Ramanujacharya – Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

and faithful to her husband as was Savitri. Refute this ifyou can."Seeing how he had once again been trapped by theintelligent boy, Kolahala could no longer restrain hisanger. "You rascal," he screamed, "how can any loyal subjectsay that his king is unrighteous or his queen unfaithful toher husband? It is true I have not replied to yourstatements, but that does not mean I am defeated. First youmust refute your own propositions, and, if you cannot, youshould be put to death, for the implications of your wordsare treason against your king and queen."When Kolahala shouted out these words, all hisdisciples and supporters cheered; but all those who favoredYamunacarya cried, "No, Kolahala is defeated. He is simplyletting forth his anger, because he could not refute thestatements of Yamunacarya as he promised to do."Thus an argument broke out in the palace, but in themidst of the contention Yamunacarya quieted them all bysaying, "Please stop this argument, for it is unnecessary. Ishall refute all my propositions one by one. Please hear me"At this everyone fell silent and turned their attention toYamunacarya, wondering how he could possibly do this and yetnot offend the king and queen."My first statement," he continued, "was that ourgreat pandita's mother was not a barren woman. However, itis stated in the Manusamhita that a woman who has only onechild is to be considered barren. As your mother gave birthto only one son, even though he is a man of such merit asyourself, according to the sastra, she must be consideredbarren. Secondly, I stated that the king of the Pandyas isa most righteous man. However, the Manu' samhita states thata king enjoys the benefit of one sixth of the religious actsof his subjects, but also has to bear the burden of onesixth of their sinful deeds. Because in the present age ofKali men are more prone toward sinfulness than piety, itmust follow that our king, although flawless in his owncharacter, is bearing a heavy burden of unrighteousness. Andnow to my third proposition, which stated that our queen isas chaste and faithful as was Savitri. But again, if weconsult the laws of Manu, it is said that the king is therepresentative of Agni, Vayu, Surya, Candra, Yama, Kuvera,Varuna, and Indra. Therefore, the queen is married not justto one man, but to these eight demigods as well. So how canit be said that she is chaste?"On hearing these wonderful answers, all the peoplewere filled with amazement and the queen joyfully cried out,"Alabandara! Alabandara!- He has conquered! He hasconquered!"The king immediately came forward and embracedYamunacarya. "Just as on the rising of the sun," he said,"all the insignificant stars fade away, so you, 0 learnedAlabandara, have conquered the proud Kolahala by yourlearning and skill. This fellow just a short while ago was14