Ramanujacharya â Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

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and the other devotees also left the city one by one andjoined Ramanuja in the forest.KURESA AT THE COURT OF KINGKOLUTTUNGAIn the meantime, Kuresa, adopting the dress and dandaof a sannyasi, presented himself along with Mahapurna beforethe king's men, who then escorted the two Vaisnavas toKancipuram, completely taken in by the trick. Mahapurna wasalso fully aware of the danger they faced, but he was now soold that he could not leave Sri Rangam with the otherdevotees and was perfectly happy to leave this world if thatwas the will of the Lord.When they arrived at the palace, Kuresa and Mahapurnawent before the king, who welcomed them with respect and sawto it that they were properly accommodated. Koluttunga hadgood reason to respect Ramanuja, for the acarya haddelivered his sister from an evil ghost when the king wasjust a boy of eight years. However, this memory did nothingto alter his intention of either forcing Yatiraja torenounce the Lord or else taking away his life.After a few days, the king assembled all of hisSaivite panditas and called for the two devotees, stillbelieving Kuresa to be Yatiraja. When Kuresa and Mahapurnaentered the assembly, Koluttunga addressed them in arespectful way, "0 holy men, please be seated. We haveinvited you to our city just to hear auspicious talks onspiritual topics. All the scholars of my court are assembledhere, eager to converse with you, for your reputation hasspread far and wide. Now please tell us, what is the dutyfor men like us?""0 King and panditas," replied Kuresa unflinchingly,"Lord Visnu, the savior of all the worlds, is the SupremeLord of all others. Therefore the duty of every man,whatever his position in life, is simply to worship Him withlove and devotion. There is nothing more than this."On hearing these defiant words, King Kotuttunga flewinto a rage and spoke angrily to Kuresa, "I had heard thatyou were a great scholar and holy man. But now I see thatyou are an imposter, for you worship Visnu instead of Siva,who is the Lord and destroyer of all the worlds. Now youmust give up this foolishness. Hear from these greatscholars the real conclusion of all the scriptures and thenbecome a devotee of Lord Siva. If you are obstinate andignore their pure teachings, then surely neither of you willlive to see another dawn."Immediately the court panditas began to present theirfalse conclusions, using fallacious arguments to try toprove that Siva was the Supreme Lord. However, by dint oftheir vast knowledge of the scriptures, Kuresa and Mahapurnawere easily able to refute all their arguments. Eventually93
the king became completely exasperated and cried out,"Enough of this wrangling! If you want to save your lives,then acknowledge that there is none greater than Siva"To this Kuresa mockingly replied, "Why even Drona isgreater than Siva" This was a play on words, for Siva andDrona were also the names of units of weight - and, of thetwo, the drona was the heavier.In speaking these words Kuresa knew perfectly wellthat he was bringing his death inevitably closer, but heconsidered it his great fortune to be able to sacrifice hislife in order to save that of his guru. The devotee of theLord is known as abhaya, fearless, because he fully takesshelter of Lord Hari.Thus Kuresa was not in the least disturbed byKoluttunga's dreadful threats, but within his mind he beganto pray, "0 Lord Hari, seeing the mercy that you are nowbestowing on me by allowing me to serve Yatiraja in thisway, I can partially realize the meaning of SriYamunacarya's statement: namo namo ’nanta-dayaika-sindhave -I offer obeisances unto You, the unlimited ocean of mercy.Even this mighty king and his proud scholars know nothing ofYour unlimited glories, but You have revealed them to suchan insignificant person as myself just to increase myhumility and surrender. What greater good fortune could Iever hope to achieve!"KING KOLUTTUNGA'S CRUELTYSeeing that Kuresa's reply was intended to ridiculethem, Koluttunga and all his panditas were filled with rage.The king ordered that the two Vaisnavas be arrested andbound. When this had been done, he told his courtiers, "Takethese two blasphemers from our presence and put out theireyes. They deserve to die for the words they have spoken inour presence, but because Ramanuja once saved my sister froma ghost, I will spare their lives."Following this cruel order, the king's men tookKuresa and Mahapurna to a secluded place, and, aftersubjecting them to various tortures, they plucked out theireyes. Despite the intense pain he was forced to undergo,Kuresa was undisturbed at heart, and he prayed to LordNarayana for the forgiveness of his tormentors. He rejoicedthat he was able accept these great sufferings on behalf ofhis spiritual master. When the king's men had finished withKuresa, he stood before them with folded hands and said,"May Lord Narayana bless you for allowing me to serve myguru in this way."On hearing these words and seeing the calm demeanorKuresa was exhibiting, even those cruel-hearted men werefilled with awe. They called to a beggar who was sittingnearby, and, giving him money for expenses, ordered him tolead the two devotees safely to Sri Rangam.94
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The Life ofRamanujacaryaTABLE OF CO
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egan to learn the wonderfully instr
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Ramanuja. Despite some minor philos
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For the devotees, Hi manifests His
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YAMUNACARYAIn the south of India ma
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furious rage to inform his teacher
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and faithful to her husband as was
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that there was little chance of his
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all the pleasures of my worldly lif
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with his wife to the temple of Sri
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THE FIRSTCONFRONTATIONOne day when
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"Sir, surely you could just forbid
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quickly dispelled all the misgiving
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shrine of the Saivites and dedicate
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was on everyone's lips. Yadavapraka
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Having given this advice to the you
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ahmanas were from Kancipuram, he im
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"My master wishes to see you, and i
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long periods he would remain alone,
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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 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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