Sri Vaishnavism and Sri Vaishnavites
What is Sri Vaishnavism? Who are Sri Vaishnavites? How did Srivaishnavism originate? How did it develop? What are the various beliefs and practices of Sri Vaishnavas? The list of questions is endless I have tried to find some answers to some of the questions. My quest has led me to various places, various people, and various view points. Let me mention some of them.
Vaishnavism has been in existence from time immemorial, from the sages Vyasa, Bhodayana, etc. While their actual work remains unavailable, there are references to this aspect by Saint Ramanaujachari, who, in his great work Sri Bhashya, has traced the roots of Sri Vaishnavism to the Upanishads. Ramanujachari developed Sri Vaishavism as an off shoot of Vaishnavism.
Srivaishnavism is based on the philosophy of Visishtadvaita, which was developed by him, and has the worship culture focused on the Temple of Sri Ranganatha at Sri Rangam.
Sri Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the supreme God. The prefix Sri is used for this sect because they give special importance to the worship of the Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of their Supreme God, Vishnu. A major portion of Sri Vaishnava precepts and practices is based upon this aspect.
The origin
The Azhwars are believed to be the first ones to have started the philosophy of Srivaishanism, through their devotional hymns and songs. Azhwars were a group of saints of south India, The first set of these Azhwars, called the Mudal Azhwars are Pogai Azhwar, Bhuta Azhwar Pey Azhwar, and Thirumazhisai Azhwar. They were later followed by others and together they composed hymns and songs collectively as Divya Prabandham at a later date. The list and topic of Azwhars would be taken up separately in the next posting.
Nathamuni is considered as the first guru of Srivaishnavism. He is believed to have started the process of collecting all these hymns and compositions of the Azhwars. His work was continued and expanded by one of his grandsons, Yamunacharya, also known as Alvandar. Thereafter, Ramanuja continued to develop the practice and propagation of Srivaishnavism which basically centers on the belief that devotion to Vishnu is the sole way to Moksha, and Sri is the link between devotees and the god Vishnu.
Philosophy
Most of the people belonging to Sri Vaishnavism follow Vishistadvaita Sri Vaishnavism is characterized by various specialties. The 4000 divya prabandams (sacred hymns) by the Azhwars alongside with the Vedas.has a very special place for Sri Vaishnavas. In Sri Rangam Temple this is specially recited 21 days prior to Vaikunta Ekadasi, 2000 in the first ten days as Pahal Pattu, 2000 in the second Ten days as Raah Pattu.
Guru or Acharya status is very important in the attainment of the moksha, through observance of the various Samskaraas. I will talk about these Samskaraas in a later posting.
What is Sri Vaishnavism? Who are Sri Vaishnavites? How did Srivaishnavism originate? How did it develop? What are the various beliefs and practices of Sri Vaishnavas? The list of questions is endless I have tried to find some answers to some of the questions. My quest has led me to various places, various people, and various view points. Let me mention some of them.
Vaishnavism has been in existence from time immemorial, from the sages Vyasa, Bhodayana, etc. While their actual work remains unavailable, there are references to this aspect by Saint Ramanaujachari, who, in his great work Sri Bhashya, has traced the roots of Sri Vaishnavism to the Upanishads. Ramanujachari developed Sri Vaishavism as an off shoot of Vaishnavism.
Srivaishnavism is based on the philosophy of Visishtadvaita, which was developed by him, and has the worship culture focused on the Temple of Sri Ranganatha at Sri Rangam.
Sri Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the supreme God. The prefix Sri is used for this sect because they give special importance to the worship of the Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of their Supreme God, Vishnu. A major portion of Sri Vaishnava precepts and practices is based upon this aspect.
The origin
The Azhwars are believed to be the first ones to have started the philosophy of Srivaishanism, through their devotional hymns and songs. Azhwars were a group of saints of south India, The first set of these Azhwars, called the Mudal Azhwars are Pogai Azhwar, Bhuta Azhwar Pey Azhwar, and Thirumazhisai Azhwar. They were later followed by others and together they composed hymns and songs collectively as Divya Prabandham at a later date. The list and topic of Azwhars would be taken up separately in the next posting.
Nathamuni is considered as the first guru of Srivaishnavism. He is believed to have started the process of collecting all these hymns and compositions of the Azhwars. His work was continued and expanded by one of his grandsons, Yamunacharya, also known as Alvandar. Thereafter, Ramanuja continued to develop the practice and propagation of Srivaishnavism which basically centers on the belief that devotion to Vishnu is the sole way to Moksha, and Sri is the link between devotees and the god Vishnu.
Philosophy
Most of the people belonging to Sri Vaishnavism follow Vishistadvaita Sri Vaishnavism is characterized by various specialties. The 4000 divya prabandams (sacred hymns) by the Azhwars alongside with the Vedas.has a very special place for Sri Vaishnavas. In Sri Rangam Temple this is specially recited 21 days prior to Vaikunta Ekadasi, 2000 in the first ten days as Pahal Pattu, 2000 in the second Ten days as Raah Pattu.
Guru or Acharya status is very important in the attainment of the moksha, through observance of the various Samskaraas. I will talk about these Samskaraas in a later posting.
1 comment:
its good to know them
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