srisailEsa dayapAtram dhIbhaktyAdi guNArNavam |
yatIndrapravaNam vandE ramya jAmataram munim ||

Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Dear devotees,
Most of us have faith in PerumAL/Lord but all of us are
not fortunate to have the Lord Himself as an AchArya. So,the Lord
corrects us through an AchAryA and contact with bhAgavatAs. So, the
grace of an AchAryA is essential for "knowledge". I have been
obsessed with AdisEsA/Ramanuja since my third grade,though he might
have been dormant initially,without his grace i would not be writing
this post and couple of years back,for fraction of a second I got
attracted to Advaita philosophy,but was gripped tightly by Ramanuja.
Therefore I attribute this knowledge to only Ramanuja. TirumUla
mantram explains the significance of the "need of an AchAryA" and
those who are not familiar with the TirumUla mantram/ASTAkshara
mantram,please read the postings of Sri TCA Venkatesan.

Remember that the Lord has both mercy and unlimited
autonomy! Although AchAryA's love and God's grace are virtually the
same,resorting to the all-merciful AchAryA is without the danger of
resorting to the Lord who has both mercy and autonomy. Sri Vachana
BhUSaNam argues that AchArya abhimAna is not only a
separate/independent means but also superior/ultimate means
(caramOpAya)given the ultimate limits of the soul's nature and
destiny.

AbhimAna means bhakti-love

The relationship between the AchArya abhimAna and prapatti
is similar to the one between prapatti and bhaktiyOgA.

PiLLai lOkAchAryA[SVB 444-5]says:from fear of one's own
autonomy,bhakti is dropped;from fear of the Lord's autonomy,prapatti
is dropped. In SVB 462,PL says,"prapatti is for one who is incapable
of bhakti;AchArya abhimAna is for one who is incapable of prapatti".

MaNavALa mAmunigaL in his commentary on the same[SVB 444-
5,462] says: bhakti is dropped in favor of prapatti primarily because
of the autonomous/self efforts that bhakti demands is contrary to the
soul's true nature of dependence and secondarily it is very difficult
as compared to prapatti. Prapatti is dropped in favor of AchArya
abhimAna primarily because of the fear that the Lord,out of His
autonomy,may again decide to keep the soul in samsAra and punish him
according to his karma and secondarily due to the difficulty of
maintaining the "great faith(mahA vishvAsam)" essential to prapatti.

Madhurakavi AzhvAr and Vaduga nambi(Ramanuja's disciple)are
the classic examples of holding "AchArya abhimAna" as their "sole"
upAya and service to AchAryA as their only upEya. Other AzhvArs
praised bhAgavata kainkaryam and sometimes yearned for the Lord,while
Madhurakavi AzhvAr was fully satisfied to serve his
AchArya,NammAzhvAr. Vaduga nambi was so devoted to Ramanuja that he
didn't feel the need to go and worship Lord SriRanganAtha in the
temple! Infact Vaduga nambi accused MudaliANdAn and KUraththAzhvAn
being two-faced for alternatively seeking the Lord and Ramanuja! Such
was their bhakti towards the AchArya.

MudaliANdAn:when the lion leaps over from one hill to another,the
little insects, on the lion's body,also get transported with the
lion. Similarly when Ramanuja(lion),leaped over the cycle of birth
and death,we were also saved because of our connection with him.

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam
EmperumAnAr tiruvadigaLE saraNam
nappinnai