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Sri Madhvacharya :4.

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The Pandits were defeated in the debate and with the conviction of the truth of the school of philosophy expounded by Purnaprajna, both of them became his disciples taking up Sanyasa. Shobana Bhatta became the famous Padmanabhatirtha who succeeded to the pontifical seat of Purnaprajnacharya. Samasastry became Narahari Thirtha and at the behest of the acharya stayed behind to obtain the images of Mula Rama and Sita from the treasury of the local prince. Padmanabha Tirtha followed his master and was greatly devoted to him. After his return to Udipi Purnapragna began to write various works establishing the new system of philosophy which has come to be called Dwaitasiddhanta. The cardinal point which distinguishes his system from others is the essential difference between Brahman who is Independent and all else which are dependent. This system has therefore come t be called Dwaitasiddhanta (the philosophy of Basic difference), Purnaprajnacharya declares himself at the end of ma

Sri Madhvacharya :3.

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"A true saint" :  Sri Madhvacharya, right from his childhood, showed signs of divinity. He was completely detached towards mundane worldly pleasures. This was natural to him as he was always immersed in meditation of the Almighty. At a very young age he made his mind to renounce this world and accept sainthood. This, he thought, is the best way to fulfill his life's objective of uplifting the noble souls by imparting divine knowledge. Though decimating evil forces is the prime objective in all his incarnations he knew that by the will of God, Goddess Durga will incarnate in the near future for that purpose. Thus, unlike his previous two incarnations where he single handedly destroyed most of the evil forces he chose to launch a peaceful attack through his works and discourses. "An ardent devotee" : Madhvacharya's devotion towards Vishnu is unflinching and insurmountable. He is the best example of a true devotee of the Almighty. He doesn't ev

Sri Madhvacharya : 2.

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Nahi jnanena sadrisam pavitramiha vidyate. Knowledge is incomparably pure. Thus says the holy Bhagavad Geeta. Our life is a gradual march towards purity – the purity which is the souls own nature. This purity can be achieved only by pure knowledge. Therefore, knowledge is the greatest treasure of the mankind. It is the panacea of all our evils. It is the knowledge which makes man superior to other God's creations. Human being minus knowledge is just an animal with two legs. The world has seen many seers, who came down to earth, to propagate the divine knowledge among the needy. But for them, the world would have drowned in the vast oceans of ignorance. After the advent of Kali Yuga, the noble souls lost their way in the dense forests of samsara. They sank to great depths of ignorance, doubt and bewilderment. The graceful Vishnu was moved by their plight. He wished to uplift his devotees and bring them back to the right path. As He has no avatar in Kali Yuga, He Himself d

Sri Madhvacharya :1.

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Sri Madhvacharya was born in the year 1238 A.D, on the Vijayadashami day of the month of Aswayuja in a village about three miles from Udupi in South Canara. His father was a pious brahmin belonging to Bhagavata Sampradaya and a pauranic by profession. Sri Madhvacharya was born at a late period in his father’s life after constant prayer and dedication of vows to Ananteswara in Udipi. Madhyageha Bhatta, the father, was therefore happy and proud in no ordinary degree in his son whom he christened Vasudeva. Boy Vasudeva was very precocious and his father taught him the three Rs in the privacy of his house. Not even had the boy attained his teens, when he felt an inner urge he could not resist, to taking to the holy orders and took sanyasa under Achutaprekshacharya in Udipi. Achutaprekshacharya had been brought up in the then current Adwaita school of thought but the philosophy of that school did not appeal to the new sanyasi. Achutaprekshacharya was somewhat displeased with

Sri Ramanujacharya Life History -7 : Last Part

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Summary :  The SAMPRADAAYA (COMMUNITY) which our Guruji represents is knows as THE RAMANUJ SAMPRADAAYA, named after Saint Ramanujacharya. This community though is originally known as THE SRI SAMPRADAAYA.   To name a few great saints who have spread the name of the Supreme Lord under different communityheads or Sampradaayas are SHRI SHANKARACHARYA, SHRI YAMUNACHARYA, SHRI VALLABHACHARYA, SHRI MAADHAVACHARYA, SHRI NIMBARKACHARYA and SHRI CHAITANYA.   Shri Ramanujacharya was a great devotee of the Supreme Lord Narayana, and a thorough propagandist of the VISHISHT ADVAITA THEORY.   He was a virtuous, pious, patient and a very learned saint.   The son of KESHAV BHATT, born in the south, in TIRUKUDOOR, He lost His father at a tender age. He then headed for Kanchi, and started the study of the Vedas under the watchful eyes of GURU YAADAVPRAKASH.   Shri Ramanuj excelled in the study of the Scriptures, character, and love for God. He even learnt a lot of the Yogic Principle

Sri Ramanujacharya Life History : 6.

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EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF SRI RAMANUJA  (Continues....) (11) After Mastering the Bodhaayana Vritti of Sage Vyaasa, he wrote several works like Vedanta Sangraham explaining the various viewpoints of Sankara, Yadhava, Bhaskara and others, Vedanta Deepam, Geetha Bashyam etc.  (12) During Panguni Uttram, he did Prapatti before the Divya Dhampathi in Serthi and submitted his famous Gadhyatrayam (comprising Saranagathi Gadhyam, Sriranga Gadhyam and Sri Vaikunta Gadhyam ),  (13) Later, he wrote a Grantha called Nityam detailing the Tiruvaradhana Kramam  (14) While he was on his Sancharam, it is believed that the Lord himself appeared before him at Tiruk Kurum Kudi as a Srivaishnava got Samasrayanam from Udaiyavar (PPM)  (15) When he visited Saraswati Peetam, Goddess Saraswati was so impressed with his commentary on Brahma Sutram that she named it "Sri Bhashyam" and conferred on him the title of "Bhashyakaarar". It must be noted that while the other commentarie

Sri Ramanujacharya Life History : 5.

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(7) Yadava prakasa, his old Guru had by then returned to Kanchi, became Ramanuja's disciple assuming the name of 'Govinda Yogi'  (8) Ramanuja used to go round the streets for his Biksha. An evil minded fellow had mixed poison in the biksha. His wife while serving the biksha fell at Ramanujas feet with tears in her eyes. Ramanuja understood that there was something wrong. When the Sishyas sorted out the biksha for cooking, they found out that poison was mixed with it. Ramanuja went on a fast with a view to cleanse the mind of the evil-doer. On hearing this, Tirukkoshtiyur Nambi rushed all the way to Srirangam. When Ramanuja heard of the coming of his Guru, he rushed to the banks of River Kaveri to receive him. It was the height of summer. Ramanuja ran towards him in the hot Sun to receive him and fell at his feet on the burning sands on the banks of river Kaveri. Nambi did not ask him to get up. Such was his Acharya Bhakti. At that time , Kidambi Aachaan, who was ne

Sri Ramanujacharya Life History : 4.

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EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF SRI RAMANUJA (1) Within 16 years of age, he had mastered all the Vedas and Sastras. At age 17, he married Rakshakaambaal ( Tanjammal, in Tamil) (PPM)  (2) Ilaya Perumal was placed under the Advaitic Sannyasi called YADAVA PRAKASA at Tirupput kuzhi for training in Advaita Purva Paksha Sastra of Vedanta. Once during this period, Alavandar who desired nominating Ilaya Perumal to succeed himself visited Tirupput kuzhi, met with him but had no opportunity to speak to him and had to return to Srirangam.  Very many occasions arose when the Saivite Guru clashed with Ilaya Perumal when the Guru misinterpreted Vedantic statements. Ilaya Perumal fearlessly pointed out the errors in the Guru's interpretations and corrected him. This enraged the Guru. Fearing that one day, Ilaya Perumal would demolish Advaita philosophy, he plotted to kill Ilaya Perumal by drowning him in Ganga while on a pilgrimage tour of the country with his disciples.  Learning of the