Category: ramanuja

The Glorious History and Greatness of the illustrious ” Nallan Chakravarthy” Race

by Kazhiyur Varadan, posted in ramanuja, Uncategorized


Offering humble obeisances  to the revered Acharyas born in the sacred lineage of the Nallan Chakravarthy race, one begins to realize that this is not merely a family history, but a divine spiritual heritage deeply woven into the fabric of the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya.


The Nallan Chakravarthy lineage belongs to the illustrious Srivatsa Gothra, one of the most exalted among Vedic lineages. The greatness of this gothra lies in the rare distinction that it has five Gothra Pravarthakas (prominent sages who propagated the lineage) — a distinction possessed by very few lineages.


These five revered sages are:
Bhargava
Chyavana
Apnavana
Ourva
Jamadagni


This sacred lineage traces itself back to the great sage Brighu Maharishi, one of the mind-born sons of Lord Brahma himself. From this divine succession came Sage Jamadagni, whose son was none other than Lord Parasurama, the powerful incarnation of Sriman Narayana who descended to restore Dharma.


Thus, the Srivatsa Gothra became eternally sanctified by the birth of an Avatar of the Lord Himself.


Check out the appended blog posts below 👇

Though the whole world is against you ..We are always for you ……… Naattuku Pollan ……Namakku Nallavan …


The story of how this sacred race received the title “Nallan” is one of compassion, dharma, and divine approval.
During the time following the great Acharya Nathamuni, there lived a noble Srivaishnava named Sri Vatsya Varadacharya, belonging to the Srivatsa Gothra.


One morning, while bathing in the river Vedavathi near Kanchipuram, he saw the lifeless body of a Srivaishnava floating in the flood waters. Seeing the sacred marks of a Paramaikanti Vaishnava on the body, he compassionately brought it ashore and performed the final rites, even though he did not know the identity of the deceased.
However, the orthodox society of Kanchi misunderstood his act and socially boycotted him for performing funeral rites for an unknown person.


Soon afterward came the annual shraddha ceremony of his father. None of the townspeople came to assist him. Standing alone yet unwavering in faith, Sri Varadacharya prayed sincerely to the presiding deities


Lord Devaraja of Kanchi
Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam
Lord Venkatesa of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Moved by his devotion, the three Lords themselves appeared disguised as Srivaishnavas and participated in the ceremony.


Later, when the priests tried to conduct worship in Kanchi temple, Lord Devaraja refused to accept the worship and declared


“He may be Pollan (bad) to you, but he is Nallan (good) to Me.”
From that divine declaration onward, Sri Varadacharya became known as “Nallan”, and his descendants proudly inherited the title.



The second great title, “Chakravarthy,” arose from a miraculous defense of the supremacy of Lord Venkateshwara as Vishnu Himself.


Long ago, the emperor Thondaman was blessed by Lord Venkateswara with the divine Chakra and Sankha to defeat evil forces. These insignias remained away from the deity for centuries.


During the time of Ramanuja, a major controversy erupted in Tirumala. Certain Saivites argued that Lord Venkateswara was not Vishnu because the deity did not visibly bear the Chakra and Sankha.
Sri Ramanuja defended the truth through scriptures and proposed a divine test


The symbols of Vishnu (Chakra and Sankha) and the symbols of Siva would be placed before the deity overnight. The sanctum would be sealed. Whatever insignia the Lord accepted would reveal His true identity.


The next morning, when the sanctum was opened, Lord Venkateswara was adorned with the Chakra and Sankha, establishing beyond doubt that He was Sriman Narayana.


Yet some opponents remained unconvinced and sought military help from the king of Srikalahasti. At this critical moment, Nallan Sri Vatsya Varadacharya rose to defend the sanctity of Tirumala.


He quoted extensively from the Puranas and scriptures, explaining the supreme holiness of the Tirumala hills and the glory of Swami Pushkarini.


To test the truth, the Kalahasti king placed a red-hot iron horse before the temple and declared..


“If your claim is true, ride this horse unharmed.”


None dared.


Then Nallan Varadacharya bathed in Swami Pushkarini, prayed fervently to Lord Venkatesa, and mounted the burning iron horse. By the grace of the Lord, he rode around the temple unharmed.


All stood astonished.


Lord Venkateswara Himself, through the temple archaka, conferred upon him the glorious title


                  “Chakravarthy”


From that day onward, his descendants became celebrated as the

           Nallan Chakravarthy race.



The Nallan Chakravarthy lineage became one of the most respected lineages within the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Many agraharams across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were historically populated by members of this race for centuries.


The lineage produced numerous saints, scholars, ascetics, and Acharyas.
Among the greatest personalities were


1. Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikar
Popularly known as Kethanda Petti Swamy, he established a branch of the Munithraya Sampradaya and became a revered spiritual master with many ascetic disciples


2. Virakthi Raghavachariar Swamy
A great saint and mantra siddha renowned for his realization of the sacred Ashtakshara mantra.


3. Lakshmipuram Srinivasacharya Swamy
A distinguished Sanskrit scholar and Dharmadhikari of the Mysore palace who authored works including Nallan Chakravarthy Vaibhavam.


The lineage also held an honored place among the 74 Simhasanadhipathis established by Sri Bhagavad Ramanuja for the propagation of Sri Vaishnavism.



The greatness of the Nallan Chakravarthy race is not merely hereditary. Its true glory lies in the unwavering devotion to Sriman Narayana, fearless defense of Dharma,
compassion toward devotees,strict adherence to Acharya sampradaya, and
readiness to sacrifice social acceptance for righteousness.


Their history shines as an example of how divine grace descends upon those who uphold truth with humility and courage.
The name “Nallan Chakravarthy” therefore stands not only for a lineage, but for a sacred legacy of bhakti, acharya nishta, and kainkaryam that continues to inspire generations of Sri Vaishnavas even today.

The above text has been made in consultations with advanced devotees and Swamy Nallan Chakravarthy descendants.

Any errors in the text may be pardoned and any additional information may please be informed for updation .

In the service of the great Acharya Sri Nallan Chakravarthy

Srimathey Ramanujaya namah 🙏

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics and videos

Courtesy  : Google images

Videos : Uploaded by several devotees in social media

KIDAMBI ACHAN-THE DISCIPLE WHO HAD FATHERLY AFFECTION FOR RAMANUJAR

by Kazhiyur Varadan, posted in kidambi, ramanuja, Uncategorized

SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA

rAmAnuja padhAmbhOjayugaLI yasya dhImatha:
prApyam cha prApakam vaNdhE pranNathArththiharam gurum

Kidambi Achan was born in the village “Kidambi” located between Kooram and Thiruputkuzhi near Kanchipuram in the year 1057 A.D.in the tamil month of Chithirai on Hasta Nakshatara day in Atreya gothram.

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As Hastam is considered to be the star of Varadaraja Perumal, his parents named him “PRANATHARTHIHARAM”- as glorified by Thirukachi nambigal in the first sloka of Devaraja Ashtakam. He was the nephew of Tirumala Nambi’s wife (Swamy Ramanujar’s maternal uncle’s wife) and was thus related to Swamy Ramanujar like Mudaliyandan Swamy who had both atma sambhandham and deha sambandham with Swamy Ramanujar. He was one of the prominent disciples of Swamy Ramanujar who felt that acharyar kainkaryam was of utmost importance.

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Like Kooratazhwan and Mudaliandan, Achan also was a simple, devoted, highly knowledgeable person and was well versed with Thiruvaimozhi and Visishtadvaita granthas and was conferred the title “Vedantha Udhayana Acharyar” by Swamy rAmanujar. Like Vaduga Nambi, he considered serving his acharyar as the most important privilege .

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Being a sanyasi, Swamy Ramanujar used to go for alms (unjha vruthi) which was his varnasrama dharma (Brahmacharis and sanyasis must erk out living by taking alms ) reciting Thirupavai which earned him the name “Thirupaavai Jeeyar”.

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Few evil minded people in Srirangam who wanted to get rid of Swamy Ramanujar conspired a plan to mix poison in the biksha rice to be given to Swamy and forced a lady to offer it to Swamy Ramanujar.

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Unlike her husband, this lady revered Swamy Ramanujar but as she was threatened by her husband who was watching , she was left with no other option. With tear filled eyes, she hesitatingly offered the biksha to Ramanujar by ensuring to separate the contents in the bowl by placing a leaf on it and then offered her portion indicating to jagadacharyar that it was not worth consuming.

Swamy understood her implication and threw away the bhiksha in Cauvery river. From that day onwards, Swamy abstained from unjha vruthi and hence he couldn’t take any food. Learning about this incident, Thirugoshtiyur Nambi who was one of the gurus of Swamy Ramanujar came to Srirangam.

 

Learning about his acharyar’s arrival, Swamy Ramanujar along with his sishyas set out quickly to Kollidam to receive him. It was noon and in the scorching heat ,Swamy Ramanujar lay prostrate at the feet of his acharyar who did not ask him to get up. It is customary to fall at the feet of our acharyar like a stick and remain in the same position until the acharyar asks us to get up. The sishyas of Nambi and Ramanujar stood dumfounded as they were perplexed at Nambi’s behaviour (who was their acharyar’s acharyar) which they had never seen before.

Long Shot of Main Gopuram

Unable to bear this, with tear filled eyes , Pranatharthiharan embraced Swamy Ramanujar lamenting as to how the delicate body of Swamy which is similar to a flower could be exposed to the scorching heat.

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He acted as a barrier by laying down on the ground to protect Ramanujar from direct contact of the sand. Thirugoshtiyur Nambi was very pleased with his acharyar bhakti. He instructed Kidambi to take care of Swamy Ramanujar’s bestowing him the privilege of offering bikshai and madhukaram to Swamy Ramanujar. He came to be known as “Kidambi Aachan”(Achan = father).

Thirukannapuram

As he had parental affection towards Ramanujar (like how Periazhwar had towards Perumal), he was fondly addressed as “Aachan”. As he was incharge of kitchen, he came to be known as “Madapalli Aachan” .

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He treated Sri Parasara Bhattar who was much younger to him with the same reverence he had for his acharyar as per his guru’s instructions.

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Once when Aachan visited Thirumaliruncholai, he was asked to render Alavandar’s stotra ratnam . In the 48 th slokam, Alavandar states that ” he has no other refuge than Perumal”. Aachan paused here as he wondered how it could be true” When Perumal asked him, he replied that the statement is not true now as they all have “swamy Ramanuja as their protector ” who is the sole refuge of everyone. Azhagar was pleased with his unflinching devotion towards his acharyar. As expressed by Nammazhwar in Thiruvaimozhi, Achan also relished having darshan of Emperuman in various divya desams.

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When Swamy Ramanujar reincarnated as Manavala Mamunigal, he chose to learn the intricate meanings of Sribhashya from Kidambi Achan’s descendant named Kidambi Pillan. Mamunigal showed him his original Adisesha form to Pillan.

Kidambi Achan was one of the seventy four simhadipatis authorised by Swamy Ramanujar to continue Srivaishnava sampradayam. Swamy gave him Hayagriva Perumal to him for worship. After Swamy Ramanujar left this mortal world, Kidambi Achan returned to Kanchipuram and left his body in the year 1157 -20 years Swamy Ramanuja attained paramapadam.

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics : Courtesy Google images