vaiṣṇavera madhye rÄma-upÄsaka saba
keha 'tattvavÄdÄ«', keha haya 'Å›rÄ«-vaiṣṇava'
vaiṣṇavera madhye - amongst Vaiṣṇavas; rÄma-upÄsaka saba - all worshipers of Lord ÅšrÄ« RÄmacandra; keha - someone; tattva-vÄdÄ« - followers of MadhvÄcÄrya; keha - someone; haya - is; Å›rÄ«-vaiṣṇava - devotees following the disciplic succession of ÅšrÄ« RÄmÄnujÄcÄrya
At the time, all the South Indian Vaiṣṇavas were worshipers of Lord RÄmacandra. Some were TattvavÄdÄ«s, and some were followers of RÄmÄnujÄcÄrya.
ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura points out that the word “TattvavÄdī†refers to the followers of ÅšrÄ«la MadhvÄcÄrya. To distinguish his disciplic succession from the MÄyÄvÄdÄ« followers of Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya, ÅšrÄ«la MadhvÄcÄrya named his party the TattvavÄdÄ«s. Impersonal monists are always attacked by these TattvavÄdÄ«s, who attempt to defeat their philosophy of impersonalism. Generally, they establish the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Actually the disciplic succession of MadhvÄcÄrya is known as the BrahmÄ Vaiṣṇava sect; that is the sect coming down from Lord BrahmÄ. Consequently the TattvavÄdÄ«s, or followers of MadhvÄcÄrya, do not accept the incident of Lord BrahmÄ’s illusion, which is recorded in the Tenth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. ÅšrÄ«la MadhvÄcÄrya has purposefully avoided commenting on that portion of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam in which brahma-mohana, the illusion of Lord BrahmÄ, is mentioned. ÅšrÄ«la MÄdhavendra PurÄ« was one of the ÄcÄryas in the TattvavÄda disciplic succession, and he established the ultimate goal of transcendentalism to be attainment of pure devotional service, love of Godhead. Those Vaiṣṇavas belonging to the Gauá¸Ä«ya-sampradÄya, the disciplic succession following ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, are distinct from the TattvavÄdÄ«s, although they belong to the same TattvavÄda-sampradÄya. The followers of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu are therefore known as the Madhva-Gauá¸Ä«ya-sampradÄya.
The word pÄá¹£aṇá¸Ä« refers to those who are opposed to pure devotional service. In particular, these are the MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s, the impersonalists. A definition of pÄá¹£aṇá¸Ä« is given in the Hari-bhakti-vilÄsa (1.73), wherein it is stated:
yas tu nÄrÄyaṇaá¹ devaá¹ brahma-rudrÄdi-daivataiḥ
samatvenaiva vÄ«ká¹£eta sa pÄá¹£aṇá¸Ä« bhaved dhruvam
A pÄá¹£aṇá¸Ä« is one who thinks that the Supreme Lord NÄrÄyaṇa, the Personality of Godhead, is on the same level with the demigods, headed by Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva. A devotee never considers Lord NÄrÄyaṇa to be on the same platform with Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva. The MadhvÄcÄrya-sampradÄya and RÄmÄnuja-sampradÄya are mainly worshipers of Lord RÄmacandra, although the ÅšrÄ« Vaiṣṇavas are supposed to be worshipers of Lord NÄrÄyaṇa and Laká¹£mÄ« and the TattvavÄdÄ«s are supposed to be worshipers of Lord Kṛṣṇa. At present, in most of the monasteries belonging to the Madhva-sampradÄya, Lord RÄmacandra is worshiped.
In the book known as AdhyÄtma-rÄmÄyaṇa, there are statements in chapters twelve to fifteen about worshiping the Deities of ÅšrÄ« RÄmacandra and SÄ«tÄ. There it is stated that during Lord RÄmacandra’s time there was a brÄhmaṇa who took a vow to fast until he saw Lord RÄmacandra. Sometimes, due to business, Lord RÄmacandra was absent from His capital for a full week and could not be seen by the citizens during that time. Because of his vow, the brÄhmaṇa could not take even a drop of water during that week. Later, after eight or nine days, when the brÄhmaṇa could see Lord RÄmacandra personally, he would break his fast. Upon observing the brÄhmaṇa’s rigid vow, Lord ÅšrÄ« RÄmacandra ordered His younger brother Laká¹£maṇa to deliver a pair of SÄ«tÄ-RÄma Deities to the brÄhmaṇa. The brÄhmaṇa received the Deities from ÅšrÄ« Laká¹£maṇajÄ« and worshiped Them faithfully as long as he lived. At the time of his death, he delivered the Deities to ÅšrÄ« HanumÄnjÄ«, who, for many years, hung Them around his neck and served Them with all devotion. After many years, when HanumÄnjÄ« departed on the hill known as Gandha-mÄdana, he delivered the Deities to BhÄ«masena, one of the PÄṇá¸avas, and BhÄ«masena brought Them to his palace, where he kept Them very carefully. The last king of the PÄṇá¸avas, Ká¹£emakÄnta, worshiped the Deities in that palace. Later, the same Deities were kept in the custody of the kings of Orissa known as Gajapatis. One of the ÄcÄryas, known as Narahari TÄ«rtha, who was in the disciplic succession of MadhvÄcÄrya, received these Deities from the King of Orissa.
It may be noted that these particular Deities of RÄma and SÄ«tÄ have been worshiped from the time of King Iká¹£vÄku. Indeed, They were worshiped by the royal princes even before the appearance of Lord RÄmacandra. Later, during Lord RÄmacandra’s presence, the Deities were worshiped by Laká¹£maṇa. It is said that just three months before his disappearance, ÅšrÄ« MadhvÄcÄrya received these Deities and installed them in the Uá¸upÄ« temple. Since then the Deities have been worshiped by the MadhvÄcÄrya-sampradÄya at that monastery. As far as the ÅšrÄ« Vaiṣṇavas are concerned, beginning with RÄmÄnujÄcÄrya, they also worshiped Deities of SÄ«tÄ-RÄma. SÄ«tÄ-RÄma Deities are also being worshiped in Tirupati and other places. From the ÅšrÄ« RÄmÄnuja-sampradÄya there is another branch known as RÄmÄnandÄ« or RÄmÄt, and the followers of that branch also worship Deities of SÄ«tÄ-RÄma very rigidly. The RÄmÄnuja-sampradÄya Vaiṣṇavas prefer the worship of Lord RÄmacandra to that of RÄdhÄ-Kṛṣṇa.
