Page 9 - Sri Ramanujacharya Sahasrabdhi - 1000th year anniversary of Ramanujacarya
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ekam saranam vraja - “Abandon all varie es of religion and just surren-
der unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reac ons. Do not
fear.” (Bg 18.66)
In the purport to CC Madhya 25.56, Srila Prabhupada writes, “The ul -
mate goal of studying all Vedic literature is the acceptance of Krishna
as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Krishna consciousness
movement is propaga ng the philosophical conclusion of Srila
Vyasadeva and following other great acaryas like Ramanujacarya,
Madhvacarya, Vishnu Svami, Nimbarka and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Himself.”
Ramanujacarya, Yamunacarya, and King Kulasekhara were o en quot-
ed by Srila Prabhupada in his purports. In the CC Adi 7.121 Ramanujac-
arya’s Vaisistya philosophy is referred to prove that merging into the
material or spiritual energies does not involve loss of individuality.
“Nondevotees factually appreciate the wonderful crea on of material
nature, but they cannot appreciate the intelligence and energy of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is behind this material crea on.
Sripada Ramanujacarya, however, refers to a sutra from the Aitareya
Upanishad (1.1.1), atma va idam agra asit, which points out that the
supreme atma, the Absolute Truth, existed before the crea on. One
may argue, “If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is completely spir-
itual, how is it possible for Him to be the origin of crea on and have
within Himself both material and spiritual energies?” To answer this
challenge, Sripada Ramanujacarya quotes a mantra from the Tai riya
Upanishad (3.1) that states:
yato va imani bhutani jayante
yena jatani jivan
yat prayanty abhisamvisan
This mantra confirms that the en re cosmic manifesta on emanates
from the Absolute Truth, rests upon the Absolute Truth and a er anni-
hila on again reenters the body of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. The living en ty is originally spiritual, and
when he enters the spiritual world or the body of the Supreme Lord, he
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