You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - May 2003

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00021 May 2003

 
May 2003 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


 
Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:



"Idat TAi IrAmAnusan"



Sri Ramanuja is reputed to have authored nine works- Sri Bhashyam, Sri Gita 
Bhashyam, VedArttha Sangraham, Vedanta Deepam, Vedanta Saram, Sharanagati 
Gadyam, Sri Vaikunta Gadyam, Sriranga Gadyam and Nityam. Sri Bhashyam, Vedartha 
Sangraham, Deepam and Saram are aimed at elucidating the purport of the Brahma 
Sutras and select Veda Vedanta passages, and are, as such, polemical works 
aimed at establishment of the VisishtAdvaita Darsanam on a sound pedestal after 
demolishing the faulty structures put up by other schools of philosophy. The 
three Gadyas are outpourings of pure devotion, with none of the intricate 
debate into the nuances of the Shruti characterising the other works. The Gita 
Bhashya is an elaborate but beautiful commentary on the Universal Guidebook, 
the Bhagavat Gita-it is a labour of love for Sri Ramanuja, affording full play 
to his basic nature of innate spirituality and devotion and bringing out the 
true purport of the Lord's dicta. Its elegant style, finely-turned phraseology, 
depth of meaning, majesty of composition and the ever-present thread of 
overwhelming love and devotion-all these make the Gita Bhashya a magnificent 
work. The Nitya Grantham is a manual of worship, setting out the procedure of 
Bhagavat ArAdhanam.



In the works enumerated above, discerning readers would find a surprising 
omission, in an area which the Bhashyakara would have been expected to 
contribute, but has not. 



After his soul left for its divine abode, the great Acharya Sri Alavandar's 
mortal coils were found by his disciples to sport a strange feature-three 
fingers of his palm were bent, as if listing out something. None of the 
disciples, despite their life-long closeness and kainkaryam to the Master, was 
able to divine what exactly the bent fingers signified. However, Sri Ramanuja, 
who had come running to Srirangam from Kancheepuram for the express purpose of 
paying obeisance to Sri Yamuna Muni, instantly recognised that the bent fingers 
of the palm signified three unsatisfied desires in the great Acharya's mind-the 
compilation of commentaries, according to the VisishtAdvaitic tenets, on three 
major areas which were considered to be pramANAs of very high order-the Brahma 
Sutras, the Bhagavat Gita and the Tiruvaimozhi of Sri Nammazhwar. The moment 
Sri Ramanuja took a pledge to fulfil the unfinished agenda of Sri Alavandar, 
the Acharya's fingers unfolded themselves and the palm came to a normal 
position.



Sri Ramanuja partially redeemed his pledge to his paramAchArya by composing 
magnificent Bhashyas on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavat Gita, which, despite 
the passage of almost a thousand years, continue to inspire the learned and 
unlettered alike and lay down the path to liberty and emancipation.



However, he did not accomplish the third item on the agenda, viz., commenting 
on the Tiruvaimozhi. Not only did Emperumanar not compose a commentary on Sri 
Nammazhwar's magnum opus, but he also left no trace of the Divya Prabandas in 
his entire nine works-not a single quote from the Prabandas, not even a 
solitary reference to the vast body of 4000 and odd pasurams. This is really 
surprising, considering that both the Sri Bhashya and the Gita Bhashya would 
have afforded him ample opportunity to buttress his arguments with appropriate 
references from the Tiruvaimozhi and other compositions of Azhwars, or at least 
to quote them in passing. However, Sri Ramanuja did not do this, much to the 
wonderment of everyone. Prima facie, it was as if the Divya Prabandas and the 
Azhwars did not exist for him. This, we know, could not be the position, 
because of the innumerable references in the works of the Bhashyakara's sishyas 
to their Master being well versed in the Aruliccheyal and more, contributing to 
its protection, preservation and propagation.



Paying a tribute to Sri Nammazhwar for having blessed us with the Tiruvaimozhi, 
Sri Bhattar values the contribution of Sri Ramanuja more than that of the 
Azhwar-

"Tamizh maraigaL Ayiramum eendra mudal tAi Satakopan, moimbAl vaLarttha idattAi 
irAmAnusan". Sri Bhattar says that the Azhwar might have done us a great favour 
by composing the Tiruvaimozhi, but it is Sri Ramanuja to whom must go the 
credit for preserving the once-lost Prabandas from extinction. It was 
Emperumanar who made Tiruvaimozhi not merely a book of verses, but a way of 
life. It was he who arrived at and disseminated the true purports of many a 
pasuram, in accordance with the true intent of the author. Just as the role of 
a foster parent is more important in making a man of an abandoned child by 
bestowing him with good education, timely food, protective clothes and 
man-making discipline, Sri Ramanuja's contribution as aforesaid ranks a step 
ahead of Sri Nammazhwar's, avers Sri Bhattar.



In another tanian to the Peria Tirumozhi, Sri Ramanuja is adulated as "Sankai 
kedutthu Anda tavarAsA!", with the inference that it was he who clarified the 
innumerable doubts that arose in the interpretation of Divya Prabandas and laid 
down authoritative and acceptable positions on various concepts enunciated by 
Azhwars.



Sri Tiruvarangattu Amudanar, in his irAmAnusa noottrandAdi, pays eloquent 
tribute to Emperumanar. He individually mentions each Azhwar by name and 
indicates how Sri Ramanuja had boundless devotion to that Azhwar and to his 
outpouring. And the immeasurable love and esteem the Yatiraja had for 
Tiruvaimozhi, his attaching greater importance to it than to his own father, 
mother, worldly possessions and even the Lord Himself, are brought out by the 
following lines-

"uru perum selvamum tandayum tAyum-uyar guruvum

veri taru PoomagaL nAthanum-MAran viLangia seer 

neri tarum sentamizh AraNamE endru in neeNilattOr

aritara nindra-irAmAnusan enakku AramudhE"



Another Acharya declares that the best way to keep the mind steady on the 
uplifting purport of Tiruvaimozhi is to pay obeisance to the holy feet of Sri 
Ramanuja- 

"Eynda perum keerti irAmAnusa muni tan 

VAynda malar pAdam vaNangugindrEn-Aynda perum

SeerAr Satakopan sentamizh Vedam tarikkum

PErAda uLLam pera"



All these and other tributes indicate in no uncertain terms the conclusion of 
post-Ramanuja Acharyas as to the immeasurable contribution of the Yatiraja to 
the cause of the DrAvida VEdam.



How is this possible, especially in view of not a single written word of Sri 
Ramanuja's monumental and copious works containing even an isolated reference 
to the Aruliccheyal?



We must conclude that Sri Ramanuja, for some reason, left it to his illustrious 
disciples to compose worthy commentaries on the Tiruvaimozhi, rather than 
appropriate the honour for himself. There is however no doubt that the works of 
Azhwars and that of Sri Nammazhwar in particular, influenced Emperumanar's 
writings much, be it the Sri Bhashya or the Gita Bhashya or the Gadyas. And 
there is absolutely no question in anyone's mind that the first and foremost 
commentary on the Tiruvaimozhi by the Bhashyakara's principal disciple and 
'GnAna putra" Sri Tirukkurugai Piran Pillan, incorporates the essence of Sri 
Ramanuja's own lectures on the subject, delivered to the kAlakshEpa ghOshti.

Just as Sri Nanjeeyar's onpathinAyirappadi is the sAram of Sri Bhattar's oral 
commentaries, just as the Eedu MuppatthArAyirappadi of Sri Vadakku 
Tiruveedipillai is but a recording of Sri Nampillai's oral instructions on 
Tiruvaimozhi, just as the ShrutaprakAsika is but a written version of the 
lectures delivered by Sri NadAdUr ammAL on Sribhashya, so too the ArAyirappadi 
of Sri Pillan is a faithful rendering in writing of what the Yatiraja conveyed 
during his numerous lectures on the subject, addressed to attentive and 
illustrious disciples. 



The language, narrative style and majesty of expression found in the 
ArAyirappadi commentary of Sri Pillan bear considerable similarity to Sri 
Ramanuja's own, though the latter are in Sanskrit. The same economy with words, 
employment of the mot juste with telling effect, repeated use of key phrases 
etc. are found in the works of the Master and the Disciple, leaving us in no 
doubt as to Sri Ramanuja having inspired the principal commentary on the 
Tiruvaimozhi, though he himself did not put it to paper.



The Tiruvaimozhi commentaries are replete with alternate interpretations for 
various pasurams, advanced by Sri Ramanuja, bearing the sobriquet "EmperumAnAr 
nirvAham". These versions display considerable originality of thought, of 
course within the boundaries of tradition, and provide valuable clues to the 
Azhwar's line of thinking. That Sri Ramanuja was not averse to incurring the 
wrath of his guru by putting forward interpretations differing from the 
accepted ones is learnt from the Acharya's averments being termed "VisvAmitra 
Shrishti" by Sri TirumAlai AndAn, at whose feet Sri Ramanuja learnt the purport 
of Tiruvaimozhi. However, Sri AndAn came around later and fell in line with Sri 
Ramanuja, attesting to the fact that original thinking has always been 
encouraged in our Sampradaya, provided it is reasonable, logical, acceptable 
and within the broad parameters of tradition. 



Another oft-mentioned matter is the Bhashyakara's enchantment with Tiruppavai. 
The Acharya was not merely well versed with this Prabanda and its purport, but 
adopted its teachings as a way of life. This resulted in the fitting sobriquet 
"Tiruppavai Jeeyar". Having commented on the Brahma Sutras and on significant 
passages from the Upanishads, Sri Ramanuja found that all of it was but a 
reiteration of the basic truths embedded in the short but sweet Tiruppavai and 
became so enamoured with the thirty pasurams as to be honoured with the 
aforesaid title. 



The apparent contradiction of Sri Ramanuja not having employed Prabanda vAkyAs 
in his voluminous works is resolved by the following sloka attributed to Sri 
EmbAr. To protect the innumerable Upanishadic texts from misinterpretation, Sri 
Vyasa composed the Brahma Sutras, laying down the true purport of the Shruti. 
Finding this too subjected to arguments and counter arguments by undiscerning 
pseudo-philosophers intent on bending the Shruti to suit their own viewpoints, 
Vyasa Bhagavan took another avatara as Sri Nammazhwar and restated his tenets 
in the form of easily comprehensible pasurams in sweet verses of Tiruvaimozhi, 
incapable of misinterpretation. However, people can always be found to 
misunderstand and misguide, and to save the two earlier works (the Brahma 
Sutras and the Tiruvaimozhi) from such a fate, Sage Vyasa took yet another 
avatara, this time as Sri Ramanuja, to reconcile the two works and restate 
their essential features, by authoring the Sri Bhashya and by inspiring 
commentaries on the Tiruvaimozhi. Here is the beautiful sloka-



"PurA sootrai: VyAsa: Shruti sata shirOrttham grathitavAn

vivavrE tat shrAvyam VakuLataratAm Etya sa puna:

ubhou Etou granthou ghatayitum alam yuktibhi: asou 

puna: jagnyE RAmAvaraja iti sa Brahma mukura:" 



Swami Desikan claims with pride that all his youth was spent enjoying the 
delightful Sreesooktis of the Bhashyakara, and his hair grown grey with 
maturity, both physical and mental, the latter afforded by the constant 
imbibing and propagation of the Yatiraja's majestic works. If we analyse 
Tooppul Pillai's words, it would be evident that the enumeration of Yatiraja's 
works includes the Bhagavat Vishayam as handed down by him to Sri Pillan and 
others-



"Yati pravara bhAratI rasa bharENa neetam vaya:

prapulla phalitam sira:"



The words "rasa bharENa" obviously refer to Sri Ramanuja sreesooktis (albeit 
unstated in writing) concerning Tiruvaimozhi, for what could be more filled 
with "rasa" than the Azhwar's outpourings and Emperumanar's own inimitable 
interpretations of the same? And what better way to spend one's life than to 
keep oneself constantly immersed in the unfathomably deep and majestic works of 
the Master Philosopher and to come up every time with new and more precious 
gems from the DrAvida VEda sAgaram? It was as a result of this beneficial 
obsession with Sri Bhashyakara's works that Swami Desikan was able to come up 
with classical works on Tiruvaimozhi, viz., Nigama ParimaLam, DramidOpanishat 
Saram and the DramidOpanishat TAtparya RatnAvaLi.



Would you not agree with Sri Bhattar now, that the Bhashyakara was indeed the 
"idat tAi", responsible for the Prabanda sisu (child) blossoming into an 
enchanting young woman of impeccable character and conduct, with innumerable 
suitors (commentators) vying with one another for her favours?



Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list