Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Adisesha /LakshnaNa /Ramanuja

From the Bhakti List Archives

K. Srinivasan • July 12, 1995 


manii@srirangam.esd.sgi.com says:
>
>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

According Guruparapara prabhavam, (written by piLLaan
ar the time of Ramanuja's death), Peria thimulalai nambi,
uncle of Ramanuja is the one who names the child as
Ramanuja, Lakshmana, Ilyaazhvaar etc. all after Adisesha.
Lakshmana is also considered incarnation of Adisesha in
Ramavataram. So the idea is much older, even though
Vedanta Desikar does not mention it.

K.Srinivasan