Ramanujacarya (2)

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April 7th, 2003, Monday (Pancami)

Appearance day of Sri Ramanujacarya

 

 

AT THE SCHOOL OF YADAVAPRAKASA

 

At that time a very learned scholar was living at Kanci. His name

was Yadavaprakasa, and the fame of scholarship had attracted a large group

of disciples to him. Being desirous of understanding the Vedic literatures,

Ramanuja also became his student, and his pleasant nature and quick

intelligence soon endeared him to the great pandita. However, this

relationship did not last for very long, for despite his learning and

knowledge of the scriptures, Yadavaprakasa was a firm adherent of the

mayavada philosophy of absolute oneness. He taught that the all-pervading

Brahman was the Absolute Truth and that the personal God, Lord Visnu, was

illusory. Ramanuja was a pure devotee of the Lord, and so he was pained to

hear the statements of Yadavaprakasa, that denied the supremacy of his

beloved Lord. Out of humility and respect for his guru, Ramanuja would not

point out the defects in these impersonalist teachings, but the situation

gradually became impossible to tolerate.

 

 

THE FIRST CONFRONTATION

 

One day when the other students had gone home to take lunch,

Yadavaprakasa asked Ramanuja to massage his body with oil. At that time one

of the other students returned to the school to discuss with his teacher a

passage from the Chandogya Upanisad they had been studying that morning. In

particular he inquired about the word kapyasam, which occurs in the first

chapter, part six, verse seven. Therein it is stated, kapyasam pundarikam

evam aksini.

 

Following Sankaracarya's interpretation, Yadavaprakasa began to

explain that kapyasam referred to the rear-end of a monkey and that the

whole passage meant that the Supreme Lord had eyes like lotuses as red as a

monkey's rear-end.

 

On hearing this horrible explanation of the appearance of his

beloved Lord, Ramanuja, who was still massaging his guru, was filled with

such intense grief that hot tears immediately began to pour from his eyes.

When Yadavaprakasa felt the touch of these tears, he looked up in surprise.

Seeing Ramanuja's distress, he asked what was causing him such pain. To this

inquiry Ramanuja replied, "0 master, it causes me such suffering to hear

this terrible explanation from a great soul like yourself. How sinful it is

to compare the beautiful lotus eyes of the Lord to the posterior of a

monkey. I never expected to hear such a thing from my teacher."

 

Yadavaprakasa was angered by this challenge from one of his own

students, and he replied sharply, "I also am very aggrieved. Impudent words

from an inferior are never praiseworthy. If you have become so proud that

you think yourself a better teacher than me, then let us hear your

explanation of the passage."

 

"By your mercy everything is possible" replied Ramanuja.

 

Yadavaprakasa smiled derisively. "Now we are going to see this boy

outdo the great Sankaracarya," he said.

 

Ramanuja remained peaceful, and when he spoke it was in a very

humble way. "Instead of understanding the posterior of a monkey from the

word kapyasam, " he said, "another meaning is possible. Ka-pi can be taken

as kam jalam pibati, that which drinks up the water, or, in other words, the

sun. The word asam also means to blossom, so the whole word kapi-asam can be

understood as that which blossoms under the sun, or, in other words, the

lotus flower. Thus we can understand the mantra of the Upanisad to mean that

the Lord has eyes as beautiful as the lotus flower."

 

Yadavaprakasa was very surprised to hear such a clever explanation

from one of his own students and he realized that Ramanuja was a staunch

adherent of the devotional philosophy of dualism. The devotees understand

that the perfection of life is to worship Lord Visnu without any personal

desire, and so they never aspire for oneness as the mayavadis do. This

philosophy was directly opposed to the teachings of Yadavaprakasa and after

this incident his affection for Ramanuja began to wane.

 

 

MORE CONFLICTS AT SCHOOL

 

A few days later when Yadavaprakasa was instructing his students

from the Taittiriya Upanisad, he made the statement that the Supreme Brahman

is Truth, Knowledge, and Infinity. On hearing this impersonal idea of God,

Ramanuja could not contain himself. He immediately objected to his teacher's

explanation, saying, "No, this verse means that the Supreme possesses Truth,

Knowledge, and Infinity, but still He has His own existence beyond these

attributes."

 

Angered by this unexpected interruption, Yadavaprakasa replied, "You

presumptuous child, if you won't accept my explanations, then why do you

come here? Why not go home and start a school of your own?" When he had

composed himself somewhat, he went on more quietly, "Your explanation is not

in accordance with Sankaracarya or any of the previous acaryas, so kindly

keep your impertinence to yourself."

 

By nature Ramanuja was humble and meek, and so he tried to avoid

such confrontations with his teacher. However, he was also absolutely

devoted to knowledge of the truth: thus, when he heard the misleading monist

interpretations being put forward by Yadavaprakasa, he was sometimes unable

to contain himself. In the presence of the other students Yadavaprakasa used

to make light of these challenges, but in his heart there began to arise a

growing fear and hatred for the boy. "As he grows older," he contemplated,

"this boy will strongly establish the dualistic philosophy of devotion. This

must not be allowed to happen. I will do whatever is necessary to protect

the doctrine of monism, even if it means that I have to kill him."

 

 

YADAVAPRAKASA'S PLOT

 

Actually, Yadavaprakasa was very envious of Ramanuja, seeing in him

both a purer heart and a greater intellect than his own. One day, therefore,

he called all his other students to a secret meeting. There he addressed

them, "My dear children, none of you has ever found fault with my teachings,

but this impudent Ramanuja has repeatedly challenged my explanations. He may

be an intelligent boy, but all his ideas are based on the false doctrine of

dualism, seeing a difference between the self and God. He is a complete

heretic who will cause havoc in society through his teachings. We must find

some way to be rid of him."

 

"Sir, surely you could just forbid him from coming to the school,"

suggested one student.

 

"But then our master's worst fears would be realized," responded

another, "for he would open his own school and go on propagating his

falsehoods all the more. Already he has written a commentary on the mantra:

satyam jnanam anantam brahma, which contradicts everything we have learned

from our teacher." This was true, for Ramanuja had effectively refuted

Sankara's explanations: and his writing had been widely read and appreciated

by Vaisnavas in south India, including Yamunacarya at Rangaksetra.

 

After discussing the matter for some time, they all agreed the only

way to stop Ramanuja was to kill him. They then began to consider how this

could be done secretly without anyone discovering their crime. Eventually

Yadavaprakasa made a proposal, "Let us all go on pilgrimage to bathe in the

Ganges. On the way there are many remote areas, where we can put an end to

this heretic without anyone knowing anything about it. By bathing in the

sacred Ganges we will free ourselves from the sin of killing a brahmana and

when we return we will simply say he felt sick and died on the journey."

 

All the disciples readily accepted their teacher's suggestion and

set out to induce Ramanuja to accompany them on their journey. Ramanuja was

delighted at the idea of bathing in the Ganges and happily accepted their

invitation. Govinda, Ramanuja's cousin, was living with his aunt in

Kancipuram at this time, and he also studied at the school of Yadavaprakasa.

When Ramanuja announced that he was going on pilgrimage to North India,

Govinda immediately decided to go with his beloved friend and relative.