Ramanujacharya â Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

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desired it, he would one day have the chance to meet withRamanuja alone. Thinking like this, he returned to SriRangam.DELIVERANCE OF THE PRINCESSApart from his great learning in the science ofVedanta, Yadavaprakasa was also expert in magical arts,particularly in driving out ghosts and evil spirits. Once itso happened that the princess of Kancipuram came to bepossessed by a fearful brahma-raksasa ghost. AsYadavaprakasa's expertise in dealing with such situationswas widely known, he was at once summoned to the palace.However, despite all his mantras, the ghost that waspossessing the girl remained completely unmoved. Laughing ina hideous shrill voice, the ghost within the princess calledout, "Yadavaprakasa, of what use are all your mantras Youare wasting your time. Go back home" Determined not to bedefeated, Yadavaprakasa continued with his attempts toexorcise the evil spirit, but to no avail. Again the brahmaraksasaspoke. ‘Why do you waste your strength in vain? Yourpower is much inferior to mine. The only way that you willbe able to force me to leave the body of this beautifulprincess is by bringing here your youngest disciple, thedevoted Ramanuja. His purity is the only force that canovercome my potency".Yadavaprakasa then sent word for Ramanuja to come tothe palace without delay. When that great devotee of LordVisnu arrived there and understood the situation, he spoketo the evil spirit, asking it to leave the body of theprincess. The brahma-raksasa replied, speaking through thegirl, "I will leave this body if you kindly place your lotusfeet on my head." Such was the purity of Ramanuja's devotionthat even this evil fiend could understand the benefit oftaking shelter of such a great soul.With the permission of his teacher, Ramanuja placedboth of his feet on the girl's head, saying, "Now leave thisplace at once and give us some sign by which we may know intruth that you have departed."The ghost replied, "Look now, I am leaving thisbeautiful body, and as a sign I shall break the topmostbranch of the nearest banyan tree." At once the highestbranch of the banyan tree cracked and felt to the ground,while the princess began to look around her in amazement,like one who has just awakened from sleep. When she wasinformed by her maidservant of all that had taken place, shehung her head in shame and hurried away to the innerapartments of the palace.When the King of Kanci heard of his daughter'scomplete recovery, he hurried to worship the lotus feet ofRamanuja and express his gratitude. From that day onRamanuja's fame spread throughout the kingdom, and his name29
was on everyone's lips. Yadavaprakasa, however, was not atall pleased by the turn of events, seeing that his positionhad been minimized by one of his own students. Now everyonewas aware that Ramanuja was far greater in spiritual potencythan Yadavaprakasa, and this was not at all to the liking ofthe proud mayavadi.In addition, Ramanuja's intense devotion to LordVisnu was completely incompatible with the dry monisticdoctrines expounded by his teacher. Therefore, it seemedthat conflict between the two was inevitable.RAMANUJA'S EXPULSION FROM SCHOOLThe final confrontation was not long in coming. Onlya few weeks after Ramanuja's deliverance of the princess,all the students were assembled to hear Yadavaprakasalecture on the mantras, sarvam khalv idam brahma -'everything is brahman' and, neha nanasti kincana-'there isnothing else in this world'. He was presenting theimpersonalist philosophy in such an expert way that all hisstudents were captivated by his explanations of the onenessof the jiva soul and the Supreme Brahman. Only Ramanujashowed any signs of unhappiness at the acaryas statements.At the end of the class he spoke up, saying, "Thewords sarvam khalv idam brahma do not mean that the SupremeAbsolute Truth is nothing but the sum total of all creation.Rather, it is seen that the universe comes from the Supremeas His energy, is maintained by Him and, in the end itdissolves back into Him. He maintains His own separateidentity, although everything is indeed a part of Hisexpanded energy. The words neha nanasti kincana do not meanthat there is no variety at all in this world. Rather, weshould understand that all the varieties of creation areheld as one, just as separate pearls are held on one thread,although they are still individual entities. Thus, we cansee how everything is both one and separate at the sametime."On hearing his teachings nullified by Ramanuja inthis way, Yadavaprakasa became very angry and he spokeharshly, "If you do not like my explanations of thescriptures, then do not come to me any more"."As you wish, sir" Ramanuja replied. He thenworshipped the feet of his teacher and left the school,never to return again.KANCIPURNAThe next day as Ramanuja was sitting at home studyingthe scriptures by himself, Kancipurna came to visit him. Aswe have heard before, Kancipurna was a pure devotee of the30
Page 1 and 2: The Life ofRamanujacaryaTABLE OF CO
Page 3 and 4: egan to learn the wonderfully instr
Page 5 and 6: Ramanuja. Despite some minor philos
Page 7 and 8: For the devotees, Hi manifests His
Page 9 and 10: YAMUNACARYAIn the south of India ma
Page 11 and 12: furious rage to inform his teacher
Page 13 and 14: and faithful to her husband as was
Page 15 and 16: that there was little chance of his
Page 17 and 18: all the pleasures of my worldly lif
Page 19 and 20: with his wife to the temple of Sri
Page 21 and 22: THE FIRSTCONFRONTATIONOne day when
Page 23 and 24: "Sir, surely you could just forbid
Page 25 and 26: quickly dispelled all the misgiving
Page 27: shrine of the Saivites and dedicate
Page 31 and 32: Having given this advice to the you
Page 33 and 34: ahmanas were from Kancipuram, he im
Page 35 and 36: "My master wishes to see you, and i
Page 37 and 38: long periods he would remain alone,
Page 39 and 40: 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 92 and 93:
and the other devotees also left th
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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