Sri Ramanuja Acarya (part II)

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Sri Ramanuja, the incarnation of Anata, who took birth in the month of Caitra (April-May) under the sixth lunar mansion in the Tundirades, and who came upon this earth to establish the philosophy of Sri Vishnu. Four major schools or sampradayas of Vaisnavism are considered authorized by Vaisnavas everywhere: the Brahma, Sri, Rudra, and Kumara Sampradayas. While Gaudiya Vaisnavas follow the disciplic line of Visnu worship originating with Brahma, Sripad Ramanujacarya is the founder-acarya of the Sri Sampradaya, the school of Vaisnavism or Visnu worship descending from the eternal consort of Visnu known as Laksmidevi or Sri. His commentaries on Vedanta rival those of Sankaracarya, especially in Tamil-speaking South India, where Sri Vaisnavism is prominent to this day. He propounded the Vedantic philosophy known as Visistadvaita-vada, or qualified monism. The most famous among his numerous writings are his commentary on Vedanta (Sri Bhasya), his commentary on Bhagavad-gita, his Vedanta-Sara, and the Vedartha-Sangraha.

 

According to Sri Vaisnavas, Sri Ramanuja was an incarnation of Laksman himself. Since Laksmana had been a great devotee of Rama the boy soon became known as Rama-anuja (follower of Rama).

 

According to Sri Vaisnava tradition, Sri Ramanuja was born on the fifth day of the full moon in the month of Caitra in 1017 AD Sri Ramanuja's family belonged to the caste of Vadama smarta-brahmanas, who were formal Vedic scholars. Sri Ramanuja's father Kesavacarya was very much attached to the performance of Vedic sacrifices or yajnas. For this reason he became famous as Sarvakratu or the performer of all kinds of sacrifices. When the boy came of age, Kesavacarya immersed him in Sanskrit education, teaching him grammar, logic, and the Vedas. Although Sri Ramanuja was well-schooled in brahminical learning, however, he had not yet been exposed to the deeply devotional Tamil hymns glorifying Sri Visnu. Still, his natural devotion had already been awakened by association with a non-brahmana disciple of Sri Yamunacarya named Kancipurna, and Sri Ramnuja demonstrated a saintly nature even from his early childhood. As time passed he underwent all the purificatory rites of a pious Hindu, including the sacred thread ceremony and was married, at the age of sixteen.

 

Only a month after the wedding, Sri Ramanuja's father became gravely ill and passed away. After the passing of his father, Sri Ramanuja moved along with his family to Kancipuram, where he entered the academy of Yadava Prakasa, a Vedantist of the impersonalist Sankarite School. According to some commentators, the decision to enroll Sri Ramanuja in the school of a non-Vaisnava is evidence that his family was not strictly devoted to Visnu but were merely caste brahmanas interested in insuring that their son would become a good scholar. Others are convinced that this was merely Sri Ramanuja's strategy to become well-versed in the arguments of Sankaracarya before thoroughly refuting them in his own commentaries.

 

Sri Ramanuja soon excelled among the students of Yadava Prakasa and become his teacher's favorite student. Yadava Prakasa preached the theory of nondualism, and stressed the illusion of all form, including the form of Sri Visnu. As Sri Ramanuja's devotion to Visnu blossomed, his disgust with this philosophy grew. Still, out of respect for his teacher he avoided conflict.

 

Soon, however, the day arrived when he could no longer tolerate the impersonalism of Yadava Prakasa. One day Sri Ramanuja was massaging his guru's back as Yadava Prakasa explained a verse from the Candogya Upanishad. The verse contained the words kapyasam pundarikam evam aksini. Following the interpretation of Sankaracarya, Yadava Prakasa explained that kapy means monkey and asanam means ass.

 

Sri Ramanuja was enraged at this blasphemy, and the hot tears flowed which from his eyes in anguish fell upon his guru's back. Yadava Prakasa could understand that his disciple was disturbed, and inquired as to what the problem was. When Sri Ramanuja took issue with his guru's interpretation, Yadava Prakasa was astonished. He demanded Sri Ramanuja's interpretation. Sri Ramanuja explained that kapyasam means, that which sits upon the water and flourishes by drinking,in other words, a lotus. So the meaning of the verse is that the lotus eyes of Visnu are as beautiful as the red lotus which blossoms in the water. When Yadava Prakasa saw his disciple's expertise in defeating his argument, he knew that he had a powerful rival in his midst. From that day on, he began plotting Sri Ramanuja's murder. He conspired with his disciples to go on pilgrimage to the Ganges and kill Sri Ramanuja in a secluded place. After killing Sri Ramanuja, they would bathe in the Ganges to expiate the sin. Fortunately, Sri Ramanuja's cousin learned of the murder plot and warned Sri Ramanuja, who managed to escaped unharmed. After some time Yadava Prakasa returned to Kancipurnam, and Sri Ramanuja continued going to his lectures, although inwardly he was looking for another path.

 

At Yamunacarya himself went to visit Sri Ramanuja, but when he came to Kanci he saw that Sri Ramanuja was still a follower of Yadava Prakasa and so Yamunacarya did not approach him. It is said that Yamunacarya watched him from a distance and prayed for Sri Ramanuja to become the darsana-pravartaka, or philosophical preceptor of the Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya.

 

About this time, the king of Kancipuram called for Yadava Prakasa. His daughter was possessed by a brahma-raksasa, a brahmana ghost. Yadava Prakasa was called as an exorcist, and when he arrived with his disciples, he was brought before the king's daughter and asked to relieve her of the influence of the ghost. Speaking through the girl's mouth, the ghost insulted Yadava Praksas and laughed at him. Sri Ramanuja was asked to try, and when he came before the girl, the brahmana ghost said, If Sri Ramanuja blesses me with the dust of his lotus feet, I shall leave this girl. Sri Ramanuja did so upon which the girl was cured, and the king was deeply indebted to him.

 

After this humiliation before Sri Ramanuja, it was not long before Yadava Prakasa told Sri Ramanuja to leave his ashram. The final split between them came when Yadava Prakasa was discussing the meaning of two Upanisadic texts: saravam khalv idam brahma (Candogya Upanisad 3.1, everything is Brahman) and neha nanasti kincana (Katha Upanisad 4.11, there is no distinction). Yadava Prakasa discussed these verses at length while explaining the theory of oneness promoted by Sankaracarya with great eloquence. After Yadava Prakasa was finished speaking, Sri Ramanuja gave his own interpretation.

 

Sri Ramanuja explained that sarvam khalv idam brahman would mean the whole universe is Brahman, if it were not for the word tajjalan in the next part of the verse, which qualifies the meaning. Sri Ramanujacarya held that the means not that the universe is Brahman, but that it is pervaded by Brahman. From Brahman the universe comes, by Brahman it is sustained, and into Brahman it ultimately enters, just as a fish is born in water, lives in water, and is ultimately dissolved into water. Still a fish is not water, but a separate entity entirely. In the same way the universe, although existing within Brahman is different from Brahman. Just as a fish can never be water, so the universe can never be Brahman. As to the second verse, neha nanasti kincana, according to Sri Ramanuja it does not mean No distinction exists, but rather that things are not distinct in that they are all interconnected, just as pearls are strung on a thread. Since all things are inter-related and inter-connected, in a certain sense it may be said that there is no distinction to be made between them. All things are related to Brahman and as such do not have any existence, which is distinct from Brahman. Still, while a certain unity can be seen in the inter-relatedness of all things, everything within the universe has its own distinct reality. Pearls strung on the thread have unity; collectively they form an organic whole, a necklace. Still, each individual pearl has its own unique qualities. Therefore, Sri Ramanuja argued, the principle of absolute oneness as argued by Sankaracarya cannot stand; rather the principle of unity characterized by different qualities must accepted. After leaving Yadava Prakasa, Sri Ramanuja was advised by his mother to take guidance from Kancipurna, the non-brahmana Vaisnava whose devotion Sri Ramanuja greatly revered. Kancipurna advised him to serve the Visnu deity in the temple of Lord Varaha by carrying water every day to the temple. He began serving Kancipurna with great devotion, and soon was accepted as his disciple. Although Kancipurna was by birth a member of the sudra caste and Sri Ramanujacarya was a brahmana, this never influenced Sri Ramanujacarya's devotion for him. He accepted Kancipurna as his guru without reservation. Sri Ramanujacarya's wife, however, could not tolerate her husband's acceptance of a sudra as a guru, and did best to discourage Sri Ramanujacarya from remaining his company. Yamunacarya by this time was very old. Wracked by illness, he was on the verge of passing from this world when he heard that Sri Ramanujacarya had left the school of Yadava Prakasa and had begun serving the humble Kancipurna, who was famous as a great devotee of Visnu. He sent some disciples to bring Sri Ramanujacarya. When Sri Ramanujacarya heard the news, he immediately set out for Sri Rangam, the headquarters of the Sri Vaisnavas, where Yamunacarya lay dying. But by the time he arrived at the side of Yamunacarya it was too late. The master has passed from this world, entering Vaikuntha and the eternal service of Sri Visnu.

 

At that time, Sri Ramanujacarya noticed that three fingers on the right hand of the master were closed. He asked the disciples of Yamunacarya if he had been accustomed to hold his hand in such a way, and they replied that it was highly unusual. Sripad Ramanuja could understand that his unusual gesture of the three clenched fingers represented the three unfulfilled wishes of Yamunacarya. He then vowed to fulfill these three wishes. He promised to teach the people in general the religion of surrender to Visnu, training them in the five samskaras, or purificatory processes. As he did so, one of Yamunacarya's fingers relaxed. Sri Ramanujacarya then vowed to comment on the hymns of the Alvars, the South Indian saints, and with this the second finger relaxed. Finally Sri Ramanujacarya promised to write a scholarly commentary on the Vedanta-sutras expounding the principles of Sri Vaisnavism as the ultimate truth of the Vedas. With this the last clenched finger was relaxed. A look of spiritual peace came over the lotus face of Sri Ramanujacarya's divine master, Sri Yamunacarya, as if to say that he could now depart peacefully, knowing that his mission was in good hands.

 

Upon his return to Kancipurna, Sri Ramanuja gradually became completely disinterested in his family life, his beautiful wife and home, and absorbed himself deeply in the service of his guru Kancipurna with whom he began spending most of his time. As Sri Ramanujacarya spent more time at the temple, his wife became unhappy that her husband was ignoring her. She was further humiliated by the fact that he was neglecting her to serve a low-born sudra.

 

One day, Sri Ramanujacarya invited Kancipurna for dinner, thinking that by so doing he would be able to take the remnants of his guru's prasada, and so become blessed. Kancipurna, being very humble arrived early, before Sri Ramanuja returned home. Kancipurna explained to Sri Ramanuja's wife Kambalaksa that he had service to do in the temple and could not stay for long. With this, Kambalaksa quickly fed him and sent him away. After Kancipurna had left, she took a long stick and carefully picked up the banana leaf upon which he had dined, so as not to soil her hands with what she thought to be the contaminated remnants of an untouchable. After ordering her maidservant to clean the room carefully, she bathed in order to purify herself. When Sri Ramanuja returned and heard of the insult to this guru, he was enraged.

 

One day, while drawing water from a well, Sri Ramanujacarya's wife met the wife of his guru, Kancipurna. When the water from their waterpots accidentally became mixed, Sri Ramanujacarya's wife cursed Kancipurna's wife, thinking that the water of an outcast had contaminated her waterpot. When Sri Ramanujacarya came to know of this insult, he was furious. He sent his wife home to her parents and left to take sannyasa.

 

After leaving home, he went to the temple of Varadraja to see the beloved deity of Visnu whom he had served for so long. After obtaining saffron cloth and all the necessary paraphernalia of the renounced order, he accepted the triple staff, (tridanada) of the Vaisnava sannyasi, symbolizing the complete surrender of mind, body, and words to Visnu. With this, he became known as yatiraja, the king of the renounced order. Soon after taking sannyasa, Sripad Ramanujacarya Goswami maharaja established his own monastery or ashram, where he began training disciples in his systematic Vaisnava interpretation of Vedanta as well as in the path of devotion to Visnu. His ashram was established near the temple in Kanci. His first disciple was his older sister's son, his nephew Mudali Andan, also known as Darathi. His second disciple was a learned and wealthy brahmana named Kuratalavan, also known as Kuresa, who was renowned for his photographic memory.

 

One day the mother of Yadava Prakasa saw Sri Ramanujacarya teaching his disciples and was impressed by his saintly qualities. She was a great devotee of Visnu and was somewhat unhappy that her son, Yadava Prakasa had become a follower of Sankaracarya's impersonal monism. She encouraged Yadava Prakasa to visit Sri Ramanujacarya. That night Yadava had a dream in which a divine voice instructed him to become Sri Ramanujacarya's disciple. The next day, upon visiting Sri Ramanujacarya, Yadava Prakasa found him wearing the dress of a Vaisnava. He asked him, Why have you rejected the school of Sankaracarya? Why have you adopted this Vaisnava dress? Where is this sanctioned in the scriptures? Can you show any scriptural evidence supporting your behavior?' With this, Sri Ramanujacarya instructed his foremost disciple, Kuresa, to enlighten Yadava Prakasa with the scripture evidence in support of Vaisnava dress. He quoted extensively from the Sruti, saying, Sruti is the best evidence.