When Your Desire Defines the Path

Abstract

How does one attain spiritual liberation? What are the most important conditions? In this paper, I investigate a person’s mental condition in the soteriological process. Given the Srivaisnava belief that one can reach liberation only after death, the desire to continue or end the present life conditions how and when one attains liberation. To elaborate, those who desire liberation through surrendering their agency and possessions to God, i.e. Visnu, can be divided into two groups: (1) those who are so afflicted that they cannot bear to delay attaining liberation; and (2) those who are sufficiently content to wait to reach liberation later, at the end of their lives. This paper explores the difference in the medieval Srivaisnava intellectuals’ discussions of this dichotomy in the Sanskrit and Manipravalam (hybrid Tamil-Sanskrit) theological treatises of Vatsya Varadaguru (c.1165–1200 to 1277 ce) and Periyavaccan Pillai (c.1167 to 1262 ce). I argue that the varying ways that Srivaisnava theologians engaged with this dichotomy were modelled on their views of self-surrender. Finally, attention to this dichotomy was soon less dynamic by the time of a devoted successor of both authors and a great expounder of self-surrender, Vedantadesika or Venkatanatha (c.1268 to 1369 ce).