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Sri Vaishnava
01 November 2007, 04:50 AM
~ Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha ~
~ Om Namo Narayanaya ~

This thread is to prove that Bhagavad Ramanujacharya was the avatar of Lord Adi Sesha. Here is the Sri Vaishnava Guru Paramparai first:


ACHARYA GURU PARAMPARAI


1) Sriman Narayana.
2) Sri Maha Lakshmi.
3) Sri Vishvaksenar.
4) Swamy Nammazhwar.
5) Sriman Nathamunigal.
6) Sri Pundarikakshar.
7) Sri Rama Mishra.
8) Sriman Yamunacharya (Sri Allavandar, the Conqueror!!)
9) Sri Maha Purna.
10) Sri Ramanujacharya.
11) Sri Embar.
12) Sri Parasara Bhattar.
13) Sri Nan Jeeyar.
14) Sri Nam Pillai.
15) Sri Vadakku – Thiruvidhi Pillai.
16) Sri Pillai Lokacharya.
17) Sri Sailesa Swamy (Sri Thiruvoimozhi Pillai)
18) Swamy Manavala Mamunigal.
19) Sriman Narayana (Yes, the Lord is both the first Acharya and the last..it shall be explained.)

Some Acharyas who are very much respected, but do not come in the Guru Paramparai are Sri Kurathazhwan & Sri Mudhaliandan (Disciples of Sri Ramanujar) & Vedanta Desikar.

The bolded Acharyas are the most loved ones.

SRI RAMANUJACHARYA, THE INCARNATION OF ADI SESHA

Bhagavad Ramanujacharya established the principles of Vishishtadvaita. Here, I shall prove that He was the incarnation of Adi Sesha, as I have seen that some people question that particular claim.

Prophecy in Padma Purana


His avatar has been prophesised in the Padma Purana, as follows:

" Long, long afterwards, the Lord himself will come down on earth as a Tridanda Sannyasin, to restore the good law. At that time heretics and men of perverted intellects will confuse the minds of the people. Aasuric Saastraas, based upon fallacious arguments and various schools of thought, very attractive and almost indistinguishable from the Vedanta, will turn away mens' hearts from Vishnu and cause them to forget His glory. That glorious incarnation will, through the good fortune of the Lord's devotees, come down upon earth, to explain and amplify the teachings of the great Sage Baadaraayana and the divine singer of the Gita. The holy one would compose a Bhaashya on the Vyaasa Sutras, to save men from the confusion and despair caused by spurious doctrines and lead them to the True faith"

The Padma Purana is one among the accepted Sattvik Puranas, written by Vyasa. Do not believe the myth that it was written in the mordern era. Some false Puranas exist, but Padma Purana is authenticated by our Acharyas.

Now, people may think this prophecy could pertain to any other Acharya, but in reality, it is only Sri Ramanujar who possesses all the attributes as mentioned by the Prophecy. This is outlined below:

1) It is said that Udayavar’s parents prayed to Lord Parthasarathy for a child. Then, Krishna appeared in the dream of Ramanujar’s father and told him that He, the Lord Himself, would incarnate as their son. Then, Ramanujacharya was born to them.

Adi Sesha is a Sankarshana Avatar of Lord Narayana. Hence, the Prophecy was fulfilled, as the avatar of Adi Sesha, Sri Lakshmana Muni, came to this world.

2) People may still claim this to be vague, so let us examine this prophecy even further. At the time of Bhagavad Ramanujacharya, many doctrines such as Buddhism, Jainism, and more importantly, Advaita Vedanta prevailed. Although all these doctrines were not false, they were part truths and did not particularly establish the supremacy of Lord Narayana.

Everyone will agree that Udayavar was the first Acharya to effectively establish the concept of a Personal God, and that Lord Vishnu is Supreme. Other Vaishnava Acharyas like Shri Madhvacharya, Shri Vallabhacharya, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, etc. came later.

The other Vaishnava Acharyas all differed philosophically, but they were united in one aspect: That Advaita is not the complete truth and that Vishnu (or Krishna) is Supreme. However, it was Bhagavad Ramanujacharya who effectively dismissed the doctrines of Buddhism, Jainism and Advaita. He also was the first to prove that Vishnu was the Supreme Lord of all things moving and unmoving.

Hence, the prophecy pertains to Udayavar only.

3) If you want still more proof, again examine the prophecy. It says that the Acharya will compose a Bhashya on the Vyasa Sutras and establish the teachings of Badanarayana. Udayavar did both – He stated to His disciples that He was establishing the Line of Badanarayana. He also composed a Bhashya on the Brahma Sutra.

Now, people may claim that even Madhvacharya and Sankaracharya composed Bhashyas on Brahma Sutra. True, but Ramanujacharya’s Bhashya, as opposed to Sankara Bhashya and Madhva Bhashya, is the jewel of Vaishnavism. It is only Udayavar’s Bhashyam that is acknowledged as the Complete and Precise Commentary of the Brahma Sutra. Even Saraswati had called Him ‘Sri Bhashyakaarar’ in honor of the work.

This Bhashyam is called ‘Sri Bhashyam’ to indicate that it is far superior to commentaries by any other Acharya. Hence, the Prophecy pertains only to Udayavar.

The Yaadavachala Mahatmayam also says:

Ananthah Prathamam Roopam Lakshmanascha Tathah Parah |
Balabadram Thritheeyasthu Kalou Kaschit Bhavishyathi ||

(meaning) It is the same who was Adhisesha first, Lakshmana after and Balarama in the third who is born as Sri Ramanuja in the Kali yuga. This Kaschit is taken by our Poorva Acharyas as referring to Sri Ramanuja.

Divine Occurrences in Sri Ramanujacharya’s Life
Although He did not openly declare that He was Adi Sesha, some events happened which indicated that He was indeed, the avatar of Great Devotee of Lord Narayana.

1) Most people know how Ramanujacharya proved that Tirupati was a Vishnu Temple. Now, the way He proved this is relatively unknown. When people argued that Lord Srinivasa was an Archa Avatar of Shiva, Ramanujacharya performed a test. He placed the ornaments of both Shiva and Vishnu inside the Sanctum Sanctorium and closed the door.

In the Night, when people had left, He transformed into Adi Sesha, and slid through the locked door. Then, He picked up the Ornaments of Vishnu and hurriedly pressed it into Lord Srinivasa’s hands, saying ‘Take it quick’. Lord Srinivasa obeidiently took it. Thus, the dispute was resolved.

Even today, one can see that Lord Srinivasa at Tirupati took the Conch and Chakra so hurriedly in response to Ramanujacharya’s urgent call, that both these ornaments are decidedly held by His Lotus Hands in a crooked fashion, as compared to other temples, where the Lord always holds them steadily. This is further proof for anyone who may doubt that this incident happened.

2) One day the Lord Narayana (In his Archa form in some temple, whose name I forget) asked Ramanujacharya, ‘How do people obey you, when I have failed to enlighten them despite my rendition of the Bhagavad Gita?’. Acharya answered, ‘For me to explain that properly, you become my Disciple. Only a Master can teach a Disciple, and I am teaching you as to how to impart Knowledge.’ The Lord thus, became Udayavar’s Disciple.

Even today, in that temple (I still don’t remember the name!!), the archa avatar of Lord Ramanujacharya is seated above Lord Narayana’s Image.

3) A servant woman in Udayavar’s ashram used to perform her duties splendidly. Seeing this, Sri Mudhaliandan, the disciple of Ramanujacharya, asked her, ‘Ask Udayavar to reward you’. She replied, ‘I only want Moksha from Him, for I know who He his’.
Udayavar wrote a ‘recommendation’ for Moksha on a piece of paper and gave it to the woman.She then traveled to Lord Srinivasa’s abode in Tirupati and gave Him the slip. He accepted it and she attained Moksha!!

4) It was Lord Ranganatha who called Ramanujacharya as ‘Lord of the 3 Worlds’. Now, the ability to award Moksha to any Jiva in the 3 worlds rests in Udayavar’s Lotus Hands alone. He is also called 'Emperumaanar', meaning, 'He who became God'.

5) Once, Udayavar defeated a 1000 Jains simultaneously in argument. He did so by reverting to His Adi Sesha form with 1000 Heads, and argued with each Jain simultaneously!!

6) Sri Ramanuja went to Tiru narayana puram in search of white clay paste used for applying caste marks by Vaishnavites. The idol of the temple there had been taken away by the muslim invaders and was being used at play as a doll by the muslim princess in Delhi. Sri Ramanuja went to Delhi and when he endearingly called ' Come on! My dear child 'Selva Pillaiye Vaarum', the idol miraculously came onto his lap. Sri Ramanuja reinstalled it in the temple.

Many more incidents have happened, which proved His divinity. His descriptions of Sri Vaikuntham, His devotion to the Lord, His ability to give Moksha on two occasions, His kindness in asking Lord Krishna to forgive an entire dynasty that had come under His wrath during the Mahabharata, etc. No time to mention all of these.

His avatar was like that of Lord Rama’s. Both Lord Rama and Bhagavad Ramanujacharya were divine, but they forgot their true identities at times and remembered it only when it was needed.

Lastly, Swamy Manavala Mamunigal, the next to last Acharya in our lineage, was the Reincarnation of Lord Ramanujar, another Avatar of Adi Sesha. This was proved when the Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam Himself, in front of many people, incarnated as a young boy and composed the ‘Sree Sailesa Dayapathram’ in His honor, accepting the great Sanyasin as His own Acharya. Then, Lord Ranganatha ordered that this dedication should be sung before and after the daily chanting of the Azhwars’ Hymns, the Divya Prabandha, just like the ‘OM’ that precedes and follows all Vedic Mantras.


Swamy Manavala Mamunigal was Udayavar reincarnated, and is a proof of the Acharya's great compassion for all of us.