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CH. IV. ALAVANDAE'S MISSION. 27
seem no such master to thee, as I am powerless like Rama
to exact obedience from thee." This sarcastic remark penetrated
deep into the heart of And^n, and he felt that by transgressing
the commands of his Guru to i-emain in Srirangam,
he had disobeyed him. Speechless thei'efore he lay.
. The Guru taking compassion—^his anger at the disobedience
of Andan abating by this time—said :— "I believe, son,
thou desirest to re-establish with me tlie relationship of master
and disciple. If so I bid thee rise." On hearing this, An-
The good men
dan rose, tx'embling with fear and stood dumb.
standing near remarked that Andfi,n's temperament was like
that of Lakshmana, who said that his separation from Rama
would be like taking the fish out of the water [Rslmayana II.
5:i. 31. J. Tamun£icha.rya hearing this said :— " And§.n ! disciples
constituted like thee are rare. I am proud of thee. But oh,
much distress I find in thee. Take courage." So saying, he
softly stroked him and bid him go "and visit Anantasayana.
" Thou art my Anantasayana. I know no other ", burst out
Andin, opening his month for the first time. T&munacharya
was struck with the extraordinary character of his disciple
and taking him to be for one who answers the description :
—
" That Teacher is all who Faith bestows on Ms disciple
He is Vaikuntha itself, the Milk-sea and the Dvd/raka '.,"
led him back to Srirangam, which they all reached in due
course.
In the company of his faithful followers, YEbmunEicharya
was here engaged in the prosecution of his spiritual mission ;
but a thought now began to hawass him that to carry on the
good work he had begun, no competent soul was yet found
among his disciples.
' Vaikuntha is Parama-pada or the
the Nebula, said to be the source of
Spiritual Universe ; MiVk-gea is the all Systems). Dvaraka is the place
centre which in the Material Uni- where Krishna, one of the lucarverse,
God has made for Himself, nations, established Himself on
and which is the source of all In- earth and in India,
carnations (like the Milky Way or