Acharya vaibhvam.... - 10 - Ramanuja introduces the Srivaishnavam concepts so beautifully before he starts off his commentary on GitA

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

Ramanuja starts his commentary paying his respects to

the great Sri vaishnava saint Sri Yamunacharya [sri

Alavandhar]. I bow the to the great Yamunacharya. All

my sins have been destroyed by meditating on his lotus

feet. I have become spiritually alive only because of

him [i.e. only after studying his great sacred works].

 

 

Then Ramanuja proceeds to praise Lord Sriman Narayana

and mentions His qualities with great joy; Lord Sriya:

Pathi Sriman Narayanan is a vast ocean of countless

kalyANa guNAs [most auspicious attributes /qualities].

He is opposed to all evil and defects. He is infinite

an is of the nature of knowledge and Bliss. He, the

Bhagawaan has six major opulent qualities, namely..

jnAna, bhala, aishwarya, veerya, shakthi, thEjas.

[Knolwedge, Strength, Lordship, Valour, Power and

Glory.]

 

Knowledge means directly perceiving all things at all

times;

Strength means giving support to all things at all

times;

Lordship consists of ruling over all things at all

times;

Valour is unbounded and infinite energy at all times;

Power is the capacity to do all things which are

impossible for others to do

Glory means not requiring any assistance from anyone

or anything else for doing any object whatsoever.

 

Hid divine form is simply briiliant, majestic,

graceful, fragrant, tender, beautiful and always

youthful.

 

He is always adorned with a number of divine

ornaments, which are wonderful, eternal and pure. He

possesses countless divine weapons, which are of

terrible strongest powers, eternal and also auspicious

like Snakha, Chakra, GadhA, Saarngha etc.. He is the

beloved consort of Goddess Mahalakshmi,w ho is equal

to Him in all aspects, in auspicious qualities,

sovereignty, grace and glories.

 

He is constantly praised by Nithyasuris like Anantha,

Garuda, Vishvaksena et al and also by the Jeevathmas

who have attained moksha [Paramapadham]. Their nature,

existence, and activity depend completely on the

Lord’s will and pleasure. Their sole happiness lies in

serving the divine couple.

 

The abode of the Lord is the Supreme Blisful place

called Srivaikunta or Paramapadha. Here the Lord is

enjoyed and served by the Nithyasuris and muktha

jeevathmas [those who have attained moksha – liberated

jeevathmas] fully and for all times to come and under

all circumstances. The Paramapdham or Srivaikunta

abounds in innumerable objects of enjoyments and is

full of infinite wonder. It is of infinite glory,

eternal and fully faultless.

 

The Lord, out of sport, creates, sustains, and

sissolves the whole world. This world is filled with

an infinite number of objects of enjoyment [achith]

and the Jeevathmas who enjoy them [chith]. Sriman

Narayanan is the Supreme Brahman [Para Brahman] and is

the Highest One [PurushOtthaman].

 

Sriman Narayanan has created the entire Universe,

beginning with Chathur mukha Brahma and including

immovable objects like trees and grass. He is the vast

ocean of boundless mercy, affection and generosity

towards the jeevathmas. He took several avathars

without giving up His own essential Nature, to make it

possible for the human beings to worship Him. He

bestows upon them fruits like wealth, enjoyments or

moksha according to their wish individually.

 

He came down as Krishna and made Himself visible to

all people. Although this avathra was on the pretext

of removing the burden of the earth, this was really

for the purpose of His becoming the object of worship

and enjoyment and surrender even to unworthy people

like us.

 

He did many divine leelas [acts or deeds] which

captivated the minds of all like killing the several

asuras [demons] sent by Kamsa and finally Kamsa

himself. He freely gave to the world the nectar of His

beautiful form, and words full of love and compassion.

He made Akrurar, Malakara [garland maker], and many

others divine.

 

He spoke Gita under the pretext of encouraging Arjuna

to fight. Eh taught the way of realizing Him through

devotion and love [bhakti yoga]. This bhakti yoga

which is developed from jnAna yoga and karma yoga is

the means for attaining salvation or moksha. The above

is free translation based on Ramanuja’s introduction

to his Gita commentary. [from the wonderful book on

Bhagavad Gita – Introduction written by Oppiliappan

Koil Sri U Ve VN Gopaladesikan Swami].

 

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE Guru paramparAm

Regards

namo narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

 

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