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on. XlV. dOVtJfbA*g CONVERSIOIf. 91
has "from this moment ceased; and I have notliing more to do
with you. I am entirely rid now of old shackles." So saying,
he suited action to word, by clapping his hands,' and turned
his face away from them. Thus beaten they said to Purna, :
" Sire, we had known all this yestei-day ; and yet we thought
we would go to you and make a stand and try to force or
persuade Nayana,r back to us, but it is hopeless, we find. Hear,
however, the dream whicli we had. Our God of Kfilahasti
us and spake thus :— " Listen, my faithful
(Siva) appeared to
In the old days, the Vedas and S&stras suffered at the hands of
the Pashandins, BauddhAs and Ch&rvakas. They were restored
by the three-staffed Sanyslsin, Dattatreya. Again now, as of
old, the Vedas have suffered by heretical vandalism. To reestablish
them, the celestials Vishvak.sena, Ananta and Vainateya
have become incarnate on earth, under the names of
Y3.muna, Ramanuja and Govinda. To help them, the Divine
Symbols of Vishnu—the Conch and the Discus—have appeared
as Dasarathi and Kur6.?a, respectively. So, the Vedic Vaishnavism
which is going to revive under these Masters is a system
which is after my own heart. Govinda had entertained a
wish once for living in Kasi ; and this desire I fulfilled by
appearing as the linga in his palm, and giving him thus a
chapter of Saivism ; so that he may be in a position to show
and prove to others the comparative merits of the two systems,
which can best be done only after personal experience.
Vaishnavas are a free people. Interfere not. Let them alone."
'
Such was our dream,' the Saivas represented, ' and so, Sirs,
you are free, and we return.'
Purna's plans were thus worked
out. He took Govinda to his home at Tirupati, and has had,
as expiatory, the tonsure, &c., performed as also the five-fold
Sacraments^ of the Vaishnavas—on the shores of the Holy
Pond, called the Svami-Pusbkarini—administered. After this
the Holy Teachings contained in the Prabandhas of the Saints
(Azhvars) were duly imparted, and the Five Fundamental
•
This means : washing one's hands off.