Ramanujacharya – Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

any personal desire, and so they never aspire for oneness asthe mayavadis do. This philosophy was directly opposed tothe teachings of Yadavaprakasa and after this incident hisaffection for Ramanuja began to wane.MORE CONFLICTS AT SCHOOLA few days later when Yadavaprakasa was instructinghis students from the Taittiriya Upanisad, he made thestatement that the Supreme Brahman is Truth, Knowledge, andInfinity. On hearing this impersonal idea of God, Ramanujacould not contain himself. He immediately objected to histeacher’s explanation, saying, "No, this verse means thatthe Supreme possesses Truth, Knowledge, and Infinity, butstill He has His own existence beyond these attributes."Angered by this unexpected interruption,Yadavaprakasa replied, "You presumptuous child, if you won'taccept my explanations, then why do you come here? Why notgo home and start a school of your own?" When he hadcomposed himself somewhat, he went on more quietly, "Yourexplanation is not in accordance with Sankaracarya or any ofthe previous acaryas, so kindly keep your impertinence toyourself."By nature Ramanuja was humble and meek, and so hetried to avoid such confrontations with his teacher.However, he was also absolutely devoted to knowledge of thetruth: thus, when he heard the misleading monistinterpretations being put forward by Yadavaprakasa, he wassometimes unable to contain himself. In the presence of theother students Yadavaprakasa used to make light of thesechallenges, but in his heart there began to arise a growingfear and hatred for the boy. "As he grows older," hecontemplated, "this boy will strongly establish thedualistic philosophy of devotion. This must not be allowedto happen. I will do whatever is necessary to protect thedoctrine of monism, even if it means that I have to killhim."YADAVAPRAKASA'S PLOTActually, Yadavaprakasa was very envious of Ramanuja,seeing in him both a purer heart and a greater intellectthan his own. One day, therefore, he called all his otherstudents to a secret meeting. There he addressed them, "Mydear children, none of you has ever found fault with myteachings, but this impudent Ramanuja has repeatedlychallenged my explanations. He may be an intelligent boy,but all his ideas are based on the false doctrine ofdualism, seeing a difference between the self and God. He isa complete heretic who will cause havoc in society throughhis teachings. We must find some way to be rid of him."23