Ramanujacarya

Dr. Patel: Sir, I read your commentary on Bhagavad-gétä and Rämänujäcärya’s. They are absolutely parallel.

Prabhupäda: Yes. Our process is to take from the äcäryas. We are not manufacturing. We are not so fools and rascals that we have to manufacture. We have to take the remnants of foodstuff given by the äcärya and explain in the modern way. That is our business. If it is parallel, that is my success.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk – November 3, 1975, Bombay

Prabhupäda: Yes. Rämänujäcärya has given Vedic quotation for each and every verse. Amongst the Vaiñëavas, he was the greatest äcärya, Rämänujäcärya. And to kill the Mäyävädés, he was the ablest person, Rämänujäcärya. Still in South India, the Mäyävädés and the Rämänujas, they have talks, and the Mäyävädés are defeated always. Acarya means Vaisnava.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk – November 20, 1975, Bombay

Yasodanandana: In the other Vaisnava-sampradayas, such as the Madhva-sampradaya and the Ramanuja-sampradaya, they do not understand that Krsna has His own planet, Goloka Vrndavana. They think that there is only Vaikuntha and nothing else.

Prabhupada: Their knowledge is imperfect.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk – January 6, 1976, Nellore

Acarya will never interpret things like that. You see Ramanujacarya’s comments on Bhagavad-gita. Nothing changed. But in every sloka he has given evidence from the Vedas, from the Upanisads. Acarya will never change.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Interview with Professors O’Connel, Motilal and Shivaram – June 18, 1976, Toronto

Dr. Patel: But I read your Bhagavad-gita, and after that, I read Ramanuja’s. They more or less the same…

Prabhupada: Same thing. There is no difference between the acaryas. Then how he becomes acarya if there is difference of opinion? They cannot be acarya.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Room Conversation – January 2, 1977, Bombay

The story of Ramanujacarya as stated by you is not disobedience. It was a great fervor for the disciple to advance the missionary cause of the Spiritual Master. Ramanujacarya violated the order of the Spiritual Master to advance the cause of the Spiritual Master. The Spiritual Master’s mission was to deliver fallen souls, therefore Ramanujacarya considered that if the mantra was so powerful to deliver the persons, why not deliver it to everyone as soon as possible. That was a little tactic to advance the cause of the Spiritual Master. So everything has to be judged by the motive, and as the motive of such apparent violation was very good, Ramanuja’s Spiritual Master embraced him. This is not actually violating the order of the Spiritual Master. But such actions are very rarely to be done.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Satsvarupa — Los Angeles 14 November, 1968