Ramanujacarya (1)

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February 11th, 2003, Tuesday (Dasami)

Disappearance day of Sri Ramanujacarya

 

Sri Ramanujacarya:

 

The system of Philosophy associated with Ramanuja is known as

Vishistadvaita. We should not think that Ramanuja started a new philosophy

and he does not claim that either. If Vishishtadvaita can be likened to a

lotus plant , then Srutis are its roots, Smrithis are its stems and leaves,

Earlier Alvars and Acharyas are its nourishment and Ramanuja is that bright

Sun-light that caused the lotus flower to fully bloom.

 

Ramanuja's supreme effort resulted in a systematic presentation of

the Vishishtadvaita. His genius also led to the development of a complete

system which synthesizes the concept of God with the philosophy of the

impersonal absolute. It is a matter of fact that the beauty of Lotus appeals

to everyone. The same was true of Ramanuja. Such were his attributes. His

scholarship coupled with humility, devotion, kindness, beauty, love,

compassion, pragmatism, and adventure left a strong impression on anyone who

came to know him.

 

The followers of Ramanuja are called Sri-Vaishnavas. Followers of

Ramanuja (or at least those who include him in the lineage of their earlier

Acharyas) can be seen far and wide in different parts of India including

Gaudia Vaishnavas of Bengal and the Swminarayans of Gujarat.

 

During Ramanuja's time he appointed 74 Mudhalis (Leaders or

Simhasanadipati) of whom a good number were Shattadas(generally of

non-Brahmin origin). It is noteworthy that 5 among the 74 Mudhalis were

women. All these fit well with the character of Ramanuja. He freely mingled

with true devotees of God, irrespective of their caste. He washed their

feet, ate food left over in their plate, held them with great reverence, and

popularized their works. When Kanchi Purna, a great devotee of God, did not

let Ramanuja to wash his feet, saying that he is from a low caste, Ramanuja

says, "pray , noble Sir, is it the wearing of the sacred thread that makes

one a Brahmana? He who is devoted to God, he alone is a genuine Brahmana."

 

At another instance, Kanchi Purna refused to accept Ramanuja as his

disciple, stating that Ramanuja was a Brahmin well versed in the shatras,

while Kanchi Purna was just an ignorant old Sudra. To this Ramanuja replied:

"If the knowledge of the Sastras only brings about pride instead of devotion

to God, then it is false knowledge, better is ignorance than this. You have

verily tasted the real essence of the Sastras; other scholars merely carry

the burden, like the ass that carries the load of sandalwood". So saying, he

fell at the feet of Kanchi Purna and began to weep.

 

The tradition followed by Sri-Vaishnavas is called Sri-sampradaya,

which is perhaps best preserved among the Sri-Vaishnavas of South India. In

this tradition, the Goddess Lakshmi acts as the mediator of salvation on

behalf of the devotees of Vishnu. This sampradayam recognizes a host of

Acharyas and Alvars. The lineage up to Ramanujacharya is as follows:

 

Periya Perumal (Parabrahman, Sriman Narayana, Emberuman)

Periya Piratti (Lakshmi)

Senai Mudaliyar (Viswaksena)

Nammalvar (around seventh Century AD)also known as Shatakopan, or Shatari

Natha Muni (823 AD)

Yamuna Muni (918-1038 AD) also known as Yamunacharya, Alavandar)

Ramanujacharya (1017 AD-1137 AD) also known as Yeti Raja, Bhashyakara,

Udaiyavar etc.

 

In this list the first three names, of course, are ahistorical.

Nammalvar, who belonged to a non-Brahmin community is one among the twelve

Vaishnavite Alvars. Alvars lived between 100 AD to 900 AD. Alvars found God

realization through Bhakti-Prapatti. Bhakti means immense love of God and

Prapatti (also known as Saranagathi or Bharanyasam) means a single minded

total surrender to God. The Tamil devotional works of Alvars is known as

Nalayirum (4000 verses) or Divya Prabhandam. Sri-Vaishnavas learn Nalayirum

and other Tamil works on par with the Sanskrit scriptures. Such

practitioners are called Ubhaya Vedantins. Ramanuja took responsibility to

popularize the Tamil scriptures. This was one of the oath he took at the

site of the dead body of Alavandar in Srirangam. Ramanuja also ensured that

Tamil poems become part of all Sri-Vaishnava style Puja.

 

Nammalvar, is placed first among the Historical personalities

revered in the Sri-sampradayam. He rescued the works of previous Alvars ,

added his own contribution of 1296 verses and passed it on to Natha Muni,

who is a great scholar and a devotee. Natha Muni's grand son is Alavandar,

who at a tender age of 14, won half the Kingdom by defeating a great scholar

in a debate. Among Alavandar's grand children are Ramanuja's mother and

Ramanuja's uncle Periya Tirumalai Nambi (or Srisaila Purna).

 

Ramanuja (1017-1137 AD) was born in a pious Vaishnava Brahmin family

in Sriperumbudur, 30 miles South West of Madaras. His parents were Aasuri

Sarvakrutu Keshava Somayaji Dikshitar and Kantimati (grand daughter of

Alavandar). The couple gained progeny after they performed an Yagna at the

Parthasarathy shrine in Triplicane, Madaras. The Lord Parthasarathy appeared

to Keshava in his dream and promised that the Lord himself would be born as

his son for the purpose of redeeming the misguided souls. (Many had mistaken

the Shankara's exposition of the vedantic mantra "Aham Brahmasmi" to apply

to their physical body and had thus turned arrogant, wicked and perverse).

 

Srisaila Purna (Periya Tirumalai Nambi), the maternal uncle of

Ramanuja came from Srirangam for the child naming ceremony. He saw the

divine traits in his nephew and was reminded of what Nammalvar had foretold

as the divine messiah of Srivaishnavism in his Tamil work Thiruvoymoli.

Nambi was totally convinced that his nephew was none other than Lakshmana,

the Ananta or Adishesha of Kali Yuga. Thus, he gave the name Ramanuja

(meaning brother of Rama) to his nephew. Interestingly, Ramanuja's birth

month(Chaitra) and Zodiac (Cancer) sign are same as that of Sumitra's sons

Lakshmana and Shatrugna. Ramanuja is generally regarded as the manifestation

of both Adishesha (just as Lakshmana). as well as the five ayudhas of

Vishnu.

 

Ramanuja was a good student loved by his teachers. He was able to

grasp even complex ideas by hearing just only once from his teacher He also

loved to associate with holy men. Ramanuja at age 16 was wedded to an

exquisitely beautiful girl in a rather grand week long wedding ceremony. The

whole town rejoiced. The joy did not last long as Ramanuja's father severely

fell ill and died shortly after. Ramanuja with his wife and mother moved to

the holy city of Kanchipuram and therein became a disciple of

Yadavaprakasha, the most renowned scholar of that time. Yadavaprakasha was a

great champion of Advaita Philosophy. His doctrine is known even today as

"Yadaviya Siddahanta." He was such a rigid Advaitin, that he would not

acknowledge God with form. Unlike Shankaracharya, he would not even regard

this universe as a maya. To him it was totally insignificant. Ramanuja was

all devotion. The doctrine of Yadava did not at all appeal to Ramanuja.

Mostly out of respect, Ramanuja did not challenge his guru until one day

when he could not take it any more.

 

Ramanuja humbly, but firmly disagreed with Yadava Prakasha on the

interpretation of one of the rather confusing mantra from the Chandogya

Upanishad. The mantra was "tasya yatha kapyasam pundarikamevamakshini."

Taking "kapyasam" to mean the "nates of a monkey" as interpreted by the

venerable Shankaracharya, Yadavaprakasha explained the passage as follows:

 

"The two eyes of that golden Purusha are like two lotuses which are

red like the nates of a monkey." Hearing this interpretation, tears rolled

down from the corners of Ramanuja's eyes likes flames of fire and fell on

the thigh of Yadavaprakasha. Yadava understood that something troubled his

dear disciple Ramanuja. When asked for the cause of his anguish, Ramanuja

politely answered: "Revered Sir, from the mouth of a wise person like you, I

never expected to hear the comparison of the eyes of the Supreme Godhead

with the posterior of a monkey." Yadava considered this as a display of

arrogance by Ramanuja and challenged him to give his interpretation.

Ramanuja proceeded to give his interpretation of Kapyasam, the troublesome

word in the mantra. Kapyasam = Kapih + Asam Kapih = Kam jalam pibatiti

Kapih: he who drinks water = Suryah, Sun Asa = blossomed. Thus, Kapyasam =

Sun blossomed or blossomed by the Sun. Now the mantra can be translated as :

"The eyes of the golden Purusha are as lovely as the lotuses blossomed by

the rays of the Sun". Hearing this Yadava said that it is not a direct

meaning but only a derived meaning. Nevertheless, he recognized the skill of

his student.

 

The trend continued. One of the famous Upanishadic mahavakyas

"Satyam Jnanam anantam Brahma" was interpreted by Yadava as Brahman is

truth, Intelligence and Infinitude. Ramanuja, again disagreed with Yadava

and interpreted it as Brahman is endowed with the quality of truth,

intelligence and infinitude. It is not correct to hold that all these

qualities are He Himself. These qualities are His, but not He, just as the

body is mine, I am not the body. At this point Yadavapraksha grew jealous of

Ramanuja. He plotted to kill Ramanuja and wash off his sins at the sacred

Ganges. Yadava with Ramanuja and the other disciples set out on a pilgrimage

to Kashi. Ramanuja, came to know his guru's wicked plan through his cousin

Govinda and returned back from the Dandaka forest without finishing the so

called pilgrimage.

 

Ramanuja returned to his studies under Yadava. Everyone concerned

pretended as though nothing happened. The mantra being discussed this time

was "sarvam khalvidam brahma" - All this is verily Brahma and "neha nanasti

kinchana" - there is no diversity whatsoever here. Yadava, had his class

spell bound with his discourse on the oneness of Atman and Brahman. Ramanuja

disagreed and expressed his position. As the universe is born of Brahman, is

sustained by Brahman, so it may surely be said to be permeated with

Brahman(not verily Brahman). For instance, fish is born in water, lives in

water, and dissolves into water; so it may be said to be surely permeated

with water. But as fish can never be water, likewise the universe too can

never be Brahman.

 

And "neha nanasti kinchana" does not mean that there is no diversity

whatsoever here; the various objects do not exist separately, but are like

pearls strung on a thread form a garland, so the various objects threaded in

Brahman have formed this universe. Many have united and give the appearance

of oneness, but by this the distinctiveness has in no way been impaired. At

this Yadava expelled Ramanuja from his school. (Many years later, Yadava

became a disciple of Ramanuja and took sanyasa under the name Govinda Jeer.

He composed the incomparable work Yatidharmasamuccaya).

 

Alavandar, who was of ripe age thought his prayers answered when he

heard that Ramanuja was no more associated with Yadava.. He sent words for

Ramanuja so that he could place the responsibility of spreading

Vishishtadvaita on his shoulders. . By the time Ramanuja arrived in

Srirangam, to his dismay the old sire Alavandar had just passed away.

Ramanuja noticed that the three fingers of the Maharshi's right hand were

folded and clenched. Disciples of Alvandar vouched that they had never seen

the fingers of Alvandar that way before. Hearing that Ramanuja made three

promises on front of the dead body: "I will popularize the Tamil Veda, I

will write Sri-Bhashya (detailed treatise on Brahma Sutras), and I shall

give the name of Parashara to an accomplished Vaishnava(as a mark of respect

to sage Parshara, the father of Vyasa)". As he made these promises one by

one, so also the folded fingers became straight one after another!

 

Later, Ramanuja fulfilled all his promises and more. He made sure

the Tamil Veda remained as a part of Sri-sampradaya. He entrusted many of

his disciples to expound on the message of the Nalayirums. He wrote

Sri-Bhashyam, writing of which required a study of the Bodhayana-Vritti. He

obtained the only copy of it at the Sarada Peetam of Kashmir established by

Shankara. The library attendants refused to give him that book, however, it

is believed that Ramanuja had the vision of Sarada there and got the book in

a mysterious way. His other literary works include: Vedanta Sangraha - a

treatise on the principles of Vishishtadvaita elaborated from the Srutis;

Gita Bhashya - a detailed commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita; Vedanta dipa - a

brief commentary on the Brahma sutras; Vedanta sara - a brief commentary on

the Brahma sutras and intended for beginners; Saranagati gadya and Sriranga

gadya - tells about saranagati or prapatti; Sri Vaikunta gadya - describes

Sri Vaikunta and the state of the liberated; Nitya grantha - a short manual

to guide devotees in their daily life. As promised, he also named a great

disciple of his as Parashara Bhattar and instructed him to write his famous

commentary on the Vishnu Sahsranamam.

 

Ramanuja studied under numerous disciples of Alavandar and other

Vaishnavite scholars. He left his wife, who was never in phase with

Ramanuja. He took Sanyasa, studied further and under Goshti Purna, after

much fuss, received the moola mantra of Sri-Vaishnavas, "Om Namo

Narayanaya." However Ramanuja even before leaving Goshti Pura, assembled the

whole town with the promise of a great gift, claimed the top of the Temple,

and gave the moola Mantra to the entire town that had assembled . Such was

the nature of Ramanuja. Both preserving and spreading his creed.

 

Ramanuja lived in Tirumalai for a while and studied Ramayana under

his uncle Sri Saila Purna. At a later time he returned to Tirumalai and

reestablished it as a Vaishnavite shrine. Ramanuja basically returned to the

shrine the old glory as elaborated in the works of Alvar about Tiruvengadam.

He also founded the town of Govinda Raja Puram (Tirupati) at the foot hills

of the mountain and installed the Govinda Raja's idol which he rescued from

a nearby abandoned town. This town initially used to be called Ramanuja

Puram. He also established the flower gardens at Tirumalai and entrusted its

care to Shattada Sri Vaishnavas.

 

His digvijayas included many other holy places such as Thiruvanantha

puram in Kerala, Dwaraka, mathura, Brindavan, Salagram, Saketa,

Badarikashrama, Naimisha, Pushkara, Kashmir, where he had the vision of

Sarada. It is said that, Sarada, particularly impressed by his previous

translation of the word "Kapyasum" to mean blossommed by the Sun instead of

nates of a monkey (as translated by Yadava and other scholars) gave him the

title Bhashyakara. From Kashmir he proceded to Puri and established a

monastery there and called it Embar Math after his cousin Govinda, his own

disciple. From here he went to Ahobila and established a math there also

which is still very well known. Finally he returned to Tamil Nadu via

Thirupati.

 

There were two other murder attempts on Ramanuja. The high priest of

the Srirangam temple tried to poison him out of jealousy. However, the

priest's wife let the cat out of the bag. Later this priest became one of

the greatest devotees of Ramanuja. His Tamil poetry on Ramanuja is held at

great esteem. The other threat to Ramanuja's life came from king Krimikanta.

This Chola king residing in his capital Kanchipuram desired to have his

entire kingdom embrace the Shaiva doctrine. He saw Ramanuja as a threat to

his plan. He sent for Ramanuja with the intention of forcibly converting him

in to a Shaivaite, if that is not possible to execute him. This king

remembered very much the service rendered to his family by Ramanuja who had

exorcised the ghost out of his sister many years ago. Nevertheless, the

king's mind was made up. When the king's order came, Ramanuja switched his

sanyasi robes with one of his devout disciple Kuresa and exiled out of Chola

empire into Karnataka. Kuresa did not become a Shaivite either, the king had

his both eyes plucked and sent him away.

 

In Karnataka, Ramanuja brought the Jain king Vittala Deva (Bitti

Deva) under the Vaishnavite fold. He reestablished the temple in

Yadavagiri(also known as Thirunarayana Puram or Melkote) near Mysore. A

Moslem chieftain had earlier raided this town and made it away with the

Utsava Murthy of Sampath Kumara (Cheluva Narayana). The Moola Vigraha lay

buried under an ant hill (perhaps it was hidden there by the town's people).

Ramanuja went all the way to North India and rescued the Sampatkumara's idol

from the Sultan. Sultan's daughter Bibi Lachimar, loved that idol very much

and so she followed it to Melkote. She lived there for many years serving

that idol and when she passed away, the Sri Vaishnavas impressed by her

love, made a statue of her and placed it at the foot of the idol which can

be seen even to day. The idol of Lachimar is revered as Bibi Nachhiar. The

Bibi Nacchiar idol has been duplicated in many other temples in South India.

Ramanuja lived for many years in Melkote and with a heavy heart left to

Srirangam. The people of Melkote were deeply grieved at his departure and

learing this Ramanuja made a stone image of his, invoked his life into it

and gifted it to to people of Yadavadri. Melkote enjoys the status of

Abhimana sthanam in the Srivaishnava tradition. It is one of the greatest

Sri vaishnava centers in Karnataka.

 

Ramanuja spent his last 60 years of life at Srirangam. He left this

world at a ripe age of 120 years, after delivering his last sermon to scores

of Shishyas who had gathered with a heavy heart to listen to his last

sermon.

 

Submitted to the feet of Sri Ramanuja

(from www.IndiaDivine.com)