Kṛta-kṛtya — The One Who Has Accomplished
Kṛta-kṛtya ('one who has done what needed to be done') is one of the most beautiful and consoling designations in Śrī Vaiṣṇava theology. The moment a soul performs prapatti — complete, sincere surrender to Bhagavān — it becomes kṛta-kṛtya: the supreme task of life has been accomplished, and nothing further is required as a means to liberation.
The theological weight of this rests on the nature of prapatti itself. In bhakti-yoga (the path of loving meditation), the practitioner must accumulate lifetimes of practice, steadily increasing devotion and knowledge. But in prapatti, the very act of surrender — performed once, with sincerity — is the complete and final upāya. Bhagavān's assurance in the Carama Śloka (Gītā 18.66) is the guarantee: 'I will free you from all sins.' The burden passes entirely from the soul to Bhagavān at the moment of prapatti. This is why the prapanna is kṛta-kṛtya.
The Āzhvārs poignantly express this state. When a prapanna achieves the kṛta-kṛtya state, a paradoxical freedom arises: no longer driven by the anxiety of 'what must I still accomplish?', the soul can live each moment as an expression of gratitude and service rather than as a means to an end. The Gītā's vision of one who has transcended the three Vedas' domain (nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna) is partly captured in this state.
Vedānta Deśika, in his Nyāsa Tilaka, describes the kṛta-kṛtya prapanna as one whose only remaining occupation is patient waiting (kāla-kṣepa) until Bhagavān calls the soul to Paramapadham — not an idle wait but an active, joyful life of kainkaryam, satsaṅga, and Āchārya-sevā.
The designation also contains a subtle instruction: if one has truly become kṛta-kṛtya, the temptation to perform additional 'means' (bhakti-yoga, karma-yoga) as insurance alongside prapatti must be resisted. Doing so would imply distrust in Bhagavān's acceptance — which would contradict the very prapatti performed.