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Sri Yamunacharya’s A Rendering in English with Notes by DR MS RAJAJEE

With a Foreword by DR M.NARASIMHACHARYA
Professor of Vaishnavism, Madras University Published by Sri P. Krishnaiah, I.A.S., Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Tirupati-517 507.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Among the great Vaishnava acharyas, Sri Yamunacharya, also known as Alavandar, occupies a unique place. He has made substantial contributions to Visishtadvaita philosophy and established the pre-eminence of Sriman Narayana through his philosophical works and hymns. Sri Yamuna’s “Stotraratna” occupies a special place in the devotional literature as it clothes philosophical ideas in poetic language.

The ‘Strotra ratna’ consisting of 65 verses conveys the basic ideas of Visishtadvaita philosophy like the relations of the individual self to the supreme and His Consort, the place of the triple path of karma, jnana and bhakti and the means for His Divine Grace. Above all, it emphasises the supreme significance of Prapatti or surrender to achieve salvation. Considered as a rare jewel among hymns, the ‘Stotra ratna’ calls upon us to surrender at the Lotus Feet of Lord Narayana.

The present translation of this well-known stotra by Dr. MS. Rajajee is refreshingly simple and lucid. The author, an able administrator and an ardent devotee of Lord Srinivasa, has admirably captured the original spirit of the verses. The translation along with an exhaustive commentary brings out the enduring charm of the ‘Stotraratna’ in a masterly style.

We take great delight in presenting this book to the theistic public and hope, in all humility, that they would derive immense spiritual benefit by reading this book.

P. Krishnaiah Executive Officer, TTD

FOREWORD

I have immense pleasure in writing this Foreword to the English rendering of Sri Yamunacharya’s Stotraratna done by Dr M.S.Rajajee, I.A.S., who held many high administrative positions such as the Chief Secretaryship to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Chairmanship of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission. Dr Rajajee is a man of many parts and his passion for philosophy and religion is at once amazing and abysmal. Born in a Srivaishnava family of great piety and nobility, he, notwithstanding the onerous responsibilities of his high office, has been finding time to study the cardinal works of this tradition and expound the truths contained therein in simple but effective English so that the layman who has no access to the original works in Sanskrit can catch their spirit and relive the glorious past in which the authors lived and wrote.

I have had the opportunity of going through his English annotation of the Mukundamala of Saint Kulasekhara, which, by all means, is the best-written one. The speciality of Dr Rajajee’s style is its astounding simplicity marked by smoothness of flow and aptness of expression. Even the profoundest idea can be put across by him with commendable ease and dignity. This, in my opinion, is a rare quality to be found in translators. I have also seen a recent publication of the Satsampradaya Parirakshana Sabha, Warangal, which is an English translation by Dr Rajajee for the Satsampradaya Sudha written by one of our most erudite and prolific Srivaishnava Acharyas, Mahamahopadhyaya, Kavi-Sabdika Kesari, Sri U.Ve. S.N.C.Raghunathacharya Swami. Here again we find the translation very easy and telling, bringing out the spirit of the original in its best possible way.

The Stotraratna occupies a very high place in the hymnal literature of the Srivaishnavas of South India since it is the first hymn to have come from the pen of a great pre-Ramanuja writer who happened to be the grand-teacher of the great Ramanuja and the grandson of Nathamuni, the first Srivaishnava teacher whose works, the Nyayatattva and the Yogarahasya have not come down to us. The Stotraratna, along with the Sristuti or the Catussloki of the same Acharya are very significant in the Srivaishnava tradition. Clothing the philosophical ideas of the School in a poetic garb, they have inspired many later Srivaishnava writers to compose more detailed treatises, hymns and works highlighting the basic tenets of the School such as the Supremacy of Lord Vishnu, the glory of His highest abode called Srivaikuntha, the position of his consort Sri or Lakshmi and the efficacy of the paths of Bhakti and Prapatti in effecting salvation. Inspired by these hymns of Yamuna only Sri Ramanuja composed his Gadyatraya.

The present work viz., the Stotraratna has been quite popular with authors of texts on the Alankarasastra also. For instance, Sri Appaya Dikshita in his Kuvalayananda cites the verse “tavaamrita-syandini paada-pankaje…” (no.27) as an illustration for the figure of speech “Prativastupama” and the verse “abhutapurvam mama bhaavi.” (No.25) as an example for the figure of speech called “Sambhava”.

I am immensely happy to note that Dr Rajajee has done a commendable work on this important ancient Stotra of the Srivaishnava Literature. The popularity of this hymn is such that it is recited every day in every home of the orthodox Srivaishnavas. I take this opportunity to thank Dr Rajajee for giving me the opportunity of writing this Foreword to his translation, and to request him to carry on his literary activities. A gifted writer as he is, the benefit of his scholarship should reach the common masses who are well acquainted with English language but are not well-rooted in Sanskrit. I understand that he is currently making an in-depth study of the Ramayana written by poetess Molla in Telugu, with a view to present the beauties of that composition to the common people through the medium of English. I also understand that he is making a study of the Narasimha Kshetras and preparing an authoritative and exhaustive monograph on this very interesting subject. I wish him well in his enterprises and do earnestly hope that all his works will come in print so that the scholars and laymen alike can be benefited by his wisdom and scholarship.

M. Narasimhachary

PREFACE

Recently, I had undertaken a study of Kulasekhara Azhvar’s “Mukunda Mala”. I had completed the translation, with notes, in English. The TTD had published my work. I had seperately translated some scholarly lectures of Mahamahopadhyay Sri Raghunathacharya Svami varu of Warangal. These were published by the Veda Parirakshana Sabha of Warangal. I was therefore drawn to Vaishnavaite literature and took up a study of the Stotra Ratna, by Sri Yamunacharya. Sri Yamunacharya, as readers know, is pre Bhagavan Ramanuja and had laid the foundation for Visishtadvaita, though, it was not known by that name, at that time. I looked around for English translations, of this scholarly work. I found only two-one is an excellent translation, into English, without any comments, by Svami Adidevananda, of the Ramakrishna Mutt. The other one, an equally good translation, with brief notes, was by Sri S. Satyamurthi, of Gwalior, who has rendered great service to the readers by his many translation works and comments. The translation of Sri Satyamurthi, is based on the scholarly work in Tamil, by Sri Anangarachariar. The most outstanding work is, however that of Prof. Narasimhacharya, presently Head of the Dept. of Vaishnavism, of the Madras University. His is a scholarly dissertation on the “Contribution of Sri Yamunacharya to Visistadvaita”. He presents Yamunacharya, on a much larger canvas. I felt that there was a need for a book, for people like me, who are not scholars, but would like to have a translation of this great work and would like to have detailed notes, about what others have said on the embedded thoughts. Hence, the present work.

I do not claim any scholarship to warrant my venturing to write such a book. That I should have attempted to do so can only be attributed to the great mysteries of life and to the divine will. On a particular day, I felt that I would like to write such a book and started this work, trusting the Divine Feet of the Lord. His unseen hand enabled me to complete this work. If it is was the unseen hand of the Lord that helped me to write the book, it is the seen hand of Prof. Narasimhacharya, which encouraged me at different stages. Prof. Narasimhacharya is very well known and needs no intruduction. He is heading the Department of Vaishnavism, Madras University and is widely known in Vaishnavaite, Sanskrit and Telugu literary circles. He has won many accolades for his contributions and has received many national awards. He combines in himself erudition, outstanding scholarship, a thorough understanding of the subject, an unmatched meticulousness and a rare humility. It was he who went through my manuscript and advised me to publish it, when I had doubts about the merit of my work. This does not mean that my work had any great merit; it shows that he has that unsual quality of encouraging fledgeling writers. I deem it as a rare honour conferred on me that he went through the manuscript and agreed to write an Intruduction.

I have kept Sri Anangarachari’s commentary, in Telugu, as the basis for my work. I have amplified the comments, by quoting from the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Ramayana, the Narayaneeyam, the Stotras of Sri Vedanta Desika and my earlier translation with notes on Mukundamala. I gratefully acknowledge the quotations from the scholarly translation of Desika Stotras by Sri Raghavan, Dr Lakshmi Kumari and Prof Narasimhacharya. I am grateful to Prof Venkatakrishnan, Professor of Vaishnavism, Madras University, for having spared me a photo of an idol of Sri Yamunacharya in a temple, which adorns the cover page of this book.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to Sri Koteesvara Rao, working in the “Peshi” of the Chief Secretary’s Office at Hyderabad. He did the typing work, willingly, with his usual efficiency and above all, most cheerfully. He did it during his spare hours, which really meant late, late hours of the night. I am deeply touched by the manner in which he did this work, as a labour of love. I am thankful to my family members, who encouraged me at different stages of the work.

I am very thankful to Dr I.V. Subba Rao, I.A.S., former EO of the TTD and the members of the Publication Committee, for having agreed to publish this work. I am deeply touched by the warm sentiments expressed by Sri Subba Rao, while accepting the book for publication. I am also grateful to the present EO, Sri P. Krishnaiah, IAS., who expedited this publication. I am thankful to Dr Ramamurthi, Editor, Saptagiri and his team of officers for the very efficient manner in which they took up and completed this work.

I place this work at the Feet of the Lord and seek His Divine Grace.

RajajeeIntroduction The is a work of 65 slokas, written by Sri Yamuna Acharya, also known as Alavandar. It is rated very highly in Vaishanavite literature and hence this Alavandar Stotra is known only as - a jewel among the stotras. It is a priceless jewel in the devotional literature and expounds the tenets of Vaishnavism. The later pillars of Vaishnavism, Ramanuja, Parasara Bhatta, Vedanta Desika and others derived their inspiration from this work. It is said that a recital of these slokas by Mahapurna, used to always cast an irresistible spell on Ramanuja. Sloka 11 in the used to cast a magic spell on Ramanuja. It is this same sloka which weaned away Ramanuja’s cousin Govinda (known as Embar) from Saivism. In turn, Yamuna derived inspiration for his work from the Divya Prabandham and many slokas put across in mellifluous Sanskrit, are what had been stated in the Divya Prabhandham.

Sri Yamuna was born in 953 AD in Viranarayanapuram of Tamilnadu (not far from Cuddalore). He was the son of Ishwara Muni and the grandson of Sri Ranganatha Muni (known popularly as Nathamuni). It is said that Nathamuni and his family members were going on a pilgrimage in North India. As the conception took place on the banks of the river Yamuna, Sri Nathamuni gave the child the name Yamuna. Sri Ishwara Muni died at a young age. On the death of his son, Nathamuni renounced the world and became a recluse. The education of young Yamuna was left to Bhasya Bhattaraka.+++(5)+++ Yamuna was an excellent student and shone in all branches of studies.

Yamuna’s teacher and all the others were under the rulership of a Pandyan king. The chief preceptor and religious disputant in the court was Vidvajjanakolahala. As his very name indicated, he threw all the learned people into turmoil, as he used to mercilessly vanquish them in scholarly debates. Yamuna’s teacher was one among those who had been defeated. He was therefore required …

“Alavandar Thiruvadigale Saranam” T.T.D. Religious Publications Series No.593 Price: Rs. 15/“Stotra Ratna” of Sri Yamunacharya is a very rare jewel among devotional poems. This exquisite poem of 65 slokas contains the essence of the Visishatadvaita philosophy. Sri Yamunacharya, also known as Alavandar, elucidates the fundamental concepts regarding God and the soul and describes the qualities of the Lord and His unparalleled glory. Above all, this splendid stotra sets forth the concept of prapatti or wholehearted surrender to Lord Sriman Narayana most appealingly and authentically.

Dr. M.S.Rajajee who translated this magnum opus of Sri Yamunacharya was a distinguished officer of Indian Administrative Service. He has also excelled himself as an lerudite writer and author. ’ Mukunda Mala translated by him was published by TTD.

Printed and Published by P.Krishnalah, I.A.S., Executive Officer, T.T.Devasthanams and Printed at T.T.D. Press, Tirupati YATHIRAJA VADIRAJA’S THEERTHA PRABANDHA Translated by S.K. ACHAR DEVASTH Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Tirupati