The Activity of Grace
Anugraha ('favorable grant,' 'grace,' from anu + graha = receiving favorably) is the fifth and culminating cosmic activity (pañca-kṛtya): sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṃhāra, tirodhāna, and anugraha. While the other four activities maintain the cycle of saṃsāra, anugraha breaks it: grace is the Lord's compassionate activity of drawing souls out of the cycle and toward liberation.
Forms of Anugraha
Anugraha takes many forms: (1) the gift of a human birth with the capacity for liberation-oriented inquiry; (2) the arising of mumukṣutva (desire for liberation) in the jīva; (3) encounter with a qualified ācārya who transmits the teaching; (4) the arising of śraddhā (faith) to receive the teaching; (5) the formal act of prapatti; (6) the Lord's acceptance of prapatti and the conferring of liberation at death; (7) the gift of the divine body (śuddhasattva) in Vaikuṇṭha. Each step is a form of divine anugraha.
Anugraha and Free Will
A theological question: if anugraha is entirely the Lord's activity, what role does the jīva play? Sri Vaishnava theology answers: the jīva must be willing to receive anugraha — it cannot be forced on an unwilling recipient. The jīva's genuine desire for liberation (mumukṣutva) and its sincere surrender (prapatti) are the conditions that make it receptive to anugraha. The Lord's anugraha is always flowing; what varies is the jīva's receptivity.
Periya Pirātti's Role
Periya Pirātti (Lakṣmī) mediates anugraha: She intercedes with the Lord on behalf of devotees, and the Lord's anugraha flows through Her mediation. The Dvayam mantra's structure (first surrendering to Śrī, then to Nārāyaṇa) reflects this mediated structure of divine anugraha.