Our acharyas
The srIvaishNava AchArya guruparampara is our greatest gift. Meditating upon the salutations to our AchAryAs
remind us of their greatness, as well as the qualities that they had, and indirectly this reminds us of the kind of
qualities that one needs to aspire to have.
The following are the salutations to the lineage of teachers right from the Lord srIman nArAyaNa himself all the
way to srI maNavALa mAmunigaL. The Lord Himself considers srI maNavALa mAmunigaL to be his AchArya
(evidenced by the salutation, that was composed by ranganAthA himself). Hence, the lineage completes a full
circle with the Lord at the top of the list, and the circle completed by the relationship between the Lord and
srI maNavALa mAmunigaL.

The lineage is as follows:
1. srIman nArAyaNa (Lord ranganAtha)
2. srI ranganAyakith thAyAr
3. srI viSvaksEna
4. srI nammAzhvAr (srI saTakOpa)
5. srIman nAdha muni
6. srI puNdarIkAkshar (srI uyyakkoNdAr)
7. srI rAma miShra (srI maNakkAl nambi)
8. srIman yAmuna muni (srI AlavandhAr)
9. srI mahApUrNa (srI periya nambi)
10. srI rAmAnuja (emperumAnAr)
11. srI embAr (srI gOvinda bhattar)
12. srI parAsara bhattar (11a. srI kUrattAzhvAn)
13. srI nanjIyar
14. srI nampiLLai
15. srI vadakku-th-thiruveedhip piLLai
16. srI piLLai lOkAchAriAr (15b. srI periyavAchchAn piLLai)
17. srI thiruvAymozhip piLLai
18. srI maNavALa mAmunigaL
19. back to Lord ranganAtha

Note: srI. kUrattAzhvAn and srI periyavAchchAn piLLai are in the literal sense, not part of the guruparampara
lineage. However, many elders have included their salutations too in the lineage, given their stature and
prominence. Given the goal of reciting/meditating upon the guruparampara, the more AchAryAs that we can
meditate upon, the better for us. Hence, the two salutations are included.
Every day, our AchAryAs advise us to medidate upon our guruparampara. In many cases, one’s direct
guruparmpara does not go through the lineage as mentioned above, and usually branches after rAmAnuja.
Especially for descendants and/or shisyAs of the 74 simhAsanAdhipathis established by rAmAnuja, the
guruparampara will start with the current AchAryan, his AchAryan, his AchAryan and so on till it reaches
rAmAnuja, and after that, it is common for everyone. For example, for descendants and/or followers of one of
the branches of the thirumalai anandAnpiLLai AchArya purusha family (that are descendants of ananthAzhvAn),
the AchArya parampara goes through srI thirumalai anandAnpiLLai krisNhamAchAriAr (current AchArya), his
AchAryA and so on, till srI anantAzhvAn, then srI aruLAlap perumAL emperumAnAr, and then rAmAnuja, then
periya nambi, AlavandhAr and so on till perumAL.