Re:Yatiraja Vimshati

[Guest guest]

Thanks Mr. Sadagopan for this informative posting.

I would like some clarification strictly for academic purposes:

>>>Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr (TA), a contemproary of Sri RAmanujA

composed the RaamAnuja NooRRanthadhi , a work ,

which is part of the NaalAyira Divya Prabhandham.

He became a disciple of KooratthAzhwAn at

the suggestion of Sri RAmAnuja. <<<<<

 

Are TA and Yadava Prakasha are one and the same?

I have beeen told that RaanAnuja NooRRanthadhi is part

of only the Vadakali NaalAyirum.

 

Sincerely,

Tatachar (K. Srekrishna)

[Guest guest]

No, Thiruvarangatthu Amudhanaar and YAdava PrakASa are

different people. Each first had fractious disputes with

Ramanuja and later sought him as his acharya. Their

respective mothers were instrumental in both cases.

 

Amudhanaar was the head priest of Srirangam temple

when Ramanuja took over the leadership of the Sri

Vaishnava community. Known then as Periya Koil

Nambi, he had major disagreements with Ramanuja

when the latter tried to restructure the Srirangam

temple organization. At one point he categorically

refused to allow Ramanuja to proceed with the

reforms.

 

Periya Koil Nambi's mother had grown very close to

Kuratthaazhvaan, as he used to sing and explain

Azhvaar paasurams to her. [The accounts indicate

that Periya Koil Nambi was a Vedic scholar but

not particularly well versed in the Prabandham.]

After she died, Kuratthaazhvaan was a main participant

in her funeral and managed to convince Periya

Koil Nambi to reconcile with Ramanuja and seek him

as his acharya. Accounts indicate that the persuasion

involved a combination of charismatic charm and

arguments that Nambi owed it as a debt to his late

mother.

 

It is obvious, however, that no matter how much

animosity once existed, Periya Koil Nambi's conversion

was absolute and complete. Ramanuja was sufficiently

fond of him to give him a new name, Thiruvarangatthu

Amudhanaar. Amudhanaar in turn was so devoted

to his new acharya that he composed a Tamil poem

in his honor, the ``raamaanusa nooRRandhaadhi''.

This is the only genuine contemporary poem about

Ramanuja.

 

Needless to say, Ramanuja's temple reforms then

proceeded unobstructed.

 

YAdava PrakASa was Ramanuja's first instructor

in Vedanta. It is unclear as to whether YAdava

PrakASa was an Advatin or a Bheda-abheda vAdin.

Whatever the case, YAdava violently disagreed

with the young Ramanuja's interpretations of

certain Vedantic passages, and once plotted to

kill him during a pilgrimage to a holy site.

Ramanuja was forewarned and left the party before

anything untoward could happen. When student

and teacher met again, they resumed the relationship

for a while, but the friction resurfaced that

YAdava suggested that Ramanuja would be better

off learning somewhere else.

 

Later in life, YAdava PrakASa was feeling

a great deal of discontent with life, in spite

of his great Vedantic learning. His aged mother

had been a follower of Ramanuja's for some time,

and suggested to her son that he seek out Ramanuja.

YAdava approached Ramanuja and became his disciple

as a sannyAsi, adopting the name Govinda Jiyar.

Under the direction of Ramanuja, he wrote a

code of rules for sannyAsis, known as the

``yati-dharma-samucchaya''.

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

> I have beeen told that RaanAnuja NooRRanthadhi is part

> of only the Vadakali NaalAyirum.

>

> Sincerely,

> Tatachar (K. Srekrishna)

>

 

 

The Raamanuja NooRRanthaadhi is very much part of the Thenkalai

Sampradhaayam.