Yadavaprakazar (Sanketis)

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Nanda Chandran wrote:

>According to Sri Vaishnava sources themselves, when Ramanuja wanted

>to take on Advaita it was only to Kaanchipuram that he went, to

>debate with Advaita scholars.

 

A little checking Ramanuja life history tells that Ramanuja

initially didn't go to Kanchi "to take on advaita".

 

kaa. srii. srii., sri raamaanujar vaazkkai varalaaRu, Ramakrishna Math.

ch.3 Yaadavap prakaasar (p. 98-105)

ch.13 Yaadavap prakaasar ciiDar aakiRaar (p. 177-187)

 

When Ramanuja was just 16, his father Asuri Kesavacharya dies.

R.'s mother became sorrowful. That's the reason they leave the village

and go to the nearby Kanchi town. Ramanuja becomes a student

of Yadavaprakasa there, and as time passed by, Ramanuja became the best student

around. Yadavaprakasa's philosophy was a type of advaita, and he often

used Sankara's commentaries which made Ramanuja, imbued with bhakti, sad.

For a long time, R. did not want to go against his teacher.

Oneday, Ramanuja giving oil massage to Yadavaprakasa

cried profusely when Y. was explaining with Sankara's commentary

the Chandogya upanishad, ch. I, 6th section, 7th mantra.

Y. quoted Sankara's explanation of "monkey's piruSTapAkam".

(I'm transliterating tamil script, so it's not correct transliteration

into sanskrit).

 

p. 98

" *tasya yathaa kapyAsam puNDarIka mevamakshiNi* en2patu anta

vAkkiyattil varum pakuti. sri caGkarAccaariyaar viLakkiyapaTi

kapyAsam en2pataRkuk 'kuraGkin2 piruSTapAkam' en2Ru poruLkoNTu

yAtavappirakAcar uraittAr. 'antap pon2mayamAn2a paramanin2

iraNTu kaNkaLum, kuraGkin2 piruSTapAkam pOl civanta tAmarai

malaraip pOn2Ravai.' intap poruntAta izinta uvamaiyaik kETTatumE,

iyalpilEyE men2maiyAn2atum paktiyin2Al kan2intatumAn2a

rAmAnujarin2 itayam urukiyatu.

 

Ramanuja realized how wrong Sankara's upamaa was, in comparing God's

eyes with that of a monkey's aasana hole. R. politely tells Yadavap.

that he didn't expect Y. will mention such unsuitable words,

and that he was deeply saddened. And, also "ellaak kalyANa kuNaGkaLum vAyntu,

ulaka azakukkellaam nitiyAn2a paraman2in2 tirukkaNkaLaik kuraGkin2

aacan2avaayuTan2 oppiTuvatu evvaLavu periya paavam!".

 

Then, Y. asks whether he can better Sankara in his explanation

which R. did. "kapyAsam en2Ra collukkuk kuraGkin2 piruStapAkam

en2Ru poruL kURuvatai viTuttu, "kam jalam pibatIti kapi: sUrya:'

atAvatu, taNNiiraip parukum katiravan2; 'as' en2Ra mUlaccollukku

malartal en2Ru poruL; en2avE, 'aasa' en2Raal malarntatu en2avAkum.

aakavE, kapyAsam en2Raal cUriyan2Al malarntatu en2Ru poruL.

en2avE, anta vAkkiyattin2 arttam: 'cUriyamaNTalattiluLLa

antap paraman2in2 kaNkaL, katiravan2in katirkaLaal malarnta

tAmaraip pUppOla azakAn2avai' en2patE."

 

There was another interesting episode about taittirIya upaniSad (2.1)

statement: "satyam Jaanam anantam brahma" between R. and Y. (p.100-101)

Yadavaprakasa tells R. that this all go against Sankara's interpretation.

Afraid that R. will establish bhaktimArga and dvaita philosophy in

direct opposition to Sankara, Yadavaprakasa becomes jealous, and

arranges for R.'s murder during a Ganges yatra. Ramanuja's cousin,

Govinda helps save Ramanuja.

 

>I don't think Yaadhavaprakaasha was a Vaishnavite. His philosophy

>seems to be a variant of bheda-bheda, though with an Advaitic twist.

>He is supposed to have expelled Ramanauja from his school for

>questioning his views.

 

Yes, upon the advice of his own mother and Tirukkaccinampi, Yadavaprakaasa

becomes a disciple of Ramanuja, and converts to be a Vaishnavaite.

The dhiiksaanaamam that Ram. gave to Yadav. is "Govindajiiyar",

Yadavaprakaasa became a parama vaishNava.

When Ramanuja renounces the world, he did not follow any advaita-type

sannyas. (Details in p. 178-179). Upon Ram.'s advice,

Yadavaprakaza wrote the rules to be followed by Vaishnavaite

renouncers, Y.'s yatidharmasamuccaya is rare.

Kaa. Srii. Srii. mentions the first printed edition

which was in grantha lipi (1905, Srivaishnava grantha mudrApaka sabhA).

Would love to know which libraries have a copy of this important 1905

edition.

 

Also, can someone tell whether the 1905 edition is consulted

in: Rules and regulations of Brahmanical asceticism

Yatidharmasamuccaya of Yadava Prakasa (Olivelle, P.; 1995)

Document: English : Internet

 

>No - there's another name for Pondicherry - which starts with "Veda".

 

As I said before, no ancient name for Pondichery as veda-.

It was called PutuccEri, and "putukai" as short form in tamil.

Pudukai's ancientness can be seen in Greek and Roman sources

(eg., Preiplus) where Pouduke is recorded. Nearby is Arikamedu,

an archaeological site with Roman settlements (excavated

by R. E. M. Wheeler, ...). ArikamEDu is called viirai in

sangam texts. viirai means "waves" (hence, sea).

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan