Iraamaanusa nooRRanthAthi- 21st verse- Ramanuja's reverence torwards Yaamunaachaarya

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SrI:

SrImathE Ramanujaya namah:

 

Dearest all,

 

In this verse, Amudhanaar enjoys Ramanuajcharya’s

devotion to the grandson of Sriman Nathamuni, namely

Yamunacharyar also called as Alavandhaar. Ramanuja

held on to the lotus feet of Yamunacharya as the only

refuge.

 

Let us enjoy the 21st verse on EmperumAnAr’s

reverence towards his praacharyan Sri Yamunaachaarya.

 

 

nithiyaip poziyum mukil_enRu neesar_tham

vaachalpaRRith

thuthikaR Rulakil thuvaLkinRi lEn inith thooyn^eRichEr

ethikat kiRaivan yamunaith thuRaivan iNaiyatiyaam

kathipeR Rutaiya iraamaa Nnuchanennaik kaaththananE.

21

 

21. Pristinely pure anushTaanaseelar- (one who

strictly adheres to saashthras and anushtanams), the

Chief of saints of Srivaishnavas is Sri Yamunacharyar-

Sri Alavandhaar. Emperumaanaar- Sri Ramanujacharya,

who is blessed to be Lotus Feet of Yamunacharyar,

saved me. Hence, I shall never ever praise the lowly

human beings who are full of ahamkara, mamakarams (I

and mine), saying " you are like the rainy cloud to

shower us with wealth " , etc...

 

Though he was given half the kingdom, and was

addressed as “Ala vandhaar†[the one who came to

rule me]; having ruled the kingdom and enjoyed royal

life; still he forsake everything and took sanyaasam.

Not just that he was adhering to greatest and

strictest yatheeswarar’s anushtAnam [in spite of the

past riyal comforts]; His jnAna bhakti vairAgyam were

indescribable. Taking refuge of His lotus feet,

EmperumAnAr was devoted to YamunAchArya fully. After

being saved by such greatest Ramanujacharya, would I

ever go and pray to some lowliest soul hereafter? I

never used to that even before. Why at all now? [Even

I do not take sanyaasam, I can still adhere to vaidika

anushtAnam and learn to have sampradaya jnAnam.

Nothing wrong with that. One need not be a sanyaasi]

 

[srI Satakopan Swami adds:] In the Guru Paramparaa

section of his magnum opus, Swami Desikan paid tribute

to Alavandaar, his compositions and his line of

disciples. {Alavandaar had fifteen well known

disciples, who took refuge in him. He also blessed us

with the following illustrious works, which inspired

Swami Desikan: (1) Aagama Praamanyam (2) Purusha

Nirnayam (3-5) Siddhi Tryam containg Atma Siddhi,

Iswara Siddhi and Samvit Siddhi (6) Gitaartha

Sangraham (7) Stotra ratnam and (8) Cathu: Sloki on

Maha Lakshmi to remind us about Her unique role in

Prapatti}.

 

The verse begins with the words: Ennuyir

tantalitthavarai charanam pukki. Here Swami salutes

the line of Acharyas from Ramanuja, Periya Nambi,

Alavandaar, Manakkal Nambi, Uyyakkondar, Nada Muni,

Nammazhwar, Vishwaksenar, Maha Lakshmi and Sriman

Narayanan. He says the Acharyas like Alavandaar

protected him by revealing the knowledge that his

Atmaa was Seshan to the Lord.

 

In another verse in RTS exclusively devoted to

Alavandaar, Swami states that he is the Dasa of

Alavandaar and he will not therefore study any Sastras

that are not true to his teachings.

 

Neelavandhu Inru Vidhi vahayaal Ninaivu Onriya Naam

Meela Vandhu Innum Vinai Udambu Onri Vizhundu

Uzhalaathu

Aala Vandarena Venru Arul Thantu Vilangiya SIr

Aalavandaar adiyom padiyom ini ilvazhakkeh

 

In this long and tortuous Samsara, we have over aeons

wandered and finally due to the grace of the Lord have

attained discriminating knowledge. To avoid rebirth in

this world and attaining another body due to the

Karmas, we have taken refuge in Alavandaar and his

teachings. We will therefore not have lower births and

we have declared our servitude(Dasatvam) to

Alavandaar. He has conquered the opponents with ill

views and has come as it were to protect to us from

the misfortunes associated with the travails of

Samsaara. After thus becoming his Dasas, we will not

engage in the study of fruitless and imperfect [other]

Sastras anymore and be misled

 

EmperumAnAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan