WHO IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL SRI VAISHNAVA? ==============by Sridhar Srinivasan ======Vedics Magazine : Ramanuja Darsanam - Vol 2 Issue 1
======http://www.vedics.net/magazine/index.html
The Sri Vaishnava sampradAyam (way of life), termed as
rAmAnuja
darshanam by the orthodoxy and those in the know, stands apart
from
other Indian philosophical systems in the simplicity of its message,
that
there exists an inalienable connection between all of the sentient and
the
Supreme. Swami Ramanuja, in his most profound and uplifting
composition, SaraNAgati gadyam, lays bare the idea that this
connection
between God and the Sentient is not an ordinary one, since it
encompasses and delineates every important emotional and physical
bond that we all experience, be it that of a parent and a child, a
husband
and a wife, a master and a servant or an owner and the owned. In
fact,
the previous issue of Ramanuja Darshanam dealt at length over the
life
and contributions of Swami piLLai ulagAryan, who gave us the gem of
sAmpradAyic wisdom, nava-vidha-sambandham, an aphoristic
text
expounding on nine types of fundamental relationships shared by
Sriman Narayana and the jIvatma, the sentient.
Given that we are all the children, nay princes, belonging to that
one
supreme God, what more is there to be done? Our poorvAchAryas
answer this compellingly, that we should live as Sri
Vaishnavas,
performing bhagavath and bhAgavatha kainkaryam (service to the
Lord and
His devotees), awaiting the moment when He will liberate us from
the
bondage of samsAra. The next logical question would be, in this day
and age, a time of profligacy and excess, of self-centeredness and
foolish
justification of all the wrongs that we perpetrate as rights, a way of
life
that often scoffs at shAstras and makes compromise the cornerstone
of our
existences, how does one live as a SrI Vaishnava?
Is there a guidebook that would aid us in this purpose?
Fortunately for us, we do not have to look far. We do not need to
look
into complex, theoretical manuals to tell us how to live a life of
simplicity, kindness, honesty and compassionate service to all
beings,
beings seen as our siblings when perceived in the context of that
one
Supreme Parent Sriman-Narayana. Our preceptors
(poorvAchAryas)
thought, spoke and lived in consonance with shAstras and the way
shown by our jagadAchArya (Acharya of the universe) swami
Ramanuja.
A path well lit by the glory of those that knew that practice
before
preaching was the way to show those that needed such
assistance.