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Sri Aalavandaar, i.e. Sri YAmunAchArya is the grand -Acharya (PrAchAryA ) of Ramanujacharya
(1017 AD to 1137 AD). He established the principles of VisishtAdhvaita as an expansion of the
doctrines housed in his grandfather's treatises and elaborated on those doctrines with authoritative
scriptures such as Sruthis, Bhagavadh Gita , AzhwAr's pAsurams and Selected SAtvikaPurAnAs.
(1) chathuslOki
(2) StOtra Ratnam
(3) Siddhitrayam consisting of (i) AtmaSiddhi. (ii) Samvitsiddhi and (iii)Iswara Siddhi
(4) Agama Pramanya
(5) Maha Purusha Nirnayam
(6) Gitartha Sangraha
(7) Nityam
(8) Maayaa Vaadha Khandanam
Once an arrogant vidwAn by name Akkiyalvan was challenging and humiliating learned men.
Yamuna (as a 16 year old boy) accepted the challenge and went to the court to argue with him. The
queen was so impressed with the boy that she told the king and pursuaded him to give away half the
kingdom if he won in the debate and offered herself to be thrown to wild dogs, if the
boy failed. Akkiyalvan asked the boy to state three propositions positive or negative which he
offered to counter. And, if he could not, the boy would be declared the winner.
( i ) Your mother is not a barren woman- Naturally he could not counter saying that his mother is a
barren woman (he is very much standing in front of Yamunacharya).
( ii ) The king is a righteous and powerful ruler - Obviusoly he can not afford to conuter this.
and
( iii ) The queen is a model of chastity. - oh no! Never can he counter this.
Akkialvan accepted defeat and the King now asked Yamuna to disprove his own statements.
( i ) The sacred laws say that an only son is no son at all. So,
Akkiyalvan's mother was as good as barren in the eyes of the law.
( ii ) The king cannot be called righteous when he entertained such an arrogant person to be his
chaplain and his not dismissing the chaplain showed that the king was indeed powerless.
( iii ) According to the Sruti texts, every woman is wedded first to Soma, then Gandharva and then
Agni before marrying her earthly partner. The queen was no exception and therefore cannot be
deemed a model of chastity.
(This is only to drive home a point that logic can not be the solution
fully. One needs to fall back on Saasthras and Sruthi/Smrthis for
praMANams.)
The King sent Akkiyalvan out of his kingdom and gave Yamuna half his kingdom. The queen hailed
the boy as "Alavandhaar"- One who came to save me.
Thus, Alavandar has become the king and could not attend to spiritual pursuits further.
Meanwhile, Rama Misra (maNakkaal nambhi) was trying to catch Yamunacharya's attention to
fulfil his promise to his Guru to install Alavandar as the spiritual successor to Nathamuni.. But, he
could not meet Alavandar, being a king now to discuss the matter. He came out with an idea. He
came to know that the king relishes thoodhu vaLai keerai (kind of spinach). He supplied
that spinach to the royal kitchen daily. After few months, he stopped. The king asked the cook as to
why the spinach is not being served. They replied saying "one brahmin used to supply. He does not
come nowadys." Alavandhar told them that he would like to meet him, if he comes next. Next day,
they met each other.
Rama misrar told Alavandhar that his grandfather Sri Nathamuni had passed on the family wealth
(kula dhanam) that needs to be handed over to Sri Alavandhar. Alavandhar said, "in that case, give
me that."
"No. It is not here. Come with me.". He took him all the way to Srirangam Koil. (ArAdha
aruLamudham podhintha kOil). He showed Alavandhar, the Divya mangaLa vigraham of Sri
Ranganathan. Looking at the Lord, in such divine splendour, the divine beauty- and looking (with
tears rolling down his cheeks) at those "kariyavaagi, pudai parandhu, miLirndha, sevvariyOdiya,
neeNda, ap periya vaaya kaNgaL.." (those dark, well spread, shining, ruddy lined, long, large eyes)-
He bursts out:
I have nothing to give you. None at all.I have no quailifications. I am not religious. What a Great
person my Grand Father was! What am I! I haveno one but You(the embodiment of mercy!
Compassion!- dayA) as my refuge. He performed Saranagathy at the Lotus Feet of Lord
Ranganathan.
Oh you worthy of being sought as refuge! I am not one established in Dharma, nor am i a knower of
the self. I have no fervent devotion to your lotus-feet. Utterly destitute as I am, and having none else
for resort, I take refuge under your feet. (Translation by Swamy Adidevananda)
Rama Misra explained the purpose of his mission and requested Alavandar to take over the reins of
spiritual leadership bequeathed to him by his illustrious grandfather, Nathamuni. Alavandar took to
Sannyas and was then known as YAMUNA MUNI.
Sri Alavandhar's naichyAnusanthAnam (feeling lowly nature of oneself- the jIvAthma as compared
to the Lord's Greatness, KalyANa guNAs) is very beautifully reflected in SthOthra Rathnam (total
65 slokas in this work-reported to be an elaborate refelction of Dwayam). They are more
appropriate and applicable to us (and not Sri Alavandhar). He has composed for us only.
Aparaaadha-sahasra-bhaajanam
patitam bhiima-bhavaarnav'odare;
agatim saran'aagatam hare!
krpayaa kevalam aatmasaat kuru.
Oh SrI Hari! pray, make me your own out of sheer grace - me, who has fallen into the depths of the
terrible ocean of worldly existence, and who, being resortless, have sought refuge at your feet.
What a soul stirring sloka! One can not but cry reciting this, (imagining himself as the hero:-( of the
sloka)
Swamy Desikan says- ahamasmi aparAdha chakravartthi. (also meant for us).
Swamy desikan also writes in Subashithanivi:
I bow with mind, speech and body to that great Lord, who is the best among all persons, who
approaches others of His own accord without waiting for them to take the initiative because of His
innate goodness and agreeable nature, as also to myself who is chief among the wicked and who
harms others without reason, there being one thing in common to us both, viz.,that the good or evil
done to us once has the effect of wiping off all the good and or evil done before. If what God, in His
wisdom, thinks is good,
though not really good, has been done to Him even once by a person, all the wrongs committed by
him earlier is forgiven by Him. Therefore, I bow to Him. In my case, if once what I consider wrong,
which may not really be so,is done to me by someone, all the good done by him to me till then is
completely forgotten by me. Fie upon me! Ingratitude-being the basest of vices, it has been
mentioned at the very beginning.
What a naicchiyAnusanthAnam!
Swamy Alavandhaar's works are the ones which give us crystal clear jnAnam about our
unparalleled unambiguous VisishtAdvaita Srivaishnava philosophy, the presence of which can never
take us to the wrong roads.
(1) chathuslOki
(2) StOtra Ratnam
(3) Siddhitrayam consisting of (i) AtmaSiddhi. (ii)
Samvitasiddhi and (iii) Iswara Siddhi
(4) Agama Pramanya
(5) Maha Purusha Nirnayam
(6) Gitartha Sangraha
(7) Nityam
(8) Maayaa Vaadha Khandanam
Aparaaadha-sahasra-bhaajanam
patitam bhiima-bhavaarnav'odare;
agatim saran'aagatam hare!
krpayaa kevalam aatmasaat kuru.
Thanian:
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YAMUNA MUNI (ALAVANDAR) ? (ADI ? UTTRADAM)
=======================================================================
==========================================================Sri
Nathamuni, Sri Yaamuna Muni and Sri Ramanuja Muni are the holy
trio who were the fountainhead of the Munitraya Sampradayam. Sri
Yaamuna Muni is the central piece among them.
His date of birth as per PPM and GLE is 917 AD, the latter specifying
the year in Kali yuga 4017 which tallies with 917 AD and born in the
year Daatu, Adi month, in the constellation of Uttraashada on a
Friday, (But as per MSR and MKS the year is 916 AD). He was born at
Kuppankuzhi (2 Kms from Kaattu mannaar koil- Veeranarayanpuram). As
per TKG his term of life is 125 years which means he should have
lived till 1042 AD.
He was named Yamunai thuraivan- Yamuna , for short. The boy grew
apace, a marvel of loveliness and intelligence. He learned all
branches of knowledge, both secular and spiritual.
The King fired Akkiyalvan and gave Yamuna half his kingdom as
promised to the queen . The queen hailed the boy as 'Alavandar'-' one
who came to save me'. Thus, Alavandar entered his royal career in
right earnest. This demanded all his attention so much that he could
not attend even to the religious duties properly.
Meanwhile, Rama Misra was trying to carry out his promise to his Guru
to install Alavandar as the spiritual successor to Nathamuni. But, he
could not get an audience with Alavandar - the king, to discuss the
matter. He hit upon a curious plan. He made friends with the servants
in the royal kitchen and through them learned that Alavandar relished
a special variety of spinach called "Toodu Valai Keerai". He started
supplying the spinach daily. After a period of about six months he
suddenly stopped deliveries. Alavandar enquired why the spinach was
not being served. The servants replied that an old man who used to
supply had suddenly not turned up. He ordered that the old man be
brought before him when he visited the next time. The very next day
Rama Misra appeared and was duly taken to the king.
During this session, Rama Misra explained the purpose of his mission
and requested Alavandar to take over the reins of spiritual
leadership bequeathed to him by his illustrious grandfather,
Nathamuni. Alavandar took to Sannyas and was thenceforward known as
YAMUNA MUNI.
Alavandar wrote several works that are as lofty in content and simple
in style. They include
(1) Chatusloki
(2) Stotra Ratnam
(3) Siddhitrayam consisting of
(i) AtmaSiddhi.
(ii) Samvitsiddhi and
(iii) Easwara Siddhi
(4) Agama Pramanya
(5 ) Maha Purusha Nirnayam and
(6) Gitartha Sangraha
(7) Nityam
(8) Maayaa Vaadha Khandanam