Thuppul PiLLai- 16- Ramanuja Darsanam

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SrI:

SrImathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namah:

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |

vedAntAcArya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

 

May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the

lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.

 

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

The principles of the Visishtadvaita philosophy and Srivaishnava religion

are of course as ancient as the Vedas themselves, and have been handed over

by Poorvacharyas, sages and rishis, among others and to name a few..

Badyana, Tanka, Dramida, Kuhadeva, et al. The essential truths of the

darshana are indeed found summed up with sufficient clarity in the

Upanishads, the Gita and the BrammasUthras. These great sources of knowledge

(the trio- called prasthAna thrayam) form the text as it were on which all

the systems of philosophy namely Advaita, VisishtAdvaita and Dvaita were

established- and have been interpreted differently by Sankara, Sri Ramanuja

and Madhva.

 

Sri Sankara’s service consisted mainly in putting an end to atheism and

re-establishing the authority of Vedas and restoring them to their pristine

supremacy [though mentioned that few vedic truths were to be ignored when

violating with the other sruthi statements]. His doctrine was from a purely

idealistic point of view. He attracted many adherents to his doctrine, but

the VisishtAdvaitic school held aloof, finding his theories inconsistent and

irreconcilable with textual authority. [thanks to effrots of our acharyas]

 

Sri Nathamuni who has been rightly described as “the founder of ubhaya

vedantha school and the first acharya (after NammAzhwAr] of Srivaishnavam

and after hims came his grandson Sri YamunAchArya or Alavandhar who kept the

light of our darsana glowing and growing from strength to strength, in the

example of their own lives and by their works. But it was reserved to

Bhagavadh Ramanuja the greatest thinker, to systematize the philosophy,

faithfully interpreting the ancient knowledge according to the letter and

spirit of the test, in the light of revelation and experience tested by

stern logic as well. It would be out of place to enter into the details of

his system now. He refused to to the view that Upanishads spoke in

two voices, of two levels of cognition, two brahmans and of two different

sruthis- negating each other.

 

Sri Ramanuja’s long life was a life of strenuous endeavour dedicated to the

exposition and elaboration of the VisishtAdvaita philosophy. His Vedaarttha

sangraha, Sri Bhashya and Gitabhashya reveal the master mind at work in a

supreme effort to reconcile the seeming differences in the Upanishad

statements and to evolve a coherent, consistent, harmonious system where the

needs of pure metaphysics and the eternal longing of the human soul meet in

happy union- and where the statements of Upanishads do not vilate each other

and co-exist. His penetrative commonsense could not accept an interpretation

which postulates two species of truths, the real and the phenomenal, the

higher and the lower. The Brahman of the Upanishads -the Sat – the one

without a second, is none other than Sri Krishna, Sriman Narayana of Srimad

Bhagawatha and Sri Vasudeva of Pancharathra. He is the All self, the Truth

of Truths, the Creator, the Sustainer and the Master. He is the penetrating

AntarAthmA and the NiyanthA of the entire universe of soul and matter which

stands to Him in the relation of the body to the soul. He is the Home of all

the eternal virtue of which is His Sowseelyam, Sowlabhyam, and Vaathsalyam

are of special interest and value to we- the suffering souls caught up in

the samsaaric affliction. The Jiva stands in the perennial, indissoluble

relationship to the Sesha (Master- the Isawara- the Lord) who is the Sarva

Seshi- the master for everyone (other than Himself).. The eternal Bliss of

moksha is within reach of all, irrespective of sex, colour, creed, class,

caste- because Sriman Narayana- the Only One Primordial Lord- the

SarvasEshi- Sriya:Pathi has infinite mercy and compassion on us, and

prompted by the Purushaakara (recommendation) of His inseparable Divine

Constort Vishnu pathni- Sri Mahalakshmi – and the Dhiva Dampathi is ever

ready to extend their hands to all aspiring souls without distinction, who

endeavour to Them by means of either bhakti yoga (loving, uninterrupted

meditation) or Prapatti (absolute self surrender), properly directed and

duly performed. He – the Lord Sriya: Pathi- is the Praapya and the Praapaka,

the Rakshaka and SiddhOpaaya, the effective means and the ultimate end- all

in one. Moksha or liberation is not a mere arid negation, a sterile

cessation of dhukka of life or the barren release from the bonds of Karma

and miseries of Samsara; but is a POSITIVE, eternal, supreme Bliss of

perpetual loving presence and in the company of mukthas and Nithysasooris.

Such in brief are the lines on which Sri Ramanuja expounded from Sri Natha,

Yamuna muni’s doctrines- which were originally pointed out earlier by Sages,

Rishis and others. Ramanuja thus re established the darsana which is

associated with his illustrious name. He was not of course the founder of a

school of religion or philosophy, but only the synthetic exponent of an

ancient system, the only true system according to him, consistent with the

revealed knowledge of the Upanishads, the mystic experience of AzhwArs and

the requirements of the realistic logistic thoughts. [some of the above

statements are from the article written by Sri KS Krishnaswamy Iyengar, in

1944]

 

How was this Darshana developed and protected by our Swamy – Thuppul

PiLLai.. [wait until tomorrow]

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |

Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

 

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections reside, who is the

teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters

 

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