A Dialog on Hinduism - Chapter 2 - Post
From the Bhakti List Archives
• April 26, 1996
Post 3 of 14
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Chapter 2 of 13 of "A Dialogue on Hinduism,"
By Sri. V.N. GOPALA DESIKAN,
Published by Sri Visishtadvaita Research Centre, C/O Sri
Ahobila Mutt, 66, Dr. Rangachari Road, Madras 600 018, 1990
If you find this series informative please make a donation
of $25 to Sri Ahobila Mutt. These donations are fully
deductible for the US income tax purpose. Please make
your check out to Sri Ahobila Mutt and send mail it to Sri
Ahobila Mutt, C/O Mr. Jagannath Bharadwaj , 5539
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The posts in this series are likely to be long.
Therefore, please print these posts and read them
at your leisure.
-- P. Dileepan
====Start of Chapter 2 of 13 from Sri Gopala Desikan's book=======
Chapter 2
Alwars and Acharyas
Q. What is the importance of Guru or Acharya in our
system of philosophy?
A. To understand the proper meaning of Sastras is
very difficult. We have to properly interpret some
of the texts, which seem to be conflicting with
each other. There are also inner meanings and
secret meanings of the various mantras and slokas.
So, all these things can be properly understood,
only by learning under a Guru or Acharya. So, the
Acharya is most important, for properly
understanding our religion and philosophy.
Q. Before starting on the principles of our Vaishnava
system, please tell me about our Gurus and their
order (Guru parampara). Who is our first Guru?
A. Lord Narayana is our first Guru. He taught Vedas
to Brahma and Brahma in turn taught the Vedas to
others. Hence at the head of our line of Gurus is
Lord Narayana.
Q. Who comes next?
A. Next in the line of Gurus is naturally our Goddess
Mahalakshmi and then comes Vishvaksena or
Senai Mudaliar. (This is a term of respect,
traditionally used for denoting Vishvaksena and
not to be confused with the word, as used at
present). He is the controller of Vaikunta or
Paramapada.
Vishvaksena taught Nammalwar or Satakopa the
philosophy of our system.
Q. Who comes next after Vishvaksena?
A. Nammalwar or Satakopa comes next.
At this stage, can you briefly tell me about the
Alwars, since you are now mentioning
Nammalwar?
A. There are ten Alwars. Some people include Andal
and Madhurakavi and say there are twelve Alwars.
Q. Why were they called Alwars?
A. 'Alwar' in Tamil means one who is immersed.
Since these saints were always immersed in the
Lord and His qualities, they were called Alwars.
Q. When were they in this world? What was their
period?
A. We say that they were in this world before and near
the beginning of Kaliyuga. That is more than 5,000
years ago. The modern research scholars say that the
Alwars were between the sixth and ninth century
A.D.
Q. Can you briefly tell me about the Alwars?
A. The first three Alwars are called Poigai Alwar,
Bhutattalwar and Peyalwar. All the three together
are called the first alwars, because these three were
the first in the line of Alwars and they lived during
the same period.
Poigai Alwar was born in the month of Aippasi in
the Star Sravanam. Bhutattalwar was born in the
month of Aippasi in the Star Avittam and the
Peyalwar in the same month, in the Star Sathaya on
three successive days!
Q. Where were they born?
A. Poigai Alwar was born at Kanchipuram. Tradition
has it that he was born in a tank and hence is called
Poigai Alwar. (Poigai = Tank).
Bhutattalwar was born in Mahabalipuram and
Peyalwar in Mylapore, Madras.
I am not going into the life histories of the Alwars
because that will form a separate book. I will only
deal with their places of birth and the month and
star under which they were born.
Q. Who came next?
A. The next Alwar was Tirumazhisai Alwar. He was
born in Tirumazhisai near Madras, in the month of
Thai in the star Makha.
Then came Nammalwar or Satakopa. He was born
at Alwartirunagari in the month of Vaikasi and star
Visakha. Nammalwar is considered the chief of
the Alwars. He expounded the system of
Visishtadvaita philosophy in clear terms in his
works. Hence he is given the greatest importance
among all the Alwars.
Madhurakavi, was his disciple. Madhurakavi was
born in Thirukkolur in the month of Chittirai, star
Chitra also.
Next came Kulasekhara Alwar. He was born in the
month of Masi and star Punarvasu His birth place
is Vanjikkalam. It is not clearly known as to
where exactly this place is. Some people say that
it is Karur and some others say that it is in Kerala.
Q. Who came next?
A. Next was Perialwar, who was born in Srivilliputtur
in the month of Ani and star Swati. Andal was found
among the Tulasi plants in Srivilliputtur in the month
of Adi in the star Puram and was brought up by
Perialwar.
Q. What about the other Alwars?
A. Thondaradippodi Alwar was born in
Tirumandangudi near Kumbakonam in the month of
Margazhi and the star Kettai. Tiruppanalwar was
born in Woriur, near Tiruchi, in the month of
Karthikai and the star Rohini.
The last among the Alwars was Tirumangai Alwar,
who was born in the month of Karthikai and star
Karthikai, in Kuraiyalur or Tirunagari near Sirkazhi.
Q. Can you indicate briefly the works of the Alwars?
A. Nammalwar was the author of four Prabandhas
which form part of the sacred 4000 verses, called
Divya Prabandha. The Prabandhas of Nammalwar
are:
Tiruvaimozhi
Tiruviruttam
Tiruvasiriam
Peria Tiruvandadi
The four works are equated to the four Vedas.
Tiruvaimozhi, in particular, is called the essence of
the Sama Veda.
Poigai Alwar is the author of Mudal Tiruvandadi.
Bhutattalar of Second Tiruvandadi and the Peyalwar
of Third Tiruvandadi each comprising 100 verses.
Tirumazhisai Alwar authored Tiruchanda Viruttam
and Nanmukhan Tiruvandadi. Madhurakavi
authored Kanninun Siruthambu. Kulasekhara Alwar
authored Perumal Tirumozhi and also Mukunda
Mala in Sanskrit. (His authorship of Mukundamala
is disputed by some people.)
Perialwar authored Perialwar Tirumozhi. Andal
gave to the world Tiruppavai and Nachiar
Tirumozhi. Thondaradippoai Alwar Tirumalai and
Tiruppalli ezhucchi. Tiruppanalwar Amalanadipiran.
The last in the list of Alwars is Tirumangai Alwar
who wrote six Prabandhas and these are equated to
the six angas of the four Vedas of Nammalwar. The
six Prabandhas of Tirumangai Alwar are:
Peria Tirumozhi
Tirukkurunthandakam
Tirunedunthandakam
Tiruvezhukutrirukkai
Siriya Tirumadal
Peria Tirumadal
Q. Who is next in the line of Gurus, after Nammalwar?
A. After Nammalwar comes Nathamuni, who was born
in Kattumannar Koil near Chidambaram, in the
month of Ani and star Anusham.
His disciple was Uyyakkondar who was born in the
month of Chittirai and star Karthikai, in Tiruvellarai.
His disciple was Manakkal Nambi who was born in
the village Manakkal, near Lalgudi in the month of
Masi and star Makham.
The next in the line of Acharyas is the great
Alavandar or Yamunacharya. He was the grandson
of Nathamuni and was the disciple of Manakkal
Nambi. Alavandar was born in the month of Adi and
star Uttaradam, in Kattumannarkoil.
Q. Please tell me further the line of Acharyas.
A. Alavandar's disciple was Peria Nambi who was born
in Srirangam in the month of Margazhi and star
Kettai.
Then comes the great Ramanuja.
Afterwards, there are two lines. There is one line of
Acharyas of whom Vedanta Desika was the most
prominent. There is another line of Acharyas which
goes on to Manavala Mamunigal.
Ramanuja (1017 - 1137 A.D.) was born in
Sriperumpudur in the month of Chitrai and star
Tiruvadirai.
Vedanta Desika (1268 - 1369 A.D.) was born in
Thoopul near Kanchi in the month of Purattasi and
star Sravanam.
Manavala Mamunigal (1370 - 1443 A.D.) was born
at Sikkil Kidaram, in the month of Aippasi and star
Mulam. It is also said that he was born in
Alwartirunagari.
Q. But I heard that Ramanuja had five Acharyas?
A. Yes. 1. Peria Nambi was the chief or principal
acharya. Then Ramanuja learnt meanings of secrets
(rahasyas) from 2. Tirukkottiur Nambi. He studied
Tiruvaimozhi under 3. Tirumalai Andan. He learnt
stotras, under 4. Alavandar Alwar and studied
Ramayana under 5. Tirumalai Nambi. Thus he had
five acharyas.
Q. What are the other names of Ramanuja?
A. Ramanuja is also called Bhashyakara, Yatiraja,
Udayavar, Emberumanar and Yatiswara.
Q. Can you indicate briefly the works of these great
acharyas?
A. Nathamuni gave us two works Yoga Rahasya and
Nyayatattva. Alavandar gave to this world 8
works. These are:
Agama Pramanya
Purusha Nirnaya.
Three Siddhis called Siddhi Trayam, namely, Atma
Siddhi, Iswara Siddhi and Samvit Siddhi.
Then Gitartha Sangraha, Stotra Ratna and Chatus
Sloki.
The next great Acharya Ramanuja gave us nine
works or nine gems. These are: Sri Bhashya,
Vedanta Dipa, Vedanta Sara, Vedartha Sangraha,
Gita Bhashya, the three Gadyas, namely Saranagati
Gadya, Sriranga Gadya and Vaikunta Gadya and
then Nitya.
The works of Vedanta Desika are more than 100 in
number.
They cover different fields like devotional stotras,
kavya, drama, works on philosophy, and
commentaries on great works.
It is a wonder how a person could write so many
works within a life span. It is difficult for us even
to read and understand all his works in a life time.
What are the more important works of Sri Desika?
A. All works are equally important. I will give you the
names of some of the works.
Rahasyatrayasara is a book which gives in detail the
inner meanings of the three secrets or rahasyas. In
the process, it expounds our Vaishnavite philosophy.
It also dwells at length on the prapatti or saranagati
as the means of attaining salvation.
Q. What are the three secrets or rahasyas?
A. We will discuss them later.
Q. What are some of the other works of Desika?
A. We have Tatparya Chandrika. This is a lucid
commentary on the commentary of Bhagavad Gita
that was written by Ramanuja. Paduka Sahasra
describes the greatness and beauty of the paduka of
Sri Ranganatha in 1000 verses. Yadavabhyudaya
gives the story of Sri Krishna. The slokas of
Yadavabhyudaya are full of grandeur and beauty and
the lyrical value is something supreme. It is because
of the greatness of this work that it has been
commented upon by Appayya Dikshitar, the great
Advaita scholar.
We have Sankalpa Suryodaya. This is an allegorical
drama, again explaining the Visishtadvaita
philosophy.
We have the work Sata Dushani. This contains
arguments against Advaita philosophy. As the name
indicates, perhaps, it was intended to have 100
arguments. However, we now have only 66
arguments left, all against Advaita Philosophy.
We then have the devotional verses or stotras. Some
of these are: Hayagriva stotra, Dasavatara stotra,
Bhagavad Dhyana Sopana, Gopala Vimsati. Daya
Sataka on Sri Venkateswara of Tirupati, Sri Stuti and
Garuda Panchasat.
Nyayaparisuddhi, Nyaya Siddhanjana, Adhikarana
Saravali and Tattvamuktakalapa are works on our
philosophy.
Q. What are the works of Manavala Mamunigal?
A. He wrote beautiful commentaries on Perialwar
Tirumozhi and Ramanuja Nutrandadi; on
Mumukshuppadi, Tattvatraya and Sri Vachana
Bhushana of Pillai Lokacharya; on Acharya
Hridayam of Alagiamanavalapperumal Nayanar; and
on Jnanasaram and Prameyasaram of
Arulalapperumal emberumanar.
He also wrote Upadesaratnamala, Arthi prabandha,
Yatiraja Vimsati and Tiruvaimozhi Nutrandadi,
besides other works.
Q. What about other Acharyas?.
A. There are number of other Acharyas who have
contributed significantly to Vaishnavism. I will
mention some of the Acharyas now. You can refer
to other books for fuller details.
Kurattalwan wrote Panchastavas:
1) Sri Vaikunta Stava
2) Atimanusha Stava
3) Sundarabahu Stava
4) Varadaraja Stava
5) Sri Stava
Tirukkurukaippiran pillan wrote commentary (6000
padi) on Tiruvaimozhi.
Kidambi Achan;
Embar;
Engalazhvan wrote commentary on Vishnu Purana.
Parasara Bhattar wrote commentary on Vishnu
Sahasra Nama (Bhagavadgunadarpanam), Sri
Rangaraja Stava and Srigunaratna Kosa, besides
others.
Nanjiyar wrote commentary on Tiruvaimozhi (9000
padi); and Sri Sukta Bhashya. (This is disputed by
some people.)
Vatsya Varadacharya (Nadadur Ammal) wrote
Tattva Sara, Prapanna Parijata among others.
Sudarsana Bhattar wrote Sruta Prakasika and Sruta
Pradipika, both commentaries on Sri Bhashya.
Appullar wrote Nyayakulisa.
Nampillai;
Periavachan Pillai wrote beautiful commentaries on
Divya Prabandha, besides many other works.
Vadakku Thiruveethi Pillai wrote Edu Commentary
on Tiruvaimozhi (36000 padi).
Pillal Lokacharya wrote 18 Rahasyas the more
important being Mumukshuppadi, Tattvatraya and
Sri Vachana Bhushana.
Alagiamanavalapperumal Nayanar wrote Acharya
Hridayam, besides commentary on Tiruppavai and
other works.
(Pillai is a term of respect, and not to be confused with the
present day use of this word.)
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