1. Swami Desika's Rahasya Traya Sara

ADHIKARA 12 : SANGA PRAPANA ADHIKARA ( The preliminaries for performing Prapatti)
An archer might be able to fix the arrow to his bow and aim immediately at the target. Though the actual act of shooting might be done at an incredibly short split-second, he would have gone through a lot of preparation, practice and intense training before acquiring the expertise and precision in fixing and targeting. He would have developed over a period of probation adequate mental concentration, adequate physical agility, adequate dexterity and adequate confidence about his achieving the hallmark of marksmanship .

So also, there are a few preliminaries for one desirous of performing Prapatti. These are:-
(i) Surrendering one's self unto the Lord (Svarupa Samarpana)
(ii) Entrusting the responsibility of one's protection to the Lord (Bhara Samarpana)
(iii) Dedicating the fruits of all deeds to the Lord himself (Phala Samarpana)

The mental preparation consists of the following auto suggestions and conviction thereof:
(i) "I" do not belong to me
(ii) I have nothing to call my own
(iii) I am not subject to anyone other than the Paramatma
(iv) Being my natural owner and master, Paramatma does every act of mine and for his own pleasure
(v) I have no means to protect myself other than the Lord
(vi) Myself and all that is supposedly mine belong to the Lord and the responsibility for protecting them rests with the Lord only and none else
(vii) The results (fruits) entailing from such protection accrues to the Lord and none else. These are known as Kartrutva Tyaga, Mamata Tyaga, Phala Tyaga and Phalopaya Tyaga.

If a person prays at the time of Prapatti for a sinless future in the Post-Prapatti period for the rest of the present life itself, the Lord grants this prayer also. But, such a prayer could occur to a Prapanna only when his mind is so evolved by the kind of training in the disciplines and dedication mentioned above.

ADHIKARA 13 : KRITA KRITYA ADHIKARA ( The one who has done what ought to be done)
The marks of a person who has performed what he ought to perform viz., Prapatti are explained:
In the Post-Prapatti period till death the Prapanna should be free from all anxieties, worries, tensions or doubts regarding the fact of achieving the goal. He should look forward to the event of deliverance as anticipating the arrival of a honored guest since the release from Samsara ( cycle of births and deaths) is a matter for supreme rejoicing.
He should, nevertheless, be wary of his promises to do the Nitya and Naimittika karmas pleasurable to the Lord, avoid those that would displease the Lord and maintain the Mahaviswasa and remember his own Karpanya and Aakinchanya during the rest of his life. In short, he will conduct himself as a liberated soul even while living in this world .

The repentance on his having committed sins and the atonement therefor are proper before Prapatti; Otherwise, Prapatti would be ineffective. If on the other hand, he languishes over his past karma EVEN AFTER PRAPATTI, it will amount to disbelieving the Lord's assurance to forgive all that. SO, ATONEMENT BEFORE AND HOPE AFTER ARE THE HALLMARKS OF A PERSON WHO HAS DONE PRAPATTI.

A self conceited person might feel that his initiative has been lost, but the Prapanna would feel that the initiative was never with him; It was always with the Lord to whom he had surrendered. Neither our will nor our mind nor our intelligence work out things for us. Every action is His; The only actin that can ever be ours is to surrender our will to Him. This surrender, he does not do for us because it has to come out of our free will. All he does is to create the circumstances for us to surrender to Him. If we don't surrender in word, thought and deed, He mercifully lets us go free, but to be tossed about in Samsara and take our own time to come to Him. Once, having surrendered, the Prapanna can rest assured of His protection and has nothing else to do for saving himself. (To be continued)

2. Hinduism Rediscovered
Religion vis - a- vis Mathematics, Atheism and Secularism

2.3 RELIGION AND MATHEMATICS
`Vedanta' the ultimate Hindu Philosophy is remarkable for its consistency internally. The objective truths propounded by Vedanta can be verified with personal experience. In this respect, Vedanta is even superior to mathematical science whose forte is exactitude.

Let us take a mathematical formula. If you change the relation of the elements say within an equation, the results change. For example you can add, subtract, multiply, divide, square - and carry on the process to the nth power; or you can extract square roots, cube roots and so on; or you may introduce a new element into the equation. In all these cases, you get different results, in accordance with set mathematical laws. The changes made determine the nature of the equation itself and the results in some definite direction. In fact, the solution of any mathematical problem could always be found internally within the problem itself, and not as any external element. If you are unable to solve a problem, it only means that you have overlooked some element that had been introduced, withdrawn or modified. In other words, you have not seen it whole.-12A
Likewise, the relationships between myriad elements in life affect each other and the end results in any situation, any experience, exactly as they do the elements in a mathematical equation. It will be impetuous to claim that we know what all the elements are or that we can forecast everything that can happen within the equation, especially because no situation, no experience is ever exactly repeated. Even the lines on the palm or the shape of ears are never formed the same way for any two persons and hence relied upon in forensic science. Although there is only one law, it has so many factors, so many variables that it appears as if there are laws too numerous to be understood.. And, at times we may conclude that there is no law at all and everything is so lawlessbecause it is operating at a level beyond our comprehension.

For example, the idea of life beyond death cannot be brought within the numerical exactitude though it is based on an unerring, unfaltering and indisputable pattern which eludes our comprehension.
 

2.4. RELIGION AND ATHEISM (NASTIKAM)
Astika is one who accepts Vedas as authority while Nastika or atheist is one who denies , an unbeliever who rejects all scriptural authority of Vedas This includes Sikhism,. Jainism, Buddhism and Charvakam.

To the so called `Rationalists, we can only say "if you don't want to believe in God, it is O.K. But, as a rationalist, what you have to do is to probe, sift, keep an open mind and try to find out the undercurrent of truth that runs through the scriptures.

The scriptures declare that God is omnipotent. If he were not so, he will not be God. He cannot be limited by our rules of why, must and should. Again, God is not so helpless to need your recognition, and does not have to present his credentials to you. God's mystery is beyond our comprehension that we are simply powerless to recognize it let alone challenge it with our paltry understanding.We become silent having exhausted our finite perceptions and narrow boundaries in fathoming the infinitely limitless perspectives that religion relates to. This is because an attempt by fraction to comprehend the totality of which it is a part is destined to frustration.

The history of Hinduism, or for that matter any religion is replete with challenges. The atheist of today is not all alone. He has good company right from the Vedic days - JABALI, CHARVAKA, BUDDHA, JAINA and a host of others raising the banner of revolt from time to time.

Even as late as in the 20th century, the so called `dravidians' of South India - an ethnic group with a brute majority feeling insecure before a minuscule minority whom they branded as `Aryans' (even though such distinctions had long vanished over several generations) - proceeded to tear incidents from the Puranas out of context and like devil quoting the scriptures projected them out of perspective with no more laudable objective than to bash the defenseless minority who held allegiance to the Vedic injunctions. It all ended up with an exercise of `cutting the nose to spite the face'. Hinduism had the dynamism to absorb the challenges within its fold and the sagacity to let them die a natural but well deserved death under the weight of their own contradictions.

If you want to collect a lot of information on the life of say, whales, you have to go to their habitat under water, mingle with them, make yourself acceptable to them - while keeping your objectives clear in your mind. So also, if you want to challenge - you should in the first place want to collect all about religious experiences. There is no way but to devote yourself to the pursuit wholeheartedly, mingle with people who have such experiences without losing yourself in the game.

Hinduism offers you this chance, this opportunity of `seeing for yourself' - if you really want to see what the scriptures proclaim. Can you hope for any better opportunity than this? In science, when you do not have the proper infrastructure, you have to rely on reports of another scientist about specific results he had obtained through specific experiments. In Hinduism, you are yourself the equipment, the infrastructure. You are free to experiment all by yourself - if you do not want to believe the Sastras.

It is said that "Life is a pathway on which there is no knowing without going". New truth does not dawn so easily but has to be struggled for"

Even within Science, as ROLSON puts it (p336). "Truth comes to those with zeal who hunt for it; those who frame theories to catch the right data. Within Religion, truth comes to those who in passion sacrifice for it, who compose lives to hear the spirit wind of God".

When a person is ready to receive the truth, then the truth comes to him. Then only, he will realize the truth of that truth because for that which is needs no proof .
If you cannot do this, you have no alternative to accepting the veracity of the statements of sages from the dawn of time down to our own times. They have dedicated themselves to serious ontological studies in general and animistic studies in particular and arrived at the eternal truths propounded by our Sastras.

No intelligence is needed to keep on saying `nay' to anything - say God. But, it requires lot of wisdom, knowledge, circumspection and persuasion for the one who affirms the existence of God.

IT IS RIGHTLY SAID THAT WHILE AN OPTIMIST IS ONE WHO SEES AN OPPORTUNITY EVEN IN A CATASTROPHE A PESSIMIST IS ONE WHO SEES A CATASTROPHE EVEN IN AN OPPORTUNITY. It is the optimist who does research about life and death and comes to conclusions which ultimately science accepts or if it does not, at least does not refute. It is only the ignorant who go on questioning everything mindlessly. The believer tries to prove what is right ; the disbeliever, what is wrong.

There is no literature commending `Atheism'. Even if there were any, they perished because they had neither depth nor strength , reason or conviction. But, The Bible, the Koran and the Vedas have stood the test of time because of their inner strength and self consistency.

2.5 RELIGION AND SECULARISM
`Secularism' adopted as a "politically right" posture by the power mongers is but a close cousin of atheism. The word is derived from `Saeculum' which means the world. Secularism holds that all that matters is the immediate environment in this world. It rejects God as the supreme reality. It holds that God is an unnecessary encumbrance and religion robs and ravages the essence of our life in this world leaving us meek and weak and totally reduced to a state of helplessness and misery.

Let the atheist and secularist ponder over the following : - When two wells lie next to each other, one is yielding plenty of water, the other parched completely even though the inputs are the same. Why?
- Two trees standing side by side of which one flowers, the other has only leaves. Why?
- Celebrities have dull children; Dull parents beget child prodigies why?
- In the political arena, Bhutto was hanged by his own General .why?
- Mahatma Gandhi, hailed as the father of the nation was shot to death the very next year after he secured independence for India.
Why? Why? Why? There is something beyond what meets the eye, some invisible movement, some force beyond individuals and nations - call it fate, destiny, nature or God or what you will.

It should be understood that in Hinduism, intuition is superior to intellect, experience to theory and soul realization to mundane expressions.

At least Christianity and Islam fought against atheism. Hinduism never fought it. Its majesty and grace would not let it stoop to the level of the bottomless `NASTIKAM'. It went on doing its duty and left it to God to do the rest. For God is not in such an unenviable position as to need somebody to advocate him against those who deny him. It is like a few goats trying to move the Himalayas. Result:- only their horns got broken in a worthless effort.

In fact, the favorite pastime of other religions viz heresy hunting is significantly absent in Hinduism. Hinduism believes that there are many ways equally valid to serve and worship the supreme power that rules the world. The Upanishads firmly state "Reality is one though the sages call it by different names". In this background, of faith heresy is absolutely impossible in Hinduism. When one does not respect God, he will not respect law. In those days, everything had to be and was in its place. Netsukes world is topsy-turvy. He cannot differentiate between a dining room and a toilet; between mother and wife.

ASTIKA lives like human and dies as DIVINE; NASTIKA looks like human but dies as a BEAST.

An atheist is one who refuses to believe anything that he is not able to `see' physically or with some mechanical aid. This closed - circuit frame of mind was challenged by justice A.S.P. Iyer, a Highcourt Judge when he quipped to an atheist -in a public meeting.

"Well. I don't see your brains. Can I therefore, conclude that you have no brains?".

It may seem fanciful and fashionable when one dares to cover up one's abysmal depth of ignorance only by the dizzy heights of hypocrisy and snobbery. It is not only not scientific since it is shorn of the spirit of enquiry or the quest for truth which characterizes a real scientific approach but also positively stupid and superficial. Even the atheist who masquerades a facade of bravery to impress others when tilted out of balance even very slightly, his private but mad rush to seek solace in the ancient wisdom only proves how hollow and vulnerable his arguments are. But, paradoxically, the atheists have been providing a necessary complementary role without which Astika philosophy may not establish itself on firmer ground. You need scorching HEAT to realize the value of SHADE; you need DROUGHT to realize the value of RAINS; you need the BEAST to realize the value of BEAUTY. So you need the `atheist' as an antithesis to realize the value of `Astika' philosophy!. If there were no devils, there would perhaps be no Gods since a POSITIVE CANNOT FUNCTION WITHOUT A NEGATIVE.

The best bet, therefore, is to follow the findings of the great Seers, Sages, Rishis and Munis who had dedicated their whole lifetimes to discern the eternal truths and have handed down to us in a ready made fashion - truths tested time and again by their intuition and spiritual experience - which we ordinary mortals can scarce hope to imitate, let alone achieve.

Man both individually and collectively can no more escape being religious than he can deny his own existence or give up breathing.

As HERBERT STROUP saysMan  is essentially a Religious animal; one cannot live a life divorced from God".

Coming from the individual level to the level of a nation or community, we cannot miss to notice this fact, namely whether a nation is atheistic or agnostic, theistic or theosophist, it has recognized God by acceptance or denial. From "God save our gracious Queen" in England to "God Bless America" in the USA (even though prayer is now tied to the flagpole in the school by a fiat, hopefully temporarily) - point to this acceptance. The declaration "One nation under God"in the pledge of allegiance, the President's taking the oath with his hand on the bible, the coins screaming "In God We trust"- all confirm this acceptance. The very fact of denial of God by the communist regime in the former Soviet Union is a recognition of that force called `God' antecedent to such denial. The collapse of the Soviet Union, is the collapse not only of the `proletariat' but also of Karl Marx's maxim that "Religion is the opiate of the masses".

Even in India, in Kerala state ruled by a communist Government, you can notice bus loads of communists blaring forth anti-God slogans converging at the Guruvayoor temple to offer meekly their respectful prayers observing religiously the removal of shirt and donning the ritualistic marks on their forehead. What a dichotomy in their behavior, disjunction between word and deed between what they preach and what they practice!. This only proves that even they could not divorce God from their hearts. May be, these people were neither innocent nor fools. They were enjoying a happy blend of their convictions on the one hand and diplomacy and pragmatism on the other by being 'ON THE SIDE WHERE THEIR BREAD WAS BUTTERED.'
Let me repeat "Our ancestors over millions of generations were not fools" and we will be well advised not to arrogate ourselves as wisdom - incarnate while our failings and foibles are transparent and always exposing us.

SECTION 6 : CONCLUSION
Bhagavan Lord Krishna says :
"Therefore, in what should or should not be done, the final authority is SASTRA (scriptures). You are, therefore, advised to know what the scriptures prescribe or prohibit and act accordingly".
Lord Krishna very categorically asserts And, if one is still entertaining doubts,being ignorant and lacking ardour,one has neither this world nor the next nor happiness but would only have to perish.
* IF THE FOREGOING HAS KINDLED IN YOU A GENUINE INTEREST TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUR RELIGION, YOU MAY READ ON.
* IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SUFFICIENTLY ENTHUSED, HOPEFULLY YOU WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO KNOW, IF YOU KEEP ON READING.
* IF AS THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER IN GOLDSMITH'S `DESERTED VILLAGE' `EVEN THOUGH VANQUISHED YOU COULD ARGUE STILL' - A READING WILL IDENTIFY FOR YOU WHAT YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR OR WHOM YOU ARE FIGHTING AGAINST.

SINCE YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO OR WHAT IS YOUR ADVERSARY, YOU CAN AT BEST DO ONLY `SHADOW - BOXING'. WHEN YOU GET TO KNOW, YOU MAY AFTER ALL FIND A `FRIEND, PHILOSOPHER AND GUIDE' WITH WHOM YOU WILL `MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR