Aalavandar's Contribution

Question

Aalavandar (also known as Yamunacharya) is a great scholar and has written on Lord Ranganatha. What are the significant contributions made by him during his period? Any specific shlokas he wrote on Lord?

Answer 1

Yāmunācārya also popularly known as ālavaṇdār, was the son of Ishwara Muni and grandson of the great acharya Nathamuni. He was born in 916 A.D at Viranarayanapuram (present day Kattu Mannargudi) in Tamil Nadu. Yāmunācārya was a genius – a child prodigy. He was instructed in all Sastras. He had the gift of eka-santha – graha (remembering forever by learning only once).

ālavaṇdār is a title given by the queen of Pandya Kingdom when he has won a debate with the royal chief scholar. The name means who has come to rule me or the one who has come to save me.

He was skilled in the art of debate and a learned scholar. During his life time he wrote 8^* works.

• Chatushloki : Chatusloki are four sanskrit slokas dedicated to Mahalakshmi. It is in the praise of Sri or Lakshmi. These are concise in form but also explain in great clarity the auspicious qualities of Maha Lakshmi.
• Sthotra Ratnam : Sthotra ratnam consists of 65 verses. This work of Yāmunācārya played important role in creating interest in Ramanujacharya towards Vishishtadvaita philosophy and restoring back Embar into Sri Vaishnavism.
• āgama prāmāṇyaṃ : This is work of Yāmunācārya which is the first literary work which highlights the validity of the Pāṃcarātra āgamas.
• Siddhi Trayam (Atma trayam, Samvit trayam, Eeswara trayam) : These helped Swami Ramanuja to formulate his philosophy in Sri Bashyam.
• Mahāpuruṣa nirṇayaṃ : This describes the supremacy of the Lord Vishnu and his consort.
• Gītārtha saṃgrahaṃ : This is the work of Yāmunācārya in which he gives the essence of Bhagavad Gita in 32 verses.

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^{*When counted Atma trayam, Samvit trayam, Eeswara trayam as three different works. Generally these three are collectively known as Siddhi Trayam.}