Restoring the reformist zeal - The Hindu article 12 Nov 1999

[Guest guest]

The Following article is reproduced from The Hindu newspaper dated Nov

12, 1999.

 

 

Restoring the reformist zeal

----------------------

 

The emanicipatory outlook of Ramanuja was restored and propagated

by Manavala Mamuni. T. C. A. RAMANUJAM writes...

 

``OH! WE will wait for One, be it a God or God inspired man to

teach us our religious duties, and to take away the darkness from

our eyes.''

- Plato

 

``Lord Ranganatha is there to favour those with power and

influence. O Ramanuja ! You are the only one left to take care of

the meek, weak and the needy. What shall we do if you also yield

to power?''

 

That is one of the moving appeals of saint Manavala Mamuni in his

last work praying for the grace of Lord Ranganatha and Sri

Ramanuja. The Vaishnava religion since the days of Ramanuja, has

known several deviations, leaning sometimes towards Vedic

orthodoxy and sometimes exhibiting a reformative zeal embracing

the entire Hindu clan, irrespective of caste and creed. Ramanuja

had established Sri Vaishnavism as an orthodox tradition by

wedding the devotional piety of the Alwars with the philosophy of

the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. This synthesis was

followed by the Acharyas who succeeded him and continued the

Ubhaya Vedanta tradition. These Acharyas wrote in Sanskrit when

they wanted to address their Advaitin, Buddhist and Saivite

rivals. But they used the Mani Pravala style for their own Tamil

followers. As the name indicates, it was a mixture of elegant

Sanskrit and beautiful Tamil, something like a garland of coral

laced with golden gems. The Acharyas embellished the verses of

the Alwars with their erudite commentaries and the secrets of the

Vaishnava literature became the subject matter of scholarly

expositions at centres of learning. The Sri Vaishnava philosophy

was adorned by such illustrious leaders of thought as Bhattar,

Nanjeeyar, Nampillai, Periya Vachaan Pillai, Pillai Lokacharya,

Vedanta Desika and last but not the least, Acharya Manavala

Mamuni. In the two centuries immediately prior to the arrival of

Manavala Mamuni on the scene, Vedic orthodoxy was on the

ascendance in the interpretation of Sri Ramanuja's emancipatory

thesis. It was left to Sri Manavala Mamuni to once again restore

the reformist zeal and the catholic outlook propagated by the

Savant from Sriperumbudur.

 

Manavala Mamuni's first major work was in Sanskrit - ``Ethiraja

Vimsathi'' singing the glory of Ramanuja. His Guru, Thiruvaymozhi

Pillai went ecstatic while reading the work and named Mamuni as

Yatindra Pravana. The Mamuni was told to concentrate on the Tamil

works of the Alwars and spread their work all over South India.

All the Acharyas were known for their deep love of Tamil. Their

very names breathed the sweet fragrance of the language. Manavala

Mamuni was christened as Azhagiya Manavala after the presiding

Lord of Thiruvarangam. His father was Thirunaveerudiya Biraan.

All the Acharyas considered Nammalwar's Thiruvamozhi as the

Dravida Veda and expounded the doctrine of Grace and Surrender as

propounded by the Saint from Alwar Thirunagari.

 

Nammalwar's verses became the subject matter of devout

commentaries known as Eedu in Tamil. There were five such

commentaries which came into prominence in the three centuries

after Sri Ramanuja. Manavala Mamunigal mastered these texts and

was discoursing on Bhagavath Vishayam (the name given to the

lectures on Nammalwar) at the Srirangam temple. Legend has it

that as the lectures concluded after one year, a little boy,

sporting all the Sri Vaishnava insignias, came up before the

Acharya, prostrated before him and rendered the Sloka:

 

``Srisailesha dayaapaatram dibhakty adi gunarnavam

Yat Indrapravanam vande ramyajamatram munim.''

 

Lord Ranganatha is said to have taken Sri Manavala Mamunigal as

his Acharya by this invocation through the medium of the little

boy. This is rendered in all the Sri Vaishnava temples from

Badrinath to Kanyakumari at the time of the daily rendering of

the Alwar pasurams. The Sri Vaishnava world celebrated the 600th

anniversary century of this great event on November 12th this

year, which incidentally happens to be the birthday of the Saint.

 

Mamunigal also interpreted such rahasya texts as Acharya Hridayam

and showed that temple-based religion emphasised by Ramanuja

needed an egalitarian approach where service to fellow men (the

Bhagavatas) was as important as the service to the Lord. He had a

noble conception of the Divine: ``Ranganatha as the Lord of the

Universal Stage, resting on Eternal Time, allowing the cosmic

processes of evolution and dissolution to go on freely and

sleeping the sleep which is in the language of one of our poets,

ever wakeful in the cause of the protection of the whole world

or, in other words ever wakeful in watching the progress of the

moral law.''

 

The Lord is important no doubt, but equally or more so is the

Acharya. Mamuni's devotion to Sri Ramanuja was unparalleled. So

was his devotion to the dedicated followers of Sri Ramanuja from

generation to generation. Tradition has it that Ramanuja lived

for 125 years and Sri Manavala Mamuni lived for 75 years to carry

on the great work of spreading the gospel. The two blend together

so uniquely that in every Sri Vaishnava temple you can hear the

resounding recital:

 

``O Manvala Mamuni! May you live for a hundred more years.''

 

 

-----------

 

Azhvaar emperumaanaar jeeyar thiruvadigale saranam

 

--

 

Venkatesh K. Elayavalli Cypress Semiconductor

Data Communications Division 3901 N. First St. MS 4

Phone: (408) 456 1858 San Jose CA 95134

Fax: (408) 943 2949