Every year, hundreds of people approach Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji for getting initiated into Vyshnava Deeksha, an oath to be a Vaishnava! It is also called sama:srayanam or pancha samskaram. This initiation is the first step for being qualified to serve God.
What does it mean to be qualified in this divine endeavour? Why will anyone be disqualified at all?
Let’s say a child goes out with his friends and soils himself during the play. After reaching home, he takes a shower and cleans himself up for the next task – dinner or sleep etc! Here, ‘cleaning up’ is considered becoming ‘qualified’ for next task. The child would have been qualified for dinner if he had not soiled himself. But, because he got soiled – he will need to clean himself up.
Similarly, a person as himself is qualified for a blissful state if he had not gotten ‘soiled’ with ignorance or arrogance in the first place. Therefore, to answer our question in the title – every being is eligible for a blissful state, the ‘cleaning ourselves up’ makes us qualified!
Swamiji beautifully explained the following term, samskaram during the initiation at Divya Saketham on the 15th Sep 2018.
A ‘samskaram’ is a qualification for next higher state in one’s path! For example: Cotton goes through several samskarams to become a designer outfit in your closet!
The first samskaram for cotton is to be seed-free. The second samskaram is to be woven into thread. The third samskaram is to be knit. The fourth samskaram is to go through dyeing. The fifth samskaram is to be cut into measurements suitable for your outfit. The sixth samskaram is to be ironed. All these samskarams prepared cotton for the next higher state in its path to become a designer outfit for you.
Similarly, if you make a choice to be a blissful being by serving God – this marks your journey. In this journey, we are by nature eligible and qualified for such a state. However, just like a soiled person cleans himself up, we will need to clean ourselves up.
We will need to prepare ourselves to be free from unnecessary bondage that we acquired over the past lives till the current moment. Bear in mind, that the bondage does not mean physical relationships or family, it is the ignorance on the true state of ourselves at a given moment that binds us to a temporal position.
If we do not stop God from leading us, we will always remain connected to the non-temporal, the eternal blissful state along with our sweet and powerful companion – God! So, our samskarams begin with enriching knowledge that will bind us to God. They continue with letting go of anything else that will unbind us with God.
The divine name, Vishnu refers to one that exists everywhere. Vyshanava Deeksha refers to realising that God exists everywhere. When one believes it, they are now part of a bigger whole. They are no longer restricted to their body, but they work as a part of God’s own body – this entire existence. Their heart bleeds for pain in any part of the entire existence. They work towards easing the pain of any being in the existence just like an eye weeps when the feet are hurt. This is the heart of a true Vaishnava!
So, who is a Vaishnava by nature? We all are Vaishnavas! Some of us realise this, and some of us do not. Those who want to traverse this path and truly honour our original state begin their initiation from a sadacharya! This path was laid by God himself and was later explained by Ramanujacharya!
The initiation paves path to a virtuous lifestyle in an individual and keeps one in a blissful and helpful state!.
– From the discourse of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, 15th Sep 2018
