L

'

tQ

OF

RXRX XtdXSKELH'XXaT3L CM2LXKW

BEING

T HE INAUGURAL A D D R E S S
DELIVEBED ON THE 5 T H

MAV 1 9 0 8

BY

N. B. SRINIVASAIFNQ AR, N. A.,

(3fysore Educatio'nal Service)

Author of the "Aryan Praper-Book" &

Editor >of the "Eithiyanusandanusn" Seriesj,
& c.

& c.

on the occasion of the Ce>ebrgtion of the

Twenty-Fifth Anniversary
of
Sri gamanujacharya's Birthday-Fesfivities

conducted <n connection reith

Ithe Srinivisa 1lfand<rasn PCharities

~n gangalore |'.ity.

MADRAS.
THE BRAH'.QAVADIN PRESS.
X910.

Price As. a.]

tPrice As. u.

LIFE & TEA08INtlS OF

"SRI R~MAI|UJACHARYA"
BEING
j

A LHCTURH D H L I V H RH D A T

B A NGALORH'

Under the auspices of the Srinivasa, Mandixam, the

twenty-fifth anniversary in conne&ion with Sxi Ramanuja,charya's Tirunakshatram was celebrated on T u e sday
evening (5th May x9o8) ia Doddanna's Hall, Bangalore
City. Flags and foliage
had been employed to make the
hall, look specially attractive, but the weather was cloudy,
and threatend heavy xain, and a slight drizzle probably
k ept some people away. The H al l
w a s h o w ever full ,
being occupied mostly by Vaishnava followers and Stud' ents. Th e

c h a i r w a s o c c u p ie d b y R a j a m a n t r a pxavina

Mr. C. Srinivasiengar, an ex-Councillox of the M y sore

State.
, The Chairman introduced Mr. M. B. Sxinivasa Iyengar, M.x. of
the Mysore Hducational Service, who read an
interesting addxess on the life and teachings of Ramanujac harya, and explained sevexal technical points of th e
Visishtadvaita faith.

A peculiar feature of the Qecture was that for the

first time in t h e . H i stoxy of Bangaloxe, native ladies
attended a public lecture in Hnglish. Th e m e mbexs of
the Hindu Qadies ' Association were accommodated in
. the xooms to the right of the dais; and on the dais itse'lf
were seen, besides the I,ectuxex and the C h a irman,
M essrs. Kumarasami Naik, 4 .
K r i s h n a R ao, N . S .
Tirumaliengar, C. B. Sheshagiri Rao, N. Venktesiengar,
and
S. Krishnasami Iyengar, K , R a m asami Iyengar
., several
OKcers of the Mysore state and non-oKcials.

Soon after the Introduction, the Le&

follows:

irer spoke as
F
I

,r

THE INAUGURAL ADI3RKSS.

I.IFE
8 TEACHINCSOF "SltHAMANUJACHABVA"
Before commencing my brief address to
this learned
audience, I wish to say a few words regarding the unique
position in which I find myself placed this evening, which
is due entirely to the kindness of Mr. Gopala Charlu, to
whose untiring efForts the $rinivasa-Mandiram and Charities owe their existence and continuance, His kind letter,
sent to me a month ago, requesting me to deliver this Inaugural address, took ine entirely by sur.prise; but having
regard to his earnest appeal, I could not say " nay" to
his request, though I knew full well.that more competent
and worthy persons than niyself could have been thought
of and requested to perform this important function,
w hich I am now c a l le d u po n t o

do on t h i s a u spicious

occasion > aud my acceptance cf

such a duty has to be
regarded more asa DrvrNg cAr,r, since every one of us,
worldlings, who have the interests of humanity at heart,
has to put his shoulders to the wheel to contribute his quota
of service to the development and evolution of mankind.
g, In these days of general awakening, only organized work, and not individual efforts, will achieve perm anent or enduring results,
These are not the days of individual greatness such as was achieved, in former days,
by great personages like Buddha, Sankaracharyar, or Jesus,
or Mahomed, orRamanjacharyar,or Madhva Charyar, with
a large following of
d i s c i ples. If any m easure of
success falls to the lot of any of us , we h ave only to
take sheltar in these days under the, well-kpown adage

" Saughe saktih Kalau)Yuge (~ gl~+; ggj' gA) Pozoeris

nested in a >niIEtitucEe (aii organisati'on)'; and a& accordingly.
A word or two, I wish to say, wit h y our k i u d
percuission, regarding what potentialities f'or good lie in
Iustitutions like the ' Sr i u i v asa Mandiram aud Charities,"

under whose auspices this inRuential and remarkable

gathering is, invited'this evening. The sphere of usefuln ess in which socio-religions Iustitut i ous like our " M a n -

diram," or the Branches of the T h eosophical Society,

established all over Iudia, may =ngage themselves, is
briefly indicated iu the remarkable speech delivered at
Calcutta by His Fxcellency the Viceroy, I ord Miuto, ou the
occasiou of the Jubilee celebration of the Calcu.tta University. His Pxcellency, while commeuting upon the entire
absence of re]igiotls teaching in our G o v ernmeut Schools

aud Colleges as
a defe6t in our pres~nt system of F ducation,
was pleased to remarl'. thus

" Before the advent of g l e s -

teru I,earning, secular and religious instru8iou went haud

iu hand. The Teacher was also the Spiritual Guide; aud
wecanuot disguise from ourselves that this sy~tenq, for
which we are answerable, has to a large extent deprived
the studeut of instruEtion in his own faith. It would be useless uow to speculate as to what proportion of the causes
for anyuntoward results rnay be allotted to this systcm, or
to the want of religions teachers, or to the students themselves; but I would asl. thelatter to assist, as far as it is in
t heir power, to ueutralize the evil. T he y an d t h e U n i versity authorites can justly look to the Rzr,rorovs zssocrAnoNs throughout India for assistance," and concluded
his speech iu these memorable words: " Though the
Government of India must, as I have recently said, hold
the balance evenly betweenall religions and se8;s, I caunot
b ut feel that a System of Hducatiou which aims at t h e

3
,training of youth, with no r egard for re lsgg'aus drmfhs,
igores the veiy fouuciatious upon which all that is noble
iii a people sliould be built."
Hence it will be seen that th'e~nost press'.rig need
of the hour.is tlie hiarty c o - operation of t h e se .R eligious

Associations to supplerj.<ent the work of Govenunent L'ducational Institutions with their philanthropic efforts with
a view to remedy the evils of the purely secular systeni of
education uo~v imparted therein.

S u c l l a l l o bl e e x aIilple

of philanthrophy and unselfish devotion to duty is to be

se u in the I,ife of Rau>anujacharya, whose birthday
festivities are beiug celebrated to;day all,over.Iudia aud
Bi<rma, and wherever Vaishnava fol'lowers of Ra m'anuja,

beariug ou their foreheads the three distinguishing perpendicular marks of the comiuunity, are found. In referring to a few principal features .of his ndble career of
usefulness, extending over a period of more than a centur>',
(Eor he lived over and above the full period of the patria rchal age of our ancestorsviz., one hundred and t w e n t y

.years) it may pertineutly be asl"ed what was there anything special in this noble personage that ca]ls forth that
pious aud faithful devotion ofhis followers and the unstinted admiration of
the world, eveu after the lapseof nearly a
tbousand years.
His Hiography may be advautageously studied
with a view to elicit information regarding the following
principal points .-

(r) His Special Mission to the world.

.(p) The History of the developinent of the powerful
gaishnava.organisation that he cousolidated for continuing
the moral and spiritual work after him down to poster>ty
on altruistic lines

(g) His great message of peace aixl goodwill to nlanklnd .

(4) His universal love of mankiud, irrespe&ive of

caste, creed or colour.
(g) His scientific expositiou of the Vedantic dochine
and plan of salvation in couformity with the tr aditional
teachiugs hauded over from
the time of sage Bodhayana,
and his successful reeonciliation of apparently con6i&ing
Vedic texts of equal authority.
(6) Hisspecial reform in the t emples on ortl lodox
lines.
(p) His unbounded sympathy witl l tlle masses specially the Pancharuas.
(8) His successful attempt atbringing to prominence
the gmovroN<z, aspgcT of the Vaishnava Faith, and thus
reviving the popular religion of the venerable Alvars (who
preceded hirn) by scientifically propogating the do&riue

(VP%')
of I,ove ~ and absolute reuunciatiou
'g~%
according to the ueeds aud frame of mind of the devotee,
6.

Value ajBiograghieal Study: Ou e of t he m ost

i uteresting studies of l i t e r a t ure i u

an y l a n g u ag e i s t h e

B iography of great men. T h ose that are writteu w i t h

scrupulous care for accuracy aud truth will be still ulore
instructive and iuteresting. Such Biographies are fouud
ill modern I,iterature; those of former days have to be
studied with great caution, and with an eye for historieal
research and accuracy,
and with duerespeEt forTruth and
Probabglit~'es; for, in these Biographical writiugs, mytllology, and sometimes, supernatural
ageney, do eome into
play, givingrise to legeudary tales introduced by later
writ,ers, with a view to euhauce the importance of the incidelits couue&ed with th e career of such saimts or sages.

Very often the so-called "pious frauds~h"ve also to be

therein dete&ed; hence these writings have to be gone
t hrough with extrenie care and with a g r eat d eal o f

un-

biassed critical acumen. Beariug the above remarks in

mind, the following works may be consulted with advantage, with a view to f ind out the most important i~cidents

in the life of Ramanujacharya.

x. Sri Guru parampari Prabhavam (Glorious I,ives of
the Ancient Acharyas) in Tamil prose, stayed
MANIPRAvALAM. Unfortunately, there are now two ver-

s ionsoi' this,belonging to the "Tenkalai" and " V a d akalai" se8;ions of the Srivaishnavas (Southern and Northern se8.ious)
2. prapannamritam

ttnt rtrt in Sanskrit.

Visistadvaita Catechism (by Pandit Bhashyachar

n

of the Theosophical Society, Adyar) in Fnglish.

P alanadai Vilakkan ustsy <sisL tp~ato. In Ta m i l

.prose.
5. I,ife of Ramanujacharya (by A. G o v i ndacharlu,
Mysore) iu Fnglish.
6. Qife of Ramanuja (by the late S. Rangacharlu,
Delta Superintendent, Rajamundry } in English~
Prom the above, a few principal inci1ents of Ramanujacharya's life,
which are borne out by fa8s, and regarding which most of us are agreed, are noted below:
* Subsequent to the delivery of this address, I had occasion to pzruse
the following, mhich may also bc read by the readers eith much advantage:-

(x) Life and teachings of ts.atnanuj ttcharya by C. R. Srinivasiangar

B.A. (R. Venltatestvar 8r, Co, iHadras.j
(s) A paper on Ramanuja, contributed to the

" Wednesday Review'

hy Mr, 5. Krishnasarrti lyengar M.A. Central College, Bangalore.

I Birth at griperumbudur.. A.D. or A.c. 1017 (Salivahana

sa ka 939) the na1ni ng- cere1nony, he was
styl.d " I,akslunaixa" wl1ich was gradually
changed to I,akshnxagachar and I akshma
namuoi.
z His early educatioi1 under Yadavaprakasa bet ween 8 and I6 years 3 Pirst entry i n t o

..C11'. IO33

S r i r a n g aru t o see Al a v andar

(Yamunacharya), age g5..

p>

q Taking holy orders (his married life being a

disappointment), age 3R

pp

I04g

xo49

5 Conversion of Yagyamurti, an Advaitic Teacher xo86-,

6 King's Persecution of Vaishnavas (Karikala
C11ola, Kulothunga Chola I), age 78
p Plight to Mysore Territory, age g9..

'9S

pp xo96

8 Conversion of Bittideva, King of the Hoysala

Country (Maisur) into the Vaishnava faith,
and naming him Vaishnuvardhana

I99

> Consecration and restoration of the T e m ple at

Melkote (Tirunarayanapuranx)

p p I 0 98

xo -Building and consecration of the Temple at

Belur ..

I IIl

zx Concessions ~manted to the Panchamas during

the period of Car-festivals at Melkote pnd

Belur (Mysore and Hassan Distri8s.) for services rendered, which are continued.even to
this day
..

z z The establishment of a Mutt at Melkote, styled

"Yatixaja Mutt," in charge of his t r usted
.

disciples, for the n>anagenxent of Temple

w orship and the propagation of the faith ..

xxx8

xxx 9

I3 Return to Srirangam

..Cir. IIso

I4 His last days at S r i r angam; his powerful

o rganisation for the f u t u r e
work of the
Mission

fy

IX3$

As regards the date of the birth of Ramanujkcharya, there has been no difference of opinion, unlike that
of Sri Sankaracharya, which is wrapped up 111 obscurity
even to this day. This is easily accounted for, since from
the earliest days ofhis earthly career, Ran1anuja's contemporaries and admirers
began to associate the periods of the
incidents of his life xvith specific noble thoughts of some
signiflcance. Hence the traditional date of Salivahana
Saka939 (corresponding to 939+ j8 = xQI7A.D. ) has been
taken advantage ot by his Biographers, and has accordingly been made synonymous with the uoble thought 4ffuan"
+ The system of coITlputatlon by which the consonants of the H i n d o

A lph~bet represeut numercal va1ues from one to nine digits is a v ery o l d

Aryan method, mainly resorted to by authors and poets, when they mish to
insert in their own works the year of composition of their Own productions.
'ghis system is also seen in Inscriptions, recording grants of land on auspi-

cious or holy or special occasions, or in monumeots raised in commemoration

of great deeds> by Sovereigns and other high personages, This computation

%~6%%
is known by the name ot
is regulated by the fol!owing principle:(r) ~

)y

KAT>PAYADI

SANKHY<f and

( Lette r sf rom % in the order of the 1st fk 2nd Vargas

denote the numbers I, 2, 31 cf. $q6 7, 8, 9 respectively, the last in the 2nd

Varga denoting zero. )

(z) +% (Si

milarly, letters from < in the order of the prd and yth

Vargas denote the 6rst nine digits respectively, the last in the yth Varga

denoting zero).
(3) WI+zM (L etters from % denote respectively the 6rst five digits in
9 Varga)

.(g) %1%R (Letters frorn % to $ is the usual order denote the fii'st
eight digits respectively.

Dhir Qabdha =Real knowledge attained), as if this year

was particularly
designed by Providence forthe spread of
R@Ax, KNowMDG@ on earth tlirough Ramanujacharya.
So also is the saka year " xoj9" c o rresponding to A. D,
designated. as the ~%K: year (Dharmo N a stah =
gaw of the Qord lost to th e woxld), when the earthly
careerof Sri Ramanujacharyax closed. Hence these two
important dates became fixed in the ancient chronicles of
the land,.and could not be
changed.
I x37 )

8. His works which have attained an immoxtal fame

are mostly philosophical; but the " G a d y atraya" {T hxee

gadyas or Prose-pieces) is a very popular and highly-pathetic prose composition especially the Sarana,gati Gadya
{on " Renunciation ").
The Philosophical works are-

r. The sribhsshys (,flssrsrrr). This is s flowing

and natural Commentary on the Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana. This beautiful work is, in the words of the unbiassed and distinguished German Scholar, Dr. Thibaut
" The oldest Commentary extant next to Sankara.
The intrinsic value of the " Sri-Bhashya ", moreover, is a
vexy high one > it strikes one throughout as a solid performance, due to a writex of extensive learning and great
power of axgumentation, and in its polemic parts, dixected
against the Adwaita School of T h ought r epresented by
Sankara; it not unfrequently desexves to be called -brilliant even. And, in addition to all this, it shows evident
.traces of being not the mere outcome of Ramanuja's individual views, but of resting on an old and weiphty tradi-tion. This latter point is cleaxly of the greatest importance."
.

2. Vedantasara (Hssence of Vedanta)-summary of Sri

Bhashya.
g. Vedanta Dipa (I,amp of Vedanta)-an Plementary
Treatise on the Vedanta sutras.
4. Vedartha Sangraha(An Flemeutary Hxposition of
the Texts of the Vedas and the Upanishads )
5. Gitabhashya (Commentary on the Bhagavadgita.)
His attainments in Tamil I,iterature were not known
to be very high. Fxcepting a few special interpretatious
ascribed to his name in the "Bhagavadvishayam" (Commentary on the Tiruvoymoli~, and one stray Tamil stanza
amongst the invocatory verses to "Periya Tirumoli" of
T irumangai Alvar, he is not credited with an y w o rk s

in

Tamil.
The great merit of his works is his noble and successful attempt at the reconciliation of the various apparentlycontradi8ory Texts of the Vedas and Upanishads, relied
upon by the various
Schools of Thought as of.supreme
importance, and giving each of them equal authority in
their philosophic interpretation. Wh ile the Adwaitic as
well as the Dwaitic Theologian finds it necessary, with a
view toniaintain his special do6trine or school or thought,
to treat certain Scriptural Tex<s as of PRrMAR> (ZglR' Pra.dhana) importance, and certain others as op sacoNDARv
Gauna) coNsxriFaaTioN, the Visistadwaitic Teacher
Ramanuja regards no such artificial distinBions necessary in a Divine Work like th e V e das or U p a nishads
(Z~) ;
a n d i n t erprets each set of them as of equal authority and of
necessary importance, and reconciles both
t he interpretations as being in conforinity with th e t r a d i tional and hoary teach ings of the Ancient R i s his and

Aryan Teachers, for his

w ording on t h i s

p ojnt i s

I0

(g ~

' Purvachary'a Surakshitam= The in'terpreta-

tion that has been carefully guarded or maintained and

handed down to posterity by Ancient Teachers. ) This
fits in very well with his doEtrine and teachings, as is
occasionally pointed out by Dr, Thibaut in the course of
his Translations of the Commentaries on the V edanta
S utras. (Vide Sacred Books of the East Vols. X X X I V
I ntrodu8ion; and X X X U I I I ).
9. The Visistadwaita School of thought has been a
recognised Vedantic doEtrine held by Aryan Rishis and
Teachers from time immemorial, as is evident from Ramanuja's reference to a number of Acharyas or preceptors
who maintained this do8rine from Bodhayana downw ards, and what Ramanuja did was only t o
give this
system of thought an impetus to its spread by his lucid
exposition of its salient points in a popular and easily
understandable way. Its chief
do8:rines may be briefly
summarised in the following terms:
(r) The Eternal Essence, styled the Parabrahman,
is the One Truth or Veri~y Infinite, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient. To t h i s S u bstance or Reality are
attached, in an inseparable union, the two other verities
Cmg (individ al soul), and AcHn'(Prakriti). These three
Verities~co-exist in all conditions either in the %~ Sghul g,
or manifested form, or in the <W' S~~kshniu,or unmanifested form. T h ey are generally expressed by the compound

CHlDACHIDiSHVARA (CHiv + AcHn

ISVARA=Spirit, Matt er (Non-spirit) and Qord);'and th'e

word

relationship that subsists between the I,ord and the oth'er

two verities is similar to that subsisting between substance
a'nd attributes, the sun and the ray of light > Metal ahd its
lqstre Btc ).

(a). The I,oxd (Parainatman) is endowed with a11

essential auspicious (rarrt )
a t t r i b u t es, anIt is free froru
auspicious (pg tq) ones.
(3) THE ARCHI'gEQT AND gNGINEER, who wields this

huge and complicated Universe, is a Being, sufFicient unto

Himself, and capable of its Cxeation, Preservation and
Transformation. He is the SzvzoUR of its innates. He is
styled " Narayana."
(4) That the higlsest duty of man as a son of God, is
to feax the gord, the Great Father, and walk rigliteously,
with an unceasing desire to reach tlie highest ytage of
existence, from which there will be no xeversion to the
physical or material planes. This last poiiit establislies
t he grand principle of Vi sistadvaitic Faith, viz.
The
Fathexhood of God and the Brotherhood of
rnan.
As this system of Thought recognises "Vishnu" oi
" Narayana " as the Supreme Hssence, this is known as
" Vaishnava Visistadwaitism."
1

There is another system, known sometimes as the

" Saiva Visistadwaita," promulgated by "Nilakanta Sivachaxya, a later Theologian than Ramamija, in which the
name of "Siva" is sutstituted in place of Vishnu as the
Supreme Qord, In other respects the treatmeut of the
subject appears to be the same.
ro. Now, let me briefly recount a few incidents in the
Qife of Ramanuja within the short space of time available
for us, and see how far we can follow in his footsteps so as
to deserve his discipleship.
zr. Our sage Rainanujacharyar the propounder of
qualified Monism, was born in zozp A,D. nearly nine hun
dred years ago in Sripexumbudui., xo m.iles from Txivellore.
His father was Kesava Asuri, a respectable Brahman, who

had performed.several Vagas, aud his mother was known

as Kantimati. Hi s career was full of v i c issitudes. I n
his time the Vaishnava faith was at a low ebb; and except in certain Vaishnava centres such as Frirangam
a nd Kanchi, i t
w a s n o t m u c h i n e v i d e n ce. I t i s
t his circumstance probably that gave rise to a n
erron eous impression, even t o
t h e T am i l sch o l a r o f
h igh attainments I m e a n
D r . C a l d w e ll, wh o w r o t e
that Ramauujacharya propounded a nezo doctrine styled
" Visistadvaita philosophy '. M o n ier
W i l l i a m s , who
h ad a personal knowledge of In di a
a l s o d e p l ore i n
his "Indian Wisdom" that he could not come in conta8
w ith Indian scholars who could well explain to him t h e
n oble tenets of this system of Philosophy. Hven to t h i s
day the tenets of the Visistadvaita School of Thought
are not so well known as the Advaita system of pbilosophy. The apathy and indiQerence of such of our
Vaishnavafollowers as would command leisure and convenience to enlighten the public, is mainly responsible for
this state of things. What iswantedisanorganised efFort
to give publicity to the embedded truths of this system of
philosophy, chie6y written in Tamil not to speak of th e
V oluminous writings found in Sanskrit wri tten by t h e
predecessors as
well as by the successors of Sri Ramanuja.
T hose works which are written in T a mi l
are styled
P rabandha- I,iterature," which i.', in the words of t h e
In this direction, an attempt is being made since r898, llnpcr my cdjtpr.
ship, to publish the " Nityanusadhana series in three Languages Tamj],,
Telogu and Kannada, in separate Parts, for the bene6t of all Sri Vaishnavas
of Southern India and Burmab. The first Six I'arts (Tiruppallandu, Tiruppqlli Yeluchchi, Tiruppava>, Amalanadip>ran, Kanninun Siruttargbu, anQ
Tirumalaiarenowavailable, either, as one bound volume (linen ), or as
separate Parts. The Anglo-Vernacular editions contiin not pn1y tbe worgfor-vgord meaning hnd paraphr3se for each stanza in each lagguagc, but a)sp

g, bjpgraphy of the author, a Critical review of the work, aod- z 'Prgns]atjpn

la'te lamented Dewan Bahadur V .

K r i s h n amacharyar
of Madras "a perfe6t treasure-trove of pious and ph i l osophic thoughts, aud of household hints on. m o r al
conduA and purity of life." T h e
s ame learned scholar
adds: ' A'faithful presentation of the conteuts of such
sacred Qiterature iu Hnglish is therefore an effort of no
ordinary interest to all who are concerned. in the difFusion
of such I,iterature all over Upper India as well as i'n
Hurope and America, where the Adwaitic utterances of
S wami Vivekananda are the only thiugs knowu. O u r
couutrymeu, in the North admittedly understand little or
nothing of the Visistadvaita philosophy, and the scienti-

fic thoughts of South Indian authors (like Ramanuja and

Vedanta Desikar), their logical conception of Religion
and plan of Salvation, aud our youths in th e T a nail,
Telugu and Kannada lands know even less than foreign-

ers, and therefore need. a stimulus to study the I I 'ymns

and I,yrics in praise of God> and the morality taught by
religious leaders in the Tamil region."
r a. His Personality and examgle:That he was born a genius, aud a person of extra-

ordinary ability, is evident from the fa8; that, before he

was five-and-twenty, he was able to make an impression
upon all with whom he came in conta8, that he was cut
out for a noble mission. K he u h e w ent f ro m K a n chi,
(Conjeevaram) oue great seat of learuing, to Srirangam,
another great centre of Vaishnavaism, to confer with the
great sage,
Yamuuacharya, who was on his death-bed, and
of each stanza in English for the use of alt those gentlemen who are convcrsent with the latter language; whereas pure Vernacular editors issued scparately, also contain similar facilities as mell as explanatory footnotes in
place of the English Translation for the benefit of all Sri Vaishnavas (ladies
especially), 'who may be ignorant of English.

whowaited for him sufBciently. long, it was found too

late t fox on the day on which he xeached the northern
banks of the Cauvery overlooking Srirangam, he saw
the rising streams of smoke emanating from the funeral
pyre of the great Teacher with a large concourse of
V aishnava Hrahmins and others around the spot. T h i s
upset all his plans, and he was greatly disappointed at
t his unfortunate crisis. He xeturned t o
K a n e hi , a n d
he repaired to Srirangam under the orders of the Almighty, which he duly ascertained from a consultation
with the intimate devotees of God, (for in those golden
days the temple servants were holy men of devotion and
piety, bent upon contemplation and spiritual advancement t and they did not resort to such holy places merely
for the sake of paltry lucre, as is the case in the p r esent
degenerate days).
To give you only one instance of his universal
Q ove for mankind, the

story of hi s i n i t i a t ion i nt o t h e

import of the sacred eight-syllabled Mantram called the

" Astaksha~a " by one his
of teachers may be mentioned:
His 6ve Teachers were:Sanskrit name.

Tamil aame.

r. Srisaila Purna ... Tirumali Nambi

a. Maha, Purna ... Periya Nambi

Remarks.
I nitiator int o
t h e esoteric
Mysteries of the Ramayana,.

... Pirst Teacher and Guide.

3, Qosthi Purna

... Tirukkottiyur Nambi ... 1nitiator into the eight, sy]labled Holy Mantra styled Astakshara,

g. Kanchi Purna

... Yirukkatchi Nambi

5, Maladhara

... Tirumalaiyandan
. . . I n i t i > t o r i nt o th e M y s te~ies
of Tiruvoymoli (Prabandha Literature ).

. . . H i s Te a c h erand Friend.

He went to T i r u k k o t t iyur ( n eax Pudukota ) from

Srirangam not less than eighteen times to receive the due
initiation into the Mysteries of the Holy Mantra; each time

I5

he went there, he got disappointed, for the sage Gosthip urna would not part with it for any thing in th e w o r l d .
Under various pretexts he delayed the zmTIATroN, testing
the recipient's patience, forbearance, and temperin many
ways. On all occasions of disap
Pointment, -Ramanuja
used to blame himse~f and his Karmic bonds; and never
r eflected upou the unseemly conduct of hi s G u ru , f o r
such a procedure would be regarded as blasphemy. At
last, at the intercession of the Almighty Hi mself, he is
said to have divulged the special import of the xANTRA to
Ramanuja under a special solemn promise of not revealing
it to any body else, under pain of suffering eternal torments
in the Hellish Regions for any undeserved divulgation
of the Mysteries. Only the very next day after this Initiation, he made up his mind to proclaim such aholymantra
to rnankind in general, from the top of a gopuram hard by,
I

o n the plea that, t h o ug h h e

may b e come g u i lt y o f a

serious sin by such a revelation he was sure of securing

salvation for a number of deserving and persistent souls,
and that his personal sacrifice in the interests of humanity
was a worthy act. Such was his love of manlund, irrespective of caste, creed, or colour. Hence the story that he
encouraged the persecution of jains aud others of differext
persuation should be regarded as a "Myth.' On the

o ther hand, many joined his fa,ith out of convi8ion. P o r

wapt of time now, I cannot dwell upon the other incidents
of his life, which are already briefiy indicated;
rg. In all popular religions, which have largely inQ uenced mankind, there will g e nerally be found t w o
aspects (r) The Intellectua/, which is the most philosophic,
suitable to the highly-cultured development of the educated classes, and (2) The Bnro'r'roNaz,, which strou'gly
ap'p'eals'to the feelin'gs an'd emotions of the masses. This
la'tter as'pect' i's profiiinently b'rought out in his temple-re-

x6
form, while in his philosophical writings such as the Commentaries on the so-called ~~
Pr as t h a n a traya (Upanishads, Vedanta-sutras, and Gita ), his polemical excellence and superiority of arguinentation are patent even to
the casual reader. ge accordingly revived the ancient
Vaishn"va doctrine, in accordance with the Pancharathra
Agama worship, the popular side of which represents the
Almighty as occupying a Divine seat in Paradise with his
Consort, surrounded by myriads of celestials, as immortal
as Himself, who minister to Him in all manner of ways,
and whose sole di>ty consists in chanting halleluiahs in
praise of the Supreme Being, and in the perfect enjoym ent of eternal bliss. This view is in c o ~formity w i t h
that which has been held by th e V e n eraole Alvars or
V aishnava Saints who preceded him, as well as by t h e
Holy Acharyas who followed him.
T h e s p e c ial belief
which swayed these inspired Beings in t hi s c o nnection
was that on this mundane universe, the same prototype
of the paraphernalia and glory as characterised the illimitable and indescribable Celestial Regions which are
no doubt beyond the comprehension of poor worldhngs
like us, of l i m i t ed, sense is to be seen in a miniature
and
sca],e, in these holy spots, such as Srirangam
Tirupati; and in that view the construction of temples
(Vaishnava) has been effected, Similarly the Saiva Temples
of Chidambaram, Madura, have been bu.ilt
in accordance

grith the Agamas of the Saiva cult. For all along, fronz the
early prehistoric times, two streams ofreligious thought
the Vaishnava and the Saiva, have been flowing parallel
to each other in the Indian soil prior to th e a d v ent of
Buddhism, and have swayed their respective votaries who
happened to be powerful sovereigns, and who, as such,
commanded much influence; and with the support and
patronage of such potentates, the religious aspect of each

I7

stream of thought progressed, putting down its b r other

stream or streams' for the time being ; bu t t h e I n diau
Sovereigns, when left to themselves, were more incli~ned to
tolerate the existence, continuance in their. dominions, of
diff'erent systems of religion as suited the tastes and feelings their subjects, though they would naturally show,a
slight leaning towards their own faith by special favours or
gr'ants to sich Institutions. But special persecutions, like
the one to wvhich our sage Ramanujacharyar was subject,
w as the exception rather than the rule. T o l e r ation i n
religion and domestic concerns
appears to have been a
well-recognised cardinal Principle. of 'Hindu l i'aith, in
a c'cordance with the celebrated Teaching of I , or d S r i
Krishna in the Celestial Song, Bhagavadgita:-

ir w~mri~ miw~vm mmnpr, I

gg~~
ff ~ ~ ~

$PP P',' PK~

Q
Ti ~

',

m errmt mr vrAe&~ q o
"In whatever manner men worship Me, in the self-same
manner do I accept them; w h a t ever I',righteous path) men
follow, 0 Arjuna, that path leads t.hem to Me i n e v ery
way,
AVhosoever wishes to worship, with entire devotion,
whatsoever Form t'of God ) , in that Form of God I r e n d e r

his devotion steady."

It is this sprR>T, it will be seen, that pervades the
mind of the Indian community, and it is t hi s sprzry of
tiou and Universality of Faith that accounts for the exjstence of so many varieties, or shades of belief, in Religion,
or in different systems of Thought.
z5. Phe i'deal og u Vaishgava. - The ideal to which a
paishnava follower of Ramanuja is expected to reach is
i

b eautifully jl]ustrated iu the sacred writings. O u c e j t

happened that a Vaislinava devotee wished to know how
he shouid conduct hjmself, and he approached his revered
He referred him
teacher for insiructiou in the uiatter.
to gajut Anandalwar of Tirupati Hill for advice, to whjch
he proceeded. This model teacher thereupon desj@d him
to stav with hjm for sonsetime. One day while meals were

to bejng served after worship to all, he was asked to take

hjs place in a corner at a spot far below his rauk to which
he would be entitled by virtue of his learniug and social
status; but he uever 'got
offeuded at the arrangement;
and he immediately sat at the place allotted to him. The
aext occasion he was pojuted out a seat in the front ranks

o f Vaishnavas at the tjuse of serving meals. He wa s i n

no way elated wjth joy at this procedure. Fv eryday he
use to bathe, and have his clothes well cleaned, aud. kept
neat and white; and in his conduct he was exemplary,
b eing the same in t h o u ght, w ord, and d e ed .
After
noticing his behaviour.for soinetjme, the t e acher at
Tirupati exclajmed iu terse Tasnil thus " Kokkuppol irukkam; Koljpol irukkam, uppuppc)1 irukkam, ummaippol
jrukkam"= >~a~@~Q~~<p~p~; >P <~~a9p~pu; e i qu
'A .Vasshnava will
g~n 4~~@u,
eu)smr ~.Qu s8(yy~@.~
be like a swan (jn his dress and neatness), he will be like a
fowl (in pjclring up the valuable substance from amjdst a
heap of rubbish); he will be ljke salt (bejng of the same
qualjty, e xterna11> or interually); and h e w il l b e l i k e
y ourself." W i t h
t h e s e remarks, he wished him Godsp=ed. He brought this uews to his own teacher; and great
was the joy of all in the assembly, when they heard of thjs
beautiful illustration. How much do we fall f ar. short
of thjs standard of a Vajshuava! How altruistic, sy>npathetic, noble, and exemplary js the ideal. It is Hoped that
w e shall, hereafter at least, regulate our lives so as t o

approach this ideal. It i s c l ear from the given illustration that a genuiue Vaishnava should be a living exainple
for purity of conduct, and should be a mirror of greatness,
nobilily of character, like a swan. Tlse cogxparison of p,
rowr, in relation to his daily life is intended to illustrate
his attitude towards the Shastras and standard works of
authority amids. the vast store of religious Li t erature.
He is expected to use his best discrimination to select
the essentials from the non-essentials like the p(%rrwhich
i s wont to take out .the sUssTANcg froin a m i dst a

heap

of RUasrsH. The illustration that he should act the part

of 'salt' in his dealings with the world, indicates his
genuiueness of character in relation to the external v orld,
a s well as to the internal, with a view to show that w h a t
was aimed at as the ideal was No r M AGrNARv aFrNG, but

that living exap z ples could be had in those days. T h e

teacher points out to him that the person addressed was
himself one of such examples, though rare to 6nd.
Any how, with such noble exampl~s before us for our
guidance, we should-not despai~. This b~ing a period
of transition, we h av e o c casions ta notice many an
instance of deviatious from the righteous course, many a
courseof conduct undeserving of the former social dignity
and status of the delinquents.
z6. The need o
f the hour.
As a measure of practical reform along the line of
least resistance, I would strongly advocate the entire union
of the two important sections of Sri Vaishnava Brahmins
which is partially carried out, and would earnestly appeal
to them to sink their minor di8'erences, and really follow
the footsteps of R a manujacharya, and approach the
i deal already referred to. T o
biassed Vaishnava follower

t h e t h o u g htful and u n of Saint R a u >anuja,

w ould appeal for hi s c onsideration, and ask h ii n

to
ponder over these so-called diBerences. In hi s l earned
Introduction to
the Mysore Census Report of i89r, Mr.
V. N. Narasimhaiengar incidentally refers to these eighdifferences between the Vadakalai and T e n kaiai
section of Sri Vaishnavas. They are mostly philosophical, aud two or three of theiu appear to be very puerile,
aud based upon mere sentinientP With a spirit.of broadiniisded and sympathetic toleration with which our educated classes ought to be credited, (else our boasted educatiou on we>teru lines is not worth much), we should not
d espaii of effecting a compromise, and work a s a

united

comnson brotherhood as Ramanuja' s true

band in
followers, who are expected to be alike in word, thought,
a>id deed LIKF. cOMMON SALT. To carry out this desirable

refolll), let Aryau Lodges be cstablished in diffexent cen

tres with the main object of effecting this compromise, so
that all Ramanuja's followers may stand upon a common
p]atform, and work out our salvation. To t h ese institutions, Hostel arrangeu>ents can be attached, where the
rising generation of Vaishnava students may. be taken
care of with regard to their spiritual advancement,
The differences referred to are:(r) Whether Laxmi, the consort of Vi shnu, is,
oumipresent and coilliu>itable with Vishnu,
(2) Whether Laksmi is only the mediatriz m' the cobestower of "Moksham" or final beatitude,
(3) Whether there is any graduated Moksham attainable by the good and blessed according to their
respective multifarious merits.
These d'g erences are nokd be&mfor easy reference.

-(4) %hether.pRApATTr, or unconditional snrrender of

the soul to God,.should be perforu>ed once for all.
(g) Whether it(Prapatti) is oyeii to all, or i s p r e scribed ouly for tliose, specially prepar'ed and apprentieed.
(6) Khet1>er tlie 'iiidivisibly atoinic humais. soil is
~ntered into or permj:ated or not by
t h e ' 0 'iniiipresent
Creator.

(y) Whether God's mercy is exerted with or without

C8iLSC;

"

(8) Whether the same (Diviue meicy) n>ea'ns the overlookiii~' (6oshadaisan'an:), or the eiijo~'inent (dosha-bhogy-

atvam) of the soul's delipqueucies.

(9) Whether works (karma) a>id knowledge (gs>ana)
are ii> themselves Salvatiou-giving, or only lead .to faith
(Bhakti), by which' fiual eu>ancipation is attained.
l

(ro) Whether the good of other (uuregeuerate) castes

should be toleratc:d according to their graduated social
statuses, or should be venerated withont reference to caste
inequalities.
(rr) Whether Karu ia (works, ritual) or shouid iiot
be bodily aud w h olly abandoned by those wlso have
adopted Prajatt.
Besides these, there are minor difterences regarding
(r) Perfornsance of "Sraddha" on " H k a d a si "
d a y , or
t he next day (s) The bell should be rung with th e l e f t
hand, or. it shonld be done away with, during worship,
(g) whether Hastodakam (purifying the hand with water
shouM not be rea<ter "Pranayamam") should, or
sorted to).
zy. In conclusion, Ladies and geutleucen, I beg to
thank you for the kind patience with which you listened
to my poor performance, for
I au> fully conscious of >ny

iuhbility to d o justice to the great " H e r o " o f t o =day's

address..I am glad to find that signs. are not wanting
which indicated that several pative scholars, irnbued with
Western sclsolarshjp and with au eye for h i stoxical xesearch, will soou cogxe into the Beld to explore the unknown regious of Visistadvaitic school of thought, +ud
give the benefit of their researehes to the world;

r8. I am particularly glad to congratulate Mr. Gopalacharlu on the success that has attended his efForts to
open a " I adies" section for the delivery of lectures in
Kanarese, in connection with th e S r i n i vasa Maiidixang
Library; aiid iuay there be >uany inore occasions of srich
gatherings, as years roll on, in coumlemoration of Hirthday festivities, aniiiversaries of our noble sage Sri Bhagavan Ramauujacharya is my ferveut
pra>er, the prayer of
one of his humble aixd unworthy disciples aud followers.

Priuted at the "Brahmavadiu Press," Madras, E.

CHAIRMAN'S SPFHCH.
The Chairman then spol'e as follows;Ladies and gentlemen, In accordance with the timehonoured custom and with the programme before me,-I
rise to say a few words before the close of this evening's
proceedings. But if you expect a speech from me, you
must be prepared for a disappointment. W hen a few
days ago Mr. A. Gopalacharlu asked me to preside at this
important function, I begged hard to be excused; for I
felt that there was nothing in me adequate to the obligation which the acceptance of this high honour involved.
But he was inexorable. Under no circumstances would
he spare me and take a refusal, I had accordingly to submit, lest I should. be considered hostile or indifferent to a
movement which had my entire sympathy, and into which
.'8r. Gopalacharlu had thrown himself, heart and soul,
with phenomenal enthusiasm. (Hear, hear,)
I t was at f i rst m y i n t e ntion to g ive you a b r i e f '
summary of the address,
when my turn caine to speak. I
accordingly took some notes when the address wasin
courseof delivery. Bu t I
s o o nf o und t ha t t h i s was a
hopeless task, and therefore abandoned it. I s h all now
content myself with making a few g e neral remarks, as
any attempt to do anything more inight take me beyond
my depth, and make me Aounder,
The Srinivasa Mandiram and Charties is an Institution with many-sided activities, not the least important
of which is a P r e e L i b r a ry, which is a s t orehouseof
useful knowledge, and in connection with which lectures
are occasionally delivered on subjects, chieRy religious.
'

The Anniversary of the propounder of the Visistadwaita

24

faith is also being celebrated iu the Mandiram with much

e clad. This is what has hitherto beeu done. But t h i s
yeax thexe is.a
uew departure, as evidenced by the p'resent
g athering. I
c o n g r a tulate Mr. G opalacharlu ori h i s
happy idea, and on its successful accomplishment. I
also congratulate Mr. M. > . S r i n i vasa Iyengar on his
masterly handling of the subje6t. For a thorough grasp
o f the subject, clear maxshalliug of points, lucidity of ezposition, and choiceuess of diction, his address leaves
nothing to be desixed. Lastly, I congratulate the audience on the able, interesting and instxuciive address to
which they have had the privilege of listening. ( H e a r,

hear.)
Mr. Sxinivasa Iyengar has told us who Sri Ramanujac harya was, aud what he did for us. W e
have iu the
life, teachiugs and work of" this revered saint a glorious
heritage- moral, spiritual, and intellectual 'aheritage, of
w hich we have every reaso~ to be proud. He was th e
chosen iustxument of God, charged wi.h a diviue mission.
How well he fulfilied that mission has been fullybrought
home to you by Mr. Srinivasa Iyeugar's addxess. He
travelled far
and wide, preached indefatigably the gospel
of Visistadwaita faith, propagated, consolidated, re-aKrm,

ed and re-established that f a i th , a nd. pla.'ced it on a per-

mauent stable aud intelligible basis. He was cosmopolitan

iu his views, as evideuced by the fact pxominently mentioned iu theA.ddress; he opeued the poxtals'of our temples to
all people alike, irrespective of caste or creed. (Hear, hear).
In his time there was unity amoug his followexs. Schisms,
however, have siuce arisen for some reasou or other. The
fact uevertheless remains, that uotwithstanding sectarian
difFerences, his followers contiuue to admire, adore, and
venerate and. worship him in every Vaishnava Temple.
Such then was the xemaxkable personage who has formed

25
t

'

the subject of to-night s Address. The life and doings of

a deified Saint like him are well worth our study. But to
be able to appreciate him properly, you must understan'd'
him aright. Such an understa~ding requires e8ort, which
in its turn presupposes " will." I f

t o - n i g h t's A.ddress.has

stimulated such "will," and aroused a spirit of enquiry,

Mr. Srinivasa Iyengar's labours will h ave been amply
repaid. (Hear, hear.) This inauguration cereniony is, as
I have already said, the first of its kind here; but. with
a sponsor like Mr. Gapalacharlu, I.am sure it will not bk
the last. I wish it continued success and ever-increasing.
usefulness. It only remains for me, before resuming my;
seat, to propose ahearty vote of thanks to our l e arned
I ecturer, and I have no doubt that this will b e c a r ried
with acclamation. (Continued applause. )
Mr. Gopalacharlu then rose, and spoke in a few
felicitous words, expressing his great obligation to the
I ,ecturer> and, in doing so, h e o b served that Mr . M .

B.

Srinivasaiyengar, had to come all the way from I I a ssau.

for the occasion. It was a matter of great i n convenience for hin" to come; but he knew how great and deserving was the cause; and, as such, it was natural th at
a ll other considerations did not prevail on h im .
Mr.
G opalacharlu also paid a h ig h
t r i b ute to Mr. C . Sr i nivasaiyengar, retired Councillor oi the Mysore Stqte,
w ho presided at .t hi s

i m p o r t an t f u n c t i on . F u r t h e r > a

h appy reference was made to the President of the Cit y

Municipal Council, Bangalore, for the M u u i c ipal aid
rendered on the occasion. Janopakari Doddannah Chetty

was also thanked for giving the use ofhis Hall for that day..
Thus the Inauguration-day came to a close.

Coyies can l)e had of (1) Mr. k. Goyalacharlu, Fcunder

and Manager, Srinivasa.Mandiram and Charities,
Bangalore City.

(8) The Manager, Granthasala

Buildings, Ramvilasa Street, Mysore City, and (3)

The Manager, Brahmavadin Press, Madras, E.