| It flows from
the basic Vedanta although no doubt greatly emphasized by the Vaishnavites. "Repent
and surrender yourself completely to Bhagwaan," say the teachers of the Ramanuja
cult. Indeed a further ramification has served to add to this emphasis on man’s
dependence on Grace. Like a mother cat carrying its young one, God takes up the sinner
that surrenders himself completely to Him, say the Southern Ramanujites.
"Beware!" say the Northern Ramanujites, "your own exertion is also
necessary in part for the fulfilment of Grace. Like
the monkey’s young one, you must clutch and hang on to the mother in order to be
saved. You cannot get Grace unless you co-operative and repent."
("Southern" and "Northern" here refer to the two denominations of the
followers of Ramanuja in the South.
"North" here does not refer to North India, but
to the School of teachers in the northern area in the South.) The distinction is, however,
a distinction with out a difference. It comes only to this. One says: "You are such
terrible sinners that you have no hope but through Grace!" The other says: "Not
ritual or hypocrisy but a sincere heart that has gone, through the pain of penitence and
purged itself can receive Grace." |
