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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00023 Aug 2003

 
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Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:
Srimad Vara Vara munaye nama:

Dear saha bhAgavathAs,
Accept my humble praNAms. I recently got hold of some 
important SV works and I thought I will post it in our Ramanuja 
group. The first work that I would like to post is the "jewel among 
the sthothras" namely "sthOthra rathna" by Sri yAmunAcArya,also known 
as ALavandhAr. This english rendering by an IAS Dr MS Rajajee is 
based on Sri PB aNNangarAcAriAr swami's commentary on the same in 
Telugu. I also have Sri Periya vAccAn piLLai's vyAkhyAnam for this 
published by puthur swami. I humbly request all the bhAgavathAs to 
correct me any time.

INTRODUCTION:

Among the great srI vaiShNava(SV) AcAryAs,Sri yAmunAcArya 
occupies a unique place. He has made substantial contributions to srI 
vishiShTAdvaitha philosophy and established the pre-eminence of 
sriman nArAyaNa through his philosophical works and hymns. Sri 
yAmunA's sthOthra rathna occupies a special place in teh devotional 
literature as it weaves philosphical ideas in poetic language.

The sthOthra rathnaconsisting of 65 slokas/verses conveys 
the essentials/basics of SV philosophy like the relation of the 
individual self to the Supreme and His Consort,the place of the 
triple path of karma,j~nAna,bhakthi and the means for His Divine 
Grace. Above all,it emphaises the supreme significance of prapatti or 
surrender to achieve salvation.

All later AcAryAs emperumAnAr,sri parAshara bhattar and 
so on derived their inspiration from this great and priceless work. 
It is said that the recital of these slokas(especially sloka 11) by 
mahApUrNa always used to cast an irresistible spell on srI rAmAnuja. 
It is this same sloka no. 11 which weaned away rAmAnuja's cousin 
gOvinda(embAr) from shaivism. ALvandhAr,in turn,derived inspiration 
for his work from the divya prabandham and many slokas in samskrt are 
what had been stated in NDP.

srI yAmunA was born in ACE 953 in vIra nArAyaNa puram of 
Tamilnadu(closer to Cuddalore). He was the son of Ishwara muni and 
the grandson of srI ranganAThamuni(popularly known as nAThamuni). 
NAThamuni nad his family were going on a pilgrimage to north. As the 
concepption took place on the banks of the river Yamuna,srI nAThamuni 
named the child yAmunA. Sri Ishwara muni died at an young age. On the 
death of his son,nAThamuni renounced the world nad became a recluse 
and the education of yAmuna was left to bhAShya bhattaraka. srI 
yAmunA was an excellent student and excelled in all branches of 
studies. 

yAmuna's teacher and all the others were under the 
rulership of pANdyan king. The chief preceptor and religious 
disputant in the court was vidyajjanakOlAhala. As his name 
indicated,he threw all the learned people into turmoil and 
mercilessly vanquished them in scholarly debates. yAmunA's teacher 
was one among thhose who had been defeated. He was therefore required 
to pay a tribute to the king and the paNdit. yAmunA's teacher 
couldn't do the payments and so one day the attendants from teh court 
came to forcible collect the dues. The teacher was away and 
yAmunA ,on behalf of the teacher,refused to pay. yAmunA was only 12 
years old that time. When the attendants treatened to attach the 
property,yAmunA raised the issue that he would have to be defeated in 
a debate and he also made it clear that they should fetch a palanquin 
and carry him with due honor,as he was,after all challenging the 
royal preceptor. The king was amused that a twelve year old should 
behave like this but finally agreed. yAmuna was received by the King 
and the queen who had a wager. The queen said that if yAmunA lost the 
debate,she would embrace shaivism and become a slave to the king all 
her life. The king said that if yAmunA won,he would give away portion 
of his kingdom to yAmunA. 

yAmunA easily and convincingly defeated the paNdit. The 
queen welcomed and addressed yAmunA as "emmai ALa vanDhIrO(one who 
came to conquer)". From then onwards yAmunA was also known as 
ALavandhAr. yAmunA engrossed himself in teh administration of his 
kingdom and was enjoying royal splendour. nAThamuni came to know 
about this and he was sad. He wanted his grandson to refrain himself 
from royal pleasures and to take the spiritual path. He entrusted the 
job to his disciple puNdarIkAksha(uyyakkoNdAr)and then breated his 
last. Even uyyakkoNdAr,who was quite old,handed this job over to his 
own disciple srIrAma misra(maNakkAl nambi) and passed away. maNakkAl 
nambi found that the king was always surrounded by the 
courtiers,paNdits and attendants and there was no chance for him to 
meet the king in private. He came up with a plan. He used to send 
green leaves(thUdhuvaLai,a type of spinach),when cooked and 
eaten,makes a person develop sathva habits. Nambi befriended the 
royal cook and told him that whoever takes this spinach will have 
increased longevity supreme intelligence. The cook prepared this dish 
for the King yAmunA and yAmunA also enjoyed this dish. As 
planned,nambi suddenly stopped sending these spinaches to the royal 
court and the cook couldn't get an alternate source. The king wanted 
the supplier to appear in court. maNakkAl nambi,after promising to 
resume the supply,told the king that there was agreat treasure 
bequeathed by latter's ancestors which was available to be taken and 
yAmunA also asked the nambi to take him to the treasure.

Nambi said that the treasure was behind seven gates that 
was guarded by a great snake and if the king desired to secure the 
treasure the king would have to come alone. yAmuna also agreed to it. 
maNakkAl nambi took the king to srIrangam. They went past the seven 
gates and when yAmunA saw the great Lord reclining on AdhisheSha(the 
serpent which was guarding the treasure!)he fell before the Lord and 
became a changed man. He renounced the kingdom and became a saintly 
person. He became yAmunAcArya. Sri yAmunAcArya has written gIthArTha 
samgraha,catusslOki,sidDhi thraya,puruSha nirNaya(which has become 
extinct) and Agama prAmANya.

EmperumAnAr,in his samskrt work(gItha bhAShya) expresses 
his indebtedness and gratitude to this great AcAryA without whose 
grace,Ramanuja would not have been successful in accomplishing his 
tasks. To such a great AcArya,i offer my salutations.

sri yAmunAcAriAr thiruvadigaLE sharaNam
AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam
NC Nappinnai




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