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Srimathe: Ra:ma:nuja:ya Namah
Srimath Varavaramunaye: Namah

What is Sri:vaishnavism ?

The land of Bha:rat has been the craddle of very principled cultures and traditions. For many million years , this land has prevailed over the systems entailed in the Holy scriptures known as Ve:da:s. The code of living postulated by these Ve:da:s is reffered as sana:thana dharma or the ancient code of living.

Sana:thana dharma in essence is Sri:vaishnava dharma , as has been recognized by great sages like Sage Ve:da vya:sa , Sage Va:lmi:ki and others. It is without any degree of exaggeration that the conclusion, of Sri:vaishnava dharma being firmly rooted in the Holy scriptures, drawn .

The word "vaishnavam" means 'related to Vishnu'. So Vaishnavism is essentially the religion that is realted to the Lord Vishnu. It is a system that understands that the supreme entity or parama:tma is none but Vishnu who is referred by several names such as Va:sude:va , Na:ra:yaNa , etc; On the face of it , Vishnu is the name of God. In reality , the word "Vishnu" denotes omni-presence. The God is omnipotent and referred as Vishnu .

Are we not children of God?
In today's world , whatever one's knowledge about God is , it is widely accepted that all beings are children of God. Therefore every being has the relationship with Vishnu . So going by our earlier definition , we would call any being as vaishnava. This is justified fully .

The river Ganges is widely known for its holy nature. People are advised to dip in this river's waters to get rid of sins. However , we find fish living in the waters of Ganges . Don't they too get of sins. If so , then they should no longer be fish. They must attain greater births or even salvation, which does not occur.

Therefore a mere dip in the Ganges will not remove sins. It will do goodness only to those who know its greatness. The benefit will be exclusive to those who understand the significance. No good will be attained by casual or experimentative contacts will the river.
Now , why are we suddenly talking about the Ganges?

The entire set of beings are vaishnavas as they are related to Lord Vishnu. But only those who recognize this relationship and live according a life justified by the code of Holy values are called Vaishnava:s in the most proper terms.

In this great tradition , the Goddess Sri: who is the consort of Vishnu is identified in several ways with mediation, prosperity, success , etc; depending on the spiritual state of the individual . For a vaishnava , She plays the role of a mediatrix. She is our Mother who speaks for us to our Father the Lord . She pleads on our sake , so that the Lord may rescue us. We commit different types of sins , which provoke punishment on the basis of the Holy scriptures by the Lord. This may prevent Him from rescuing us. The Goddess Sri: discusses our position with the Lord to our benefit as a mother tries to fulfil the aspirations of a child who is scared of his father. This mediatory role is called Purushaka:ra and is an extremely important concept of this tradition.

Sri:vaishnavism has one unique feature and this is called Guru Parampara or the lineage of Holy preceptors. The first preceptor is the Lord Himself , who is followed by the Goddess Sri:. This lineage is very wonderful and also continuous . We will defer the discussion on this lineage to a later stage.

Due to the strategic positions occupied by the Goddess Sri:, who never parts the Lord , staying with Him at all times so as to rescue us , this dharma is called "sri:"vaishnavism. Though the Lord Himself has several names, this name of Vishnu is easily interpreted into His omni presence , a necessary characteristic of God. Hence this name finds favour in the nomenclature of the "community of the Lord".