Sri Ramanujacharya 6

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April 7th, 2003, Monday (Pancami)Appearance day of Sri RamanujacaryaRAMANUJA

BEGINS HIS TEACHING All the people of Kancipuram were very surprised to hear

thatRamanuja had taken sannyasa. He was still a young man, and his wife

wasextremely beautiful. Some considered him insane, but many others began

tocompare him to great devotees of the past; from all around people came tosee

him. The Vaisnavas who stayed at the asrama at Kanci made him theiracarya, for

his good qualities and understanding of the scriptures were wellknown.

Gradually, by ones and twos, disciples began to gather around him.His first

disciple was Dasarathi, his nephew, who was famous for hisknowledge of the

Vedas. The second was a young man named Kuresa, who had awonderful

memory.YADAVAPRAKASA BECOMES A VAISNAVA One day, when the elderly mother of

Yadavaprakasa came to the templeto see Lord Varadaraja, she noticed Ramanuja

instructing his disciplesoutside the asrama. Being captivated by his

gracefulness and scholarship,she considered that if her son were to become the

disciple of such awonderful personality, then his life would be perfect. Ever

since hismistreatment of Ramanuja, Yadavaprakasa had been very disturbed at

heart,and his mother knew this. She considered that the best thing for her

sonwould be to take shelter at the feet of this effulgent young sannyasi. When

she returned home, she begged her son to go and become adisciple of Ramanuja,

but Yadavaprakasa would not hear of surrendering toone who had previously been

his own student. Still, however, his mindremained disturbed. Once he happened to

meet with Kancipurna and he inquiredfrom him, "Sir, I am very troubled at heart

and can find no peace. As youare well known as the one through whom Lord

Varadaraja gives instructions,please tell me what I must do.Go home now,"

replied Kancipurna. "Tonight I wilt pray to LordVaradaraja. If you come to me

tomorrow, I will tell you His instructions." When they met the following day,

Kancipurna immediately began todescribe the greatness of Ramanuja and the

benefits one might derive frombecoming his disciple. On hearing this,

Yadavaprakasa decided he would go tovisit Ramanuja at the asrama and discuss the

scriptures with him. `That night Yadavaprakasa found it hard to sleep. He lay

awake forseveral hours, considering the different points over and over

again.Eventually he dozed into a light sleep, and while he slept, he had

awonderful dream. It seemed that an effulgent person appeared before him

andbegan to give him instructions. Again and again he told Yadavaprakasa thathe

should become the disciple of Yatiraja. When Yadavaprakasa awoke, the effects of

the dream were still withhim, and he was struck with wonder. However, he was

never a man to actsolely on the basis of his emotions, and in his mind there

still lingereddoubts about Ramanuja's philosophy. That afternoon he went to the

asrama and, as soon as he sawYatiraja, he was struck by the young acaryas purity

and effulgence. Ramanujareceived his former teacher with courtesy, offering him

an elevated sittingplace. After they had exchanged greetings, Yadavaprakasa

began to expresshis doubts about the Vaisnava philosophy that Ramanuja was so

expertlypresenting. "My child," he said gently, "I am very pleased by

yourscholarship and humble behavior. I can see from the markings of tilaka

andthe emblems of the lotus and cakra on your body that you are a devotee ofLord

Visnu and consider the path of bhakti alone to be proper. But whatevidence can

be found in the scriptures to support such a point of view?" To this inquiry

Yatiraja replied, "Here is Kuresa, who is mostlearned in all of the revealed

scriptures. Place your question before him." Thereupon, as Yadavaprakasa looked

towards Kuresa, the youngdisciple of Ramanuja began to speak. He cited numerous

verses from manydifferent scriptures - the Vedas, Upanisads, Puranas, etc. -

which confirmedthat loving devotional service to the Supreme Personality of

Godhead is theperfection of spiritual life. On hearing this torrent of evidence

from the scriptures,Yadavaprakasa was dumbfounded and fell silent. Different

thoughts passedquickly through his mind - his previous outrageous behavior, the

words ofhis mother, and the advice that had been given to him by

Kancipurna.Suddenly he threw himself down at the feet of his former disciple,

cryingout, "0 Ramanuja, blinded by pride, I could not see your true

qualities.Please forgive all my offenses and become my guide to deliver me from

themiseries of this material world. I take shelter of you alone." Yatiraja then

raised Yadavaprakasa to his feet and embraced him withwarm affection. With his

mother's blessings, that same day Yadavaprakasaaccepted sannyasa from Ramanuja

and considered himself greatly fortunate. Hewas given the name Govinda dasa, and

from that day on he was like adifferent person. He now fully embraced the

Vaisnava philosophy and gave upall pride in his scholarship. Tears of humility

now decorated his eyes as heengaged in acts of devotion to the Supreme Lord. On

hearing of thisextraordinary transformation, everyone praised the influence of

Ramanuja,and his fame spread far and wide. Seeing the devotional sentiments in

his former guru, Yatiraja onceaddressed him, saying, "Now your mind has become

free from allcontamination. To remove the sins of the past, you should write a

bookdelineating the duties of a true Vaisnava. By rendering this service youwill

attain full perfection." Accordingly Yadavaprakasa wrote a wonderful book

calledYati-dharma-samuccaya, which he offered at the feet of his guru. At

thistime Yadavaprakasa, or Govinda dasa as he was now known, was over

eightyyears old. A short time after the completion of the book, he passed

fromthis world.