Copy of: SALUTATIONS TO SRI VAISHNAVA GURU-PARAMPARAI
From the Bhakti List Archives
• November 30, 1997
Dear Members of the Bhakthi Group :
This article was prepared for the Denver
Sri Vaishnavite Conference .
This might be of interest to you .
V.Sadagopan
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: V. Sadagopan, 75041,3037
TO: NS, INTERNET:Satyan@worldnet.att.net
DATE: 11/30/97 9:45 AM
RE: Copy of: SALUTATIONS TO SRI VAISHNAVA GURU-PARAMPARAI
SALUTATIONS TO SRI VAISHNAVA GURU-PARAMPARAI
***********************************************************
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
Scarborough , New York
OUR ACHARYA -SANTHATHI
The Guru-Paramparai means the continous , unbroken
chain ( lineage) of Gurus starting from our prathama
Guru(first AchAryA ) , Sriman NaarAyaNA , to our current
Guru . The other name for the Guru-ParamparA is
Acharya-Santhathi . AchAryA means spiritual perceptor
and santhathi means kulam . Our Acharya Santhathi is
an ancient one . Our AchAryAs have a revered place in
our religious lives and hence Sri VaishNavism gives
enormous importance to our immediate AchAryA and their
paramparai in the spirit of the Vedic injunction , " AchArya
dEvO bhava " ( May the preceptor be , to thee , a God ) .
The AchAryAs and the reverential salutations to them
are housed in the Taniyans associated with each of them .
The taniyan for an AchAryA is composed generally by the
prime disciple of that AchAryA . After adorning the symbols of
the Lord and His upa-vyuhAs on his forehead and upper limbs ,
every day a Sri VishNavA recites the individual taniyans of
the AchAryAs of his/her Guru-paramparai to invoke their blessings.
THE GROWTH OF THE ACHARYA PARAMPARAIS
There are many AchArya -ParamparAs that have evolved
since the time of the great AchAryA , Sri RamAnujA .
He appointed 74 simhAsanAthipathis ( occupiers of
the thrones of Sri VaishNavism ) during his life time
to take care of the spiritual training and the proper
practise of the religious observances of Sri VaishNavAs .
In the post-RaamAnujA period , these peetAthipathis
established themselves all over India , wrote commentaries
on the works of Sri Ramanuja and the earlier AchAryAs
in Sanskrit , manipravALam ( sanskritized-Tamil ) and Tamil .
Through these efforts , they helped to advance
Sri Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntham in
the different corners of Bharatha Desam .
Some focused on the source works written in Sanskrit
by Sri RaamAnujA dealing with the Upanishads and
Sri BhAshyam . Others chose to focus on the divine
hymns of the AzhwArs , which were considered as
Tamil Vedam . Thus they strengthened the tradition of
ubhaya Vedantham ( twin vedanthams ) established
firmly by AchArya RaamAnujA .
ADDITIONAL SERVICE OF THE ACHARYA PARAMPARAIS
Those venerable AchAryAs of the various paramparais
established matams to render invaluable service for guiding the
spiritual aspirants to acquire the correct knowledge of
the doctrines and practises of Sri VaishNavism in the traditional
way in which this knowledge was handed down to them by their
own AchAryAs . Scriptures repeatedly state that a spiritual
aspirant (saadhakA ) needs competent guidance from
a qualified AchAryA to gain a clear and correct understanding
of the three doctrines of Sri VaishNavism known as the Tattva Trayam
( Iswaran , Jivan and achethanam ) and their interrelationship .
These AchAryAs and their paramparais have done extraordinary
service over the past thousand years to gain a true understanding of
the philosophy , theology and ethical aspects of Sri VaishNavism
and maintain it in its pristine state . We will review the different
Matams and their AchAryAs in a later section .
THE LINKS IN THE CHAIN : CELESTIAL SECTION
Sri VaishNavA tradition recognizes a long lineage of AchAryAs
starting from our supreme Lord , Sriman NaarAyanA . He is
thus our first and primordial AchAryA . The next two links
in the celestial chain are Maha Lakshmi , the beloved
consort of our Lord and VishvaksEnA , the commander-in-chief
and the chef-du-cabinet of our Lord's empire stretching from
His nithya vibhUthi( Sri Vaikuntam ) to His leelA vibhUthi
( this earth , His playground ) .
THE LINKS IN THE CHAIN ON HIS EARTH
ThirukkuruhUr SatakOpan heads the earthly chain of
Sri VaishNavite AchAryAs . He was instructed by " the divine angel " ,
VishvaksEnA . Swami Sri SatakOpan , who was addressed
by our Lord as NammAzhwAr thus became the first AchAryA
in the link of AchAryA santhathi on the Lord's earth ( Prapanna
Jana kUtasthar ) . The successive links in that chain are :
Natha Muni (824-924 AD ) , PundareekAkshA
alias UyyakkondAr ( 826-931AD ) ,
MaNakkAl nambi alias Rama Misrar ( 832-937AD ) ,
AlavandAr alias YaamunAchAryA ( 916-1041 AD ) ,
Periya Nambi alias MahA pUrNar and AchArya
RaamAnujA ( 1017-1317 AD ) .
THE POST-RAMAANUJA PERIOD
There are three stages in the evolution of our
AchArya -paramparA after RaamAnujA :
(1) the first two hundred years after RaamAnujA that
includes his direct disciples and their successors
(2) The period of PiLLai LOkAchAr and Vedantha Desikan;
(3) The post - PiLLai LOkAchAr and Vedantha Desikan period,
which covers the past seven centuries
KurEsA alias SrivatsAnka Misra (1010-1116 AD) ,
Thirukkurhai PirAn PiLLAn , the author of the first
commentary on Thiruvaimozhi , EmbAr or Govinda
Misrar (1026-1131 AD ) , Kidambi AcchAn alias
PraNathArthiharAcchAr /madapaLLI AcchAn
( 1057-1157AD ) , NadAthUr ALvAn , a nephew of
RaamAnujA were some of the well known direct disciples
of RaamAnujA . KurEsa and Kidambi AcchAn helped
RaamAnuja write Sri Bhashyam . PiLLAn's commentary
in manipravAlam ( Sanskritized Tamil prose ) marked
the beginning of " the popularization of the teachings
of AzhwArs " .
KurEsa"s precocious son , Parasara Bhattar( b1074AD )
became the prime disciple of Embar . YengaL AzhwAn
( 1106-1206 AD ) chose PiLLAN as his AchAryA . Thiruvarangatthu
AmudanAr , a contemproary of RaamAnujA chose KurEsA as his AchAryA
and paid his tribute to his PrAchAryA( AchAryA's AchAryA )
through one hundred plus Tamil verses steeped in
AchArya bhakthi known to us today as RaamAnuja
nURRandhAthi . Those one hundred and eight verses
became part of the NaalAyira Divya Prabhandham .
Parasara Bhattar's line of disciples is a formidable one .
His prime disciple was Melkote NarAyaNa Muni , who is
familarly known as Namjeeyar . He wrote the commentary on
Thiruvaimozhi called onpatinAyirapadi (9000 granthAs ) .
This is considered equal in length to the Sri Bhashyam
of RaamAnujA . This work was lost in the Cauveri waters
by Namjeeyar's prime disciple, NampiLLai, when he was
crossing the flooded waters of Cauveri with the Sri Kosam of
his AchAryA on his head. NampiLLai was heart broken . He prayed
to his AchAryA and rewrote the commentaries from memory
and placed it at the feet of his AchAyA and asked for
Namjeeyar's pardon . Namjeeyar reviewed the manuscript
and embraced his disciple for its excellence and it is thus
we acquired the onpathinAyirapadi . .
NampiLLai had two outstanding sishyAs named
Periya VaacchAn PiLLai(1167-1262 AD) and vadakku
Thiruveedhi PiLLai . The former was known as
"VyAkyAna chakravarthi " because of his asture
scholarship in writing commentaries on the NaalAyira
Divya Prabhandham in general and NammAzhwAr's
Thiruvaimozhi in particular . His commentary on
Thiruvaimozhi is known as Irupatthu naalAyirapadi
(24,000 granthAs ) and is considered equivalent
in length to Srimadh RaamAyaNamm of
Adhi Kavi Valmeeki .
The written and oral commentorial tradition
on Thiruvaimozhi continued with Vadakku-
Thiruveethip piLLai ( 1167-1264 AD ). His commentary
is known as the mupattiyArAyirappadi (36,000 granthAs )
or eedu (the equivalent to the original prabhandham of
NammAzhwAr ) . It was also named eedu because
it stimulates our eedupaadu with Thiruvaimozhi .
Other commentaries followed later
in this AchArya paramparai and this tradition of
commenting through the chain of AchAryAs is
known as OrAn Vazhi ( unbroken lineage from
individual to individual ) .
While NamPiLLai and his disciples were lecturing
in Srirangam on AzhwAr's hymns, Vatsya VaradAchAryA
alias NadAthUr AmmAL( 1165-1275 AD ) was expounding
Sri Bhashyam at Kanchipuram . He is the author of the famous
text called Prapanna PArijAtham , a definitive text on
SaraNAgathi doctrines and practise. He was blessed
to have two scholarly sishyAs by the names of
Athreya RaamAnujA alias ApuLLAr and Sudarsana
Suri alias Veda VyAsa Bhattar ; latter is the author of
the commentary on Sri Bhashyam revered as
Srutha PrakAsikA .This authoritative text on
Sri BhAshyam was saved by Swami Sri Desikan
during the time of the Muslim invasion of Srirangam .
ApuLLAr was the maternal uncle and AchAryA of one
of the intellectual giants of the lineage of Sri VaishNava
AchAryAs celebrated as Swami Sri Desikan alias
NigamAntha MahA Desikan of ThUppul agrahAram .
PILLAI LOKACHAR AND VEDANTHA DESIKAN'S PERIOD
Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai had two illustrious sons
with the names of PiLLai LOkAchAr (1264-1369 AD )
and Azhahiya MaNavALa NaayanAr , the author of
the famous Sri VaishNavite text , "AchArya Hrudhayam ".
Vedantha Desika (1268-1369 AD ) , Pillai LokAchAr ,
NaayanArAcchAn PiLLAn , the adopted son of
Periya VaacchAn PiLLAn and his own disciple , Vaadhi-
Kesari Azhagiya MaNavALa Jeeyar were contemproaries.
Sri VaishNavism reached a new spurt of growth and
vitality during the time of these great AchAryAs .
A listing of the distinguished works of PiLLai LokAchAr
and Vedantha Desikan has been assembled by
Sri Venkateash Elayavalli in his home page entitled ,
" Sri VaishNava AchAryarkal " . Sri VishNavA home page
maintained by Sri Mani Varadarajan and Bahkthi archives
have additional informaiton on the works of these
great AchAryAs .
POST PILLAI LOKACHAR-VEDANTHA DESIKAN PERIOD
The tradition of PiLLai LokAchAr was carried on by
another great AchAryA by the name of MaNavALa
Maamuni ( 1370-1443 AD ) . He was the disciple of
ThiruvAimozhi PiLLai , who in turn was the disciple
of NaalUr AcchAn Pillai belonging to the lineage of
EeyuNNI Madhavar , a direct disciple of NampiLLai
and a cohort of Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai .
The tradition of Vedantha Desikan was carried on
by his son , KumAra VaradAryA ( 1316-1401AD ) ,
the first Brahmatantra Parakala Swami ( 1286-1386 AD ) .
Both of them were direct disciples of Vedantha Desikan .
THE MATAMS OF SRI VAISHNAVITE ACHARYAS
The school of thought developed by MaNavALa maamuni
has been propagated by a successive chain of AchAryAs
of the Tenkalai sampradhAyam . Matams or religious centers
headed by the followers of the TennAchArya tradition are :
VaanamAmalai matamat NaangunEri ( VaanamAmalai Jeeyars) ,
Thirumalai Jeeyar matam at Tiruppathi , Srirangam
NaarAyaNa Jeeyar matam and the YathirAja Matam
at MelkOte.
The School of thought developed by Vedantha Desikan
have been propagated by the AchAryAs of two important
Matams : AhObila Matam and ParakAla matam of Mysore.
During the 18th century, another religious center known
as Andavan Asramam was created at Srirangam
by Thirukkudanthai Desikan , who is a disciple of
SaakshAth Swami . The ascetics of this Matam
are known as Andavans. This matam branched out
later into two and they are known today as PeriyAsramam
and Poundareekapuram Asramam .
AdivaNN SatakOpan (1378-1458 AD ) of Melkote was
the first pontiff of the AhObila Matam and received
his ascetic robes and iniitation into sanyAsam directly
from Bhagavan Narasimhan of AhObila KshEthram .
The home page of Ahobila Matam maintained by
Sri Parthasarathy Dileepan has significant details
on the AchAryAs of this paramparai . The home page
for the ParakAla Matam Jeeyars also contain pictures
of Bhagavan Lakshmi HayagreevA , the ArAdhana Murthy
of Swami Sri Desikan and information on
that AchArya paramparai.
CONCLUSION
The great Sri Vaishnavite AchAryA , Sri RaamAnuja built
upon the teachings of his purvAchAryAs rooted in
the three fundamental texts--the prasthAnatraya , viz.,
the BrahmasutrAs , Upanishads , Bhagavad Gita -- and
the NaalAyira Divya Prabhandham of the AzhwArs.
He fortified the citadel of Sri vaishNavism and made
enduring contributions to the growth of Sri Vaishnavite
philosophy , theology and religious practises through
the personal selection of a many illustrious AchAryAs ,
who in turn trained other great AchAryAs for
the advancement of the Sri VaishNavite religion
across the globe .
SUBHAMASTHU
.
- Previous message: Satish Bukkapatnam: "Re: anadhyayanam"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]