Yamunacharya scores

Yamunacharya was the grandson of the Vaishnavite Acharya

Nathamuni. Even as a young lad, Yamuna was wise beyond

his years. One day, when he found that his teacher was in a

diicult situation, he stepped in to help, said M.A.

Venkatakrishnan in a discourse.

There was a scholar at the court of the king, who

challenged the others and they had to pay him money if they

lost. Yamuna went to the court and challenged the scholar,

whose name was Aki Azhvan. Yamuna said he would state

three things and if Aki Azhvan denied all of them, then

Yamuna would concede defeat. Yamuna said to Aki Azhvan: “The three statements are: Your mother has no children. The King is without sins. The Queen was not wedded to the king first.”

Aki Azhvan was stumped. How could he deny any of these

statements? But Yamuna then said that he could deny all

three.

The Sastras say that a woman who has only one child is

considered as one without children, and Aki Azhvan’s

mother could, therefore, be termed childless. The Sastras say

that just as a king gets a share in his subjects’ wealth, so too

does he get a share in their sins. So the king cannot be said to

be a good man for, there must be subjects who have sinned

and these sins become the sins of the king.

As for the third tricky statement, the Sastras say that a

bride is symbolically ofered to all the celestials before she

weds her chosen husband. So it would be perfectly alright to

say that the Queen was not first wedded to the king.

Thus, with his ingenious explanations, Yamuna humbled

Aki Azhvan and scored a victory over him.