Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: Dear Sri Parthasarathy, I(hope others too) am fortunate to have your posts atleast once in awhile. Now I'm getting into our sampradAyam and I'm a beginner. I am trying to understand the two differing views on "concept of Sri" that persist in the two different schools namely Tennkalai and Vadakalai. My post may be slightly lengthier! Pardon for all my ignorances in this post. Sri Ramanuja mentions in all his genuine(vedantic)works about Sri in the dedicatory verse itself and does not mention elsewhere(I listened to Sri U.Ve Srirangam Narasimhachar's upanyAsam). For example "Srinivasa" in SribhASyam; "Sriyah kanta" in vEdAntadIpa;"Srimat" in vEdAntasAra. Again in GItabhASya,he mentions Sri in the beginning itself. Only in vEdArthasamgraha,there are more references from sruti and smrti but again they are brief. Since Sri Ramanuja does not explain this brief description of Sri,interpretation becomes difficult. On the contrary,we find first a separate prayer to Sri and second to NArAyaNA in the beginning of SaraNAgati gaDyam. There is no description of Sri in SriRanga gaDyam and we find a brief description of Sri in the VaikuNTa gaDyam. VK school considers Sri to be infinite like the Lord whereas the TK school considers Sri as the first among the finite spirits. Please correct me if I'm wrong in my usage of words and also the information. Questions: 1.Does EmperumAnAr mention anywhere in his works "the distinct function" of goddess Sri as puruSakAra? 2.Which statements of Ramanuja clearly express that "Sri" is puruSakAra? 3.Why didn't EmperumAnAr offer separate prayer to Sri in his vEdAntic works? Is there any reason for it? What do our AchAryAs say about it? 4.Does EmperumAnAr closely follow the thoughts/ideas of yAmunAchAryA in all his major works? How does yAmunAchAryA handle the "concept of Sri" in his Stotra Ratna and CatusslOki? PS:I have the gItAbhASya of Ramanuja by van buitenan. In that the author mentions that Ramanuja owes everything to yAmunAchAryA and Ramanuja uses yAmunA's own words whenever the occasion arises. 5. What is the role of Sri and ViSNu in Pancharatra Agamas? Is it in this you find temple worship being mentioned? How does Ramanuja refute Sankara's interpretation of Tantric view(soundaryalahari is a hymn where Sankara says that without Sakti,Siva wouldn't be able to move anything. Am I right)? 6. Is it true that Ramnauja's immediate successors (KUrathAzhvAn,ParAsara bhattar,Tirukurihai PirAn PiLLAn)gave more emphasis on Sri(and other divine consorts bhUmi,nILA)as "puruSakAra" than Ramanuja himself? 7. If EmperumAnAr had very clearly stated in his works that Sri is puruSakAra(also on nirhEtuka krpa),there wouldn't have been any kalai disputes. Was Swami Desikan of the same view as TennAchAryAs regarding the concept of Sri? Who was the main person in VK school to have a differing view regarding the "nature of Sri". 8. Did EmperumAnAr want his immediate successors(who were in close association with him in thought)to stress that "Sri is puruSakAra" rather than he himself doing it just as he wanted Tirukuruhai PirAn PiLLAn to write a detailed commentary on Tiruvoimozhi instead of he himself writing the commentary. I request all to forgive my ignorance in asking too many questions. Since I don't have any pUrvAchAryAs works(i'll be getting soon),I want to know how the two interpretation started. AzhwAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam nappinnai
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