Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: Dear Smt Sumitra, adiyAl feels that you have mixed up the views of the two schools. Vinjamoor Venkatesh's post is very clear from the standpoint of Srirangam AchAryAs/TennAchArya sampradAyam. This is an addition to his reply. Srirangam AchAryAs: Insist that living with the bhAgavatAs is essential for a prapanna. The virtues of bhAgavatAs and the benefits of contact with them are praised in superlatives which rival the value of the vEda sAstrAs in MaNavaLa mAmunigaL's jnAna sAra [JS 40]. According to AchArya Hrdaya, MM says that sAstric karmAs are inferior and might be dropped in favor of archAvatAra. The superiority of prapanna, over the followers of other upAyAs who abstain themselves from prohibited objects,is in abstaining even from "permitted" obejcts[SVB 101]. For a prapanna,cultivation of virtues should be left to the Grace of the Lord,who works through the AchAryA and the contact with the bhAgavatAs to instill in the soul, the knowledge,devotion,aversion to wordly pleasures,non-egoism than trying to cultivate on his own[SVB 177]. It is similar to PiLLAn's milk analogy:"the goodness one cultivates for oneself(self-eefort)is like milk bought from the store but the goodness, the Lord fosters in the soul is natural like mother's milk. KAnchi AchAryAs/vEdAnta Desikan: All the daily(nitya)and occasional(naimmittika)rites enjoined in the sAstrAs according to varNAsrama are obligatory and can not be omitted except in extreme cases without incurring the Lord's anger. On the other hand, temple services(like offering garlands,sweeping,chanting etc)are optional and may be done when time permits to heighten the Lord's pleasure. Swami Desikan makes it clear that the service which the prapanna does, must be within the limits of varNAsrama dharmA[RTS 15]. Scriptural passages which praise sUdrA devotees as brahmins and call brahmin non-devotees as sUdrA are not to be interpreted to mean that "there is no distinction of varNa/jAti among the devotees of the Lord" [RTS 25]. Further he says: It is not proper to interpret the lives of the AzhvArs or incidences in the itihAsa purANas as normative;sAtrA is to be the primary guide to conduct; it is inappropriate to make the deeds of AzhvArs as examples for our performance and even so, if we examine their behavior we find no transgression of the rules of their own jAti[RTS 25]. As far epic and purANic incidences,which apparaently conflict with sAstrA, are concerned, Desikan claims that some people(srirangam AchAryAs) unable to grasp the essential meaning of these various anecdotes have exaggerated the tumultuous sport of the Lord of Lakshmi in the kaliyugA[RTS 29]. NOTE:Desika's position is very clear and directly conflicts with the arguments of AchArya Hrdaya. Rahasya Traya Sara(RTS),Desika's magnum opus, was his last work. [Moderator's note: Even though there were small Abhipraya Bhedam (Differrences of opinion) after/during Swami Pillai LokaCharyan's time esp. With Swami Desikan, there were no two Kalai's etc at that time, There was only one Ramanuja Sampradaya at that time.] WRT Ramanuja doing nitya karmAs:SBh 1.3.39 When a competent and trustworthy person asserts that what was mistaken for silver is merely a sparkling shell,the error of a sUdrA no less than of a brAhmaNA comes to an end;in the same way a sUdrA also will free himself from the great cosmic error as soon as the knowledge of the true nature of things has arisen in his mind through a statement resting on the traditional lore of men knowing the vEdA. Nor must you(all the previous bhASyAs written by different people including Sankara)object to this on the groung that men knowing the vEdA do not instruct sUdrAs and so on,because the text "he (brAhmaNA) is not to teach him(sUdrA) sacred things" forbids them to do so; for men,who have learned- from texts such as "Thou art that (Tat tvam asi-Ch Up)"- that Brahman is their Self,and thus standing on the very top of the vEdA, move no longer in the sphere of those to whom "injunctions and prohibitions" apply,and the prohibition quoted does not therefore touch them. Knowledge of Brahman may thus spring in the mind of sUdrAs and the like,owing to the instruction recieved from one of those men who have passed beyond all prohibition. Ramanuja's explanation(above text)must have been influenced by his own experiences with kAnchipUrNA(Tirukkachi nambi),who was not well versed in vEdAntic studies but had a clear knowledge of the conclusion based on it. Yet Ramanuja did nitya karmAs because his time period was dominated by the brahmin communtity which had an upperhand in most of the socio-religio matters. He must have had the real courage and audacity to introduce revolutionary changes in TirunArAyaNapuram temple. Why did he insist that every srivaiSNava should stay in TiruNArAyaNapuram atleast for some time? Because it's jnAna mandapam/house of knowledge(in the eyes of God,all are equal. How can there be distinctions among His devotees which is above the level of varNAsrama! But in RTS,Desika clearly says there is a distinction between a brahmin and sUdra devotee. RAmAnujA didn't care about caste etc,he was all set for samAsrayaNam under Tirukkachi Nambi. But it's Tirukkachi nambi out of humbleness and egolessness says that the society will not accept and he is not the person to do the same for RAmAnujA. No wonder PiLLai LOkAchAryA claims that a lower birth is superior because it's more conducive to sEshatva and less prone to egoism than a superior birth which is prone to egoism [SVB 208-10,241-2]. A prapanna's stand is similar to this and above the varNAsrama. Even if a prapanna commits sins by not doing nitya karmAs,like Tirumazhisai,he can offer the sins as merits to the Lord. Another angle to look at: Ramanuja did nitya karmAs out of compassion (lOkasangraha)to uplift the disciples and sons etc. Only when the karmAs are done for selfish purposes that it becomes contrary to the soul's true nature of dependence. Whatever it's the acceptance(to do nitya karmAs or not)has to come from Him. The paradox of extremes of the Lord's Supremacy(paratva)on one side and His accessibility(saulabhya)on the other side,is the central feature of Ramanuja's conception of Deity. Both in RAmA and KrSNAvatAra,HE failed miserably to uplift all the jivAtmAs. Did everybody realize RAmA/KrSNA as God? NO. The unpredictability of the autonomous Lord motivates srirangam acharyas to seek a safer means of salvation through the "AchAryA". PiLLai lOkAchAryA says that only when the Lord is chosen as the upAya that the soul alternatively exxperiences fear(from karmA)and non-fear (from Lord's Grace)[SVB 406-7]. MaNavALa mAmunigaL explains that when the unpredictable Lord and Judge of karmA is chosen as the upAya,there is the possibility to think that He may,at any point/time,reject the soul on account of his sins. But AchAryA is all merciful with no autonomous power to punish the soul for his sins and hence salvation through his love is without the fear of karma. It's precisely due to these reasons, "AchArya abhimAnam/bhakti" had such an impact on Ramanuja's disciples that they strongly believed in Ramanuja's power to grant salvation(AchAryA as the "sole" means of salvation) whoever was connected with him and Ramanuja's prapatti to the Lord(SriRanganAthA)extended over even to future generations of srivaiSNvAs. One group, with PeriavAchchAn piLLai of srirangam,[AD 1167-1262]as head, strongly believed in the above while the other group,with NadathUr ammAL of kAnchi[AD 1181-1275]as head,apart from believing in AchArya abhimAnam,stressed the importance of individual efforts/human endeavor in attaining the same(salvation). This rift grew wider and wider and deepened in the writings of PiLLai lOkAchAryA [AD 1205-1311]and Vedanta Desikan[AD 1270-1368]. The two groups had differences of opinion on the issues of human initiative,Divine Grace and also prapatti and finally spilt into two sects. This post should also set up the background for carama slOkam and pardon for such a lengthy mail. AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam En iniya rAmAnujan tiruvadigaLE saraNam nappinnai
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