Topic of the Month

 

 

 

Sri Ramanuja - the integrator

 

Introduction

 

Sri Vaishnavism enjoys a double advantage - ubhaya Vedanta. Many philosophies and religions are restricted to having their holy scriptures in either sanskrit or the vernacular language. Sri Vaishnavism alone has placed the Sanskrit Vedanta and Dravida Vedanta (azhvars' 4000 divya prabandham) in equal status. Nathamunigal gave birth to this status, Sri Alavandar nurtured it and Sri Ramanuja carried it to its pinnacle. Surprisingly none of these three stalwarts have authored any work in tamil. Iramanusa nootrandadi hails Sri Ramanuja as : "Sollaar tamizh oru moonrum suridigal naangum ellai illa araneri yaavum terindavan iramanusan" (Ramanuja is a master of prose poetry and drama in tamil, all the four Sanskrit Vedas and the countless dharma sastras...). How come Ramanuja is revered as a master in tamil when he had restricted all his nine works to Sanskrit?

Vedartha sangraha, Vedanta sara, Vedanta deepa, Sri Bhashya, Gita Bhashya, Saranagaty gadya, Sriranga gadya, Srivaikuntha gadya and Nitya grantha are his nine works which are all in Sanskrit. It is well known that the key to Ramanuja's right interpretation to Vedanta was the sareera atma bhava enjoyed by Paramatma and Jiva. Visistadvaita confirms that bhakti was the only means to moksham and not mere gnana. These concepts came handy to Ramanuja not only from the Sanskrit Vedanta but principally due to the divya prabandham. Sri Azhagia manavala perumal nayanar records this as 'ramanujar idu kondu sootra vaakyangalai orunga viduvar' - Ramanuja blended the samskrita and dravida Vedanta while explaining the brahma sutra and settling its contradictions.

If Ramanuja could use dravida vedanta effectively to augment the Sanskrita Vedanta, who fed him with the nectar of divya pranbandham? How did he master the esoteric meanings to the devotional hymns of azhvars? What were his observations in divya prabandham? How has he used the pasurams in explaining the brahma sutras? The answers to all these questions cannot be given in one article. I would attempt to deal with a few now and continue next month with the rest.

 

Nammazhvar to Ramanuja

 

Sriman Narayana by His unconditional grace blessed Nammazhvar to bring out the purport of Vedanta in simple tamil and this collection is venerated as Tiruvoimozhi. This glorious treasure descended through the lineage of our preceptors viz Nathamunigal, Uyyakkondar, Manakkal Nambigal and reached Alavandar. He in turn had 5 important disciples Peria Nambigal, Peria Tirumali Nambigal, Tirukkottiyoor Nambigal, Tirumaalai Andan and Azhvar Tiruvaranga Perumal arayar each of whom imparted a text on Sri Ramanuja. Amongst them Sri Tirumaalai Andan preached Tiruvoimozhi to Ramanuja. The thought provoking dialogue between Tirumaalai Andan and Ramanuja during the discourse sessions is the subject matter of this article.

 

The dialogue

 

Tirumaalai andan who had learnt the meaning of the mystic poems of Nammazhvar from Alavandar conveyed the same to Ramanuja. Much to the revelation of Andan, Ramanuja interpreted a few verses differently. Although Ramanuja's interpretation was more appropriate to the context, Andan was annoyed as he had not heard them from his acharya, Alavandar. Thanks to Tirukkottiyoor Nambigal who came to the rescue of Ramanuja by comforting Andan that the former had heard these versions from Sri Alavandar. Nambigal enlightened Andan saying that no meaning is new to Ramanuja who was undergoing this course under Andan as a formality similar to Rama learning under Vasistha and Krishna under Saandipana. Let me now explain both the interpretations for a few verses.

 

The confluence of Paramatma and Jivatma

 

Unil vaazh uyire ! nallai po unnaippetru

Vaanulaar perumaan madhusudan ennammaan

Taanum yaanum ellam tannulle kalandozhindom

Tenum paalum neyyum kannalum amudum otte. (tirovoimozhi 2.3.1.)

 

(O mind! good wishes to you! Inspite of being in this material world you are fortunate as Bhagavan has united with you in all aspects and this blend has all the taste and flavour in this world. )

 

Tirumaalai andan was explaining to Ramanuja the meaning of this verse as told by Sri Alavandar. Me, my mind and my ego are the only obstacles in the way of salvation. Bhagavan waits for us to feel hungry for union and that is when the mind is ripe. Can you blend a couple of vegetables together in their raw state? They should either ripen or be cooked to make a tasty dish. Perumal also waits for our mind to ripen and then blends with us. Vannular peruman taanum - the very master of nitya suris, madusudan - the killer of the demon madhu and so one who can destroy our enemies, yaanum - the ripened me, ellam tannulle kalandu ozhindon - spiritually united Tenum paalum neyyum kannalum amudum otte - our blend was like honey blending with honey, milk with milk, ghee with ghee, sugar with sugar and nectar with nectar. When two products of the same flavour are blended the outcome is mixed so well that they cannot be identified separately thereafter. Bhagavan and azhvar have united similar to the blend of products of same flavour.

Ramanuja having savored every verse of Nammazhvar so well, could not agree that the blend of Perumal and azhvar would have had a single flavour. Considering the claim of Chandogya Upanishad, 'sarva gandha: sarva rasa:' (brahmam, the abode of all fragrance and all flavours) , can we restrict Him to have a single flavour. Azhvar too is the only shelter for all varieties of bhakti. So their blend must be a bouquet of all flavours. Ramanuja concluded that azhvar and Perumal united like honey, milk, ghee, sugar and nectar blended together to make panca amrutam where one enjoys a unique taste while retaining the individual tastes. This interpretation was substantiated by Ramanuja as azhvar has sung 'ellam tannulle kalandu'. The word 'ellam' would mean all flavours

Is this not delicious?

 

Azhvar gives life to Bhagavan!!

 

Andaamattanbu seidu en aavi ser ammanukku

Andama vaazh mudi sangu aazhi nool aaram ula

Senthamaraittadankan senganivaai sengamalam

Senthamarai adikkal senpon tiru udambe. ( tiruvoimozhi 2.5.1)

 

(Bhagavan united with me showering as much love as He had on the nitya suris along with His fragrant garland, crown, the divine conch and discus, adorned with divine ornaments. His eyes were red lotuses; His lips were ripe fruits; His feet were lotuses, His divine body was glittering gold)

 

Tirumaalai andan conveyed the interpretation of Sri Alavandar to Ramanuja - andhamattu anbu - the love which Bhagavan had on nitya suris, anbu seydu - showering the same love on me (azhvar), en aavi ser amman - my master who united with me, ... Nool aaram ula - that master came along with all His belongings i.e. He had His conch discus and all other belongings when He united with me. Ramanuja was not convinced with this and suggested a more fitting explanation. Bhagavan enjoys the company of noble humans and cannot bear their separation. In the previous decad (aadi aadi agam karaindu 2.4.1) He was sad being separated from Nammazhvar and His divine body withered, His divine garland and everything else lost shine. Now in this decad He united with Nammazhvar and consequently His divine body and belongings came back to life. Aazhi nool aaram ula means they all became as they should originally be. The key word which was the basis of Ramanuja?s superb interpretation was 'ula'. Ula means that Bhagavan regained His lost lustre on uniting with Nammazhvar instead of meaning that Bhagavan had (came along with) His belongings to unite with azhvar.

It is good that Bhagavan gives life to bhaktas but is it not better when a bhakta gives life to Bhagavan

 

Azhvar's enduring desire.

 

Ekkalattu endayay ennul mannil mattru

Ekkalattilum yaadonrum venden

Mikkar veda vimalar vizhungum en

Akkarakkaniye ! unnai yaane. (tiruvoimozhi 2.9.8)

(O sweet sugar fruit enjoyed by the enlightened! If you reside in my mind for a moment I would then not crave for anything thereafter)

 

As usual, Alavandar's elucidation as expressed by Tirumaalai andan was azhvar pleads to his swamy (endai) Bhagavan to dwell in his mind for a minute (ennul mannil) and if it happens then he would not yearn for anything (yaadonrum venden) thereafter (ekkalattilum). Ramanuja's deep understanding of Nammazhvar made him wonder whether azhvar would be satisfied with a short union with Perumal . Azhvar's mystic love towards Perumal knew no bounds and it cannot be quenched with a minute union. So Ramanuja lucidly explained the situation by juxta posing a single word mattru. Alavandar's version was - 'mattru ekkalattilum yaadonrum venden' meaning azhvar would not want anything anytime thereafter. Ramanuja thought that azhvar would certainly want union with Bhagavan later too. So it would be fitting to say that azhvar would not want anything other than spiritual union anytime thereafter. Ramanuja rearranged the words as - 'ekkalattilum mattru yaadonrum venden'.

 

Was it just a word placed rightly or azhvar's personality portrayed accurately?

In all the above three instances, Ramanuja drew the right string with the help of a solitary word (word in bold font). Is this possible without absolute mastery over tamil and Sanskrit literature and above all azhvar's nature?

 

Andal in her 21st verse in Tiruppavai says 'ettra kalangal edir pongi meedalippa maatrade paal soriyim vallal perum pasukkal' - the cows of gokul fill the vessels with milk so fast that the milk overflows. The implied meaning is - the acharyas of our sampradaya impart abundant knowledge and wisdom so quickly that their disciples give nicer interpretations even surpassing their acharyas. Thus Ramanuja owes all his integrating skills of ubhaya Vedanta to Tirumaalai andan and Alavandar.

 

We would continue next month with instances where Sri Ramanuja exactly uses azhvar?s hymns while interpreting Vedantic hymns in his Sri Bhashya

 

Let us be grateful to Ramanuja on his birth anniversary, chittirai tiruvadirai, which falls on May 9th 2008 and recite Iramanusa nootrandadi.

- Dasan Velukkudi Krishnan