Acharya vaibhavam - 53- Bhagavad Ramanuja- It is our Acharya Ramanuja who lifted our Lord out of trouble:-)...

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

Let us continue to enjoy the acharya paramparai.

 

LakshmI nAtha samArambhAm nATha yaamuna madhyamaam |

asmadhAcharya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm ||

 

I worship the entire guruparamparaa that starts with

Emperumaan, Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan; which has

SrI NAthamuni (in between) upto my AchArya (Sri

Ramanuja).

 

The nine divine works of SrI Ramanujacharya are:

 

1. Vedartha Sangraham - Essence of Vedantha and

Upanishads…

2. SrI Bhaashyam – an elaborate wonderful commentary

on Veda Vyasa’s Brahma Sutras

3. Vedantha Deepam – also a short commentary on Brahma

Sutra [kind of condensed one]

4. Vedantha Saaram – More condensed commentary on

Brahma Sutra.

5. SrI GItA Bhaashyam – A detailed commentary on Sri

Bhagavad GitA.

6. Gadya thrayam [three Gadyas –namely - SrI

Saranagati Gadhyam – prose form while performing

surrender to Sriman Narayanan for nithya kaimkaryam at

Srivaikuntam [mOksham]

7. SrI Ranga Gadhyan – prose form on the wonderful

divine mercy of Lord Sri Ranganathan

8. SrI Vaikunta Gadhyam – prose form- a picturesque

marvelous description and reaching of Srivaikuntam and

narrayion about Paramapadham

9. Nithya Grantham - Daily rituals and practices

prescribed for Srivaishnavites.. nithya naimitthika

karma anushtAna grantham..

 

Our sampradayam which is paramavaidika one, whose

philosophy and practice are clearly established in

these nine wonderful divine works that are none other

than propounding of Veda, Vedantha, Upanishad,

Brahmasuthras, GitA and Azhwar’s works.

 

I would like to refer to the 38th slOka of Sri

YathirAja Sapthathi wherein Swami Desikan says:

 

kapardi mata kardamam kapila kalpanaa vaaguraam.

duratyayamateetya tad druhiNa tantra yantrOdaram |

kudrShti kuhanaa mukhe nipathathah parabrahmanah.

karagraha vichakshaNO jayati laksmaN(S)yam muni: ||

 

Victory to Ramanuja- who saved the Para Brahman by

giving a hand lift from being caught in the slough of

Saiva religion, without getting hooked, also from the

net of pure dreamy imagination that the Saankhyaas had

cast, avoiding also the entanglement in the

contrivance laid by the scheming Chaarvaaka and

finally when Brahman was almost about to fall into the

trap-mouth of Advaitins, the deceitful misguides

 

Elaboration: (as heard from the lovely sweet

upanyaasaam from Srimad Pundareekapuram Andavan Swami

on Yathiraja Sapthathi):

 

The Lord (Brahmam) had started to check to see for the

most accurate religion of philosophy and commenced His

journey. On the way, He saw lots of muddy waters (i.e.

Saivism sect, with various " odd " formalities and

worships) and sensed danger of getting trapped. He

avoided by going away from the track; but still, He

was pulled by the current of the muddy waters (sERu)

and He somehow managed to hold on to a nearby stick,

saving Himself.

 

The Lord further proceeded and was caught in the deep,

dense bushes with no trace of way anywhere

(Saankhyaas); He managed to get out of it somehow

(getting lost here and there). He could escape

similarly from the clasps of Chaarvaakam too!

 

Then, when He further proceeded, He saw an excellent

philosophy that follows Vedas! Brahmam was quite

excited! YES! There's at least one religion that

refers and interprets Vedas! It shall be the right

one! Let me get in!

 

Alas! He fell down into the deep well with absolutely

now water inside, full of bushes and thorns inside the

well. The well was not at all visible from outside.

There was huge covering of the well with leaves and

flowers (Vedic statements and their (mis)

interpretations). Brahmam was hooked like anyone else

thinking that it is following Vedas! And He is deep

down! No way to escape!

 

Brahmam has now realized that at least other religions

do not refer at all to Vedas and thus He could sense

the danger. Here he has been completely swept by the

outside sugar-coated logic covered by (wrong)

arguments /logic.

 

Sri Ramanuja heard the Brahmam's lament and moans. He

sensed something wrong. He spotted the danger. He saw

the covers and traps, and also comprehended what could

have taken place! He could understand that even

Brahmam was trapped by the misinterpretations of

advaitam.

 

AchAryA, holding strongly and using his

interpretations to Vedas, (with no ambiguities/

contradictions, in full accordance with BhOdhAyana's

commentary for Brahma soothram,) as a support for

himself, removed all the covers and bushes that hide

the well, saw clearly the pitfalls- lent a hand to

Brahmam and lifted Him out of danger. (Here, it should

be noted that the one who lifts the other from the

deep well, shall be strong enough and even stronger

than the one who is in danger. He should know of his

capacity that he will be able to get the other One out

of danger without himself falling into the well!

 

OUR SRI RAMANUJACHARYA, thus has emerged victorious

and is stronger! Powerful! He lifted the Brahmam out

of danger! So great are His Sri sookthis! (which

AchAryA used as his support for himself)

(True! The Lord was claimed to be having no form, no

guNam, no body; the world is false, the jIvan is false

were all the statements as per advaitham, referring a

portion of Vedic statements ignoring other Vedic

statements completely, and understanding wrongly! It

was Sri Ramanuja's VisishtAdvaitha siddhaantham, that

gave the true picture of what is Truth of the Lord!

Without ignoring any statement, without contradicting

any statement, encompassing all Vedic truths, AchArya

saarva bhoumar established the Brahman and His KalyANA

guNAs, His SarIram (i.e. the jIvan and Prakriti)).

Thus, he established Brahman's identity and saved His

existence even!

 

[extract from Sri CG Balaji's translation]:Thus Sri

bhashyakara had rushed to the spot having heard the

loud wails of Parabrahman. He climbed down carefully

and with one hand holding on to the supporting stones

of the well, denoting the Vedas, he pulled the

drowning Parabrahman out of the well by holding on to

both of its hands in a tight grasp. Those who are

inept, when trying to save others from drowning would

inadvertently drown themselves too. But, Udayavar is

highly adept. He saved himself and thus Parabrahman

too.

 

Ramanuja, with plentiful authorities from the Vedas,

refuted Mayavada or Advaitha and established the

supremacy of Parabrahman. He ascertained the

authenticity of the two vibhutis, the sentient and the

non-sentient orders. He established and celebrated

with clarity that Brahman is not attribute less but

qualified by infinite auspicious attributes.

Accompanied by a delightful percussion, he vouched

with authority that the philosophy propounded by the

Vedas is not Advaitham (monism) but vishishtadvaitham

(oneness of the qualified). Swamy Deshika eulogises

and celebrates the glories of this great an acharya,

Sri Bhagavad Ramanuja.

 

EmperumAnAr ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

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