Ramanujacharya’s glory

Vedanta Desika wrote Adhikarana Saravali to expand on the points made by Ramanujacharya in his Sri Bhashyam, which is a commentary on sage Vyasa’s Brahma Sutra. In his Yatiraja Saptati, Desika shows us the glory of Ramanuja and his philosophy, said Veliyanallur T.S.R. Narayanachariar in a discourse. In a lighter vein, Desika says in Yatiraja Saptati that even Gods succumb to the pulls of the world. Brahma has given Sarasvathi a place in his tongue; Siva accommodates Parvathi in one half of his body; Krishna danced with the Gopikas. But Ramanuja was able to keep worldly charms away and devoted himself to the cause of Vedanta, says Desika. When one talks of the Supreme One, one of the descriptions is that He is satyam. Split this word as ‘sat,’ ‘yat,’ and ‘am,’ and you can see that it indicates tattva traya — cit, acit and Iswara. Satya incorporates in itself the three tattvas. This Supreme Truth — satya — remains the same always. In the Ramayana, Sugriva says Rama always speaks the truth. He does not say one thing one moment and something else the next. That kind of adherence to the absolute truth always characterised Ramanuja and his writings. Throughout his works, he upheld the Visishtadvaita philosophy. What Ramanuja explains briefly through his Sri Bhashyam is explained in greater detail by Desika in Adhikarana Saravali. Such an elaborate elucidation is necessary, because philosophy is not easily comprehended. Different schools of philosophy interpret scriptural texts in different ways. Nathamuni, and later Alavandar, did put forward Visishtadvaitic concepts, but it was Ramanuja who strengthened the school of thought. To help us grasp the Visishtadvaita philosophy in its entirety, later Acharyas added to the wealth of Visishtadvaitic literature.