The story of Ramanuja
being initiated into the Vaishnava Mantra after being turned
down 17 times is wellknown. Equally famous is the receptor’s kindness to teach the sacred and ‘secret’ mantra to the common people, a gesture that earned him the title
Emberumanar from Goshthipurna himself. It was to him that
Mahapurna directed his disciple Ramanuja to go and
receive the Vaishnava mantra with all its subtle meanings. But despite sincere and persistent efforts by Ramanuja,
Goshthipurna refrained from initiating him into the
secret mantra. Not once but eighteen times did Ramanuja knock at his doors. After the eighteenth attempt, Ramanuja broke down and shed tears of dejection. Goshthipurna
relented and gave him the sacred eight-syllabled mantra with its mystic meaning but warned him not to divulge it to all and sundry. A breach of promise, he warned, would result in Ramanuja going to hell. Ramanuja was overjoyed.
He acquiesced to the condition. However on the
way back he was filled with
compassion for the multitude of people who were caught in the rigmarole of worldly troubles. He reached the Vishnu temple at Goshthipura, beckoned people he saw with these
words: “Please come near the temple. I will give you a
priceless jewel.” Soon a vast sea of people converged.
“Repeat, O people, thrice after me,” Ramanuja proclaimed loudly “the mantra that will free you from the tribulations of the world.” The whole area reverberated with the sound
of the Narayana mantra. Goshthipurna was furious
but Ramanuja was not
perturbed. The compassionate saint that he was, Ramanuja decided that it was worthwhile for him to go to hell if he could secure the liberation of millions of people. Goshthipurna’s heart melted when he witnessed this person with a loving heart and not just a brain. It was his turn to seek forgiveness. With a voice choked with emotion he
muttered “Pardon my offence. How can I grasp your greatness?” You are our great Lord! Emberumanar!
Several incidents portray
the humane quality of this genius. His intellectual
attainments are reflected in his philosophical and literary
works. While he mesmerised a good section of the populace, there were others who were intensely jealous
of him as well. Plots on his life seemed to have been
hatched right from his preceptor. Yadavaprakasa
first, then a temple priest and finally even by a Chola
king. But the divine grace was always with him and he
survived unscathed. His
several students. If he had five gurus, he had five star
students too. Amongst them were the incomparable
Koorathazhwan, who was prepared to lay down his life
for his Yatiraja. Dasarathi who substituted for a cook
at the behest of his guru, his erstwhile guru Yadavaprakasa and his cousin Govinda who had come back to the Vaishnava
fold. In course of time, he fulfilled the promises that
he gave to his guru. He wrote a commentary on the
Brahmasutras after undertaking an adventurous trip to Kashmir to secure supportive texts called the
Bodhayana vritti. He named the twin sons of Koorathazhwan as Parasara and Vyasa and fulfilled the final wish of his guru.Ramanuja travelled extensively with an entourage of 74 of his chief disciples and countless followers: Srirangam to Kanchipuram and from there to Kumbakonam,
Madurai, Tirukurungudi, Tirukurugur,Tiruvanantapuram,kindly disposition and
scholarship, drew to him
Dwaraka, Mathura,Brindavan, Salagrama,Saketa, Badarikashrama, Naimisaranya, Pushkara and finally reached Saradapitha in Kashmir. Tradition relates that it was here that Goddess Sarada, pleased with his exposition,
as a boy, of the phrase “kapyasam pundarikam eva
akshini” conferred on him the title of Bhasyakara.
From there, he proceeded to Puri, founded a monastery
and called it Embar Math,after the name of his disciple Govinda. From thereon to Srisailam, Tirupati, Kanchipuram and finally back to Srirangam. His trip to Melkote was
taken as a means of seeking refuge and did not form part
of his travel during peaceful times. Ramanuja spent many
years at Melkote. He became old and longed to get back to Srirangam. When they heard the news of Ramanuja’s
impending departure to Srirangam, the natives of
that place were sorely grieved. To appease their
sentiments Ramanuja got an image of himself made and
handed it over to his devotees with the words “When you desire to see me, you will get peace of mind by looking at this image.” Shortly after this episode, an image of him was
installed at his birthplace, Sriperumbudur.
At the time of the consecration of the image, Ramanuja was expounding the Sastras to his disciples at Srirangam. At one point he suddenly froze. A few drops of blood trickled
down his eyes. When he regained consciousness he
remarked: “They have now finished the rite of opening
the eyes of the image” . Days passed.
It was 1,137 AD and the time had come for him to shed his mortal coils. Ramanuja tried to dispel the gloom amongst his devotees. “Grieve not,” he said “over the disappearance of this perishable body.” To appease them further he had an image of himself installed.
The Yatiraja transmitted his own powers to that idol by breathing into the crown of its head. At the moment
of his final departure he lay with his head on the lap of
Govinda and his feet on Andhrapurna (another
disciple). He gazed at the padukas of his own Guru and
peacefully entered the realm of Lord Vishnu
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