[Advaita-l] kratau supte....

[Venkata sriram P]

Namaste,
 
Whether the yajnAs yield fruit or not, the secret of yajna phala 
depends upon the yajneshwara.  Basically, it is the 
upAsana bala and mantra vIrya of the yajamAna which
works.   It is called “upAsana siddhi”.  
 
Unless, one is not a mantra siddhA,  if he performs 
100 yajnAs, it would not yield any result.  On the contrary,
If a siddha purusha performs the karma kANDa,  the 
Karma-adhiShThAtru-devata is easily pleased.  
The devatas are mantrAdhIna and mantras are brAhmaNAdhIna.
 
BTW, regarding the fruits of yajna / kratus etc., 
Acharya Pushpadanta in his work “siva mahinaH stava”  
Uses a beautiful term in 20th stanza as “kratau suptE”.
 
kratau suptE jAgrat tvamasi phalayOgE kratumatAM
kva karma pradhvastaM phalati puruShArAdhana mrutE
atastvAM saMprEkShya kratuShu phaladAnapratibhuvaM
shrutau shraddhAM baddhvA kritaparikaraH karmasu janaH ………20 
 
One of the beautiful and thought provoking words by Acharya Pushpadanta
Is the usage of the padajAla “kratau suptE”.   The kratu, as such, is a series
of karma kANDAs which include several upakaraNAs etc.   These karma kANDAs
are in the form of several activities.  Such activities involve the actions of
commencement, sustenance & destruction.  For eg.,  havirdAna prakriya. 
This process of dravya tyAga continues for a short interval which is again
interspersed with short time gap.   Similarly, rest of the yAga prakriya which
is interspersed with intervals.  The yagna prakriya is not a-khaNDa ie.
Is not a continuous process.  
 
Hence, such activities are said to be short-lived.  These series of activities, when extrapolated and visualized as a single entity, is called a Yajna / Kratu.  As the activities that constitute are ephemeral and doesn’t exist independently, the 
activity called, Kratu, per se, is said to be ephemeral and short lived.  
 
Pushpadanta has so beautifully put the word “suptE” for kratu and the word
“jAgrat” for Siva who is the yajna phala dAta.   Because, He has to give the
Fruits of the Yajna / Kratu to Yajamana, He is always “awake” just to demonstrate the “Cause – Effect” Theory.  
 
Moreover, Acharya Pushpadanta, being a great grammarian, meticulously used the word “shrutau shraddhAM badhvA”.   This involves “Astikya buddhi” & 
acceptance of the “shruti / veda pramANatva”.  
 
Regs,
Sriram