Fwd: Acharya-abhimanam

December 17, 2004

Jai Srimannarayana.

Forwarded is the clarification I got from Prof. M.S.Rangacharya swami on AchArya

abhimAnam. This article will be soon kept in yatirajadasa website

(http://www.geocities.com/yatirajadasa).

Ramanuja Dasa

VishnuĀCHĀRYA – ABHIMĀNAM

Āchārya abhimānam can have two vigraha-vākyas.

Āchāryasya abhimānam and sishyasya āchārye

abhimānam (or sishyasya Āchāryamprathi abhimānam). In the

context of the choornikai 443 of Srivaćanabhūshanam, in their

commentaries, both Āy and Manavālamāmunihal have adopted

sishyamprathi āchāryasya abhimānam, i.e., the great concern of

the (righteous) preceptor (for the disciple’s salvation), as the relevant

vigraha. If it were the other way, viz. the great regard (of the disciple)

towards the āchārya, there is

inconsistency with the main tenet of the Āzhwārs, neri vāsal

thāneāy ninrān, the Supreme Being is both the means (upāya)

and goal (upēya). Most of the people do not look into this inconsistency

and advise the latter interpretation with a recommendation that the

Srivaishnavites should recite the thaniyan of the āchārya daily and

offer rewards to the āchārya even in the context of their day-today

welfare. This is also the practice with almost all Srivaishnavites conforming

to the existing system. More than salvation, it is the worry about the

continuing cycle of sorrow and happiness which creates fear during the life

time of an individual. That this cycle will be terminated by the Supreme Being

with unsurpassed kindness and with no expectation on His part from the

individual is THE message which eliminates this worry. The true

Āchārya passes on this message amounting to

the aphorism that “the Supreme Being is the sole goal and means” out of his

great concern for his disciple. It is, thus, this great concern of the

āchārya (Āchārya abhimānam) which uplifts the soul of

the disciple ( āchāryābhimanamē uddhāraham

–chūrnikai 447) and makes him ‘nirbhara’ (relieved, so peaceful) and

‘nirbhaya’ (fearless, confident) about his ātmayātra (spiritual

existence). The Srivacanabhūshanam also makes it clear that the right

āchārya for a chētana is a gift by the Supreme Being (chu: 437).

However quoting the sloka : arvanchō yatpadhasarasija dhvandhvam

āşrithya pūrvē mūrdhnā yasya anvayam

upāgātha: dhēşikā: muktim āpu: -sōyam

rāmānujamunirapi svīyamuktim

karaśsthām yatsambandhāt amanutha katham varńyathē

kūranātha: (By getting to the lotus feet of whom the present people

(got their salvation),and by having connection with whose head the earlier

āchāryas got salvation, such a saint Ramanuja considered his

salvation on hand by his association with Kūresa. How can the latter be

described? ) For quite some time upanyasakas try to create confidence in their

audience that with their Ramanuja sambandha they are assured of mōksha and

sometimes they even go to the extent of saying that only those having such

sambandha get mōksha . If the whole sloka were to be cared for, it is

because of Kūrathāzhvan Ramanuja considered mōksha on hand and

there is an inconsistency that Āzhwan was to get his mōksha by his

śēshatva to Ramanuja while his association afforded

mōksha to Rāmānuja, creating a vicious circle. The first two

lines can only convey the message that Ramanuja made his predecessor,

preceptors like the āzhwars, Nathamunihal, Ālavandhār well-known

to his followers and to the world (i.e., but for Ramanuja their greatness would

not have been brought to light) and by his abhimānam made his followers

shed their worry about salvation, ‘mōksha (which is assured by the Lord-

e.g. “inŗip-poka iruvinaiyum kedutthu onŗi yākkai pukāmai

uyyak-koļvān ….. Thiruvaimozhi 9-3-8.) It is the sacrifice of Azhvan

which helped Ramanuja to survive a crisis so that he could pass on the message

of upaya- upeyatva of the Supreme Being conveyed in the charamasloka to the

people at large. For him this was more than

mōksha, viz. bhāgavatha kainkaryam superior to mōksha. (Ref.

Uŗumō pāviyenukku …….avanadiyār

ciŗumāmanicarāi ennaiyāņdār inkē

thiriyavē . Thiruvaimozhi 8-10-3.) Thus to portray that mōksha is

because of great regard towards āchārya or by connection through

several links with Ramanuja is not consistent with the Azhwar’s works or their

interpretation by the āchāryas. That Madhurakavi points out the

āchāryasya abhimānam in Nammazhwar is clear from his statement

“aruļ kondādum….”. ‘arul’ on the part of the Azhwar is nothing but

his concern for the entire humanity which swells larger than the world.

Periyavāchānpillai points out that the āzhwār strives to

show his concern even on those who are delayed in

receiving the blessings of the Supreme Being on the knowledge of His upāya

upēyatva. Likewise Amudhanaar pointed out the concern of Ramanuja for the

world by his verses ‘periyavar pēsilum…….. (87) and uņņinŗu

uyirkaļukku…..(95). for instance again pointing out āchārya

abhimānam.

Some have been mislead that ‘E’ in Tamil at the end of a word is a stress or

avadhāranam always. It is used in twenty different contexts (Vide

Tholkapiam- Chol Adhikaram- Idai Iyal-Sivalinganar Edn. International Institute

of Tamil Studies, Chennai. 600 113 pp 70-72) and for example

“nāvukkē” “thirivanē” in Kaņņinuņ

ciŗutthāmpu have ‘E’ just as ‘asai’ for verse form.

Some anecdotes in the Guruparamparaprabhavam are to be explained properly. For

instance the naming of Ramanuja as “emperumanar” (our Swami) by

Thirukkoshtiyurnambi is because of Ramanuja’s concern for the common man as

revealed by his haranguing from the temple top on the purport of the charama

sloka (the ashtakshara does not give explicit confidence to the listeners in

this context). It showed his abhimānam towards the entire humanity as an

āchārya and Nambi went to the extent of saying that Ramanuja was the

āchārya even for him and not vice versa. Ramanuja is also known as

Udayavar. The term udayavar is a shortened form of

ubhayavibhoothi udaiyavan. This is attributed to him for his propagating the

message of the āzhwārs that the Supreme Being is so kind to shower

His blessings inclusive of mōksha on His subjects without any expectation

from them. By his preaching and practice Ramanuja could instill such a faith in

the common folk as also with the scholars that made them to deem even

paramapadham of the Supreme Being to be in his possession. His compassion for

the humanity was so great, that made the people to feel even the concern of the

Supreme Being as secondary to his.

It is this concern – abhimānam- of the āchārya imbibed by the

disciple that generates the āchārya-viśvāsam in the

disciple. A total faith in the preaching of the āchārya enlightens

the disciple on the īśvarasvarūpa – the unsurpassed kindness of

the Supreme Being without any expectation. This confidence develops and grows

to the extent of even relinquishing the Supreme Being, to regard the

āchārya as everything for the soul, as Madhurakavihal ,

Vaduhanampihal and others have done. Thus it is the abhimānam of the

āchārya that really matters for the salvation of the soul, so much as

nothing can ever be done in return by the ignorant and inept ones for such a

grace.

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December 17, 2004

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Dear Vishnu,

You're absolutely right. srI piLLai lOkAcArya clearly says

that "repayment to AcAryA is possible only if there are 4 vibhUtis and 2

Ishwaras". Such is the greatness of the AcAryA.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsI

NC NappinnaiVishnu <vsmvishnu (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote:

Dear all,