Ramanuja a tireless debator.

The preceptor was constantly drawn into arguments while propagating his philosophy. He won several and lost a few

Sri Ramanuja Jayanthi was celebrated on May 9. And at his birthplace, Sriperumbudur, special utsavams were organised and the idol of the preceptor was taken out in a procession within the precincts of the temple. Ramanuja was the chief proponent of Visishtadvaita philosophy and he won several debates to substantiate his theories. A few of them are given here.

At the Thirumaligai at the Eastern gate of the Kanchi Varadarajar temple, Ramanuja was addressing a large gathering of Srivaishnavites. An octogenarian entered, stunning the speaker into silence. He received the octogenarian with folded hands and gave him a seat next to himself at the podium. The octogenarian was none other than Yadavaprakasa. The controversy about the interpretation of ‘kapyasan pundarikame vamakshini’ only grew bitter with the passage of time. The guru went even to the extent of planning the destruction of the brilliant disciple. It was Lord Varadaraja and His consort, disguised as a couple, that brought back Ramanuja to Kanchipuram from Varanasi. Yadavaprakasa told his former disciple that he would like to have scriptural sanction for the views that he was propounding. Ramanuja explained through his chief disciple Koorathalwan that the sruthi, the smrithi and all the upanishads proved his point that brahmam is saguna and not nirguna. The Mandukaupanishad declared :

‘yaha sarvagya sarvavith’ (1-1-9)

The Swethasthara upanishad declares in sloka VI:

‘Paraasya Sakthir Vivithaiva Sruyathe

Svabhaviki gyana balakriya cha’

The Chandokya Upanishad (chapter viii.7.1) describes Him as ‘Satyakama, Satyasankalpa’ while according to Taitriya Narayanopanishad stanza 90:

‘Narayana parabrahmam, tatvam Narayana paraha’

Yadava was dumbfounded at the torrent of scriptural testimony. He prostrated before Ramanuja and sought his pardon for his outrageous behaviour. Ramanuja embraced him and brought him to peace. Yadavaprakasa took to sanyasa from his former disciple and got purified with the insignia of the Srivaishnavites — oordva, pundara, ankana and the dasya nama Govinda Jeer. He put on the ochre garment. The guru-sishya relationship got inverted. The audience was astonished. This was the first battle won by Ramanuja.

A tough challenge

Ramanujar had to meet a tough challenge in the form of Yagnamurthi, an Advaiti scholar. Having heard that a Vaishnava Sanyasin from Srirangam was refuting the Mayavada [philosophy], he hastened to Srirangam with loads of palm leaves and manuscripts. At the Cheran matam, Ramanuja received him with folded hands. Yagnamurthy challenged him to a debate and Ramanuja accepted.

All that is within the jurisdiction of space, time and causation is Maya. Without transcending these three, truth can never be reached. Ramanuja replied how, if that be the case, the Doctrine of Maya can be free from error; arguments, reasoning are all Maya. Ramanuja relied on pratyaksham, pramanam and smrithi. The debate went on for 18 days at the Ranga Nachiyaar shrine. Yagnamurthy countered every argument of Ramanuja. Seventeen days had gone by and if Yagnamurthi won, Ramanuja was to take Grantha Sanyas.

Ramanuja prayed to his Thiruvaradhanam Perumal, Perarulalan (Lord Devaraja), who appeared in his dream and assured him that He was enacting the drama to get a formidable scholar as His disciple to spread the Vaishnava gospel. As guided by the Lord, Ramanuja cited Alavandar’s works to claim victory in the debate. Yagnamurthy observed the miraculous transformation in a resurgent Ramanuja as he told him that Parabrahmam was Gnana Roopam and Avidya was Agnana Roopam. He had to accept his defeat and became Ramanuja’s disciple with the dasya nama ‘Arulalaperumal Emberumanaar.’

Intuitively Ramanuja believed that Maharishi Bodayana’s vritti would endorse the claims of Visishtadvaita philosophy as expounded by Alavandar. The manuscript was known to have been preserved at the Sarada Pitam in Kashmir (now in POK). But the Advaitic scholars were not keen to help him. They debated endlessly and Ramanuja prayed to Goddess Saraswathi for help:

Swasthyasthu Sarada Devi Kaashmirapura Vasini

Avignam Kurume Devi Vidya Dhanam Cha Dehime

As a result, the book was handed over to him by the King and he found endorsement for his viewpoint. How he came to write the Sri Bashya and obtained the benediction of Saraswathi Devi along with the image of Lord Hayagriva is all part of history.

Tirumala episode

The Bashandis of Tirumala temple disputed the nature of the Lord. They claimed it was Siva with ‘Thazh Sadayum Neel Mudiyum.’ Ramanuja took part in the debate and he quoted from Tholkaappiam, Silappadikaram, Paripadal and the Pasurams of ten Alwars. Their objection to vilvarchana at Perumal Temple was countered with the remark that “Alarmelmangai urai marban” definitely required such vilvarchana – Aditya varne thapasothijatho vanaspathisthva vrikshoda vilvaha ( Srisuktam).

King Thondaiman was mightily pleased. To show his gratitude to Ramanuja, he agreed to the installation of the image of Govindaraja retrieved from the Bay of Bengal at the Tirupati Temple. Even today, we can listen to the chanting of the Thiruchitrakootam pasurams of Thirumangai Azhwar in the evening at the Govindaraja temple. The battle was won once and for all.

King converted

Bittideva was a Jain king in Thondanur. He admired Ramanuja, who had cured his daughter’s curses. He invited Ramanuja for a debate with the charvakas. Thousands of Jains gathered there.

Ulan yenil avan uruvam ivvuruvukal

Ulan aalan yenil avan aruvam ivvaruvugal

-TVM-1-1-9

But the Jains were Nihilists, who attacked Sanatana Dharma. They started questioning Ramanuja, who answered all their queries from behind the screen. They were trounced. This greatly influenced the King, who got converted to Vaishnavism and was named Vishnuvardana.

There are quite a few debates that Ramanuja lost.

Resistance at Puri

Ramanuja was deeply moved at the Puri Jagannath shrine. He wanted to convert the system of worship as per Pancharatra Agama but the Pujaris and Pandas objected and prayed to Purushottama to save them. Ramanuja went to sleep that night promising to change the system the next morning, but woke up to find himself in Kurmakshetra near Srikakulam.

Again at Thiruvananthapuram, Ramanuja tried his best to convert the worshipping system to the Pancharatra style. The Namboodris and the Pothys prayed to the Lord. The next morning Ramanuja found himself at Thiruvattaru on a rock with the Lord coming in to serve him as Vaduka Nambi.

Leave alone the metaphysical part of the arguments. What has to be remembered regarding Ramanuja is his compassion for the downtrodden. He never cared for wealth.

“Thunbutru veeyinum Solluvadu Onrundu

Un thondargatke anbutru irukkumbadi

Ennai aakki angu aatpaduthe”

– Ramanusa Nootrandadhi