The Chain of Grace
Guru-paramparā (Sanskrit: गुरुपरम्परा — 'lineage of teachers') is the unbroken succession of ācāryas through whom the salvific knowledge of the rahasya-trayam and the living experience of prapatti has been transmitted from the Lord Himself to the present day.
The Divine Origin
The paramparā begins not with a human teacher but with Śrīman Nārāyaṇa Himself, who revealed the rahasyas to Pirāṭṭi (Śrī Mahālakṣmī). From Her it passed to Viśvaksena (the divine marshal of Vaikuṇṭham), and from Viśvaksena to Nammāzhvār (the greatest of the Āzhvārs, identified with Śaṭhakopa), and thence to Nāthamuni who recovered the Divya Prabandham.
Key Ācāryas in the Paramparā
The main historical Śrī Vaiṣṇava paramparā includes: Nāthamuni → Puṇḍarīkākṣa → Rāma Miśra → Yāmunācārya (Āḷavandhār) → Mahāpūrṇa (Periya Nambi) → Rāmānujācārya → Kūrattāzhvān → Bhaṭṭar → Nañjīyar → Nampīḷḷai → Vadakkutiruvīdhi Piḷḷai → Piḷḷai Lokācārya → Maṇavāḷa Māmunigaḷ (and the line of present-day ācāryas).
Significance for the Devotee
Every initiated Śrī Vaiṣṇava belongs to this chain — connected backward through their ācārya to the Lord Himself. Reciting the Taniyans (verses of praise) for each ācārya in the paramparā is itself a kainkaryam and a meditation on the living continuity of grace. The Āzhvārs' hymns begin with invocations of this paramparā.