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More on Tatachar/Iyengar

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sreekrishna • August 10, 1995 


I wrote


>Some people are of the view that  Iyengar is the literal translation of the
>term Tatachar (because Tata means father in Sanskrit). The origin
>of the word Tatachar is Tirumalai (Andhra Pradesh). ONE OF THE
>PATRIARCHS of the Sri Vaishnava Guru parampara (a descendant
>of Shatamarshana and to his lineage belong the
>Natha Muki and Yamuna Muni) was addressed as Tata(father) by the God
>Sriman Narayana Himself appearing as a hunter and drank water
>from his hands. His descendants got the name Tatachar and the Telugu
> translation of this is Iyengar . So Manjula, looks like you are closer to
>the origin of Iyengars than are theTamils!!!
>sreekrishna@mmd.com

I just found out That PATRIARCH  is Sri Saila Purna (Peri Thirumalai Nambi), 
the
maternal uncle of Ramanuja Charya.  Nambi  was addressed by Srinivasa (Sriman
Narayana) as Tata and drank water from his hands.  Thus the timing of origin 
of
the word Tatachar(Iyengar or Ayyangar) coincides with th etime of Ramanuja.

KS(Srini) wrote:

>>Historically, Sri Ramanuja's influence was mostly in Tamil areas.
>>Next to that was in the Kannada areas. Influence in Telugu areas
>>was very minimal. Even Tirumalai, could hardly qualify as Telugu
>>heartland in his time. Considering this, tracing "Iyengar" to Telugu
>>is a little hard to digest.

SriniUs comment here is very valid and is also in direct conformity with my
fatherUs book (I just went back and read this portion again). Therein my 
father
writes that Tata of Sanskrit translates to Aiyya for father in Tamil  and thus
Tatachar became Ayyangar. HE DID NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT TELUGU (so this was
purely my wrong recollection based on the fact that Thirumalai is in Andhra 
now
and that Ayyagaru is a valid word in Telugu). 

Ayya is used in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada as well (as a mark of repect). But I
think only in Tamil it means Father . I know it does not mean father in 
Kannada
(the word for father in Kannada is Appa or Appayya or Tande) .  I donUt know
whether Ayya is father in Telugu.


It would seem then that SRISAILA PURNA is responsible for 
  the origin of the term Iyengars(Tatachars) as well as
the name Ramanuja(because it was he who named the child Ramanuja who grew up 
to become Ramanujacharya)!

SRISAILA PURNAYA NAMO NAMASTE!