The Life of Kuresan-4

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Dear friends,

 

In Srirangam, although Ramanuja and Kuresan succeeded

in the stupendous task of systematising an exciting

and epochally new philosophy, they both knew that the

"sri-bhAshyA" still needed a final coat of brilliant

polish.... the polish of irrefutability... before it

could go into and earn an unchallenged place in the

annals of Vedantic history.

 

Ramanuja knew that in order to lend irrefutable

authority to his commentaries on the "brahma-sutras",

he badly needed to consult with ancient texts and

treatises that could be actually shown to expressly

affirm some of the the fundamental postulates and

theses of VisishtAdvaita.

 

Ramanuja knew he must access an ancient parchment or

document called "boddhAyana vrutti" --- a rare

exegetical treatise on VyAsa's "brahma-sutras"

incorporating the insights of other great

'bhAshyakAr-s' of a distant past like Dramida,

Guhadeva, Tanka and Bharuchi. The "boddhAyana vrutti",

Ramanuja learnt, was lying somewhere in a musty

library in the royal library of the then king of an

obscure Kashmiri state.

 

Daunting as the task appeared to him, Ramanuja decided

that he must have access to the "vrutti". To that end

he, at the advanced age of about 60 odd years, decided

that he would undertake a "digvijayam" of the country

--- an All-India tour by foot --- which would not only

take him to Kashmir in pursuit of the "vrutti" but

also enable him to propagate his message throughout

the vast land through establishment of several

"ramanuja- koodam-s" and "mutts"... his pontificial

centres.

 

Ramanuja with his disciples thus set out from

Srirangam on their formidable expedition. Kuresan was

with him.

 

The expedition sojourned through vast provinces ---

Tirupati, then south to the Malabar areas, up north

along the western coastal belt of India to the eastern

regions of Puri, Kasi, NaimishAranyam, Varanasi,

Salagrama in Nepal, the West to Dwaraka, Pushkaram and

to Bhatti (near Lahore) and finally into the Himalayan

districts of Kashmir.

 

In the court of the King of Kashmir, Ramanuja was told

that before they gave him access to their library he

would first have to prove his credentials as a

philosopher genuinely propagating a new school of

thought.

 

Ramanuja not only put forth his exposition of the new

VisihtAdvaita but also engaged the royal pundits in

debate to show them the inadequacy of their own

monism.

 

The King was pleased and freely gave permission for

Ramanuja and Kuresan to access the archives in the

royal library. The royal pundits however were none too

happy about the King's generosity and played malicious

mischief to frustrate Ramanuja. They held that,

notwithstanding the royal assent, Ramanuja would not

be permitted to take the "vrutti" out of the library

precincts.

 

Ramanuja and Kuresa then began to study the "vrutti"

within the library premises itself. Then the pundits

came up with another plot to frustrate them. They held

that Ramanuja would not be allowed to take down any

notes from the "vrutti".

 

So Ramanuja and Kuresan proceeded to memorise vast

portions of the "vrutti".

 

The pundits seeing that Ramanuja and Kuresan were

thwarting them at every point finally plotted murder.

It was then that Ramanuja decided that enough was

enough and decided to leave Kashmir...

 

The expedition slowly wound up and returned south to

SriRangam.

 

In spite of the disappointment faced in Kashmir,

Ramanuja however, as it turned out, suffered no loss

at all! For, back in Srirangam, when Kuresan and he

sat down to complete the "sri-bhAshya" by

incorporating authentic references to the "boddhAyana

vrutti", Kuresan by the sheer power of his prodigious

memory was able to instantly and accurately recall

vast passages from the "vrutti"--- word for word! The

commentary of Ramanuja on VyAsa's "brahma-sutrA-s" --

the labour of so many, many years --- quickly

progressed to its conclusion.

 

It turned out to be a real miracle of miracles!

 

Ramanuja finished his immortal "sri-bhAshyA" with a

sense of utter fulfillment thanks to the "vrutti" and

even greater thanks to the daring enterprise and

phenomenal memory of his chief disciple, Sri.Kuresan!

 

(contd)

 

dAsan,

Sampathkumaran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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