In his Nityam, a step-by-step manual of daily worship, Ramanuja incorporates the philosophy of Visishtadvaita and the ‘nyaasam’ of Srivaishnavam. Many of the Tirukkuṛaḷ couplets are both lessons on ethics and philosophical truths. Here is one, which highlights the means of ensuring external and internal purification:
“Puraththooymai neeraan amaiyum, agaththooymaivaaymaiyaar kaanappadum.” (If water is the external cleanser, honesty makes the soul purer - Kural 298)
Ramanuja’s Nityagrantha, Nityam for short, also begins with external cleanliness in the form of ablutions, bath, wearing the robes and oordhva-pundareeka, etc, early in the morning, collecting flowers and holy basil leaves, and other preparations. It incorporates various prayogas such as mantram, astram, tantram, yantram and mudrās (mantram — aphoristic incantations; astram — protecting oneself with accompaniment of a mantra, e.g. digbandhana astra-mantra; tantram — modes of union with the Supreme, mystical physical formulations; yantram literally means self-restraint or controlling with weapons; here, yantram stands for mystical diagrams supposed to possess occult powers.
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Offerings at the end
In the end, offerings are made to one’s acharya (with a mental deidcation to the entire lineage of the acharya) and the offerings are shared with ‘vaishnavas’ (practitioners and believers of Srivaishnavam). Finally, the devotee does the aṣhṭaanga-namaskaara (prostrating with both hands folded, feet together, the hands, feet, eyes, nose and forehead in contact with the ground) and surrenders his mind, intellect and ego.
And who does this all? ‘The Lord Himself gets everything done…’ (Bhagavan eva sarvam kaarayati…) This means that a devotee’s becoming a jnaani or performing the nityam, the prayer and worship, is God’s Will. In his Nityagrantha or Nityam, Ramanuja has incorporated all the philosophical thoughts of Visishtaadvaita and the religious moorings of Srivaishnavam, in particular the ‘nyaasam’ (relinquishing and entrusting everything to the care of God). Till his time, ‘vaikhanasa-agama’ tradition alone received the approval of puritans. In the Nityam, Ramanuja elevates the paancharaatra tradition by bringing it into daily practice.
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Over time, when the Srivaishnavam school bifurcated into two branches, the practice of ‘nityam’ also went through modifications. Of the two branches, Vedanta Desika was the founder of the Northern branch, and the Tenkalai branch follows Piḷḷai Lokacharya and Maṇavaḷa Mamuni.
Results faster
In his Saraṇaagati Deepikaa, Nyaasa-tilakam, Nyaasa-vimsati, Nyaasa-dasakam, etc., Desika says that one must follow pancharaatra or vaikhaanasa as is one’s tradition. He advises to follow devotion or surrender as it suits the follower. But, he says, saraṇagati is faster in yielding results. He compares saraṇagati to a wedding where the father gives the bride away to the groom. This is an echo of Andal’s paasuram in Nachiyar Tirumozhi, where she dreams of the Lord holding her hand (‘kai-t-talam pattra-k kanaa kaṇden...’).
The attitude of highest devotion or the perfected devotion (parama-ekanta-bhava) and that of total surrender (saraṇagati-bhava), being reciprocal, both get strengthened by regular performance of the ‘nityam.’
This kind of surrender is followed not only in household worship, but in temple worship also as is seen in Sri Venkatesa Mangalasasanam at Tirumala:
“Parasmai brahmaṇe, poorna-kaamaaya paramaatmane,
prapanna-para-tatvaaya, Venkatesaaya mangalam”
[prapanna = (i) text, i.e. Veda; (ii) surrender (saraṇagati); para-tattvam = (i) the highest Truth; (ii) the highest principle]
— “To the Supreme Brahman, to the totally fulfilled, to the Ultimate Self, to the highest Truth of the scripture/to the highest principle of surrender, to Venkatesa, mangalam!”
The writer is a researcher in Vedanta and manuscripts
This is the 42nd in the series of articles on Sri Ramanuja, which will be published up to his millennium in May 2017