Ramanujacharya – Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

Having given this advice to the young devotee,Kancipurna left to go and worship Lord Varadaraja. Ramanuja,accepting his instruction, engaged in the service of theLord by bringing water to the temple of Lord Varadaraja fromthe sacred well where he had seen the Lord in the form of afowler.YAMUNACARYA'S ILLNESSEver since the day he had seen Ramanuja inKancipuram, the aged Yamunacarya had been thinking of himand praying to Lord Visnu for his deliverance. He longed forthe day on which Ramanuja would give up the association ofYadavaprakasa and take full shelter of the Vaisnavas. It waswith this hope in mind that he composed his wonderful prayerknown as the Stotra-ratna, which is adored by devotees evento this day.A few days after the composition of the Stotra-ratna,Yamunacarya fell gravely ill and was unable to rise from hisbed. However, even in this precarious position, hoveringbetween life and death, he continued to preach the gloriesof the Lord. Fearing the imminent departure of their guru,various disciples put questions before him. Tiruvarangaasked, "If Lord Narayana is beyond mind and speech, how isit possible to serve Him?"Yamunacarya replied, "The best way to serve LordNarayana is to serve His pure devotees. In addition youshould serve the Deity form of the Lord, even as the blessedKancipurna serves Lord Varadaraja. All problems are resolvedby the statement of the Mahabharata, mahajano yena gatah sapanthah -'Just follow the example set by the greatdevotees'." Looking into the eyes of his dear disciple,Alabandara continued, "For myself, my only refuge now is thelotus feet of Tirumangai, that noble mahatma who served LordRanganatha so perfectly in ancient times."On hearing these words from his guru, Tiruvaranga'seyes filled with tears and he spoke again in a voice chokedwith grief, "Have you decided without doubt to leave thisworld now?"Alabandara smiled slightly and replied softly, "Howis it that such a wise man as yourself is to be seenlamenting for that which is inevitable? Do you not yetunderstand that everything happens only by the will of LordNarayana. Our position is to simply accept whatever mercy Hebestows upon us, giving up the dualities of happiness anddistress."At that moment two other disciples decided they wouldcommit suicide as soon as Yamunacarya left this world. Thesetwo were Mahapurna and Tirukkotiyurpurna.Another disciple came forward shedding tears andcrying out, "Where will any of us go for shelter after your32