன்

குடையுடை வானவர் கோன் பிரசாபதி யென்றிவரால்

இடையிடை போகங்களெய்தி எழிற்பதமேறுவரே

The path is also described in Sanskrit in the 39th slokam of Saranagathi Deepika by Sri Swami Vedanta Desikan as given below.

अर्चिर्दिनं विशदपक्ष उदक्प्रयाणम्   

संवत्सरो मरुदशीतकर: शशाङ्क I

सौदामनी जलपतिवर्लजित् प्रजेश:

इत्यातिवाहिक सखो नयसि स्वकीयान् II  

Sri Swami Vedanta Desikan also described this divine path in the gathivisheshaadhikaaram of the Srimath Rahasya Traya Saaram as given below.

ज्वलन-दिवस-ज्योत्स्नापक्षोत्तरायण-वत्सरान्

पवन-तपन-प्रालेयांशून् क्रमादचिरधुतिम् 

As soon as the jeevatma climbs up by getting on to the solar rays, it is welcomed by the deity in charge of Agni (ज्वलन). As the jeevatma is first welcomed by Agni Devatha, the divine path is called as archiradhi margam. “Adhi” here means “etc”.

 

Agni guides the jeevatma to the end of his region and hands over the jeevatma to the deity in charge of “day” दिवस பகலின் தேவதை . Who in turn guides the jeevatma to the deity in charge of Sukla Paksham i.e the bright lunar phase ज्योत्स्नापक्ष சுக்ல பக்ஷத்தின் தேவதை . The deity of Sukla Paksham welcomes the jeevatma and hands it over to the deity in charge of the year वत्सरान्; i.e சம்வத்சர தேவதை who in turn takes the jeevatma to Vayu पवन வாயு தேவதை  then to the Sun God (Surya Bagawan) तपन. The Sun hands over the jeevatma to the Moon प्रालेयांशून्. From the world of Moon, the jeevatma enters the region of lightening and is guided by Vidhyut then Varunan followed by Indran and Prajapathi. Finally, a devatha called Amaanavan guides the jeevatma across the holy Viraja River to the amazing abode of Parama Patham.

Prapatti Part 2

 

Sri Iswara uvacha

श्री राम राम रामेति रमे रामे मनोरमे ।

सहस्रनाम तत् तुल्यं रामनाम वरानने ॥

śrī rāma rāma rāmeti rame rāme manorame .

sahasranāma tat tulyaṃ rāmanāma varānane ..

Lord Siva had said to Goddess Parvati in the above slokam that chanting “Rama Nama” gladdens his heart and chanting “Rama Rama Rama” is equal to chanting one thousand names of Lord Vishnu. In Sanskrit, Ra is assigned 2 and ma is the fifth letter. Multiplying 2X5 we get 10. 10 to the power 3 is 1000. It is said that the compassionate Lord Siva also roams around the streets of Kasi and utters Rama Nama in the ears of those breathing their last.

In Sanathana Dharma we have 3 main mutts; that of Sri Adisankaracharya (Current Kanchi, Sringeri and Joshi Mutts are branches), Swami Ramanujacharyar’s (there are 74 simhasanadhipadhis) and Sri Madhwacharyars Dwaita school of philosophy.

All 3 acharyas Sri Adisankaracharya, Swami Ramanujacharya and Sri Madhwacharyar believed in “one brahmam” i.e there is only one supreme being. Sanathana Dharma is a monotheistic religion with a firm belief in only one Brahmam (Supreme Paramatman). All 3 acharyas Sri Adisankaracharya, Swami Ramanujacharya and Sri Madhwacharyar also taught that Brahmam is Sriman Narayanan. The difference of opinions that they had was related to philosophy i.e their difference of opinion was related to characteristics of brahmam and how and why this Universe is created etc.

One of the main purposes of Sri Adisankaracharya incarnation was to free the common people from the influence of Baudham பௌத்தம் and Jaina mathams that promoted shunya vadham. The shunya vadhin’s said that there is nothing and in reply, Sri Adi Sankaracharya said that there is one brahmam. To refute shunya vadham Sri Adisankaracharya promoted “advaitam”, but his advice to common people was to follow yuga dharmam of Hari Nama Sankeerthanam, “Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam”. Everyone knows the story that when he transmigrated into the body of the king so that he could answer the questions posed by Sri Mandalamisra’s wife, the ministers wishing to retain Sri Adi Sankaracharya as their sovereign decided to burn his thirumeni. Coming to know about their plot, Sri Adi Sankaracharya transmigrated back into his sareeram and found that he was engulfed by flames on all sides as the soldiers had already set fire to his thirumeni. Finding himself in this dangerous plight, he immediately sought refuge in Lord Narasimha, “Lakshmi Narasimha, Mama Dehi Karavalambam”. So, the instruction of the acharya to the common people is very clear. It is to follow the Yuga Dharmama of Sri Hari Nama Sankeerthanam and to seek refuge under the lotus feet of Lord Narayana.

Sri Kanchi Mahaperiyava also encouraged the recitation of Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam and he regularly chanted “Narayana”. On Srimukhams Sri Mahaperiyava and all Sankaracharyas sign off by writing “ Narayanasmriti” We are all blessed to have lived during the period of the great mahacharya, Sri Kanchi Mahaperiyava who had attained great manthra siddhi and it is worth noting that this great acharya repeatedly chanted thirunamam of Lord Narayana.

Hari Nama Sankeerthanam is encouraged as a means to mukthi. It is an indirect means as repeatedly chanting thirunamam generates a desire in the person to perform either bakthi or prapatti. This was the case in Ajamila charitram as well. After Ajamilan was freed from Yama Dhuthas by Vishnu Dhutas, he started meditating upon Perumal (bakthi yogam) and by following prescribed practices he obtained mukthi at a later time. So, Ajamila Charitram shows that Hari Nama Sankeerthanam indirectly bestows moksham by making the person either perform bakthi or prapatti.

Prapatti

 

My brother and I were blessed with samasrayanam and bharanyasam anugraham by HH Prakrutham Srimath Azhjagiyasingar  on Sri Jayanthi day In 2013. I wanted to write a short post on Sri Jayanthi day this year, but due to lack of time, I could not do so. I Am posting my write-up now because I feel it is better late than never.

As per shastras, a person can obtain mukthi only by performing bakthi or prapatti. Many people think that devotional acts like going to the temple is the bakthi mentioned by the shastras. This is not true. The bakthi stated by shastras is one of the 32 Brahmma Vidhya; i.e bakthi yogam. This bakthi cannot be performed by ordinary people like us. This involves difficult yogas like panchagni vidhya. For example, in the panchagni vidhya bakthi yogin uninterruptedly meditates upon Perumal in summer while sitting amidst 4 burning fires under the scorching sun! So, we cannot perform the bakthi mentioned by shastras, and the only option left for us is prapatti. Prapatti is one of the 32 Brahma Vidhyas as well and is called Nyasa Vidhya. This is the only feasible option for us.

Many people argue that one need not perform prapatti at a young age and that one can wait till they are old. Does anyone know what our lifespan is? We do not even know what is going to happen in the next few seconds and hence, how can we assume that we will live long enough and will have time to perform prapatti in our old age? Shouldn’t this same logic of waiting till one's old age apply while taking life insurance too? Why keep paying hefty fees now? Why not start paying policy fees in our old age just before our life comes to an end? As uncertainty is the only certainty of life, one must not waste time and should perform prapatti as soon as possible.

The next confusion people have is prohibition involving ahara niyamam. My acharyan has said that yes not following proper ahara niyamam and eating in restaurants make a person incur sins. This is true whether a person has performed prapatti or not. A person who does not follow ahara niyamam after performing prapatti has to endure minor punishments in this life whereas those people who have not performed prapatti and do prohibited activities like eating at restaurants also incur sins, but instead of minor punishments here, they have to undergo severe punishments in hell. Now, which option is better?

Yet another factor that prevents people from performing prapatti is the devotion they feel for other devathas. Now other devathas including Sivan, Brahmma or Durga cannot offer mukthi. When Gantakarna wanted mukthi, Lord Siva advised him to perform saranagathi at the lotus feet of Lord Sriman Narayana only. There is a beautiful symbolism in Krishnavataram. As soon as Lord Krishna incarnated, by being closer to Perumal, the shackles of Vasudeva and Devaki came undone. Later when they swapped Krishna with Durga, as soon as they brought her into the prison, they were once again shackled. Those who wish to be freed from samsara can only get freed by performing saranagathi at the lotus feet of Perumal. Worshipping other devas will only keep us here. The names Siva, Brahmma, Indra etc represent posts and in each creation cycle, a new jeevatma is appointed to these posts. The current Brahmma, Siva, and Indra are also performing Bakthi Yogam and will attain mukthi when they finish spending their prarabhdha karma.

A person may think that as they are doing only good deeds in this janma, the next janma will only be better. The karma we have started experiencing in this janma is called prarabhdha karma. We withdraw this prarabhdha karma from the big bank called sanchita karma. Now our karma bank includes both punyas and papas. To attain moksham, both our punyam and papam must come down to zero. We cannot use punyam to cancel papams as each is from a separate bank. Let us say that the prarabhdha karma we have started enjoying in this life has a mixture of punyam (gold coins) and papam (iron coins). This prarabhdha karma can continue over many births. We have good gnanam in this birth because of the punyam we had performed earlier and we have withdrawn this punyam into our prarabhdha karma account. If we fail to make use of this opportunity now, we may not get this opportunity again for many many many births. In this janma, a person may be enjoying punyam. In the next janma, they may have to spend iron coins from their prarabhdha karma account and because they take birth to spend papam, they may not retain the gnanam about prapatti. Now, they have to undergo many many cycles of birth पुनरपि जननं पुनरपि मरणं புனரபி ஜனனம் புனரபி மரணம் punarapi jananam punrapi maranam and no one can estimate how many such births one must endure before once again getting the opportunity to learn about prapatti.

When Sri Adi Sankaracharyar’s mother was about to breathe her last, Sri Adi Sankaracharya showed the different worlds to her and after explaining the importance of breaking free from samsara, made sure that she went to Sri Vaikuntha only!

 People think punyam is accumulated through charitable acts, but this will not grant moksham.