The six advise given by Sri Ramanujar to Sri Vaishnavaites..

As Sri Ramanujars  end was nearing  his grief stricken followers sought guidance from him to carry on with life after the irreparable and unbearable loss and vaccum his demise would create in their life .Hence Sri Ramanujar gave the following six guidance to make their life full and worthy.They are also the  guide for all Sri Vaisnavaites.They are as follows.

1.One should read his book Sri Bashyam [which contain  his detailed commentry on Brahma sutras and on Gita] They must also be taught to others.
2.If one is not capable of reading these sanskrit texts  then that person  should read Nalayira divya prabhandham and teach it to others.
3.If one isnot capable of reading Prabhandams of aazhwars then that person can contribute to upkeep of temples of divya desams-like giving money for lighting lamps,for festivals, flower garlands,prasadam and for vastrams for deities.
. If one is not capable of making monetary contributions that person  can contribute physically by cleaning the temple premise and its sorroundings  .
4.If one is not capable of rendering monetary or physical services to a temple that person should live in Melkote at least in a hut.
5.If one is not capable of living in Melkote or in a divya desam then that person should recite Dvaya mantra as many times as possible.
6.If one is not capable of reciting dvaya mantra as he may not have been taught of it with its meanings then should spend his time in company of Sri Vaishnavaite devotees and imbibe their bhakthi and teachings.

Identification with Sri Vaishnavaite concepts by other religions.and sects.

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions regarding the doctrines of Sri Vaishnavaites that makes other two communities to identify with it.

First Christians --They are greatly taken in by the way Sri Vaishnavaites lay great store on Mahalakshmi's inherent nature [as per Sri Vaishnavaites]to forgive even those who have offended and even tortured her .like Sita forgiving a asura in the form of a crow that bit her tender parts when in exile in a forest and fell on her feet after being chased all over the universe relentlessly by Rama's arrow .And the soft hearted manner in which Sita forbade  Hanuman from killing the Rakshis in Lanka though they had abused and tortured her  all through  her one year long imprisonment in there.
Yes Sri Vaishnavaites do extol this virtue in Lakshmi in the avatars she took along with Vishnu and therefore appeal to her first before appealing to her stricter consort to forgive their  bad karmas viz sins and prevail upon her consort to also forgive his devotees lapses .
Christians have missed out one important point.it is this --Yes we consider Sriman Narayana/Vishnu along with  with His consort lakshmi who is residing permanently on His right chest, to be compassionate and forgiving and we beg to be forgiven so that we may reach them easily.But nowhere are we expected to follow their example and forgive those who offend us as the only means of salvation It is only one way .The method to attain salvation or liberation of soul or atma is not attained by showing forgivness to those we offend us ,But through other methods like Karma, gyana and Bhakthi yoga   that help us in cultivating detatchment to acts and their fruits.which would then enable our atma to attain liberation from the perishable bodies .in which,the atma lodges itself eons after eons .

The quality of forgiveness is  considered as a good quality in a person and  no doubt there is a entire chapter devoted to the virtue called forgivness in Mahabharata which are the slokas renderd by a rishi of ancient India but it is not central to our concepts .

Absolute devotion to Supreme Brahman is advocated but that Supreme  Lord has to be only Sriman Narayana /Vishnu along with His consort Lakshmi who is residing permanently in His right chest  and none other.A Srivaishnavaite is expected to shun other gods of other sects and religion .He or she must have faith only in Sriman Narayana /Vishnu  along with His consort Lakshmi residing permanently in  His right chest to the exclusion of all other gods and deities of other sects and religion .

Sri vaishnavaites have added to these methods a easier method of attaining liberation viz surrendering absolutely to the ultimate Forgivness is not central to Sri vaishnavaites concept  but total surrender or prapathi is central to Sri Vaisnavaites concept of Moksham .

This concept of prapathi which was pre existing ,was highlighted by aazhwars from 5 th cent onwards  and then it was propogated  by acharyas like Yamunacharya[alavandar] Ramanujar and Desikan  from 10 th century onwards .

They emphasis that surrender to the will of supreme Brahman [god] is the easiest and best way to attain Moksham .Moksham is a state of liberation of atma from where there is no return to the cycle of birth and death .

Another very important distinction and may be the most important distinction between Hindu/Srivaishnavaite and Christian beleif is that with regard to Birth.To Hindus being born as a living being ,that to as a human being is considered to be  a rarity   .Birth as a human being  is celeberated as the highest form of evolution since out of all living beings it is human beings who have the intelligence that will make them  strive to learn the methods towards  liberation from the cycle of birth and death and rebirth and reach God's sacred feet .To hindus being born as a human being is a blessing.Auvaiyar the Tamil saint  of past has observed that "It is rare to be born with life and it is even rarer to be born as human being".

Tondar adi podi ahwar a Srivaishnavaite saint  has extolled the virtue of being born as human being to such a extent that he declares that even if he was offered  the much sought after  seat in heaven -"Indra loka "he would decline it as he preffered to remain as a human being as against being a Deva , since it is only human beings [despite the  tediouness of repeated births and various problems and sorrow a human being has to undergo in each birth]who can strive to liberate their 'selves'[ atma ] and  reach the blissful and happy region of Bhagwan Sriman Narayana 's sacred feet and never return to worldly life[of pain and pleasure] .Till such time, azhwar declares that , he will draw sustenance by offering his services to Ranganatha enshrined in the temple at SriRangam.

It is a blessing and not a sin to be born as a human being as per Hindu  /SriVaishnavaite's  belief  but in Christian belief human birth is by its very nature sinful and looked down upon .

This surrender doctrine appeals to Muslims They can identify with this concept which is similar to their main concept to attain salvation .Since god is all powerful have faith in him to see you through.Secure his kindness  and munifence by not going against his  will .

They can identify this far and no further Acharyas  viz our gurus who guide us to reaching the ultimate  have emphasised that surrender though it may be whole hearted doesnot absolve one of performing ones daily Karmas viz rituals like worshipping sun every day by performing sandhyavandanam , lighting a oil lamp in the puja room every day after bathing and then recite slokas  in sanskrit and in Tamil that praise not only the auspicious  qualities of Bhagwan [Vishnu] but also describe in detail his beautiful form, the  colour  of his body, eyes, mouth, feet and also the weapons he bears like chakra and conch  , Apart from these daily rituals which a Sri vaishnavaite has to perform .He also has to perform  other rituals  which are  done occasionally like tarpanam, shraddha and homams in marriages,ayush hoamam and so on  ., without fail.

Ramanujar  systematised prapthi or concept of surrender which he inherited from his preceding acharya Yamunacharya and from aazwars preceding Alavandar.He emblazoned any one who wanted to join  Sri vaishnavaism fold with chakra and conch symbols and taught them the mantras and surrendered on thier behalf to Srimananaryana.He was a bold  reformer  who wanted to guide  all those who were prohibited by shastras to read or recite vedas like lower castes and women  towards the path of Moksham in a easy manner.He also emphasised  the fact that a person seeking to be a Srivaishnavaite must have faith only in Sriman Narayana/Vishnu  along with His consort Lakshmi residing permanently and inseparably in His right chest and he should avoid and, shun gods of other sects and religion.This mahavishvasam or immense and absolute faith in Sriman Narayana /Vishnu along with His consort Lakshmi who is residing permanently and inseparably in His right chest is the most important corner stone of Srivaishnavaite faith .

A person  having Vishnu bhakthi [which includes for His consort Mahalakshmi] becomes a full fledged Srivaishnavaite only after a formal initiation  by a  Srivaishnavaite acharya [ Sri Vaishnavaite acharya is one who is well versed in Vedas, shastras epics etc and is a scholar and who practises all the rituals associated with SriVaishnavism] into the fold by emblazoning a persons arms with chakra and conch symbols and whispering the three sacred mantras to be used in japa, into that person's ears .Thus a person is initiated into Srivaishnavaite fold in a regular systematised,formal process .I was thus initiated formally into the fold 15 years back though i was born in a SriVaishnavatre family  .All my family members including my late son went through this formal process.15 years back.

Most importantly in the sub sect i belong the  surrender to the Supreme being is not done by one's own . efforts.It is done by the Srivaishnavaite acharya who performs this surrender on a person's  behalf after  he is  formally initiated into Sri Vaishnavaite sect.He acts as a intermediary between Sriman Naryana and us and recommends Sriman Naryana/Supreme being to grant us Moksham by reciting slokas and meditating with the person sitting by his side.in presence of Sriman Narayana' /Vishnu which is usually at front of a  picture of Lord Venkateswara/Srinivasar placed  and worshipped in the puja room.
My acharya  performed this 'surrender' 15 years back for each of us in our family .in a simple but formal process.

Despite initiating this reform movement he didnot decry Vedas .In fact many aazhwars who are from castes outside the pale of Vedas have reitrated the importance of Vedas by praising them in many of their hymns .

 Ramanujar never moved away from vedic practises and he performed all the rituals suited to his station in life
Hence Ramanujar , the champion of propogation of the doctrine of surrender has performed sandhayavanadana in rivers upto the age of 120 years.each  and every day..He is said to have done it even on the day of expiry though his body was collapsing .He persisted with this ritual  even in that ripe old age though his body wasnot cooperating because he believed that  one must perform daily rituals which have been  ordained by shastras [ancient laws] till the body falls .

Performing Vedic rituals is abhorrent to Christians and performing both Vedic rituals and idol worship are abhorrent to Muslims .

Most important distinction of Srivaishnavism  from other two religions is  that  the supreme Person or Brahman or Supreme ruler of all  as per SriVaishnavaites faith and as emphasised by Ramanujar  time again and again  is not 'form less '.It is not only in temples in this world and amidst the milky ocean  but also in HIS permanent  celestial abode Vaikuntum which is  beyond all worlds ,that Sriman Narayana  has a handsome form with beautiful lotus like eyes , lips and feet .He wears yellow coloured  silk  dhothi at all times and is bedecked with fish like ear rings , necklaces and pendants and other ornaments .He also bears arms like chakra, conch , gadha ,sword and bow.at all times.He is seated on the serpent adi sesha along with His inseparable consort Sri .                                                                                                                                      Ramanujar  has advised Srivaishnavaites to visualise this gorgeous form of Sriman Narayana  whenever  they worship and meditate on Him .

Thus to a certain extent both the communities can identify with Sri vaishnavaites That is in bits and parts and never in its entriety.

Identification of SriVaishnvaites with the other  sect of Hindus viz Saivaites and His family is much much more common than with other religions since Vedas ,rituals, shastras, epics ,puranas ,for both of us are same. But in philosophy there is marked distinction.The advaitin concepts followed by Saivaites sees everything as a illusion whilst Visishta dawaita philosophy followed by Sri Vaishnavaites sees everything around as real .
 Supreme being as per SriVaishnavism is not Nirguna , but is full of auspicious qualities .

According to Adavaitins t the individual atma is part and parcel of Paramatama and at time of liberation that individual self merges totally into Paramatma .and becomes God ,creator  .

 Visishta dawaita philosophy  concurs with the view that an individual atma  is part and parcel of Paramatma but it differs with the view that on liberation that atma merges totally with Supreme being .It holds the view that a individual atma on liberation does enjoy all powers similar to Paramatma except that of creation and very importantly doesnot merge totally with the SupremeBeing but acts as its servant  in the Supreme being's region, deriving immense pleasure at being of service to Him .

Why are converting Christians allergic to Srinivasar?

Why are Christians  put off by Srinivasar temple at Tirumala?

I guess that Christians -[by Christians i am reffering to those Christians who are bent on converting Hindus] still see Vaishnavaites  who worship Krishna ,as a sect of Christianity. The fact that Krishna pre dates Christ by several centuries are all historical facts that will be conveniently forgotten when need be.
I guess the identification with Sri vaishnavaites could be because of the great store Sri Vaishnavaites lay upon the quality of compassion and forgivness that Sri /Lakshmi imparts to her consort Vishnu .

Sri Vaishnavaites always worship Vishnu and Lakshmi together.So we are worshipping compassion and forgiveness! Lashmi is never worshipped separetly unlike other sects .

All petitions of Sri Vaishnavaites are first directed to Lakshmi asking her intercede on thier behalf with Narayana ,who can be harsh at times as he has the duty to punish errants.We go through her because she forgives all sins like a mother  and she even pleads on our behalf with her sterner consort to forgive us mortals .and she succeeds in doing so.

Sri Vaishnavaites end all thier prayers, homaamsand pujas with the following words --'Sarvam Krishna smarapayami',dedicating all prayers and homams to Sri Krishna.

So far so good .Now lets see as to what irks Christians about Sri vaishnavaites

1.Christians have no problem with idol worship  or in our slokas that describe the beauty of Sriman Narayana in his various archa [archa=Prime deity of Vishnu  in a temple having various names like Varadhar , Ranganathar , Srinivasar  and so on ]  and avatar forms.So  lotus red eyes doesnot bother them .this is after all a sect describing Christ nicely and poetically.But when we  describe  Vishnus weapons like Chakra and conch and start praising them then the problem comes.Christ is too good a person /God to bear such cruel blood thirsty weapons.

2.Homams that this 'sect' does during birth, marriages and death and shraddha ceremony done every year is totally indigestible .Kindling a fire out of twigs and feeding it with ghee and other materials and chanting 5000 years old Vedic mantras ! This is just not done in thier religion So how dare this sect do it?  And also end it with the offending 'Sarvam Krishna Samarpayami'. How dare Christ be called to dedicate this 5000 or more old  worship through fire?This sect is over reaching itself .It is digressing and sticking adamantly to its ancient past .The gall of this sect is umbelievable!

3.In most Vishnu temples dotting Tamilnadu [they are more than 108]  following Sri Vaishnava tradition Neither Vedas are not recited nor are yagnas conducted every day .Yagnas are conducted barely once a year .It is generally pavitra utsavam  viz  for cleaning the temples premises and air.According to my knowledge Vedas are recited every day only at Vardharajar temple at Kanchi puram  .There could be few other temples in this list .but it can be counted with fingers
So when a Sri Vaishnavaite visits a Vishnu temple he is worshipping Christ [as reciting  vedas is not a daily affair] as per Christians So we are one big family .Vasudeva kutumbakam.Only or mode of worship differs.

But problem crops up when we  visit Tirumala.It is totally anti christ though the presiding deity is Vishnu.with lakshmi in his chest.She is not housed separately within the temple unlike temple s in Tamilnadu all of which has a separate sannidhi for lakshmi.
Tirumala is  full of  sannidhis of only male deities[various avatars of Vishnu] who carry their consort either in chest or on thier lap .So no scope of worshipping lakshmi as a separate deity unlike in the manner  Shakthi/amman  is worshipped individually.

Next not only are Vedas are recited every day but scandulous of all , yagnas are conducted every day in the premises of compassionate and ever forgiving Christ . These yagnas are those pertaining to Kalyana utsavam which is a seva in which the marriage ceremony of processional deites of Srinivasar and his two  consorts  are conducted as per vedic rituals and homams  within the premises of the temple itself! The Brahmin priests conducting these yagnas end it with the phrase Saravam Krishna arpanam .When seen from the converters perspective they must be fuming - The brahmin priests also perform Thirumanjanam or abhishekam of processional deities every day with water sanctified by recital of Vedas and in which Purusha suktum  the most vilified veda as it clearly mentions the four fold castes of Hindus which is unique to Hindusism  is recited with much fervour by brahmins of both the sects vizVaishnavaites and Saivaites as also Narayana suktum another Rig vedic  sloka, where Krishna is hailed as Narayana/The Purusha.How dare how dare these vile priets are pooh poohing and blowing away the myth assiduosly created over the centuries since Bristish rule  that Krishna is none other than Christ .

Third is the belief of Srivaishnavaits that atmas that have been liberated and attain moksha  and who are at par with Vishnu except in the power of creation which is only Bhagwan's,visit this temple every day to pay thier obseince to Srinivasar .
Freed souls ok Souls have to be freed but how dare they return to earth at will to pay obseince to a idol when Lord of all is near at hand in heaven?Absolutely indigestible.

So this temple has become a traitor to its progenitor and refuses to mend its ways .Naturally it will be hated by converting Christians and others .and this hatred will naturally be directed against me the stubborn Srivaishnavaite who refuses to let go of this deity despite so many humiliations she was made to face in that temple .She need to be reformed and some sense dinned into her jammed head  and brought back to Vasudeva kuttumbukum  at all cost.

Weapon bearing gods.

It always discomfited me Vishnu and his avatars who are eugolised as Shantha swaroopis , full of love and compassion carried weapons and killed enemies.
On one hand we have acharyas , azhwars and upanyasakars who praise Vishnu's auspicious quality of extreme compassion  and on the other hand  we have Puranic lore and epics that portrays them as skillfull extreminators .
Every idol of Vishnu carries his weapons like chakra, gadha , sword conch for blowing before a battle and Saranga viz bow and arrow   So do other gods in Hindu pantheon .Each has a specific weapon unique to them.
Is it the influence of other religions that see God only as love and highlighting it and downplaying the harsher aspects  has rubbed on us , me making me squirm at the obvious delight  that aazhwars and acharyas take in the valiant deeds by   Rama and Krishna  shedding blood as expressed in their  hymns and slokas  ?

Siva was always considered as a hot and violent god unlike calm and cool Vishnu .But avatars of Vishnu shows his other side or his actual side .

Vishnu is not totally compassionate and kind to a fault.He will use his chakra , gadha ,sword and bow and arrow to kill enemies as well as the enemies of his devotees.He doesn't do away with them with love but with his weapons.

using weapons to kill enimies is the only natural way to protects ones devotees who have taken refuge in him .Hence weapon bearing gods are part and parcel of Hinduism .

Desikan an ascetic,poet and intellectual and an important achraya of SRIVaishnavaites who has written 100's of slokas on the compassionate nature of Sriman Narayana [like Daya satakam,etc]is forced to implore him to use his weapons to drive out the enemies beseiging Srirangam in 14 the cent AD 'in his 'abheedistavam' from his exile in a remote village.

Life is a painful teacher.It also taught me  a lesson in similar vein..