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Dear Friends,

 

The following is a brief overview of the life and works of Sri

Ramanujacharya since today (5/11/97) is Ramanuja Jayanti. Ramanujacharya

lived between 1017-1137 AD.

 

Asuri Keshavacharya and Bhudevi were childless

for a long time. As a result, Sri Keshavacharya resolved to perform a

Yajna for Parthasarathy Perumal of TiruvellikeNi and seek the

Lord's blessings for progeny. Pleased with Sri Keshavacharya's penance,

Parthasarathy Perumal appeared before him in a dream and promised to

incarnate as his son, who would go on to become a great Acharya.

(We were blessed with an excellent series of posts on the Mahima of

Parthasarathy Perumal by Srimans Sampath Rengarajan, Viji Triplicane,

Sadagopan and Smt. Vaidehi Raja). Accordingly, Sri Ramanujacharya was

born to Asuri Keshavacharya and Bhudevi on April 13, 1017 under the asterism

of Ardra at Sri Perumbudur. He belonged to Harita lineage and Yajur Veda.

 

Srisaliapurna (Tirumala Nambi), who was the maternal uncle of

Ramanujacharya, visited his sister shortly after the birth of Sri

Ramanujacharya and was pleased to see the new born baby. The infant

had several divine traites which reminded Tirumala Nambi of what

Nammazhwar had foretold as the future flag bearer of Vishishtadvaita in

the Tirumozhi. As a result, Sri Tirumala Nambi was convinced that the

baby was none other than an incarnation of Lakshmana in Kaliyuga. The

Brihat Padma Purana and Narada Purana point to the reincarnation of

Adishesha in Kaliyuga. H.H. Srimad Andavan Swamigal of Srimad

Paundarikapuram beautifully describes the details of Ramanujacharya's

birth in his Upanyasams of Yatiraja Sapthati.

 

Sri Ramanujacharya resembled Lakshmana in many respects. Lakshmana's

only goal was constant service to Lord Rama and Sita. Similarly,

Ramanuja's sole purpose was single-minded devotion and constant

service to Lord Narayana. When evil natured, self styled leaders

removed all traces of Bhakti in the hearts of men, Yatirajan

through his bull-dog tenacity, indomitable presence of mind, unflinching

courage and indefatigable will single-handedly established the path of

worship to Lord Narayana and expounded the tenets of

Vishistadvaita. Although he encountered numerous obstacles and enormous

difficulty in establishing the eternal relationship between Lord Narayana

and Sri, his efforts were ultimately blessed with success. This was

entirely due to his Maha Vishvasam in Lord Narayana.

 

A great deal has been written very eloquently on this forum by Srimans

Sadagopan, Koti Sreekrishna and Anbil Ramaswamy about Ramanujacharya in

the past. Therefore, I shall not focus on the details of various instances in

his life. Instead, I shall briefly refer to the highlights and wrap up my post

with a listing of our Paramacharyan's works.

 

As a young boy, he met

Sri Tirukacchi Nambigal who was famous for his fan service to Varadaraja.

Although, Sri Tirukacchi Nambigal was a Sudra by caste, he was highly respected

for his distinguished service to Lord Varadaraja. Varadaraja Seva was the

sole motto in the life of Nambigal. As a result Tirukacchi Nambigal was

blessed with the unique previlege of conversing with the Lord of Hastigiri.

Sri Sadagopan posted an excellent translation of the Devaraja Ashtakam by

Tirukacchi Nambi on the occassion of Nambigal's TN, last year. When

Ramanujacharya recognized Nambigal's

greatmenss and wanted to salute him, the latter protested that it was not

correct for a Brahmin to thus honor a Sudra. Tirukacchi Nambigal was amazed by

the profoundness of Ramanuja's refutation (by using the example of Tiruppan

Azhwar) of his argument. Immediately, he

recognized that Ramanujacharya was a special person and took a great liking

for him.

 

Sri Ramanujacharya was married to Rakshakambal. Shortly after his marriage,

Sri Ramanujacharya's father breathed his last. Grief stricken,

Ramanujacharya, his mother and his wife moved from Sri Perumbudur to

Kanchipuram. At Kanchipuram, he studied under the tutelage of Yadhava

Prakashar, a renowned Advaita scholar. Ramanujacharya soon became the favorite

disciple of Yadhava Prakasar. During the course of his study, Sri

Ramanujacharya came up with an alternate interpretation of the Chandogya

Upanishad line "Kapyasam" and the Taittriya Upanishad salutation Satyam,

Jnanam, Anantam Brahma. In explaining the latter salutation, Ramanujacharya

clearly demonstrated that the Brahman has the attributes of truth, intellect

and infinitude. However, truth, intellect and infinitude are not the Brahman.

He elaborated on this principle by using the analogy "This body is mine,

but I am not this body". This became the starting point for establishing the

concept of Saguna Parabrahman. The repurcussions of respectfully disagreeing

with his Guru, the resultant attempt on his life, and Ramanujacharya's

escape from death through the grace of the Divya Dampatis are well known and

shall not be discussed in this post. Subsequently, Yadhava Prakashar became

a disciple of Ramanujacharya (This was after the former could not cure a

Princess of a Brahma Rakshasa affliction).

 

Another interesting episode in the life of Ramanuja

was his enounter with Tirukottiyur Nambi, also a disciple of Alavandar.

Ramanujacharya made seventeen unsuccessful attempts to obtain MantrOpadesham

from Tirukottiyur Nambi. Tirukottiyur Nambi instructed our Acharya in the

Mantram which would grant him Moksham and warned Ramanujacharya that he would

be condemned to go to hell should the Mantram be revealed to anyone.

Ramanujacharya immediately climbed the top of a mountain and called out aloud

for all to assmble. When a significant crowd gathered, he informed them that

he was aware of a Mantram by means of which they all could go to heaven.

Tirukottiyur Nambi was enraged by this act of Ramanujacharya and in a fit of

anger declared that Ramanujacharya was now condemned to hell. Sri

Ramanujacharya replied that "I would gladly go to hell if all those assembled

here can go to heaven". Hearing this remark, Tirukottiyur Nambi conferred

upon Ramanujacharya the title of Emperumaanar.

 

Ramanujacharya was initiated into the Pancha Samskarams by MahapurNa who was

a disciple of Alavandar. He also maintained close ties with Tirukacchi Nambi.

In fact, Ramanujacharya considered it to be his good fortune to partake of

the remains after Tirukacchi Nambigal had finished his meal. Rakshakambal

was upset by this thought on the part of her husband. In fact, she

behaved disrespectfully towards both MahapurNa's wife and Tirukacchi Nambigal.

As a result, Ramanujacharya was greatly pained. He decided to send her to

her father's home and sever his worldly connections by taking up Sanyasa.

Upon taking up Sanyasa, he was conferred the title of Yati Rajan (Prince

among ascetics) and settled in Srirangam near the great Temple of Lord

Ranganatha.

 

Ramanujacharya gained a significant following in Srirangam, which upset the

chief Priest of the Ranganatha Temple. The latter hatched a dastardly plot

and tried to kill Ramanujacharya on a couple of occassions. However,

Ramanujacharya came out unscathed each time due to the grace of Lord

Ranganatha. The Lord of Seven Hills adorned himself with the Vaishnava

Chinnams at the request of Ramanujacharya during his visit to Tirupati.

The Acharya's journey to Tirunarayanapuram, recovery of the idol from the

Badshah and the Bibi Nachiyar episode have been presented in great detail

on this forum in the past. For the benefit of new members to the group,

Sri Tatachar may consider reposting his informative article (from about

two years ago).

 

The works of our Paramacharyan include:

 

(1) Vedartha Sangraha: A commentary on Vedic texts and Sruti based

works

(2) Sri Bhashya: Detailed commentary on the Brahma Sutras

(3) Gita Bhashya: Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita

(4) Vedanta Sara

(5) Vedanta Dipika (?)

Both (4) and (5) relate to the Brahma Sutras. Could scholars like Srimans

KalaLe or Sadagopan confirm this?

(6) Sharanagati Gadyam

(7) Sri Ranganatha Gadyam

The above two Gadyams are unparalleled in establishing the primordial

doctrine of SharaNagati, fundamental to Bhagavad Ramanuja Siddhantam. These

have been discussed in some detail on this forum.

(8) Vaikunta Gadyam: A brilliant description of Sri Vaikuntam through the

eyes of one who has attained Moksham and derived the bliss of Narayana

Sayujyam

(9) Nitya Granthas: A guidline for Nitya Karmas and practices.

 

The Acharya's message to his followers was:

 

* Read the Sri Bhashya.

* Engage in Divya Prabandha Parayanam.

* Recite the Dvaya Mantram.

* Engage in Bhagavad Kainkaryam.

* Engage in Bhagavata Kainkaryam.

 

Those from this forum who attended the recent Sri Vaishnavism conference

at the Bridgewater Temple in NJ were able to hear in considerable detail,

the implications of the above message.

 

 

Emperumaanar Tiruvadigale SharaNam,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy