"Idat TAi IrAmAnusan"
From the Bhakti List Archives
• May 4, 2003
Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
"Idat TAi IrAmAnusan"
Sri Ramanuja is reputed to have authored nine works- Sri Bhashyam, Sri Gita Bhashyam, VedArttha Sangraham, Vedanta Deepam, Vedanta Saram, Sharanagati Gadyam, Sri Vaikunta Gadyam, Sriranga Gadyam and Nityam. Sri Bhashyam, Vedartha Sangraham, Deepam and Saram are aimed at elucidating the purport of the Brahma Sutras and select Veda Vedanta passages, and are, as such, polemical works aimed at establishment of the VisishtAdvaita Darsanam on a sound pedestal after demolishing the faulty structures put up by other schools of philosophy. The three Gadyas are outpourings of pure devotion, with none of the intricate debate into the nuances of the Shruti characterising the other works. The Gita Bhashya is an elaborate but beautiful commentary on the Universal Guidebook, the Bhagavat Gita-it is a labour of love for Sri Ramanuja, affording full play to his basic nature of innate spirituality and devotion and bringing out the true purport of the Lord's dicta. Its elegant style, finely-turned phraseology, depth of
In the works enumerated above, discerning readers would find a surprising omission, in an area which the Bhashyakara would have been expected to contribute, but has not.
After his soul left for its divine abode, the great Acharya Sri Alavandar's mortal coils were found by his disciples to sport a strange feature-three fingers of his palm were bent, as if listing out something. None of the disciples, despite their life-long closeness and kainkaryam to the Master, was able to divine what exactly the bent fingers signified. However, Sri Ramanuja, who had come running to Srirangam from Kancheepuram for the express purpose of paying obeisance to Sri Yamuna Muni, instantly recognised that the bent fingers of the palm signified three unsatisfied desires in the great Acharya's mind-the compilation of commentaries, according to the VisishtAdvaitic tenets, on three major areas which were considered to be pramANAs of very high order-the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavat Gita and the Tiruvaimozhi of Sri Nammazhwar. The moment Sri Ramanuja took a pledge to fulfil the unfinished agenda of Sri Alavandar, the Acharya's fingers unfolded themselves and the palm came to a normal position.
Sri Ramanuja partially redeemed his pledge to his paramAchArya by composing magnificent Bhashyas on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavat Gita, which, despite the passage of almost a thousand years, continue to inspire the learned and unlettered alike and lay down the path to liberty and emancipation.
However, he did not accomplish the third item on the agenda, viz., commenting on the Tiruvaimozhi. Not only did Emperumanar not compose a commentary on Sri Nammazhwar's magnum opus, but he also left no trace of the Divya Prabandas in his entire nine works-not a single quote from the Prabandas, not even a solitary reference to the vast body of 4000 and odd pasurams. This is really surprising, considering that both the Sri Bhashya and the Gita Bhashya would have afforded him ample opportunity to buttress his arguments with appropriate references from the Tiruvaimozhi and other compositions of Azhwars, or at least to quote them in passing. However, Sri Ramanuja did not do this, much to the wonderment of everyone. Prima facie, it was as if the Divya Prabandas and the Azhwars did not exist for him. This, we know, could not be the position, because of the innumerable references in the works of the Bhashyakara's sishyas to their Master being well versed in the Aruliccheyal and more, contributing to its protection,
Paying a tribute to Sri Nammazhwar for having blessed us with the Tiruvaimozhi, Sri Bhattar values the contribution of Sri Ramanuja more than that of the Azhwar-
"Tamizh maraigaL Ayiramum eendra mudal tAi Satakopan, moimbAl vaLarttha idattAi irAmAnusan". Sri Bhattar says that the Azhwar might have done us a great favour by composing the Tiruvaimozhi, but it is Sri Ramanuja to whom must go the credit for preserving the once-lost Prabandas from extinction. It was Emperumanar who made Tiruvaimozhi not merely a book of verses, but a way of life. It was he who arrived at and disseminated the true purports of many a pasuram, in accordance with the true intent of the author. Just as the role of a foster parent is more important in making a man of an abandoned child by bestowing him with good education, timely food, protective clothes and man-making discipline, Sri Ramanuja's contribution as aforesaid ranks a step ahead of Sri Nammazhwar's, avers Sri Bhattar.
In another tanian to the Peria Tirumozhi, Sri Ramanuja is adulated as "Sankai kedutthu Anda tavarAsA!", with the inference that it was he who clarified the innumerable doubts that arose in the interpretation of Divya Prabandas and laid down authoritative and acceptable positions on various concepts enunciated by Azhwars.
Sri Tiruvarangattu Amudanar, in his irAmAnusa noottrandAdi, pays eloquent tribute to Emperumanar. He individually mentions each Azhwar by name and indicates how Sri Ramanuja had boundless devotion to that Azhwar and to his outpouring. And the immeasurable love and esteem the Yatiraja had for Tiruvaimozhi, his attaching greater importance to it than to his own father, mother, worldly possessions and even the Lord Himself, are brought out by the following lines-
"uru perum selvamum tandayum tAyum-uyar guruvum
veri taru PoomagaL nAthanum-MAran viLangia seer
neri tarum sentamizh AraNamE endru in neeNilattOr
aritara nindra-irAmAnusan enakku AramudhE"
Another Acharya declares that the best way to keep the mind steady on the uplifting purport of Tiruvaimozhi is to pay obeisance to the holy feet of Sri Ramanuja-
"Eynda perum keerti irAmAnusa muni tan
VAynda malar pAdam vaNangugindrEn-Aynda perum
SeerAr Satakopan sentamizh Vedam tarikkum
PErAda uLLam pera"
All these and other tributes indicate in no uncertain terms the conclusion of post-Ramanuja Acharyas as to the immeasurable contribution of the Yatiraja to the cause of the DrAvida VEdam.
How is this possible, especially in view of not a single written word of Sri Ramanuja's monumental and copious works containing even an isolated reference to the Aruliccheyal?
We must conclude that Sri Ramanuja, for some reason, left it to his illustrious disciples to compose worthy commentaries on the Tiruvaimozhi, rather than appropriate the honour for himself. There is however no doubt that the works of Azhwars and that of Sri Nammazhwar in particular, influenced Emperumanar's writings much, be it the Sri Bhashya or the Gita Bhashya or the Gadyas. And there is absolutely no question in anyone's mind that the first and foremost commentary on the Tiruvaimozhi by the Bhashyakara's principal disciple and 'GnAna putra" Sri Tirukkurugai Piran Pillan, incorporates the essence of Sri Ramanuja's own lectures on the subject, delivered to the kAlakshEpa ghOshti.
Just as Sri Nanjeeyar's onpathinAyirappadi is the sAram of Sri Bhattar's oral commentaries, just as the Eedu MuppatthArAyirappadi of Sri Vadakku Tiruveedipillai is but a recording of Sri Nampillai's oral instructions on Tiruvaimozhi, just as the ShrutaprakAsika is but a written version of the lectures delivered by Sri NadAdUr ammAL on Sribhashya, so too the ArAyirappadi of Sri Pillan is a faithful rendering in writing of what the Yatiraja conveyed during his numerous lectures on the subject, addressed to attentive and illustrious disciples.
The language, narrative style and majesty of expression found in the ArAyirappadi commentary of Sri Pillan bear considerable similarity to Sri Ramanuja's own, though the latter are in Sanskrit. The same economy with words, employment of the mot juste with telling effect, repeated use of key phrases etc. are found in the works of the Master and the Disciple, leaving us in no doubt as to Sri Ramanuja having inspired the principal commentary on the Tiruvaimozhi, though he himself did not put it to paper.
The Tiruvaimozhi commentaries are replete with alternate interpretations for various pasurams, advanced by Sri Ramanuja, bearing the sobriquet "EmperumAnAr nirvAham". These versions display considerable originality of thought, of course within the boundaries of tradition, and provide valuable clues to the Azhwar's line of thinking. That Sri Ramanuja was not averse to incurring the wrath of his guru by putting forward interpretations differing from the accepted ones is learnt from the Acharya's averments being termed "VisvAmitra Shrishti" by Sri TirumAlai AndAn, at whose feet Sri Ramanuja learnt the purport of Tiruvaimozhi. However, Sri AndAn came around later and fell in line with Sri Ramanuja, attesting to the fact that original thinking has always been encouraged in our Sampradaya, provided it is reasonable, logical, acceptable and within the broad parameters of tradition.
Another oft-mentioned matter is the Bhashyakara's enchantment with Tiruppavai. The Acharya was not merely well versed with this Prabanda and its purport, but adopted its teachings as a way of life. This resulted in the fitting sobriquet "Tiruppavai Jeeyar". Having commented on the Brahma Sutras and on significant passages from the Upanishads, Sri Ramanuja found that all of it was but a reiteration of the basic truths embedded in the short but sweet Tiruppavai and became so enamoured with the thirty pasurams as to be honoured with the aforesaid title.
The apparent contradiction of Sri Ramanuja not having employed Prabanda vAkyAs in his voluminous works is resolved by the following sloka attributed to Sri EmbAr. To protect the innumerable Upanishadic texts from misinterpretation, Sri Vyasa composed the Brahma Sutras, laying down the true purport of the Shruti. Finding this too subjected to arguments and counter arguments by undiscerning pseudo-philosophers intent on bending the Shruti to suit their own viewpoints, Vyasa Bhagavan took another avatara as Sri Nammazhwar and restated his tenets in the form of easily comprehensible pasurams in sweet verses of Tiruvaimozhi, incapable of misinterpretation. However, people can always be found to misunderstand and misguide, and to save the two earlier works (the Brahma Sutras and the Tiruvaimozhi) from such a fate, Sage Vyasa took yet another avatara, this time as Sri Ramanuja, to reconcile the two works and restate their essential features, by authoring the Sri Bhashya and by inspiring commentaries on the Tiruvaim
"PurA sootrai: VyAsa: Shruti sata shirOrttham grathitavAn
vivavrE tat shrAvyam VakuLataratAm Etya sa puna:
ubhou Etou granthou ghatayitum alam yuktibhi: asou
puna: jagnyE RAmAvaraja iti sa Brahma mukura:"
Swami Desikan claims with pride that all his youth was spent enjoying the delightful Sreesooktis of the Bhashyakara, and his hair grown grey with maturity, both physical and mental, the latter afforded by the constant imbibing and propagation of the Yatiraja's majestic works. If we analyse Tooppul Pillai's words, it would be evident that the enumeration of Yatiraja's works includes the Bhagavat Vishayam as handed down by him to Sri Pillan and others-
"Yati pravara bhAratI rasa bharENa neetam vaya:
prapulla phalitam sira:"
The words "rasa bharENa" obviously refer to Sri Ramanuja sreesooktis (albeit unstated in writing) concerning Tiruvaimozhi, for what could be more filled with "rasa" than the Azhwar's outpourings and Emperumanar's own inimitable interpretations of the same? And what better way to spend one's life than to keep oneself constantly immersed in the unfathomably deep and majestic works of the Master Philosopher and to come up every time with new and more precious gems from the DrAvida VEda sAgaram? It was as a result of this beneficial obsession with Sri Bhashyakara's works that Swami Desikan was able to come up with classical works on Tiruvaimozhi, viz., Nigama ParimaLam, DramidOpanishat Saram and the DramidOpanishat TAtparya RatnAvaLi.
Would you not agree with Sri Bhattar now, that the Bhashyakara was indeed the "idat tAi", responsible for the Prabanda sisu (child) blossoming into an enchanting young woman of impeccable character and conduct, with innumerable suitors (commentators) vying with one another for her favours?
Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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