Disciples of Sri Ramanuja
Sri Ramanuja had a glorious convention of highly celebrated ‘gurus’ (Teachers) and deeply devoted ‘sishyas’.
Ananthazhwar / Ananthalwar / Ananthalwan
Ananthalwan, a native of Kirangur, near Panavapura in Karnataka, an ardent disciple of Sri Ramanuja, at the benign order of Sri Ramanuja, settled in Tirumala in the service of Lord Srinivasa.
Once he began excavating a small reservoir for water required for his flower garden. A ‘brahmachari’ came to assist him. He refused to accept his service. His wife who was pregnant was advised to assist him. The brahmachari again assisted his wife.
Ananthalwan was surprised at his wife emptying the mud basket so fast and came to know about the Brahmachari assistance. He hit the brahmachari under his chin in a fit of anger. The Brahmachari ran away.
But the authorities of the temple found Lord Srinivasa bleeding in his chin. Ananthalwan realised that the Brahmachari was none other than Lord Srinivasa. The authorities of the temple stuffed the wound with camphor and this became a custom even today. The crowbar that was used to hit the Lord, as advised by the Lord Srinivasa, is adorned on the right side of the inner Gopuram wall still for a glimpse to the devotees when they enter the temple.
Once Ananthalwan was visiting his native land. On the way from Tirumala, he opened the lunch box and found some ants in it.
He said to himself “What a sin I have committed! These holy ants have desired to live in the holy Tirumala and I have deprived them of their holy abode.” Immediately he went back to Tirumala and released them carefully on the hill.
Ananthalwan was a saintly disciple of Sri Ramanuja who witnessed God in everything.
Kureshan (Koorathalwan / Koorathalvar)
There is no Acharya like Sri Ramanuja and no disciple like Koorathalwan. His real name was Srivathsanka Misra. He was renowned as Kuresan or Koorathalwan as he was the chief of Koora Agrahara, near Kanchi.
Kuresan was born into a rich Brahmin family. When Sri Ramanuja embraced Sanyasa Ashram, Kuresa sacrificed all his riches. He went to Srirangam and stood by the side of Sri Ramanuja till his last breath. He lived for one hundred and eight years and left for his heavenly abode during Sri Ramanuja’s lifetime only. No one can assess Koorathalwan’s tremendous jnana, ‘vairagya’ and ‘bhakti’.
He did not hesitate even to pledge his life at the hands of the cruel caste-concentrated King of Chola to safeguard his Acharya. In the process, he was forced to sacrifice even his eyes. Koorathalwan was gifted with a talent for sharp memory whatever he read or listened to once.
When the scholar Sarada Shrine at Kashmir rejected to lend the great work Bhodayana Vrithi to Sri Ramanuja for some time, Koorathalwan glanced at the whole work once overnight and helped Sri Ramanuja a lot during the composition of the celebrated work Sri Bhasyam.
Koorathalwan is one of the greatest expositors of Visishtadvaita Vedanta. For him, Visishtadvaita is the final word of Vedanta and Sri Ramanuja’s Sri Bhashyam is the final statement of it.
Koorathalwan has composed the celebrated Pancha Stava:
- Sri Vaikunta Stava,
- Athimanusha Stava,
- Sri Varadaraja stava,
- Sri Sundarabahu Stava, and
- Sri Stava besides Kooresa Vijaya.
Sri Ramanuja prayed to the Lord to give back Kuresa’s eyesight. Kuresa got the eyesight. After seeing the Lord and his Acharya, he decided not to see this corrupt world again.
Dasarathi
Dasarathi was the nephew of Sri Ramanuja. He was also a gem among Sri Ramauja’s disciples. Once Mahapurna’s daughter Athulay had a problem in her mother-in-law’s house. Athulay had to bring water for cooking from a far-off river where the area was unsafe. She found it very difficult and told her mother-in-law about this.
Her mother-in-law taunted her to get servants from her parents. The daughter approached her father who directed her to Sri Ramanuja. Sri Ramanuja heard her grievances and sent Dasarathi with her. Dasarathi without a word engaged himself as a servant in the house of Athulay.
The relatives of Athulay asked Dasarathi why he performed these duties. He said that he obeyed his ‘guru’ and discharged the jobs sincerely and they might get the answer from his teacher. They met Sri Ramanuja and enquired about Dasarathi.
Ramanuja replied to Athulay’s mother-in-law who demanded a servant from Athulay’s parents. He said that his acharya’s problem was his problem so he sent Dasarathi. Athulay’s mother-in-law requested Sri Ramanuja to take back his disciple and Dasarathi returned after fulfilling the assignment given by his ‘guru’ successfully.
Pattini Perumal
Pattini Perumal was a disciple of Sri Ramanuja who belonged to a low caste. He always immersed himself in the joy of singing the hymns of the Alwars. Sri Ramanuja while returning to the temple after his bath at the Kaveri heard the songs and entered the hut of the low caste but spiritually enlightened Pattini Perumal and blessed him.
Thus the community of Srivaishnavism was not confined exclusively to the Brahmins. It took every man and woman in its fold regardless of caste, creed, colour or sect. Sri Ramanuja had seven hundred Yatis, seventy-four Acharya Purushas and countless others as his followers.
Swami Vedanta Desika
The galaxy of his followers will be incomplete if a mention is not made of Swami Vedanta Desika. Born two hundred years after Sri Ramanuja, Swami Vedanta Desika achieved so much even a university cannot achieve. He defended Ramanuja Siddhanta by the fire of his heart. He wrote excellent commentaries on all the works of Sri Ramanuja.
He pictured Ramanuja Siddanta beautifully in a play called Sankalpa Suryodaya. He portrayed Sri Ramanuja’s sacred principles in his most melodious verses. It is certainly the tremendous effort of Swami Vedanta Desika to understand and appreciate the divine principles of Sri Ramanuja for the present humanity.
