Sripad Ramanujacharya is the founder acharya of the Sri Sampradaya, the school of Vaisnavism or Visnu worship which traces its roots to Lakshmidevi or Sri, the eternal consort of Lord Visnu.
The acharya appears
Sri Ramanujacharya, is an incarnation of Sri Lakshmana, the younger brother of Lord Rama. He appeared in the month of Caitra (April-May) in 1017 AD to Asuri Kesavacharya and Kantimati in the village of Bhutapuri (presently known as Sri Perambudur).
Sailapurna, an exalted devotee and disciple of Yamunacharya, named him Ramanuja which means “younger (anuja) brother of Lord Rama”. He married to Rakshambal at the age of 16.
After his father’s demise, he moved to Kancipuram along with his family. In Kanchipuram he joined the school of Yadavaprakasa. Yadavaprakasa was a renowned Vedic scholar but he was a Mayavadi.
Ramanuja soon started exposing the hollowness and inaccuracies of Mayavada philosophy which infuriated Yadavaprakasa. The relationship had deteriorated so much that once Yadavaprakasa decided to kill Ramanuja but he was miraculously saved by Lord Vardraj.
Unique rendezvous with Yamunacharya
Yamunacharya, one of the foremost acharya of Sri Vaisnavism, once saw Ramanuja and he immediately understood that Ramanuja is the one who is going to revive Vaisnavism and will play a major role in uprooting Mayavada philosophy.
Yamunacharya asked his disciple Mahapurna to bring Ramanuja. Upon hearing that the great Yamunacharya had invited him, Ramanuja immediately left for Sri Ranagam along with Mahapurna. But by the time they arrived the great sage had left this world for the spiritual abode.
In front of the great sage’s spiritual body hundreds of his disciples and scores of admirers were mourning. However, there was something unique which everyone was observing, Yamunacharya’s three fingers of the right hand was tightly closed. Ramanuja through his spiritual prowess understood Yamuncharya’s heart and he took three vows:
- I will spread the message of Lord Vishnu and worship Him with unflinching devotion.
- I will write Sri Bhasya, commentary on Vedanta sutra to establish the supremacy of Lord Vishnu.
- I will name one of my disciples after Parasara Muni, the great sage and writer of Vishnu Purana.
To the utter surprise of all, Yamunacharya’s three closed fingers opened one by one as Ramanuja took the three vows.
The Mission Begins
Ramanuja now had a new mission of his life. He soon took initiation from Mahapurna, later he took sannyas and upon the request of many devotees became the successor of Yamuncharya at Sri Rangam.
His exemplary life, extraordinary devotion, philosophy and prolific writings brought a revolution, tens and thousands of people became his followers.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the acharyas of Brahma Madhava Gaudiya Sampradaya have always extolled the contribution of Sri Ramanujacharya. Both the sampradays – the Brahma-Madhava Gaudiya sampradaya and Sri Sampradaya – emphasizes on selfless, unconditional, unmotivated and uninterrupted devotion to the Lord.
Srila Prabhupada has quoted Ramanuja profusely in his teachings and writings and have recommended us to study his life and advised us to follow his footsteps.
Few of the incidents discussed below allows us to understand the mood and mission of the great acharya.
Service to the devotees
Ramanujacharya emphasized that when we serve the devotees without any discrimination then it attracts the mercy of the Supreme Lord and the great sages.
Once on his way to Tirupati, Ramanujacharya, came to a village where lived a wealthy man who was his disciple. The acharya asked his assistants to go and inform his wealthy disciple that they all will be spending night at his home.
Upon hearing this, the wealthy man was excited. He called all his family members informing them about this exciting news and immediately started making various arrangements so that he could serve his beloved guru opulently.
After delivering the message, the assistants returned and informed Ramanujacharya that his disciple is making elaborate preparations to welcome him. But when Ramanujacharya asked them how they were served the disciples remained mum.
Upon prodding they revealed that they were not offered even a glass of water nor a place to sit.
Ramanujacharya is upset
Ramanujacharya was appalled at the behavior of his rich disciple. He decided not to go to his house.
Instead he decided to visit the house of a poor person who was also his disciple. Ramanujacharya along with his followers arrived at the doorstep of the poor man. It was a humble house.
A pious lady opened the door, her husband was not at home. She was happy to see Ramanujacharya and other devotees. The lady welcomed them, gave them a place to sit and requested them to have prasad. She then rushed to the kitchen. There was nothing in the kitchen to cook.
She was desperately thinking what to do. She remembered a wealthy man who liked her but she had always ignored him. From the other door of the house she went to the man and shamefacedly said that she is ready to fulfill his lusty desires provided he gives her grains, vegetables, spices and other ingredients to cook nice food.
The wealthy man happily agreed to the proposal. A nice feast was cooked. Ramanujacharya and the assembled disciples were pleased.
Meanwhile the husband came and he was pleasantly surprised to see his beloved guru and his godbrothers enjoying sumptuous food. He inquired from his wife, “How did you manage to get these foodstuffs?”
The chaste wife hung her head in shame and told the truth. The husband did not become angry and he was not also upset. He in fact appreciated the sacrifice which she was making to serve the devotees.
Ramanujacharya saves his disciples
Both went to Ramanujacharya and narrated the whole incident. Ramanujacharya asked them not to worry. He asked them to feed his remnants to the wealthy man. And as soon as the rich man ate the prasad, his heart got cleansed of lusty desires.
He realized how filthy his thoughts were, he begged for forgiveness from the noble lady and decided to take shelter of Ramanujacharya.
Ramanujacharya had refused to visit the house of his wealthy disciple because he neglected his god brothers but he was so happy at the humble house of his poor disciples as they were lovingly serving him and also honouring all the other disciples. Ramanujacharya often said, “If you want to please me, please my devotees.”
Celebrating humility
Lord Chaitanya in His Sri Siksastakam prayers underlines that we can chant the holy names of the Lord only when we are humble.
“One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.”
One of the incidents of Ramanuja highlights that how humility is the bedrock of Sri Vaisnavism philoshy.
Once Ramanujacharya decided to visit the temple of Lord Balaji in Tirupati. When Sri Sailapurna, an exalted Vaisnava who was also senior to him in age, heard that Ramanujacharya is coming, he came down from the top of the hill to receive Ramajucharya.
He welcomed him by offering prasad and garland. Ramanujacharya was surprised, “Why did you come? You are my guru and an esteemed saint. Why did you not send a junior person to receive me?”
Sri Sailapurna said, “I was looking all around Tirumala to find a person junior to me but I could not find anyone. I was the junior most, so I came.” Ramanujacharya understood the lesson.
In the eyes of the Supreme Lord, real greatness is in humility and genuine eagerness to serve all the devotees and be the servant of the servant of all the devotees.
The Spiritual Warrior
This year is very special for all the Vasinavas of the world because this year we are celebrating 1000th birth anniversary of Sri Ramanujacharya.
He lived in this world for 120 years. He established seventy – four centres of Sri Vaisnavas. His followers included 700 sannyasi disciples, 12,000 brahmachari disciples and 300 ladies who had taken the vow of renunciation.
He influenced the lives of thousands of people including several kings, influential minsters and landlords. The great sage wrote several books. His commentary on Vedanta (Sri Bhasya), commentary on Bhagavad Gita, his Vedanta – Sara and Vedartha-Sangraha are most famous.
He laid down the following guidelines for all the devotees who sincerely and seriously want to practice devotional life:
- Worship all the Vaisnavas daily and associate with them the way you worship your Guru and serve them with firm faith.
- Study the Vedic scriptures reverentially and teach others whom are interested.
- Chant the holy names of the Supreme Lord with devotion and relish the form and qualities of the Lord.
His life was exemplary, his love for the Lord was supreme. As a spiritual warrior, he established the unadulterated teachings of the Vedic literatures.
To honour this venerable saint, Sri Vaisnavas under the leadership of His Holiness Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji have installed 216 feet statue of Sri Ramanujacharya in Shamshabad, Hyderabad, Telangana. This statue is called as Statue of Equality and it is surrounded by 108 divya – desams.
