Paper short abstract:

Each biographical representation reinvents its subject, making careful choices to craft new messages. Comparing a popular TV serial on Rāmānuja with the earliest biographic material in Śrīvaiṣṇava scriptures shows how biography continues to be an effective medium to speak to new audiences.

Paper long abstract:

The philosopher-theologian, Rāmānuja, revered as the greatest ācārya by the Śrīvaiṣṇava community of Tamil Nadu, is credited with the composition of a number of philosophical treatises, defeating a number of famous scholars in philosophical debate, drawing in different social groups/ castes into the Srirangam temple ritual, and creating a more inclusive community.

Rāmānuja's life has been a subject of numerous religious texts through the centuries, and in the twentieth century, a number of texts of popular culture from films to fiction to children's comic books have continued to inspire and instruct newer generations.

In June 2015, Kalaignar TV, a media house affiliated to the DMK, an important political formation in present-day Tamil Nadu, launched a serial on Rāmānuja, scripted by five-times state chief-minister, Mr. Karunanidhi.

Why is a political party that is self-consciously anti-brahmanical, and rooted in the atheistic tradition of Periyar, celebrating the life of a brahmana ācārya of a deeply theistic tradition?

I contend that each biographical representation of a well-known subject is a re-conceptualization. By careful selections and omissions, and highlighting of certain themes from the available narratives, new messages can be crafted even from old stories. On the other hand, traditional values and diktats can be reinforced by being repackaged in the reinvented biography. A comparison of the popular television serial on of Rāmānuja with the earliest biographic material available in the Śrīvaiṣṇava scriptures will show how biography continues to be an effective medium to speak to new audiences.