The
Vaikuntha Gadyam () is a
Sanskrit prayer written by the
Hinduism philosopher
Ramanuja towards the end of the 11th century. It is one of the first
bhakti prayers in the
Sri Vaishnavism school of thought and is the basis for many prayers of this style. It is recited in the 108
divya desam temples, including
Srirangam.
[K. Satchidananda Murty, S. Sankaranarayanan, Life, thought, and culture in India, c. AD 300-1000 - Project of History Indian Science, Philosophy, and Culture - 2002 Page 592 "... contexts of Visnu worship and three compact prose compositions of core significance for the doctrine he propounded, were composed on this god by Ramanuja, respectively Saranagati-gadhyam, Srirnga gadyam and Vaikuntha gadyam.:]
Legend
According to Sri Vaishnava tradition,
Ramanuja and his disciples visited the Ranganatha temple in Srirangam on
Panguni Uthiram, a day in spring of the
Tamil calendar month of Panguni (
phalguna) on the day of the ascension of the star called Uttiram. According to tradition, Uttiram was in ascent when the goddess of the temple,
Ranganayaki, a form of
Lakshmi, was born. Ramanuja was inspired by the festivities of the day and composed the
Sriranga Gadyam and the
Sharanagati Gadyam. According to tradition, the deity
Ranganatha is regarded to have been moved by these compositions, and gave Ramanuja a vision of his abode,
Vaikuntha. This inspired Ramanuja to compose the
Vaikuntha Gadyam.
Content
The
Vaikuntha Gadyam, unlike the commentaries of Ramanuja on
Vedanta, does not have detailed philosophical debates. Instead, it is a pure expression of
bhakti and gives a detailed description of
Vaikuntha seen through the eyes of a liberated one (
Jivanmukta). Ramanuja stresses the important message that surrender to
Narayana's lotus feet (
Narayana Sayujyam) results in
salokyam (attaining the abode of Narayana),
sarupyam (purity of soul) and
samipyam (remaining close to God). He glorifies the eternal
kaimkaryam (devoted work) performed by devotees like
Sesha,
Garuda,
Vishvaksena, a devotee considered first among equals, and the
Dvarapala (door keepers) to Vaikuntha,
Jaya-Vijaya. He then gives a brief glimpse of the "bountiful treasure" awaiting a devotee who does similar devotional work.
Style
The work comprises alternate long and short sentences with many adjectival phrases.
See also
