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Re: Question on 4000 Divya Prabhandam

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Mani Varadarajan • August 8, 2000 


> I have heard from my many different sources that it was nAtha munigal
> who found all 4000 Pasurams,  after he went to Azhwar Thirunagari and
> chanted Kanninunsiruthambu for many millions of times. One thing that I
> need clarification is that 4000 Divya Prabhandam has rAmAnuja
> noorrandadi as part of it. Thiruvarangathu Amudanar was way after
> nAthAmunigal, so what nAthamunigal found from nammazwar cannot be 4000
> but must be only 3892. Is this the correct fact? Can anyone confirm
> this?

Dear Srivatsan,

Yes, you are correct that the Divya Prabandham that Sri Nathamuni
restored did not contain the irAmAnuca nURRandAdi (RN 108), for the 
obvious reasons that you have stated above.

The RN 108 was composed by Tiruvarangattu Amudanaar (SrI rangAmRta yogi)
during Sri Ramanuja's lifetime, as a tribute to the latter.  The story is 
that Sri Ramanuja disapproved of Amudanaar's first version because
it didn't contain enough reference to the Alvars.  Amudanaar went
back to the drawing board and rewrote his verses, to the great 
appreciation and admiration of Sri Ramanuja.  The final version contains
numerous overt references to Ramanuja's service of the Alvars and many
embedded references to their aruLiccEyal.  Sri Ramanuja was so pleased 
by Amudanaar's composition that he ordered that the RN 108 be recited 
immediately after the iyaRpa in the Divya Prabandha sEva krama (source:
kOyil ozhugu).  So the RN 108 came to be inseparably associated with 
the Divya Prabandham.

Subsequent to this, there arose two different methods of arriving 
at the count of "4000" pAsurams for the Divya Prabandham. One
method includes the RN 108 as part of the Prabandham proper, another
includes it as an appendix.  These various ways of counting are
discussed in a previous article:

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/nov99/0099.html

Irrespective of counting or formal inclusion in the 4000, 
the RN 108 is held in as high esteem as the pAsurams of the
Alvars themselves and is always included in printed editions
of the Prabandham.

rAmAnuja dAsan,
Mani

 

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