Ramanuja's birth anniversary

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhaktas,

 

Please take a moment today to remember the greatest

acharya of our tradition and the person who veritably

reestablished the philosophy of God-love as the

religion of India -- Sri Ramanuja.

 

Today is the thiru nakshatram of our acharya Bhagavaan

Ramanuja. Of his many honorific names, he is best known

as Udaiyavar, Bhashyakaarar, Emberumaanaar, Ilaiyaazhvaan,

and Yatiraja. It is no exaggeration to say that if

it were not for this great saint, the bhakti religion

would not be recognized as an orthodox teaching of Vedanta,

and the heart and soul of our religion would have fallen by

the wayside.

 

I wish to cite a few slokas in praise of our acharya

as composed by some of his illustrious followers. In

these, we can catch a glimpse of the towering personality

that he was. In my opinion, there is no better way

of finding out what it means to be a Sri Vaishnava

or a Vedanti than by reading about Sri Ramanuja and

emulating him. In all respects, he set the highest

of standards for us to follow.

 

This first sloka is well-known to many of us. It was

composed by his beloved disciple Kooratthaazhvaan

and to this day is recited by Sri Vaishnavas at the

beginning of their worship:

 

yo nityam acyuta-padAmbuja-yugma-rukma

vyAmohatas tad itarANi tRNAya mene |

asmad guror bhagavato 'sya dayaika-sindho:

rAmAnujasya caraNau SaraNam prapadye ||

 

I take refuge at the feet of our guru Bhagavaan

Ramanuja, that ocean of mercy who, infatuated

with the gold-like, lotus feet of the Lord,

considered all else as mere blades of grass.

 

This sloka shows how Ramanuja was intensely in love

with the Lord. Anyone who reads even a paragraph of

Ramanuja's writing will immediately understand the

acharya's deep abiding love of God and his awareness

of His all-pervasive presence. Ramanuja never misses an

opportunity to extol the auspicious attributes of the Lord --

even after reciting attribute after attribute, our acharya

declares that these are only the beginning of the infinite

glories of the Lord! (``--Adi-asankhyeya-kalyANa-guNa-gaNa:'')

 

The next sloka, composed by Sri Vedanta Desika, expounds on

the greatness of nature of Ramanuja's restoration of

the correct understanding of the Vedas:

 

yatiksham AbhRdRshtam matam iha navInam tadapi kim

tata: prAg evAnyadvada tad api kim varNanikashe |

niSAmyantAm yadvA nijamatitiraskAravigamAt

nirAtankAsh-tanka-dramida-guhadeva-prabhRtaya: ||

 

Be it that the tradition of Ramanuja new and the

other religions ancient; so what? (Does it make it less

correct?) But then again, the essence of Ramanuja's

siddhanta has been taught by the ancient Vedantins Tanka,

Dramida, Guhadeva and other great teachers.

(Hence how is it new?)

 

This sloka speaks for itself: is it not better to be correct

than to be ancient? Further, how can Ramanuja's philosophy

not be called ancient, when he has simply reformulated the

teachings of ancient Vedantins such as Tanka, Dramida, and

others? Happily, Desika is saying, Sri Ramanuja's teachings

are both old and new.

 

The previous two slokas described Ramanuja's love of the

Lord and his mighty intellect in reestablishing the ancient

interpretations of Vedanta. This third and final sloka

completes the triangle that forms the core of Ramanuja's

philosophy: study and reverence of the Divya Prabandham,

the Tamil compositions that our acharya loved so much

and propagated so well.

 

Sri Manavaala Maamunigal writes:

 

SrI rangarAja caraNAmbuja rAjahamsam

SrImat parAnkuSa-padAmbuja-bhRngarAjam |

SrI bhaTTanAtha parakAla-mukhAbjamitram

SrI vatsacihna-SaraNam yatirAjam IDe ||

 

I worship Ramanuja, prince among ascetics,

in whom Kooratthaazhvaan sought refuge, who

loved the blossoming lotuses that were the

compositions of Periyaazhvaar, Thirumangai,

and others, who was the bee enjoying the

lotus feet of Sri Nammaazhvaar, and who

was the royal swan at the lotus feet of Lord

Ranganatha.

 

emberumaanaar thirvadigaLE saraNam!

 

Mani