This is a slOka of 74 verses on Sri Bhagawadh Ramaujacharya. The title uses his name, meaning, king of renunciates- sannyasis. The name Yathiraja is a Yougika name (KaaraNappeyar in Tamil). This work uses the names of Yathiraja, Ramanuja, Yathipathi, Lakshmana, et al. Swami Desikan prefaces with a set of ten verses on paying homage and obeisance to the AchArya Paramparai from Sriya: Pathih Sriman Narayanan down to Yathirajar. These are familiar to all who recite them in their daily japaanushtaanams. 

NOTE: To view the slokas in sanskrit (pdf file), please click here

1. I pay obeisance to the First and foremost AchArya, the Consort of MahAlakshmi. He is the Head of the Family, which the whole Universe constitutes. He is a singular AchAryA, who is Himself, the first reciter of Vedas, and also the author of Pancharathra Saasthra. 

2. I now pay obeisance to the Spouse of the Lord, MahAlakshmi, who is never ever separated from the Lord; who is incapable and also unaware of any punitive action / treatment whatsoever and who is the embodiment of gracious benediction, and who always exchanges plans with the Lord for the good of the Universe and beings. 

3. I pay my respects to Vishvaksenar, the Consort of Soothravathi. He is the Commander-in-chief of the Lord. At the tip of His disciplining ward (whip) the whole universe stays put in proper place and is rightly led on. 

4. We mediate on SaTaari, (NammAzhwAr) whose garland of VakuLa flowers gets its fragrance exuded into the fluent flow of poetry - a work of literature at which the Vedas, having been tired of imparting codes of life, even ineffectively, can safely rest and relax now, since AzhWar's works will suffice and do the same job more effectively! 

5. I hold as my Natha (master) the seer Nathamuni, in whose hands the essential crux of the Vedas acquired a clarity of understanding - to call it HasthAmalaka, as one would say with this Natha available for me, I can not be "anaatha" (forlorn). 

6. I obey PuNdareekaakshar (UyyakkoNdaar), who ever stands on the mental contour described by Nathamuni, our master at all times, and who is of unalloyed Saathvika Character, even like avataars of the Lord. 

7. We meditate on Raamamisrar (MaNakkaal Nambhi), who is forbearing, who is dangerous to unholy persons, who had forsaken taste for lust and anger, - who thus was the fourth Rama (i.e- unlike: (1) Parasuraama- who was not forbearing, (2) Ramabhadra -who was dangerous to PuNyajanas (euphemism for Raakshasaas), and (3) Balaraama, - who was used to drinking liquor.) 

8. We shall bathe in the holy waters of Yamuna (Alavandhaar), who has severed all connections with mean passions and attachment, who stood steadfast in safeguarding the Saadhus, and in whom the things emphasised by Krishna were present perfectly. (A second meaning: We shall bathe in the holy waters of Yamuna river, form which poisonous snake had been removed, which is close to Brindhavanam, and in which Krishna was interested.) 

9. I place myself at MahapoorNar (Periya Nambhi) whose extreme daya enslaves him to itself (daya) (he becoming an abject servant of Daya quality) who gave us the Great Ramanuja, thereby making the hope of the Prime creator realised. 

10. May Sri Ramanuja-muni, accept my humble prostration - he whose works performed the service as the woman- attendant for the Veda- lady (who has captivated the Lord and is His consort), this Veda- lady holding the Lord under her spell, in a dependent manner- so to say. 

11. I praise Yathiraja, who shines with a Yajna Upaveetham, on His chest and with the OordhavapuNram who is really the fruit of the Good deeds of all worlds, who has a thridaNda, in His hand, and finally has a tuft of hair on the Head. He is the saviour of the Vaishnavites, surrendered unto Him, guaranteeing for their salvation. 

12. The Lord's five weapons (Chakkra, Sankhu, Gadha, Khadga, and Saarngha) have unitedly taken the incarnation of Sri Ramanuja. He is therefore harsh on the enemies (say of our religion). That AchArya is sure to protect us. 

13. Balarama's brother- Krishna- has evidently appeared as Ramanuja (Rama's brother). Krishna suppressed as the variety of Gods (like Siva) about Self-greatness, elevated by own effort the fame of Yaadhavas, and eliminated wrong interpretations piled on Vedas. So also, Ramanuja, quenched the conceit of Sankara, rooted out Yaadhavaprakasa, from his original position and elevated him by his own right, (on his resorting to Ramanuja later), and removed the wrong meanings (say given to GitA and Brahma soothrAs) by hi own works. 

14. Ramanuja gave a nest, so to say, of his works as a permanent sanctuary for the birds of Old scriptures like Vedas, lest the birds will be subjected to torture caused by "learned" pandits (who interpret vedic works wrongly) 

15. Real Learned men have a large necklace of choicest gems. The Central pendent of lustre greater than that of Sun's lustre is Ramanuja. The gems represent the lineage of AchAryAs. The pendent (Ramanuja ) is central and is also dearest and nearest to the heart of the wearer. 

16. Ramanuja is a literal Mainaaka mountain, whose wings have not yet been felled! In his team and a line of disciples (as in the bamboo) the green ness persists and the principle of Hari rules high! All in the line shine pure, with Highest Character; cool and merciful; they are sure to adorn the world as pearl-necklace with great halo. (vamsa means lineage as well as bamboo; hari means the Lord and green colour as well) 

17. Ramanuja is a veritable moon. As the full moon has gained a position in the safe sky, which is the foot of the Lord. The moon, being full of digits (i.e. all 16 kalais), being perfect, being free of flaws, now owing its origin to water resources, and not subject to eclipse; so also Ramanuja has resorted to the secure Vishnu- abode, has complete mastery over all vidhyas, has a disciple in King Akalanka, has been born to a great scholar, is far removed from people given to sensuous pleasures. I pay obeisance to that Ramanuja 

18. Great men, spotless, and learned too, rightly discern the merit of resorting to a real metropolis, feet of Yathi- Chakravarthi are. While so settled, they are connoisseurs in the field, being subservient to Bhaktas; they have the mental readiness, with the right spirit, to be bought or sold, as if they were material commodity, by the Bhagawathas. 

19. Harshness of the tongue, exaggeration on expression, idle arguments, tale-carrying tendency, - these weaknesses would have dominated my talking manners - but only before I had felt the impact of "kEthaka" seed , namely, of Ramanuja's praise. The result is that I now possess perfect pronouncement that ought to be pleasing to sadhus. 

20. We adopt Ramanuja's feet as our refuge. Sadhus would treat Ramanuja's feet as ideal, placing even the Lord's feet at a second position only. These feet would secure for the surrendered ones, the three goals, (Dharma, artha, kaama,) as well as mOksha. They are potent in correcting tendencies of weaklings. 

21. Those who cherish unassailable Bhakti in respect of Ramanuja's feet, delve deep in the ocean of Vedantha Saasthra (to pick pearls of choicest concepts), they defeat, quite effortlessly, the contestants, from other systems, and also guide us in the path of Mukthi. 

22. May Ramanuja become my protecting deity, naturally, of His own accord- He- who sits under the large Vedic tree; who holds the Tridhanda staff in His hand; who drives away the heretics rebelling against the Vedic system; and who stands like a royal swan in the "maanasarovar" of the heart of the devotees (of Ramanuja) 

23. Ramanuja, who is an adept in potent manthras, and is a veritable snake-charmer - 

• who sees to it that his devotees are not attacked by the venomous vipers which the non-believers are: 
• who also cures us of the poison, namely of sensuous passion, that has spread through the whole body (by contemplation on the Lord on GarudA) 

25. We perceive the instruction- Seal in his hand, resembling a blossomed Lotus, that is raised in an effort to lay deep, in the hearts of the dull-witted persons, the meaning, lying concealed in the Upanishads. 

26. Sri Ramanuja's literary works "distil" with a high degree of zeal, from the upansihads. They are also effective, even like manthra chanting, in regard to the tortures we suffer internally and externally and the works prove a sure and safe nutrition against chronic illness and deficiency people suffer in the samsaara world. 

27. May he shine victoriously- 

• He- that Ramanuja, who by his cool and kindly impact, behaves as an unusual Agni; 
• He- who is a novel Moon in the matter of removing our darkness (our faults); 
• He- who is asecond Sun, so to say, in removing the three kinds of sufferings befalling us; 
• He can thus be described as an assembly of three luminaries in one for conferring salvation on us. 

• the Himalaya, from which all rivers (like the Ganges) of all lores flow: 
• the all-granting "kalpaka" tree, at the shadow of which, jeevas, tortured by repeated births and deaths, can rest; 
• the dawning Sun that removes the night-darkness dominated by the delusive dialectics of disputants from diverse schools; 
• the full moon arising out of the milk ocean of Vedas. 

30. Look at the all-round potency of Ramanuja's works. They are- 

• like a river furnishing cool waters to a thirst-tortured traveller traversing a dry desert; 
• like a river of milk to holy personages devoted to the study of spiritual works 
• like the eyes of the Vedas, so precious and so helpful for interpretation 
• like the activator to the vital nerve-chord, to enable anyone experience the Bliss of service to the Lord. 

32. Who is Ramanuja? The Lord has created many religious system - which are fighting against one another- almost as a mischievous sport, so to say. His first- beginningless- vyooha form, Vaasudeva. Took a latter-day avtaar as a dark-hued Krishna. During Kali yuga, in which people get drunk with hedonistic pleasures, the Lord sent Vishvaksena, who, by His Grace, took birth (as Ramanuja), the wand (the whip) in his hand, becoming the thridaNdam of Ramanuja. (When Sena pathi Vishvaksenar becomes Yathipathi Sri Ramanuja, the wand becomes ThridaNdam) 

33. Good minds will do well to aim at the study of these works. A "rasika" will relish and his tongue will have very good sport while taking on them. Such a fit subject to talk on and for discussion! The ear would hear them with so much love and whetting that prove virtual medicine of a unique type, that is however sweet; and they are a crystal-mirror that projects the Lord's form and nature to us in a perfect manner. The central messages in Ramanuja's works - some understood and some not- lie like Gems dispersed in a clear ocean, vast and immeasurable. 

34. The greatness of followers who have inherited the great wealth called " Ramanuja Sampradayam" - verily a wealth that can not be lost or stolen -possesses certain features. They will not care a copper pie for the prosperity of the highest order, even when it is riches more than ever expected, they would spurn such rewards as mere lichor -drops flowing from the undulating checks of mad elephants, collected here and there, in which bees can thrive. 

35. There is this large drum- figuratively speaking- of Ramanuja's reputation. The discerning pundits, living in Srirangam, (for the mere pleasure and with no other deeper motive) become intellectually excited from a study of Ramanuja's works and they dance with joy, though spontaneously again and again. But they hold this large drum, which is beaten with large sticks, which are bound-components each. The sticks would figuratively stand for the high - quality works of Ramanuja. To this drum beating, the dance is attuned. This would resoundingly herald the advent of YathirAjA, the king of Yathis! 

36. Groups of bad dialecticians of recent times, too, will be totally upheaved, their conceit evaporated, and the unfortunate souls which have been subjected to the venom-fire, spit out by the snakes of maayaavaadins are resurrected and revivified- all these are achieved by Ramanuja's works. They also serve as a (female) attendant, nurse, so to say, to attend on the very old lady, called "SRUTHI", whose dishevelled locks of hair (dishevelled by wrong and misinterpretations of SRUTHIS by other religions) are re-set by this attendant (Ramanuja and his works). What is more, the works of Ramanuja enhance the quantum of the nectar, unendingly flowing, of the Bliss achieved. 

37. Ramanuja is capable of grasping, merely with his clenched fist (to make it all Hasthaamalaka!), the essence of the most terse Vedas, which is rather difficult even for the nectar-drinking Devas. Ramanuja is equally competent in devastatingly defecting the crypto- buddhists (Advaitins), in wordy duels. He thus gladdens our hearts by functioning as the oyster-shells that embed the pearls, namely, of arrays of the Lord's qualities, by expounding that the Lord is a KalyaaNa guNa saagaram. 

38. Victory to Ramanuja- who saved the Para Brahman by giving a hand lift from being caught in the slough of Saiva religion, without getting hooked, also from the net of pure dreamy imagination that the Saankhyaas had cast, avoiding also the entanglement in the contrivance laid by the scheming Chaarvaaka and finally when Brahman was almost about to fall into the trap-mouth of Advaitins, the deceitful misguides. 

39. Ramanuja's classics came into the field and work up the conscience of the people just in time, when 

• Kanaadha's VaisEshika with its symbolism 
• Kapila's imaginative deception that was purely a drama and a hoax 
• Kumaarila Bhatta's lowly language 
• Prabhaakara's knots of words 
• Buddha's variety in fiction and the wasteful pretensions (of the crypto-buddhists) aligning with the above held the field and churned the world, with a lot of confusion resulting therefrom. 

41. I bear on my head, lowered, the lotus feet of the great ones, whose intellect possesses the fragrance of the wisdom of the works of Ramanuja. But at the same time, let me say, let the world see it too. I will dare place my left foot on the heads of those, who with a burning mad craze, contest Ramanuja's system, they trying to defend one or other of the other systems. 

42. Oh my mind! Choose the singular clear pathway, of Ramanuja, treading of which would give relief one from the strain of wandering way-wardly in various paths. You will secure the grace of the Lord, which will flood on you fast, to wash off your sins. 

43. The world is full of wrong thoughts laid down in misguiding books of vain dialecticians. Anyone, who has a soft corner for them, will, naturally, treat Ramanuja's works as trivial in size and value. However, we are not offended by such an assessment, since the Kousthubha gem of the Lord's Chest would appear only trivial compared to a lofty mountain-chain! What would be the weight, after all? Which one has more value? 

44. Ramanuja's works help us in resolving contradictions, whenever they occur, in the Vedic sayings of old. Those who have been influenced by the vile arguments of the logical experts given to bad sense and lost their good sense, may leave off Ramanuja's works, or else, let them study those works. What does it matter? In a city where the noise praising flavour and taste of camphor is quite high, how are traders in common salt to respond with regard to camphor? It is obvious (that they do not know or can not relish!) 

45. Among the trinity, the first Brahma bears his wife on his tongue in the faces that recite the Vedas. The whole left half of Sivan is taken by his wife. The Supreme Tatva, in His own way, became subservient to the Gopis. Then, the only ones that do not yield to the love for the feminine sex are only Ramanuja's followers! 

46. Ramanuja- who stands like a shade- providing tree, enjoyed by followers of the Vedic pathway; who is treasured as a valuable store-house of inspiration, for people who have forsaken all desires; who helps fulfilment of the aspirations of different people following his path; who functions like a dawn to the darkness of all three worlds; and who is the Chief of masters of Vedic wisdom, - is there to inculcate in us the correct knowledge regarding Prabrahman. 

47. Ramanuja's works shine as: 

1. a reliever of the toothache developed as a result of constantly arguing with fools, 
2. a treasure store of wisdom, 
3. a pigeon house guard at a pole top that wards off poaching on the paddy field of religion, 
4. a Vedic fragrance spread all around, 
5. a cloud that showers great Bliss, 
6. a sure gurantee against our going to yamalokam 

1. bright lamps to help us see the Jeeva-swans, 
2. trees, which will grant the fruits- which are close to, and within the reach of, persons who have longed with great appetite, for the knowledge about the One Greatest Lord of most auspicious qualities 
3. favourable planets that would never fail to confer benefits on us. 

50. Ramanuja's works exhibit a faultless arrangements of the Vedanta saasthra, distilling the quality of Bodhaayana's commentary (on Brahma soothra) and of similar ones. The works involve no contradiction. Their ideas are strong, clear and pointed in regard to emphasis. They prove efficient in striking the intellectual nerve chord. And they help blossom out the intellect of scholars. 

51. Capricious carping based on fallacious reasoning is the way for some contestants. They tend to cross question everything, pointing out an alternative possibility for every thesis, even if it is unreasonable. By such humbugs, they tend to pollute and confuse the Vedic path. The annoying noise of these wild elephants will die the moment the name of Ramanuja is announced. 

52. Wordy logic will end there and will have no room in Ramanuja's works. In them, the Rig Veda is almost translated perfectly into a different version; the Yajur Veda is fixedly stationed in them; they are the perfectly decorating ornament to Saama Veda. They are the lamp to elucidate tatvaas. They are the reflection, as it were, of Bodhayana's suporeme words. May these works of Ramanuja grant us clarity of vision! 

53. Ramanuja's works are faultless, pleasing to the heart, and capable of changing even those minds which had previously given themselves to the worship of minor deities like sivan, indran, subrahmanyan, vinayaka, surya, agni et al. They serve for atonement and single minded devotional discipline with respect to the Lord Supreme. 

54. Ramanuja's works claim a victory, since 

1. they possess the actual meaning that appears on the surface; thus an integrity is preserved; 
2. they act like an ocean of nectar; 
3. they are describable as the fruit, as it were, of the penance performed by Vedas; 
4. they wipe out the grief of Vedas, which were torn off by idle arguments indulged in by the professional contestant-controversialists of misdirected religious systems. 

55. The Visishtadvaitam is supported by Vedas on their heads (that is the philosophy is based on an accurate meaning and interpretation of upanishads- which are the "siras" (head) of Vedas). In the various religions, some demoralised minds artificially ascribe false and assumed defects. So what? If a fellow seeks to throw handfuls of mud on the sky and repeatedly so, the net result and the only result is: the thing falls on his head! 

56. This world suffers from the darkness of ignorance. Had only Ramanuja, the lamp, (that burns with the oil of love for God), not been there, how would people- intrinsically faultless, avoid, even if they want, the darkness of conceit and the baseless arguments, indulged in by vile speakers of contesting systems, who can be likened, for their effect, to snakes. 

57. Oh, you content that the Visishtadvaita of Ramanuja is a recent one. All righjt. No problem. Let it be so. What if? Then, you perhaps point out that there must have been some religion earlier. What does that establish? 

That a thing is ancient does not confer any merit on that score of being ancient itself. Anything is modern first and thereafter becomes ancient, simply by passage of time. Rather letting a false system thrive till now is an error committed by mankind. What I wish to emphasise is that Tankar, Dramidar, Guhadevar, Bodhayanar, and others have nourished this system from early times. Only because there was no opposition then, they did not elaborate and write much. That does not mean that the system is recent or that it suffers a stigma on that score. 

58. Ramanuja's works transcend, in their value, even the Vedas. They shower the nectar in the ears of the listeners. This nectar-enjoyment, that is repeated very frequently, makes their minds blossom into high wisdom, so that the nectar of the Lord -experience is made available to them perennially. 

59. When I was roaming, like a wild elephant in a large forest, it was the feet of Ramanuja (whose feet are worshipped by Paramikaanthins) that proved to be an effective fetter on my feet to check me from going astray. 

60. The Ganga flow that carries pearls, which gets increased due to the water supply from Yamuna and others, can at times flow across high pleateus too. So also the Ganga of Ramauja's KaruNA (daya) that will produce mukthas (delivered souls) is enhanced by the additional benediction from Yamunacharya and others as well, and will remove all our sins, could pass even on a highly-conceited person like me and immerse me with its pure pristine waters. 

61. If one has the habit of enjoying the works of Ramanuja comes across other works, he will not take interest in them; Why? These (latter) works emphasise the trifles; while doing so, the words, logic and trend are all tough and they traverse arduous routes. The main theme will be presented in such a manner that the whole exercise will look like a heap of many torn pieces of cloth, knotted together here and there. One would not find anything to relish. After all, Siva bears, on the locks of his head, the pearl-filled Ganga river. But will he ever agree to receive and bear a street-gutter in which frogs flourish? 

62. Ramanuja, the Ocean of mercy, brought and presented to the Lord of Hasthigiri, Varadaraja, pure water from a well. This Varadha is a dark cloud (of mercy again) and What a blessing it is! Even today, that cloud, that Sri Varadaraja is, showers rains in time and beyond our expectations. (This was because of Ramanuja's original kaimkaryam, which is now being returned to us by the Lord, so to say, to Ramanuja's people!) 

I pay my obeisance to him, the king of ascetics, who is an enemy to the darkness of self-conceit, and who is capable of eliminating enemy-systems by mere literary works. 

63. Ramanuja's birth is another avtaar of the Lord. The Lord's white garment was got squezzed and rinsed in safforn water to give Ramanuja's garment. And he took the thridaNda as the insignia of the ascetic order. That is all. Otherwise, he is merely the Madhusoodhana Moorthy only (for having got the Vedic philosophy in visishtadviatm on track) 

To us, who have adopted his system by the alluring attraction that his qualities of head and heart exercised over us, an all-round fame of a righteous type is a regular gift, spontaneously coming to us! 

64. When Ramanuja walks along on his daily routine, (Madhookara) for receiving food, as a sanyaasi ought to, his feet leave their impression on the Mother Earth, rather deep and clear. Earth now regards herself fortunate and sanctified. I would say even Nithyasooris will cherish this and bear them on their front - head. I long to bear those feet on my head. 

65. Many wrongly- directed proponents of parallel systems have gone far away from the area and direction of the system propagated by Ramanuja. Then, they have made by their works, Vyasa, an object of ridicule; they have driven out Vaalmeeki out of their minds; they condemn Sukhar to the state of a mere parrot; they regard Bodhayanar as prattler of worthless things. That is, they have totally ignored our ancient works that ought to have as basis and authority (in order that they could embark on a completely novel system of their own!). 

66. Life is the Lord's "maayaa" under which we live and suffer. It is almost a long, very long, night of darkness that mankind had suffered. But to those people, who have drunk deep from the nectar- ocean of Ramanuja's works, which are real curative medicine, this maya-night would not signify a deep slumber of ignorance. That Ramanuja, whose birth in this world had been for banishing all inauspicious and wrong knowledge, has made my heart to go along his path, my thoughts now being meaningful. 

67. Abiding by pure Vedic rules, impressed by hundreds of Ramanuja's recorded sayings, banishing all alien connections, developing a loving taste and a dancing enthusiasm, gien vent to in a number of ways, for the gracious glance of the Lord who has a perennial proximity to Lakshmi, my mind (like a qualified damsel, so to say) ascends to the top floor of the palace, (namely, of Upanishads) and rejoices! 

68. Leave alone the pure intellect of the highest order, sprouting even at birth, seen in the case of Ramanuja's followers. Leave alone, I say, the ever-lasting and mature, magnificent and spontaneously regaling, works of Ramanuja. What I ask is: Who dares face us, with eyes open, even for a moment, in a war of literary dialectics based on sasthras, for which type of exercise, we are long eager? 

69. We have studied Vaisheshika to satisfaction. We have learnt Nyaya. We have got filled with Meemaamasam as well. We have mastered Saankhya and Yoga. However, all this being so, what have we to learn from people who have been roaring aloud in the dense forests of false paths, blinded by the night of nescience, when these systems have been totally demolished by Ramanuja (in his works, like Sri Bhashyam)? 

70. Buddha's system fell prostrate; Saankhya philosophy of Kapila hid itself somewhere; Vaisheshika got dried; Systems of Chaarvaka, Siva, et al had no place; Kumaarila Bhatta's (Meemaamskam) died down; Prabhakara's too disappeared.- All this, when Ramanuja's Siddhaantham was placed on a Trivedhi pedestal, to guide us. Then, what is the hope and where is the doubt, regarding the fate of Sankara's and the like? 

71. This humble self- Venkatesa - was crowned by great scholars who have drunk deep and delved to depths in the vast ocean, that Ramanuja's works constitute, the ocean that is majestic, whose fame has spread in all directions. I have been able to secure the pleasing accolades of Saadhus, by reason of this work (of Yathiraja Sapthathi), which has the capacity to drive away all contrary talk, even as a strong wind would drive a piece of cotton! 

72. This roar, of the Lion - among poets- (Kavi- thaarkika simham) is capable of applying effective fetters on the passions of people (which are verily giant elephants) by tying them to the foot of Yathiraja mountain. (People have now stationed themsleves where they ought to be). Let this roar, YATHIRAJA SAPTHATHI, be heard, in the fitness of things, by anyone who may like to meet us in a debate! 

73. (Phala sthuthi): This work, YATHIRAJA SAPTHATHI, would serve as respectful harathi to Upanishads, which have been scoffed at and mutilated by bad and wrong interpretations, by many. 

May it bestow, on the reader, the devotional intellect that would be so expansive as to devour even the two vibhUthis of the Lord- Leela VibhUthi and Nithya VibhUthi- that is His whole aishwaryam! 

74. Those who evince an interest in this work! YATHIRAJA SAPTHATHI, it being of a character and way of life that are apparent and directly discernible (as Hasthaamalaka, as one would say) and being praise worthy, for its words, (even at the hands of the Veda purusha) SHALL SHINE in the world, so very lustrously as to make the jealous ones (critics of Yathiraja's system) equivalent to the stars seen in the day time!