Ramanujacharya â Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

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"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender untoMe. I wilt deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do notfear."Ramanuja replied, "A person who gives up allindependent desires and serves his guru absolutely for anentire year can fully understand the meaning of this verse,and no one else.""But life is so uncertain," said Kuresa, "how can Iknow whether or not I will live for another year? Pleasebestow your mercy upon me by making the meaning of the versemanifest in my heart even now"Yatiraja considered this request for a while and thenreplied, "If you live for one month by begging alms fromdoor to door, without knowing where your next meal will comefrom, then you will begin to realize the meaning of fullsurrender. At that time I will instruct you on all themeanings of this glorious verse."For one month Kuresa lived as his guru hadinstructed. When the month had passed, he learned fromYatiraja all about the nature of surrender to Lord Krsna.DASARATHI’S REQUESTA tittle while later, Dasarathi, Ramanuja's seconddisciple, approached him with the same request as Kuresa. Tohim Yatiraja replied, "You are my relative, and therefore itis my desire that you understand the verse by hearing fromGosthipurna. Even though there may be some fault in you, Iwill tend to overlook it because you are my family member.The duty of the guru is to remove all taints from the heartof the disciple. Therefore it is better that you takeinstruction from Sri Gosthipurna." Dasarathi was famous as agreat scholar and still a little proud of his learning. Itwas for this reason that Ramanuja directed him to approachGosthipurna.As instructed by his guru, Dasarathi went to residein Tirukkotiyur and for six months he sat at the feet ofMahatma Gosthipurna. However, even at the end of this time,the acarya had still not explained to him the meaning ofthat sublime verse spoken by Lord Krsna.Eventually, taking pity on the young man, Gosthipurnatold Dasarathi, "You are certainly a most brilliant scholar;I know that well. However, you must understand thateducation, wealth, and birth in an aristocratic family cancause pride to arise in the heart of a small-minded man. Inthose who are virtuous, great learning brings self-controland thus gives rise to good qualities, not blemishes.Understanding these instructions, now return to your ownguru; he will reveal the meaning of the verse as youdesire."55
DASARATHI'S HUMILITYDasarathi then returned to Sri Rangam and reported toRamanuja all that had taken place in Tirukkotiyur. At thatsame time, Attulai, the daughter of Mahapurna, came there,obviously in some distress. When Yatiraja inquired from heras to the cause of her unhappiness, she replied, "Dearbrother, my father has sent me to you. I live at the houseof my father-in-law and every day, both morning and evening,I have to bring water from a lake which is over two milesfrom the house. The road there is lonely and difficult totraverse and as a result I have become overwhelmed by fearand physical exertion. When I told my mother-in-law of thesedifficulties, rather than sympathizing with my plight, sheflew into a rage, saying, 'Why did you not bring a cook fromyour father's house? Can I afford to employ a servant whileyou sit idly at home?' Being very unhappy at this treatment,I returned to my father's house and he has instructed me tocome to you for help with this problem."To this request Ramanuja immediately responded, "Dearsister, do not worry. Here I have one brahmana whom I willsend with you. He will do the work of fetching water fromthe lake and the cooking as well."So saying he glanced at Dasarathi, the great scholar.Although working as a servant in the kitchen was anoccupation he might have considered unbefitting for arenowned pandit such as himself, Dasarathi understood thedesire of his guru and gladly followed Attulai to herfather-in law's house. There he began to do all the work inthe kitchen with great care and devotion. In this way sixmonths passed.One day a Vaisnava came to the village and wasexplaining a verse before an assembly of people. Dasarathiwas among the crowd and when he heard the speaker'spresentation tinged with impersonalist misconceptions, hecould not restrain himself from pointing out these errors.At this the man was very irritated and shouted out, "Stop,you fool! Where is a jackal and where is heaven! Whoeverheard of a cook explaining the scriptures? Go back to thekitchen and display your talents there."Without showing the least sign of annoyance at theseharsh words, Dasarathi calmly went on with his explanationof the verse. His presentation, based on many differentscriptures, was made so perfectly that everyone who heardhis speech was captivated. Even the original speaker beggedpardon from him by touching his feet and asking, "How is itthat such a sincere devotee and learned scholar as yourselfis engaged in doing menial work in the kitchen?"To this Dasarathi replied that he was simply actingin accordance with the order of his guru, which was his lifeand soul. When all the people learned he was Dasarathi, thefamous devotee-scholar, they went in a group to Sri Rangam.Before Ramanuja all of them presented their petition,56
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 and 26: quickly dispelled all the misgiving
Page 27 and 28: shrine of the Saivites and dedicate
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: to your words, so many people are n
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
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