Ramanuja - Evaluating Sources

Evaluating Sources

In dealing with the lives of the Vedantic teachers, there is little in the way of actual history, and it is thus necessary to make reference to the many hagiographical works—both in verse and prose—that form a major genre in both Sanskrit and South Indian vernaculars.

The earliest such hagiographies in prose is the Ārāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāva (the "six thousand" splendour of the succession of teachers) (not to be confused with the well-known commentary on the Divya Prabandha of the same length, also commonly referred to as the "Six Thousand"). This was written by Piṉpaḻakiya Perumāḷ Jīyar in the 13th century in a highly Sanskritized dialect of Tamil known as Maṇipravāla. Perhaps earlier was a Sanskrit work of poetry, the Divya Sūri Carita or Acts of the Divine Sages, probably written in the 12th century by Garuḍavāhaṇa Paṇḍita, a contemporary disciple of Ramanuja's.

In later times, a number of traditional biographies proliferated, such as the 16th or 17th century Sanskrit work Prapannāmṛta and, following the split of the Śrīvaiṣṇava community into the Vaṭakalais and Teṉkalais. The Muvāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāva or the "Three Thousand" Splendor of the Succession of Teachers by Brahmatantra Svatantra Jīyar represents the earliest Vaṭakalai biography, and reflects the Vaṭakalai view of the succession following Ramanuja. Ārāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāva, or "Six Thousand" Splendor of the Succession of Teachers referred in the previous paragraph represents the Tenkalai biography.

The various biographies differ in emphasis, facts, and sometimes even entire episodes. In general, the later biographies tend to be more fanciful and elaborate, and the Vaṭakalai and Teṉkalai biographies reflect their sectarian outlook: for instance, the Teṉkalai biographies tend to emphasize episodes that reflect more liberal attitudes toward caste on Ramanuja's part, while the Vaṭakalai biographies generally minimize them. These generalizations are often inaccurate, but the differences in the biographies do at any rate reflect the difficulty of coming up with a single historical narrative. Nonetheless, the traditional biographies agree in most of the facts of Ramanuja's life, and thus an outline of Ramanuja's life and achievements can be sketched.