Śrī Kṛṣṇa — The Supreme Āchārya and Complete Avatāra
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is revered in the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition as the pūrṇa avatāra — the complete and supreme descent of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa into human form, in whom all the Lord's attributes, powers, and glory are simultaneously and fully manifest. Unlike partial avatāras (aṃśa-avatāras) that manifest only certain qualities for specific divine purposes, Kṛṣṇa's avatāra is the full self-disclosure of Bhagavān in history. The prefix Śrī signals His inseparable identity with Śrī Mahālakṣmī — He is Śrīyaḥ Pati (the Lord of Śrī) in every form, including the embodied one. His sacred biography — from miraculous birth at Mathurā, childhood in Gokula and Vṛndāvana, ministry in Mathurā and Dvārakā, to His revelation of the Gītā at Kurukṣetra — is narrated in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, and Mahābhārata.
Bhagavad Gītā — The Heart of the Sampradāya: Kṛṣṇa's supreme act within the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition is His revelation of the Bhagavad Gītā to Arjuna at Kurukṣetra. This teaching is considered the upaniṣad-sāra (the essence of all Upaniṣads) and the definitive expression of Viśiṣṭādvaita theology. Rāmānuja's Gītā-Bhāṣya — his principal commentary — establishes that the Gītā teaches karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, and bhakti-yoga as ascending stages culminating in prapatti, as declared in the Charama Śloka (Gītā 18.66): sarva-dharmān parityajya māmekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja — the direct command of surrender. This verse is the most celebrated of the three rahasyams and is Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa's personal guarantee of liberation.
Kṛṣṇa as Jagad-Guru: Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa is revered as the jagad-guru — the teacher of the entire world. The three rahasyams central to Śrī Vaiṣṇava initiation — Thirumantram (Aṣṭākṣara), Dvayam, and Charama Ślokam — are all associated with Bhagavān's own direct speech. Within the lineage of Āchāryas, the guru-paramparā begins with Nārāyaṇa Himself; Kṛṣṇa as Āchārya-at-Kurukṣetra is the supreme historical precedent for the Āchārya-disciple relationship that lies at the heart of Śrī Vaiṣṇava practice. The Āchārya is seen as Kṛṣṇa's representative, delivering the same saving truth to the same bewildered soul in every generation.
Kṛṣṇa in the Divya Prabandham: For the Āzhvārs, Kṛṣṇa is not a mythological hero of the remote past but the personally present, forever-approachable Lord. Periyāzhvār and his daughter Āṇḍāḷ sing overwhelmingly of Kṛṣṇa's childhood in Gokula — the butter thief, the dancer on the serpent Kāliya, the lifter of Govardhana. Āṇḍāḷ's Tiruppāvai and Nāchiyār Tirumozhi are saturated with Kṛṣṇa-bhakti expressed as bridal mysticism. Nammāzhvār's Tiruvāymozhi (5.3) contains the celebrated Kṛṣṇa decad — kār māṇikkam kalaitta maṇiyē — an ecstatic meditation on the Lord's form. All these pāsurams testify that the Āzhvārs experienced Kṛṣṇa as the same Bhagavān encountered in the Upaniṣads — clothed in accessible, sweet form.