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106 MANY GURUS EXPLAINEU. CII. XVI.
Here it may be asked, how one disciple can have more than
one Guru ? It was Mahapurna who acted the first sacramental
Guru to Rftmanuja, at iladhurAntakam, as already narrated.
And yet we find R&manuja resorting to many Teachers for
instruction. There is no serious spiritual objection to sucli a
procedure, it is stated. For a king may entrust more than
one minister of his, with the wealth of his realm, to be made
over to his heir when he comes of age. Each minister discharges
his particular trust in due season. Such was the case
with R&mfi,nuja. For the great YS.muna had made many, the
custodians of Spiritual Truths, which were to be imparted to
Rilni^nuja, each in his turn. R3,manuja was to have received
them directly from Yamuna, but fates had ordained otherwise.
Ra,mS.nnja's hopes, which had been dashed to the ground when
Y&muna suddenly passed away, were now fulfilled. Yslmuna
had signified to his disciples that R&maviuja was to be the
High Pontiff of their resu.scitated Ancient Church ; and the
deposit of spiritual truths he had left with them was to be
placed in his hands. The Gurus of Rama,nuja therefore were
thus bound to dischai-ge their sacred trust.
When they did so,
each in his time, they were relieved and happy. It may be
the teacher or the disciple. The canon laid down is that
whoso is qualified to receive spiritual truths must be told them,
regardless of formalities otherwise prescribed, for
the disciple
to wait on the teacher and so on. A teacliei*, it is even said,
becomes a teacher only when he has found a fit pupil, only
when he has transferred to him his wisdom. Thus Rslmanuja's
teachers became entitled to that honor only after teaching
RS,ma,nuja, and disciples became true disciples only after becoming
disciples of Ramanuja. Ramanuja is therefore described
as the Central Gem in the precious necklace made up of
the gems of Teachers and Disciples of the Vaishnava apostolic.