Bhagavad Ramanuja Vaibhavam- 1.49- Raamanuja's sri sookthi upholds and celebrates the Lord along with Veda matha!

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika manahadesikaya nama:

Dearest all

 

Conintuing on our pastime of enjoying Bhagavad Raamanuja vaibhavam:

[as part of our series and service to Srivaishnavas to commeomorate the 1000th

year (2017)]

 

praNAmam lakshmaNa muni: pratigRhnatu mAmakam |

prasAdayati yat sUkti: svAdIna patikAm Srutim ||

 

The biographical details of Sri Ramanuja have already been given in earlier

post.

 

The great treatises of Bhagavad Ramanuja like Sribhashyam, Vedartha

Sangraham and others give a clear and faithful explanation to the Upanishats.

There are many varieties of Vedic statements. Some of them state the

differential nature of Brahman and Jivan by saying that the Brahman and Jivan

are distinctly different. While others state the non-differential or the unified

nature of Brahman and Jivan by saying that the Brahman and Jivan are one and the

same. There are some, which state that Paramatman has no attributes while others

state that he is qualified with infinite auspicious attributes.

 

There are some shruti statements, which state that Paramatman stands hidden

inside each and every object as its in-dweller. Of these, the Advaitins maintain

the stand that the shruti statements stating the attributeless nature of Brahman

are the only ones that can be considered as authority. They alsomaintain that

the other statements signifying the qualification of Parabrahman with many

auspicious attributes and also the statements stating the distinct nature of

Jivan and Paramatman are nothing but fallacy.

 

The imperial Vedams and the conduct and anushtanams of our ancestors

are our guiding lamps and authorities. Strict adherence to this way of conduct

is nothing but ‘sanaatana dharmam’. This being the case, it would be

improper and against anushtanam and sanatana dharmam to quote that one division

of the Vedams depict the truth while the other depicts fallacy. Sri Ramanuja

sorts out all these conflicting views using Vedic statements alone.

 

Ramanuja maintains the stand that it is totally absurd to say that,

Paramatman is Real but everything else apart from that is false. Ramanuja’s

philosophy says that Paramatman as well as every other thing is absolutely

Real. The Vedic statements qouting that Paramatman has attributes intend to

say that Paramatman is replete with infinite divine auspicious attributes. At

the same time, the statements stating that Paramatman is attributeless intend to

say that Paramatman does not have any blemishes and inauspicious

attributes. Similarly, the non-differential statements or the abheda shruti

state that Paramatman stands hidden inside every object as its in-dweller and

has everything in Himself by having everything as His shariram or body.

 

This way He remains one and only one.

Consider the following statement. “Rama wearing a silk robe with a

golden necklace, carrying a child in his hand and a flag is coming aloneâ€.

Here, apart from Rama, the robe, the necklace, the child, the hand, the flag are

all Real and do not become false just because the statement says that he is

coming alone. The coming of Rama with all these qualifications is what we

actually interpret.

 

Since all the faculties of the body function as per the will of the

Jeevatman, the body is known as ‘shariram’. Similarly, in all Jeevatmas as

well as inanimate (jada) objects, Paramatman stands hidden inside as the

in-dweller and the Vedas proclaim the universe as the shariram of Paramatman

since everything functions as per his will. This is learnt from the ghataka

shruti or the concordant passages of the Vedas that extol Paramatman as the

in-dweller of all objects.

 

Moreover the very name Brahman, confirms the existence of many objects as well

as Jeevatmans. Brahman means something that is big or enormous. This intends to

say that Brahman is one that has boundless splendour with its essential nature

(swarupam) and characteristic attributes (kalyana gunams). When we say big or

enormous, then is it possible to say so

without having something smaller than that? Here Jeevatmans are the smaller

ones or the diminutive ones possessing infinitesimal swarupam. The very fact

that Brahman is infinitely greater in knowledge and in every other aspect

compared to all animate and inanimate objects establishes that the existence of

all other objects is definitely true. This is the reason as to why the bheda

shruti or differential statements quote the existence of Brahman and Jivan as

distinct entities. Abheda shrutis on the other hand quote the Brahman having all

animate and inanimate objects as its body or shariram.

 

Due to the establishment of all the true purports of Vedas by Bhagavad

Ramanuja without any mutual contradictions and in a manner acceptable to

every one, Swamy Deshikan extols the works of Bhagavad Ramanuja as

Sairandhri (royal female attendant) and the shruti texts as Svadhinapatikaa

(one who has full domination on her husband).

 

swAdeenapathika – The kings in olden days would have many wives. They

were known to have existed in eight forms. Amongst all of them one is known

as Svadhinapatikaa. She is one who has won over her husband completely and

keeps him in her control. The king would always remain in her quarters and see

to it that all her needs are properly attended to and would always engage

himself in making her happy. He would appoint a female attendant to bedeck

and beautify this queen of his. This female attendant is known as Sairandhri.

 

This attendant would give her queen a good bath, apply fragrant oil to her hair,

would sort out all the tresses taking care to see that not a single hair would

come apart and would then comb her hair beautifully and dress it up with utmost

care with beautiful fragrant flowers. She would also bedeck her with precious

jewels to the delight of the king.

 

In the same way, here the shruti is the Upanishat nayaki or the queen.

Her master or the king is Brahman or Purushottaman. The very word Upanishat

means one that stays close to the Brahman. Kannan in His Bhagavad Geetha

says that He alone is known through all the Vedas.

 

Vedaksharani yAvanthi padithAni maneeshibhi:

thAvanthi harinAmAni keerthithAni na samsaya: ||

 

The above verse clearly portrays that every word of the shruti talks

only about Paraman. Paraman, the Veda nayakan would always remain with Veda

nayaki without any moment to spare. Many preachers and followers of other

mathams or beliefs brought disgrace to Vedas by defiling its grace and glory

with misinterpretations and went even to the extent of saying that these Vedic

statements were not statements of authority and that they were

untruth (mithya) and fallacious. A few of the Vedic statements suffered

ignoble interpretations. Sri Bhagavad Ramanujas worded gems or Srisooktis

that are like the Sairandhri, in order to remove this contemptible falsehood,

applied the fragrant oil of Mimamsa-nyaya (rule of exegesis) to these tressed

statements of the imperial Vedas and freed it from the locks and dirt of

misinterpretations and ignoble renditions. Srimad Ramanuja’s sri-sooktis then

upheld the true and genuine nature of veda-vedya Parabrahman Sriman Narayanan

along with his rupa, kalyana guna, vibhavam and the subservient Jeevatmans.

 

Also Ramanuja’s sri-sookti or Sairandhri celebrates the Lord

along with Vedanayaki and extols the beauty of their divine communion for all of

us to take delight in.

 

Swamy Deshikan says “What returns can I offer to Ramanuja, the great

sage who has done great service to us by bringing to light making known the

Pramana, the Prameya and the Pramatha. Though I am not in a position to offer

anything to match his great favour or service, I shall at least bow down at his

feet in a reverential prostration.

 

Let my master Sribhashyakara accept my plead and shower his benevolence on

meâ€. [as extracted from Sri CG Balaji swamin's brilliant english translation

of Yathiraja saptathi divine commentary by asmadhacharyan His Holiness Sri

Paravakkottai Andavan Swami]

 

Acharyan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

namo narayana

dAsan