Life and Teachings of Sri Ramanujacarya

7/26/2019 Life and Teachings of Sri Ramanujacarya

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OF

RXRX XtdXSKELH'XXaT3L CM2LXKW

BEING

THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS

DELIVEBED ON THE 5TH MAV 1 9 0 8

BY

N. B. SRINIVASAIFNQAR, N. A.,

(3fysore Educatio'nal Service)

Author of the "Aryan Praper-Book" &

Editor >of the "Eithiyanusandanusn" Seriesj,

& c. & c.

on the occasion of the Ce>ebrgtion of the

Twenty-Fifth Anniversary

of

Sri gamanujacharya's Bir thday-Fesfivities

conducted


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LIFE & TEA08INtlS OF"SRI R~MAI|UJACHARYA"BEING

j

A LHCTURH DHLI VHRHD AT B A N G A LO RH '

Under the auspices of the Srinivasa, Mandixam, the

twenty-fifth anniversary in conne&ion with Sxi Ramanuja

,charya's Tirunakshatram was celebrated on Tuesday

evening (5th May x9o8) ia Doddanna's Hall, Bangalore

City. Flags and foliagehad been employed to make the

hall, look specially attractive, but the weather was cloudy,

and threatend heavy xain, and a slight drizzle probably

kept some people away. The Hal l was however ful l ,

being occupied mostly by Vaishnava followers and Stud

' ents. The ch ai r wa s o c cu pied by R a j a m an tr apxavina

Mr. C. Srinivasiengar, an ex-Councillox of the Mysore

State.

, The Chairman introduced Mr. M. B. Sxinivasa Iyen

gar, M.x. ofthe Mysore Hducational Service, who read an

interesting addxess on the life and teachings of Ramanujacharya, and explained sevexal technical points of the

Visishtadvaita faith.

A peculiar feature of the Qecture was that for the

first time in the. Histoxy of Bangaloxe, native ladies

attended a public lecture in Hnglish. The membexs of

the Hindu Qadies ' Association were accommodated in. the xooms to the right of the dais; and on the dais itse'lf

were seen, besides the I,ectuxex and the Chairman,

M essrs. Kumarasami Naik, 4 . K r i s hna Rao, N . S .

Tirumaliengar, C. B. Sheshagiri Rao, N. Venktesiengar,

S. Krishnasami Iyengar, K, Ramasami Iyengar and

., severalOKcers of the Mysore state and non-oKcials.

0

Soon after the Introduction, the Le& irer spoke asF

Ifollows:


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THE INAUGURAL ADI3RKSS.

I.IFE8 TEACHINCS OF "SltHAMANUJACHABVA"

Before commencing my brief address tothis learned

audience, I wish to say a few words regarding the unique

position in which I find myself placed this evening, which

is due entirely to the kindness of Mr. Gopala Charlu, to

whose untiring efForts the $rinivasa-Mandiram and Chari

ties owe their existence and continuance, His kind letter,

sent to me a month ago, requesting me to deliver this In

augural address, took ine entirely by sur.prise; but having

regard to his earnest appeal, I could not say " nay" to

his request, though I knew full well.that more competent

and worthy persons than niyself could have been thought

of and requested to perform this important function,

which I am now ca l le d upo n to do on t h i s a u s p i ci ou s

occasion > aud my acceptance cfsuch a duty has to be

regarded more asa DrvrNg cAr,r, since every one of us,

worldlings, who have the interests of humanity at heart,

has to put his shoulders to the wheel to contribute his quota

of service to the development and evolution of mankind.

g, In these days of general awakening, only orga

nized work, and not individual efforts, will achieve per

m anent or enduring results,These are not the days of indi

vidual greatness such as was achieved, in former days,

by great personages like Buddha, Sankaracharyar, or Jesus,

or Mahomed, orRamanjacharyar,or Madhva Charyar, witha large fol lowing of d i sc ip les. If any measure of

success falls to the lot of any of us, we have only to

take sheltar in these days under the, well-kpown adage


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" Saughe saktih Kalau)Yuge (~ gl~+; ggj' gA) Pozoeris

nested ina >niIEtitucEe (aii organisati'on)'; and a& accordingly.

A word or two, I wish to say, with your kiud

percuission, regarding what potentialities f'or good lie in

Iustitutions like the ' Sriuivasa Mandiram aud Charities,"

under whose auspices this inRuential and remarkable

gathering is, invited'this evening. The sphere of usefulness in which socio-religions Iusti tu ti ous l ike our " M an

diram," or the Branches of the Theosophical Society,

established all over Iudia, may =ngage themselves, is

briefly indicated iu the remarkable speech delivered at

Calcutta by His Fxcellency the Viceroy, I ord Miuto, ou the

occasiou of the Jubilee celebration of the Calcu.tta University. His Pxcellency, while commeuting upon the entire

absence of re]igiotls teaching in our Governmeut Schools

aud Colleges asa defe6t in our pres~nt system of F ducation,

was pleased to remarl'. thus "Before the advent of gles

teru I,earning, secular and religious instru8iou went haud

iu hand. The Teacher was also the Spiritual Guide; aud

wecanuot disguise from ourselves that this sy~tenq, for

which we are answerable, has to a large extent deprived

the studeut of instruEtion in his own faith. It would be use

less uow to speculate as to what proportion of the causes

for anyuntoward results rnay be allotted to this systcm, or

to the want of religions teachers, or to the students them

selves; but I would asl. thelatter to assist, as far as it is in

their power, to ueutralize the evil. They and the Un i

versity authorites can justly look to the Rzr,rorovs zsso

crAnoNs throughout India for assistance," and concluded

his speech iu these memorable words: " Though the

Government of India must, as I have recently said, hold

the balance evenly betweenall religions and se8;s, I caunot

but feel that a System of Hducatiou which aims at the


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,training of youth, with no regard for relsgg'aus drmfhs,

igores the veiy fouuciatious upon which all that is nobleiii a people sliould be built."

Hence it will be seen that th'e~nost press'.rig need

of the hour.is tl ie hiart y co- operation of these.Re ligious

Associations to supplerj.


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klnd .

caste, creed or colour.

(g) His great message of peace aixl goodwill to nlan

(4) His universal love of mankiud, irrespe&ive of

(g) His scientific expositiou of the Vedantic dochine

and plan of salvation in couformity with the tradit ional

teachiugs hauded over fromthe time of sage Bodhayana,

and his successful reeonciliation of apparently con6i&ingVedic texts of equal authority.

(6) Hisspecial reform in the temples on ortl lodox

(p) His unbounded sympathy witl l tlle masses spe

lines.

cially the Pancharuas.(8) His successful attempt atbringing to prominence

the gmovroN


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Very often the so-called "pious frauds~h"ve also to be

therein dete&ed; hence these writings have to be gonet hrough with ex trenie care and with a grea t dea l of un

biassed critical acumen. Beariug the above remarks in

mind, the following works may be consulted with advan

tage, with a view to f ind out the most important i~cidents

in the life of Ramanujacharya.

x. Sri Guru parampari Prabhavam (Glorious I,ives of

the Ancient Acharyas) in Tamil prose, stayed

MANIPRAvALAM. Unfortunately, there are now two ver

sionsoi' this,belonging to the "Tenkalai" and "Vada

kalai" se8;ions of the Srivaishnavas (Southern and Nor

thern se8.ious)2. prapannamritam ttnt rtrt in Sanskrit.

Visistadvaita Catechism (by Pandit Bhashyacharn

of the Theosophical Society, Adyar) in Fnglish.

Palanadai Vilakkan ustsy


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namuoi.

Belur ..

tween 8 and I6 years

q Taking holy orders (his married life being a

> Consecration and restoration of the Temple at

1

I Birth at griperumbudur.. A.D. or A.c. 1017 (Salivahana

sa ka 939) the na1ni ng- cere1nony, he was

styl.d " I,akslunaixa" wl1ich was gradually

changed to I,akshnxagachar and I akshma

z His early educatioi1 under Yadavaprakasa be

3 Pirst entry in to S r i r an garu to see Alavandar(Yamunacharya), age g5..

disappointment), age 3R

5 Conversion of Yagyamurti, an Advaitic Teacher xo86-,

6 King's Persecution of Vaishnavas (KarikalaC11ola, Kulothunga Chola I), age 78

p Plight to Mysore Territory, age g9..

8 Conversion of Bitt ideva, King of the Hoysala

Country (Maisur) into the Vaishnava faith,

and naming him Vaishnuvardhana

Melkote (Tirunarayanapuranx)

xo -Building and consecration of the Temple at

zx Concessions ~manted to the Panchamas during

the period of Car-festivals at Melkote pnd

Belur (Mysore and Hassan Distri8s.) for ser

vices rendered, which are continued.even to

this day . . . . . .. . xxx8

z z The establishment of a Mutt at Melkote, styled

"Yatixaja Mutt," in charge of his trusteddisciples, for the n>anagenxent of Temple

w orship and the propagation of the faith .. xxx 9

..C11'. IO33

p> I04g

pp xo49

'9S

pp xo96

I99

pp I0 98

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..Cir. IIsoI3 Return to Srirangam

I4 His last days at Srirangam; his powerful

organisation for the future work of the

Mission

As regards the date of the birth of Ramanujkchar

ya, there has been no difference of opinion, unlike that

of Sri Sankaracharya, which is wrapped up 111 obscurity

even to this day. This is easily accounted for, since fromthe earliest days ofhis earthly career, Ran1anuja's contem

poraries and admirersbegan to associate the periods of the

incidents of his life xvith specific noble thoughts of some

signiflcance. Hence the traditional date of Salivahana

Saka939 (corresponding to 939+ j8 = xQI7A.D. ) has been

taken advantage ot by his Biographers, and has according

ly been made synonymous with the uoble thought 4ffuan"

fy IX3$

+The system of coITlputatlon by which the consonants of the Hindo

Alph~bet represeut numercal va1ues from one to nine digits is a very old

Aryan method, mainly resorted to by authors and poets, when they mish to

insert in their own works the year of composition of their Own productions.

'ghis system is also seen in Inscriptions, recording grants of land on auspi

cious or holy or special occasions, or in monumeots raised in commemoration

of great deeds> by Sovereigns and other high personages, This computation

is known by the name ot % ~ 6 % % KAT>PAYADI SANKHY


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Dhir Qabdha =Real knowledge attained), as if this year

was particularlydesigned by Providence forthe spread ofR@Ax, KNowMDG@ on earth t li rough Ramanujacharya.

So also is the saka year " xoj9" corresponding to A. D,

I x37 ) designated. as the ~%K: year (Dharmo Nastah =

gaw of the Qord lost to the woxld), when the earthly

careerof Sri Ramanujacharyax closed. Hence these two

important dates became fixed in the ancient chronicles ofthe land,.and could not bechanged.

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8. His works which have attained an immoxtal fame

are mostly philosophical; but the "Gadyatraya" {Thxee

gadyas or Prose-pieces) is a very popular and highly-pathe

tic prose composition especially the Sarana,gati Gadya{on " Renunciation ").

The Philosophical works are

r. The sribhsshys (,flssrsrrr). This is s flowing

and natural Commentary on the Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana. This beautiful work is, in the words of the un

biassed and distinguished German Scholar, Dr. Thibaut

" The oldest Commentary extant next to Sankara.. . . , .

The intrinsic value of the " Sri-Bhashya ", moreover, is a

vexy high one > it strikes one throughout as a solid perform

ance, due to a writex of extensive learning and greatpower of axgumentation, and in its polemic parts, dixected

against the Adwaita School of Thought represented by

Sankara; it not unfrequently desexves to be called -bril

liant even. And, in addition to all this, it shows evident

.traces of being not the mere outcome of Ramanuja's indi

vidual views, but of resting on an old and weiphty tradi-tion. This latter point is cleaxly of the greatest impor

tance."


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2. Vedantasara (Hssence of Vedanta)-summary of Sri

Bhashya.

g. Vedanta Dipa (I,amp of Vedanta)-an Plementary

Treatise on the Vedanta sutras.

4. Vedartha Sangraha(An Flemeutary Hxposition of

the Texts of the Vedas and the Upanishads)

5. Gitabhashya (Commentary on the Bhagavadgita.)His attainments in Tamil I ,iterature were not known

to be very high. Fxcept ing a few special interpretatious

ascribed to his name in the "Bhagavadvishayam" (Com

mentary on the Tiruvoymoli~, and one stray Tamil stanza

amongst the invocatory verses to "Per iya T irumoli " of

T irumangai Alvar, he is not credited wit h any works i nTamil.

The great merit of his works is his noble and success

ful attempt at the reconciliation of the various apparently

contradi8ory Texts of the Vedas and Upanishads, relied

upon by the variousSchools of Thought as of.supreme

importance, and giving each of them equal authority in

their philosophic interpretation. While the Adwaitic as

well as the Dwaitic Theologian finds it necessary, with a

view toniaintain his special do6trine or school or thought,

to treat certain Scr iptu ral Tex (ZglR' Pra.

dhana) importance, and certain others as op sacoNDARvGauna) coNsxriFaaTioN, the Visistadwaitic Teacher

Ramanuja regards no such artificial d istinB ions neces

sary in a Divine Work like the Vedas or Upanishads

(Z~) ; and in terprets each set of them as of equal au

thority and ofnecessary importance, and reconciles both

the interpretations as being in conforinity with the tradi

tional and hoary teach ings of the Ancient Rishis and

Aryan Teachers, for his w ording on thi s po jn t i s


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(g ~ ' Purvachary'a Surakshitam= The in 'terpreta

tion that has been carefully guarded or maintained andhanded down to posterity by Ancient Teachers. ) Thisfits in very well with his doEtrine and teachings, as is

occasionally pointed out by Dr, Thibaut in the course of

his Translations of the Commentaries on the Vedanta

Sutras. (Vide Sacred Books of the East Vols. XXXIV

Introdu8ion; and XXXUIII ).9. The Vis istadwaita School of thought has been a

recognised Vedantic doEtrine held by Aryan Rishis and

Teachers from time immemorial, as is evident from Rama

nuja's reference to a number of Acharyas or preceptors

who maintained this do8rine from Bodhayana downwards, and what Ramanuja did was only to g ive th i s

system of thought an impetus to its spread by his lucid

exposition of its salient points in a popular and easily

understandable way. Its chiefdo8:rines may be briefly

summarised in the following terms:

(r) The Eternal Essence, styled the Parabrahman,

is the One Truth or Veri~y Infinite, Omnipresent, Omni

potent, Omniscient. To this Substance or Reality are

attached, in an inseparable union, the two other verities

Cmg (individ al soul), and AcHn'(Prakri ti) . These three

Verities~co-exist in all conditions either in the %~ Sghul g,or manifested form, or in the


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(a). The I,oxd (Parainatman) is endowed with a11

essential auspicious (rarrt ) a t t r i butes, anIt is free froru

auspicious (pg tq) ones.(3) THE ARCHI'gEQT AND gNGINEER, who wields this

huge and complicated Universe, is a Being, sufFicient unto

Himself, and capable of its Cxeation, Preservation and

Transformation. He is the SzvzoUR of its innates. He is

styled " Narayana."

(4) That the higlsest duty of man as a son of God, is

to feax the gord, the Great Father, and walk rigliteously,

with an unceasing desire to reach tlie highest ytage of

existence, from which there will be no xeversion to the

physical or material planes. This last poiiit establislies

t he grand principle of Vi s is tadvaitic Fa ith, viz. T h eFathexhood of God and the Brotherhood ofrnan.

As this system of Thought recognises "Vishnu" oi

" Narayana " as the Supreme Hssence, this is known as

" Vaishnava Visistadwaitism."

There is another system, known sometimes as the

" Saiva Visistadwaita," promulgated by "Nilakanta Siva

chaxya, a later Theologian than Ramamija, in which the

name of "Siva" is sutstituted in place of Vishnu as the

Supreme Qord, In other respects the treatmeut of the

subject appears to be the same.

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ro. Now, let me briefly recount a few incidents in theQife of Ramanuja within the short space of time available

for us, and see how far we can follow in his footsteps so as

to deserve his discipleship.

zr. Our sage Rainanujacharyar the propounder of

qualified Monism, was born in zozpA,D. nearly nine hundred years ago in Sripexumbudui., xo m.iles from Txivellore.

His father was Kesava Asuri, a respectable Brahman, who


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had performed.several Vagas, aud his mother was known

as Kantimati. His career was full of vicissitudes. In

his time the Vaishnava faith was at a low ebb; and except in certain Vaishnava centres such as Frirangam

a nd Kanchi, i t wa s no t mu c h i n e v i d ence. I t i s

this circumstance probably that gave rise to an er ro

n eous impression, even to t h e T am i l sch o la r o f

h igh attainments I mean Dr . C a l dwe ll, who wro te

that Ramauujacharya propounded a nezo doctrine styled

"Visistadvaita phi losophy '. Monier W i l l i ams, who

had a personal knowledge of India a lso deplore in

his "Indian Wisdom" that he could not come in conta8

with Indian scholars who could well explain to him the

noble tenets of this system of Philosophy. Hven to this

day the tenets of the Visistadvaita School of Thought

are not so well known as the Advaita system of pbilo

sophy. The apathy and indiQerence of such of our

Vaishnavafollowers as would command leisure and conve

nience to enlighten the public, is mainly responsible for

this state of things. What iswantedisanorganised efFortto give publicity to the embedded truths of this system of

philosophy, chie6y written in Tamil not to speak of the

Voluminous writings found in Sanskrit written by the

predecessors aswell as by the successors of Sri Ramanuja.

Those works which are wr it ten in Tami l ar e s t y led

Prabandha- I,iterature," which i.', in the words of the

In this direction, an attempt is being made since r898, llnpcr my cdjtpr.

ship, to publish the " Nityanusadhana series in three Languages Tamj],,

Telogu and Kannada, in separate Parts, for the bene6t of all Sri Vaishnavas

of Southern India and Burmab. The first Six I'arts (Tiruppallandu, Tirup

pqlli Yeluchchi, Tiruppava>, Amalanadip>ran, Kanninun Siruttargbu, anQ

Tirumalaiarenowavailable, either, as one bound volume (linen ), or asseparate Parts. The Anglo-Vernacular editions contiin not pn1y tbe worgfor-vgord meaning hnd paraphr3se for each stanza in each lagguagc, but a)sp

g, bjpgraphy of the author, a Critical review of the work, aod- z 'Prgns]atjpn


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la'te lamented Dewan Bahadur V. K r i shnamacharyar

of Madras "a perfe6t treasure-trove of pious and phi lo

sophic thoughts, aud of household hints on. moral

conduA and purity of li fe." The same learned scholar

adds: ' A'faithful presentation of the conteuts of such

sacred Qiterature iu Hnglish is therefore an effort of no

ordinary interest to all who are concerned. in the difFusion

of such I,iterature all over Upper India as well as i'n

Hurope and America, where the Adwaitic utterances of

Swami Vivekananda are the only thiugs knowu. Our

couutrymeu, in the North admittedly understand little or

nothing of the Visistadvaita philosophy, and the scienti

fic thoughts of South Indian authors (like Ramanuja and

Vedanta Desikar), their logical conception of Religion

and plan of Salvation, aud our youths in the Tanail,

Telugu and Kannada lands know even less than foreign

ers, and therefore need. a stimulus to study the I I 'ymns

and I,yrics in praise of God> and the morality taught by

religious leaders in the Tamil region."

r a. His Personality and examgle:

That he was born a genius, aud a person of extra

ordinary ability, is evident from the fa8; that, before he

was five-and-twenty, he was able to make an impression

upon all with whom he came in conta8, that he was cut

out for a noble mission. Kheu he went from Kanchi,

(Conjeevaram) oue great seat of learuing, to Srirangam,

another great centre of Vaishnavaism, to confer with the

great sage,Yamuuacharya, who was on his death-bed, and

of each stanza in English for the use of alt those gentlemen who are convcr

sent with the latter language; whereas pure Vernacular editors issued scparately, also contain similar facilities as mell as explanatory footnotes in

place of the English Translation for the benefit of all Sri Vaishnavas (ladies

especially), 'who may be ignorant of English.


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whowaited for him sufBciently. long, it was found too

late t fox on the day on which he xeached the northern

banks of the Cauvery overlooking Srirangam, he sawthe rising streams of smoke emanating from the funeral

pyre of the great Teacher with a large concourse of

Vaishnava Hrahmins and others around the spot. This

upset all his plans, and he was greatly disappointed at

this unfortunate crisis. He xe tu rned to K a nehi , and

he repaired to Srirangam under the orders of the Almighty, which he duly ascertained from a consultation

with the intimate devotees of God, (for in those golden

days the temple servants were holy men of devotion and

piety, bent upon contemplation and spiritual advance

ment t and they did not resort to such holy places merely

for the sake of paltry lucre, as is the case in the presentdegenerate days).

To give you only one instance of his universal

Q ove for mankind, the st or y of h i s i n i t i a t io n i n t o t h e

import of the sacred eight-syllabled Mantram called the

" Astaksha~a " by one ofhis teachers may be mentioned:

Sanskrit name.

r. Srisaila Purna ... Tirumali Nambi

His 6ve Teachers were:

Tamil aame. Remarks.

I nit iator into t h e esoteric

Mysteries of the Ramayana,.

a. Maha, Purna ... Periya Nambi ... Pirst Teacher and Guide.

3, Qosthi Purna ... Tirukkottiyur Nambi ... 1nitiator into the eight, sy]la

bled Holy Mantra styled Astakshara,

g. Kanchi Purna ... Yirukkatchi Nambi . . . H i s Teacherand Friend.

... Tirumalaiyandan . . . I n i t i >t or in to th e My ste~ies

of Tiruvoymoli (Prabandha Literature).

He went to Tirukkottiyur (neax Pudukota ) fromSrirangam not less than eighteen times to receive the due

initiation into the Mysteries of the Holy Mantra; each time

5, Maladhara


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he went there, he got disappointed, for the sage Gosthi

purna would not part with it for any thing in the world.

Under various pretexts he delayed the zmTIATroN, testing

the recipient's patience, forbearance, and temperin many

ways. On all occasions of disapPointment, -Ramanuja

used to blame himse~f and his Karmic bonds; and never

reflected upou the unseemly conduct of his Guru, for

such a procedure would be regarded as blasphemy. At

last, at the intercession of the Almighty Himself, he is

said to have divulged the special import of the xANTRA to

Ramanuja under a special solemn promise of not revealing

it to any body else, under pain of suffering eternal torments

in the Hellish Regions for any undeserved divulgation

of the Mysteries. Only the very next day after this Initiation, he made up his mind to proclaim such aholymantra

to rnankind in general, from the top of a gopuram hard by,

o n the plea that, th ough he may b e c om e g u i l t y o f a

serious sin by such a revelation he was sure of securing

salvation for a number of deserving and persistent souls,

and that his personal sacrifice in the interests of humanitywas a worthy act. Such was his love of manlund, irres

pective of caste, creed, or colour. Hence the story that he

encouraged the persecution of jains aud others of differext

persuation should be regarded as a "Myth.' On the

other hand, many joined his fa,ith out of convi8ion. Por

wapt of time now, I cannot dwell upon the other incidentsof his life, which are already briefiy indicated;

Quenced mankind, there will generally be found two

aspects (r) The Intellectua/, which is the most philosophic,

suitable to the highly-cultured development of the edu

cated classes, and (2) The Bnro'r'roNaz,, which strou'glyap'p'eals'to the feelin'gs an'd emotions of the masses. This

la'tter as'pect' i's profiiinently b'rought out in his temple-re

rg. In all popular religions, which have largely in


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form, while in his philosophical writings such as the Com

mentaries on the so-called ~~ Pras t h anatraya (Upa

nishads, Vedanta-sutras, and Gita ), his polemical excellence and superiority of arguinentation are patent even to

the casual reader. ge accordingly revived the ancient

Vaishn"va doctrine, in accordance with the Pancharathra

Agama worship, the popular side of which represents the

Almighty as occupying a Divine seat in Paradise with his

Consort, surrounded by myriads of celestials, as immortalas Himself, who minister to Him in all manner of ways,

and whose sole di>ty consists in chanting halleluiahs in

praise of the Supreme Being, and in the perfect en joy

ment of eternal bliss. This view is in co~formity with

that which has been held by the Veneraole Alvars or

Vaishnava Saints who preceded him, as well as by the

Holy Acharyas who followed him. Th e special be lief

which swayed these inspired Beings in this connection

was that on this mundane universe, the same prototype

of the paraphernalia and glory as characterised the i l l i

mitable and indescribable Celestial Regions which are

no doubt beyond the comprehension of poor worldhngs

like us, of limited, sense is to be seen in a miniature

sca],e, in these holy spots, such as Srirangam and

Tirupati; and in that view the construction of temples

(Vaishnava) has been effected, Similarly the Saiva Temples

of Chidambaram, Madura, have been bu.iltin accordance

grith the Agamas of the Saiva cult. For all along, fronz the

early prehistoric times, two streams ofreligious thought

the Vaishnava and the Saiva, have been flowing parallel

to each other in the Indian soil prior to the advent of

Buddhism, and have swayed their respective votaries who

happened to be powerful sovereigns, and who, as such,commanded much influence; and with the support and

patronage of such potentates, the religious aspect of each


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I7

stream of thought progressed, putting down its brother

stream or streams' for the time being; but the Indiau

Sovereigns, when left to themselves, were more incli~ned to

tolerate the existence, continuance in their. dominions, of

diff'erent systems of religion as suited the tastes and feel

ings their subjects, though they would naturally show,a

slight leaning towards their own faith by special favours or

gr'ants to sich Institutions. But special persecutions, likethe one to wvhich our sage Ramanujacharyar was subject,

was the exception rather than the rule. Toleration in

religion and domestic concernsappears to have been a

well-recognised cardinal Principle. of 'Hindu l i'aith, in

ac'cordance with the celebrated Teaching of I,ord Sri

Krishna in the Celestial Song, Bhagavadgita:ir w~mri~ miw~vm mmnpr, I

gg~~ $PP P',' PK~

ff ~ ~ ~ QTi ~ ' ,

merrmt mr vrAe&~q o

"In whatever manner men worship Me, in the self-samemanner do I accept them; what ever I'

follow, 0 Arjuna, that path leads t.hem to Me in every

AVhosoever wishes to worship, with entire devotion,

whatsoever Form t'of God ), in that Form of God I render

his devotion steady."

It is this sprR>T, it will be seen, that pervades the

mind of the Indian community, and it is this sprzry of

tiou and Universality of Faith that accounts for the exjs

tence of so many varieties, or shades of belief, in Religion,

or in different systems of Thought.

z5. Phe i'deal ogu Vaishgava. - The ideal to which a

paishnava follower of Ramanuja is expected to reach is

,righteous path) men

way,

i

C


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beautifully jl]ustrated iu the sacred writings. Ouce jt

happened that a Vaislinava devotee wished to know howhe shouid conduct hjmself, and he approached his revered

teacher for insiructiou in the uiatter. He referred him

to gajut Anandalwar of Tirupati Hill for advice, to whjch

he proceeded. This model teacher thereupon desj@d him

to stav with hjm for sonsetime. One day while meals were

to bejng served after worship to all, he was asked to takehjs place in a corner at a spot far below his rauk to which

he would be entitled by virtue of his learniug and social

status; but he uever 'gotoffeuded at the arrangement;

and he immediately sat at the place allotted to him. The

aext occasion he was pojuted out a seat in the front ranks

of Vaishnavas at the tjuse of serving meals. He was in

no way elated wjth joy at this procedure. Fveryday he

use to bathe, and have his clothes well cleaned, aud. kept

neat and white; and in his conduct he was exemplary,

being the same in thought, word, and deed . A f t e r

noticing his behaviour.for soinetjme, the teacher at

Tirupati exclajmed iu terse Tasnil thus " Kokkuppol iruk

kam; Koljpol irukkam, uppuppc)1 irukkam, ummaippol

jrukkam"= >~a~@~Q~~P


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approach this ideal. It is clear from the given illustra

tion that a genuiue Vaishnava should be a living exainple

for purity of conduct, and should be a mirror of greatness,nobilily of character, like a swan. Tlse cogxparison of p,

rowr, in relation to his daily life is in tended to il lustrate

his attitude towards the Shastras and standard works of

authority amids. the vast store of religious Literature.

He is expected to use his best discrimination to select

the essentials from the non-essentials like the p(%rrwhich

i s wont to take out .the sUssTANcg froin amids t a heap

of RUasrsH. The illustration that he should act the part

of 'salt' in his dealings with the world, indicates his

genuiueness of character in relation to the external v orld,

as well as to the internal, with a view to show that what

was aimed at as the ideal was No rMAGrNARv aFrNG, but

that living exap zples could be had in those days. The

teacher points out to him that the person addressed was

himself one of such examples, though rare to 6nd.

Any how, with such noble exampl~s before us for our

guidance, we should-not despai~. This b~ing a period

of transition, we have occasions ta notice many an

instance of deviatious from the righteous course, many a

courseof conduct undeserving of the former social dignity

and status of the delinquents.

z6. The need of the hour.

As a measure of practical reform along the line of

least resistance, I would strongly advocate the entire union

of the two important sections of Sri Vaishnava Brahmins

which is partially carried out, and would earnestly appeal

to them to sink their minor di8'erences, and really follow

the footsteps of Ramanujacharya, and approach theideal already referred to. To the thoughtfu l and un

biassed Vaishnava follower of Saint Rau>anuja,


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would appeal for hi s considerat ion, and ask h ii n t o

ponder over these so-called diBerences. In his learned

Introduction tothe Mysore Census Report of i89r, Mr.

V. N. Narasimhaiengar incidentally refers to these eigh

differences between the Vadakalai and Tenkaiai

section of Sri Vaishnavas. They are mostly philosophi

cal, aud two or three of theiu appear to be very puer ile,

aud based upon mere sentinientP With a spirit.of broad

iniisded and sympathetic toleration with which our edu

cated classes ought to be credited, (else our boasted educa

tiou on we>teru lines is not worth much), we should not

d espaii of effecting a compromise, and work as a u n i t ed

band in comnson brotherhood as Ramanuja' s true

followers, who are expected to be alike in word, thought,a>id deed LIKF. cOMMON SALT. To carry out thi s desi rable

refolll), let Aryau Lodges be cstablished in diffexent cen

tres with the main object of effecting this compromise, so

that all Ramanuja's followers may stand upon a common

p]atform, and work out our salvation. To these institu

tions, Hostel arrangeu>ents can be attached, where therising generation of Vaishnava students may. be taken

care of with regard to their spiritual advancement,

The differences referred to are:

(r) Whether Laxmi, the consort of Vishnu, is,

oumipresent and coilliu>itable with Vishnu,

(2) Whether Laksmi is only the mediatriz m' the co

bestower of "Moksham" or final beatitude,

(3) Whether there is any graduated Moksham attain

able by the good and blessed according to their res

pective multifarious merits.

These d'g erences are nokd be&mfor easy reference.


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C8iLSC;"

Creator.

-(4) %hether.pRApATTr, or unconditional snrrender of

the soul to God,.should be perforu>ed once for all.(g) Whether it(Prapatti) is oyeii to all, or is pres

cribed ouly for tliose, specially prepar'ed and apprentieed.

(6) Khet1>er tlie 'iiidivisibly atoinic humais. soil is

~ntered into or permj:ated or not by the '0 ' in ii ipresent

(y) Whether God's mercy is exerted with or without

(8) Whether the same (Diviue meicy) n>ea'ns the over

lookiii~' (6oshadaisan'an:), or the eiijo~'inent (dosha-bhogy

atvam) of the soul's delipqueucies.

(9) Whether works (karma) a>id knowledge (gs>ana)are ii> themselves Salvatiou-giving, or only lead .to faith

(Bhakti), by which' fiual eu>ancipation is attained.

(ro) Whether the good of other (uuregeuerate) castes

should be toleratc:d according to thei r graduated social

statuses, or should be venerated withont reference to caste

inequalities.

(rr) Whether Karu ia (works, ritual) or shouid i iot

be bodily aud wholly abandoned by those wlso have

adopted Prajatt.

Besides these, there are minor dif terences regarding

(r) Perfornsance of "Sraddha" on "Hkadas i" day, orthe next day (s) The bell should be rung with the left

hand, or. it shonld be done away with, during worship,

(g) whether Hastodakam (purifying the hand with water

a fully conscious of >ny

l


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iuhbility to do justice to the great "Hero" of to =day's

address..I am glad to find that signs. are not wanting

which indicated that several pative scholars, irnbued with

Western sclsolarshjp and with au eye for histoxical xe

search, will soou cogxe into the Beld to explore the un

known regious of Visistadvaitic school of thought, +ud

give the benefit of thei r researehes to the world;

r8. I am particularly glad to congratulate Mr. Gopalacharlu on the success that has attended his efForts to

open a " I adies" section for the delivery of lectures in

Kanarese, in connection with the Srinivasa Maiidixang

Library; aiid iuay there be >uany inore occasions of srich

gatherings, as years roll on, in coumlemoration of Hirth

day festivities, aniiiversaries of our noble sage Sri Bhagavan Ramauujacharya is my ferveutpra>er, the prayer of

one of his humble aixd unworthy disciples aud followers.

Priuted at the "Brahmavadiu Press," Madras, E.


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CHAIRMAN'S SPFHCH.

The Chairman then spol'e as follows;

Ladies and gentlemen, In accordance with the time

honoured custom and with the programme before me,-I

rise to say a few words before the close of this evening's

proceedings. But if you expect a speech from me, you

must be prepared for a disappointment. When a few

days ago Mr. A. Gopalacharlu asked me to preside at this

important function, I begged hard to be excused; for I

felt that there was nothing in me adequate to the obliga

tion which the acceptance of this high honour involved.

But he was inexorable. Under no circumstances would

he spare me and take a refusal, I had accordingly to sub '

mit, lest I should. be considered hostile or indifferent to a

movement which had my entire sympathy, and into which

.'8r. Gopalacharlu had thrown himself, heart and soul,

with phenomenal enthusiasm. (Hear, hear,)

It was at first my intention to give you a brief'summary of the address,when my turn caine to speak. I

accordingly took some notes when the address wasin

courseof delivery. But I s oonfound that this was a

hopeless task, and therefore abandoned it. I shall now

content myself with making a few general remarks, as

any attempt to do anything more inight take me beyondmy depth, and make me Aounder,

tion with many-sided activities, not the least important

of which is a Pree Library, which is a storehouseof

useful knowledge, and in connection with which lectures

are occasionally delivered on subjects, chieRy religious.The Anniversary of the propounder of the Visistadwaita

The Srinivasa Mandiram and Charties is an Institu


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24

faith is also being celebrated iu the Mandiram with much

eclad. This is what has hitherto beeu done. But this

yeax thexe is.auew departure, as evidenced by the p'resent

g athering. I congratulate Mr. Gopalacharlu ori h i shappy idea, and on its successful accomplishment. I

also congratulate Mr. M. >. Srinivasa Iyengar on his

masterly handling of the subje6t. For a thorough grasp

of the subject, clear maxshalliug of points, lucidity of

ezposition, and choiceuess of diction, his address leaves

nothing to be desixed. Lastly, I congratulate the audience on the able, interesting and instxuciive address to

which they have had the privilege of listening. (Hear,

hear.)

Mr. Sxinivasa Iyengar has told us who Sri Ramanuja

charya was, aud what he did for us . We have iu the

life, teachiugs and work of" this revered saint a glorious

heritage moral, spiritual, and intellectual 'aheritage, of

which we have every reaso~ to be proud. He was the

chosen iustxument of God, charged wi.h a diviue mission.,

How well he fulfilied that mission has been fullybrought

home to you by Mr. Srinivasa Iyeugar's addxess. He

travelled farand wide, preached indefatigably the gospel

of Visistadwaita faith, propagated, consolidated, re-aKrm

ed and re-established that faith, and. pla.'ced it on a per

mauent stable aud intelligible basis. He was cosmopolitan

iu his views, as evideuced by the fact pxominently mention

ed iu theA.ddress; he opeued the poxtals'of our temples to

all people alike, irrespective of caste or creed. (Hear, hear).In his time there was unity amoug his followexs. Schisms,

however, have siuce arisen for some reasou or other. The

fact uevertheless remains, that uotwithstanding sectarian

difFerences, his followers contiuue to admire, adore, and

venerate and. worship him in every Vaishnava Temple.

Such then was the xemaxkable personage who has formed


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25t ' I

I

the subject of to-night s Address. The life and doings of

a deified Saint like him are well worth our study. But to

be able to appreciate him properly, you must understan'd'

him aright. Such an understa~ding requires e8ort, whichin its turn presupposes " will. " I f t o -n igh t' s A.ddress.has

stimulated such "will," and aroused a spirit of enquiry,

Mr. Srinivasa Iyengar's labours will have been amply

repaid. (Hear, hear.) This inauguration cereniony is, as

I have already said, the first of its kind here; but. with

a sponsor like Mr. Gapalacharlu, I.am sure it will not bkthe last. I wish it continued success and ever-increasing.

usefulness. It only remains for me, before resuming my;

seat, to propose ahearty vote of thanks to our learned

I ecturer, and I have no doubt that this wil l be carr ied

with acclamation. (Continued applause.)Mr. Gopalacharlu then rose, and spoke in a few

felicitous words, expressing his great obligation to the

I ,ecturer> and, in doing so, he obse rved tha t Mr . M. B .

Srinivasaiyengar, had to come all the way from IIassau.

for the occasion. It was a matter of great inconveni

ence for hin" to come; but he knew how great and deser

ving was the cause; and, as such, it was natural that

a ll other considerations did not prevai l on him . M r .

Gopalacharlu also paid a h igh t r i bute to Mr. C. Sr i

nivasaiyengar, retired Councillor oi the Mysore Stqte,

who presided at . th is im po rtant fu nc t i on. F u r t h er > a

happy reference was made to the President of the City

Municipal Council, Bangalore, for the Muuicipal aid

rendered on the occasion. Janopakari Doddannah Chetty

was also thanked for giving the use ofhis Hall for that day..

Thus the Inauguration-day came to a close.


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Coyies can l)e had of (1) Mr. k. Goyalacharlu, Fcunder

and Manager, Srinivasa.Mandiram and Charities,

Bangalore City. (8) The Manager, Granthasala

Buildings, Ramvilasa Street, Mysore City, and (3)

The Manager, Brahmavadin Press, Madras, E.

Life and Teachings of Sri Ramanujacarya

Documents

Transcript of Life and Teachings of Sri Ramanujacarya