This is the article from http://sreevaishnavasampradayam.blogspot.ru/2008/05/ascend-to-srivakuntam-and-bhagawad.html
This is the synopsis of the 4th Part of Vaishnava-Vedanta (as we all remember, the questions of death are discussed in the 4th Part of Vedanta).
The following passage from the Article is the classic one, so one (I mean every Vaishnava-Bhakta, of course, not ordinary mortals) should always remember, that all his karma will be distributed among relatives and etc.:
"Those punyas and pApA's get switched over to others during his time of death i.e., the punyas and Papas of a Prapanna who is dying is transferred to his friends and enemies respectively. This is because of their behaviour towards him".
As for Yamadutas, they never go for Vaishnavas, see the corresponding Chapters in "Shree Vishnu-Purana" and "Shree Varaha-Purana", in which Shree Shreemad Yamaraja tells to his servants that he never touches Vaishnavas (this Rahasya will also be discussed in the Article in brief).
The Article is really brilliant, because it tells the Vedanta ideas in simple and plain language.
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| http://sreevaishnavasampradayam.blogspot.ru/2008/05/ascend-to-srivakuntam-and-bhagawad.html |
An ideal Prapanna, spends his/her days by fully enjoying the Lord. The ultimate objective of a Prapanna at the end of this life is to reach the highest destination => Paramapadam. To reach Srivaikundam, Swami Desika has given us nine steps in form of Paramapada sOpAnam.
ParamapadasOpanam is a short rahasya which gives in a nut shell all that a pious Srivaishnava should know and do for his emancipation.
Let us skip the initial part, and concentrate on Ascend to SrivakunTam and Bhagawad Anubhavam experienced by the Mukta Jeevan which is the topic of this post.
A chetana performs Bhakthi or Prapatti as a prAyaschittam to the past karmas. These karmas are the reason for all samsAra bandams. When he performs this prAyaschittam, there are a lot of positive changes that take place in him.
He now wants to restrain from doing such karmas which results in punya and pApA. He realises that his mind, words and body has to be devoted only for Lord's kainkaryam.
He controls his mind from getting distracted.
He gets himself associated with bAgavatas and delinks himself from people who are not devoted.
He desires to have paripoorna anubhavam of the Lord like the nityasoories but is not successful. This failure makes him feel that he is being immersed in ThiruppArkadal without being able to drink milk because his mouth is tied!!
His heart melts on seeing his own plight. Each nAzhigai at night moves like a kalpa. He does not sleep either in the morning or at night. He acknowledges that but for the Lord it would not be possible for him to escape this samsAram.
With this state of mind he prays to the Lord to destroy his agjnana and sarira.
The words spoken by him during Prapatti confirms the start of his journey to Srivaikundam. All the Karmas and attachments which were hindrances till now are destroyed and he gets Moksha!!
The end of his stay in this world comes closer. The Yoga sastras speak of the identifications that can be seen at the end of a persons life time. Seeing these identifications and realising that the day to reach Srivaikundam is getting reduced, the person feels extremely happy.
There are certain rules (based on the time, place etc of death) mentioned in the sastras based on which a persons state after death is analysed.
That is:
1. A person who dies in UttarAyaNa, in sukla paksha, in the morning, in a good stala, in good saguna, will reach a good state (gadhi)
2. a person who dies in dakshiNAyana, krishna paksha, at night, in a bad place, in a bad omen will have a bad gadhi.
However, these restrictions are not there for a Prapanna. Swami Desika re-emphasises this in the 38th Sloka of Saranagathy Deepika " savyAnyanyOrayanayOrnishi vAsarE vA ..."
To a Prapanna irrespective of the place or moment for bodily existence to come to an end, it is auspicious. Without any hindrances and without rebirth the Lord grants Moksha. The Lord does Sankalpa during the time of Prapatti itself to destroy the Punya/ pApA's done before Prapatti, and to prevent the punya/ pApA's done unknowingly after Prapatti from sticking on to him.
Those punyas and pApA's get switched over to others during his time of death i.e., the punyas and Papas of a Prapanna who is dying is transferred to his friends and enemies respectively. This is because of their behaviour towards him.
At the time of death, there is a restriction that one has to remember the Lord by his own efforts => only then there is palan. A prapanna does not have any necessity to take efforts to remember Lord at that state.
During the time of death he lies unconscious like a wood or a stone. The Lord makes him think of the Lord alone. His desire to reach Srivaikundam does not reduce.
At this stage the Lord stands as a cause for the Jiva to be released from the sarIram. Yama dootas do not come to take him.
The Lord combines the karmEndriyAs, GjnanEndriyAs and the manas. This is combined with the prAna vAyu. This prAna vAyu is mixed with the Jiva. This combination, in this sarIram mixes with a small portion of pancha boodhas. All this combine with the antaryAmi residing in the hrudayakamalam.
The antaryAmi (Lord) relieves one of the tiredness during release from the body.
So, our Lord does all these upakAras to us starting from taking the 10 IndriyAs .. to releasing the Jiva.. to making us relax from the tiredness.. To Prapannas, punyAtmas, Papi's and to everybody it is the same. These will happen irrespective of whether a Jiva goes to Moksha,Svarga or naraka.
In the body there are 101 nAdI's that branch from the heart. If the Jiva is released from any of the 100 nAdI's, it goes to Svarga, Naraka etc. The Lord does not allow the jeevan of a prapanna to exit the body through any of these 100 nAdI's.
The 101st nAdi, the brahma nAdi the edge of this is the door step for Moksha. The Lord shows this in a way that jeevan of prapanna understands.
The Lord makes it (IndriyAs, prAnavAyu combined with sookshmA sarIras JivA) enter that nAdi. Later, from the hrudayakamala the Lord takes the Jiva further. The Lord resides in this stoola sarIram and so it is called as brahmapuram. In this stoola sarIra Brahmarantran is important.
The Final departure of the soul from the body is only by the grace of God through the Brahma nAdi and the Brahmarandhra in the skull.
The Lord also makes him get hold of the sooriya kiranas as a hold for the hand and then to go to Srivaikuntam makes him take the archirAdimArgam!
ArcirAdhi Parva, the seventh step to the transedental World is the next phase.
For a person who has performed Prapatti, punyAs are like golden hand-cuff's and pApA's are like iron hand-cuff's. He wants to get rid of both. At the time of death the Lord clears him of all this. The antaryAmi releases and carries him from the prison of stoola sarIram.
The Devas had accepted a lot of offerings in the form of yAgas and other karmas that have been performed by this Jiva earlier. They all are now happy to see his greatness. They are afraid to cause apachAram to him. They even offer him their salutations.
In the 85th Sloka of Achyuta Satakam "kadA amAnavAntA: angimukhA...", the longing of the released soul to leave this dark world of samsAra and ascend to Srivaikundam is expressed.
The Lord's retinue graded from Agni Devata to amAnava Devata lead the Mukta from this world to Srivaikundam in stages, through the respective territories of each one of them. People who lead the soul are called "AdhivAhikas".
In this list the first is Agni. He is also referred to as "Archis". Because Archis (agni) is the first among them, this path is referred to as ArchirAdi mArgam - the path of agni etc. This agni welcomes the mukta and offers various kinds of respects like poorna kumbam, offering light, singing, offering showers of flowers and takes him till the end of his region.
Swami has also mentioned this in sharanagathy Deepika in Sloka 39 "archirAdinam vishadapaksha vudakprayANam..".The same is conveyed in the AdikAra sangraha (28) of Srimad Rahasya thraya sAram - "nadai pera angi pagalOli nAl uttarAyaNam aandu ..."
After agni, the god of time, the god of suklapaksha, the god of uttarAyana and the god of rain welcome him and offer their respects.
vAyu, the wind God welcomes him next. After accepting vAyu's offerings he gets near the sun. After receiving the hospitality of Sun God he reaches the moon.
Then the God of Lightning leads him further. The Upanishads state that amAnava (the God of Lightning) hands over the chetana to the Brahmam.
Then varuna, Indra and PrajApathi join amAnava. Varuna, Indra and PrajApathi accompany only till their boundaries. But amAnava alone escorts the released soul completely.
This way, by Lord's mercy he nears the Viraja river. The Sruti's state that he crosses this divine river by his mind. "Mind" here should be understood as "Sankalpam". For a Mukta his mere Sankalpam is sufficient to create and enjoy what ever he wishes!
To summarise, the order is as follows -
(1) Agni Devata
(2) the god of time
(3) the god of suklapaksha (bright fortnight)
(4) the god of uttarAyana
(5) the god of rain(6) Vaayu (wind God)
(7) the Sun and
(8) the moon.
(9) The god of Lightning
(10) VaruNa
(11) Indra
(12) Chaturmukha Brahma
will guide the Jeevan with all respects and honour in Archiradri Margam upto their capacity.
Each of them welcome the released soul when it enters their respective territories and escorts him till their boundary. Finally, amAnava (god of lightning) escorts the soul to the Lord who welcomes the soul warmly and in person.
The Sruti's emphasise that a person who reaches Moksha through the archirAdi mArgam can take forms according to their wish and will always be with the Lord. It is also mentioned that they will not be subject to re-birth and will not suffer happiness/ sorrow due to karmas.
Divya DEsa Prapti Parva, the next parva in phala Kanda is the eighth step to the transedental World.
For time immemorial the Jiva had involved himself into activities unacceptable to his svaroopam as a result of which he had to hang around in the samsAra. That life is an endless trouble! Having got rid of his troubles, this Jiva takes up the extraordinary archirAdhi mArgam and goes to paramapadam. He immerses himself in the clear, sweet smelling cool water of the Viraja river which is full of nectar.
His Sookshma sarIram which came along gets destroyed. Amaanava, with his pure hand, now touches this mukta. This touch relieves the mukta of his old samsAra feelings.
This Jiva is now in the paramapadam, the same place asthat of the Lord!!! He gets a form like the Lord => without any link to Prakritti.
It is impossible for a person without the required qualifications (vivEkam, mental urge, vairAgyam,) to reach Srivaikundam.
Only a paramaikAntin who does not worship anybody other than our Lord and who does not seek anything other thanBagavad/ bAgavatha kainkaryam can get Moksha.
Nitya soories always keep seeing paramapadam (their gjnana never contracts).
Srivaikundam is not affected by time => there is no concept of nAzhigai, day, month etc. Srivaikundam is million times brighter than Sun or Agni. This divine lOka is always bright, it has no limitations what so ever.
It is impossible to comprehend the Sweetness of Srivaikundam. Even great yogis cannot think, speak or measure its greatness. Every thing in Srivaikundam is Suddha sattvam.
