Sri Ramanujacharya 8 (sorry earlier was 9)

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

PRIEST OF THE TEMPLE In this way the temple of Lord Ranganatha came to be built

and wasfamous as the largest temple in all of India. At the time of

Ramanuja,however, the high priest of the temple was not at all a devoted or

piousman. He had used his position to amass a fortune for himself, and he

waswilling to remove any person who became an obstacle to his

ambition.Ramanujacarya now proved himself to be just such an obstacle. The high

priest-observed how people would offer respect andveneration to Yatiraja and

that his own position was now being overlooked.That envious person could not

tolerate this threat to his prestige andstatus, and so he immediately began to

consider ways by which he might berid of this dangerous rival. After formulating

a plan, he went to Ramanujaone day and invited him to take alms at his house.

Then he quickly returnedhome and instructed his wife, "Today I have invited

Ramanuja to take almshere. This is our opportunity to be rid of the scoundrel

once and for all.You know where the poison is to be found. Need I say more?" The

priest's wife was a woman of similar disposition to her husband,and she gladly

agreed to his proposal. The high priest then went back to thetemple, and at noon

Yatiraja arrived at the house to take alms as he hadbeen invited. The wife of

the priest received him with great courtesy,washing his feet and offering him a

nice sitting place. Although this womanwas known to be hard-hearted by nature,

when she beheld the transcendentalappearance of the great devotee with his pure,

guileless _expression,feelings of compassion began to arise within her. When she

brought the poisoned dish forward, she was unable torestrain herself and,

shedding tears, addressed Ramanuja, "My child, if youwant to save yourself, then

go elsewhere to take your meal. If you take thisfood you will die." Yatiraja was

shocked to hear these words, and he sat silently forsome time wondering what he

might have done to bring out such hatred in thepriest. Eventually he rose and,

leaving the house, walked slowly towards theKaveri. Seeing Gosthipurna there by

the banks of the river, he ran towardshim and fell down at his feet.

Gosthipurna raised him up and inquired as tothe cause of his distress. Ramanuja

narrated to him the whole story and then asked hisspiritual master, "I am so

unhappy at the thought of his mental condition.How can he be freed from such a

great sin?My child," Gosthipurna replied, "when you desire the Lord's

mercyfor this sinful soul, there is no need to fear for him. Very soon he

willgive up his evil ways and become a righteous man." When he had left his

guru, Ramanuja returned to the asrama, where hefound a brahmana waiting with

various types of prasadam. He took a littleand distributed the rest to his

disciples without telling anyone what hadbefallen him at the house of the high

priest. Sitting alone, he continued tocontemplate how the priest's sinful nature

might be reformed. In the meantime the high priest had returned to his residence

anddiscovered that his plot had been unsuccessful. He was extremely angry,

but,considering that a woman's heart is naturally soft, he excused his wife

andimmediately began to devise another scheme to do away with his imaginedrival.

Every evening Yatiraja would visit the temple to see LordRanganatha. That

evening, when he was standing before the Lord, the highpriest came towards him,

offering him caranamrta. Ramanuja gratefullyaccepted and drank the caranamrta,

even though he knew that it was mixedwith poison. Then he offered prayers to

Lord Ranganatha, "0 ocean of mercy,how great is your affection for your devotee.

I am not worthy to accept suchnectar from Your lotus feet. Your mercy is

causeless and unlimited." When he had finished offering prayers, Ramanuja left

the temple, hisbody trembling in ecstasy. Seeing these emotions, the high priest

mistookthem for signs that the poison was taking effect and was very

pleased,thinking that his mission was accomplished. He was convinced that the

nextmorning he would see the smoke of Yatiraja's funeral pyre, for he had put

inthe caranamrta enough poison to kill ten men.THE PRIEST'S REPENTENCE However,

in this he was to be disappointed. The next morning, as hewas going to the

temple as usual, he heard the sound of many voices singingjoyful songs in praise

of Ramanuja. The priest hurried to the place thesound was coming from and saw

there that all the people of Sri Rangam weresinging and dancing around Yatiraja,

offering flowers at his feet. Theacarya himself was sitting on a low seat in a

trance of ecstasy, his mindfixed on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His pure

features were moreradiant than ever, with tears of jubilation flowing from his

eyes. As hebeheld that wonderful sight, even the stone-like heart of that evil

priestbegan to soften. In an instant the high priest realized the folly of his

envy towardsthis great mahatma and rushed through the crowd towards him.

Weepingbitterly, he fell down at Ramanuja's feet praying, "You have descended

toenact the desires of Lord Visnu by destroying sinful men like me. Delay

nolonger, my lord. Send me at once to the abode of Yamaraja. I am not fit evento

touch your feet, so please punish me immediately for all my sins. Onlythen may I

achieve relief from their reactions. Delay no longer! Throw me atonce under the

feet of an elephant or into a blazing fire. I do not desireto live for a moment

more." Having said this, the priest began to strike his head on the groundso

hard that the place became soaked with blood. The people all around triedto

restrain him, but he was so agitated that he began to strike his chestuntil his

whole body became covered with blood. Then Yatiraja returned toexternal

consciousness and pacified the priest by placing his hand upon hishead and

saying, "Do not act in such a terrible way. Lord Ranganatha hascertainly

forgiven all of your sins.How can you look with such kindness on a man as

abominable asmyself!" exclaimed the priest. "0 savior of the fallen, this glory

of yourswill be proclaimed by men for all time to come." Ramanuja then blessed

the high priest and bestowed his full mercyupon him. From that day on, the

priest was like a different person. He castfar away all the enviousness which

had polluted his heart and became ahumble servant of the Lord, completely

devoted to his savior and guru,Ramanujacarya.