Sri Arulalap Perumal Emperumanar

Sri Arulalap perumal emperumanar's birth name was Yajnamurthi. He was a great scholar and an expert in maayaavaada doctrine. He visited the holy Ganges and engaged in debates with many scholars, who were defeated easily. This resulted in a huge following at kasi and eventually, he became a Sanyaasin.

Yajnamurthi was confident that he would defeat anyone in a debate. In the meantime, Sri Ramanuja had set up his ministry at Srirangam and his popularity reached Kasi. Hearing the great ministry set up by Ramanuja, Yajnamurthi wanted to debate him. Hence the traveled from Kasi to Srirangam with a group of his disciples and great fanfare. He met Ramanuja and they agreed to debate for 18 days.

The first 16 days of debate resulted in deadlock. On the 17th day the balance shifted in favor of Yajnamurthi. By the end of that day, they both realized that Yajnamurthi had an advantage over Ramanuja. Yajnamurthi was proud and left the ministry for the day. Ramanuja, was however, disturbed by the turn of events and went into meditating on Sri Varadharaja of Kanchi. The Lord appeared to him in his dream that night and instructed Ramanuja to use Sri Alavandar's work on the incorrectness and illusion of Maayaavaada.

On the final day when Ramanuja entered the debate hall, Yajnamurthi was waiting for him. On seeing the posture of Ramanuja, the energy and his majestic approach, Yajnamurthi was taken aback and accepted defeat, saying that Ramanuja was one with God and no one can defeat him. Ramanuja, lectured him on deficiencies of Maayaavaada, while Yajnamurthi listened with great attention. At the end, he fell to Sri Ramanuja's feet and requested to be accepted into his order.

Ramanuja accepted him and gave him the title Arulaalap perumaaL emperumaanaar, performed the pancha-samskaram and started teaching him the 4000 Divya Prabandam. Since he was a Sanyaasin, he has set up a monastery at Srirangam. During this time, many Sri vaishnavas from far reaching places traveled to Srirangam, with a desire to meet emperumaanaar. Soon there was confusion as to which emperumaanaar were they willing to meet, as there were two of them. On hearing this Yajnamurthi was distraught, tore down his monastery and requested Ramanuja to take him into his fold permanently. So did Ramanuja and named him Devaraat. Ramanuja also composed a work called Nityam, or the methods of worshiping the God, and appointed Yajnamurthi to the daily worship duty at the ministry. Since then, A.P. emperumaanaar never left Ramanuja's side and learned all the truths of Vedanta.

Sri Mudali AndAn

Sri Mudali AndAn was born in 1027 A.D. at Varadaraja puram near Madras. His parents, Anantha dIkshitar and Naachchiyaar (Sri Raamaanuja's sister), named him as Daasarathi. Since he was one of the foremost disciples of Sri Raamaanuja, he came to be known as Mudaliaandaan.

When Sri Raamaanuja went to Triukottiyur Nambi for upadesam on Tiru mantram, he was asked the reason for bringing Daasarathi and Kuresa with him, inspite of his instruction to come alone. To this, Sir Raamaanuja replied, saying, he had come with his Staff (tiru danda referring to Daasarthi) and Pennant (pavithram referring to Kuresa). Tirukkottiyur Nambi took all three of them and instructed them on the secrets of Tiru Mantram.

Latter, when Sri Raamaanuja was instructing Kuresa on the Charama-Slokam, Daasarathi too wanted to know the meaning of the sloka, and therefore approached Sri Raamaanuja. Due to Tirukkottiyur Nambi's instructions, Sir Raamaanuja, asked Daasarathi to go the him and ask for upadesam on the sloka. Daasarathi went to tirukkottiyur and submitted himself to Nambi, who never gave him contenance. This continued for about Six months and Daasarathi never gave up his resolve. At this point Tirukkottiyur Nambi inquired about his reason for being there. When Daasarathi requested to be taught the meaning of Charama Sloka, he said "Let every trace in thee cease, of the three fold egotism which troubles the mankind, that of talent, wealth and ancestry. Raamaanuja will be the best judge of thee in these matters. Go to him and wait on him and his will and pleasure. He will bless thee". Daasarathi returned to Srirangam, fell to Sri Raamaanuja's feet and related all that happened at Tirukkottiyur. Pleased with Daasarathi, Sri Raamaanuja lauded the change in Daasarathi and started his upadesam on the Charama slokam.

Sri Raamaanuja, latter, started to depend on Daasarathi a lot. While going to kaveri for his daily bath. He used to lean on Daasarathi for support. One day, while on his way to the river, he was asked why, when he donned the robes of a Sannyaasins (ascetic) he did not give up Daasarathi, as that order demanded that all kith and kin should be renounced. To this Raamaanuja replied that Daasarathi was an exception as he was his triplestaff (tirudanda) (the same reason he gave to Tirukkottiyur Nambi) and added "If it is possible for me an ascetic to give up my staff only then can Daasarathi leave me. He, though a bodily relation, is yet a kin to my soul."

When Raamaanuja went to North India to collect the work of Brahma Sutra, he left the Srirangam temple activties in the hand of Daasarathi. Daasarathi composed the taniyan to be sung before Mutal Tiruvantati. He was very well educated in both the Sanskrit and Tamil Vedas and instructed many such as Embar and other on the meaning of Tiruvaimozhi and other paasurams of the 4000 Divya Prabandham.

Sri Koorath Azhvan (Kooresa)

 

Sri Kuresa was born in a village called Kooram near Kanchi in A.D 1008. His parents, who were extremely rich, named him Sri Vatsangar. Because of his background he was called Kooranaatha or kooresa.

When he heard that Sri Ramanuja had joined the monastic order, Kooresa and Dasarathi rejoiced and proceeded to kanchi, where Ramanuja initiated them into Sri Vaishnavam, by performing Pancha-samskaram. Kooresa and Dasarathi were the first disciples of Ramanuja. It is believed that both Dasarathi and Kooresa are the incarnation of the divine symbols of Lord Vishnu, namely, the Conch and the Discus respectively.

After studying under Ramanuja for a while, Kooresa returned to Kooram. There he was very generous with his wealth and used to feed and cloth anyone who came at his door. It is said that the doors at his mansion would close only after the doors at Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal Temple closed.

One day the doors at his mansion closed earlier than usual. The next day, Kanchi Poorna visited him inquiring about the reason for closing his mansion's doors before Sri Varadaraja's doors closed and added that it was the Lord's wish to get an answer from him. On hearing that the noise from his mansion's doors disturbed the Lord, he resolved to forego all his possession and join Ramanuja at Sri Rangam.

Soon Kooresa and Andaal (his wife) were on their way to Sir Rangam. They were walking through a thick forest, which Kooresa's wife was not used to. Soon she stopped Kooresa and asked him if the path they had taken was safe. To this, Kooresa replied, there was no reason to be afraid as long as they do not have anything of value with them. Smt Andaal replied that she had brought a small cup made in gold to fetch water for Kooresa. He immediately took the cup and threw it away, saying her fears has been defeated. When they arrived at Sri Rangam, Ramanuja invited them with a warn reception. Kooresa and Andaal then made Sri Rangam as their home.

Kooresa assisted Ramanuja in writing the Sri Bhasya. It is said that, he accompanied Ramanuja to Kashmir and studied Bodhayana-vriti; a gloss on the Brahma-sutras, which was available only there. He committed the entire text to memory when the authorities in charge of the manuscript did not permit Ramanuja to take it with him. He helped Ramanuja in writing the Sri Bhasya by reciting the relevant passages of the Vritti.

When Ramanuja was ordered by Kulottunka to appear before him and admit Siva's supremacy, kooresa feared for Ramanuja's life. He convinced Ramanuja to switch robes and appeared before the king in Ramanuja's ascetic robes. He lost his eyes when he was not able to create conviction in favor of Vishnu in the mind of the King. His devotion to the Lord was such that he was able to visualize the divine vision of Lord Varadaraja at Kanchi and describe Him to Ramanuja.

Kooresa and Andaal had two sons, Parasara bhattar and Vedavyasa bhattar, who became great scholars during their times. Kooresa composed five poems, collectively known as Panchasthavam, in addition to some Granthas. The five poems are:

1. Sri Vaikuntha Stava
2. Sri Atimaanusa Stava
3. Sir Sundarabaahu Stava
4. Sri Varadaraaja Stava
5. Sri Stava

Shri Ramanuja

Shri Ramanuja 

 

(also known as Ilaya Perumal) was born to Kesava Perumal Somayaji Dikhsitar and Kanthimathi Ammal at Sriperum pudur. He was born in Kaliyuga year 4119 which corresponds to1017 AD. PPM fixes even the exact date as 13th April 1017 AD, interms of English Calendar (the date of birth is placed differently by different authorities). Within 16 years of age, he had mastered all the Vedas and Sastras. At age 17, he married Rakshakaambaal ( Tanjammal, in Tamil).  Ramanuja was placed under the Advaitic Sannyasi called Yadava Prakasa at Tirupput kuzhi for training in Advaita Purva Paksha Sastra of Vedanta. Very many occasions arose when the Ramanuja clashed with Yadava when he  misinterpreted Vedantic statements. Ramanuja fearlessly pointed out the errors in his Guru's interpretations and corrected him. This enraged the Yadav. Fearing that one day, Ramanuja  would demolish Advaita philosophy, he plotted to kill him by drowning him in river Gangess while on a pilgrimage tour of the country with his disciples. Learning of the design through one Govinda, another disciple who was also related to him, Ramanuja  slipped out into the forest at dead of night and escaped death.

Once during this period, Alavandar who desired nominating Ramanuja to succeed himself visited Tirupput kuzhi, met with him but had no opportunity to speak to him and had to return to Srirangam. When Alavandar was old and sick he sent Periya Nambi to bring Ramanuja to Srirangam. However, before they could reach Srirangam, Alavandar attained Vaikundam. Ramanuja returned to Kanchi after promising to satisfy the three requests from Alavandar:

1. Compose a commentary on Upanishads, Vedanta Sutras and Bhagavad Gita
2. Compose a commentary on Tiruvaymozhi of St. Nammaazhvaar
3. The name of Parasara, should be commemorated on the earth by giving it to a person worthy to bear it.

Ramanuja returned to Srirangam after taking up the ascetic order. Ramanuja's two important disciples, Koorathazhcan and Mudaliandan accompanied him and stayed with him at Srirangam. While in Srirangam he made sure that Alavandar's teachings and his desires are met. He became popular and converted many to Sri Vaishnava Sampradhayam, including Yadava Prakasa, who became his disciple.

While in Srirangam he composed many works such as Vedanta Sangraham, Vedanta Sara, Vedanta Deepam, and Geetha Bashyam. During Panguni Uttram, he did Prapatti before the Divya Dhampathi in Serthi and submitted his famous Gadhyatrayam
(comprising Saranagathi Gadhyam, Sriranga Gadhyam and Sri Vaikunta Gadhyam ). Later, he wrote a Grantha called Nityam detailing the Tiruvaradhana Kramam.

He wanted to know the meaning for the secret mantra,  known as tirumantra. So he approached Tiruk kottiyur nambi, a disciple of Alavandar. Nambi refused to grant his request and made him go back to Srirangam. This continued for about 17 times. On his 18th attempt, Nambi oblidged Ramanuja's request and started teaching him the meaning of the mantra. At the end of the upadesam, Nambi extracted a promise from Ramanuja that he would not reveal the mantras to those unqualified to receive them. However, the following day, Ramanuja went to the nearby temple hall of terk kazhvan at tiruk kottiyur and announced the sacred mantra to all those assembled there. When Nambi heared this, he demanded an explanation from Ramanuja for his direct disobedience. To this, Ramanuja, replied that if the act of his results in thousand souls reaching Vaikundam, he would be glad to be burned in hell (Burning in hell is the punishment for those who disobey their guru's commands). On hearing the explanation, Nambi was speachless and embracing him gave him the title Emperumaanaar. Since then Ramanuja's followers are known as Creed of Emperumaanaar.

In order to fulfill his promise to Alavandar, Ramanuja and Koorathazhvan went on a pilgrimage to North India. There they studied the text of Vedavyasa's Brahma Sutram. With the help of Koorathazhvan's memory, he was able to write a commentary, Sri Bashyam for the text. Thus he fulfilled the First promise made to Alavandar.

One day, while he was meditating in silence, on one of the paasurams of Tiruvaimozhi, one of his disciples called Pillan walked in and inquired if he was meditating on the particula hymn. Sencing the vision of Pillan, Ramanuja entrusted the task of writing a commentary on Tiruvaimozhi to Pillan. When the commentary was written, Ramanuja titled him Tirukkurugai Piraan. Thus his second promise to Alavandar was fulfilled.

When koorathazhvan had two children, both boys, Ramanuja and Govinda visited him. Ramanuja was very happy to see the two bright boys and ordered Govinda to perform pancha-samskaram and name them as Parasara Bhatta and Vyasa Bhatta, thus fulfilling the third and the final wish of Alavandar.

Ramanuja, restored many temples to the Vaishnava tradition, including Tirumala, Melukote (Tiru Narayanapuam). He was a great social reformer, and converted many irrespective of cast origins to Sri Vaishnavam and taught them Divya Prabandam. He established a list of 74 Simhasana Adhipathis for the sole purpose of promoting and teaching Sri Vaishnavam. With his head on the lap of Embar and his feet on the lap of Vaduga Nambi, Ramanuja breathed his last in 1137 AD listening to the recitation of the Divya Prabandam 

Gogadev