Ramanujacharya – Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

demanding your death, now you may deal with him as you seefit. I have also promised to give you half my kingdom as aprize for this victory, and that promise I will certainlyfulfill."Of course, Yamunacarya forgave Kolahala, and,although he was but a boy of twelve years, he began at onceto rule the kingdom he had won. Thus his days of povertywere over.YAMUNACARYA AS A KINGWhen Yamunacarya became the ruler of half the kingdomof the Pandyas, some of the neighboring kings saw this as afine opportunity to invade and plunder his lands. When helearned of this from his spies, the boy king marched againstthem with a strong army before they were prepared, and theywere all forced to surrender to him.In this way he enlarged his domain and began to rulethe kingdom. Unfortunately, although he was a shrewd andrighteous monarch, he became distracted from his spiritualunderstanding by political dealings and the sense pleasuresthat go along with a high position. He forgot that this lifeis but a temporary stage in our eternal existence andgradually gave up his acts of devotion to Lord Visnu.RAMA MISRA'S SCHEMEMeanwhile, Nathamuni, Yamunacarya's grand-father,passed from this world to return to the lotus feet of theLord. He had always loved Yamunacarya very dearly, and hewas filled with sorrow to hear how his grandson hadabandoned the path of devotion for the sake of enjoyingsensual pleasures. Therefore, when he was on his deathbed,he called for his chief disciple, Rama Misra, and made alast request of him: "My dear grandson, Yamunacarya, who isknown as Alabandara, has forgotten the greatness and gloryof Lord Visnu, being attracted by the temporary pleasures ofthis material world. Now I am preparing to give up my life,and I can do nothing more to deliver him. Therefore my lastrequest to you is that you save my grandson from thedarkness of nescience in which he is now sunk. I leave himto your care."Rama Misra, being a dutiful disciple, never forgotthis last instruction of his guru-maharaja. Therefore,several years later when Yamunacarya was thirty-five yearsold, he went to his palace seeking an interview. However,when he arrived there, he saw that the gateway to the palacewas crowded with the chariots and soldiers of differentkings. Even powerful noblemen had to wait for a long timebefore they were able to gain an audience with the mightyAlabandara. As a poor sannyasi beggar, Rama Misra realized15