swami ramananda

[Guest guest]

SrI:¨

SrImatE rAmAnujAya nama:

SrI lakshmI narasimha parabrahmaNE nama:

 

dear vaishnavas,

 

Here is an article about swami ramananda from

saptagiri magazine of TTD.

 

dAsOham,

SrIperumbUdUru vEnkaTa vinOd.

 

 

SAINT RAMANANDA AND HIS SECT

D. Satyanarayana(sapthagiri magazine, TTD)

The Tirumala Temple was under the control of the

Mahants for more than 95 years. The Mahants were

Bairagis belonging to the Ramananda sect. Ramananda's

parents were Sushila and Punyasadana. About the place

of birth there is no unanimity among the scholars.

Macauliff maintains that he was born in Melkote in the

present Karnataka state whereas Bhandarkar opines he

was born in Prayag. Ramachandrasukla is of the opinion

that he came from the South.

 

Education : It is believed that he had his education

in Kasi under some saint belonging to Sankara's order.

He came into contact with Svami Raghavananda who

professed Ramanuja's order of Visistadvaita.

Raghavananda came to know that his life - span was

short and he therefore thought it fit and advisable to

initiate and train him into the yogic exercises. On

visulising his last moments very close Raghavananda

advised Ramananda to get into a samadhi stage and

remain in the same frame till the time of his death

passes away. Ramananda did as advised by his guru and

escaped death. Finally he became 'chela' of

Raghavananda and got initiated himself into

Visistadvaita order.

 

Field of Activity : Ramananda's field of activity was

north India though he was South Indian and a follower

of South Indian Srivaisnavism. Hindu Muslim

relationship in the South and the North was on

different basis. In the North they came as conquerors

and in the South they came as business men. Ramananda

was aware of the prevailing angularities of the two

religio social groups. He opened door to all. The

Sudras, the Muslims, the Pathans all were admitted

into his order.

 

Disciples : Bhavananda, Anantananda, Sukhananda

Naraharyananda, Pipa, Kabir, Dharna, Raidasa and a

great number of other prominent religious leaders were

his chelas. Kabir was the founder of Kabir panth which

accounts for a great following even to day

particularly among weaving class both the Hindus and

Musalmans. Tulasidas, famous saint poet of north India

and the author of Ramcharit-manas was also his

disciple. Among his chelas Dharna was a jat, Sain, a

barber and Raidas a cobbler. All are religious leaders

of fame.

 

Teacher - Pupil succession : In his book

Rama-chara-paddhati Ramananda has given a succession

list of his gurus. The South Indian saints such as a

Sathakopa, Nathamuni, Ramanuja are included.

 

Achievement : In his earlier days he was a neophyte of

Sankara's order. But subsequently he became a famous

teacher of the Ramanuja order. It is a known fact that

he spent a considerable period at Mt. Abu where he

practised yoga and succeeded in obtaining siddhis. As

a visistadvaitin he became very famous. His foot

prints are available at Mt. Abu and Junagarh hillocks.

Since he was thorough in Advaitic philosophy and later

converted to Visistadvait philosophy he could not

stick to one order firmly and ultemately he was

obliged to start his own new order named Ramaval

sampradaya. Sita - Rama jointly were the chief objects

of devotion in this (Ramanandi) sect.

 

He was of liberal views. Alvars have given way to

Acharyas. Language gradually adopted by the Acharyas

was Sanskrit and the common man's language was

relegated to an important place. Ramananda not only

wrote himself in Hindi but also propagated his views

in the language of the common people. All his sisyas

also wrote in Hindi.

 

He has to face diffeculties and strong opposition for

his views regarding permission to inter - dining. The

orthodox community objected to inter dine with lower

caste people and the Mohammadans who had become his

disciples.

 

He was of the view that in spiritual pursuit caste

system is redundant. The Lord is all powerful, the

devotees who resign themselves to his care lose their

caste identily and social status.

 

Miracles : A number of miracles are associated to his

name. Once a subedar of Faizabad got his Hindu

subjects converted into Islam, Ramananda reconverted

them into Hinduism. The Subedar became furious and

when the situation turned to be ugly all the converts

had Tulsi mala round their necks and sectarian marks

on their foreheads and others positions.

 

Date : There is no unanimity regarding his date.

According to Agastya samhita date of his birth is 1300

A.D. Ramanuja died in the year 1120 or 1137 AD. His

name is read on the list of predecessors During

Sikandar Lodi's (1498 - 1517 A.D.) period his

(Ramananda's) disciple had a religious dispute with

Sheik Taki who was a religious teacher and advisor of

Sikandar Lodi. So Ramananda's date can be fixed as

late as 15th century.

 

Philosophy : Both body and soul are important. The

soul does not belong to any particular community or

religion. Good conduct is a must. Jiva is under

bondage and one has to strive for liberation. Worship

of the Lord, aceptance of caranamrta and prasadams and

keeping constant company with a Vaisnava are essential

components of the Ramananda order. Keeping fast on

Ekadasi day is a must and pilgrimage to the holy

places sacred to Vaishnavas is recommended. Leading a

simple life brings bright future.

 

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