RAMANUJA'S RETURNFor over an hour Ramanuja remained at the well, raptin ecstasy, reciting Queen Kunti's prayers from the Srimad-Bhagavatam in glorification of the Supreme Personality ofGodhead. Eventually three women carrying water pitchersapproached the well, and, upon seeing them, Ramanujacontrolled his emotions and proceeded on towards Kancipuram.Ever since her son had set off on the pilgrimage tonorthern India, Ramanuja's mother, Kantimati, had been in astate of constant lamentation, shedding tears of separation.Thus, when he suddenly appeared at the doorway of the house,she could not at first believe it was actually him. Onlywhen he paid obeisances and spoke to her was she fullyconvinced. Then she was filled with happiness and began toinquire from him, "My dear child, how is it that you havereturned so soon? Where is Govinda? I thought that it wouldbe at least six months before you returned from yourpilgrimage to the holy Ganges"When the whole story had been related to her,Kantimati was horrified by the evil intentions ofYadavaprakasa, but also delighted to hear of the great mercythe Lord had shown her son. At that moment Ramanuja's aunt,Diptimati, the mother of Govinda, came to the house alongwith Ramanuja's young wife. They were also overjoyed to seehe had returned safely. They then began to cook offeringsfor Lord Narayana, and, just as they were serving prasadam,Kancipurna, who had heard of Ramanuja's arrival, came there.The two devotees warmly embraced one another, and Ramanujainvited Kancipurna to take prasadam as their honored guest.That night the feelings of joy in that small house werepractically unlimited.STUDIES RESUMEDRamanuja continued to study the scriptures at home,and he asked his mother and aunt to tell no one aboutYadavaprakasa’s treacherous dealings. Some months later theacarya returned to Kancipuram along with all his disciples,except for Govinda. When Diptimati asked Yadavaprakasa abouther son, he told her that after Ramanuja's disappearancethey had journeyed to Benares, where they took darsana ofLord Visvanatha and bathed in the Ganges. They had stayedthere for two weeks. One day whilst taking bath in theriver, Govinda had discovered a Siva linga in the water.Seeing this as the will of the Lord, Govinda had immediatelybegun to worship Lord Siva in this form.As he continued his worship, day by day his devotionto Lord Siva had become more and more fixed. Thus, when theyarrived at Kalahasti on the return journey, he told histeacher and the other students that he no longer wanted toreturn to Kancipuram. He had decided to stay in that holy27
shrine of the Saivites and dedicate his life to the worshipof Lord Sankara.Diptimati was not an ordinary woman, and, rather thanfeeling distress at hearing this news, she became completelyjoyful, considering herself blessed to have such a saintlyson. Soon after this she went to Kalahasti to visit Govinda,and, on seeing how he was completely absorbed in worship ofLord Siva and freed from material hankering, her happinessincreased many times over.At first Yadavaprakasa was fearful when he saw thatRamanuja was still living, but he thought the young man mustbe unaware of the plot he had made to kill him. In thepresence of Kantimati he pretended to be overwhelmed withjoy at finding her son safe and sound. "You cannot imagine,"he told her, "the suffering and anguish all of us underwentwhen we were unable to find him in the forest."In actuality the teacher was feeling very ashamed ofhis wickedness now that he saw Ramanuja's humble behavior.Turning to the young man, he spoke affectionately, "Mychild, from this day you should come once more to study withme. May the Lord continue to shower His blessings upon you."From that day on Ramanuja resumed his studies withYadavaprakasa.YAMUNACARYA'S PRAYERS FOR RAMANUJAA few days later the venerable Alabandara,accompanied by many disciples, came to Kancipuram to seeLord Varadaraja. While he was returning from the temple,Yamunacarya saw Yadavaprakasa walking with his disciples,his hand resting on Ramanuja's shoulder. Seeing thishandsome, effulgent young man, the Vaisnava saint becamecurious and inquired from his followers as to his identity.When he learned this was the same Ramanuja who had writtenthe wonderful commentary on the Upanisadic mantra, satyamjnanam anantam brahma, he was very pleased. But at the sametime he was disturbed to see him under the guidance of suchan ardent mayavadi as Yadavaprakasa. He then prayed to LordVaradaraja for Ramanuja's deliverance from such unfortunateassociation:"I take shelter of the Supreme Personality ofGodhead, by whose mercy the deaf may hear, the lame mayarise and walk, the dumb may speak, the blind may see, andbarren women may bring forth children."0 lotus-eyed one, husband of Laksmi, please bestowyour full mercy upon Ramanuja, so that he will be able toworship you fully, without any hindrance."Yamunacarya longed to approach Ramanuja and conversewith him, but he was unwilling to associate with anondevotee like Yadavaprakasa. At this time Alabandara wasover one hundred years old and was the leading acarya amongall the Vaisnavas in south India. He realized that, if Krsna28
- Page 1 and 2: The Life ofRamanujacaryaTABLE OF CO
- Page 3 and 4: egan to learn the wonderfully instr
- Page 5 and 6: Ramanuja. Despite some minor philos
- Page 7 and 8: For the devotees, Hi manifests His
- Page 9 and 10: YAMUNACARYAIn the south of India ma
- Page 11 and 12: furious rage to inform his teacher
- Page 13 and 14: and faithful to her husband as was
- Page 15 and 16: that there was little chance of his
- Page 17 and 18: all the pleasures of my worldly lif
- Page 19 and 20: with his wife to the temple of Sri
- Page 21 and 22: THE FIRSTCONFRONTATIONOne day when
- Page 23 and 24: "Sir, surely you could just forbid
- Page 25: quickly dispelled all the misgiving
- Page 29 and 30: was on everyone's lips. Yadavapraka
- Page 31 and 32: Having given this advice to the you
- Page 33 and 34: ahmanas were from Kancipuram, he im
- Page 35 and 36: "My master wishes to see you, and i
- Page 37 and 38: long periods he would remain alone,
- Page 39 and 40: KANCIPURNA'S VISIT TO TIRUPATIMeanw
- Page 41 and 42: ‘All of you may recall how, just
- Page 43 and 44: departed for Sri Rangam. While Maha
- Page 45 and 46: RAMANUJA BEGINS HIS TEACHINGAll the
- Page 47 and 48: Seeing the devotional sentiments in
- Page 49 and 50: When the discourse was completed an
- Page 51 and 52: To this the priest replied, "You do
- Page 53 and 54: to your words, so many people are n
- Page 55 and 56: DASARATHI'S HUMILITYDasarathi then
- Page 57 and 58: great attention. When he heard Rama
- Page 59 and 60: ADOPTING THE WAYS OF ROBBERSBeing a
- Page 61 and 62: of the huge boat as it moved slowly
- Page 63 and 64: THE PRIEST'S REPENTENCEHowever, in
- Page 65 and 66: he walked over to the monastery whe
- Page 67 and 68: make a flower garden and serve Lord
- Page 69 and 70: However, when he heard about the wo
- Page 71 and 72: offense, they all submitted a petit
- Page 73 and 74: RETURNING TO KANCIAfter thus passin
- Page 75 and 76: "That woman was singing the tales o
- Page 77 and 78:
However, that night as he was lying
- Page 79 and 80:
challenged by some of the local sch
- Page 81 and 82:
the birthplace of Nathamuni, Yamuna
- Page 83 and 84:
and so he and his wife were fasting
- Page 85 and 86:
from His temple, the throng of peop
- Page 87:
enclosed by walls on all sides, as
- Page 90 and 91:
considering him fallen, and that he
- Page 92 and 93:
and the other devotees also left th
- Page 94 and 95:
However, the atrocities that Kulott
- Page 96 and 97:
just by looking at the girl's face.
- Page 98 and 99:
festival days. This form of the Lor
- Page 100 and 101:
up her body. Being immersed in cont
- Page 102 and 103:
heard Lord Varadaraja speak to him
- Page 104 and 105:
take part in the festivities. Many
- Page 106 and 107:
At about the same time the devotees
- Page 108:
When Ramanuja had finished speaking