Chapter Six: The Rasika Lineage of Rama Worship
The lineage written by Raghubar Sharan of Janmasthan in Rahasya is:
- Sriman Narayana
- Sri Lakshmi
- Sri Vishvaksena
- Sri Bopadeva
- Sri Shathakopa
- Sri Nathamuni
- Sri Pundarikaksha
- Sri Ramamishra
- Sri Yamuna Muni
- Sri Parankusha and his five disciples
- Shrutadeva, Shrutaprajna, Shrutavama, Shrutodadhi, and the fifth, Sri Ramanuja Svami
- Sri Kuresha
- Sri Parashara Bhatta
- Sri Lokacharya
- Sri Devadhipacharya
- Sri Shailesha
- Sri Varavara Muni
- Sri Purushottama
- Sri Gangadhara
- Sri Sadacharya
- Sri Rameshvara
- Sri Dvarananda
- Sri Devananda
- Sri Shyamananda
- Sri Shrutananda
- Sri Chidananda
- Sri Purnananda
- Sri Shriyananda
- Sri Harshananda
- Sri Raghavananda
- Sri Ramananda.
This lineage is composed in verse and accepted by many scholars. Its arrangement, however, raises difficulties. The established lineage of enthroned teachers from Narayana through Varavara Muni contains no trace of Bopadeva, so it is unclear how he entered this list. Ramanuja is famously a disciple of Mahapurnacharya, yet here he is made the fifth among Parankusha’s disciples after Shrutadeva, Shrutaprajna, and the others. Moreover, Varavara Muni was born seventy-one years after Ramananda; how then could he be named Ramananda’s fourteenth predecessor? Scholars should consider these points.
With Bopadeva omitted, a lineage of this type is also printed in Vaiṣṇava Dharma Ratnākara.