23

Ic:

LttpIE

THE
YAISHNAYITE REFORMERS OF INDIA
CRITICAL SKETCHES OF

THEIR LIVES AND WRITINGS

BY

T.

RAJAGOPALA CHARTAR,

PRICE

RF:.

M.A., B.L.

ONK.

PUBLISHED BY
G.

A NATESAN &

CO.,

ESPLANADE,

ronp CONCERN
fic

Building

HIS LIPE
BY

C. N.

.*

AND TIMES

KUISHNASWAMI AIYAK,

M.A,, L.T.

HIS PHILOSOPHY
BY PANDIT SITANATII TATTVABHUSHAN.
Price As. 12.
To Subscriber* of

the

" Indian Her

law," As. S.

Madfiwa^RTadliwaism

Sri

A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL SKETCH

IIY 0-

N.

KUISHNASWAMV

AIYA1I,

M.A

Price AS. 12.

To Subscribers of

SRI

"

Imiitiit

/iW'jV?/',"

As. S.

RAMANUJAGHARYA
'HIS

S.

the

LIFE AND TIMES

KRISHNASWAMI AIYANGAll, M.A

HIS PHILOSOPHY

BY

T.

RAJAGOPALACHARIAR,

M.A., B.L.

Price As. 12.

To Subscribers of
G- A-

NATESAN

&

the

CO.,

*'

Indian Review" As.

8.

ESPLANADE, MADRAS.

CONTENTS.
FACE.

noN

...

...

...

'lamuni

...

...

....

Pundavikuksha

...

...

...

12

ya

...

...

...

2i>

Raroarmjacharya
Sri

Vedanta

Chaitanya

...

iK'sika

Manavala Mulia

]\funi

...

!>7

INTRODUCTION,

These are a

series

the

of Seven Essays on

Lives and Writings of the principal religious

reformers of the Vaishnavite or Yisishtadwaita

The treatment

School of India.
historical

been given to the

activity.

literary

clear

Vaishnavaism

is

side of this School's

account of the growth of

intended to be conveyed by

these Lives of Eminent Keformers, and

rence has throughout been

lopment

and

prominence has also

but special

is critical

of doctrines.

made

refe-

to the deve-

special

chapter

is

devoted to the exposition of the Visishtadwaita philosophy

according to Ramanuja.

The growth
is

of

Yaishnavaism in Northern India

briefly dealt with in the last Essay, that

Sri

Chaitanya,

career

is

that

great

Saint's

also fully described.

The Vedantic
three

wherein

on

main

school of India consists

of

sub-divisions, whose founders, as

popularly understood, are the great philoso-

phers

Sankaracharya,

Eamanujacharya, and

INTRODUCTION.

11

All

Madbwacharya.

these are Vedantists in

the sense that they acknowledge the

Upanishads, and follow

bility of the

infalli-

its

teach-

though

differing in their interpretations

of the same.

All these three systems or at

ings,

two are of considerable antiquity.

Sankara was preceded by Gkmdapada, and he,
least the first

earlier teachers

by

have branched

and these again seem to

from an

without

possibly

The Eamanuja
-

adwaitic

earlier

which preached the one-ness of

school,

very

off

the

School, as

Grod,

Maya-doctrine.

we show

these

in

pages, had an ancestry of great repute, commencing from the sage Bodhayana, who was
perhaps only slightly removed from the author
of the

Vedanta Sutras, known

and unanimously

identified

Badarayana
by Indian writers

with Vyasa, the author of the

And

if

practical
tical

as

the

Visishtadwaitic

and

with the

there

is

as

Mahabharata.
school

Sectarian

aspect,

ancient

Bhagavata

every reason to

in

its

iden-

is

School,,

suppose,

then

indeed we shall be justified in sayi?ig that

the origin of this school is to be fixed at some

INTRODUCTION.
centuries

prior

to the

lift

Christian

era.

It is

impossible to fix the exact dates of the Sutras,

or the Bhagavadgita, or the earlier

tra Tantras which are

Bhagavata school

their probable dates

in

much

Panchara-

the foundation of the

and any speculation

as

to

has not hitherto resulted

But there are enough?

existence from which the continui-

positive good.

materials in

ty of the Vaishnavite philosophy and traditions

can be inferred
is,

and the object of these pages

show the outline of the his-

in the main, to

tory of the Vaishnavite religious

movement,

as

may be gathered from the literary works

and traditions prevalent in the community.
far as

Colebrooke,

whose name

is

unmistakably
connected with the origin of accurate knowledge in almost every department of Sanskrit
scholarship, has left a clear, if brief, account of

Eamanuja's Bhashya, and the Visishtadwaitic

School.
Next to him Dr. Thibaut, whose
1

labours in the field of Indian research, have

earned for him the gratitude of

'\alue their philosophy, has
i

Bhashya

all

Hindus who

made Eamanuja's

accessible to scholars

by

his

monu-

INTRODUCTION.

iv

mental translation of the same.

The Com-

mentary on the Bhagavad-Grita, by Karnanujacharya, has been rendered into English by Mr.
A. Govindacharya of Mysore, and is a useful
book for reference. But with the exception
of these works, the vast Vaishnavite literature,

philosophical and religious,

is

yet inaccessible

to the English-knowing public.

Some

idea of

may be gathered from the references

in these pages, wherein the most important
works are named and their contents briefly
its

extent

described.

The Vaishnavite

literature

of South

India

has been deeply influenced by the Tamil works

of the Alwars, of whom a brief account is to

be found in the beginning of the last of the

The Alwars were pracessays of this series.
tically the earliest Brahmin missionaries to the
South.

propagated the devotional

aspect of the Vedanta in the Tamil land, and
used the language of the people with great
effect.

They

The present work does not

deal with

and writings, beyond making the

brief reference already alluded to.
But the
their lives

INTRODUCTION.

Tamil poems of the Alwars will repay careful

study by Tamil scholars interested in examining the history and progress of Vaishnavaism.
in India.

The

teachers and reformers whose lives are

described in these pages comprise, with one

exception, the leading Vaishnava philosophers
of South India,
to us.

from the

earliest

time known

It will be seen that there is a contin-

uity of the list from at least the beginning of

the 9th century to the end of the fifteenth

century.

We

have not cared to devote

much

space to questions of chronological nicety, for

the simple reason that the traditional dates of

these writers are in

the main extremely pro-

bable and sufficiently accurate.

In one in-

we have, at some length, discussed the date, namely the date of Sri Vedanta Desika's death ; and this we have done,
stance, however,

to explain

an apparent discrepancy between

the traditional date and the date disclosed by
a Srirangam
As to the correctInscription.
ness of our conclusion on this
point we leave it
to specialists in Indian
chronology to judge.

INTRODUCTION.

VI

In the preparation of these pages,

we have

under contribution many existing works,

literary and philosophical, in Sanskrit and
laid

Tamil, that have reference to Vaishnavaism.

The Tamil guruparamparas,

of which there

are two or three recensions, are however the

fullest biographies available and they have
been fully utilized. Among works in English
to which we are indebted, we must mention

Mr. A.

Grovindacharya's

numerous works on

Vaishnavaism and especially his extensive Life

of Eamanuja.
Other works used by us are referred to in the course of these pages,

no

specific

The

and need

mention here.

Life of Sri Chaitariya has been added

here, as an example.,

and a remarkable exam-

ple, of the

product of Vaishnavaism in Northern

India.

is

Ifc

not, however, clear

that he owed

Eamanuja's teachings or
anything
the works of his School.
But we have every
directly to

reason to suppose, as we point out in the essay

on Sri Chaitanya, that the Vaishnava Eenais-

sance

in

Northern India was the result of

Eamanuja's propagation of

this

faith in the

INTRODUCTION.
South, and for

this reason,

growth of Northern

Vll

we have

traced the

Vaishnavaism as an intro-

duction to Chaitanya's Life.

In conclusion, we hope that in placing these

pages before the public, we shall induce some
at least

ment

who

feel

an interest

in the

develop-

examine the original

materials and work out an ample history of
of Vaishnavaism, to

which we have ventured to present the barest

outline.

MADRAS
RAS:

^)

T. R.
la*

Feb 1909. J
-.

Hatbamuni*
URING

the latter half of the

9th century
A. D. and the beginning of the 10th, there

lived

Trichinopoly,

in the

town

of Srirangam, near
Vaishnavaite scholar

learned

Ranganathacharya, more
Nathamuni, or the sage Natha.

named

in popular tradition,

with

usually

He

having

is

called

credited,

reached

the

fabulous age of over 500 years and to have closed

his career at

Chidambaram Taluk,

the Chola rulers

of

the

was a native

modern Mannargudi,

of Yiranarayanapura, the

of the

He

about 920 A. D.

in the

day,

dominions of

who had

not yet

which preceded their final

of
the
13th century.
He was
decline in the end

risen to the greatness

probably a descendant of early Vaishnava immigrants, from the banks of the Jumna and other
parts of the north,

who

carried the Bhagavata or

the Pancharatra, cult to

the

south and laid the

foundation for the spread of Yaishnavaism during the second to the seventh centuries of the
Christian era which were

the palmy

days of the

''<*

NATfl^MUNI.

The period

Pallava rule.

just

mentioned was the

period of the Vaishnavaite Alwars,

most revered
the last

is

is

Tirumangaialwar.
of

of

whom

the

Nammalwar and

or

Satagopa

The

was a

latter

Tirugnana Sam band har,

the Saiva

contemporary
and of the Pallava ruler Narasimhavarrnan

saint,
I.

of

Kanchi (A. D. 625645). The

earlier

Alwar

must have lived long before this period, possibly

in the opening years

of

the Christian era.

He

was a native of the city of Kiu-ukai, now AlvvarTirunagari, near Tinnevell} on the Tambraparni,
7

in the

over

Pandyas, and composed

thousand stanzas in classical Tamil.

kingdom
a

The

of

the

literature of

thorough knowledge

the

Alwars presupposes a
Krishna stories and

of the

the stories of the earlier avatars of Vishnu, and

to such
impassioned references
in
the
of
the
even
earliest
of the
stories,
songs
the
South
show
that
must
have
been
Alwars,

the frequent

flooded with these marvellous

early

period.

while at

the

The

legends

story goes that

Vishnu

temple

of

at a

very
JSTathamuni

Mannargudi,

(Chidambaram Taluk), his native place, heard

some Brahmins from the southern end of the
Peninsula recite Tamil verses of Satakopa address-

ed to the Vishnu God of

Kumbhnkonam and was

NATHAMUNI.

charmed with

their sense

and

diction.

He

also

found that these verses concluded with the words

" These

10 out of the thousand, composed by

Satakopa." Nathamuni, thus placed in the track
of research, seems to have finally

recovered the

whole of Satakopa.'s works, and he then arranged

them and the extant works of the other Alwars
collections of about a thousand stanzas

into four

He

each.

is

also said to

have brought about the

system of regular recitation of these texts during

the festivals of the God at Srirangam and the

system obtains even to this day in most ancient

temples dedicated to Vishnu. Nathamuni was, we

may

take

it,

well-versed in

ture cf the day and

is

the

Sanskrit litera-

said to have been an adept

in yoga and to have been the last to

in this part of

India.

He

is

said to

practise

it

have com-

posed a work called

Nyayatatwa, and a work on

The Yoga Rahasya' Neither
yoga philosophy,
of the works seems to be extant now, but extracts
from the former are given in the Nyayasidhanl

jana,

work

of

Venkatanatha, or the famous

Vedanta Desika, a voluminous Vaishnava writer

and Tamil (A.D. 12691370), conwith

the equally famous Vidyaranya,
temporary
The Nyayatatwa
the
minister.
Vijianagar
in Sanskrit

NATHAMUNI.

seems to have been an elaborate treatise covering

field of philosophy from the point of

the whole

view

of the

Ramanuja

Though

possibly a

niuni has

school

writers

further by later

Natha-

good Tamil scholar,

no Tamil work

left

and was developed

the same school.

of

of his

own behind,

except a few memorial verses prefixed to the

works of three of the Alwars, namely, Nammalwar,

Yishnuchitta and Mathurakavi.

Sanskrit verses

malwar are

The
of

Certain similar

works

of

Nam-

also ascribed to him.

worship as observed in Vishnu

based on two early standard works.

ritual of

temples

One

prefixed

to the

is

them

is

known

as the

Yaikhanasa sutra,

probably belonging to the black Yajur-Veda

The other work is the Pancharatra
school.

Agama

belonging to the extensive Tantra

litera-

have been composed

by God Narayana Himself. In addition to laying
down the modes of worship both in temples and
ture, popularly believed

at houses, the

Agama

to

contains rules

of

conduct

for the Vaishnavaites and has a peculiar philoso-

phy of its own, namely, that of the Bhagavata cult.

The system is, of course, of very ancient date and
is

referred in the

Mahabharata

and the Badara-

yana sutras on Uttara Mimansa are understood to

NATHAMUNI.

refer to this philosophy in the

four sutras that

Nathaconclude Pada II of the 2nd Adhyaya.

muni's contribution to the ritual was the provision for the recitation of the Tamil

works of the Alwars came to be

vedas, as the

collectively called,

on appropriate occasions during the main festivals

of the God.
The immediate effect of such an

arrangement was the

study of the Tirib-

critical

voymozhi as Satagopa's

work

is

called

usually

and, from this time forward, a school of combined

Sanskrit and Tamil scholarship arose, which devel-

oped into great importance in later days and

finally divided the Vaishnava sect into the two
forms of the Northern and the Southern or the
Vadagalai and the Tengalai sections. The first
commentary on the work of Satagopa was,however,
written

only

in

the twelfth

the close of Ramanuja's

We

have

Nathamuni

no

means

life

of

century towards
by a pupil of his.

ascertaining

whether

was a complete follower of

doctrines that

now go by

the

name

all

of

the
the

Ranianuja school, but as he is traditionally conis

to be
sidered the founder of that school, it

presumed that he was.

laid

We

shall see further

on

Yamunacharya has really

grandson
the foundation for all the doctrines that now

that his

NATHAMUNI.

The doctrine pecu-

go under Ramanuja's name.

liar to the

and

school

Ramanuja

considerably

elaborated by the religious teachers

who

ed him

or surrender

to

God

the doctrine of Prapathi

is

is

of

Bhashya

but

is

already and

It

Ramanuja.

by

Nathamuni

is

practically

Tantra referred to

a cardinal doctrine of the Vaishna-

is

his

It

practical religion.

said to have
practice

This

slight basis

not referred to in the

founded on the Pancharatra

vaite in

faith.

considered to have some

in the Upanishads,

Sri

and

in absolute renunciation

doctrine

succeed-

been

and

accepted

the sage
after him.

is,

however,

brought into

Satakopa himself and by

The

details

of the doc-

trine are a fruitful source of

controversy among
Ramanuja and a very respectable
literature is even now extant on the

the followers of

amount

of

subject.

few anecdotes

of

Nathamuni's

life

are not

Readers
uninteresting and may bo mentioned.
the
that
of
great
Ramayana will remember how

work

is said to have been published for

the first
time by being sung in the court of Rama himself
by two musical pupils of Valmiki, the author, who

afterwards turned out to be Rama's sons.

Tamil songs of

Satakopa

are

The

similarly sung to

NATHAMUNI.

this

Nathamuni

and other

Sri ran gam

day at

is

to

said

have

set

and

places

them

to

music

The music
soon after his discovery of the work.
a
kind
not
of
celestial
easily apprewas, however,
ciable
girl

by ordinary

of

the

folk.

time

It is said that a

sang

songs

in

dancing

the celestial

tune in the court of the Chola king of the day

whose capital was Gangaigonda Cholapuram, in
the

Trichinopoly

birthplace of

have

slighted

the

not

District,

far

The king

Nathamuni.

musician

as

he

from
is

the

said to

could

not

appreciate the celestial note and to. have preferred

another singer who sang the usual tunes. The

former dancing girl soon after reached Yira-

narayanapura and sang before the god of that

place and was warmly appreciated by Nathamuni
as tho music was after his

own

heart.

The Chola

kir.g, on hearing of the Muni's appreciation, paid

a visit to the shrine and meeting Nathamuni

inquired the reason of his appreciation of the unNathamuni

It is said that
tune.

familiar

directed a

number

of bronze

cymbals of different
weights to be sounded together and forthwith described correctly their different weights from a
perception of the acute differences
of the notes.

The

king,

in

admiring

the pitches
his peculiar

NATHAMUNI.

8
powers,

was

celestial

tune to which the Tamil songs had been

set.

It

may

of the

satisfied

superiority

of the

upset chronology, as ascertained at

Gangaikonda Choi apu ram

early as the end of the 9th cen-

present, to be told that

was founded
tury, as

it is

so

usually associated with Rajaraja the

Paramount of Southern India

mount the throne till 985 A.D.;

Great, the Lord

who

did

not

but we may take it that the site of the city was

even then an alternative capital of the Cholas
Uraiyur, near Trichinopoly, which was no
doubt the metropolis of the dominions. Contact

with

with the Chola ruler

both in the

life of

son Yamunacharya and

ference

is

to the

is

frequently mentioned

Nathamuni and
it

is

of

his grand-

clear that

the re-

Chola ruler when he went into

residence at the secondary capital above referred

though no doubt both the sages spent a large

portion of their later lives at Srirangam which

to,

was near the permanent

capital Uraiyur.

More

correctly speaking, Uraiyar bad ceased to be the

capital by this time. Tanjore had not yet become

the capital of the Cholas.

Another anecdote

in

the

connects him with the Tamil

life

poet

author of the Tamil Ramayana.

of

Nathamuni

Kamban, the
It is said that

NATHAMUNI.

this future Poet- Laureate of various kings

posed his grand

poem

com-

at the residence of his first

patron Sadagopa Mudaliar

at Tiruvannainallur,

generally assumed to be the place of that name

in the South Arcot District, and went about the

country

reading

out

soliciting favourable

portions of his

On

an assembly
Nathamuni. It

reaching Srirangam he had

of Pandits presided over

to face

would seem that the

was at

latter

work and

scholars.

opinions of

by

first

not ap-

preciative but was finally won over by the intrinsic merit of the production.

It

is

also sup-

posed that an existing poem of over 100 stanzas

on Satakopa is by Kamban and was composed to
This anecdote
honour the Vaishnava Alwar.

may appear
of the

nent

Tamil scholars

to be the invention of

Yaishnava persuasion

Kamban

into the

Nathamuni

-Satakopa and

with the general opinion

to

fold of

and
that

bring the emithe admirers of

is

incompatible

Kamban was

the

Kulottunga I. who reigned from

But there is a tradition embodied

court-poet of

1070 A.D.

in an ancient Tamil verse that

his

Ramayana

ing to A.D. 885.

accurate,

there

Kamban composed

in the saka year 807, correspond-

is

If this is to be relied upon as

no inherent improbability in

NATHAMUNI.

10
the

story

of

Natbamuni

young Kauiban meeting the sage

must have been then well

vvbo

avdanced in years.
In accordance with

the custom of the times,

Nathamuni went on a tour

bo

Northern

visiting the scenes of Krishna's birth

and the neighbouring

places.

His

India,

Muttra

at

ex

travels

tended to the distent Badaii or Baorinath on the

north, Dvvarka, Krishna's capital

on

the

coast.

and

west

Natharnuni's

Jagannar.h
travel

Kathiawar

in

on the

was

eastern

apparently for

pilgrimage and not for religious propagandists,

was that of Sankara before him or of

as

Ramanuja

afterwards.

It

commemo-

was in

ration of this visit, with his son and daughter-in-

law, to the banks of the

Yamuna

or

Jumna, that

born about A. D. 916,

his grandson,

have been named Yamuna.

is

said to

Nathamuni returned

due course via Jagannath and is

said to have lived a few years only after the birtb
to the south in

of his grandson.

The
of

the

story

of

ardent

have been.

Nathamuni's death
devotee

One

day

that

he

party

is

of

is

worthy

reputed

to-

huntsmen

headed by the Chola king rode past the residence

of

Nathamuni

at

Yiranarayanapura.

The

sage,

NATHAMUNI.

1 1

interrupted in his meditations by the

attendant

opened his eyes and, construing the party

to be the divine Rama and his brother, on whom r
bustle,

we may

suppose, his thoughts

followed

in meditation,

walked

and

steps till the very

Ohola capital Gangaikondapuram r
dropped down dead through sheer

and there

famous

the track of the party

weary

the

gates of

fatigue.

with

were wholly bent

His son Isvvaramuni, the father of the

Yarn una chary a, duly discovered
his

whereabouts and did the funeral obsequies which

the remains of the illustrious man demanded.

The
left

duration

of

Nathamuni's

undetermined, as

life

we cannot accept

must

be

as reliable

the traditional accounts which assign a period of

from 350 to 500 years for the sage.
must,

We

for the present, be satisfied

the

was

born

of the

9th

sage

quarter

just over a

with supposing that

somewhere
century

hundred years,

an

in

the

and that he

first

lived

age exceeded by

by Vidyaranya, and by his

Vedanta
Desika, if the traditions
contemporary,
that can be proved to have been current from the

Ramanuja

fifteenth
true.

himself,

century

downwards

be

accepted

as

[punbarihafcsba.
OTHING

as the high pedestal on

the spiritual teacher

cit faith

is

which

placed and the impli-

which the community has

in

him

for weal

Nor

is the feeling one of recent growth.

"
Only when
Chandogya Upanishad says

or woe.

The

Hindu

us so peculiar in

strikes

religious life

studied under a teacher does any knowledge be" He who has a teacher
come excellent."

Again

The Kathopanishad proclaims " He

the Lord intensely and loves his Guru

alone knows."

who

loves

Lord Himself, is alone fit to receive the

Highest Wisdom." And the Bhagavad Gita in
Ch. XIII mentions the worship of the Acharya

as the

as

an attitude worthy

ing devotee.

of

attainment by the aspir-

The puranic

literature,

as

may

be

expected, amplifies these sentiments with exemplary stories of devotion

and blind obedience on

the part of the pupils.

The

the Mahabharata

is

story of Ekalavya in

frequently referred to as to

the efficacy of Guru-worship even

himself

is indifferent.

For

when the Guru

this Ekalavya,

who was

PUNDARIKAKSHA.
refused

13
the famous

instruction by Dronacharya

teacher of the Pandus and Kurus, set up an image

of Drona and, by ardent practice in the inspiring
presence of that image, attained to such eminence
in the use of the

bow and arrow that Drona him-

was staggered, and rather cruelly demanded

the surrender of his thumb, which order the
self

duteously

pupil

It

obeyed.

is,

Hindu

characteristic feature of the

therefore,

pupil that he

brought up under a system which places the

personal influence and inspiration of the teacher
is

more potent

as a

than

all

himself.

pupil

factor in

instruction

effective

the industry and the intelligence of the

And

great

teachers,

geniuses

though some of them have been, have studiously

refrained from asserting any doctrine as of their

own

invention

and have always modestly and

Guru

gratefully referred to their

of

all

their

and

the

inspirations.

power
The word

interpreted to

mean Secret

'

Upanishad
doctrine' or

and the greatest caution

teacher will freely impart

as the origin

source

is
it

observed

of their

has been
*

Rahasya*
before a

to a pupil. It appears

moderns a mistaken policy to restrict the

spread of knowledge of whatever kind, and the
to us

spirit of secrecy

or

disinclination

to teach

the

14

PUNDARIKAKSHA.

greatest truths seeins

of a

more worthy

new manufacturing

of the inventor
of the

process, jealous

and desirous

infringement of his rights

of turning

knowledge to the best pecuniary advantage.

The explanation seems to be, in part at least,
his

that in times

when manuscripts were

rare or

possibly writing was unknown, all knowledge was

confined in the memory of a few learned men and

the system continued long after the

But there was another

ceased.

need for

it

factor in question

which certainly helped to perpetuate the system

of secret instruction.
That w-^s the necessity felt

by the teacher to ascertain the fabric of the

pupil's mind and ensure its being of a sufficiently
close texture for the

purpose both of retaining

imparted by him and of afterwards utilizing it for the pupil's further spiritual advanceIt is not a proposition difficult to maintain
ment.

what

is

that

certain positions in
philosophy appear
untenable to minds constituted in one way but

are lucidly self-evident to other minds that have

had a different course

of

preparatory

is

to

some extent true

sciences

as

well

This

but

these

dependent on the conclusions

of

the

latter

of

training.

material
are

more

observation and

experiment in the external world than the science

PUNDARIKAKSHA.
of the soul

and

its

relationship to the cosmos

the universal Self.

all

15

Hence

and

in spiritual matters

teachers of the world have insisted

upon the

necessity of a certain reserve in imparting serious

instruction to pupils
their

way

who

are

only

yet

feeling

or possibly are adversely inclined.

In

the view of those teachers (and they are a majority) who hold that realisation of the Self is the

ultimate goal of

man

has to be learned bv

an.i

constant practice in seclusion and with the senses

under control, the presence and active advice of

one

who

has experience

in

the

'

process

are

absolutely necessary.

It

motto

under spiritual instruction.

is, therefore, riot

strange
that for ages India has held the spiritual Guru to
be indispensable and " Aekarya devo bhava " the

We

of every student

have been led to make these reflections for

the purpose of explaining the system of maintain-

ing succession

the

Raman uja

of teachers among the followers

Hinduism and more especially

lists

of every sect of

School.

The head

of this

list

is

Saint Satagopa, the author of the Thousand Tamil

Songs, referred to already, and the next
that of ISathamuni himself, of whose

life

name

sketch has been given already in these pages.

spite of the long interval of

is

a brief

In

time between these

PUNDARIKAKSHA.

16

two

one being named as the

explained by the statement

sages, the fact of the

other's successor

is

made by the followers

muni saw the saint

Yogic vision and was

in

We

directly instructed by him.

take

it

Natha-

of this school that

may, however,

that for historical purposes the founder of

both the theoretical and practical aspects of the

Visistadwaita school in

outline

its

is

Nathamuni

himself and that this great teacher had a respectable following of pupils

and

of sufficient

imbued with
to

learning

his

views

maintain them

in

Sage Nathamuni is said to have

pupils, of whom Pundarikaksha was

controversy.

had eight

the most important and

continued
ceptor.

the

He

is

spiritual
said

to

is

recognised

teachings of

as having
his

pre-

have been born about

A. D. 826 at Tiruvallari, North of Srirangam, in

Choliah caste of Brahmins.
It is said of

the

Pundarikaksha that on

one occasion

deputed by sage Nathamuni

to

escort

he

was

his

wife

Aravindappavai to the residence of her father

Vangip-purathachi as he was called. While there,

Pundarikaksha who was of inferior caste was

served with stale food, regardless of his being an
honoured guest from the residence of Nathamuni.

The

latter on hearing of this

fart

and that the

PUNDARIKAKSHA,
pupil himself

dignity but

never resented

accepted

it

17

the

apparent
as a

cheerfully

in-

favour,

was greatly pleased with Pundarika's indifference

to

honour, and,

noting

"

Uyyakkondar or
sation," a name by which he

We had

mark

of

high

him by the name of

"
Saviour of the new Dispen-

spiritual advancement,

"

as a

it

called

is

now

occasion to mention on a

usually known.

previous page

that Sage

Nathamuni made a

Jumna

ir>

the North and had a son, born to Isvara

Muni,

his son,

God

of that place.

visit to the

banks

of

named Yamunaoharya after the

We are assured that Nathamuni

foresaw the birth of the child some years before the

event and commissioned his pupil Pundarikaksha

to be the spiritual guardian of the

him

of the

in the

new

boy and instruct

Nathamuni, in
ways
was
life,
frequently subject to spiritual
an ecstatic state known as Samadhi when
faith.

his later

trance,

the subject sees nothing but

cally

was,

lost

we

to

the

external

are told, in this

periods at

God and

world.

Samadhi

time before

his

state

final

is

practi-

Nathamuni
for long

end and in

consequence had entrusted to Pundarikaksha the

duty of instructing his grandson whose arrival he

had fondly been watching. Pundarikaksha in his
turn commissioned his senior pupil

Ramamisra,
2

PUNDAEIKAKSHA.

18

a native of Manakkal, also near Srirangam, to

perform the

office of

Guru

Kamamisra

grandson.

to the long-expected

the next in

is

succession after Pundarikaksha

remembered
great

more

the

as

spiritual

known

is

chiefly

the

shall

have

Pundarikaksha

have

to

spiritual
is

instructor of

whom we

Yarnunacharya, of
Neither

hereafter.

"Ramamisra

and

left

any

nor

literary

We may suppose that their

taken
up with teaching and
chiefly
consolidating the doctrines of the New School of

work behind them.

time

was

Sri Yaishnavas which had their origin with Sage

Nathamuni

as

we have

and exemplary
adoption

of

contributed

community

the
to
in

ver- increasing

new

lives

see.ti

already.

these

of

being

and

general

group

of

saintly
their

must

have

Pancharatra cult
their

The

men and

respected

followed

by the
by an

ardent followers.

religious creed usually courts strong opposi-

by adopting an aggressive attitude, but

the early Vaishnavas of whom we are writing

tion

seem to have been very mild and non-aggressive

in their ways and to have been treated by the sur-

rounding community with kindliness and respect.

The truth is that both the Adwaita and the
Yisistadwaita

Schools

were

the

simultaneous

PUNDARIKAKSHA

19

expressions of a natural reaction from the

fice-ridden

Purva Mimansa

Kumarila, which held the

schools of
field

in

sacri-

Guru and

philosophical

during the centuries immediately

the
times of Sankara, and were in
preceding
their turn the outcome of the disgust at the

speculation

development of philosophical Buddhism and its

The Vaishlevelling and atheistic tendencies.
nava School, instead of starting with a daring

new

philosophy, collected the forces of conserva-

tism by accentuating a life of purity and high

morality, and ga.ve the death-blow to sacrificial ism

which had out-grown

its

God

to

original

while

begun
deny
Sankara won the sympathy
;

of

the

purpose

Monism

and
of

the intellectual

the community by its all-embracing suband covert denunciation of mere Kaima

among
tlety

and Vedic ceremonial under the guise of

doctrine of illusion.

the

It is difficult historically to

say whether the subordinate place assigned to

Karma-kanda in the two new phases of Hinduism

was the result of an unconscious adjustment to

the state of things that had resulted from the
sustained attack of

system
founders

generally,
of

Buddhism on the
or,

these

whether
systems

the

sacrificial

original

perceived

the

20

PUNDARIKAKSHA.

philosophical

absurdity

worship of various

ef

powers

simultaneously with

Heavens

the

inculcating

Earth and the

of the

doctrine

the

of

Unity of .God which was the corner-stone of each

Whatever the reason may be,
of the systems.
the fact

is

were

observances

clear that sacrificial

relegated to an inferior place in both

these

sys-

tems, though not boldly rejected as inj urious or

degrading. To the school of Sankara, the perfor-

mance

of ritualistic

karma
It

spiritual progress.

is

may

a hindrance to true

be tolerated

true vision of unity arises, but

no further use.
proves of all

is

The Visistadwaitic School

karma which

is

the

till

afterwards of
disap-

done for worldly or

transient results and considers that the best anti-

dote to

its evil effects is

the renunciation

of

all

attachment to the fruits thereof. While theoretically

therefore the

Karma Kanda

is

and

valid

binding in the view of both systems, the practical

effect

lected

is,

as indicated above, that

by

purposes

Yedantins

it

throughout,

stands

neg-

except for

of deriving exegetical rules for applica-

tion in the later Miinansa.

It is for this purpose rather than
of

sacrifices

that

the performance
Mimansa has been studied in

as a help

the

the ages

to

Purva
after

PUNDAR1KAKSHA.

21

Sankara.
The study has been a matter of mere
academic interest and the maxims evolved from
the various sections of the old Sutras were applied
to the interpretation of the Upanishads and of

the Smrithis, sometimes relevantly, sometimes as

the fancy of the author suggested.

The

latest

and

the best exposition of the subject, in the Bhatta

Dipika of Khandadeva, of about the eighteenth

century A. D., learned as it is by the profuse
admixture of the terminology of modern Sanskrit
logic, makes no attempt to explain the modus
of the

rituals,

but, taking

it

the ratio-decidendi,

discusses

always for granted,

so

to

speak,

of

each topic with a subtlety, and power of expres"

sion which only those trained in the logic school
can appredlate. We mention these matters to show

that neither the fact of the continuous study of

the

Mimansa

occasional

in later times nor the performance of

sacrifices

by

Brahmins

under

the

patronage of petty rulers of various States, need

blind us to the fact that the sacrificial system
lost

its

real

centuries

the effect

hold on

Brahminic India several

back, and that the main

cause

was

antagonism towards that

system of both the Sankara and the Ramanuja
schools.

of

covert

22

PUNDARIKAKSHA.

The

special

influence of Yaishnavaism

on the

South Indian people, an influence which had its

origin in the times now discussed, and has continued

its

action

down

the hold of

its

to the present day, is of a

In the

two-fold character.

first place, it

followers on the various

and goddesses who

loosened

minor gods

were generally propitiated

with a view to the attainment of various worldly

objects. An early Smrithi work like the voluminous
digest of Hemadri,or the Madhctviya,shows the vast

number

of purainc ceremonies, vratas, fasts,

and

which were observed by the Hindus generin honour of various deities like the sun, the

feasts
ally

moon, the planets, etc., on almost every imaginable

day on which a particular Tithi or Nakshatra or a
stellar or

lunar conjunction happened to fall. Some

were considered Nitya or com-

of these ceremonies

pulsory and some were

it

But

or optional.

Kamya

became the fashion to resort

to

them

largely

and

no doubt the main motive-power in keeping up the

system was the full employment it furnished,

and the remuneration

class,

especially

comparative disuse.
this

it offered,

when the

Now

elaborate ceremonial

votaries

from the worship

to the

sacrifices

Brahmin
fell

into

Yaishnavaism checked
by
of

interdicting

any

deities

its

except

PUNDARIKAKSHA.
the

known

highest

Narayana

of the

The

all things.

to

it,

23

who was

the

God

Upanishads, the primal cause of

somewhat

if

stringent,

illiberal,

observance of the Sri Yaishnavites in not recognising, as objects of worship, deities

Narayana, had

its

to its

conclusion

logical

origin

the godhead

in

other than

the desire to carry

the

of

principle

the

and

the ni'desirability
Unity
of praying for any worldly benefits in the presence
of

the

of

deity.

The

cosmopolitanism

of

the

whom

one personal God was as

as
another
and
were simply of phenoboth
good

Adwaitin to

menal

'

it

importance,

Yaishnavite to adopt,
of

the

to

his

Vaishnavite

one Deity

is

is

not

open

to

apparently

of questionable

merit at the present day and has sufficed to

him

as sectarian

Hinduism
of

of all

a single

the

Though the exelusiveness

in the choice of a name

dub

and bigoted, his attempt to free

but the purest form of worship

Deity deserves to be appreciated.

Dr. Thibaut has pointed out that there is nothing

sectarian in the philosophy of the Ramanuja
school.

In practical religion, devotion to

Deity was the teaching of this

object

school,

was to elevate Hinduism to

its

one

and the
pristine

purity before non- Aryan influences had played

24
upon

PUNDARIKAKSHA.
it

and

instilled

into

Tantric ritual and

it

diversity of divinity.

Again, the rapid conversion to Vaishnavaisni

numbers of the masses of the people who
were beyond the influence of Brahminism and

of large

mere philosophy
school, the

is

germs

another notable feature of this

of

the earliest times.

which we perceive even in

While the Vedic Hindu

strove to brand the non-Aryans

'

thieves

'

and kept them

minisni improved

as

Dasyus

or

at a distance, early Brah-

upon the treatment by making

a monopoly of religious instruction and keeping

sudras and the lower orders generally outside its
pale.

In

fact

both

the

Mimansas have

cons-

tructed what they call the"apa-sudra-adkikarana"

wherein they demonstrate that none but those of

the three higher castes are entitled to recite the
Vedas or undertake the study of the Upanishads.

The

Smrithis have

further

prescribed

choice

who breaks the rule

a Yedic text when being

for the sudra

punishments
even listens to

or

chanted.
is

In the face of this

strict

monopoly, it
it has been

to the credit of Vaishnavaisni that

able to bring the

lower

them the

classes

and extend

to

God and

attaining liberation.

of

into

privilege

of

its

fold

knowing
The agencies

PUNDARIKAKSHA.

25

employed by Yaishnavaism in effecting this silent

revolution were two in number, referred to
already in a different

One

Nathamuni.

of

connection in

the

life of

them was the doctrine

of

prapatti or surrender to God, which was conceived

as

no

demanding

qualification.

status

caste

or educational

The other was the adoption

religious purposes of the

works

of the

for

Alwars and

making them the common property of all classes,

Brahmins and non-Brahmins alike. The former
of these matters will receive

some detailed notice

on a future occasion and need only be referred

to slightly at this stage.

We shall

find

in

the succeeding articles that

of Yaishnavaism namely,
the tacit discarding of Vedic sacrificial ritual, the
worship of a single deity, and the adaptation of

these

special

features

the religion to the needs

tures

of

non-Brahrnins

which have been described

once for

in

some

fea-

detail

now, as they have been present at the

were constantly kept in mind
very beginning
each
by
succeeding generation of teachers and
all

popularity and rapid

spread of this form of Hinduism.

contributed largely to the

Jl?amunacbav\>a
HE

chief

in the life of

incidents

charya are narrated in the

on

the

lives

of these

Yamuna -

existing works

teachers

with an

unanimity which goes far to show that

what we now know about him is fairly accurate

amount

and

of

reliable.

He was

born

in

the city of Yira-

narayanapura, the modern Mannargudi, in the

South Arcot District, a few years after the begin-

ning of the 10th Century A.D. As the grandson of

the great Nathamuni, he was doubtless well cared

and properly educated in the Sanskrit lore of

the day. It was Ramamisra, the pupil of Pundarifor

kaksha,
initiate

who helped the

the boy

father Iswara Bhatta

Yamuna

in the

to

of the

study
Yedas, after he was duly invested with the sacred
thread at about the age of eight. His intelligence

and retentive memory soon attracted attention and

We
placed him at the head of his schoolmates.
are told that the precocious boy would often slip

from school, and, when chid about his

truancy, would reply that he had nothing new to

away

learn for the day, but that his fellow pupils were

simply

going over what

The teacher

of Yamuna

he had already

learnt.

was a scholar who gloried

YAMUNACHARYA.
in the expressive title of

27

Mahabhashya Bhatta or

Doctor of Grammar. The doctor, albeit his learnwas but a poor pundit and had to submit
ing,

Akki Alwan, the Court Pundit of

the Chola King at his capital Gangai Kondapuram. Akki Ahvan, basking in the sunshine of
himself to one

royal favour, lorded

over

it

the day, and our Bhatta

all

among

ing a yearly tribute from them.

the tribute,
school

the

when

purpose

Yamuna

on one occasion,

the pundits of

the rest, by exact-

The

collector of

reached Yamuna's

was away and explained

In a spirit of bravado

his teacher
of his call.

replied that no tribute

would be given

and that Ahvan might be so informed. The angry

reply came in due course that Alwan would not

and that the unruly

pundit must stand a contest of ^disputation with
him or submit at once. Yamuna quieted his
tolerate

the impertinence,

trembling teacher

who was

all for

submission to

the cruel Court Pundit, and sent a spirited verse*

in reply intimating that

his

he was capable of holding

own and beating down the enemy

shastraic disputation.

* * TO 2fiTO*g

We
TO

are next

?f

TO

in

any

told, that the

YAMUNACHARYA

28

king at

who

the instigation of his sagacious consort,

foresaw, not without some relish, trouble for

the

unpopular Alwan, sent the state palanquin

and

a bodyguard to escort the bold scholar

was to beard the

Yamuna, now
a large group of

manner usual

who

lion in his den,

a hero to the village, came with

friends,

who proclaimed

in the

in Oriental Courts, the learning of

Yamuna and his

matchlessness in

Mimamsa and

Vedanfca scholarship.
A romantic touch is given
to the succeeding incidents by our being told that
the royal pair watched Yamuna entering the
palace,

and,

and the queen, prepossessed by the young

face of the Brahmin

no doubt, attractive

scholar,

went

in the approaching contest.

supporting

we

are told,

for

him

The king, piqued

into

so far as to claim a victory

his Pundit, staked half his

on

the

event.

escorted to the royal presence and

assigned

to him.

commenced

in which,

kingdom,

Yamuna was

duly
took the place

Yedantic disputation then

we are told, Yamuna gained

Akki Alwan had to accept

a complete victory and

the public defeat.

The story

of

Yamuna's victory

will

not be com-

plete without our adding that Yamuna is said to

have propounded three puzzles to Akki Alwan at

29

YAMUNACHARYA.

his own request, and that Akki Alwan, in dismay,

was powerless to answer them. These puzzles were
in the formof statements of which Akki Alwan

undertook to establish the negative by his arguments.

Our king is all supreme,
They were
:

fyie

queen

is

chaste

your mother has

issue.

It is

easily seen that to admit the propositions implied

in the

negatives of the

first

and second

of the

above, would have been highly ungrateful and im-

prudent in the Court Pundit, while the absurdity

of the negative of the third is patent to all.
shall not

waste our time in expounding Yamuna's

supposed answers in support of these rather

It is only proper to add that
statements.
incident of the puzzles
of

We

Yamuna's

life

is

silly

the

omitted in some accounts

and may

be a later addition

intended to give zest to the story of the victory.

It is more to the purpose to state that the gracious

Chola queen in great pleasure hailed Yamuna as

'Alavandar* in Tamil, meaning the victor,' a name
4

by which

Yamunacharya

has been best

known

ever since, and that the king, true to his promise,

granted him a portion of his territories to rule and

enjoy.

The remainder

of

Yamuna's

life is divisible

into

two portions, the respective durations of which wa

YAMUNACHAEYA.

30

have no means of ascertaining. During the first

portion, he was in enjoyment of the lands granted

by

the king and lived

pleasure

and

married and had 4 sons.

JJe

luxury.
lived in

a palace and had a

the

forgot

He

large retinue.

lived

life

higher

of

life

He had

by

his

grandsire

poor followers and

the presence of the
not
access
to
could
gain
pupils
At
the
Alavandar.
last,
awakening came.
lordly

Nathamuni,

and the

Ramamisra, the pupil

ed, after great efforts,

latter's

Pundarikaksha, succeedin gaining an interview with

of

Yamuna, and intimated that he was

valuable

treasure

of

Nathamuni,

Yamuna. Yamuna agreeing

went together to the shrine

Yamuna was

led to the

in charge of a

in trust

to receive

it,

for

the two

of Srirangam,

where

presence of the Deity

by

Ramamisra and made to accept Him as the treasure that Nathamuni had left for his grandson.

Yamuna, whose
evils of

led, accepted the

lity,

now

eyes were

the unprofitable

duty

life

fully opened to the

that he had hitherto

of love to

Godwin

all

and, throwing up
the garb of a Sanyasin, pledged

assumed

wholly spiritual

humi-

his life of a householder,

life.

Srirangam and led a

He

to

took up his residence at

life of

absolute renunciation,

composing philosophical works and expounding the

YAMUNACHARYA.

31

doctrines of the Visistadvaitic school.

Srirangam
became a stronghold of Vaishnavaism. Worship
at the temple and participation in the regular
services both in

furnished

and out

of the temple precincts

occupation for a

large

number

of the

ardent devotees, while the lectures of Alavandar

and the frequent discussions held in his presence

gave great impetus to Sanskrit study in general and
that of the Upanishads and the Sutras in parti-

The Upanishads, the

cular.

Sutras

>

had long

Gita, and the Vedanta

before this

established their

claim to pre-eminence in Hindu philosophy and had

'

been styled 'the three Prasthanas or primary works

on philosophy. Every offshoot of Hinduism from
the time of Sankara
doctrines on

its

own

important works
vaitism naturally

the

interpretation

its

main

interpretations of these three

and the

pioneers of Visistad-

turned their energies towards

task of textual

three works. In

downwards based

interpretation of

the same

Yamuna's time, the work of oral

was proceeded with, while the

formal composition of text books on the subject

was reserved for the next generation under the

guidance of Sri Ramanuja.

It is well to bear in mind in this connection that
the Visistadvaita school claims a venerable ancestry

32

YAMUNACHARYA.

for its origin, commencing almost

from the times of

the author of the Sutras, Yyasa or Badarayana.

sage Bodhayana composed a Vritti or extensive

commentary on the Sutras. The doctrines

of the

Vritti are understood to be refuted in

places

in

the existing commentar}

although,

following

etiquette,

the

many

of

Sankaracharya,
a well-understood literary

actual author

Bodhayana

is

not

quoted by name. A gloss on the Vritti is known

to have been composed by Acharya Tanka who is

quoted frequently in the works of Ramanuja under

the style of Vakyakara or glossator.
Dramidacharya, a scholar of the Tamil land as his name
implies, then wrote a fuller exposition of the

Sucr&s and this came to

The

in

Bhashya
Ramanuja's
commentary. One Srivatsanka is
mentioned as the author of a commentary on

works are
also

the Bhashya.

be called

references to the
to^this

the Dramida Bhashya.

He

a very ancient writer as he

seems to have been also

is

'

Bhagavan,'

styled

a term of great reverence. Another writer Guhadeva by name, also wrote a work on the Visistadvaita philosophy.

works from that

But
of

all

that

we

Bodhayana

deva are the names of the authors

extracts from the

Vritti

possess of these

to that of
arid

and the

Guha-

a few short

Bhashya

in

YAMUNACHARYA.
Ramanuja's works.

33
there

However,

no doubt

is

Yamuna's time there

was an extensive

literature of the Visistadvaitic

school continuing

that in

the traditional

interpretation of

Bodhayana and

in important points from that of the

Sankara school. Yarmmacharya himself refers, in

diverging

his tiidhi

to be presently mentioned, to a

Traya

series of authors

ceded

him

of the Sutras.

both the schools

of

and

composed

They

who

pre-

works explanatory

are the Bhashyakrit (appa-

rently Dramidacharya) Srivatsankamisra, Tanka,

Bhartrimitra,

Bhartriprapancha

Bhartrihari,

Brahmadatta, Sankara, and Bhaskara.

three names belong

the

rest

apparently

to

to

The

the Visistadvaitic,
the Sankara

or

first

and

allied

The Dramidabhashyakara, whose naine

preceded Sankara and

schools.

otherwise unknown,

is

wrote a rather concise commentary on the Sutras.

seems also to have commented on the Upa-

He

nishads, and this

an

commentary seems

to have been

extensive work, so says Anandagiri, the

known commentator

well-

of Sankara's works, in the

opening lines of his gloss to Sankara's Chandogya

Commentary.

We

may mention

Sanyraha

of

Sri

also

that

Ramanuja

the

helps

Vedartha
us

some-

TAMUNACHARYA.

34

what to Supplement the information on ancient

writers, given by Yamunacharya. Ramanuja mentions a list of over 7 authors, namely,

Bodhayana

Tanka,Dramida,Guhadeva, Kapardi, Bharuchi,etc.,

and the commentator Sudarsana Bhatta explains
that

Tanka was

also

fact vouchsafed

his

known

for by

as

Brahmanandin,

Yedantadesika also in

commentary Tatwatika on the

is
no doubt that Tanka

There

kara referred to

in later works,

Sri
is

Bhashya.

the

and

Vakya
that

he

preceded Dramida in the exposition of the Sutras.

The fact that Dramidacharya wrote an extensive

bhashya on the Upanisbads from the atari. point

of Visistadvaita also shows that Sankara was not
1

the pioneer in this kind of work, a fact admitted

by Sankara himself, and also explains why Ramanuja and others of his school before him did not
set

about a regular commentary of the Upaniswork has, however, been

entirely

hads. Dramida's

and
and full
only
commentary
on tha Upanishads possessed by the Visistadvaitic
lost

school

convenient

the

is

that of the

learned

Rangaramanuja

Muni, a writer of comparatively recent date, not to

be confounded with the great Raman
ujacharya.
The Sidhi Traya, of which mention has been

made

already,

is

the

first

and most important of

35

YAMUNACHARYA.
the works of

It

Yamunacharya.

contains

sections called the Atma-Sidhi, the Iswara-Sidhi,

and the Samvid-sidhi and

is

intended to establish

the real existence of the individual and supreme

and refute the doctrine

souls

written in

stiff

of

Avidya. It is
with terse

prose style mixed

anushtubh Karikas in the manner of early philosophical works of which the Tantra Vartika of

Kumarila Bhatta furnishes a good example. The

verse and is somewhat

last section is entirely in

As

incomplete.
first parfc of
is

age

in

the Sloka

Rumania's work

spirited

tism

may

in

called) the langu-

In one

declining to accept a

of the opponent, " All this

dogma-

carry weight with (blind) believers

are rion- believers (in your doctrines)

*
logic to convince us".

the

Vartika, (as

and frequently graceful.

place our author says,

mere assertion

is

we

and require

most rational position

which every school of Hindu thought, not

excluding the anchor's, will do well always to bear

this,

In refuting the absolute-identity doctrine derived by Sankara from the

Upanishad

in mind.

text

EkMnevadvitiyamJ our author

88 Sidhi Traya, Benares Ed.

makes a

YAMUNACHARYA.

36

He

statement of some historic interest.

"
says,

To

say that the Chola king, now reigning in this country, is all supreme and without a second, can only

exclude the existence of another monarch equal

(in

power) to him

it

cannot imply the denial of

the existence of a wife, sons or servants of such

a

monarch. "t

ed by name,

Though the king

we may probably

is

not mention-

identify

him with

Rajaraja the Great (A.D. 985

undoubted
Lord Paramount of India at
the
1012),
the time, who fully deserved the epithet 'Samrai* or

the Chola king

'

'

Emperor

here bestowed on him, as he conquered

the Yengi kingdom, Orissa, and Ceylon, defeated

the Rashtrakutas, and was the most powerful of the

whole of the Chola dynasty. It is interesting to

list of commentators given above

observe from the

that the great Bhaskara, mentioned after Sankara

and known as

the founder of the

Bheclabheda

Vada, preceded our author. A reference to

Souresam Vackas in the Atma-Sidhi, also shows
*

'

that our author was well -acquainted with the able

commentary on the Sankara Bhashya by Sures-

\\

YAMUNACHARYA;
waracharya, the pupil of Sankara.
able

to

no

trace

37

We

references

explicit

have been
either

to

Goudapada, the predecessor of Sankara, or even to

the Nyayatatwa of Nathamuni, which latter work,

must have known

of course, our author

giving one specimen

We

well.

shall in this connection content ourselves

with

the subject-matter of
will
at
which
the
same time furnish a
Sidhitraya,
of

author in philoso-

sample of the style of the

phy metrically treated.

" The
Individual Soul
'

It is

is

separate entity in

by nature, eternal, subtle, and

distinct from the body, the senses,

each body, which

blissful.

Says Yamunacharya*
'

is

the mind, the vital

air,

and the

intellect,

and

is

The Sidhitraya is quoted frequently by Ramanuja and no doubt was largely

the basis of his able refutations of Sankara's views
self-contained."

in the Sri Bhashya.

The next work

notice
of

is

the

which

Bhagavata

is

of

Yaounacharya that we shall

a work the object

Agamapramanya,
to

establish

or Pancharatra

the orthodoxy of tho

school.

made of a Kashmira-Agamapramanya
*

Mention
of the

is

same

38

YAMUNACHARYA.

author at the end of the former work

work

is lost

except that
of the

now and nothing

it

but the

known about

is

it

sought to establish the genuineness

Ekayana Sakha^ the fundamental

text of

the Bbagavata school, as a branch of the Veda.

The Agamapramanya,
prose and

is,

like the Sidhitraya, in

the verse being generally in

Anushtubh metre and used only when a sententious

verse,

resume or

necessary.

We

pointed

is

exposition

deemed

had occasion to refer to the Pan-

charatra school more than once before, and

shall use the present context to

make some

vations in detail about that school.

known

we

obser-

It is well-

that the various Vedas were studied in

different

Sakhas or recensions.

One

of these

was

the Ekayana Sakha probably of the White Yajur

Veda.

The various Sakhas had

different ritual

books, dealing with the domestic rites of

its

follow-

Black Yajur Veda may

Apasthamba
be mentioned as an illustration. It is an article of
of the

ers; the

absolute faith

among the twice-born

of India that

every person should stick to his Sakha and perform only the ceremonials prescribed in it. The

Ekayanins had several such

special rites.

peculiarity in their daily life

may be

The Ekayanin, who,

in austerity of

life,

One

mentioned.

was almost

YAMUNACHARYA.
a

monk, but without the

39

restriction of celibacy

divided the day into five periods.

period of

Abhigamana

First

came the

or approaching God, which

the Ekayanin did as soon as his daily ablutions

and Japas were over. The next period, from

about half-past eight to midday, was allowed to
be devoted to wordly life, the earning of one's

was
next
The
Upadana period.
period was
The
Ijya^ literally, sacrifice.
Ekayanin

livelihood by irreproachable means, etc. This

called the

styled

cared not for the Yedic sacrifices.

was the

His

sacrifice

Pancha-yagna ending with the iridday

prayer to God, the placing before

that he had prepared of food

etc.,

Him

of

and included

all

his

meal-taking, which was considered an act of religious

The next period was

nature.

Swadhyaya

that

of

or study, which each householder re-

The last
gulated as suited his taste or capacity.
of
the
of
24 hours thus divided was
period
day
called

of the

Yoga or quiet contemplation, when thoughts

Almighty engaged the devotee before he

went to

bed.

This simple-living Ekayana sect of

almost prehistoric times seems to have grown into

the Bhagavata sect even before the period of the

Mahabharata and
large

sectarian

to have developed
literature

which

for

itself

came

to

a
be

40

YAMUNACHARYA.

known

The Tantra

as the Pancharatra Tantra.

literature of India, with its divisions of the

ratra, the

the Sakta branches,

would

fill

Pancha-

Boudha, the Saiva or the Pasupata, and

so very extensive that

is

a library by

to describe this, even

itself.

if it

It

it

not proposed

is

were possible to do

so.

enough to say that the Pancharatra appears

to have been one of the earliest of these and was
It is

was supposed to have been

by God Narayana
promulgated during
It is now only partially extant and a
himself.
so called

because

it

five nights

small portion only again

Telugu character.

The

is

available in

Tantra,

print in

divided

is

into

Carious Sowihitas which bear the names of various

The most important of

them are the Satwata, the Poushkara and the
sages or ancient writers.

Jayakhya,

samhitas.

These are

described

Divya or uttered and promulgated by

yana

directly.

The others were

as

God Nara-

promulgated

through various sages, whose names, as in the case

is legion.
In one work alone,

of Smriti writers,

the Pancharatraraksha

many

of

as thirty of these are

Vedanta

named

Desika,

as

and many

of

them must have been long, judging from the numbers of the chapters quoted. The chief topics discussed are the modes of service in temples, the details

YAMUNACHARYA.

41

of a Srivaishnava's or Bhagavata's

and the

life,

most suitable general method of salvation, namely,

It
prapatti, mentioned already in these pages.

much both

speaks

and

its

tively

for the

antiquity of the sect

literary activity that the works are collec-

mentioned in the Mahabharata and some

of the ancient puranas, with approval

and not in

condemnation. The large number of non -Brahmin

conversions

made by the

followers of this sect later

on must have reacted on the Brahmin

it,

portion of

and practices unusual among the Brahmins of

brought some

the day must have crept in, which

disrepute on the sect as

why Sankaracharya
'Sutras II. 2. 42 to

refute

the

wherein

a whole.

This explains

commentary on the four

45 treats them as intended to
in his

orthodoxy
from

it differs

of

the

the

sect

in

rest of the

matters

Brahmin

The Bhagavata, unlike the various heretical

philosophers whose views were already criticised

class.

in the second pada,

Yasudeva

as

admittedly upholds Brahman or

alike the material

and the instru-

mental cause, like the Vedantin.

Why then is
he being refuted ? Sankara explains, " On this
point he
his

is all

right,

but there are some tenets of

which are unvedic and so Bad a ray an a refutes

him."

What Badarayana

exactly

meant

to

YAMUNACHARYA.

42
state

the

in

four

Sutras

referred

According to Sankara they

clear.

Pancharatra

is

to

mean

not

is

" the

unacceptable (1) because it speaks

as Sankarshana from

of the creation of the soul

Yasudeva, while the soul

eternal; (2) because

it

mind from the

of the

unvedantic

karshana

the

in

inculcates the

Jiva,

(3) to suppose that

and

the

is

production

thing equally
the forms San-

are

rest

Yedanta

with

identical

Yasudeva. would not mend matters, as the fourfold division

lastly,

would

still

be purposeless

and

(4)>

the Tantra shows mutual contradictions in

itself."

This interpretation of the Sutras as the

statement of four adverse arguments against the

orthodoxy of the Pancharatra is elaborately

by Yamunacharya in the Aganiapraraanya, and the Yisistadvaitic view is further set

opposed

forth in the Sri Bashya.

that the four

are not

all

From

these

Sutras in the view of

we gather
this school

adverse, but that the first two of

them

adverse

prima facie
arguments, while
the last two refute those arguments and maintain
contain

the orthodoxy of the Tantra.

"
would then stand thus
:

four forms, Yasudeva

The
(3)

and the

last 2

Sutras

But by taking the

rest, as identical

with Brahman, the objection, as to the

soul's being

YAMUNACHARYA.
born,

is

removed,

tions, like that of

43

(the purpose of the manifestaAvatars generally, being explain-

able always) and (4) the Tantra explicitly

the

other words

hardly

be

denies

having an origin," In
said that the Pancharatra could

the souls

fact of

it is

discredited as

containing

points

of

erroneous philosophy which it has not, as practicadmitted in the 3rd of the Sutras by Sankara

ally

himself.

To

to the question of
Sutras and not to dwell

confine ourself

interpretation

of

the

long on a subject v/hich could hardly interest the

general reader, one fact may be mentioned which
goes far to show that the Yisistadvaitic interpret
tation may in this, as in other cases, as pointed

out by Dr. Thibaut, represent an earlier tradition

which Sankara or
is,

That

his predecessors ignored.

that the use of the particle 3T in the middle of

the Sutra 3 of the set

is

of a change of side in the

Purvamimamsa and

most usually indicative

argument, both in the

in the

We

Yedanta.

Sutras, especially in pada 3 of

instances of
instances

are

this

use of the

also so

Adhyaya

particle

numerous

in

can

Vedanta

point out at least 5 other places in the

III, as

and such

the Jaimini

Sutras that the argument appears very convincing

On the other hand, it has to be said in

indeed,

44

YAMUNACHARYA.

favour of the Sankara view that the Tantra must

partake of the
philosophies in
discussed.

heretical

nature

whose company

Against

this, again,

the other

of

this is

may

also

found

be set Dr.

Thibaut's opinion that it would not be unnatural

to close the polemical pada with a defence of that
*

doctrine which
\7 iewed as

has to be

in spite of objections

the true one/

The next work

of

Yamunacharya deserving
summary of the'Gita-teachings
styled Gitartha Sangraha. No work of Yamunacharya shows so well as this does, how far Ramamention

is

the

nuja was indebted to his predecessors

in

the

elaboration of the Visistadvaitic system which he

so

completely carried

Yamunacharya,

out.

In

the

in the course of about

Sangraha,
30 verses

in anusktubh metre, analyses fully the argument

in the Bhagavadgita, as understood by the school

represented by him.

The Bhagavadgita

is

work

which, in spite of its great antiquity and sanctity,

and apparent simplicity, has baffled many commentators and critics. To some, it appears full of contraditions

to others,

it is

a patchwork of three or

four layers set one over another. To others again,

the central theme is clear, while the work is full
of digressions and repetitions.

In this state of

45

YAMUNACHARYA.
things

it

cannot but be important to know that

as early as the 10th century,

Yamuna,

following

antecedent oral teaching, analysed the

work

as

a consistent exposition of the doctrine of Bhakti

supplemented by a description of the Karma

and Gnana Yogas as subordinate to the main

Unlike the case of the Vedanta
doctrine.
Sutras, there

no

is

internal indication

here of

the existence of any specific commentaries of the

text, at the

time of Yamuna's writing; but the

probabilities

are that

teachings handed

down

Yamuna summarised
to

him

than

We

have

invented his system of interpretation.

in the Gita

ample internal evidence

Ramanuja

the

orally, rather

Bh&shya of

that he strictly conformed in his inter-

depicted in Yamuna's
scheme
of the Gita accordThe
general
epitome.
be
to
described in a few
Yamunacharya may
ing
pretations to the outline

words.

We are told that the first six chapters of the

18 into which that work

is

and Gnana Yogas, and

with a description
the second batch of six

of

the

Yoga

state

divided, treat of

Karrna

close

Bhakti Yoga, while the last six

deal with subsidiary topics which help towards the

chapters treat of

understanding of the rest, and conclude in verses

65 and 66 of Chapter XVIII with the enun-

YAMUNACHARYA.

46
elation of

what

is

held to be the essence of

secret teachings that have

all

the

Yamuna,
gone
and following him, Ramanuja, work out the continuity of the thought in the whole work in a

much more

natural

before.

manner than

is

possible to

from Sankara's explanations of the same

poem. We cannot of course affirm that there are
infer

Ramanuja's commenbut we have found in many places where a

no forced constructions
tary

in

would suggest itself to

his construction speciadopted
Ramanuja
to
suit
himself
the
to
plan chalked out by
ally
Yamuna. We have in mind especially Chapters

different interpretation

us that

VIII and XII

mely

of the Gita,

difficult chapters,

interpretation

is

two short but extre-

where Yamuna's scheme

of

closely adhered to, with a result

that can hardly be called satisfactory from the

point of view of the critical reader.

There

is

mention

made

of a

work

'

Maha-

'

purusha Nirnaya by Yamunacharya which is

now lost to us but of one other existing work
;

we wish

to

make mention, on account

of its high
merit
the
and
hold
it
has on the
literary
great
mind of the religious Vaishnavaite. We refer

to a devotional song or

about 75 stanzas,

Stotra as

somewhat

it is

like the

called of

Soundar-

T AMUNACHAmT A
of

yalahari
ed, as

may

language
;

is

expected, to

and

simple

natural, and the

work has been

and

from

chaste,

he
'

styled

The

the imagery

are

sentiments

a,

dedicat-

God Vishnu.

who pours out

imost direct language

ts class,

but

Sankaracharya,

be

earnest devotee

tary

47

can

those

is

an

of

his heart in the

The

command.

Stotra-ratnaJ a

gem of
by an ample commen-

is explained
the erudite scholar and philosopher,

work

Vedanta Desika.*

to this

of

that he com-

Yamuna,

Having regard
we may say of him

bined in himself the characteristics of a poet

a philosopher, in a more real

sense than

do so of any other Sanskrit writer

such a distinction.

The

personal life of

who

Yamunacharya

and

we can
claims

at Srirari-

gam, where he mostly stayed after his spiritual

conversion, was simple and without any stirring
incidents.
Religious persecution was never serious in India, and in

'

the

south,

the Cholas, the

chief reigning dynasty, were, at least at this time

tolerant to the

the saivite

new

faith,

persuasion.

though they were

Yamuna was

devoting himself to religious teaching

of

peacefully

and medi-

* The text and

commentary have been recently published at the Ananda Press, Madras, in Nagari character.

48

YAJdUNACHARYA.

He

tation.

once travelled as far as Trevandrum

on the western coast to

there the shrine of

visit

Padmanabha, and returned home after the

usual tour round the numerous Yishnu shrines in

/Sri

Tinnevelly and Madura.

Travancore,

reason of this trip that

one

with

engagement

It

was by

Yamunacharya missed an
Kurukaikkavalappan, a

Nathamuni, to whom the latter

had entrusted the secret of Yoga or quick realisa-

pupil of the great

the

tion of

vision

requested by
to himself,

God.

This

to impart the

man,

holy

great secret

had fixed a particular date as that on

which he would do
the Yogi

of

Yamuna

had,

by

so,

that being also the time which

ascertained to be

his powers,

the date of his death.

Yamuna

discovered

when

too late that he had missed the day assigned,

thereby helped unconsciously,

the secret of Yoga
pupil of

is said,
tt

uja,

is said,

perish for ever

to

and

make

with the said

Nathamuni.

Another
his life,

it

trip

which

Yamuna

undertook, late in

was to Conjeeveram, whither he went, it

to cast a look on the rising scholar Ha ma-

who, as yet a student, was early distinguish-

ing himself

and attracting the

attention

of all.

Yamuna with the help of Kanchipurna, a Sudra

pupil of his at Conjeeveram, who has since become

49

YAMUNACIIARYA.

canonised and has at present a special idol and

shrine erected in his honour in the modern town

Oonjeevaram, obtained a view of Ramaas the latter was in the company of -his
but
nuja,
master Yadavaprakasa, an adwaitic teacher, he did

cf Small

not care to send for him or converse with bin).

After visiting tbe shrines at Kancbi and spending
some time there, Yamuna duly returned to Sri-

rangam. Yamuuacharya lived to a good old age

and died, it is said, at about 1040 A. D., having
expressed with his last breath an earnest
see

Ramnnuja

established

afc

wish to

Srirangam as a

staunch supporter and defender of the Yaishnavaite faith, M \vish which Ramanuja was duly to
fulfil

its

el mrya

most

a
left,

many*

thorough

manner.

Yamuna-

pupils behind him, some of

whom

had the privilege of instructing

himself in various branches of study.

Ramanuja
Th^ most

were Mahap'.trna, Goshtiimportant

Sri
Sailapurna and Mafadhcrra. Chotta
purna,
Nambi and Pillai Ar/isu Nauibi are named among
of such pupils

they are of no importance to the

We shall, therefore,
student of Yaishnavaism.

his sons, but

address

ourselves

Ramariuja

to

the

life

and

teachings

of

in the next article.

* As
many as twenty are mentioned. See Mr. A.
iGovindacharya's Life of Rarnanuja, p. 23. Sri Vedanta
Desika gives a list of 15 in bis Rahasyatrayasara.

1Ramanujacbar\>a.
IE

shall in

describe briefly the

article

this

'chief events in the life of the

nujacharya,

the

Rama-

great

founder of the

practical

Visishtadwaita system, referring to the names and

characteristics of the

most important

diate followers, and

of

summary

his

of his

imme-

conclude with a short

shall

as

philosophy

disclosed

in

his

works.

We

by the end of the tenth

have seen that

century A.D., Yisishtadwaitism had greatly deveand had obtained a

loped under Yamunacharya
strong foot-hold in Srirangam with Conjeevaram,
Tirupati, and a few other places, as rallying centres

the followers of this

for

that

among

his

one who could ezactly

the

New

fill

Dispensation.

his place as

He,

longing eyes around among

surmised from personal

report

under

felt

the head of

therefore, cast

the younger

observation

his

men and

and general

young Raman 11 ja, then a pupil

intellect
and
Yadavaprakasa, was, by

that the

character, the

him.

Yamuna

creed.

immediate followers, there was no

He

fittest

did not,

person that

however,

could

succeed

wish to precipitate

RAMANUJACHARY A.
matters,

but allowed

them

51

to take

their

own

course, trusting that, under the guidance of Providence, all would end well.

Sri Sailapurna, already

ple of

mentioned as a

disci-

Yamunacharya, was established at Tirupati

Hills, in service at the

had two

sisters,

Temple

of that place.

He

one of whom, KantimaH, was

married to one Kesava Somayaji of Sri Perumbudur, about 10 miles from the Trivellore Railway
Station, near Madras.

This lady gave birth to

Ramanuja, about the year 1017 A.D., ai)d the

Sailapurna came down from the hills

ur.cle, Sri

and was pleased at the benign and intelligent face

of the child.

He

looked after the

boy carefully
and duly got him invested with the sacred thread
at the proper age,

studies in

After the

usual preliminary

which Ramanuja, as may be expected,

showed great capacity, a teacher, Yadavaprakasa

by name, was selected for the higher course, and

Ramanuja duly went to sifady with him. Here

he was joined by a cousin of his, another nephew
of Sri Saila, and the two, in the usual fashion of
the day, boarded with the teacher
proficiency

in the

came* to the study of

secular

and acquired

sastras.

When

it

philosophy or the Upanishads, Ramanuja found his master's explanations

RAMANUJACHARYA.

52

He

unsuited to his taste.

took

objection to the

more than one passage, and sugown meanings, which hardly pleased

interpretation of

gested his

A coolness arose in consequence

between master and pupil we are told that the
former, in combination with the other pupils,

the teacher.

formed an unholy conspiracy to take Ramanuja on

a long journey to Benares and get rid of him

The unsuspecting Ramanuja accompanied

there.

the party

the

but while travelling in the jungles of

\r indhyan

outskirts,

Bhatta, into whose ears the

Govinda

his cousin

news

the

of

nefari-

ous intention towards Ramanuja had oozed, apprised him of the impending danger and bade

him escape somehow.

Ramanuja,

in sore straits,

by-path and lost his way. The

party proceeded without him and discovered,
when too late, that he had slipped away. In great

struck into a

distress

and much fatigued, Ramanuja wandered

over the thickets, for a long time, unable to decide

upon

his course.

an old hunter and

He

then met,

his wife,

as

and

of

if

by chance,

them he

in-

They said that they were going

quired the way.
to the Satyavrata Kshetra, i.e. Conjeevaram, and
bade him
night.

follow.

The three

Towards dawn, the

old

travelled

man

nskeu

all

the

Rama-

53

RAMANUJACHARYA.
nuja to
well.

fet/ch

some water

from a neighbouring

When Ramanuja came back

with the

drink, the pair had mysteriously disappeared, and

Ramanuja found to his wonder and delight that

he had miraculously reached Kanchi itself, the

tower of whose temple was visible to his eyes.

He

sped home, feeling sure that

God

in his

mercy

had come to his help.

In due course the party of
Yadava reached Conjeevaram after their travels

and surprised to find Ramanuja, made up to him,

if nothing had happened.
Ramanuja resumed

as

hesitation.

Yadava, as before, but with some

The adwaita interpretations displeased

him more

and more.

his studies with

Yadava,
sessed

It

called to exorcise

the

an

also

happened

that

evil spirit that pos-

daughter of the King of the place,

failed to quell

it.

The

spirit,

however, bowsd to

Ramanuja who accompanied Yadava, expressed

opinion of his greatness
to his wishes.

and departed

its

in deference

This incident embittered

Yadava

towards Ramanuja who had finally to give up his

under such an
uncongenial master.
then
attached
himself
to the service of
Ramanuja

studies

the Devaraja Perumal at Kanchi where Kanchipurna, a non-brahman disciple of Yamunacharya,

was

in daily attendance

on the God.

This devotee

RAMANUJACHARYA;

54

had the reputation

the

God

in close

of being

of his worship, who,

the ways of

men towards the

him in human

discourse with

it

touch with

assumed

is said,

and held

favourite

language.

Meanwhile Mahapurmi, a disciple of Yamuna,

who had been despatched by the acharya and his
followers to persuade Ramanuja to go to Srirangam
and formally accept the new faith, reached Conjee varam

for

Kanchipurna

the

purpose, and with the help of

succeeded in his

object.

Rama-

nuja gladly agreed to pay his respects to the farfamed Yamuna and the two started towards Srirangain.
of

the

They duly reached the northern bank

Kaveri, when lo a great concourse of
!

Vaishnavas made their appearance in mourning

procession, and Ramanuja ascertained, to his irreparable sorrow, that the great

ed

his

last

and

was

honours on the banks

Yamuna

being

had breath-

buried with holy

of the Kaveri.

Ramanuja

hastened to have a last look at the body of the

great guru and was surprised to see that

the fingers of his right hand

deadly grip.
were usually
death, the

He
so.

asked the by-standers

They

three of

were closed in a
if

they

replied that shortly before

veteran teacher had expressed three

wishes and had

closed his fingers

in the act

of

55

RAMANUJACHARYA.

The wishes were that

counting them.

a Visist-

composed on the
bhashya
that
the
of Parasara,
and
names
Sutras of Vyasa,
be

should

adwaita

the author of the Vishnu Purana, and of St. Sada-

gopa should be perpetuated as a mark of gratitude

to the two great men named.
Deeply affected,
Ramanuja proclaimed that, God willing, he would
undertake the duties named and accomplish them
No sooner was this statement made
speedily.
than the fingers opened out, we are told, of their

own

accord, and the assembled Vaishnavas here-

in read a sure sign of the

young

rnan

who

coming greatness

stood before them.

of the

Ramanuja

duly attended the obsequies of Yamunacharya

but left Srirangam immediately after, and reaching Kanchi,

company

resumed

of the pious

Ramanuja

was

Kanchipurna.

deeply

saintly character of this

Not caring
he invited him

wards him.
status,

and instructed

there, in the

duties

his

for
for

with the

impressed

man and

felt

his

drawn

to-

inferior social

meals in his house

his wife (for he had

now married

and had

set up house-keeping for himself) to preThe puma, after his temple

pare food for him.
services,

went up

to

Ramanuja's house and being

and de-

pressed for time, took his meals at once

RAMANUJACHARYA

56

parted, leaving word for

Raman uja who was away,

that

him

back so suddenly.
returned
and
saw
wife clearing the
his
Ramanuja
leaves on which the puma had taken his food, and
business

called

washing generally the place and bathing herself to

of the

rid

get

of the Sudra's contact'

impurity

Ramanuja, who had, out

of

intended

Kanchipurna and eat

had

he

after

wait

to

felt

brahman)

upon

dined,

greatly

rebuked her for her

he was

ill

-matched

Yamuna's death
which
old

(a

piety and

thing

unusual for

He

disappointed.

illiberal

spirit

and

gently
that

felt

in her.

at

Srirangam

his disciples were anxious

ha<i

to

As chance would have

l<-*ft

fill

Mahapurna was again despatched

Ramanuja.

respect,

it,

to

void

up

and

bring

Ramanuja

also

thought of going up to Mahapurna for spiritual instruction, now that Yamuna, was dead, and

actually

commenced

his journey south.

The two

Madurancakam, and the impatient Ramanuja requested Mahapurna to instruct him in the
mantra of the Vaishnavites immediately. Maharaefc

at

purna complied, and the two proceeded to Kanchi,

where Mahapurna (and his wife who had accompanied

him)

lodged

Ramanuja pursued

in

his

Ramanuja's residence.
studies under

religious

KAMANUJACHARYA.
the

new guru and had

57

happy time

of

This

it.

was, however, marred by a petty quarrel

which

Arose between the ladies, and Mahapurna, afraid

that
if

Ramanuja

will take

it

too

much

further ill-feelings arose, suddenly

with

and

wife

his

left

to

proceeded

to heart,

Kanchi

Srirangam

Ramanuja, who was away at the time of the incident, returned and finding from enquiry that
was mostly

his wife's pettiness

quarrel, felt sorely the

to

blame for the

master and

to his

affront,

feeling displeased with her altogether, sent her to

her father's home

the

house- holder's
of

presence

due

with
of the

family

the

life.

God

of

He

went

Kanchi

donned

ceremonies,

abandon

to

resolving

finally,

the

the

to

and

there,

robes

red

Hindu Sanyasin, and thus broke

all

his

ties.

From

the temple precincts of Kanchi,

Ramanuja

practised his austere Sanyasin's life and soon at-

tracted followers.

bouring

village,

Kuresa, as he
learned

was

first to

called,

brahman and

Kwam,

native of

was the

was

became

be drswn
a

neighto him.

wealthy and

life-long

friend

and follower of Ramanuja. Dasarathi, the sister's

son of Ramanuja, was another who came to him

and

was one

of his

most beloved

pupils

ev7 er

58

RAMANUJACHARYA,

Other persons sought him out, became his

and
pupils
accepted his teachings.
Yadavapra-

after.

kasa, his old teacher, was,

of the error

tenets and

of his

position

we are

views, and
as

an

persuaded

told,

ariwaitic

Sanyasin,

voluntarily chose to be converted under the

of

Govinda Yati and counted

He

his

abandoning

himself

name

among

his

work on the duties

composed
Sanyasins (Yatidharma Samuchchaya) which
exists to this day.
We have no means of ascer-

supporters.
of

taining whether this Yadavaprakasa

is

identical

with the one mentioned in the Bhashya and later

works, as the author of the Bheda-abheda doctrine
allied to the

Bhaskara school

but tradition asserts

that the two are identical.

in

any

There

of the existing lives of

is

no allusion

Ramanuja

that the

Yadavaprakasa under whom he studied and whom

he later-on converted was anything but a pure
adwaitin of the Sankara School.

If this

Yadava

had developed a new philosophy materially differing from Sankara's, it is strange that no allusion
is

made

to that fact in

the existing

lives.

however, certain that Ramanuja did

and defeat a Yadavaprakasa

It

is,

controvert

in his life- time,

for

both Anthrapurna, contemporary and disciple of

Ramanuja, and Yedanta Desika, a follower

of

59

RAMANUJACHARYA.

Ramanujn, who

lived in the 14th century, testify

to the truth of this fact in their respective works,

Raman nja.

laudatory of

To

At

proceed.

another

call

this

from Srirangam which

take his place as the leader

accepted,

gladly

and

Srirangam was

met

concourse of devotees
to the

seat of

reaching

in

advance

who took him

quarters intended

him formally

as their

Yamunacharya.

he, willing to

the

of

community,

He

started south.

Dasarathi with him and

of

Raman uja had

juncture

for

by an eager
in

procession

him and

spiritual

took

the outskirts

installed

superior

in the

Meanwhile an incident

happened to Kuresa which led him to abandon

his riches and migrate to Srirangam followed by
This was nothing

his wife.

less

than a report at

Conjeevaram that the rumbling noise

of his

palatial gates closing at nights disturbed the

at Kanchi.

Kuresa was ashamed

huge

God

of the vanity

which the rumour implied and abandoning all his

wealth to the poor, went with nothing but the
clothes he wore and his wife similarly clad, to join

Sri

the

Ramanuja
life

of

at Srirangam.

a mendicant and

There he adopted
lived on the alms

which he begged from day to day. It was also

now that Eamanuja was gladdened by the news

60

RAMANUJACHARYA.

of the conversion

Govinda Bhatta,

of

and fellow-pupil, who had all

staunch Saivite, doing service

the Kalahasti

in

Ra man uja's request,

temple. His uncle Sri Saila,at

converted him after some trouble

him over

to

Tirupati.

his cousin

time been a

this

and brought

Rama-

he joined

Later,

and
the garb of + Sanyasin
nuja, assumed
became an important disciple under the name of

Embar.

About

this

controversy

time

and

also

Ramanuja

defeated

converted

an

in

adwaitic

Yagnamurti by name, who became a

Sanyasin on his defeat and Ramanuja's disciple

scholar,

under the style of Devaraja Muni.

Even before the date of some of these conversions,

Ramanuja had himself

to

study patiently.

Srirangam mutt, under various

teachers, who were the pupils of Yamunacharya,
and specially held in reserve, as it were, inafter joining the

structions intended for

was Goshtipurna,

Ramanuja.

eighteen times by compelling him

the

way from Srirangam

where

his

place was,

to the

at

exacting promises of secrecy,

certain

important

One

who, after trying

teachings.

to

of

them

Ramanuja
travel all

Madura

District,

last

deigned,

to

impart to

Ramanuja

after-

him
once

RAMANUJACHARYA.

61

in possession of them, straightaway called together

a group of

men and proclaimed loudly the truths

much difficulty. The furious

he learned with so

guru asked him

Raman UJM

to

his

explain

conduct,

said that he did not care

if

and

perdition

was his fate for the transgression, but that he

men's souls. Thus
of
valued more the saving
did

hearts of even his

Ramanuja open out the

conservative teachers and prepare

teachers of

more

to teach

of the

way

for

of

them

than

Such wore Maladhara

The

purna.

the

narrow prejudices. The other

Ramanuja also found that he had

breakdown

the

latter instructed

visit of nearly

a,

uncle Sri Saila-

him

in the course

Ramayana

year

had to impart.

they

and his

the truths

in

an extended

of

which Ramanuja spent at

Tirupati for the purpose.

Ramanuja now thought

sophical
special

One

of

works

arid

the

first

of

composing philo-

committing to waiting the

views which he was developing orally.

works

that

he

was the Vedartha Sangraha wherein

the principal Upanishads
to ad wjxi tic

that lent

composed
he tackled
themselves

interpretation, established

the un-

soundness of such interpretation, and expounded

his

own

views.

The

very

first of

such passages

62

HAMANUJACHARYA.
the famous one of the Ohandogya Upanishad
'
occurs the enigmatic sentence,
Tat

is

wherein

twain asi

'

ner stone of

adwaitic

all

attacks in this

'

thou art

that

',

work

which

is

the cor-

He

expositions.

the

doctrine of

also

Maya

of

Sankara, and the Bheda-abheda doctrines of the

and

Bhaskara

Yadava

out his view of the

his

method

of

Then he

schools.

ultimate

truths

Vedic passages.

reconciling

then takes up the question,

of

sets

and gives

great

He

religious

importance to Hindus, and a matter of severe

contention in disputations, whether the Supreme
Deity is to be styled Narayana or is to be idsnbiwith Siva or some of the other Gods known

fied

to the Upanishads,

and concludes by establishing

that the former alone

is

named

explicitly

as the

Deity in both his personal and impersonal forms.

This controversy of names, it will be seen, is
independent of the

dispute

and Visishtadwaitism and

confirmed adwaitins to

Narayana

is

between adwaitism
there

are

plenty of

as

Vishnu or

whom God

the object of worship.

Ramanuja now

num

addressed himself to his magBhashya on the Vedanta Sutras.

explained on a previous occasion that

opus, the

We have

Ramanuja's interpretation followed the Bodha-

63

RAMANUJACHARYA.

yana

Vritti,

a very early

on the Sutras

gloss

composed long before Sankara's time

tially representative

To get

Ramanuja expounded.
cript of the

Southern
travel to

With

Vritti,

and essen-

very views which

the

of

which was
it

at

the manus-

unavailable
is

Ramanuja,
Kashmir with Kuresa and other
India,

considerable

he

difficulty,

said,

pupils.

obtained

mission to read the manuscript but

in

had to

per-

not to take

any copy of the same. Kuresa of wonderful memory committed to heart important passages in
the simple act of reading them once and relieved

Ramanuja of all anxiety as to his being unable

make a copy of the work and take it with
him. The party then
returned to Srirangam

to

and Ramanuja composed

Bhashya, Kuresa
seems that Kuresa,
who remembered the Vritli, never actively sug-

being the amanuensis.

the

It

to Raraanuja's Exposition,
but where any error crept in, in the nature of a
disagreement with the Vritti, he simply would
not write down any further, and
Ramanuja

gested any objection

took the hint and usually amended the text.

We have clear testimony that Ramanuja had
access to passages

in

posed the Bhashya, and

the
it

Vritti
is

also

before he com-

unlikely that

64

RAMANUJACHARYA.

he went

the

all

way

Kashmir once

to

purpose of seeing the manuscript

for the

and again dur-

ing the course of the long tour round the Peninsula to be mentioned later on

he
fact

and

before which

said to have completed the Bhashya.

is

be that

may

Romanujn

from some library

Kashmir

or

in

the

procured

the North, but

his

perhaps

reference

The
r
\

ritti

not from
to

stray

passages was from traditional quotations and he

really was enabled to verify his references only

Kashmir

at

work was
his

or lastly,

we may suppose that

the

composed after his return from

and
long trip
Ramauuja utilised the study

of the

Bhashya
there

is

really

VriMi
is

in

the

the work of

mature

nothing improbable

Ramanuja's views,
controversies

The

Sri

intellect,

and

composition.

in

supposing that

settled by the ordeal of frequent

during his

trip,

were

committed

to writing, after his return, in deliberation.

After the

cooiposition

Raman uja composed two

a short one,

the

of the

epitomes

Sri

Bhashya,

of the same,

Vedanta Sara

containing the
Sutras and a simple gloss, and the Vedanta Dipa, a
work on the same model, but fuller in discussion

and exposition.

Both works are valuable aids

to

the study of the Sutras and deserve to be better

RAMANUJACHARYA.

known, though

Bhashya,

must

it

are thoroughly

admitted

be

also

Ramanuja

composed

tary on the Bhagavat-Gita,

Bhashya,

a work

considerable

of

amply expounded by
Tatparya Chandrika of

Sri

commen-

as the

Gita,

merit, the result of

which
the

other works of

known

great

thought,

that they

the masterly

by

eclipsed

65

has

since

been

classical

Sri

commentary
Vedanta Desika. The
the Gadya-traya>

are

Ramanuja

and the Nitya, works devoted to practical religious purposes and requiring no further notice.

The grand trip of Ramanuja round the Peninsula now requires mention. With a large following of disciples and with
visiting various

verting opposition to his

arise,
first

Ramanuja

the

express

started

views, wherever

from

travelled east, visited

the shrines of the Shiyali Taluk near

Thirumangai Al war's birth.

south and visited the shrines
in

the

it

Srirangam.

may

He

Kumbhakoriam and

of

Tinnevelly, and

object of

shrines and incidentally contro-

the scene

He

then turned

of

Madura and

latter

district

visited

Alwar-Tirunagari and the neighbouring shrines

where St. Sadagopa was born and lived. From
here he went

to

Rameswaram.

Tirunagari. he went to Malabar

Returning to
and Travancore,
5

66

RAMANUJACHARYA.

visited various

Vishnu

>

shrines

scattered

over

these places and then marched northwards

Dwaraka

the sea-coast to Girnar and

where Sri Krishna

lived

and

went to Muttra, Govarthan,

the

memory

went

north

further

He

Badarinath.

etc.,

up

where he

Thence he

From

the

these he

Himalayas

Kashmir

then visited

stopped at Srinagar,

along

Guzerat,

places sacred to

Krishna,

Sri

of

ruled.

in

is

said

to

to

and
have

been challenged by Sarasvvati herself, the Goddess

of learning.

The
pound

text which

Ramanuja was

at Srinaefar xvas
"

Chandogya, I. 6.7.
rikam Evam Akshini
lotus, so

"

asked

famous

the

to ex-

passage in

Yatha Kapyasam punda" As is the

lit.

Kapyasa

were his eyes."

The word Kapyasa has

been interpreted by Sankaracharya as the " poste-

Sankara gave this apunaware of any

parently
and
traditional
other
excused the
interpretation,
riors of the

monkey

".

literal interpretation,

obvious awkwardness of the comparison by saying

was only a simile subsidiary to another
ifc

that

simile

and was, therefore, of no harm. His meaning

would thus be " The eyes of the Deity

of the text

were

like the

lotus

posteriors of the

which resembled the

monkey."

It will

(red)

be seen that,

RAMANUJACHABYA.

67

apart from the unseemly comparison, Sankara re-

word

quires the interpolation of another

The

which the text gives no room.

*

pundarika

'.

'

rally implies that

is

kapyasa

Raman uja

'like'

for

text natu-

co-ordinate with

abandoned

therefore

Sankara's meaning and interpreted kapi to mean

the sun' or 'the rays of the sun'.
This derivative
*

meaning had been suggested

the early commentators,

as

kapyasa',

interpreted

the rays of the sun'.*

this interpretation

of

the Vakyakara Tarika,

referred to before in the life of

who

him by one

to

Yamunacharya,
'

full-blown

by

Bamanuja improved upon

by exhausting the

possibilities

by the word
and which seemed suited to the context. His

of derivative construction

full

explanatory

afforded

as

given

234

of the

meaning

Vedartha Sangraha,

(see p.

Edition and the commentary thereon),

in

is

the

Benares
as fol-'

The eyes of the Deity were beautiful

lows
" like a
(red) lotus, grown in deep water, stand:

and full-blown by the rays

need hardly say that a com-

ing on a strong stalk,

of

the

sun".,t

We

Aditya-Kshipla.

See also the Upanishad Commentary of Rangaramanuja Muni, Madras Telugu Edition, Chandogya,
of this passage. Also
page 30, for a full exposition
t

Srutaprokasika

(p. 458, Vol.

the Sri Bhashya at

I. 1.

21.

I,

Grantha Edition) on

RAMANU JACHARYA

68

munity which
nal aspect of

sets so much store by the persoGod would consider a construction

like Sankara's as

an affront

to

Him, though

of

course Sankara intended no such thing and only

an

followed

word

kapi\

This

interpretation of

ever,

we

Saras wati,

satisfied

sed

popular meaning of the

apparent

him

and

his

roused the

Ramanuja thoroughly

are

told,

Bhashya.
ire

the

of

and She

bles-

Ramanuja, howadwaitic

pandits

who, defeated in open controversy,

tried to encompass his life by dark means. Ramaof the place,

nuja and his party, however, escaped and descending the Himalayas,

proceeded to Benares.

From

Benares he travelled south-east and reached Puri

or Jagannath on the eastern coast and established a

mutt

there.

Unable

ple worship at Puri

priests,

Here

to introduce his

owing

mode

of tem-

to the opposition of the

the place and proceeded

toTirupati.
occurred what is considered a miracle in

he

left

connection with the

God

of the

Seven

Hills.

dispute was raging at the time of Ramanuja's

visit as to whether the God was Yishnu or Siva.
It is claimed

Vishnu

by the Vaishnavas that the God was

in the times preceding that of

as the Saiva saints dedicated

Ramanuja,
no stanzas to him,

RAMANUJACH ART A

69

though neighbouring Siva shrines were noticed,

It also appears that in the times of an early Alwar

who preceded

St. Sadagopa, the God is described as

wearing both Vaishnavifce and Saivite symbols. A
fruitful source of dispute seems to have existed in
ttie

place based on

that in

this dual

Ramanuja's

time

It

aspect.

there was

may
a

be

fresh

It was now
attempt to oust the Vaishnavites.
that
both
and
Siva
Vishnu
symbols
suggested
should be placed before the God at night and that

the decision as to the God's nature should follow

any indication that He may give in the matter.

This was done by Rarnanuja and the people of the
with the result that, early next morning, the
God was seen wearing the discus and the conch,

place,

the symbols of

symbols

Vishnu,

to the

neglect of

of Siva also placed before him.

a controversy

the

Thus ended

which has never cropped up again.

From

Tirupati Ramariuja travelled south,

Conjeevaram, Tirukoilur, and Tiruvahidrapuram (Cuddalore) and lastly Viranarayanapuram, the birth-place of Nathamurii. He then
visiting

reached Srirangarn after completing

successfully

an extended tour of several years, during which

he acquired
influence.

great fame and largely increased

his

70

RAMANUJACHARYA.

His
detail.

life

at Srirangam need not be described in

With

great tact and

ability

he managed

the Srirangam
Temple entrusted to him, and at the same time

through his disciples the

affairs of

followers and ministered to their

instructed his

Hundreds

spiritual wants.

of

eminent men and

women surrounded him and hung upon

his words.

His congregation included, we are told, 700

Sanyasins, 74 dignitaries holding special offices of

men and women

Raman uja was now an

ministry, and innumerable holy

who

revered him as God.

aged

man

near 70, but was destined to live

years more and

was fond of his

the feeling.
uncle,

instruct his
disciples

One

contemporaries.

He

and they reciprocated

of them, a son of Sri Saila his

was bred up as a son

Kurukesa, after

many

St.

to

Sadagopa,

the pledge to Yamuna's spirit,

him and named

in

fulfilment of

which we have

mentioned before.

By

the composition of the Sri Bhashya, he had

redeemed another

of the

pledges.

The

third

pledge was redeemed by Bamanuja naming a son

of his friend Kuresa as Parasara, the name of the
saintly father of

Vyasa and

the

author of the

Vishnupurana, which is held in great esteem,

Kurukesa, otherwise named Pillan, composed a

71

RAMANUJACHARYA.

monumental, though

brief,

commentary

called the

Six thousand, on the 1,000 stanzas of the Tiru-

Parasara Bhattar,
vai Mozhi, of St. Sadagopa.
son of Kuresa, was a brilliant man, almost a pro-

and has composed various works, one of them

being a commentary on the Sahasranama called

digy,

Bhayavad-guna Darpana.
Troublous days were in store for Ramanuja. The
Chola King (Kulothungachola

I),

persuaded by

the bigoted Saivites of his Court, sent for

Rama-

nuja to ask him for a subscription of his faith in

Siva as the Supreme Lord.
Kuresa, personating
Ramanuja, accepted the summons, wore his
master's red robes and went in his place,

accom-

Mahapurna, Ramanuja's earThe two reached the Court of the

Chidambaram in all probability,) and

panied by the aged

liest teacher.

monarch

(at

attempting to argue out the superiority of

Vishnu, were commanded by the cruel monarch
This was done and
to have their eyes extracted.
tho unfortunate pair stumbled out
started for Srirangam.

On

the

somehow and

way Mahapurna

pangs of pain, and

Kuresa reached Srirangam alone. Finding the
repaired to
place closed to Vaishnavites, he
died,

unable to

Madura

where

bear the

he

lived

near

the shrine

of

72

RAMANUJACHARYA.
a

Vishnu

of

great

Meanwhile Ramanuja with a sprinkling

of his

Tirumalirunjolai,

temple

sanctity.

followers left Srirangam

fear

in

and by hurried and nightly

outskirts of the Nilgiri
culties

of

persecution

marches reached the

hills.

After

great

diffi-

and many adventures, the party travelled

across the forests, and reached Vahnipushkarini, a

place

on

the

Kaveri

about

40 miles west

of

Mysore. Thence the party went east, halting at

Mirle and Saligram, about 10 miles eastwards.

Here Ramanuja

spent some

large number, and one

rest,

who became

The party

then

time

converting a

Anthrapurna among the

devoted

follower

thereafter.

reached Tonnur or

Tondanur,'

where then resided the King Bitti Deva, of the

whose capital was Dvvara
Hoysala dynasty,

Sam ud ra

or the

modern Halbeid.

These events

may be assigned to about the year 1088 or 1089

A.D., when Ramanuja was over 70 years old. The
Rajah's daughter was possessed and the

Queen were

sore distressed

on that

King and

account.

common

acquaintance suggested Ramanuja as capable of exorcising the devil by the power of his

austerities.

Ramanuja was

invited to the palace

and luckily succeeded in curing the Princess

of

73

RAMANUJACHARYA.

The King and Queen were greatly

her malady.

advantage of an
affront which the Jain community to which the

Ramanuja, taking

pleased.

King belonged had offered to the latter, converted

him to Vaishnavism and changed his name to
Yishnuvardhana.

great disputation followed between the Jains

and Ramanuja

in

plete victory,

It

Rnmanuja won a com-

which
is

that

said

Ramanuja,

plied

with the impatient questions of thousands of Jains

on all sides, got inside a curtain, and assuming
the

form

thousand-headed

the

of

Adisesha,

answered each one, individually and so effectively,

that the clamorous rabble fled away in terror.

The

story

ground

gionists in

number

oil -mills,

erased

land-grants,

wise

the zealous convert

that

goes

a large

maltreated

of

his

despoiled
their

quondam
them

temples,

These

them.

of

and

King

co-reliall

their

other-

statements

of

course must be taken with

salt, as it is

that any politic prince

would have

very unlikely

raised so unnecessarily such

tion from his

himself in

considerable grain of

own

people.

Tonnur and

Ramanuja

had. a large

an opposiestablished

and beautiful

lake constructed out of the waste materials of the

despoiled Jaina

shrines

the

lake

exists to this

74

RAMANUJACHARYA.

day and

is

called

the moti talab

lake of

or the

pearls.

Ramanuja's stay in Mysore extended over nearHe succeeded in creating a strong

ly 20 years.
and learned Vaishnavite community whose des-

He

cendants exist to this day.

Vishnu

built the

temple

Melukote or Tirunarajanapuram,
a few miles north of Mysore, and established in
of

at

God Narayana whose statue was discovered

him
on the spot, from the revelations of a
by

it

the

dream.

He

priya,

of the

also recovered a copper

same God, which he

Rama-

idol,

learned, also

from a dream, to be with a Muhammadan princess

at Delhi and procured it, after an arduous journey
to that place.
The panchamas of the place were

him

of great help to

signed them

in

this

business and he as-

in gratitude certain limited rights of

entry into the temple on fixed days, which privilege

He then set up,
enjoyed by them to this day.

is

with the help of his disciples, various other images

a pro-

at Belur and other places, arid established

cedure for worship on a firm basis in

He

resumed

rangam

his religious

in peace

of the ruler

followers.

all

instruction

of

as

them.
at Sri-

and serenity, enjoying the favour

and the devotion of his old and new

He

went to Padmagiri, (Sravana Bel-

RAMANUJACHARYA.

75

gola) the Badhistic stronghold, and there obtained

argument over the Budhists of the

place and converted a large number,
Meanwhile news had reached him that the

victories in

who persecuted him was no more,

Chola King

He
having
and
Kuresa
the
also heard of the misfortune of
fallen a victim to a serious carbuncle.

death of his venerable teacher, Mahapurna. Sorely

grieved, he longed to return to Srirangam, and
console

Kuresa

lowers.

friends

He,
to

and

implored

therefore,

him

let

numerous

his

which

depart,

old

his

fol-

Mysora

they

did

an exact image of Ramanuja, which

He then started for
set
they
up for worship.
Srirangam and reached it, travelling in rapid

after getting

marches

in the

disciples.

The

of

company
of

people

a large group of

Srirangam welcomed

him with open hearts and conducted him to hia

mutt in triumphal procession. The successor of
Kulothunga

Ramanuja was

was a
left

pro-Vaishnava ruler and

undisturbed.

his affectionate follower Kuresa,

decrepit,

and

shed tears

of

Ramanuja met
now blind and

the deepest sorrow

over his misfortunes.

Yet another journey awaited Ramanuja

last days.

Learning that

the

in hi

God Govindaraja,

RAMANUJACHARYA.

76

removed from Chidambaram under the orders

the late Ohola ruler, was

of

conceal-

preserved in

at Tirupati, he journeyed to that place and

ment

established a shrine for that deity at the foot of

the

He

hills.

resumed

Sriraugam and
After some more years

then returned

his saintly

life.

of useful work, he closed

to

his

career quietly at Srirangarn,

long
in

and

active

the year 1137

A. D., having lived for 120 years, a span of life

unusual among men, but which, we are assured

from
It

all

accounts, was a historical fact in his case.

must

be

added that

his devoted follower

Kuresa died a few years previously, deeply mourned by Ramanuja himself and by all around him.
That Raman uja's was an exemplary character
no demonstration. There are various

needs

incidents

in his

life

mention) that bring

(which space forbids us to

out his broad-mindedness,

burning sympathy for mankind, unselfishness to

an extraordinary degree, resourcefulness arid
absolute

devotion

to

God.

He

went

further

than any other Yaidic teacher in recognising

merit even though combined with socially inferior

the

birth.

human

different

He
heart,

was

an

and won

able

interpreter

men and

temperaments to the path

women

of religion

of

of

by

R AMANU JACHARYA
suitable

of his learning,
of his character.
is

remarkable.

where for

his

the vastness

intellect,

and the sincerity and seriousness

His moderation in controversy

He

has no

harsh

word any-

His work on the pracHis disciples

epoch-making.

his opponents.

tical side is trul} r

were the

His writings

treatment.

sympathetic

show the keenness of

77

ancestors

innumerable

of

families throughout the Presidency

Yaishnava

who deem

it

honour that they are so descended.

the
Vishnu temples are places of large reThat
their highest

sort

and centres

of social

and

religious influence,

due entirely to his initiative and prudent foreAbuses creep into the best institutions
thought.
and they can hardly be ascribed to the originais

tors in

any

case.

Raman uja's

religious

activity

In disPresidency.
tant Bengal, a pupil of his was succeeded by the
well -known Ramanand who preached Vaishnavaism
bore fruit even outside the

and Bhakti, and has created many thousands

professing the Vaishnava cult in Bengal and other

Ramanuja, preceded and

parts of the North.
followed as he was by various reformers of eminence in his own

line,

is

rightly held to be

the

founder of the Yisishtadwaitic system,a brief description of which will now conclude this sketch of

Ramanuja's

Life.

II

pbilosopbs of TRamanujacbar^a.
THE TERM

VISISHTADWAITA' EXPLAINED

Visishtadwaita

tHEwith

is

so called because

inculcates the adwaita, or

visesha or attributes.

else that is seen

dual souls and

position
is

is

His

is

also that

God alone

Herein

between the two views

chit or

therefore,

exists

all

is

exists

the

the indivi-

The adwaitic

matter.

achit or

manifestation

is,

manifestation, attribute,

Such attributes are

or Sakti.

It

God alone

qualified non-dualism/

it

oneness of God,

and

all else

common element

but the Adwaitin regards

the manifestation as unreal and

temporary, and

Avidya or Nescience. In conseone

Brahman is without any attribute,
the
quence,
in his view.
Ramauuja and his school regard the
as a result of

attributes as real, and permanent,

Brahman

the control of the

one

modifications and

evolutions.

God

is

but subject to
in

their

all

The oneness

of

compatible with the existence of attributes,

as the latter are incapable of existing

so do not constitute

alone,

independent things.

and

They

are called the prakaras or the modes, sesha or the

accessories,

and niy&mya or the

controlled,

of

79

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

The word Brahman

the one Brahman.

used either to denote the central

is

thus

when

unity,

it

becomes possible to speak of the souls and matter,

as its attributes, or to denote the combined trinity

when the whole

cribed
alone.

may properly be desas consisting of Brahman and Brahman

The Visishtadwaitin does not make the
universe

unphilosophical statement that the souls are absolutely independent

endowed

entities,

capacity of separate existence and

with the

activity, apart

from Brahman.

THE FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTES.

The Brahman (we use the word in the
the above senses)

more

it is

is

Intelligence.

the Knower.

denied, and all that exists

It is

Where
is

something

attributes are

is

tadwaitin,

But

nothing to know.

Brahman

is

is blissful

for a

unimaginable

mixture

in his case.

knowledge,

which

may

be called

such a phrase

may

is

It will

souls

thus be seen

and matter,

the concrete attributes

be used,

fur-

is Bliss, i.e.

of the opposite, pain,

that besides the attributes of

*

for the Visish-

Brahman

nished by the attributes.

is

knower

a knower, and the variety,

philosophically essential for

he

intelli-

homogenous

gence, as in the Adwaita, there can be no

for there

first of

Brahman has

'

if

various

80

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA

abstract attributes, qualities strictly so called, de-

noting his perfection from various points of view.

The Visishtadwaitin

'

'

considers

Intelligence

partaking of the dual character of

a concrete attribute

an

as

of

of the

example

attribute.

is

it

of

is

this

By

light

of

such an
essence

an attribute as well,

is

in

Again Brahman

nature of universal pervasion.

real, satya.

'

the

possibility

Intelligence

Brahman

an abstract and

and he instances

as

understood that he

is

its
is

with-

out vikara or modification of any kind. The souls

matter

and

means
which

that
is

unreal, which again

asatya or

are

they

are

to

subject

modification,

necessarily an element of impurity.

the case of souls, this modification takes

of expansion

mineral,

or contraction of Intelligence.

plant,

karmic control,

The

or animal

is

life,

In

universe,

the

dull or of suppressed Intelligence.

creation

and

matter undergoes

of its nature.

In

the soul, under

modifications of matter are of a

kind.

In

the form

S'ich

change

more serious

expansion of tho
a

real

is

called

modification

parinama

or evolution, as contrasted with vivarta or appar-

ent variation, which

is

the view of the Adwaitin.

The Visishtadwaitin holds

souls

that, in spite of the

and matter being pervaded by Brahman, any

PHILOSOPHY OF EAMANUJACHARYA,
modifications of them, though under

touch His

control, do not

essence

81

Brahman's
just as the

Adwaitin maintains that the operations of Avidya

do not affect the one Reality. The unreality of
'

thus another point of agreement

between the Adwaitin and the Visishtadwaitin ;

the cosmos

but

is

must be admitted,

this, it

is

merely a nominal

agreement, considering the important diversity in

their conceptions of the unreality. The Visishtadwaitin would thus
rest

Asat

in

change

its

like

is

'

call

Brahman,

'

and the

Sat,'

narrower sense, he reserves the

in a

Asat

'

epithet

essence

'

to

which

Matter,

essence,

the

unlike

undergoes
souls

whose

to the Brahman's and never changes.

TWO STATES OF BRAHMAN.

There

Brahman.

when

two

are

all

One

is

states

the souls

deep sleep as

it

of

existence

for

the

absolute quiescence or pralaya,

and matter

were.

No

Him

exist in

differentiation

is

in

possi-

ble in that stage

between the souls and matter

these are then, as

it

exists,

were, non-existent.

one without a second/

Sat alone

Existence

is

the

only phrase that can be applied to the Brahman

not to speak of creation, is
then, as volition,
potential or has not

begins

the

second

commenced
stage,

to

work. Then

To the

creation.

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

82

Adwaitin, creation
It

is

the

Brahman

is

clouding
by the

a negative, an unreal, act.

of the

pure Intelligence

inexplicable

Avidya,

of

which

produces the manifestation of apparent diversity.

Visishtadwaitin
considers
creation
The
as
a

volitional effort

positive

to

real

display

the
in

for

energy
both the

souls

diversity,

the

of

by

Brahman
acfualising

whir.h
is
innate
change
and matter. 8a Aikshata

He thought, may I
bahu syam prajayeya iti.
become many, may 1 grow forth.' The antah
pravesa en try within' which the Upanishads speak
'

of as taking place at creation

the Vishshtadwaitin,

it

is

not strictly true.

To

mt-ans only the Brahman's

willing to develop his inseparable attributes, souls

Brahman was within even

To the Adwnitin, the antah
before creation.
pravesa is entirely metaphorical. The language
of the Parindma Vada is used in his view, merely
and

matter

for

'

'

for facility of comprehension.

THE PURPOSE OF CREATION.

The

ethical justification for creation

is

Justice.

(karma) have to be bestowed,

and
impartially, and Brahman does this
equally
by endowing souls with appropriate bodies of

The fruits

of actions

various kinds and giving room for further func-

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

83

tioning and display of free-will within limits the

further evolution depends on the manner in which
;

the individual uses his

opportunities.
in the Hindu view,

is,

As karma
it

beginningless,

unnecessary to account for

Brahman

objection that

its

becomes

To the

origin.

could have no
purpose,

being without wants, in engaging itself in creation,

is, in the words of the author
of the

the reply

lokavat tu lila
kaivalyam (II. 1.33),
mere recreation, as in
In
ordinary life.
other words, as no compulsion can be
predicated
Sutras,

it

is

of the

Brahman

Visishtadwaitin
other

possible

recreation for

to

evolve the

accounts

for

that

alternative,

the

Brahman,

the

universe,

it

but

the

by
it

is

only

mere

the strictest

justice for the souls concerned.

Sankara adds the
explanation that His innate nature (svabhava) is
to create, which does not
carry us much further

and then reminds us that the whole

unreal, as

Brahman

discussion

is

never the agent of creation.

THE AUTHORITY OF REVELATION.
is

To the Visishtadwaitin, as to the

Adwaitin,
the Vedas and Smritis are the sole and

independ-

ent authority for the

Reason

has

perceptible

no

by the

knowledge

operation
senses.

except

of

Brahman.
in

matters

Transcendental notions

PHILOSOPHY OP RAMANUJACHARYA;

84

as those with respect to the nature

Brahman and

and attributes

got from
This position appears illogical, dethroning, as it does, Reason, the accepted instruof

the souls, can only be

Revelation.

ment

of correct conclusion

thought.

To

dwell a

little

reason

for its

on .the exact

Sankara

by

Reason

in

all

explain this anomaly,

an

is

place

well

as

correctness, on the

of
to

have

assigned

as

word.

indefinite

processes

we

to

Raman uja.
It

depends

intellectual capacity of

the person arguing, the extent of his information

and other circumstances. Until a fallacy is exposed,

an argument is apparently sound. Then it is
upset

and

other

reasonings.

mere reason
and

is

want

This

finality

in

referred to in the Sutras (II. 1-11)

a sufficient authority in the

Brahman
from

as the

design

endowed
could

Brahman
as

lead

to

at

is

And

sufficiently

rejected.

establish

cause

a highly

or causes, but

so,

the help of mere

competent determining

factor in the establishment of

.

of

the conception of a perfect

as first cause.

best

first

knowledge

The argument

did.

Nyayikas

may

intelligent

not

reason

cause,

of

the cause of the Vedantic systems rejecting

is

it as

conclusion has to be reached by

the

Brahman, as first
not be taken to
must
This

85

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

mean

Hindu Vedantins

that the

tion in their

in

is

monument

the

subtlest reasonings.

standing

them the purpose

the

in

has,

which

argumenta-

Every page

writings
skill

reject

philosophy.

do

of reasoning

first

not

place,

transcend

of

their

of

their

According to
two-fold.

is

It

full scope in

matters

the

In the

senses.

second place, it is a valuable adjunct in ontology,

where the texts of the Vedas are to be construed.

As

it

so

happens that most important

texts

liable to be disputed as to their

are

it

meanings,
goes
without saying that there is full room for logical
To say that
interpretation with respect to them.
explicit

means

them
after

Vedic texts are unquestionable authorities

one of two things, either that we take

as the conclusions of great

acute

reasoning,

on

minds

feeble intellects could not sufficiently

or

we

consider

them

men who had

our

comprehend,

to be the records

direct experiences of

reached

matters which

of

unique

trained

their

powers of mental perception by methods to which

we have no access. Neither position is inconceivable or

necessarily absurd.

positions

are

educated

men

representations

So many

scientific

by the general body of

over the world on the faith of

accepted
all

that

those

positions have been

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMAN UJACHARYA.

86

by some one by actual experiments.

There may be danger of mistakes and mis-statements in either case but those like Sankara and

verified

Ramanuja, who do

not

agnostic satisfactory

or comfortable,

feel

the position of an

have pre-

ferred to base their ontological position on

reve-

lation, while fully trusting to their capacity for

ratiocination to meet objections on the part of

those

who do not

subscribe to the

authority

the Vedas. Between these two, there

difference.

is,

of

however, a

Sankara includes the Srutis and Smritis

among ephemeral things whose purpose is served

when once oneness
is
realised.
Ramanuja
considers

expressive

them

as always authoritative

of the

eternal

commands

whose breath they are said to be.

these
difference arises between
based on this distinction.

In

and as

of the deity

An important
two thinkers,

Sankara's view the

compulsory nature of ordained duties lasts only

an individual has realised by thinking his unity

till

with God. Ramanuja considers the performance of

such duties obligatory as long as life and physical
power endure. (See Sutras III. 4.32-35.)

There are also certain assertions in Ramanuja's

religious tenets which must be unacceptable to those

who do not

believe in revelation or adopt his inter-

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMAN UJACHARYA.

pretation.

Such are

87

his eternally free souls (nityas),

heaven conceived as a distinct place apart from

and outside the changeable universe (though not

outside Brahman),

the existence of the

Deity
forms
of various kinds, the peculiar
physical
paths of souls on their release from the body, and

in

so on.

Belief in these

b;ised

is

and no reasoning can be called

is

Raman uja's

contention that reasoning

And

powerless to disprove them.

of these in

as regards

on express texts
prove them. It

to

is

equally

disapproval

no way affects Ramanuja's conclusions,

the nature of Brahman and its rela-

and matter,

tion to souls

as

philosophical

posi-

tions consonant to abstract reasoning.

MODE OF RECONCILIATION.

We

now come

ling Vedic

to

texts.

Ramanuja's mode of reconciWestern scholars have tried to

arrange chronologically the principal Upanishads

and

to discern, in

some

of

others, crude statements

them, partial truths

in

in others again, the coin-

insight into things transcendental that

be
How far this discussion
may
given to man.
is convincing we shall not stop to examine. Where

pletesfc

passages
conflict,

in

as

the
in

Aranyaka, or the

same
the

Upanishads
Chandogya,

Isa-Vasya,

it is

appear to
Brihad-

the

evident that

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMAN UJACHABYA.

88
the

ordinary rules of

resorted

The

to, to

arrive

respect which

must

interpretation
at a consistent

be

meaning.

Hindus have entertained

for

the Upanishads on account of their antiquity has

prevented them from considering any

of inferior authority to the rest.

of

them

follows that

It

a consistent doctrine has to be attempted

at

least

the

principal

as

out of

This

Upanishads.

is

what Sankara and Ramanuja have attempted to

do, each hi his own way. And this is indeed what
Badarayana, the
shads

known

first

interpreter of

to us, has himself

Professor Deussen and

had

that

Badarayana
Chandogya and hence

to

it

in the topics

done

the Upaniin the Sutras.

others have conjectured

a

the

the

partiality

for

frequent

reference

discusser*.

Indian

scholars

thoroughly equipped with an intimate acquaintance with "the immense and highly technical philosophical literature, which

is only just
beginning to
be sbudied and comprehended, in part, by Euro-

pean scholars," to use the words of Dr. Thibaut,

have ascertained that, in the two Mimansas, the
passages discussed

in

each adhikarana

are only

typical and not exhaustive and that the order of

exposition

is

mainly based on logical sequence. It

is no justification for the view

follows that there

89

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

that one or two Upanishads are specially intendphilosophical truths

ed as the repositary of

to

of other

the exclusion

Upanishads.
Upanishads referring to the
supreme Self are of two kinds. Some speak of Him
as niryuna, attributeless.
Others describe him

The

texts of the

as having

power,
al

attributes or qualities

As

etc.

whether these

question arises

must

texts, as the others

texts can be

be

given to

have the

'

Ekam

Hence

one only, without a

there is here no diver-

neha nana

are interpreted by him, without

Asti,'

straining, as establishing

Brahman.

And

the

the

absolute

made

an imaginary and inferior Brahman

or karya Brahman,
its

ja's difficulty

sion of

the

i.e.,

the

much

one-ness

other texts are rele-

gated to an inferior position and

tion with

the

texts

eva Adwaitiyam,

sity, etc.

of the

that

effect of limiting

second,

*"

is

the nirguna

Infinite, which should not be done.

like

wisdom,

Sankara's view

reconciled in any manner.

predominance

like

truth can be only one, the natur-

to refer to

called

Brahman

apara

in conjunc-

power called maya. Raumnuseems to be that this sharp divi-

creative

passRges

the

higher

lower

Brahman

and
is

into

those

not

easily

those

referring to

referring

to

and directly

the

infer-

90

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

able from the

On

texts themselves.

hand, the passages are

so

the other

mixed up

that

impossible to say that this

distinction,

was ever prominently kept

His

tion

up.

the

therefore, as follows:

is,

do

Upanishads

Brahman
result of

not inculcate

Avidya

reconcilia-

texts of the

an attributeless

the Brahman, as

attributes expound

is

referring to these

the texts

it

true,

are real and not the

the attributes

if

He

with

is,

the souls and matter as His inseparable modes.

Brahman

is

one.

as described

attributes for

that

He

only in His compound nature,

The

already.

Him

texts denying

are to be taken as

has no low or

texts

nauspicious attributes, fsuch

as to creation, as mentioned already,

a real modification

of the

Brahman becomes

suffused

imagines a variety.

The

immanent, both
texts which speak

and

mean

that

with Nescience

and

so of

of unity

the totality

of

attributes. Texts, which

mean

that there

is

no

many and God

souls are

them and

in

and

the

The
mean

souls

attributes,

matter of the Brahman and do not

is

any

meaning

as liability to changes, death, sorrow, etc.

in matter.

The

deny variety do

Brahman with

deny a second

his

to BratiDian,

other controlling power

in the universe apart from

Him.

Texts which

PHILOSOPHY OF BAMANUJACHARYA

91

deny the possibility of knowing Brahman, do not

mean that he cannot be the object of thought, as
is no thinker
they mean only that His
wonderful and priceless excellences or qualities
could not be adequately described.
Else, accor-

there

ding to

Ramanuja,,

hosts of passages

Brahman

of

The

text

and

ascribe

which contains the famous

" not

so,

not so" and

teach the negation of

is

all

with

conflict

knowledge

prescribe

Brihad

the

of

would

they

which

Him.

to

qualities

II. 3.

Aranyaka
words " neti

taken

"

Sankara to

by

attributes

6.

neti

is

interpreted

by Ramanuja (Sutras. III. 2.21) as merely denying the possibility of adequate knowledge of the
"
Brahman. " This interpretation says he, " is con-

firmed by the fact that after the negative phrase

comes an epithet of^Brahman as the True of the

True, for the Pranas are the True
Ramanuja
'

interprets this text to

mean

that the Pranas or the

individual souls are sntya or 'true'

i.e.,

to change in their essence, while the

is altogether real or

fore,

"

unchangeable.

not subject

supreme Self

He

is,

there-

more eminently true than they (the souls)

THE THEORY OF CAUSATION.

The theory
cised the

of causation

minds

of all

has profoundly

Hiudu

philosophers

are.

'

exer;

the

92

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

Vedantins, like the Sankhyas, maintain the oneness of cause and effect in
essence, as opposed to
the logicians who maintain that
they are differ-

In what sense, then, is the world which is

one with its cause ?
Badarayana has a

ent.

an

effect,

topic discussing this point. (Sutras,

the

instrumental cause, but also

cause of the

He

universe.

is,

an

give

illustration

philosophers.
refers

to

the

the cause becomes the effect.

-or

owing

to

modification.

the oneness of cause

fact that the cause

or subtle state,

undeveloped

and
the

to

Sutra,

(I.

the

of the

mud,
Indian

4.

27.)

Brahman

as

It is

by 'parivdmo?
In Ramanuja's view

effect

arises

Brahman

when the

and

now comprised

is

position,

the

of

which

in

material

the

familiar

succeeding

way

etc.)

not merely

is

the

in

notjnerely of the potter but also

to

IV. 23.

I.

Here he maintains that the Brahman

and matter are

souls

effect

Supreme

from the

in the sttkshma

is

Self

Brahman

also,

and the souls

and

matter, the latter in a fully developed state.

Sankara, practically admitting the interpretation
of the Sutras
given above, would, however, explain
the modification as 'Vivarta'
really,

nal creation by

or Maya.

Brahman as

i.e.,

phenome-

influenced by Avidya

That the two philosophers are

entirely

9&

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYAi
at variance in their

view of this oneness

is

also

from their respective commentaries on the

important Sutra J.I-1-15, (14, in Sankara's numclear

discussion of which

bering)

would be out

of

We would only draw

place in this brief exposition.

attention to an important and

ment

of

mentary

suggestive statethe close of his com-

at

Sankaracharya,

of the above Sutra, that

his view, omits to contradict the

Badarayana, in
reality

of the

manifested world and adopts the

language
Parindma Vada, for the purpose of

of the

facilitating

the exposition of the saguna

on in the work.

meditations

later

THE DOCTRINE OF NESCIENCE.

Ramanuja's Sribhashya is remarkable for the
lengthy disquisition on various topics by which
his actual

commentary on the Sutras

In

disquisition, he treats of various contro-

this

versial points

of

views

most

and expounds fully his

from

important

those
of

of

Sankara.

these

objections to the theory of

is

is

preceded.

differences

One

of the

his statement of

Maya or Avidya, which

a fundamental one in Sankara's

philosophy and
is, at the same time, the most vulnerable
point in
is

it.

Is

this

Avidya different from or identical

? The former view would seem
to

with Brahman

94

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA.

undermine Sankara's doctrine

latter is equally untenable.

of oneness

dian knot by boldly declaring that

is

Sadasad&nirvachaniya,

as

either

Maya

account

(the Avidya)

indescribable

Ramanuja

which

of

Ranghacharya's
to

Bhashya,

valuable

his

Vol.

to

is

be found in

Analytical outline

'

translation of the Sri

Raman uja's

I.

the

theory, under seven heads,

Professor
prefixed

it

it is

existing or non-existing.

tenability of the
clear

i.e.,

at great length his difficulties as to

expounds
a

and the

Sankara cuts the Gor-

objections

are

of

The

Avidya cannot operate on the

Brahman, directly, for His nature is intelligence

this

wise

and

this

would repel Nescience by its intrinsic

it
operate on the individual

Nor can

merit.

souls, for these are the

Avidya

outcome of the action

and cannot, therefore, be acted upon

of

in

anticipation. Again, to state that Nescience clouds

the

Brahman

that

destroyed,

Avidya,

luminous

position

as

nature

which

defined

is

by

mean

is

thereby
not admissible.

Sankara,

is

in

view, inconceivable, as the simultane-

possession

existence
of

impossible, for that would

again,

Ramanuja's
ous

is

Brahman's

of

two opposite

characters, as

and non-existence, cannot be predicated

anything

in

human

conception.

Ramanuja,

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMAN UJACHARYA.

95

further, does not think

as

indescribable

Sankara

of

for

a thing is
absolutely indesbe non-existent as an
entity.

if

must

it

cribable,

that to describe
Avidya
really strengthens the position

'

Then Ramanuja

points out that such an Avidya

cannot be proved to exist by any known means
of proof including Vedic or Smriti texts
if such
an Avidya should exist, it is
irremovable,
;

says

for

Ramanuja,

the

Brahman required
him
riot

an

to

impossible

knowledge of attributeless
remove it, is according to
such

thing,

Brahman

such an Avidya is
irremovable for another reason.
In Ramanuja's
being provable.

Lastly,

view the ignorance, being the result of

karma,
can be removed only by
enjoined action and meditation.

Mere knowledge

remove

it.

concludes

For

all

that the theory

and opposed

Brahman cannot

of

these

reasons,

of

Maya

to the tenor of the

Vedic

Ramanuja

is

untenable

texts.

CONCLUSION.
It is not the
purpose of this sketch to
all

Ramanuja's

objections

What

been

views.

has

to

explain

Sankaracharya's

attempted is only the

on important

setting forth of Ramanuja's views

points

with

just

so

much

doctrines of Sankara, as

is

reference

to

the

necessary to under-

PHILOSOPHY OF RAMANUJACHARYA,

96

stand Ramanuja.
ences,

and

To

really grasp the vital differ-

between these two eminent philosophers,

to arrive at a proper estimate of their relative

merits, would

mean a thorough

discussion of three

important questions, namely, (1) who

interpreter of the

is

the better

Upanishads, (2) who has more

views of the Yedanta

accurately represented the

Sutras, and (3)

who

is

entitled to greater

as a philosophical thinker.
of

so

difficult

These are

nature

that

respect

questions

they

are

entirely beyond our scope and capacity.

Enough
has, however, been said to show that Ramanuja,

when he becomes
certainly

among the

better

known,

be deemed entitled

to a

would most
high

place

world's philosophers and his system,

though not possessing

the

of Sankaracharya's,

simplicity or univeris

yet an

eminently
sound one, compatible with an admission of the
reality of the cosmos and a high conception of
sality

the nature and attributes of the Deity.

Sri IDefcanta IDesifca,

spread of Vaishnavismin South India after
the days of Ramanuja cannot be
adequately
dealt with in the short
space of an article

sect

is

or two.
The literary activity of the
borne out by the vast literature that has

come down

to us since
Ramanuja's days, and which,
though not available largely to the general Sans-

krit-knowing public,
of

day

in

is

gradually seeing the

important publications here and

light
there.

On

the practical side the characteristics of the

sect,
distinguishing it from the rest of the people, be-

came accentuated
of

exclusiveness

symbol of the
in its

own

in course of time,

and an amount

and one-sidedness

class,

interests.

became the

which cannot but be deplored

The spread

of Saivism
by the

advocacy of erudite Sanskrit scholars

was a simul-

taneous feature of these days which has to be taken

into account in estimating the causes of this
exclusiveness.

We

have also to mention that a

schism of an important nature arose

followers

of

Ramanuja

in

among

Southern

India
7

the
>

98

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

couple of centuries after Ramanuja's death, which

has only more fully developed

days have

itself as

gone by, and has not contributed, as may be expected, either to enhance the true religious or
moral progress of the community as a whole, or to
the increased respect of the communities

secure

around towards the dogmas and practices of the

Vaishnavas as a class. It is only necessary to add
that
of

we

are confining ourselves here to the spread

Vaishnavism

South

in

India,

leaving

future article to give some account of the

nent features of Vaishnavism as

in

it

it

to

promi-

has developed

Northern India.

The

legitimate

successor

of

Ramaiiuja

in

his

character as head of the

Vaishnavite community

said to be Kurukesa,

a disciple of Ramanuja,

is

referred to already as the author

of

comment-

ary on the Tiruveymozhi. Another of his pupils,

Pranatartihara of the Atreya Gotra, was a beloved

nephew

scholar.

tion of

He

of

Ramanuja

had the

Raman uja's

sole

himself, and

a great

charge of the prepara-

daily focd, a

function

which,

as Ramanuja was a sanyasin, could not be

charged by any one indiscriminately.

of time this Pranatartihara had a

Ramanuja

or Appullar by name.

dis-

In course

great-grandson

Varada Vishnu

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

Ramanuja's pupils whose

grandson Varadacharya became a learned scholar.
The latter studied under one Yishnuchitta, a Solia

Acharya was another

of

Kurukesa, and the author of

a learned commentary on the Vishnupurana, the
well-known work of Parasara, besides other works.

Brahmin, pupil

Vishnuchitta
thirteenth

of

lived about the early

century

A.

D.,

part of the

a fact accidentally

corroborated by a statement of his in his Vishnu* that at the time of his eor

purana commentary

of the Kaliyuga
posilion the forby-fourch century

was progressing. Under Varadacharya whose work

Tatwasara is now extant, and who was popularly

known

as

Nadadur Ammal, studied

Hainan uja already mentioned.

bhe Atreya

Many

other

emi-

nent men studied under him, one of whom may

be specially named here. This was Sudarsana
Bhatta, a great-grandson of Kuresa, Ramanuja's
This
scholar
composed
disciple and friend.
various works that have come

down

Srutaprakasika, a

commentary on the

modestly named a

to

us

the

Sri Bhashya,

transcript' of his master's notes,

but of considerable learning and

polemic ability,

a commentary on the Upanishads, another on the

* P. 169, L. 14, Madras Telugu Edition of the Vishnupurana with two commentaries.

100

SRI

VEDANTA DESIKA.

Vedartha Sangraha of Kamanuja, a

commentary
* and
on the Sri Bhagavata called
Sukapakshiya
others.

many
One

day, in the

lecture-hall

Atreya Ramanuja made

his

of

Varadacharya,

appearance accom-

panied by a young and attractive hoy, whom he

This was
the future

introduced as his nephew.

Yedanta Desika,t then

if

the story

is

abou*; five

to be believed.

years of age,

The boy was

called

Venkatanatha, and gave even at that time, evidence of his precocity by reciting, in answer to a
doubt, the passage last touched upon in the lecture which had temporarily stopped on the advent
of the boy.

Varadacharya

is

saio

to

have been

impressed by his powers of retention and

gence, and to have

prophetic
*

blessed

Sanskrit

him

verse. J

in

intelli-

neat and

The boy

as

he

Our

authority for this statement is Manavalamahamunigal, scholar and saint, a very reliable authority in
the matter of references see page 110 of his commentary on the Tatwatraya of Filial Lokacharya. Tamil
Edition.
;

tVedantaDesikaor (Vedantacharya) lit. Teacher of

Vedanta, though originallly a title, has pracically become
by general use the proper name of this scholar, and hence
is frequently used in this article instead of
Venkatanatha.
his real name.

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

101

grew up was duly instructed by his uncle in

the usual learning of the Vaishnava scholars.

all

He

early impressed his contemporaries with his greatness, and a belief grew up, based on the dreams
of his parents, that he

was an avatar

of

the

God

of Tirupati, and that his birth

was inspired by the

Ohanta or bell for the

Deity sending out his

This belief was

purpose.
life of

his

Yenkatanatha, as

allegorical

drama,

rife

even

during

the

we

see a reference to it in

the

Sankalpa Suryoda,

to be subsequent!}? mentioned.

Venkatanatha,
born
the

it
may be mentioned, was
suburb of Conjeevaram about
September in the year 1268

at Tiippul, a

month

A. D.

His

of

father

was

Anantasuri,

and

his

mother Tofcaramma, sister of Atreya Ramanuja

mentioned already. The boy is said to have been
born after a visit of the parents to Tirupati and
to have therefore been called
by the

God

name

of

the

of that place.

his uncle,

Duly instructed by Ramanuja

the young man became very learned and

exemplary in
as the

his

conduct and

was looked upon

coming leader of the Yaishnava community.

SIET IT.

102

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

After spending some years at Kanchi, his native

Yenkatanatha travelled south and took up

place,

his

at

residence

Tiruvahindrapuram,

near

His great ability

some years
Cuddalore,
and
in composition
acquired
disputation
for him the title of Kavi Tarkika-si'mha, lion of
for

poets and logicians.

crafts obtained for

His

skill in all arts

him the

Svatantra or expert in

Sarvatantra

of

title

all arts,

and

and handi-

later on, the

title of Vedantacharya or Yedanta Desika svas

bestowed on him in admiration of his wonderful

ability

To

and powers

of exposition

in.

the Vedanta.

this day, the site of his house at Tiruvahindra-

puram

is

and an

pointed out as evidence of his stay there,

old,

which he

is

but

well-preserved,

exists

who

objected to

universal

expert

many works

at

of

composed

still

own hands

to satisfy an importunate artisan

his title

well

said to have built with his

chiefly stotras or

of the place.

hymns of
One of them

in Prakrit, in

highly

Yedanta Desika

Tiruvahindrapuram,
praise on the Deities
is

Achyuta Sa,taka
whose
style,

difficult

with the spoken dialects of the time remains to be investigated. A Tamil work of his

affinity

the Paramata Bhanga

review

of

all

known

is

an able and exhaustive

philosophies and systems,

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

103

number, somewhat on the plan of

Sarvadarsana Sangraha, but
that work, a mere statement of the doc-

about 16 in

Madhavacharya's
not, like
trines,

but

of the

condensed and

tenets

of

Vifiishtadwaita.

Tamil

learned
other

every system
It is

refutation

practically

than

summary

the-

in

of the vast learning contained in the author's

Sanskrit works and

is

not special students of

mrtisati is a

useful

to

the latter.

popular Sanskrit

who

those

hymn

are

The Gopalaof

20 stanzas,

in perhaps the sweetest language that this learned

om

writer ever employed,

Sri

Krishna and

his

early exploits.

Venkatanatha now
spent his time there
sition.

With

various

hymns on

his

returned to Kanchi and

in instruction

usual

facility,

the Deities

and
he

compo-

composed

of that place, the

of which is the Varadaraja Panchaon the God at Kanchi, which is a work of con-

most important
sat,

Every stanza, as may be ex-

siderable merit.
pected, bears

and deep

the

piety.

impress

He

also

in

numerous

his

vast learning

composed here Nyasa-

dasaka, a short work on

of surrender,

of

Prapatti,

the

doctrine

which Vedanta Desika elaborated

later

works.

He

further composed

various works in Tamil verse and prose, embody-

104

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

ing in easy language the substance of his teachings for the edification of those devoid of Sanskrit learning.

Vedanta Desika now

northern tour.

He

started on his inevitable

Tirupati, where

first visited

he composed and dedicated to the God the work

called Dayasataka, a hundred and odd stanzas,

and resounding metres

in long

of various kinds,

rather harsh in style and obscure in the expres'

sion

of thought, a combination frequently

vading his more

elaborate

per-

works, especially of

the earlier period.

From

Vedanta

Tirupati,

Desika proceeded

northwards and travelled, we are

the

of

site

fnd

sanyasin

and

great

though
each

career.

Prime

future

the Vijianagar Kings,

political

had

The two

scholars

as

of different schools,

other very fully.

proceeded north

told, through
Vidyaranya, the

Vijianagar.

to

Minister

of

not yet begun

his

we

met,
both

of

are told,

them

were,

must have appreciated

From

Vijianagar, Desika

Muttra and JBrindavan, and

came to Benares, passing through

on
his way. From Benares he turned southAyodhya
east and followed the usual route of the pilgrims to
returning,

the

eastern

coast

at

Puri or

Purushotamam.

VEDANTA DESiKA.

SRI

Thence

he

turned

via

south,

105

Sri

Kurmam,

Ahobilam and Tirupati, and reached Kariehi duly,

after a prolonged tour of some years.
While at

we are told, the great Vidyaranya,

Minister of influence at Yijianagar, sent a
message to Yedanta Desika who was reputedly
Kanchi,

now

him

that he could introducs

poor,

so

if

nage,

was

Desika

The

desired.

short

to royal patroof

Yedanta

He

cared not

reply

arid complete.

for riches or for the favour of kings.

and

the

in

His

aims

were quite otherwise. The reply was

form of 5 stanzas,, now preserved, which

ideals

and utter

breathe his independence

to the

charms of wealth.
riot

is

message

works,

as

tracted in

clusively

historical,

was

Yidyarvmya

Even

certain

if

callousness

the fact of the

we have evidence
with

acquainted
verses of

the

that

other's

Yedanta Dcsika ex-

Madhava's Sarvadarsana Sarcgraha* conshow. Yijianagar was founded about

1335 and Yedanta, Desika may be taken to have

been in his

during the period of his tour.

call from Srirangam
where the leading scholar, Sudarsana, above menfifties

Yedanta Desika had MOW a

tioned,

was

Yaishnavism
*

getting

old,

and the doctrines

badly wanted a

of

defender, learned

pp. 51 and 53 of the Calcutta Edition of Jibananda.

106

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

and

Desika

powerful.
to

proceeding

the

associations

as

Raman uja

and

residence

his

and

and

with the holiest

rich

the

of

took

produced

of

up

entered upon a

instruction and

ot

labours

predecessors,

He now

there.

vigorous career
position,

scen

his

and

complied,

gladly

Srirangam

com-

further

number

of scholarly

philosophical works, expounding the Visish-

doctrines

tad \vaita

He

other schools.

and combating the views of

said to have expounded the

is

Bhashya 30 times and on the 28fch occasion of

lectures, composed a work called Tatwatika,

Svi
his

a lengthy commentary on the Sri Bhashya, a part

which

of

only

is

now

He

available.

also

wrote

the Tatparya Chnndrika, a simple and extensive

commentary on the Gita Bhashya. Three controversial works were next composed, namely Satadushani, Tatwamukta Kalapa, s\\\<\NyayaSidhanjana,.

The
500

with
the

views

verses

the

of

work

first is a

Adwaitic

of

refutations

in prose

is

hundred objections

flowing

doctrines

third

of a

the second
metre,

contains,

over

development

of the Visishtadwaitic
of the

to the

in

views of others

system
;

while

a text book of general philosophy

from the Visishtadwaitic point of view.

Desika also composed two other

Vedanta

one

works,

important

them

of

Sesivara

tries to

author

where the

of Jaiimni,

the

commentary on the

direct

mimamsa, being
Sut-as

107

VEDANTA DESIKA,

SRT

show that Jaimini accepted the existence of the

not to
is
generally supposed
Deity, which he
Adhikaranahave done and the other, the
;

series

saravali,

Sanskrit

of

verses

in long

metre summarising the discussions on the various

the

work

latter

this

The language

the Vedanta Sutras.

of

topics

facility

great

simple and

is

clear

of

and shows

the author possessed

which

in metrical composition on philosophical subjects.

work which the author
The last,

philosophical

composed
waita

and

system

Prapatti,
It

Tamil Text-book on the Yisishtad-

is a

named

that

of

variety
or

mean

order.

from

topics

the

Silpa,

practical

He

has

arts,

an

life of

Sri

composed

allegorical

Krishna,

drama

in

Desika

on

Geography
was a poet
a

a
to

of

no

long and

in 21
interesting poem, Yadavabhyudciya,

on the

of

number

in

Tamil

and

Sanskrit

in

Vedanta

hundred

exceed

works
are

and

doctrine

the Rahasyatrayasara.

must be mentioned

whose

its

especially

cantos,

Sanlcalpasuryodaya,

10 Acts where Love and

are the
Hate and Discrimination, and Ignorance

108

SRI

VEDANTA DESIKA.

Dramatis personae, a small poem

in imitation of

sandesa,

Kalidasa's

Hamsa

called
'

Meghaduta',
but sufficiently original in conception and delina curious poetical work in very simple
language on the sandals of God, Paduka-Sahasra
by name, and a didactic work of 144 stanzas in
eation,

his

most

difficult style, called

All the above works and

the Subhashitanivi.
a

number

of others

and Tamil were composed by him

during his residence at Srirangam where he spent
many years of life. His learning and piety,

in Sanskrit

his absolute unselfishness

racter ensured

respect

even

and

meekness

of cha-

the love of his followers and the

of

those

who

differed

from

his

His early years were perhaps characterby an aggressive confidence in his own views

views.
ised

and a certain

distinct vigour in the expression of

In later days, he became maek and kind

them.
to all

aid avoided disputations

not hope to convince.

doubt,

among

He

where

he could

created enemies, no

those Vaishnavaites,

who followed

other teachers and found differences in the views

Such people tried to harass

him in various ways. Vedanta Desika however
received their insults with meekness and subser-

expounded by him,

vience,

and

tried to

unarm hatred

and jealousy

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

as far as he could.

We

109

have reason to state that

the schism in views

among the followers of Ramacommenced about this time

the teachers, who advocated other views

nuja referred to before,

land that

from those of Vedanta Desika, differed from him

chiefly in their view of the nature and condition
of Prapatti 01 the secret doctrine of surrender
to

God.

Pillai Lokacharya and Peria Achan

Filial
were the lending exponents of these views and
they have composed works of great
and.

learning
mostly in Sanskritised Tamil, indicating
fully their views. A pupil in the second generation
ability,

of

the former of these

Mahamuni, a sanyasin

was the great Manavala

extreme South India,

of

who

is the
recognised head of the Tengalai sect of
the Ramanujiyas, as Sri Vedanta Desika is of the

Vadagalai

Various differences

sect.

in

practice

and doctrines cropped up between these

sects,
which have become sharper as time
passed, and

now

divides the

between

whom

community

into

two

factions

reconciliation seems to be out of the

We believe however that, even in the

days of Manavala Mahamuni, the split was yet a
narrow one and we are glad to note that Manavala

question.

Mahamuni

himself appreciated Vedanta Desika's

merits as

he

quotes him more than once with

110

SRT

VEDANTA DESIKA.

approval and usually describes

pellation

and

ed

of

abhiyukta

differences

him

by the ap-

which means a respect-

reliable author of one's

doctrinal
trivial

'

between

own

school.

The

the

schools

are

and are not much appreciated

must suppose that the innate

differences

systems

is

love

of

but

we

parading

a characteristic of degeneracy in all

founded

on

soundest

the

bases

and

general fate
dogmatically carried to
only a matter of melan-

Vaishnavaism has not escaped the

of religious

doctrines

excessive detail.

choly satisfaction

It

is

few

that

practical religions

have preserved themselves unsullied by unseemly

advance and the
disputes and schisms as times
ceases
inspiration of the original founder

to

be

of

our

felt.

We

now

propose to

give

some account

Sankalpa Suryodaya,
mentioned already. Passion-plays and mysteryin Europe, but seem to be
plays are well-known
author's allegorical drama,

confined to the incidents

Christ.

In

in

the

life

of Jesus

Sanskrit literature there are but three

are dramas of this allegoriprincipal works* which

One of them
cal nature as far as we know.
*
Chaitanya Chandrodaya, of Karnapura, in addition
to the two we are now mentioning.

SRI

and possibly the

'

Ckandrodaya,

Ill

VEDANTA DESIKA.

earliest of

The

them

rise of the

is

the Prabodha

moon

of

know-

by Krishnamisra, who is stated to have

about the end of the llth Century. * Of

ledge',

lived

Professor Macdonell says t that ifc is

" one of the most remarkable
products of Indian

this work,

Though an

literature.

allegorical play

of theo-

logico-philsophical import in which only abstract

notions and symbolical

is

full of

at

figures

act as persons,

power and vigour.

orthodox Brahminism

dramatic

glorifying

it

It

aims

in

the

Vaishnava sense just as the allegorical pl?ys of

the Spanish poet Calderon were intended to exalt
the catholic faith."

The learned

that Prabodha Chandrodaya

is

inaccurate,

play

is

to

the

as

the

exalt

is

scholar's opinion

a Vaishnava play

express purpose

Adwaita

faith

of

the

which

cannot be usually identified with Vaishnavism.

The play is however of moderate proportions in
fairly simple style,

the

humour

contrasts

show the

and the lightness

of touch

and

displayed in exhibiting the practical

among the
great

followers of

various tenets

dramatic power of the author

* His
alleged personal interview with Vedanta Desika
must, if this date is correct, be only a myth.
t Vide page 250, Vol. II, Imperial Gazeteer, Indian

Empire.

112

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

in fitting for the stage a

subject.

or 'The Rise

'

the

of

drama on an abstract

The Sankalpa Suryodaya

Sun of Divine Will
work

on

the

Desika

is

with

similar purpose, to

before

soul

Divine Truth, the

done for

Desika's purpose

the

to

is

ex-

the toils and troubles of the

hibit dramatically

human

and

lines

do for the Visish-

tadwaita what Krishnamisra had

Ad \vaita. Vedanta

Vedanta

of

same

it

obtains an insight into

difficulties in its

gress to liberation created by

path of

passions like

pi-o-

Love

and Hate, the saving power of Divine grace at

every step of this progress, and the final triumph
of

the soul over

in

serious

its

enemies.

style,

The author

writes

except in some Acts where

is room for humour, and the language is

sublime and generally neither harsh nor obscure.
The play is rather long and some portions could

there

well have been curtailed,

,

tists T

except perhaps Kalidasa, do not do

to the sense of proportion,

is

but Sanskrit

sinner in

this

not
cient

there

the

is

enough

audience's,

justice

and even Bhavabhuti

has

It

respect.

been acted in India and the plot

that

drama-

of action.

interest

is

is

however

so contrived

The

reader's, if

kept up by suffithe domi-

variety of sentiments, though

SRI

nating
author

hero

is

Queen

VEDANTA DESIKA.

sentiment
to be

King
is

maintained

is

Santi

113

JKasa

or

by

the

Quietism.

The

Viveka or
Discrimination, and his

Sumati or Wisdom.

In their purpose

to free the Purusha or Soul from

of

Karma,

passions, of
is

which Mahamoha or

The

the head.

latter

is

(Love), Krodha, (Anger),

Kama
the

and

Darpa
I,

(Pride),

Kam

Dambha

and some

verses of our author describe

and

Then Yiveka

by

after the
prologue,

his followers are introduced

finest

vauntings

Deep Ignorance

supported

(Vanity), and so on. In Act

of

the bondage

these are opposed by the whole set of

threats

enters,

and

the

against

his

Purusha.

gives, in reply

to the
questions of his wife, a statement oP purposes and

procedure in liberating Purushn. In Act IT, the

author depicts a
controversy on the stnge in

which the

spiritual

adviser

Viveka and a

of

pupil of his, intended to represent Sri

and our author

respectively,
and are confronted with

Rnmannja

discuss the situation

opponents of various

schools

whom

easily enough.

they dispose of

by argumentation,
In Acts III and IV, the characters

Attachment, Hate, Jealousy,

and

their

activity

are introduced

etc.,

among men

Act V, Pride surveys the world

is
*

detailed.

In

from China to

SRI VEDANTA DE3IKA.

114
'

Peru

and

finds

We

in favour.

no spot on earth where lie, is not

have here many humorous pas-

sages-at-arms between Pride, Vanity and Deceit,

and the poet has succeeded

in

giving a

realistic

touch to these abstract notions by the fecundity

of his imagination and the felicity of the situations

Much

introduced.
in

Acts

these

satirical

in

power

exposing

is

displayed

the

abuses

of

and South-

various classes of society in Northern

ern India, and the poet must have

laughed in
his sleeves when he made D.u-pa (Pride) rebuke
*

Dambha

(Vanity) thus

"
:

You

fool,

simply

from kicking you on the head, out of

Know you not
respect for your Brahminhood.
that the great Tondaimandala is
my native

abstain

country and the famous suburb of Little Kanchi

is
my place of residence. The head of my
is (daily) adored by King Skanda and I
famous for the number of my Sishyas (pupils

family

am

You despicable,
or followers) all over the world.
old frog-in-the-well, * you alone are ignorant of

my

powers of

irresistible

argument

and

probably neither seen nor heard of Me."

It

have

may

* A well-known Indian
epithet applied to an ignorant
stay-at-home boor, unaware of the outside world and its
news.

VEDANTA DESJKA.

SRI

115

Skanda Bhupala
of tin's
some lingering Palhwa Chief

passage refers to

who continued

'

be surmised that the

to

live

in

Kanchi, after

the

power had been crushed by the Ciiolas ;

Skandavarnian is a frequent nrme in the

Pal-lava
for

'

'

In- another place,

dynastic list of that family.
our author makes Dambha (Vanity) say that he
visited the precincts of the residence of Brahma

in the Satyaloka,

when the Great Creator rushed

out of his palace to receive him, and, after washing duly his own hands seven times to remove
all possible

water, as a

impurity, procured himself the arghya

of deep respect.
This reference

mark

to the frequent washing of the

come home

touch that will

inted with Yaishnavas,

to

who

hands

a satiric

is

most people acquahave carried cere-

monial purity to the length of a science. The

Act ends with a humorous description of the

noon-day sun

in

words that

compare him

to

and

glutton flying from

are appropriately put in the mouth of a followcounter-foil to
er of Mahainoha, the
King

one pleasure to another

Viveka.

VI, is described an serial voyage of

charioteer
Reason
his
Viveka and

In Act

King
when

all

India

is

>

surveyed and places of inter-

116

VEDANTA DESIKA.

SRI

Vaishnavite

the

est

to

The

object of the party

are

pilgrim

depicted,

was to seek out a quiet

samadhi or meditation, and the perfectly

place for

sane conclusion

reached that, after

is

secondary, and

roundings are

the

sur-

all,

real seat

of

own

heart, wherever one

contemplation
moral
and religious
the
seat of one's
nuiy live,
is

one's

sense and the abode

Act

Viveka

"VII,

of the

Supreme

to fix the

strives

Self.

In

wandering

thoughts of his charge, the Purusha, en some

definite form of the Deity, to help concentration

and secure victory over

Viveka and
with the

now

Act VIII,

his enemies.

describes a stage-warfare

between

and concludes

the opposite part};,

final victory of the

the party of

former.

The Purusha

undisturbed by conflict enters on meditation

"(Act IX) and

finalty,

with the

help of Vishnu-

Blutkti or devotion to Vishnu surrenders himself

to

God and

obtains final liberation (Act X).

Thus

King Viveka accomplishes fully the purpose

that he set before himself. The Author concludes
in

the

work

happiest

that

prayer
as

He

style of his later days with

the Great Vasudeva

is

the

real

may

accept his

author of the play and

the Audience for the same.

To return

to

Vedanta Desika

after

years

of

117

SKI VEDANTA DESIKA.

and

simple

retired

life

spent in instructing bis

followers, and occasional tours to sacred shrines,

Vedanta Desika closed his career about 1369

A. D.j having lived the full life of a hundred

years and a little more, with vigour and activity.

He

left

became

son,

Varadacharya by name, who

and was the author of

great teacher

various works, and a

Tantra Swatantra

famous
the

of

man and
Parakala

is

Brahma

sanyasin disciple,

r
Ji} ar.

who became an

equally

considered to be the founder

Mutt

at

M}*sore.

Desika's further descendants are

not

Vedanta

known

to

fame, but this able writer and teacher lives in his

works and

is

further

worshipped in images in
South India,

the principal Vishnu shrines of

all

with an assiduity which will perhaps bear greater

fruit if used in the study of his voluminous anA
edifying \voiks.

An

event, of great importance to South

India

politically, occurred during Yedanta Desika's

life,

which we have purposely refrained from referring

to till now, and which requires a brief mention,
before we conclude. About 1310 A. D., Malik Kafur,
a General

an invasion

He

Emperor Alaudin, undertook

the Dekkan with a large army.

of the Delhi

into

speedily reduced the kingdoms of

Warrangal

SRI

VEDAXTA DESIKA.

r.nd

D.varasamudrn, and pushed sout.li up to the

extremity of the Peninsula, spreading devastation,.
and"
In
1312
plundering everywhere.
or,
according to some accounts, 1326 A.D., an army of
Mulmmmadans invaded Srirangam and
pillaged

the temple and

city.

The Yaishnavas

of

the city

Anticipated this, however, and removed the copper

image of the Deity to Madura, just in time to save
it

from

The conquering army masnumber (12,000, according to one

spoliation.

sacred a large

account) of Vaishnavas,and

The inner

the place in ruins..

left

shrine of the temple had however been

blocked up from view, and

destruction.

From

this

so,

it

is

said, escaped

for a

period of
the
districts
of
nearly forty years,
Trichinopoly and
time,

Madura, were under the rule

of

Muhammadan

Deputies, subject to the Delhi Emperor.

1361 A. D., the Vijianngnr
Bukka

About

King
T, having
Hindu kingdom on the banks
the Tungabhadra, commenced to
conquer the

established a stable
of

southern portions of the

country recently occupied
by Muhammadan Generals. He succeeded
through

KampannaOdnyar, his son and General, in conquering the greater part of the southern country and
bringing it under Vijianagar rule.
who
Kampanna,

es'ablisLed himself at
Madura, was greatly assisted,

SRI

1!9

VEDASTA DESIKA.

by one Gopannarya, a Brahmin and a

Gopanna was tbe Governor of Girgee,

in bis wars

warrior.
in

North Arcot, which bad

hands

fallen into the

We

have stated above

of the Vijianngar Dynasty.
the Srirangam
of
the
idol
A.
that about 1326
D.,

God had

to be taken out to

Madura

to escape the

The God was

fury of the Muhammadan invaders.
to Tirupati and worshipped duly
taken
gradually
there.

WhenKampanna completed

the south,

his conquests in

Gopanna, who was no doubt

Vaishnavite, thought

it

a devout

a suitable opportunity to

restore the idol to Srirangam.

He

brought

it

out

from Tirupati and kept it at Gingee for a time.

He then took it to Srirangam and restored it to
and directed the
its
place in the shrine
proper

(which had ceased) to be commencThis fact is

ed in connection with the idol.

visual festivals

recorded

an

in

inscription

wall of the temple in the

on

eastern

the

form of two Sanskrit

meaning and the

"
Bandkuverses are preceded by the chronogram
" In the Suka
year
Sakabde" which means

slokae,*

of

nearly

identical

priye

Tamil work Koilolugu is

1293," i.e.,A.D. 1371.
details of the account, and the
responsible for the

same

is

also

mentioned, without dates,

Vide Epigraphica Indica, Vol.

vi. p,

in

330.

the

120

SRI

VEDANTA D3SIKA.

Tamil Vadngali Gurnparainpara, as ifc is called, a

work of about the end of the 15th century, which

we have

sacre,

Yedanta

largely utilised in our articles.

would seem, escaped the general masbeing hidden by a mass of dead bodies, and

Desika,

it

betook himself with his followers to Mysore,

spent several years there

and then went

lie

to Satya-

Coimbatore.

his separation

Here, in sore grief at

from the precincts of Srmvngam, he

composed the

hymn

mangalam

in

expel danger/

He makes

to the invasion of

Abhiti-Stava or

the

hymn

reference in this

Muhammadans and

to

work

to the cessa-

tion cf worship at Srirarigam, and lamenting over

" his
this great grief of his in his old age when

head has become

his enemies

fully grey," prays to

and return to

his seat.

God

to,

expel

In due time

he heard, we are told, of the conquests of Gopanna

and the return of the God, and himself hurried to

Srirangam

to enjoy the

favour of the Hindus.

happy turn

of the tide in

It is said that the

first

of

the verses inscribed on the wall was composed by

him, The Guruparampara above mentioned further
narrates that Desika lived some years after this
event, built or repaired the

Chidambaram Govinda-

raja Temple with the help of Gopannarya referred

to already, and,

composed the Rahasyatrayasara

SRI

VEDANTA DESIKA.

121

mentioned already, and certain otlier works,

finally died in the Kartikai month of the year

and

Soitmya> which

corresponds

A.D. The correctness

for

by other accounts,

and could net be

to

November, 1369,
is vouched

of the last date

also of a traditional nature,

disputed.

It will be seen that

in

the above account the

date of Saka year 1293 or 1371 A.D., for the actual

restoration of the idol to Srirangam does
in, for

if

not

fib

Desika died in 1369, he could not comThis

pose the verse of the inscription in 1371.

a discrepancy which has to be got over.

Hultzsch in the <; Epigraphica Indica " (Vol.

323) points out another

Vedanta Desika

difficulty.

It

is

is

Dr.
vi.

p.

that

if

not have

lived in 1371, he could

been born in 1269, in the Sukla year as stated in

the Guruparampara; for according to him a

life

of

100 years and more is a great improbability and

the date of birth muse therefore, he says, be *a
pure invention.' This is perhaps a small matter.
We have reason to think that the age of 100 years

and upwards

not necessarily

false,

as excep-

tional people in those times, as well as

now, lived

long.

is

Their spare
seem

intellectuality
lives, as

otherwise

diet,

to

many

pure habits arid

have

prolonged

reliable accounts,

high
their

some of

122

SRI

VEDAXTA DESJKA.

them almost contemporary, have to be treated as

Bub even supposing that Vedanta
spurious.
Desika was born

a couple of decades later, there is a

great agreement in

up

to

accounts that he lived only

all

1369 A.D., and honce, ho could not have lived

to see the restoration

Therefore,

we nay

if it

Authorship of the verse

But there

rejected.

ation of the
chariar,

really took place in 1371,

coin hide that the story of his

God was

Vedanta

apocryphal and must be

is

is

a difficulty.
in

Desiku's

special motive, as far ns

If the restor-

of

Varada-

son, there

was no

the

time

we could

see, in anticipat-

ing it, as the account does not in any way connect Dcsika with the actu il achievement of the

show that his prayer

would therefore sug-

restoration, except perhaps to

had immediate

We

effect.

gest that the actual

restoration

of the

idol

was-

some years before the death of Vedanta Desika

in 1360 A. D., say about 1364 or 1365.
There
this, as Kampanna'sby way of conquest commenced in
1361-62, (p. 325 vi. ISpigv&phica Indica) and he is
said to have made some repairs at Srirangam, so
is

nothing improbable in

activities

that the inscription may have been ergraved on

the wall on the date mentioned, the actual restoration and

consecration

having occurred a few

123

SHI VED.VSTA 0123 IK A.

The

years b afore.

two verses

inscription

of identical

recording

barely

meaning

with, a date in

chronogram prefixed to them, does not look as if

it was put up u ruler the superintendence of

Goparma or of the authorities of the temple for

the purpose of celebrating the restoration.
miss the full commencement, usual in inscriptions,

We

expressing the cyclic year,

the event,
purposeless

intended

to

of

repetition

two successive

be

month, and day of

and the
recorded
;

the

seerns to

verses,

same

facts

in

justify the con-

elusion that memorial verses already in existence

were simply engraved in an unauthorised manner

with the date of engraving prefixed by the sculptor.

No

doubt,

ib

may

be said that the Kovilolugu

account goes into great detail and gives the same

Saka 1293.

We

reply that that narative i

a
late
simply
reproduction of the apparent purport
of the inscriptions and that it is inaccurate in at
date,

two particulars, one being the date of the

invasion, where it errs by about 100 years as

least

pointed out in the foot-note, and the other, that

Saka 1293, whether taken as current or expired,

cannot correspond, under any circumstances, tothe 17th Vikasi (Solar) of the year Faritapi, a
stated in theKovilolugu and in some later account

124

SRI VEDANTA DESIKA.

evidently based upon

the 2nd

Kielhorn's authority that

bright half of

tlie

month Chaitra

tapi corresponded to the 7th

was

in

Saka

have

\\ e

it.

sarrivat

Professor

tithi

of

the

of the year Pari-

March 1372 A.D., and

294 expired.* Hence

it is

im-

possible to rely on the year Piiritapi or even the

previous year, Virodhikrit, which would correspond

Saka

to

1293 expired,

as the date of the actual

return of the idol to Srirangam.

It should also
be noted that, according to the Verses, the
victory

over

was

Turushkas

the

after

the

bringing of the God to Gingee, which might

have taken place any time after 1361 A. I).,

when Kampanna's activities in the South seem

have commenced or even before that date.

to

"We are therefore probably nearer the truth in

conjecturing that Desika returned to Srirangam
soon after the restoration of the

idol, in

about 1364

or 1365 A.D.,and lived a few more years only,

till

November 1369

i.e.,

or the year Soumya, the year

of Lis death as preserved in the

Guru Parampara
Brahma Tantra

Prabhava, the work of the third

Jiyar, probably

not

much

later

than the end

of the fifteenth century.

*See No. 15 of the

Vol.

Ti.

list

of inscriptions at p. 326 of E.I.

SRI

125

VEDANTA DESIKA.

In confirmation

of

an

earlier date

than 1371,.

herein suggested for the actual restoration of the

idol to

Srirangam,we would also refer to the 'Yatin-

drapravanct Vaibhavam' of Filial

Madras Edition, 1907,

at p. 25

Lokarya Jiyar,
where the events

stated above are also narrated and the Verse

the inscription

is

quoted as composed by an

'

yiilcta,

The

evidently

referring

'

of

Abhi-

Vedanta Desika.

to

writer then stites that the restoration was in

the Saka year Bahupriye, which

for 1283 Sika or 1381, A. D.

is

a chronogram

if this is

the correct

reading and. not Bctfidhupriye as the inscription has

the date of the composition of this Verse and

it,

that of the restoration must be that year, rather

than the later years 1364 or 1365, as suggested in

the preceding paragraphs.

As Chronograms, besidesmade to mean

serving their purpose, were usually

something appropriate, Bahupriya ', beloved of

the many would be a more suitable name for the
'

year in which such an important event took

than 'Jfandhupriya* Moved by

relations.'

dition as to the year being 'Paritapi

peated in this

work

is

placfr

The

tra-

however

also, a year which doss not

refib

in with any suggested. Saka year, as we have explained already, but was about the date of Malik Kaf ur's
invasion, which may have been the cause of the-

con fusion.

flfeanavala
C*j

flfcafoa

flTwnu

MONG the

;^L

r.uja

^tl

younger contemporaries of RainaCharyo, mention has been marie

already of Parasara Bhatht, son of Kui-e^a,

as a learned scholar

and author.

Bom

about

1074 A. D., Parasara had an exceedingly bright

scholastic caiecr. arid was duly initialed in tho
sacred

loie,

by Rnmannja's cousin and

pupil,

After Ramanuja's death, he became

a vigorous defender of the Faith and engaged in
many successful controversies. In one of these,

Oovinda.

he

it is said,

cf

the

sought oub an

Western

'

country

eminent scholar
or

the

modern

Mysore, who was a reputed Ad \vnitin and was, in

It would
fact, known by the name of Yedanti.

seem that Yedanti was a rich

man and

usually

Brahmins every day. Parasara

amongst the crowd dieted like a com-

fed hundreds of

went

in

mon man; but on reaching

where the

who

feast

was

bhikfcha

'

approached YecUnti
and asked him to grant

held,

vras present there,

him the

the inside of the hous3

or alms of disputation.

Tho

127

MANAVALA MA1IA MUNI.

controversy, for ten

commenced, we
days, in which

He

then converted

and

scholar could not resist

a

fire told,

Pa rasara became the

Vcdanti

to his faith,

important

disciple.

victor.

so

and the

Some yeais

became an

latter
after,

Yedanti de-

serted his native country, and

gam with
ed

it

all

going to Sriranthat remained of his wealth, bestow-

on Pa rasara, and became a sanyasin un-

der the

name

of

bisNaiijiyar.' 'our sar.yasin'.

:towed upon him by Pa rasara.

The family of the Bh attars
its

Sanskrit

scholarship arid

well

is

known

for

copious contribution
literature of the

to the religious and philosophical

Kuresa, the founder, has himself composed
day.
on the Deities of various shrines,
five
siotras,

for

which are well-known

power

of expression.

Two

their

erudition

and

of these the Vaikuntft*

Stava and the Atiinamisha Stava, are especially

are justly favourites with
very readable and
Parasara Bhalta has also
Vaishnavite scholars.
contributed two

hymns

to the

one on Goddess Lakshmi, who

stotra
is

literature,

personality

with the Vaishnavas. second only to Narayuna

en the God of Srirangam,
himself, and the other

whom
in

Parasara looked upon almost as his father

flesh

and blood.

The poews

are,

however,

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

128

rugged and not easily understandable, but the

former of the hymns, the Sriguna Ratna Kosa,
contains several stanzas

Among

language.

may

be mentioned the

sophy,

now

of

other

good poetry in sublime

works

of

this writer

Tatvaratnako,ra on philo-

practically extinct but largely quoted

from by Sri Veclanta Desika, and the commentary

on the Vishnu Sahasra Namn, already mentioned.
Nanjiyar also composed seme works, in Tamil ife
is to b^ presumed, one of which seems to have

named

been

known

the

thousandsi'

on the

He

Tatwadipana.

as the author of a

commentary

Tiruvo}*mozhi,

is

better

the 'Nineso-called

as

the quantity of syllables in the \vork is computed

to be Nine- thousand Gmnthas, a grantha being
equivalent to 32 syllables or an anushtubh verse.
It has become usual to adopt this" mode of com-

putation

in

when they

Sanskrit

and Tamil

are in prose, on

works even

the analogy of the

Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranap,

whose grantha computations are carefully preserved in the Colophons.
It

is

now proper

period, the

study

to

mention

of the last

that,

during this

named

work of

received considerable attention

Sadhagopa
from the Vaishnava scholars of the day. Speciali-

St.

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

sation

129

was adopted and while one set of scholars

to expound and comment
upon the

continued

Sribhashya and the

set took to

allied

Sanskrit works, another

the study of the Tamil works of
the

Alvvars, which gave

them full employment. These

Tamil hymns, not being
argumentative treatises
but merely the devotional
of various
songs

men

of all

castes

and creeds (one

pious

them was a

of

Paraiah), poured forth out of love and deep

faith,
being couched in language which is often
ancient and abstruse, lent themselves to
ai.d

ample
and the Vaishnava
scholars, many of
were good Sanskritiste as
well, lost no

comments

whom

time in writing learned commentaries on the

diffe-

rent portions of them,

Nanjiyar was succeeded by a disciple Kalivairi

Nampillai^bo taught the Tamil hyrrns largely
and composed a commentary on a small
or

portion

out of them.

Tii u-Vedhi-Pillai

extensive

by name,

is

commentary known

Thousand.'
storehouse

disciple of Nampillai,

This

work

of traditions

is

Vadakku-

the author of an

as the

an

Thirty-six-

inexhaustible

on the different inter-

us a good idea
pretations of the text and gives
of the amount of industry and
learning that was
brought to bear on the study of these Tamil
9

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

130

Periavachchan

works.

Nampiliai's pupils

was another

Pillai

who wrote

full

of

commentaries,

on the Tiruvoymozhi and the other hymns as

well and was a most prolific and well-informed

As

writer of the day.

is

inevitable,

differences

on points of construction as well

of doctrine between the above set of

of views arose

as on details

who came

writers

to

be

called

School or the Tengalais and

the Southern

the writers of the

Northern School, generally known as the Vadawho, though more largely patronising
galais,
Sanskrit works, had

still

an equal regard for the

Tamil hymns and expounded them in their lecVedanta Desika himself, as representing
tures.
the latter

Tamil

class,

was, as

we have

author and

scholar and

composed a commentary
which

is

now

not

after his date

seen, an able
is

said to have

on the Tiruvoymozhi,

extant.

have written

But

various authors

such commentaries

now, which are studied by

various sections of the orthodox Vadagalai class.

and

at least

exist

To the next generation of writers belonged Pillai

Loka Charya, son of the author of the 'Thirty-six'

Thousand commentary, but a pupil of Nampillai

and author of various works in Sanskritised Tamil
;

j.he

most important

of these

are the Sri Vachana

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

131

Bhushana and the Tatwa Tray a. These works are

in terse and elliptic style and were evidently meant
summaries

as

in

of

pithy language

doctrines

which were

expounded orally at great length.

was an elderly contemporary
Loka
Charya
Pillay
and the latter, in his
of Sri Yedanta Desika
;

works, especially, the Rahasyatraya Sara, alludes

in various places to his views and purports to

The Tatwatraya

controvert them.
tion

of

the

principles

philosophy and
universe

and

of

the

is

an exposi-

Visistadwaita

view of the development of the

its

the

inter-relationship of the souls

and God. The other work, the Vachana Bhushana^

is

held in extraordinary veneration by the fol-

lowers of this school, as

and

esoteric

a repositary of secret

doctrines, incapable of being under-

stood except under the direct teaching of a duly

qualified preceptor.

book are

The

chief

the doctrine of

features

of the

surrender to one's

Acharya or Guru, advocated by this writer as a

sufficient means of salvation, the emphasis given
to the doctrine of Grace by the assertion that
even the sins of

men

are agreeable to God, and

the somewhat unceremonious

superiority as a

otherwise

ground

equally

rejection

for respect

venerable

of caste-

among men

as lovers

of God.

132
It

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI,

will be

perceived that the

last is a

feature

which must ensure the adherence of non-Brahmin

Yaishnavites generally, who form a majority
those of the Southern School.
The exces-

among

sive adoration of the

Southern

Guru, as yet theoretical in

India, has become, as we shall

see,

permanent feature of Northern Vaishnavaism as

developed by Rarnanand and his followers, who
from the necessities of their

also,
all

distinctions to

caste

the

position,

winds, and

threw

drew

followers from every class .and creed.

The next writer

note in

of

this

school

Vaishnavas was the well-known Manavala

Muni, whose name

heading

this

of

lias

of

Maha

been appropriated for the

paper.

He

was

born

near

Alwar-Tirunagari about 1370 A.D., and is said

to have lived for 73 years, i.e., up to 1443 A.D.

Of well-built proportions

and

extremely fair,
he soon attracted

almost white, in appearance,

his

attention by

came

and

ability

and

eminent scholar.

He

intelligence

to be recognised as an

Pittai,

one Sri Sailesa or Tiruvoymozhi

a teacher of the Tamil hymns, as the

name

implies.

was a pupil

Tirunagari
holy city

of

He

spent

and then moved

of

so

his

early

years at

to Srirangam, the

many eminent

divines.

Here

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

133

he permanently established himself and acquired

a large

following of

tion,

followers

his

of

pupils and admirers.

His

work was partly composition and instrucand partly the systematic organization

life's

under

the acquiring of control

ment

and

ritual

in

various centres or Sees,

over

various

temple
places,

manageand the

repair of shrines in various districts out* of funds

collected

from the richer of his followers or paid

voluntarily by devotees.

Among

other works, Manavala has composed,

commentaries on the two works of

Loka

Filial

His commentaries

Charya mentioned already.

are characterised by great clearness and fulness

of

He

in

the

great

merit,

few other Hindu writers of

giving

exposition.

found

possesses

references to the quotations spread throughout

Thirty-siximportant Tamil works like theThousands' commentary, and always quotes the
sources of the texts that he himself extracts.
*

His range of studies must have been large and

he was an eminent scholar, in Sanskrit and
Tamil.

His original works are however few

in fact only three or four are

One

of

them

is

known

to posterity.

the Yatirajavimsati or 20 verses

in Sanskrit in praise of Sri

Ramanuja, and

is

in

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

134

We

simple style,
tion

of

initial

find here the curious introduc-

rhyme

in

the stanzas

of

many

the second syllables of the four

lines of each verse are identical, a feature univerthat

to say,

is

sal in

Tamil prosody but unknown

readers
is

though

final

other

works,

rhyme, as

met with

occasionally

the

in

English poetry,

of

list

the

and

Upadezaratnamala,

names

of

The

Sanskrit.*

in

the

The former

Arthiprabandha are in Tamil verse.

is

to Sanskrit

and chief

Alwars

Teachers with some account of their works. The

latter

is

Raman uj*

a passionate appeal to Sri

in

end his days and liberate him from the

to have worried him
ills which seem
physical
late in life, and the torment of worldly existence
heaven, to

which

every

Hindu

is

expected

to

detest.

Manavala Maha Muni had a son Ramanuja who

seems to have died before him and a grandson
Jiyar

Nayinar,

numerous
himself.

who

survived

disciples,

some

One of the

lay

of

them

him.

He

had

sar-yasins like

pupils was

one Prativ-

vadibhayamkara, who, as his name implies, was

*See its use, with great effect, in the Kamayana, Sundara
Kanda, Cantos V and VII, and in the poem Nalodaya
attributed to Kalidasa, where the last 5 syllables of
each of four lines are identical.
'

'

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

a scholar of some

now

exist; one, a

poem

Two

eminence.

and the other

of

70 verses on

Desika.

We

work

the growing dissensions

of

his

of

works

commentary on the Ashta Sloki

of Parasara Bhatta,

laudatory

135

a vigorous

Yedanta

Sri

have clear indications in this latter

between

The author

adherents of the two schools.

the

of the

70 verses asserts his indebtedness to the teachings

Vedanta Desika and his son Varadacharya

of

(1317 to 1414 A.

D.),

pupil of the latter.

It

and
is

states

that

he

he later became an adherent of Manavala

The

Muni.
the

first

the
are

is

understood however that

chief disciples of

of

Maha
whom

Manavala,
was Vanamarnalai Jeer, the founder

of

Mutt of that name in the Tinnevelly District,

known by the name of Ashta Diggajas or
'

'

the eight

elephants,

guarding the eight quarters'

the strong support which

in evident allusion to

they gave to their chief in

the

promulgation of

his doctrines.

There are various points in theory and practice in which the two schools, which are now known
as the Yadagalais and Tengalais, differ
is

the

well-known

caste- mark

as

Vadagalais

using a

worn

in

parabolic

the

the

in

distinction

one such
vertical

forehead,

form,

the

the base of

136

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

which
<ilass

is

nearly in a line with the brows, the other

using two somewhat

in

slanting

opposite

base

which

to both,

But the
two

and

marks

outwards,

is

itself

and

a small

upwards, with the vertex lower

down, about the apex or

of the nose.

straight

directons,

supported on a base
triangle,

broad

The
is

some

in

cases the centre,

central red streak

meant

to

represent

chief item of
controversy

is

common
Lakshmi.

between these

which has engaged the attention of

Magistrates and Judges, is the claim of either
schools,

sect to officiate
exclusively in the

temple rituals

and worship, to the accompaniment of certain

recitations commencing with what has come to
be

known

Tamil

The

as the patrains.

songs of the

wars

recitation of the

has been connected

with temple ritual from the time of

Ramanuja,

and possibly from

The pair am
however, for each community, a single stanza
in annshtubh-wetre, which sets forth the name of
earlier times also.

is

its

leading Teacher,

one

and

is

peculiar to him.

The

used

by the Vadagalai community commences with* the words Ramanuja-daya-patramJ

*

meaning 'recipient
of

of the kindness

(i.e.

teachings)

Ramanuja, 'the Ramanuja referred to herf being

the Atreya Ramanuja, uncle of Vedanta Desika

MANAVALA MAHA MUNI.

immediate teacher.

iind his

on

the same plan but

137

The other verse

has for

its

wovds

first

the teacher of Manavala and

Srisailesa,

to the latter as

his pupil.

the

commencement

There

is

refers

nothing in
the verse of either party to wound the susceptibilities of the followers of the other but of course
is

of

right
as

eagerly,

the

is

other rights in

cise of
is

party

it

which

it

the

others

participating
for

relish

them

works

who

either

have

two

menage

allegiance

The
sect

no

Engilsh

and those
chances

of

It is to be

hoped that, as

and the

spirit

sects

learn greater toler-

may

to live in peace,

of their teachers, instead

parrot-like,

neither

temple emoluments have no

unseemly disputes, and regard

increases

develops, the

ation and

up

in

such

as deplorable.

education
life

may imply an

of

exer-

the recital of

to

stoutly refuses to grant.

educated community

among

it

the

the temple and

listen

out

fought

to

prelude

willing to use or

the other's verse, as

is

and engaging

of

national

studying the

of getting

in

such trivial matters as the patrams.

them

free-fights

on

Sree

<Xbaitan\>a.

'HE

development of Vaishnavaism has now

been traced, though
only in the form

of

sketches of

the

pal exponents, from the

lives of

the

earliest times

princi-

to about

the middle of the Fifteenth

In South
Century.
it is clear that
from the early years of
the Christian era, this cult flourished
under

India

the strong impetus given

by the Alwars,
their Tamil
songs, inculcated Bhakti

who by
and Krishna-

The Alwars were saints or

worship mainly.
Bhaktas of various castes, who were
unique in
their devotion to
and
led
lives
God,
remarkable
for

their

religious

fervour and indifference to

worldly pleasures. Three early Alwars named respectively the Poykni Alwar, the Bhutathalwar, and
the Peyalwar were
mythical in their origin and
are said to have met at the modern
Tirukkoilur,
where they had a vision of God and
poured forth
their joy at the sight, in Tamil verses of a
each. These Alwars
of

hundred

Narayana

as the

highest God, allude frequently to the- early

Ava-

speak

139<

SREE CHAITANYA,
tars of

Vishnu

especially the

Tiruvikrama or the

are eloquent in their admiration of

They presuppose the chief
the Krishna- Avatar.
to all the rest of the
anterior
Puranas and are

Vamana and

ancient
Alwars. They adore the idols of the more
at Srirangam,
shrines of South India, like those
etc.
They speak with resTirupati, Alagarkoil,
the worship of the
teach
but
pect of Vedic lore,
of His names, services at the
Deity by recitations
of his personal forms.
temples and contemplation

of time
Tirumalisai Alwar was the next in order
Of the
stanzas.
200
about
and he has composed

has
Sadhagopa or Nammalwar
these
in
been mentioned already more than once

later Alwars, Saint

the
pages. Of

rest

Vishnuchitta or Perialwar,

Kulasekaralwar, who was

a ruler

of

ancient

are the most

Travancore, and Tirumangai Alwar
extensive songs. The
noted and have
list of

composed
Alwars included a lady, Andal, daughter

of Vishnuchitta. a pariah devotee,

Tiruppanalwar,

who has composed but 10 stanzas, and a pupil of

Nammalwar, Madhurakam who was a worshipper
of his Guru, exclusively. We find nowhere among
these Alwars any denunciation of Brahmins as
they
such or protests against the caste system
;

represent in

no sense any

rise of

the lower castes

HO

SREE CHAITANYA.

against the

Brahmin

Priesthood and the frequent

denunciations of Budhists and Jains show who

their contemporaries were. It seems reasonable to

conclude that these Alwars cr the earlier of them

were the offshoots

or

lives to pious

'God,

and

of the

and

Vaishnavites

worship
to

visits

Northern Bhagavatas

that

they

devoted

their

of the personal forms

the shrines of Vishnu.

Bhagavad-Gita was well known

to

Bhagavata in some form

for their

also,

are saturated with Sri Krishna's

of

The

them and the

early

works

life

and

miraculous incidents.

its

The
form

Acharyas from
the

Vaishnava
as the

next

phase

Nathamuni downwards
of

development in

the

faith, and. represent the intellectual,

Alwars do the emotional

side.

construct-

ion of Philosophy which was fit to be

placed
before the best intellects of the land and which

same time gave room for the absorption

Alwars and the doctrine
was
the
chief
feature of this work.
Bhakti,

at the

of the teachings of the

of

Caste was firmly supported, all

heresy wa.? eschewed and the shastras were fully
upheld by these
Acharyas, while at the same time purity of life,
superiority of

Narayana

devotion,

and fervid adoration

of

in his Avatars and idol manifestations

SBEE CHAITANYA.

141

were also inculcated. Raman uja represents the climax of these teachings and in him we have the
philosopher and the devotee happily combined. The
philosophy is healthy and sympathetic, the devonot degenerated to fanaticism or irra-

tion has
tional

The doctrine

worship.

render was inculcated

Ramanuja

of Prapatti or Sur-

to suit inferior

intellects.

no place countenances the

in

slightest

departure from strict Shastraic injunction.

uncompromising

in

He

is

denying the privilege of Vedic

study to Sudras and women and the latter were

never permitted to mix with men in devotion or

abandon their usual household duties much

less

to assume the character of nuns. Bhajanas, Sankirtans, festive songs, etc.,

were practically unheard

and religious fervour never took

the form of violent demonstrations or indecent

of in those days

exhibitions.

In the centuries following that in which Ramanuja lived, i.e., the twelfth and the two succeeding
centuries, these features

greatly preserved.

doubt increased

in

of the

against

the

protest

assertion

permanent

of

of

Yaishnavaism were

Non-Brahmin adherents no
number but we hear nowhere
the caste restriction and

general

feature

of

equality

modern

which

is

Vaishnavaism

SREE CHAITANYA.

142

as

seen

the

in

North.

It

must be

admitted

however that the germs of these doctrines began

to be visible about the beginning of the Fifteenth

Century in the preachings cf certain of the VaishWe have

navaite teachers in Southern India.
alluded in the

Manavala Maha Muni

life of

emphasis given to the spiritual equality

to the
of

the

Brahmin and the Sudra Bhakta and the assertion

Guru was the ultimate

of the doctrine that the

A curious

Saviour.

mode

of expressing the differ-

ence of views in the operation of God's grace was

some asserted that divine grace acted like the
this
:

monkey,

i.e.,

the souls must exert themselves to get

saved, as the
its

young

uf the

monkey

actively seizes

mother during the latter's evolutions from tree

Others more indolent or more hopeful

to tree.

according as one
.grace

was

like

may view
the

cat,

young, unaided by any

it,

asserted that

which

God's

safeguarded its
God's

efforts of the latter.

this latter school, was irresisgraces according to

tible and required nothing but an attitude of re(^iptivity

to

freely

flow

"
Hence the maxim,
as Barth points out,

the deepest sinner.

to

fatal to
*

that

many Hindu

the acts of

sects

"

the true

and that
devotee, of the Bhakta, are indifferent,
the man who has once experienced the effects of

143

SREE CHAITANYA.
Grace, whatever he

may

can sin no longer/

do,

Such doctrines, carried to their

logical conclusions,

dangerously minimise responsibility and beget a

familiarity with sin, and an audacious disregard
of purity in

life.

Another doctrine equally

fatal to progress

was

the Guru-worship or deification of the immediate

With regard to the founders of the
preceptor.

various systems, there

justification

deification of every later

may

be, to the pupil,

theoretically disciplinary
is

be some

and powers.
Guru, however

for ascribing to

But the

may

them divine
it

origin

rational thought and the

largely destructive of

and encourages superstitious

veneration for persons who may have lost all claim /

spirit of self-reliance,

for respect.

It

is

to the above causes that

the degeneration

of

India, in later days.

we must

ascribe

Vaishnavaism in Northern
In the South, doctrines like

those mentioned above found little practical supto the levelling of the castes
port and never led
The grip
of
the
or
question able habits.
adoption
social
established
and
rules, was too
of the Shastra

the Brahmin Vaishnavites,

strong to be shaken by
and the Sudra followers were generally inferior in

importance and never

asserted themselves.

Any

144

SREE CHAITANTA.

show

by the higher castes was valued

and the respect for the Brahmin a&

of equality

as a privilege

Brahmin, born

in the flesh

never forgotten.
of

from Mann's

clays,

was

The comparative

the South also

political quiet
contributed to preserve the

higher castes, from disruption or admixture with

the lower. But in the North, Vaishnavaism
first affected

the lower strata of society and pro-

ceeded upwards

in its conversions.
In Bengal r
had
taken
Saktaism
deep root among the Brah-

mins who practised their horrible mystic rites in

secret and excluded the lower castes. Tn Benares
and Western India, the Brahmins were generally
enlightend advaitees to

and

faith

whom

the cult of devotion

had no attractions. Hence the

first

con-

verts to Yaishnavaisra were there also the lower

castes.

It

was therefore

and customs

ine\ itable that the habits

of the converts should react on

the

religion newly adopted and present phases of it

which are alike strange and inexplicable to the
earlier

adherents of the same faith in the South.

perhaps not quite true that all the Vaishnavaism found in the North was imported from
It

is

the South after Ramanuja's days.

The land

of

was by frequent

Krishna's birth, overrun as

it

devastating armies, was

a place of resort to

still

145

SBEE CHAITANYA.
vast crowds as a holy centre.

And

the Krishna

cult that had taken such a deep root there in

the Christian

early centuries of

era,

the

was not

altogether without power during the intervening

But any how

its potency was slumbershone forth again, it had to be

fanned anew by a fresh breeze of Vaishnavaism
from the Southern lands, where it was thriving,

centuries.

ing and before

it

thanks to the Alvvars and

sedulously fostered

The

Acharyas who

had

it.

chief Vaishnavites of

Northern India are

the Ramanandis, the Yallabacharis, and the Chait-

Ramanand,

anyas.

these sects,

is

the founder of the

said to have been the

fifth

first

in

of

apos-

from Ramanuja and to have lived

the 1 4th Century. There is nothing

tolic succession

in the

end

of

improbable in the story usually given that Ramanand, insulted by Vaishnavites of the South among

whom
led

he

lived,

North and

for his social inferiority, travel-

established a

He

had numerous followers.

trine of Bhakti of course,
efficacy

of

Rama

the

social distinctions.
Rvi ma- worship

Krishna

is

as

unknown

It

Mutt

at Benares

and

advocated the doc-

asserted

the supreme

mantra, and discarded

may be mentioned that

distinguished
in the South,

from that

and

it is

10

of

there-

146

SREE CHAITANYA.

fore incorrect to

Ramanuja
Ramanand

as

say,

some writers

that

do,

inculcated Rama-worship.

pupil of

one of his successors, Nabhaji by

or

name, wrote the Bhaktamala or the lives of

which is practically the scripture of the

saints

The famous Tulsidas (1532 1623

"
one
A.D.) seventh in descent from Ramanand,
of the greatest reformers and one of the greatest
Ramanandis.

poets that India has produced." in the

opinion of

the author of the Hindi

Rama-

Dr. Grierson,

is

yana, which

a text-book of religious philosophy

for

millions

Ramanand
of

is

in

them was

The

India.

Upper

are from various

pupils

of

One
weaver named

lower castes.

Muhammadan

system whose object was

to amalgamate Hindus and Muhammadans. Rama
was the god of worship but forms and mantras

Kabir and he founded

a.

When

were excluded.

Kabir died

his corpse

was

claimed by both sects and the remains, miraculously converted GO flowers,

were

shared

by Hindus

and Muhammadans. Nanak carried out the ,same

purpose of reconciliation of Hindus and Muham-

madans
clans,

in the

Punjab and gave

literally

described as

sishyas.

rise

Sikkisrn

Muhammadanism minus

and cow-killing and plus

faith

to the Sikh

has

been

circumcision

in the divinity of

SREE CHAITANYA.
the Gurus.

wane and

It

is

is

said that

147

now on

the

some form

of

Sikkism

being absorbed

into

is

The Adi Granth, the Bible of the

contains Hindu doctrines and is worshipped

Hinduism.
Sikhs,

as a divinity by itself.

The other two

sects of

Yaishnavaism and their

founded on

innumerable sub-sects

are

worship of Krishna.

In the Vallabha religion,

all

the

Balagopala, the child Krishna gorgeously dressed,

The Bhagavata is the
is the
object of worship.

foundation of the Krishna

exploits of Krishna.

Leela or the early

Krishna

is

worshipped along
with or in conjunction with the Gopis but JKatha,
the unmarried consort of Krishna, is not usually
;

associated with him.

Yallabhacharya, the founder of this sect or at

most famous exponent, was born about

1749, A.D., in Telingana and settled at Muttra to

least its

teach

doctrines.

his

The worship

of

Krishna

the

the
and the indulgence
rhapsodies of
Bhagavata and the Gita-Govinda tended to increin

ase luxury

and licentiousness

Priests

or

High
The worst forms
became

Many

tolerated

of

this sect

of sexual

in

the Maharajahs

and

love

and commended

of tke immoralities of this

followers.

its

and immorality
as

rich

religious.

and highly

SREE CHA1TANYA.

148
influential

were exposed in a case which

Supreme Court of Bombay in 1862.

sect

to the

went-

up
The Obaitanyas who now remain

to be Described

now branchthem made up of the

are most general in Bengal. They are

ed into various sects. s-me of

richer and ohe higher classes while the

seem

to be

of the

lowest

classes,

worst dregs of the population.

of this sect

the

was the adoption

object of worship.

of

The

majority

containing the
special feature

Radha Krishna,

as

Jayadeva's Gita-Govinda

mentioned already gives a good idea of the influence

which the erotic sentiment commenced to exercise

on Hindus even so early as the 12th Century. The

most commendable attitude of the soul to God was
represented by the

position

of the beloved to her

lover. Married love was considered of a lower form,

being interested, the love towards the gallant,

subversive of worldly duty and propriety as it
was, was considered the highest kind of sentiment
that the soul can entertain towards the Almighty.

Radha-worship was inculcated by Chaitanya

the beginning of the
is

16l.h

Century.

in

But there

reason to think that this kind of worship

is

as

ancient as the beginning of the Christian era, if not

Krishna's amours had been spiritualised
earlier.

from the

earliest times.

The ardent longing

of tho

149

SREE CHAiTANYA,

of the
Gopis for Krishna was considered typical
and
souls' longing for God, and sages
poets who

cannot be suspected of favouring moral lapses have

as symbolic of
agreed to regard the Krishna Idylls
is possible to
that
devotion
the highest spiritual

man.

Many

of

Nammalwar's hymns and those

other saints in the Tamil

devotion,

of

land typify this phase of

and other religions have adopted the

due to

ideal of female love as typical of adoration

the Most High.

popularity of the
the full

human

However
Radha

it

play
nature.

is

no doubt

may

be, the chief

from

gave to the amorous side of

In the earlier stages and in tfce

case of those adherents

there

this

cult arose, of course,

it

But human nature

who were morally

led

of the

to

strong,

no excess or abuse.
type which

yielding

it

can hardly resist long the insinuawhich such excessive hankerings

no wonder
to
are bound
produce, and it is therefore

generally

is,

tions to moral fall

that the Radha-Krishna devotion, and the promis-

cuous mingling of the sexes which

it

permitted,

have degraded to a pitiful degree vast crowds of

whose ignorance and
Chaitanya Vaishnavites
superstition give

Many

of the

them no chance

of reformation/.

Chaitanya sects adopted the repreof the Tantrics or Saktas and

hensible practices

150
hence

SREE
fell

moral

CHAITANYA.

into those very

sins

wrath of

and

Chaitanya
attempts at reform.
It

was in the

city

of

which moved the

Navadwip

prompted
or

his

Nuddea on

the Ganges that the boy Nimai or Visvambhara,

the future Chaitanya, was born about 1485 A.D.

His father Jagannath Misra was a high-caste

Brahmin and an immigrant

Sylhet.

He married Sachee,

a learned
it

man

of

Nuddea.

has been ever since, the

philosophy

Nuddea from

into

daughter of Nilarnbar,
Nuddea was then, as

home

of

the

Nyaya

and Pundit Sarvabhauma was teach-

ing subtle syllogisms there during the early years

of Visvambhara's
of

life.

Visvarupa, the elder brother

Visvambhara was Sarvabhauma's

yet a boy,

Visvarupa suddenly

resolved to become an ascetic.

many

settled

He

While
home and

pupil.

left

wandered over

at

places, finally
Pandharpur in
Western India, and seems to have died there.
There are however some mysterious hints in
Chaitariya's lives, that Visvarupa was identical

with the ascetic friend and constant companion,

Nityananda of Chaitanya. But the better opinion

seems to be that the two are different.
Visvambhara's early

life

was frolicsome, mis-

chievous, and worrying to his parents in a high

SREE CHAITANYA.

He

degree.

became a

151

and

spoilt child

freely in-

whims, one of which was frequent

dulged in his

weeping and dancing. About the ninth year he

was invested with the sacred thread, and he then
went to attend the tole of Gangadas, a pandit of

There he studied Grammar, and,

the place.

great proficiency in

said, acquired

attended

the

Nyaya

where he came

in

pupils who, later,

He

it.

it

is

then

College of Sarvabhauma,

contact with several advanced

became

his companions.

One

was Raghunath, the author of the commentary Didhiti on the Ghintamani, the modern
of these

text-book of

author

of

We are assured by the

Nyaya.
Lord Gauranga,' that Visvarnbhar

himself wrote such a subtle

it

excited the fear and

that the former

please

work on

wonder

thereupon

of

tore

logic,

that

Raghunath and
to pieces to

it

Raghunafh who was ambitious to be unIt is perhaps likely that Visvambhara

rivalled.

did not obtain

bhauma,
that

if

any great proficiency under Sarva-

he read under him at

Sarvabhaurna,

whom

of

any eminence.

Chaitanya as the son of

He

is

certain

Visvambhara

some years after, did not recognise

pupil

It

all.

in

met

him, a former

simply

his former

recognised
friend and

companion, Jagannatha. Then Visvambhara. start-

152

SREK CHAITANYA.

<?d

school of his

grammar

own

at the early age

He

of sixteen and attracted followers and pupils.

was now married

to

one Lakshmi, daughter of a

Vallabhacharya, hut the lady died 2 or 3 years

He then married again Vhshnu-

after marriage.

and

priya, a girl of great gentleness of character

devotion to Chaitanya.

Visvambhara was now about 20 years of age.

had been initiated into the Vaislmavite faith

He

He now

by one Isvarapuri, a pious devotee.

The

took a tiip to Gaya, the holy place.

under-

sight of

Vishnu's foot- prints there produced a wonderful

change

iii

sensitive nature.

his

He

lost

himself

frequent thought and yearned deepty for a

sight of Sri Krishna. Here he again met; Tswnrain

puri and the contact of the ascetic

for

Krishna the wore.

his friends to

He

Nuddea ann
But

made him long

was taken back by

tried to

commence

his

was found impossible and

he bad to give it np entirely. He found himself
constantly talking of Sri Krishna and the Gopis,
school work.

this

the Brindavan and

possibility of life

apparent.
visions,

He

its

attractions

and the im-

under normal conditions became

became

and, wore than

tained to the presence

subject to
once,

seemed

of Krishna.

trances
to

have

The

and
at-

friends

153

SREE CHAITANYA.

Chaitanya who have recorded

in various works in Sans-

=and followers of Sri

the details of his

life

krit and Bengali, feel no doubt

whatever that in

these days Visvambhara's body

was subjected to

Krishna himself.

pervasion

spiritual

by

Si'i

During these moments when the Lord came upon

In his orhim, he was not Vis vain bhara at all.
dinary moods he danced and sang and was delirious with Bhakti or devotion. He imagined himself to

be

Radha and

But when he
Avesa,

overpowered by Krishna's
knew not what he did. He was a

he

medium and
shna and

acted her part to perfection.

was

the followers perceived only Sri Kri-

his

Thus on one

miraculous doings.

an

occasion he entered the puja house of

friend Srivas a wealthly householder, and

his seat

on the dais reserved for the

command that
and wanted Abuhekam or the
out

in tones of

"

elderly

taking

idols,

He

called

had come,"

He

sacred bath.

was duly bathed, dressed and worshipped. All

around fell at his feet and were rewarded with
gracious replies.

and then Nimai

The
fell

seance lasted several

down

in a

swoon.

awoke he was dumbfounded

At another time
recollected nothing.
at the

hours

When

situation

he

and

his friend

Nityananda beheld his beauteous form, expanded

154

SKEE CHAITANYA.

into

with six bands, two of

large proportions,

which bore the bow and arrows

like Rama, and

two others were playing on the flute like Krishna,
while the remaining two held the staff and

the waterpot,
It

state.

may

typical

of

his

future

sanyasin's

be added that the typical figure of

Chaitanya or Goumnga in tha numerous places

where he is worshipped, is the six-headed figure,
the body representing on the right Sri Krishna
and the left R*dha.
Nityananda is devoutly
believed to be Balarama himself, elder brother
of

Krishna, whose avatar was Visvambhara

Sri

himself.

most important follower acquired in these

days by the future Chaitanya was Adwaitacharya,

an elderly Vaishnavite pundit and scholar. He
had frequent opportunities of seeing Visvambhara
in his trances

Krishna.

and

it

H is

and

had

was reserved to Visvambhara

moods, to proceed to his

miles

visions of

him

as Sri

cultivated mind, however doubted,

in

one of his

Santipur, some

village

down the Ganges, from Nuddea, and

ly boat the truth of his divine

head of Adwaita.

The holy

the chastisement as a most

nature

m>tn,

it is

literal-

into
said,

the

took

pleasurable exercise

and was duly and thoroughly cured

of his linger-

155

SREE CHAITANYA.
ing scepticism

achieved

Another miracle which Gauranga

was

the

conversion

of

the brothers,

Jagannath and Madhava, two notorious sinners,

who had great influence in Nuddea and whom

Gouranga openly humbled. It is said that he

took upon himself their hideous sins and saved
them completely.
Gouranga brought about a
dramatic representation

at

the residence of one

Chandrasekhar, a relative of

in

his,

which

Ad-

waita played the part of Sri Krishna, Gouranga

himself that of

Radha and

Sri Vas, that of Narada.

The subject of the play was the meeting of Radha

and Krishna in the Brindavan and the characters
were Krishna, and his friends and Gopees.
this representation,

characters

we

are

told

entered

represented,

the

In

various

spiritually

the

bodies of the respective actors ar.d the play was

really a

grim reality,
was re-enacted.

A
now

in

which Krishna's early

life

most important change in Visvambhar's life

This was nothing less than his

occurred.

renunciation

of

worldly

sanyasin under the name

life

and

of Sri

nya, his future designation.

initiation

as-

Krishna Chaita-

The

initiation

was

a
by one Keeava Bharati, an ascetic who lived at
from Nuddea and to whom
village some 18 miles

156

SREE CHAITANYA.

Nimai went up

in great secrecy,

having given the

and family.

His friends and

slip to his friends

relations

impede

however traced him hut were unable to

his progress to

Chaitanya

sany;*sinhood.

himself considered his ordination as the

bonum

summum

and an inexpressible joy and

Krishna-madness seized him at once. For three
of his life

^ays he wandered about, thinking

van and spend his remaining life
his friends followed

him back
mother,
ble

to

life

and

settle at

him with

Nuddea.
at

fco

reach Brinda-

there.

Some

of

difficulty

and brought

To the great

grief of his

Nuddea was

considered objectiona-

it was arranged that Chaitanya should

Puri or Jngannath. a place not too far

off and sufficiently sacred to satisfy his spiritual

cravings.

.a

To Jagannath, then, he went, accompanied by

few trusted followers. Jngannath was in the

dominions of Pratapa Rudra, King

Hindu Monarch

who

of great power,

of Orissa, a

ruled from

1532, and whose capital was Cutt&ck. The

King's favourite Pundit and Principal of the

1504

Sanskrit College at Puri was

Sarvabhauma under whom,

Chaitanya himself had

.Sarvabhauma

was

all

the great logician,

it lias

read for
in

all

been mentioned,
a short

with

time,

the temple

157

SREE CHAITANYA.
authorities, and, through his help,
his

access to the

friends had!

Chaitanya feasted
lost

his eyes

Gouranga and

innermost shrine r

on the holy image and

Gopinath Acharya, a bro-

himself in ecstasy.

ther-in-law of Sarvabhauma, was well aware of

Chiiitaiiya's greatness

was

much

of

givafc

use

scholar

verted

by
j

to

and divine indications and

Chaitanva

due time the

In

him.

himself

Sarvabhanrna
a.nd

became

was

con-

an humble

follower.
'

i;

Lord Gouranga says that there

w?s a great Sastraic disputation between the two y
ami Chaitanya, was completely victorious. TheTl)9 author of

Chfdtanya-chandrodaya.
Sivananda, a

of

contemporary

Karnapura,

of

son O

Gouranga, does not

mention the disputation but narrates that the conversion was the miraculous effect of God Jagannadh.Vs

'

Holy

Prasad

or

food-offering,

which

Sarvabhauma one morning,

and imperiously compelled him to swallow. Anyhow a complete conversion of Sarvabhanma to
Chaitar.va

took

to

the doctrine of faith in

Krishna was the

result.

King Pratapa Deva's conversion duly followed and

Chaitanyn, who was new more obviously an avatar
tha,n

he had ever been before, and whose spiritual

power had become

irresistible,

established himself

158

SREE CHAITANYA.

and propagated his faith throughout the

length and breadth of Orissa and Bengal.
Two other events in the life of Chaitanya were

at Puri

of great importance

One was
to

his trip to

in extending his influence.

South India, when he is said

have visited Yijianagar

Ramanand

and

converted one

Roy, a Brahmin official of some

under Krishnadeva Raya.
This

importance
Southern tour seems to have been
extensive one and

connection with

many

it.

rapid but

miracles are

related in

The other event we would

was the

visit of Chaitanya to Benares and

Prakasananda, an advaitasanyasin
of great scholarship who subsequently became a
follower of Chaitanya under the name of Probo-

refer to

his victory over

dhclnanda.

After

staying

some

dozen

proper arrangements

at

years

Ohaitanya seems to have travelled a.gain

and thence to Benares and Brindavan.

to

for the teaching of

Puri,

Nuddea

He made
his

doc-

trine of Krishna- Prein or love to Krishna. Adwaita

and Nityanand were stationed to work in Bengal.

Rupa and Sanatana, two other pupils, were sent
to

Muttra.

He

himself lived a strict

life of religi-

ous fervour and constant devotion and finally disappeared about 1527, having converted many

SREE CHAITANYA.

159

millions of people to the Krishna faith in

Bengal
and Orissa, the chief scenes of his activity.
Whatever may be the truth about Chaitanya's

Divinity,

it is

clear that he was, in actual

life,

the

Krishna for the 16th Century. Writing in

1872, Hunter, in his Orissa, says:
The adoration of Ohaitanya has become a sort of

Sri

family-worship throughout Orissa. In Puri, there is a

temple specially dedicated to his name and many little
shrines are scattered over the country. But he is generally adored in connected with Vishnu and of such joint
temples there are at present 300 in the town of Puri
and 500 in the districts
At this moment Chaitanya is
the apostle of the common people in Orissa. The death
of this reformer marks the spiritual decline of Vishnuworship.

Chaitanya who, as Barth calls him, was perhaps

but a poor enthusiastic visionary,' had a few
converts from Mahomedanism among his followers.
It does not appear, however, that he ever preached
all

'

any Mahomedan doctrine or tried to assimilate,

like Kabir or Nanak, the two essentially different
Within
religions, Hinduism and Mahomedanism.
the pale of Hinduism, he recognised apparently
no caste distinction. He seems to have preached
a mild and unobjectionable forua of Krishna-worship and his personal charaetei- was attractive and
We have absolutely no reason to
highly lovable.
his mode of worship, he countethat,
by
suppose
nanced or wonld have countenanced the disgraceful excesses which now characterise the lower
orders among his followers, and a reckless ambition to spite his rivals and persecutors at Nuddea,

by developing a counter-cult to Saktaism, does not,

as has been supposed, appear. to be a natural part

160

SREE CHAITANYA.

of his character as disclosed in the extant accounts

of his life. Chaitanya is said to have built many

shrines at Brindavan and his native district of

Nutidea contains, as Orissa does, many Chaitanya
i
mnges under actual worship. Dr. Bhattaeharya
;

writing of the Chaitanya sect says

The sect that he has founded has developed into a
gigantic body which threatens to throw into shade the
representatives of his old enemies, if not to make them
all humble followers.
:

Assuming that Clusitnnya wns no divinity but a

simple religious reformer, impelled by the strength
to proclaim liis doctrines,
we
of his devotion
have in him another instance of deification so
thorough and complete, tihwt, even before he Hied,
his image was installed for worship and the incidents of his life w*-re modified ard magnified into

There
miracles which proved his divine nature.
nothing strange if we remember that snch has
been the rule in the case of every great reformer
is

from Buddha down

to

Kamakrishna

Farama-

Saint of Dakshineswar, who is the

most recent instance of this process of deificaTn Chaitanya we have the three clearly
tion.
marked stages, first, the simple boy, then the
devout Bhakta, nd lastly the powerful Avatar,
lording it over his men by the force of his
will and the snintliness of his life. Divine honours
having been paid to much less remarkable men, it
wonder that the saint of Nuddea, the
is no
apostle of quietism and devotion, is enshrineo in
the hearts of many as the Lord Gouranga, or the
hanisa, the

white-bodied Krishna.

-n

Dadabhai Naoroji's
SPEECHESIAND ^WRITINGS.
This is the first attempt to bring under one cover an
exhaustive and comprehensive collection of the speeches
and writings of the Venerable Indian Patriot, Dadabhai
Naoroji. The first part is a collection of his speeches
and includes the addresses that he delivered before the
Indian National Congress on the three occasions that he
presided over that assembly all the speeches that he
delivered in the House of Commons and a selection of
the speeches that he delivered from time to time in England and India. The second part includes all his statements to the Welby Commission, a number of papers
relating to the admission of Indians to the Services and
many other vital questions of Indian administration.
The Appendix contains, among others, the full text of
his evidence before the Welby Commission, his statement
to the Indian Currency Committee of 1898, his replies
to the questions put to him by the Public Service
Committee on East Indian Finance.
;

860

To Subscribers

pp.,

of

Crown Octavo, Rs. 2.

" The Indian
Review," Re. 1-8-0.

Recent Indian

Finance.

BY MR. DINSHA EDULJI WACHA,

This is a most valuable collection of papers relating
It deals with such subjects as The
to Indian Finance.
Case for Indian Reform The Growth of Expenditure
Enhanced Taxation Revenue and Expenditure Reasons
No student of Indian Politics
for the Deficit, etc.
should be without this handy little volume from the pen
;

of the

most

brilliant

and

authoritative critic of the

Price As. 4.

Indian Financial Administration.

G. A. Natesan

&

Co.,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street,

Madras,

jf

nenfcs of Jnbia Series.

is a new Series of short

biographical sketches
of eminent men who have laboured for the good of
India, which the publishers venture to think will be a
welcome addition to the political and historical literature
of the country. These biographies are so written as to
form a gallery of portraits of permanent interest to the
student as well as to the politician.

the speeches and writings of

Copious extracts from
"
the " Friends of India on Indian Affairs are given in
the sketches. Each volume has a frontispiece and is
priced at As. 4 a copy.

LORD RIPON:
India.

The awakener and inspirer of New

The sketch contains a detailed account of his

Indian Viceroyalty, with copious extracts from

speeches and writings. Price As. 4,

his

LORD MORLEY.

One of the makers of the India

whose career as the Secretary of State for
India and the promoter of the New Reform Scheme mark
of to-day,

a glorious epoch in Indian History. This sketch deals

with his life and his political creed and an account of
his services to India, with copious extracts from his
Price As. 4.
speeches on Indian Affairs.

SIR

WILLIAM WEDDERBURN,

In this
(Bart).
get a clear idea of the great and good work
which this noble Englishman has for years past been
An
doing for India quietly and unostentatiously
account of the many schemes of reform which he has
been advocating in the Indian administration and his
various acts of self-sacrifice in the cause of India will be
read with great interest. Price As. 4.

booklet

we

MRS. ANNIE BESANT. A sketch of her Life and

her Services to India. In Preparation. Henry Fawcett
Edmund Burke. Charles Bradlaugh.

PRICE ANNAS FOUR EACH.

G. A. Natesan

&

Co.,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street,

Madras.

Indian Speeches.
Morley's
AN ENLARGED AND
UP-TO-DATE
COLLECTION,

CONTENTS
Indian Budget Speech for 1906. Indian
Budget Speech for 1907. Speech at Arbroath. The
:

Partition of Bengal. Indian Excise Administration.

Britsh Indians in the Transvaal. The Need for Reform.
The Condition of India. Speech at the Civil Service
Dinner. The Reform Proposals. Second Reading of
Indian Councils Bill. The Creation of Provincial Executive Councils. Closing Speech on the Second Reading of the Indian Councils Bill. Third Reading of the

Indian Councils Bill. The Hindu-Mahomedan Problem.

The Indian Civil Service Probationers. Despatch on the

The Forward Policy.

Back to
Reform Proposals.
Lord Lawrence. The War beyond the Indian Frontier.
The Stupendous Fabric of Government in India. An
appreciation of Lord Morley and a good portrait.
"
* * *
ought to prove an
Opportune Publication
invaluable book in the book-shelf of every Indian PoliThe Indian World.
tician and Journalist."
" Should command a wide and
ready sale." The Empire.

Double Crown 8vo. 300 pages, Price Re. 1.

To Subscribers of the Indian Review^ As. 12.

Reform Proposals.

THE
A Handy Volume

of 160 pages containing the full text

Lord Morley's Despatch, the Despatch of the Government of India, the Debate in the House of Lords, Mr.
Buchanan's statement in the House of Commons, and
the Hon. Mr. Gokhale's scheme presented to the SecreIndia and also the full text of his
tary of State for
on the Reform Proposals.
speech at the Madras Congress
" Will be found invaluable as works of reference by
of

all who try to follow current events in India, and they

are sure to find a ready sale." The Empire.

Price As. 4.

G. A. Natesan

&

Co.,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street,

Madras

Swami Wivefiananda.
AN EXHAUSTIVE & COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF
HIS SPEEGHE8 AND WRITINGS.
This publication is the first of its kind. It is the first
exhaustive and comprehensive collection of the works of

Swami Vivekananda hitherto published. It contains,

his eloquent character-sketch of "
among others,
My
"

Master

his celebrated lecture at the great Parliament

all the important and valuable
of Religions at Chicago
speeches delivered in England, America and India on
;

Gnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga

Vedanta and
Hinduism; Selection from the inspiring speeches he gave
in reply to Addresses of Welcome that were presented
to him at different towns and cities in India, during his
historic journey from Colombo to Almora, on his return
from America; a choice collection of the contributions
of the Swami to various papers and periodicals hitherto
not available in book form some of his private letters to
friends and a selection from his poems.
;

DETAILED CONTENTS. My

Master

Hinduism

as a Religion ; Reply to the Addresses of CongratulaThe Ideal of Unitions from Madras and Calcutta
versal Religion; God in Everything; Immortality; Is
The Freedom of the Soul Maya
the Soul Immortal
and Illusion
Maya and the Conception of God Maya
and Freedom The Real and the Apparent Man The
Absolute and Manifestation
Unity in Diversity The
Cosmos ; The Macrocosm ; Realization Karma- Yoga ;
Metaphysics in India; Re-incarnation Bhakti or DevoVedanta The Vedanta in Indian Life The Mistion
The Sages of India Christ, The
sion of the Vedanta
Messenger The Relation of Buddhism to Hinduism The
True Method of Social Reform The Reform of Caste ;
The Conquest of the
Education on National Lines
;

World by
Miiller

Thought; The Himalayas; Max

Contains also
Ved-antist; Japan Poems.
Indian

Four Portraits. PRICE RS. 2.

To Subscribers of the " Indian Review,"
G. A. Natesan

& Co., Sunkurama

Re.

1-8.

Chetty Street, Madras.

Sri

Sankaracharya

HIS LIFE AND TIMES.

KR1SHNASWAMI AIYAR, M.A., L.T.
HIS PHILOSOPHY.
BY PANDIT SITANATH TATTVABHUSHAN.

BY

C> N.

To Subscribers

Price As. J2.

of the "Review," As. 8.

Maiihwa * Madhwaism

Sri

A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL SKETCH.

BY C. N. KRISHNASWAME AIYAR, M.A., L.T
Price As. 12<
" Indian
the

To Subscribers of

S.

8.

RAMANUJACHARYA

SRI
BY

Review" As.

HIS LIFE AND TIMES.

KRISHNASVVAMI AIYANGAR,

M. A.

HIS PHILOSOPHY.

BY

T.

RAJAGOPALACHARIAR,

M.A., B.L.

Price As. 12.

To Subscribers

of the

" Indian

Review" As.

8.

BY GLYN BARLOW,
Principal, Victoria College, Palghat.

CONTENTS
3.

Patriotism in Trade.

1.

Industrial

Exhibitions.

4.

2.

Co-Operation.

The Inquiring Mind.

Indian Art. 7. Indian Stores.

Investigation.
Corner.
India's
9.
8.
Customers.
Turning the
10. Conclusion.
Price Re. 1-8. To Subscribers of the " Review," Re. 1.
6.

5.

G. A. Natesan

&

Co.,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street, Madras.

INDIAN TALES.
AMUSING READING

NEW

As.

Four Each.

INDIAN TALES.

Nineteen amusing and

instructive tales. By Mr. C. Hayavadana Rau, Fellow
of the Anthropological Institute, London. Price As. 4.
TALES OF RAYA AND APPAJI.-By T. M. Sundaram. 16 amusing and instructive stories. The stories
are characterised by a great deal of wit and humour.
Price As. 4.

TALES OF KOMATI WIT AND WISDOM.

and instructive stories.
B.A., B. L. Price As. 4.

Twenty-five amusing

Hayavadana Rau,

By O.

TALES OF TENNALI RAMAN.-The famous

Court Jester of Southern India. (21 Amusing Stories,)
By Pandit S. M. Natesa Sastri. Third Edition. As. 4.

FOLKLORE OF THE TELUGUS- A

collection of

forty-two highly amusing and instructive tales.

G. R. Subramiah Pantulu. Price As. 4.

By

TALES OF MARIADA RAMAN.

(21 Amusing
By P. Rarnachandra Row Avergal, Retired
Civilian.
Second
Edition.
Price As. 4.
Statutory
Stories.)

THE SON-IN-LAW ABROAD,

and other Indian

Fun, Folly, Cleverness, Cunning, Wit and
Humour. By P. Ramachandra Rao, B.A., B.L., Retired
Statutory Civilian. Second Edition. As. 4.

folk-tales of

MAITREYI A Vedic Story in Six Chapters. By

Pandit Sitanath Tattvabhushan. Second Edition. As. 4.
:

of the Orient To-Day.

BY SAINT NIHAL SINGH.

Glympses

In this book, Mr. Singh describes the transition that

has taken place in Asia during the last few decades,
traces the causes of the awakening and offers a prophesy

He graphically portrays the

Orient, the political, social and
industrial life of India, Persia, Japan, China and other
Asiatic lands. Price Re. 1, To Subscribers, As. 12.

as to

its

ultimate effect.

modern women of the

G. A. Natesan

&

Co.,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street, Madras.

A Fragment On Education.
M.A.
BY NELSON
FRASER,

J.

(0*an.)

Principal, /Secondary Training College,

Bombay.

of
Theory and Practice The Ideals
Childhood and Boyhood Youth
and Manhood; What is Education ? The Training of the

CONTENTS

Education Psychology
;

The Training of
Intellect; Trainings of the Feelings;
the Creative Power; Moral Training; Guilt and PunishHours
ment; The Sexual Life at School; The Private
a
of Boys; The Teacher and His Pupils; Teaching as
Profession Education and the Individual Education and
;

The Unsolved Problems of Education ExaSociety

The Training of Teachers;
minations and Cramming
The Teaching of Science; The Importance of Little
Things The English Public Schools.
o,,u_:u._c, r *.>, "Review," As. 12,
Prioft RA i T~
;

Aspects of the Vedanta.

CONTENTS.
The Vedanta Some Reasons for Study.
The Late Mr. N. Vythinatha Aiyar, M.A.
Veda and the Vedanta,
The Late Prof. Max Mxiller.

Vedanta Toward All Religions.

Swami Abhedananda.
The Vedanta in Outline.
Pandit Sitanath Tattvabhushan.

The Vedanta Reliaion.

Professor M. Rangachariar, M. A.
The Ethics of the Vedanta.
The Late Mr. ~
N. Vythinatha Aiyar, M.

A.

f Biographies

of

Eminent Indians.

A Series of Uniform Booklets each with a Portrait,

FOOLSCAP

PRICE ANNAS FOUR EACH.

8vo.

of this Series is to present within a short

compass sketches of the lives and careers of all eminent
Indians. Each volume besides giving a succinct biographical sketch, contains copious extracts from the
described.
speeches and writings of the personages
The Series has been pronounced by the Press to be
"the most welcome addition to Indian biographical

The aim

and

critical literature."

DADABHAI NAOROJI.
SIR P. M. MEHTA.
DINSHA EDULJl WACHA.
MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA.
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA.
THE HON. MR. G. K. GOKHALE.
THE HONT DR. RASH BEHARI GHOSE.
LALA LAJPAT RAI.
.

BABU SURENDRANATH BANERJEA.

ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT.
ANANDA MOHAN BOSE.
W.

C.

BONNERJEE.

BUDRUDDIN
SIR

TYABJI.

SYED AHMED.

LAL MOHUN GHOSE.

M. K.

GANDHI.

MAD AN MOHAN MALAVIYA.

MUDHOLKAR.
BABU KRISTO DAS

R. N.

PAL.

PRICE ANNAS FOUR EACH.

G. A. Natesan

&

Co.,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street,

Madras.

Shakespeare's

Chart

of

Life:

BEING STUDIES OF
HAMLET, KING LEAR, OTHELLO & MACBETH.
By the Rev. Or. William Miller, C.I.E.,
Principal,

Madras Christian

CONTENTS

College.

KING LEAR AND INDIAN POLITICS.

HAMLET AND THE WASTE OF LIFE.

MACBETH AND THE RUIN OF SOULS.
OTHELLO AND THE CRASH OF CHARACTER.
Dr. Miller does not appear as an an no tat or or

He

critic.

on the ethical
According to him the

fixes his students' attention especially

side of Shakespeare's teaching.

plays of Shakespeare, whether designedly or not, are

not calculated merely to amuse. They have each " an
inner meaning," & " central idea," which it does the
student good to search out and assimilate.

The Madras Mail. Dr. Miller has taught Shakespeare

for over 40 years to hundreds of students, who have
passed through the Christian College. And in his classes,
if he has enforced one lesson more than another, it has
been that these plays must have been written with the
object, among others, of making plain the moral principles,
which underlie the ordinary occurrences in human life,
and that it is this feature of Shakespeare's pl&ys which
makes them not only an intellectual discipline but a means
of real benefit to those upon whom thc\ have their full

PRICE RS. 4.
To Subscribers of " The Indian Review," Rs. 3.
AVAILABLE SEPARATELY. RE. O>-K EACH.

and proper influence.

BY THK

THE LEAST OF

S4MIS AUTHOR.

LANDS: Being seven chapters

on the Topography of Palestine in relation to its
Prict Rs. 2.
History.

G. A. Natesan

&

/*LL

Co.,

SunkuramaChetty

Street, Madras.

OF SOUTH AFRICA.
THE INDIANS
How
are Treated.
within the
Helots

they
Empire
L. Polak, Editor, Indian Opinion.
and
authoritative desThis book is the first extended
of South Africa, the
cription of the Indian Colonists
treatment accorded to them by their European fellow-

By H.

S.

and their many grievances. The First Part

devoted to a detailed examination of the disabilities
of Indians in Natal, the Transvaal, the Orange River
and the
Colony, the Cape Colony, Southern Rhodesia
entitled
Portuguese Province of Mozambique. Part II,
" A
Tragedy of Empire," describes the terrible struggle
of the last three years in the Transvaal, and contains
an appeal to the peoj- e of India. To these are added a
colonists,

is

number

of valuable appendices.
1. To Subscribers of the

Prico Re.

"Review," As.

M. K. GANDHI :

12.

^*

This is a sketch of one of the most eminent,

India
has
and self-sacrificing men that Modern
of Mr. M. K.
produced. It describes the early days
Gandhi's life, his mission and work in South Africa, his

character, his strivings and his hopes. A perusal of this

sketch, together with the selected speeches and addresses that are appended, gives a peculiar insight into the
remarkable and
springs of action that have impelled this
in life for
saintly man to surrender every material thing
the sake of an ideal that he ever essays to realise, and
will be a source of inspiration to those who understand
that statesmanship, moderation and selflessness are the
The sketch contains an
greatest qualities of a patriot.
illuminating investigation into the true nature of passive
resistance by Mr. Gandhi, which may be taken as an
authoritative expression of the spirit of the South African struggle. With a portrait of Mr. Gandhi. Price As. 4.

Dr. Rash Behari Ghose's Speeches.

AN EXHAUSTIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION.
Price As.

12.

G. A. Natesan

(With a portrait )
To Subscribers of the " Review" As.

&

Co.,

Sunkurama

Chetfcy Street,

8.

Madras.

Essays on Indian
BY.

Art, Industry
E. B.

&

Education.

HAVELL.

Late Principal, Government School of Art

Calcutta.

Author of " Indian Sculpture and Painting"

etc.

EXTRACTS FROM THE PREFACE.

The various Essays on Indian Art, Industry and Education \vhieh are here reprinted, though mostly written
some years ago, all deal with questions which continue
to possess a living interest. The superstitions which
they attempt to dispel still loom largely in popular
imagination, and the reforms they advocate still remain
*
*
to be carried out.

CONTENTS

The Taj and

Its

Designer?, The Revival

of Indian Handicraft, Art and Education in India, Art

and University Reform in India, Indian Administration
and 4 Swadeshi and The Uses of Art. Crown 8vo,,
'

200pp.

SELECT OPINIONS.

The Englishman, Calcutta. Mr. HavelFs researches

and conclusions are always eminently readable. * *
His pen moves with his mind, and his mind is devoted
to the restoration of Indian Art to the position it formerly occupied in the life of the people, to its reclamation from the degradation into which Western ideals,
falsely applied have plunged it, and to its application as
an inspiring force to all Indian progress and develop-

ment.

The above are a few ideas taken at random from the

It is full of expages of this remarkable little book.
pressions of high practical utility, and entirely free
from the jargon of the posturing art enthusiast.
The Annual Subscription

RE VIEW "is

to

the

"INDIAN

Subscription can commence from any month. Any one who wishes to buy
books at the reduced rates must remit Rs. 5, one year's
" Review" in advance. Send a
subscription to the
postage stamp for As. Two for a free specimen copy.

G. A. Natesan

Us. 5

&

Co.,

(five).

Sunkurama Chetty

Street,

Madras.

Movement.

A SYMPOSIUM BY
Representatiue Indians and Anglo-Indians.
Dadabhai Naoroji; H. H. The Gaekwar of Baroda The Hon. Mr G. K. Gokhale The Hon.
Dr. Rash Behari Ghose Hon. Sir Vitalhas Damodar
Thaekersey The Hon. Md Yusuf Khan Bahadur; Mrs.

CONTENTS:
;

Annie Besant; Rajah Peary Mohun Mukerjee; Sister

Mr. Lala Lajpat Rai
Nivedita
Dewan Bahadur
K, Krishnaswamy Row The Hon. Mr. Harikishen Lai;
Babu Surendranath Banerjee Rai Bahadur Lala Baij
Nath Dewan Bahadur Ragunatha Row; Romesh Chunder
Mr. A. Chaudhuri Hon. Mr. Parekh
Dutfc, O.I.B., I.C.S.
Mr. D, E. Waoha; Hon. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya;
Mr. Asvvini Kumar Datta; The Hon. Mr. V. Krishnaswamy Iyer Hon. Mr. Arabica Charan Muzumdar Mr.
Myron H. Phelps Dewan Bahadur Ambalal S. Desai;
Mr. G. S. Arundale Sir Charles Elliot, K.C.M,G. Mr.
David Gostling; Rajah Prithwipal Singh Rai Bahadur
P. Ananda Charlu, C.l.E. Sir E. C. Buck, K.C.S I.
Dr.
AnandaK. Coomaraswamy; Mr. Mujibur Rahman Abdul
Rasul, Esq., Bar. -at- Laic- Babu Tara Prasanna Mukerji
Dewan Bahadur Goviiidaraghava Iyer; Mr. Abdul Halim
Ghuznavi Rao Bahadur 1ft. N. Mudholkar His Honor
Sir Herbert T. White Mr. Charles W. McKinn
Mr. Bal
Ghangadhar Tila.k Mr. Hemendra Prasad Ghose Pandit
Rambaj Dutt Mr. Mushir Hosain Kidwai, Bar.-at-Law.
This book also contains the views of H. E. Lord Minto,
H. E, Sir Arthur Lawley, H. H. Sir Andrew Fraser and
Lord Ampthill. Price As. 12.
;

'

The Annual Subscription

REVIEW'

Rs. 5

to the

"INDIAN

Subscription can commence from any month. Anyone who wishes to

buy
books at the reduced rates must remit Rs.
5, one
"
Review" in advance.
year's subscription to the
Send a postage stamp for As. Two for a free
is

(five).

specimen copy.
G. A. Natesan

&

Co.,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street, Madras.

on ihidinu (Economics*
BY THE LATE MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE.
Indian Political
CONTENTS
Economy the Reorganisation of Real Credit in India; Netherlands
India and the Culture System Present State of Indian
Manufacture and Outlook of the same Indian Foreign
Emigration Iron Industry Pioneer Attempts Industrial Conference; Twenty Years' Review of Census
Local Government in England and India
Statistics
Emancipation of Serfs in Russia, Prussian Land Legislation and the Bengal Tenancy Bill the Law of Land
Sale in British India.
Price Rs. 2. To Subscribers of the " Review" Re. 1-8.
:

On

Light

Life.

Selection of Five Spiritual Discourses by

BABA PREMANAND BHARATI,

The Real Life Have You Loved Do
Thought Force Sages; Saints and Sons of

CONTBNTS

We

Live

God.
Price As.

8.

To Subscribers of

the " Revieiv," As, 6.

Sri S an/caracfiarya' s
SELECTED WORKS:

SANSKRIT TEXT AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION.

BY

S.

VENKATARAMANAN.

Containing more than 700 verses in

among

all

and including

others the following:

Dasasloki
Hari-Stuti
Dakshinamurthi-Stotra
Atmabodha
Sadachara
Vakyavritti
Vakyasudha Smtraanirupanam Aparokshanubhati.
Bound in Cloth. Price Re. 1-8.
;

Satasloki

" The Indian

Subscribers of
Review," Re.

G. A. Natesan

To

&

Co,,

Sunkurama Chetty

Street,

1.

Madras.

The Bhagavad-Gita
THE LORD'S SONG.
With

the text in Devanagari

& an English Translation.

BY MRS. ANNIE BESANT.

Note.
It has long been my ambition to place within
reach of the English-reading public a cheap edition of the
Bhagavad-Gita with the text in Devanagari and an English translation of the same. Mrs. Annie Besant, that
warm and tried friend of India whose services to our
land it were vain to count, has enabled me to realise
that ambition by generously granting the use of her
English translation. It is devoutly hoped that this great
scripture of the Hindus will find a plaoe in thousands of
homes both in India and elsewhere. -G. A. NATES AN.

When

Price per copy 9 As. 2 (Two) only.

ordering mention the number of copies.
Stamps will not be received.

Agricultural Industries in India.

BY SEEDICK R. SAYANI.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
SIR VITALDHAS DAMODAR THACKERSEY.
CONTENTS: Agriculture Rice; Wheat;
Cotton;
;

Sugar-Cane

Jute

Oilseeds

Acacia

Wattle Barks

Sunn Hemp Camphor

Lemon-Grass Oil Ramie
Rubber; Minor Products Potatoes Fruit Trade Lac
Industry; Tea and Coffee; Tobacco; Manures s'ubsi;

diary Industries

Cattle-Farming;
Appeal.

An

Sericulture

Diary

Apiculture Floriculture ;
Industry; Poultry-Raising;
;

Vitaldhas Thackersey writes:R. Sayani, I think, has given valuable

S.
information regarding the present state and future
possibilities of the principal cultivated crops of India.
Price Re. 1. To Subscribers of the "Review," As 12.
Sir.

Mr.

G. A. Natesan

& Co.,

Sunknrama Chetty Street, Madras.

jhibian National
An Account of

Its Origin

and

Its

Growth.

Full Text of all the Presidential Addresses.

Reprint of all the Congress Resolutions.

Extracts from all the Welcome Addresses.

Notable

Utterances

Portraits

on

the

Movement

the

of
Congress Presidents.
This is an exhaustive and complete Collection of all
the Congress Presidential Addresses and the Resolutions
passed at the sittings of all the Congresses. The book
also contains extracts from the Welcome Addresses delivered at all the Congresses and several Notable Utterances on the Congress Movement by men like the late
Charles Rradlaugh, Robert Knight, Sir William Hunter,
Mr. Justin McCarthy, Sir Richard Garth, Lord Cromer,
Sir Charles Dilke and others. An attractive feature of
the book is a collection of the portraits of all the Congress Presidents. Cloth Bound. Over 1,100 pp. Crown
8vo. Price Rs.

all

3.

To Subscribers of

the "Review;' Us. 2-8.

The Hon. Mr. Gokhaie's Speeches.

is the first collection of his speeches and may
claim to be fairly exhaustive, no important pronouncement of his having been omitted. The book
contains four parts and an appendix. The first part
includes all his utterances in the Supreme Legislative
Council and in the Bombay Legislative Council; the

THIS

his Congress Speeches, including his Prethe third speeches in

Address at Benares
Mc;hta and
appreciation of Hume, Naoroji, Ranade,
Bonnerjee the fourth, miscellaneous speeches delivered
The appendix contains the full
in England and tdia.
text of his evidence both in chief and in cross-examination before the Welby Commission and various papers.

second,

all

sidential

Crown

To

Svo., 1,100pp.,

Subscribers

G. A. Natesan

&

of

Co.,

the

Cloth Gilt. Price Rs. 3

Indian Review, Rs.

Sunkurama Chetty

Street,

2-8.

Madras.

THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS- -An

K-count of

its

and growth.

origin

Full text

of

all

Iho

Repr-nt of all the Congress

Extract.* from all the Welcome Addresses.
.-'solutions.
NoUble Utterances on the Movement. Portraits of the
1 100
pages.
Congress Presidents. Cloth Bound. Over
Crown 8vo. Us. ,3. To subscribers of " The Indian
Presidential

Addresses.

'!{.

L\* i'iri.c,"

Us. 2-8.

CONTENTS:

MORLEY'S INDIAN SPEECHES

Indian Budget Speech for 1907. Speech at Arbroath.

The Partition of Bengal. Indian Excise AdministraThe Need for
British Indians in the Transvaal.
tion.
Reform. The Condition of India. Speech at the Civil
Service Dinner. The Reform Proposals. The Forward
Back to Lord Lawrence. The War on the
Policy.
Frontier.
The Government of India. Also the full text
of his Despatch on the Indian Reform Proposals. An
appreciation of Lord Morley, and a, portrait. Crown 8vo,
240 Pciges. Price Re. One. To subscribes of " The
Indian Revieiv" As. 12.

MRS. ANNIE BESANT. A sketch of her Life

ond her Services to India. With copious extracts from
her speeches and writings. With a portrait. 64 pages.
Price Annas Four.

NATION-BUILDING- A Stirring appeal to Indians.

Suggestions for the building of the Indian Nation
Education as the basis of National Life
National UniPrice Annas Two.
versities for India.
;

TFTE

REFORM PROPOSALS--A

handy volume

of 160 pages containing the full text of Lord Morley's

Despatch, the Despatch of the Government of India
the Debate in the House of Lords, Mr. Buchanan's
statement in the House of Commons, and the Hon. JMr.
Gokhale's scheme presented to the Secretary of State for
India and also the full text of his speech at the Madras
Congress on the Reform Proposals. "Price As. Six. To
Subscribers of " The Indian Review, As. Four.
;

G. A.

NATESAN

&

CO.,

E PLANAPE, MADRAS,

14

DAY USE

TURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

LOAN
book

DEPT.

due on the last date stamped below, or if'

on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.
:s

is

M214837

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRAE