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Re: Re. aazhi

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Mani Varadarajan • July 10, 1995 


Ranga Satagopan writes:
> >     Besides, amudhanaar says in the 33rd paasuram of 100thanthaathi
> >     that sri raamaanujaa was the avathaaram of the five divine
> >     weapons:
> 
> Isn't Ramanuja considered an incarnation of Sesha (= Lakshmana =
> Rama + Anuja)? Infact I have heard the following legend about
> Ramanuja:

Yes, some traditional histories have Ramanuja as an
incarnation of Adisesha. I think Amudhanaar symbolizes
Ramanuja as a "defender of the faith" by making him 
an incarnation of the divya aayudhaani.

The earliest biographies, though, do not mention 
Ramanuja as an incarnation of anyone.  Neither
Vedanta Desika nor Manavaala Maamunigal mention
the Adisesha = Ramanuja equation in their poems 
in praise of Ramanuja, so it is likely that this 
story gained currency only later.

Mani