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Re: RAMANUJA/RAMANAND

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Mani Varadarajan • February 9, 1999 


Sri Srimahavishnu wrote a very interesting and informative
comparison of the Ramanandi sect of North India and its
relation to the Ramanuja sampradaya.  I have also heard
that Sri Pillai Lokacharya occurs in one version of the 
Ramananda acharya parampara.

I only have a comment on one small part of what Srimahavishnu
wrote:
> most of the
> rAmAnandIs have "dAs" at the end of their initiated name while rAmAnujIs
> normally used to have "AchArI".

In old maNipravALa texts such as the guru parampara prabhAvam
and periya thirumudi adaivu, the names of many Sri Vaishnava 
acharyas also contain the suffix "dAsa", Tamilized to "dAsar".
Perhaps this was an ancient tradition passed on to the 
Ramanandis in the North.  Later Sri Vaishnavas have mostly
abandoned it for the now ubiquitous "ayyangaar" and "acharya",
reserving the suffix "dAsan" only for formal occasions where
humility is required.

dAsan,
Mani