rAmAnuja darSanam-Part 1

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE lakshmI nrusimha parabrahamaNE nama:

SrImathE vishvaksEnaya nama:

SrImahtE SaThakOpAya nama:

SrIman nAthamunayE nama:

SrImathE yAmuna munayE nama:

SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:

SrImathE nigamAnta mahA dESikAya nama:

SrImathE Adi vaN SaThakOpa yatIndra mahA dESikAya nama:

SrImathE SrI LakshmI nrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaN SaThakOpa SrI

nArAyaNa yatIndra mahA dESikAya nama:

 

Dear SrI VaishNavas,

 

On these auspicious days when we celebrate swAmi nammAzwAr tiru-nakshatram and

SrIman nrusimha jayanti, by the niyamanam of bhAgavatas, I commence a series

titled " rAmAnuja darSanam " with prArtanA at the divine lotus feet of emperumAn

AzwAr emperumAnAr sIrAr tUppul tiru-VEnkaTamutayAn. I will be covering

numerous subjects from sidhdAntam (philosophy) and anushTAnams (practices) of

rAmAnuja darSanam in these

series of articles. These will be intricate and requires lot of attention to

comprehend. Many of these subjects may have been already covered by scholars

like SrI Anand K Karalapakkam. In such cases, my humble effort will attempt to

retell the same. These articles/portions of these articles are only for

publication in mAlOlan net and as told earlier, if a person wants to publish

it in other email net/forums or magazines or any such media or distribution of

the same in any form, he/she must get permission from me and SrI Dileepan

PArtasArathy swAmi in writing before doing so. I do not want intricate

intellectual discussions on sAmpradAyic concepts to be reduced to silly

controversies. In case of debate arising because of this series, I stress that

the vAda-prativAdams should be only based on pramANam & pramANa-anuguNa

tarkam. Most importantly, I will *not* mention any " kalai " name in these

postings. If there are questions/debate, I request you to kindly not to

mention any " kalai " name. We will just see the concepts, critically analysis

them with strict adherence to pramANAm and pUrvAchara-SrI-sUktis and sincerely

attempt to understand the tiru-vuLLam of bhagavath rAmAnuja. I stress this

very much. Before getting into subject, let me write a tiru-vAi-mozhi verse of

swAmi nammAzwAr on SrIman nrusimhan and start the series.

 

engum uLan-kaNNan enRa makanaikkAyndu

ingillai yalen RiraNiyan tUNpudaippa

angapp pozhudE avanvIyat tOnRiyaen

singap pirAn perumai yarAyum cIrmaithtE

 

SrImath tirukkurukai pirAn piLLAn while presenting the tiru-vuLLam of swAmi

emperumAnAr in his commentary on tiru-vAi-mozhi through his

" tiru-ARAyirap-padi " says +IBM

" AsritArthamAgat tannudaiya sarvAntarAtmatvattai pratyakshamAkiyaruLina,

emperumAnudaya sarvESvaratva-mahimai-oruvarkku ArAya nilamO?

Ana-pinpu-inganEyirundavivanai ASrayingOLengiRAr. "

 

Outline meaning :- " For the sake of prapanna, SrIman nArAyaNa displayed his

omnipresence before the eyes of all by his most beautiful incarnation namely

" SrIman nrusimhAvatAram " . After seeing SrIman nrusimhAvatAram, it is a wonder

why one should further investigate on the paratvam of Sriya: pati +IBM-ie., he

made it explicit by his avatAram itself. When such is the case, adopt

SaraNAgati at the divine lotus feet of SrIman lakshmI nrusimhan +IBM says SrI

SATakOpar nammAzwAr "

 

swAmi nammAzwAr's Sriman nrusimhAnubhavam has got overflowed in numerous

pAsurams like " Adi-Adiyakam karaindu " etc. We get immense bliss when we enjoy

SrIman nrusimhAnubhavam in tiru-vAi-mozhi and it is beyond the reach of mortal

words. May SrIman lakshmI nrusimhan and AachAryas in our guru-paramparA

starting with swAmi nammAzwAr (in this world and yugam) bless adiyEn to

present this series in a pleasing way to bhagavath bhAgavata AachAryas.

 

Prelude:

Veda vyAsa bhagavAn in his mahA bhAratam has narrated the episode of

mAndavya muni. Its essence is as follows. Once, a muni named mAdavaya did

tremendous tapas in a solitary place. At that time, few thieves came running

near his ASramam after stealing valuable things and law enforcement guards of

King were chasing them. The thieves out of fear dropped the articles in the

ASramam of mANDavaya muni and hid themselves in the ASramam. The guards who

came there chasing the thieves also reached the ASramam and inquired mAndavya

muni. But mAndavya muni was doing terrific yOgam and therefore he could not

even observe all that is happing around him. He did not reply because of his

mowna vratam. The guards searched the ASramam and found the stolen articles

there and arrested the thieves who were hiding themselves there. They assumed

that the innocent mANDavaya muni is also involved in the crime and arrested

him also and presented him along with the thieves before the king. The king,

without proper investigation of the case, ordered all the thieves and

mANDavaya muni to be executed in kazhu. Kazhu is a spear fixed in earth with

its sharp edge projection pointing upwards. In those days, some culprits will

be made to sit on it and thus executed by kings. That was a type of punishment

in those days. The thieves died but mANDavaya muni sitting on the top of the

kazhu was alive and was continuing his tapas. The king started to suffer. The

guards reported this wonder to the king. The king realized his mistake and

made mANDavaya muni to be separated from the kazhu. He fell at the feet of

mANDavaya muni and begged apology. From this episode, Veda vyAsa imparted a

teaching that if someone without proper knowledge, expertise and without full

& proper investigation, imposes his own prejudices on innocent people who are

pramANa-tantras and act as per their likes and dislikes, then they are the one

who will have to face evil effects.

 

swAmi SrIman nigamAnta mahA dESika refers the above episode from vEda vyAsa

mahA bhAratam in his SrI sampradAya pariSudhdi and those divine SrI sUktis are

as follows:

 

" chOrAparAdhattai mANDavyan pakkal ArOpittAR pOla swEchaikku anuguNamaka

anipuNar chollumadu vakktAkkaLukkE dOshamAm " .

 

Translation:

anipuNar = who are not knowledgeable +IBM who are not experts

chollumadu = whatever they say (their statements)

swEchaikku anuguNamAka = suitable to one's own wish (prejudice)

vakktAkkaLukkE dOshamAm = becomes evil to such speakers (ie., themselves)

pOla = like

MANDavyan pakkal ArOpittAr pOla = (like) blaming (innocent) mANDavya by

imposing on him

ChOrAparAdhattai = the offence of thieves

 

Therefore we have to keep this episode in our mind before stating that a

particular concept is the tiru-vuLLam of an esteemed Aacharya (here) bhagavath

rAmAnuja yatirAja swAmi.

 

The series is for those who are seriously interested in comprehending rAmAnuja

darSanam. There will be complicated concepts regarding the vEdAnta darSanam in

these series of postings.

 

Our SrI VaishNava darSanam called as rAmAnuja darSanam is having an

uniqueness. This is not like other vaidika darSanams or non-vaidika darSanams.

It is viSishTAdvaita sidhdAntam. That uniqueness is because of two aspects in

which it is having balam +IBM irrefutable might. They are

1. pramANa balam

2. sampradAya balam

 

In this posting, I will explain both these balams, which are uniquely present

in our SrI sampradAyam.

 

First let us see the pramANa balam. The Sruthi (Veda-vEdAntam - apourushEyam),

authentic smruties, ithihAsams, sAtvika-purANams, bhagavath Sastram, which is

SrI pAncharAtra Agamam (tantram), vaikAnasa Agamam are the pramANam.

 

All these are in the form of upadESam +IBM that is imparting knowledge about

tatvam, hitam and purushArtams to us.

 

Therefore, to establish the purport of these pramANams and refute prejudices

that were spread in the name of these pramANams, " tarkam " was employed and

impartial analysis was done by brahma sutra. The entire purport of the VEda

(with vEdAntam) is thus established by the mImAmsA SAstra, which has 20

chapters. The first 12 chapters are attributed to Sage Jaimini and it deals

with the karma kANda. The next 4 chapters are attributed to Sage kASakrutsna

and it is dEvatA kAnda. The last 4 chapters are attributed to Sage pArASarya

+IBM son of parASara rishi who is vEda vyAsa otherwise known as bAdarAyaNa

rishi.

 

VEda vyAsa bhagavAn composed the brahma sUtras. BOdhAyaNa rishi composed the

vrutti grantam +IBM which is a very elaborate explanation of the brahma sUtras.

Brahmanandhi composed the vAkya-granta on the same. Brahmanandhi is also

called as " danka " . DramidAchArya composed bhAshyam on the sUtras. Therefore

these AachAryas of our sampradAyam protected and established the same by

sUtram, vrutti, vAkyam and bhAshyam.

 

The SrI VaishNava generation of DramidAchArya is still continuing in this

period also. DramidAchArya is also known as " naidrava mAdabhUshi AzwAn " .

" naidrava mAdabhUshis " are still present in this period in SrI VaishNava

kulam.

 

In SrI bhAshyam, Bhagavath rAmAnuja declares in the very beginning that " Danka

and dramidAchAryas condensed the elaborate vrutti of bhagavath bOdhayana on

brahma sutras. I follow their matham and thus present the commentary on the

sUtras " . Bhagavath rAmAnuja did what he declared and completed the SrI

bhAshyam in the irrefutable and divine manner. From this, we clearly get to

know that the matham of Sages like VEda vyAsa is only ViSishTAdvaitam. This is

the pramANa balam of our darSanam.

 

Let us see next the sampradAya balam of rAmAnuja darSanam. The ten AzwArs have

established the same darSanam by their bhagavath-anubhava-parIvAha divya

prabandams. This is the sampradAya balam.

 

At this juncture, we need to clearly understand the important aspect regarding

the sampradAya balam mentioned above. The divya prabandams are also in the

form of upadESam and this aspect is same as it is in the Sruthi, smrutis.

Therefore, we can ascertain its purport only with full adherence to the

SArIraka SAstram +IBM brahma sUtras and the commentaries on the same by

AachAryas like Bhagavath rAmAnuja of our darSanam. That is, while ascertaining

the tAtparyam (purport) of the divya prabandams of AzwArs, we need to have the

prastAna trayam (VEdAnta-gItA-brahma sUtra) as the base. Otherwise, we cannot

ascertain the sampradAyam. This is clear from the commentary on the divya

prabandam (tiru-vAi-mozhi) by tiruk-kurukai-pirAn-piLLan named

" tiru-ARAyirap-padi " . tiruk-kurukai-pirAn-piLLan is an important Sishya of

bhagavath rAmAnuja yatirAja swAmi. A knowledgeable person who is capable of

appreciating adhikaraNa sArAvaLi can appreciate dramidOpanishad-tAtparya

ratnAvai & sAram.

 

A SrI VaishNava must do granta-kAlakshEpam (spend time at the sannadhi of a

bona fide SrI VaishNava vidwAn for learning our philosophy and practice as per

tradition and SAstra prescriptions) and thus study the granta-chatushTayam +IBM

four important grantams of our pUrvAchAryas taken collectively.

1. SrI bhAshyam (bhagavath rAmAnuja yatirAja)

2. gItA bhAshyam (bhagavath rAmAnuja yatirAja)

3. bhagavath vishyam (tiruk-kurukai-pirAn-piLLan)

4. SrImath rahasya traya sAram (swAmi SrIman nigamAnta mahA dESika)

 

The pUrvAchArya-granta kAlakshEpam is different from the kathA-kAlakshEpams

and upanyAsams.

 

Even those who are not qualified for the first 2 grantams can study in

kAlakshEpam the 3rd and 4th grantam and get to know the darSanam clearly. But

only those who have studied the SrI bhAsyam (SArIraka SAstra bhAshyam in

kAlaskhEpam) are eligible for doing darSana stApanam +IBM establishing the

darSanam. Those who study just bhagavath vishayam and rahsya grantams are

eligible to do upadESam but they are not eligible for doing darSana stApanam

because they do not have SArIrka SAstra artha nirNayam.

 

Therefore if those who do not have SArIrka SAstra artha nirNayam start writing

grantams and preach VEdanta and gIta merely on their personal ideas and usage

of tarkam, then the growth of the rAmAnuja darSanam will not flourish.

 

One must not study these pUrvAchArya grantams independently (specifically the

granta chatushTayam mentioned above) without doing kAlaskEpam at the sannadhi

of AachArya.

 

Thus, the established VEdAnta sidhdAntam of Sages like VEda vyAsa (through

SArIraka SAstra etc) and the established sampradAyam of divine AzwArs like

poigai-muni, bhUtattAr, pEyAzwAr (through divya prabandams) was reestablished

by pUrvAcharyas like SrIman nAthamuni, SrIman yAmuna muni and SrImath rAmAnuja

muni through their grantams, upadESams, refutation of matAntarams and their

anushTAnams. Thus the SrI VaishNava sidhdAntam got the specific name " ubhaya

vEdAnta sidhdAntam " .

 

To be continued.. .

 

Thanks & Regards

Naidrava MAdhabushi. S. HARI rAmAnuja dAsan (mshari)

 

P.S.

1. This series is based on the grantams of great ubhaya VEdanta vidwAns. At

many places, I have attempted to even present translation of their SrI sUktis.

I will acknowledge them at appropriate places in due course. The prelude

itself is likely to continue for couple of weeks. Then we will take up

important philosophical subjects and aspects of anusuTAnam.

 

2. The series will be called rAmAnuja darSanam instead of rAmAnuja

sampradAyam.