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Background
Srivaisnavism, is the oldest and the largest vaisnava spiritual tradition. The direct following are found predominantly to the South of
India, in the states of Tamilnadu, Andra Pradesh and Karnataka. There are many centres scattered throughout North India. This
ancient tradition has maintained its originality and purity, without any philosophical deviations, concoctions or in@uences of other
traditions. On the contrary, its teachings have highly in@uenced the thoughts of founders of other vaisnava traditions. The main seats
of Srivaisnavism are:
Srirangam (Tamilnadu)
Tirupati (Andra Pradesh)
Kancipuram (Tamilnadu)
Melkote (Karnataka)
Sri Perumbudur (Tamilnadu)

Srivaisnava Disciplic Succession

According to popular belief, the disciplic succession of the Srivaisnavism, originated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Sriman Narayana. He taught them to His eternal consort Laksmi; She in turn revealed them to Visvak-sena the martial entourage of
the Lord. He revealed them to Nammalvar (Satakopan), the Mrst of the Alvars.

The Srimad Bhagavatam (Canto XI, chapter 5: verses 38 Q& 39) has predicted that in the beginning of the present age (Kali yuga), many
devotees of Lord Vishnu would take birth on the bank of the river Tamraparani in Tamilnadu. They are said to be the 12 Alvars (saints)
the pioneers of the devotional movement in India.

The Alvars composed hymns of devotion in the Tamil language, describing their revelations received from the Lord Himself. The
Alvars are revered by the Srivaisnavas and their compositions have in@uenced Srivaisnava theology.

Three Great Teachers

Nathamuni
Nathamuni, 9th century Nathamuni believed to have lived during the 9th century was born in the village Vira-narayana in the Chola
kingdom. One day, his return to his hometown after a long pilgrimage, Nathamuni met some Srivaisnavas, reciting some 10 hymns
composed by Nammalvar. Realising that they were part of a much larger work, he decided to go to the holy temple city, Kumbakonam.
The Guru-parampara Prabhavam states, that Madhura-kavi alvar, the disciple of Nammalvar, manifested before Nathamuni and told
 him that after Nammalvar left his body, the local orthodox community fearing that the study of the
Tamil hymns would be detrimental to the Vedic religion, threw them into the river Tamraparani. A
page of the hymns, was picked up by a man who appreciated and recited them. Thus only 10 hymns
have been saved at this time. Nathamuni recited 12000 times the verse composed by Madhura kavi
alvar in adoration of Nammalvar, who then revealed the purport of the entire work to Nathamuni. Not
satisMed, Nathamuni wanted to know all the words in detailed. He was asked to approach an artisan,
who provided Nathamuni with the complete text of the work, which latter came to be known as
Tiruvaymozhi. Nathamuni brought the hymns together and with the help of his two nephews, set them
to music in the Vedic manner. From then on, these hymns are sung in the temples and are regarded as
Dravida Veda. Nathamuni then pass down the text to his disciple Pundarikaksa, who then gave it to his disciple Rama Misra, Rama
Misra gave it to Yamunacarya, who gave it to Gosthipurna, who later instructed Sri Ramanuja on the work.

Yamunacarya
Yamunacarya, (Alavandar), was the son of Isvara Bhatta and the grandson of Nathamuni. He was born in
916 A.D at Viranarayanapuram (Kattu Mannargudi in Tamil Nadu). He mastered several branches of
learning in a very w time, under the guidance of Maha Bhasya Bhatta. It is said that he defeated a
conceited royal court scholar. In recognition of this victory, he was given the title Alavandar and was
granted a gift of a territory by the Pandya king.

It was due to the tireless eborts of Sri Rama Misra, the disciple of Pundarikaksha, that brought Yamuna
back to the vaisnava fold. Sri Rama Misra initiated Yamuna and passed to him the spiritual treasures
bequeathed to him by Nathamuni. After his initiation, Yamuna became the leader of Visistadvaita and
settled in Srirangam.

Yamunacarya composed eight works:

Agamapramanya - This is entirely devoted to vindicating the authoritativeness of Pancharatra Agamas
Mahapurusha Nirnaya - In this work, Yamuna shows that the ultimate reality is the Supreme Purusa, Sriman Narayana
Atma Siddhi, Iswara Sidhhi and Samvit Siddhi - Collectively, these three works are known as Siddhitrayam. They establish the
visistadvaita conception of soul, God and knowledge.
Gitartasamgraha - This is a marvellous work on Bhagavad gita, which latter formed the basis of Sri Ramanuja's Gita Bhashya.
Chatussloki - This is a poem in praise of Goddess Lakshmi.
Stotra-Ratna - This is a poem in praise of Lord Narayana, and also known as The Jewel of Hymns.
Ramanujacarya, 1017-1137 AD Ramanuja was born to Kesava Perumal Somayaji Dikhsita and Kanthimathi Ammal in Sriperumbudur. At
16 years of age, he mastered all the Vedas and Sastras and married Rakshakambal at the age of 17.

Ramanuja
Ramanuja was placed under the Advaita (non dualism) guru, Yadava Prakasa for training in Advaita Purva
Paksha Sastra of Vedanta. In many occasions Ramanuja disagreed with Yadava on the purport of the
Vedanta texts. Ramanuja fearlessly pointed out the errors in his Guru's interpretations and corrected
him. The enraged Yadava, fearing, Ramanuja would destroy Advaita philosophy, plotted to kill him by
drowning him in river Ganges while on a pilgrimage. Learning of the plan through Govinda, another
disciple who was his cousin, Ramanuja escaped by slipping out into the forest in the dark night.

During this period, Yamunacarya who wanted Ramanuja to be his successor, sent Periya Nambi to bring
Ramanuja to Srirangam. However, before they could reach Srirangam, Yamuna left his material body.
Ramanuja returned to Kanchipuram after promising to satisfy the three requests of Yamuna:

Compose a commentary on Upanishads, Vedanta Sutras and Bhagavad Gita

Compose a commentary on Nammalvar's Tiruvaymozhi
The name of Parasara, should be commemorated on the earth by giving it to a person worthy to bear it.
Ramanuja returned to Srirangam after taking up the sanyasa (monk) order. Ramanuja's two important disciples, Kuresa and
Mudaliandan accompanied him and stayed with him in Srirangam. In Srirangam he composed many works such as Vedanta
Sangraham, Vedanta Sara, Vedanta Deepam, and Geetha Bashyam. During Panguni Uttram, he did Prapatti (surrender) before their
Lordships in Serthi and submitted his famous Gadyatrayam (comprising Saranagati Gadyam, Sriranga Gadyam and Sri Vaikunta
Gadyam).

Later, he wrote a Granta called Nityam detailing the Tiruvaradana Kramam. Ramanuja, restored many temples rituals to the Vaisnava
tradition, including Tirupati, Melkote. He was a great social reformer, and converted many irrespective of caste to Srivaisnavism. He
established a list of 74 pontibs (Simhasana Adhipathis) for the purpose of promoting and teaching Srivaisnavam. With his head on the
lap of Embar and his feet on the lap of Vaduga Nambi, Ramanuja breathed his last in 1137 AD listening to the recitation of the Divya
Prabandam (Dravida veda).

Three Great Post Ramanuja Teachers

Pillai Lokacarya
Pillai Lokacarya, 1264-1369 AD A revolutionist, he opposed all diberences based upon caste,
gender and taught that all should be treated equally and seek the good of all sentient beings (loka
sangraha).

His revolutionary teachings were resisted by many who complained to Lord Ranganatha, that he
was doing immense obence to the tradition by preaching the concepts of equality and fraternity
and writing down the secret doctrines thereby negating the need to establish proper
relationship between the guru and disciple.

When called upon to explain his conduct, Alagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar appearing on
behalf of his brother Pillai Lokacarya, stated that, they were merely clarifying the sacred
doctrines for the beneMt of those who are unable to have personal contact with the guru and for
use by the future generation.

Lord Sri Ranganatha endorsed this explanation and conMrmed the title Loka carya (world teacher) upon the acarya. The Lord then
directed Nayanar to compile all the statements now made into a text called 'Acarya hrdayam' and that this text should be equally
venerated to the works of his elder brother Pillai Loka acarya.

One of his foremost disciples was a Harijan (untouchable), called Vilancolai- pillai, who became very learned and had many Brahmins
as his disciples. He was the author of a pure Tamil poem called Sapta-kathai for which Sri Manavala Mamuni later wrote a
commentary.

Pllai Lokacarya wrote 18 treatises on the secret doctrines of Srivaisnavism. When the Muslims under Malik Kafur, attacked Sri
Rangam, Vedanta Desikan undertook to protect the magnum opus of Sudarsana-suri -- the 'sruta prakasika'. Pillai Loka carya took
upon the duty of protecting the deities. In spite of his advanced age and failing health he accompanied the temple priests who were
taking the deities under cover of darkness, for safety in Tirupati. Overcome by fatigue, he rested at a crossroad and gained time for
the refugees by misdirecting the pursuing Muslim soldiers. Realising that they have been misled, the soldiers returned to skin the
venerable acarya alive and left him to die in agony.

Vedanta Desikan
Vedanta Desikan managed to escape with the text and the two sons of Sudarsana Suri, who was slaughtered by the Muslim invaders in
the temple, along with hundreds of his disciples who were with him at that time.

Vedanta Desikan, 1268-1369 AD Sri Vedanta Desikan was born in Thupul, a village near Kanchipuram, to Totaramba and Ananta Suri.
Both parents came from very traditional Srivaisnava families; Ananta Suri was a Vedic Srivaisnava, belonging to the Yajur Veda, and
Totaramba was the great-grand daughter of Kidambi Accan (Pranatartiharacharya), Ramanuja's cook and one of his chief disciples.
Vedanta Desikan appeared on puratasi sravanam, the star of Lord Venkatesa, so accordingly his parents named him "Venkatanatha".

Vedanta Desikan's maternal uncle was the renowned scholar Kidambi Appullaar (aka Atreya Ramanuja). It was under him that Desikan
studied all the scriptures. Appullaar in turn had studied Vedanta under Vatsya Varadacharya along with Sudarsana Suri (author of the
Sruta-prakasika, a famous commentary on Ramanuja's Sribashya).
 Tradition records that at the age of Mve, Desikan's precocious intelligence attracted the notice of
Varadacharya, the latter blessed him and predicted that he would be a great scholar, Mrmly
establishing the greatness of Ramanuja's philosophy. Before the age of twenty, by his own account
Desikan had mastered all branches of learning, both religious and secular. In particular, he had an
uncanny ability to compose poetry instantaneously combining philosophy and devotion. This
combined with his expertise at the art of debate earned him the title "Kavi Tarkika Simha", or lion
among poets and debaters.

A devotee of Lord Hayagriva, Desikan meditated on this form of the Lord and is said to have had a
profound vision of Him. Hayagriva Stotram, Raghu Vira Gadyam, Gopala Vimsati (all in Sanskrit),
Achyuta Satakam (in Prakrit), Mummanikkovai and Navamani Maalai (in Tamil) are among his works.
These works are remarkable for their poetic and linguistic range, as well as their deeply emotional
turns. In his Tamil love hymns to Lord Devanatha, for example, the in@uence of the Alvars' bhakti is
transparent, as is his mastery of the Sangam Tamil conventions. The rhythmic beauty of the Raghu Vira Gadyam's prose and his
touching descriptions of the Krishna-lilas in the Gopala Vimsati are among the high points of the entire gamut of India's religious
literature.

At some point, Desikan returned to Kanchipuram to continue his teaching and writing. He regularly visited the many pilgrimage
centres (divya desams) of this town, composing hymns on them. One of them, the Vairagya Panchakam ("Five Verses on Dispassion"),
gives us a rare autobiographical insight into his personality. Addressed to Lord Varadaraja, the Vairagya Panchakam is a reply to a
friend, who, upon seeing Desikan's abject poverty, invited him to join the King's court where he could lead a more comfortable life.
Desikan's verses display a stern independence of spirit and utter disregard for material wealth, particularly when it distracts from the
greater wealth of the company of God.

Desikan would daily go about begging for alms. This is evidenced by his declaration at the conclusion of the Vairagya Panchakam that
neither he nor his father had any wealth worth speaking of, save the continuous presence of the Lord Varadaraja.

Near the end of the 13th century, it is recorded that several Advaita scholars came to Srirangam and challenged the Srivaisnavas to a
debate. Being advanced in age, Sudarsana Suri invited Desika to take up the challenge. He accepted the challenge and defeated his
opponents, and thereafter settled down in Srirangam. In Bhagavad Dhyana Sopanam, a contemplative poem on Lord Ranganatha, he
describes Srirangam as a place where "great connoisseurs live contentedly, their minds full of delight".

When Desikan was in his thirties, his scholarly achievements in the service of God were coming at an increasing pace. He summarised
his objections to Advaita in the polemic work Satadusani; he clariMed many aspects of Srivaisnava ritual and practice; he constantly
elucidated and clariMed the philosophical teachings of his predecessors. He himself writes that he taught the entire Sri Bashya at least
thirty times; the bulk of these must have occurred during his stay in Srirangam. It is also during this period that he wrote many of his
"rahasya granthas", or expositions of the more esoteric doctrines of the tradition, including the nature of self-surrender (prapatti), the
meaning of sacred mantras, etc. Many of these works are clearly a product of long discussions with senior scholars living in
Srirangam at the time, such as Pillai Lokacarya, Alagiya Manavaala Perumal Nayanar, and Nayanar Accan Pillai. Many of the thoughts
of these other acaryas are indirectly recorded in Desika's works, even when they occasionally disagree with his conclusions.

ScientiMc in his approach, he argues from all sides of an issue, before deriving the most logical conclusion. In examining these works
one is struck by Desikan's thoroughness, and by his desire to discuss all possible meanings and nuances of an interpretation, both in
the course of experience (anubhavam) as well as argument. Without Desikan's careful noting of the variety of interpretations, many
important meanings would have been lost to posterity. It is no wonder that Lord Ranganatha conferred the title "Vedanta Desika"
(teacher) on him.

In Srirangam that Desikan composed the Paduka Sahasram, 1008 verses on the sandals of the Lord. It is said that Desikan composed it
in a single night in response to challenge from another pandit (scholar). In the course of the 32 chapters, Desikan makes countless
allusions to the Alvars, to Sri Ramayanam from which the idea of the greatness of the sandals occurs, as well as other aspects of
philosophy.

In 1327 Srirangam was attacked by Malik Kafur from North India, with resulting tragic consequences. In the ensuing med ham,
hundreds of Srivaisnavas were killed, and the very existence of Lord Ranganatha was threatened. Led by Pillai Lokacarya, the senior
most teacher at the time, with a group of Srivaisnavas hurriedly left Srirangam with the ceremonial (utsava) deity of Lord Ranganatha.
Meanwhile, the main deity of Goddess Ranganayaki was buried in the courtyard in front of Her sanctum, and Desikan is said to have
supervised the building of a wall in front of the Ranganatha's sanctum hide the immovable (mulavar) deity of Rangantha in his
reclining posture.

The aged Sudarsana Suri was among those who were killed during the invasion. Before his death, he entrusted his two young sons
and the only manuscript of the Sruta-prakasika to Desikan's care. Desikan, the boys, and others hid themselves among the dead
bodies to escape slaughter.

With the invasion Desikan left Srirangam, with his family and the sons of Sudarsana Suri and headed northwest, settling down Mrst in
Satyamangalam, (Karnataka). He then moved to Melkote, where he attracted a bright pupil, known as Brahmatantra Svatantra Jiyar,
the Mrst Swami of Sri Parakala Matham. From Melkote, Desikan proceeded to Tirupati, and then toured North Indian pilgrimage
centres, like Mathura, Brindavana, Ayodhya, and Varanasi. In the course of this long exile from Srirangam, seeing the devastating
destruction caused to the holiest of temples, Srirangam, he composed the Abhiti Stava, or Prayer for Freedom From Fear.

In 1360 AD, Gopanna Udaiyar defeated the Muslims, and Srivaisnavas returned to Srirangam. With the restoration of Srirangam,
Desikan now returned to his service of Lord Ranganatha. Tradition records that he composed Sri Rahasya Traya Saaram, an
exhaustive work on the essence of Srivaisnava philosophy, lifestyle, and the meaning of the esoteric mantras, in these last few years of
his life.

In 1369, with his head resting in the lap of Kumara Varadacarya and his feet with Brahmatantra Svatantra Jiyar, Vedanta Desikan left
his earthly body and ascended to the spiritual abode. He had lived the full Vedic lifespan of 100 years in an exemplary and humble
manner, tirelessly engaged in the service of the Lord and Srivaisnava sampradayam. Even given such a long life, one can hardly
imagine how someone can have contributed so much with so much consistency, and yet have lived such a simple life of complete
poverty.

For these reasons, Vedanta Desikan is highly admired and revered by all devotees and is rightfully recognized as the greatest vaisnava
teacher to have ever lived.

Manavala-mamuni
Manavala-mamuni, 1370-1443 AD Sri Manavala-mamuni was the son of Thikalakidanthan
Thirunavirudayapiran Thatharannan, a disciple of Sri Pillai-lokacarya, and Sriranga Nacciyar. He
was born in Kidaram (Tamilnadu) and was the Mrst acarya to comment of the works of earlier
acaryas.

His parents named him Azhakiya Manavalan (the handsome groom), after the Lord Himself. He
learnt the Vedas, Vedangas and all other sastras from his father. He was an outstanding student,
who knew the Dravida veda (Divya prabandhas), the Vedas and had a boundless knowledge of
religion. He married at the proper time and lived as a true vaisnava. He moved to Alvar
Tirunagari and became a disciple of Tiruvay-mozhip pillai.

It is said that Manavala mamuni's devotion to Nammalvar, Ramanuja and to his own Acarya grew
as he studied the Alvars? hymns and doctrines (rahasyas) at Alvar Tirunagari. On observing his
devotion to Ramanuja, Tiruvay-mozhip pillai ordered the construction of a Shrine for Ramanuja at Tirunagari and appointed
Manavala mamuni to oversee the activities of the shrine. During this time Manavala mamuni composed his Mrst work Yatiraja Vimsati,
twenty Sanskrit stanzas in praise of Ramanuja. Tiruvay-mozhip pillai read the works and gave him the title Yatindra Pravanar.>

After the death of his guru, Tiruvay-mozhip pillai, Manavala mamuni moved to Srirangam with his family and co-disciple Ramanuja
Jiyar (later known as Vanamamalai Jiyar). He was very well received at Srirangam and started to institute some reforms at the temple,
very much in line with what Ramanuja did. He started to research the manuscripts of earlier acaryas and had them restored and
recopied.

He went on a pilgrimage to Kanchipuram Tirupati and Sriperumpudur. While in Kanchipuram he studied Sri Bashya with Kitambi
Nayanar, a disciple of Brahamatantra Svatantra Jiyar. After his return to Srirangam he renounced his householder status and took up
monkhood to concentrate on temple activities. He renovated the old monastery of Ramanuja and had an icon of Pillai Lokacharya
installed in Srirangam temple.

Around 1430 AD, Lord Ranganatha had all festivals stopped for a year to hear Manavala mamuni?s discourse on Nammalvar?s
Tiruvaymozhi according to all the Mve commentaries. At the end of discourse Lord Ranganatha appeared as a young boy and placed at
his feet the written verse that became to be known as Manavala mamuni's Taniyan

sri sailesa daya paatram dhi-bhaktyaqdi gunarnavam |

yatindra-pravanam vande ramya-jamatram munim ||

I pay my obeisance to the sage Manavala mamuni who is an ocean of virtues such as intelligence and devotion
and who received the mercy of his guru Sri Sailesa and is so attached to Ramanuja

By this proclamation the Lord Himself had accepted Manavala mamuni as His guru. After this incident, Manavala mamuni started
writing commentaries on the works of earlier acaryas, composed independent works and compiled source documentation and cross-
referencing on some important works.

He composed the commentary on Acarya Hrdayam with great dinculty as his health was failing. When he became very ill and unable
to worship at the temple, he dedicated one Tamil stanza a day, expressing to Ramanuja his anguish at staying in this world and his
eagerness to reach Vaikuntha. These collected verses became known as Arti Prabhantham, his last work.

Manavala mamuni had many disciples, however, the following eight were the chief disciples known as Ashtadiggajas (elephants of the
eight directions):

Vanamamalai Jiyar,
Bhattar Piraan jiyar,
Tiruvengada jiyar,
Koil kanthaadai annan,
Prathivaadhi Bhayankaram annaa,
Erumbi appaa,
Appillai,
Appillan.
They and their disciples made contributions to promote Srivaisnavism.

Sri Perumbudur,
Sri Perumbudur, Sthala Purana Sri Perumpudur, formerly known as Bhuta-puri, is the
birthplace of Sri Ramanuja. In the Skanda Purana the mythological history of this holy place is
narrated by Lord Skanda to sage Agastiya.
Once the sages residing in Naimi-saranya, approached Suta, (a disciple of Veda Vyasa) to learn
about the Lord Vishnu's holy ksethras (places where Lord Vishnu had His pastimes). Suta
narrated the history of Bhuta-puri (Sri Perumpudur) to the sages, as how it was original
imparted by Lord Skanda to Agastiya.

Birthplace of Sri Ramanuja

Chidldless, Yuvanasava, the son of King Ambarisa performed a Mre sacriMce to beget a child. During the sacriMce, the mantra for
begetting a brahmana child was accidentally chanted. After the child was born, he was named Haridan, who grew up to marry the
daughter of the King of Kasi (Varanasi). Once while hunting, King Haridan saw a tiger about to attack a cow, to protect the cow, King
Haridan shot his arrow at the tiger. Wounded, the tiger ferociously attacked and killed the cow.

Holding himself responsive for the death of the cow, King Haridan was very upset. At that oracle said "Do not worry, go to Bhuta-puri,
bath in the Ananda-saras tirta and worship Lord Adi Kesava, all your sins will be vanquished". King Haridan, then approached his
guru Vasistha, who initiated him and narrated the greatness of Bhuta-puri.
Once Lord Shiva was dancing nude in the assembly of the bhutas (troll-like attendants).This amused the bhutas (trolls) who burst into
laughter. Angered by their behaviour, Lord Shiva cursed them to lose the association of His abode. The disheartened bhutas
approached Brahma and narrated their plight.

Brahma advised them, "Listen, O Bhutas! In Jambuvipa's Barata-varsa exists a holy ground south of Tirumala, known as Satya-vrata
kshestra. Moving north east from Satyavrata, is Aruna-ranyam a forest, spend time there and meditate on Lord Vishnu and be
redeemed of Lord Shiva's wrath".

As instructed, the bhutas arrived in Aruna-ranyam and spent a thousand years in meditation of Lord Vishnu. Touched by their
determination, the Lord appeared and blessed them. He then granted the bhutas their wish to be with Lord Shiva and requested His
serpentine couch Adisesha to build a large pond .The Bhutas took a dip in the pond to cleanse themselves before approaching Lord
Shiva.

Lord Shiva appeared in Aruna-ranyam at the request of Lord Vishnu. He accepted the Bhutas back to His abode. The Bhutas with the
blessings of Lord Shiva, then built the temple city for worshipping Lord Vishnu in his Adi Kesava deity form.

Lord Adi Kesava and his consorts, the presiding deities of Sri Perumbudur
The devas (gods), kings, vedic priest and sages arranged a festival for Lord Adi Kesava. A grand
ceremony of bathing the Lord in the pond was conducted as part of the festival. Lord Shiva then
requested Lord Adi Kesava to eternally reside in Bhuta-puri. He promised to come annually and
worship Lord Adi Kesava during the festival. As the Bhutas constructed the city, it was called
Bhuta-puri.

In later years Bhuta-puri became neglected. In his attempt to redeem himself from the sin of
killing the cow, Haridan visited Bhuta-puri and spent years in severe austerities and meditation.
Lord Vishnu with His consort Laksmi, mounting on Garuda appeared before Haridan. The Lord freed Haridan from his sin and
blessed him to acquire brahminical (priestly) qualities. The Lord instructed Haridan, to re-develop Bhuta-puri with splendid
buildings and towers and continue the festivals. After executing his services to Lord Adi Kesava, Haridan return to the Lord's abode.
Till today, the descendents of Haridan worship and render their devotional services to Lord Adi Kesava.

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