Prācyaprabha

प्राच्यभाः-1

Why a Statue of Rāmānujācārya? Why call it the Statue of Equality?

The simplest answer would be It was the vision of H.H.Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji. If the vision is so magnificent, imagine the personality that inspired the vision- awe inspiring, to put it mildly. The Statue exudes the persona of Rāmānujācārya we are showcasing below.

1. always calm, but ready for action…

2. an observer, but a social reformer….

3. a spiritual leader, but a revolutionary….

4. a constant inspiration, in his lifetime and also across the span of Time.

प्राच्यप्रभा-2

Is it okay to be called the Statue of Sri Rāmānujācārya as statue of equality?

(What another party says/ View of Koenraad Elst)

The statue of Sardar Patel, who like Otto von Bismarck in Germany was the “iron man” and the unifier of his country, is sensibly called the “Statue of Unity”: his main legacy is indeed India’s unity. In Rāmānujācārya's life, equality is only an incidental aspect of his prescriptions for spiritual progress. Commentaries and papers have been written about him in the intervening nine centuries without dilating on equality. The pursuit of equality is a typically modern phenomenon, alien to Jesus and Paul, and just as alien to Ramanuja.

We’ve often seen Hindus make flattered claims to modern equality, only to collapse when critically questioned by outsiders. They may find themselves very clever in projecting this contemporary value onto their ancient tradition, but others see through this ploy. That’s why we warn them to think twice before making such claims. Neither the Buddha, another much-acclaimed purported egalitarian, nor Rāmānujācārya had the power to change lay society. They could influence their followers’ minds and organize their monastic orders, but that was the extent of their reach. From a modern perspective, a certain amount of equality was incidental to their real purpose, but this purpose was not equality. Contrary to what Ramanuja’s statue’s name might suggest, his goal was not equality but Liberation.

From Prāgyatā