Ramanujacharya (रामानुजाचार्यः)

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Sri Ramanujacharya (Samskrit : रामानुजाचार्यः) belonging to the 11th century, was instrumental in the establishment of the doctrines pertaining to Visishtadvaita (the philosophical tenets) and its practical mode of realization of Brahman through Sri Vaishnavism. Sri Ramanuja's tradition has a long history before him including a grand lineage of teachers, the Alwars who composed prabandhas, authoritative works and esoteric concepts passed on by oral tradition.

Sri Ramanuja Darshanam

Birth and Family

Sri Ramanuja was born on Thursday 4th April 1017 A.D. (Pingala Chaitra Sukla Panchami) in the star of Arudra corresponding to Saka year 939, and Kali year 4118. His father was Aasuri Keshavacharya, who was a Somayaji. His mother, Bhudevi, was the sister of Periya Tirumalai Nambi, a disciple of Yamuna (of ascetic order). Sri Ramanuja's birth place is Sri Perumbudur, about 40 miles away from modern Madras, Chennai, near Kanchipuram, a hollowed pilgrim centre of pauranic fame.

It was his uncle Nambi who on seeing the child Ramanuja (रामस्य अनुजः । younger brother of Sri Rama), named him so, as he had features said to have been possessed by Lakshmana in the Ramayana. The child grew up well, was given initiation at the right age, and was taught basic grounds of education by the father himself. The family belonged to the Vadama group, devoted to Vishnu deeply, perhaps, in the mature Bhagavatha tradition. The other sister of Nambi by name Sridevi to whom was born Govinda Bhattar, is a cousin brother of Ramanuja, who later came to be known as Embar on passing into the ascetic order.

Ramanuja was married to Sri Mahalakshmi in early life on the insistence of his mother. He was however not satisfied with his married life and chose the arduous path of reforming the society as his purpose of life.

Education and Marriage

Ramanuja learnt the Vedas, Vedangas, and shastras under the tutelage of his own father, in his own native place, while quite young. But higher education in terms of being initiated into the mysteries of the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita could not be pursued at home, as he lost his father at that stage. Ramanuja received the Srivaishnava five fold initiation, into proper SriVaishnavism, in the later years of age (18th or 20th year of age) from Periya Nambi or (Mahapurna), another illustrious disciple of Yamuna at Madurantakam.

He learnt the four thousand Divyaprabandhas of the Alwars, only after he was installed on the seat of Yamuna as a Yati (a monk), from other teachers hailing in the lineage of Yamuna.

Yadava Prakasha

As he grew older Ramanuja approached Yadava Prakasha, a scholar at Kancheepuram itself and begun to be taught about the Upanishads and higher Vedanta concepts. But soon the two did not get on for long, as there were clashes of views, interpretations and grasps of divine intuitions preserved in the Upanishads. Ramanuja being a born genius and Yadava being unhappy with the pupil’s outshining brilliance, he had the intelligence to surmise that, left in this way, Ramanuja would soon establish a ‘new’ system and it was imperative that Ramanuja had to be eliminated for the ‘higher cause’ of saving his own new found system! He hatched out a plan of pilgrimage tour to Ganga, Kashi and the North, where he wanted to drown the undesirable disciple in the Manikarnika Ghat, so that Ramanuja's intended ‘murder’ would spare himself of the hatya (papa of murder), and Ramanuja too would attain Moksha! But this plot failed, and Ramanuja escaped unhurt with the help of Govinda a fellow student.

Ramanuja was original and sincere in trying to understand the true import of our sacred scriptures. He would not accept anything in the name of authority, however great otherwise, if it did not satisfy, tests of reason and instincts of deep and inviolable feelings of a primordial nature. He was a seeker of Truth in the strict Upanisadic spirit and tradition, in this way, and his efforts to find a teacher commanding his respect had failed so far.

Ramanuja was then married, on his mother's desire, but found it difficult to get on with his wife, Sri Mahalakshmi, who was excellent in all respects excepting in the understanding of the liberal and natural outlook of her husband. Ever since he broke away from Yadava, Ramanuja was in search of a satisfying and proper preceptor.

Kanchipurna

The temple of Varadaraja at Kanchi was a great centre of adhyatmik activity and one or two of Yamuna's great disciples were partaking of temple services there at that juncture. He was now instinctively drawn to an elderly pious personality Kanchipurna or Tirukkacchi Nambi (whose real name was Devaraja Guru) the disciple of Yamuna at Sri Rangam at one time. Nambi was very pious, and of deep adhyatmik convictions, having been taught all essentials of Visistadvaita and Srivaishnavism by Yamuna.

Social Reformer

Many occasions both at home and outside added up to the frustration of Ramanuja in deciding to renounce householdership and to become a Sannyasin to pursue the adhyatmik and social transformation of society. Working for the good of the society was dear to his heart for which his own wife was not merely non cooperative but also a positive hurdle. The Acharya had all respect for the laws and practice of Varna as a broad arrangement of professional groupings, for the proper run of society avoiding mutual heart burns. But evil practices had crept into it, corroding it with meaningless labels of high and low, creating lack of harmony, jealousies, and needless rigidities in an otherwise agile and flexible society.

The scriptures had declared that all were to be equally and that for Moksha, varna, colour, sex and professions were no bar. Humanism was inherent in Hindu scriptures, in their basic texts, the Vedas, the Upanisads, the epics and Puranas. However, he felt that in the Smrtigranthas or the Dharmashastras, which governed the changing social behaviour periodically, certain rigidities had crept in. For a long time there was no lawgiver, smritikara, who could clear confusions and conflicts, and direct social progress which was essential for adhyatmik evolution. The Bhakti movement tended to overlook Varna barriers for adhyatmik purposes. The Alwars had actually pronounced so, and demonstrated the adhyatmik equality of man in spite of professional and social differences in status. Later on we see Ramanuja reconciling the laws of Varna with ideas of adhyatmik equality, in both SriBhashya and Gita Bhashya. Ramanujacharya was a unique reformer of the society, from within, without violating true scriptural injunctions, but interpreting them liberally in their true spirit.

Concepts of Visishtadvaita

It so happened that when he did not know what next to do, and he asked Nambi to get it cleared from Varadaraja Swami. Nambi, next day, told Ramanuja that he must approach Mahapurna, the chief disciple of Yamuna at SriRangam. Among other doubts that Ramanuja wanted to be cleared and answered, the deity Varada Swami had instructed through Nambi a few tenets as follows

• He was the Supreme object of knowledge and attainment
• True philosophy consisted in admitting multiplicity as real and reconcilable with unity
• Surrender of one's all to Him was the surest means of Ananda and Moksha both here and beyond
• For a prapanna, a refugee at the doors of the divine, there was no compulsion that he must think of the divine with self efforts in the last moments of life.

These were to remain the basic foundation of Ramanuja's thought system later on. Ramanuja thus obtained in a nutshell all the essentials of Vishistadvaita, and the very spirit of Srivaishnavism as propagated by Yamuna, through his most illustrious disciple, Nambi. This was initiation in a way and the confusions caused by Yadava earlier in his mind came to an end once for all.

Initiation by Mahapurna

Ramanuja was proceeding to Sri Rangam on foot while Mahapurna was on his way to Kanchi to bring Ramanuja under the express orders of Yamuna, who was on his death-bed. The two met at Madhurantakam Sri Rama Temple where for the first time, Mahapurna gave him the ‘five fold’ initiation to accept him formally into the SriVaishnava fold. The two then hurried towards Sri Rangam to reach it in a few more days. But by then Yamuna had already passed away and the last ceremonies were commenced on the banks of Kaveri. Ramanuja's sorrow was indescribable was so near to his guru, Yamuna, reached him after all his keen search and trying travails and yet the guru went so far. A stunned Ramanuja by this strange and ironical circumstance, observed by chance that three fingers on one hand of the deceased Yamuna were still in a folded gesture, as he was perhaps counting something in his last moments.

Inquiry revealed that the grand sire had three unfulfilled ambitions of

(i) not having been able to write a fresh and exhaustive commentary on the BrahmaSutras

(ii) not having been able to create suitable memorials for Vyasa and Parashara who had laid the foundation of our tradition

(iii) not having been able to write a befitting commentary any on Nammalwar's greatest work Tiruvaymoli.

Ramanuja is reported to have promised undertaking of all the three activities before that congregation, and the three fingers unfolding themselves, miraculously as it were, to indicate that the departed master now had an easy conscience. This brings one aspect of Ramanuja's life to a close, the search for a guru, the drive for a mission, and the tireless search for lasting values and truth through scriptures, through untwisted and non-arbitrary interpretations. Kanchipurna had put him on solid grounds of conviction.

Sanyasa Diksha

Ramanuja had renounced all worldly pleasures by now, so that there were no more obstacles on his part, of pursuit of the divine and means to attain Him, which he was to proclaim to the rest of the world here after. Yamuna passed away in A.D. 1042 at the age of 66, when Ramanuja was barely 25 years of age.

Preceptors

Many bright and trust worthy disciples of Yamuna guided Ramanuja in further education

(1) Mahapurna instructed him in the import of the Upanisads, the Sutras and the Gita as per Yamuna’s lines of interpretation.

(2) The Areyar of SriRangam (also son of Yamuna) taught him the recitation style of the works of the Alwars, orally.

(3) Maladhara taught him the imports of Tiruvaymoli in all their intricacies.

(4) Ramanuja's maternal uncle, Nambi of Tirumalai, taught him the esoteric treasures of the Ramayana

(5) Nambi of Tirukkottiyur (another disciple of Yamuna) taught him the treasured secrets of the Ashtakshara mantram, the Dwayam, and the Charama Sloka. These meanings were being passed on through generations in a peculiar way that a teacher who had inherited it from his teacher would pass it on to only one deserving pupil of his, by a chain. It is tradition restricted to a single line of teachers and taught, where by it was attempted to preserve heredity while even those who followed the tradition at large failed to benefit from it. Nambi never questioned the strangeness of this method of inheritance, as his predecessors too had followed the same procedure.

Revealing the Mantras

A famous anecdote describes how Ramanuja obtained the treasures (three mantras) from this cautious master after repeated attempts. Ramanuja had to approach him about 18 times in succession, each time being denied it, on some pretext in which there was always a hidden test for him. Nambi would ask every time on hearing a knock on his doors :“Who is it ?” On hearing Ramanuja reply outside the doors, “It is myself sir !”, Nambi would counter reply :“You can come when ‘I’ am no more !”

Ramanuja would return in disappointment, unable to grasp the meaning of the master's words. Upon delving inwards he began to understand that Nambi, his guru had wanted him to come when the pupil's ‘I’-his ego-had completely been eliminated. The next and last, therefore, was a visit of joy and self-confidence, and to Nambi's enquiry as usual, Ramanuja avoided introducing himself as an unqualified egoist, but as a qualified servant of the divine. The test was now passed.

Nambi then received him in and agreed to give him the desired secrets on condition that he came absolutely ‘alone’ to receive them on an appointed day and time at the Soumyanarayana temple of the place. Ramanuja had already been joined by a good number of worthy disciples by then, and among them were Kuresa, Andan, Achan (known as Srivatsa chihna Misra, Dasharathi, Pranatarthihara, respectively) and Embar, his cousin, of the poorvashrama.

On the appointed day at the mentioned hour, Ramanuja approached the master, seemingly alone, but with Kuresha and Dasharathi stationed slightly behind him in a dark corner. Nambi instructed him this time in detailed discourse but found out the transgression of the pupil when he noticed the other two, later on. Ramanuja pacified the master by arguing that he had come in reality alone only, as he considered these two followers as his sandals and staff without which a mendicant could not move or be seen by others. Nambi who followed tradition had no answer, and so permitted it.

Defying the Guru's orders, the same evening Ramanuja gave away the esoteric teachings to more people who begged of him, then and there on the temple tower. On hearing this, the master, Nambi frowned and yelled. “You will go to Hell for transgressing my orders of secrecy after promising it and now for violating it blatantly”.

A happy Ramanuja is said to have quipped back : “Well! I am willing to stand condemned to Hell, if so many pious people who have benefited from this teaching of yours shall pass on to the world of Divine!

A stunned Nambi is said to have embraced his revolutionary pupil and called him “Emberumanar !” (“You are my lord indeed’) and realised the broadminded nature of Ramanuja in contrast to his meaningless conservatism. Thus Ramanuja got fully equipped to be successor to the seat of Yamuna by obtaining discipline and direction from most pupils of that Acharya, including Kanchipurna at Kanchi to start with.

Piligrimage

There seem to be two early visits or the Acharya to the north, to Kashmir and other northern pilgrim centres, before Ramanuja was 60 - one to obtain the Bodhayana Vritti, the lengthy commentary by Bodhayana on the ritualistic and Vedantic aspects of Sutras by Jaimini and Vyasa, from Kashmir, as it was not available anywhere else, and the other to win scholars’ approval and the blessings of the Goddess of learning at Kashmir SaradaPitham, and to advocate the right traditions, lost so far, aslinks with the adhyatmik past. These too have to be placedin the period when the Acharya was not yet sixty of age,as at 60, he was already an exile, seeking refuge inKarnataka, as evidences show.What route the Acharya took is not also wellpreserved by tradition. A stray verse says :श्रीरनें करिशैलमश्वनगिरिं ता्ष्याद्रिसिंहाचलौ ।श्रीकूर्म पुरुषोत्तमं च बदरीनारायणं नैमिष IIश्रीमदूद्वारावतीप्रयाग मधुराउयो ध्यागया: पुष्करें ।सालग्रामगिरिं निषेव्य रमते रामानुजोझयं मुनिः IIThe route according to this would be, Srirangam,Kanchi, Tirumala Hills, Ahobilam, Simhachalam, SriKurmam, Puri on the east, and the Badari in the extremenorth, then Naimisharanyam in west, then again Prayagin the north, and Dwaraka, in the west, Madhura, Gaya,all again in the north, then again Pushkar in the west, thenfinally Salagramam in the extreme north in Nepal. This,perhaps, is a mere list of places fitted into versification,without faithfulness to details of exact route. Again, thismust have been the second pilgrimage route being so1655leisurely. There is a great difficulty in accepting this as theexact route, even otherwise. In those days of no bridgesfor the mighty rivers on the way, and other journey-risks,no one would travel normally on the east coast all the wayto the north, where rivers are wider generally beforejoining the sea. There must have been a shorter route forall Acharyas and pilgrims going north, avoiding theseriver basins in the East. Ramanuja must have travelled viaKarnataka (where there were already Srivaishnavas andshrines, as mentioned earlier) and Phandarpur, a re-nowned place of pilgrimage on the way. We cannot fix theexact route even on this assumption. How many timesRamanuja might have visited Karnataka earlier alsocannot be ascertained. At least in the southern part of thejourney the Acharya is likely to have made use of placeswell known to him either directly or by earlier tradition ashalt points. Phandarpur, Nasik Panchavati, Pushkar,Dwaraka, Mathura, etc., etc... must have been theWestern route. In the first, perhaps, whirlwind-journey,his aim was to secure a copy of the Bodhayana Vritti, andonce he secured it at Kashmir, the Acharya must havehurried back to compose the Sri Bhashyam ; and in thesubsequent journey only, he must have tried to win overscholars all over India, of even other persuasions to hisviews, and hence this second one must be the one aimedat ‘winning all quarters’ - Digvijaya.On the first tour one important event is recorded intraditon. The Kashmir King is reported to have welcomedRamanuja, shown his library of manuscripts, and allowedhim to make use of the desired text of which there was17=only one copy. It was known as Kritakoti, in perhaps twosenses (a) of being a work in millions of words, veryextensive, naturally because it covered both sciences ofRituals and Intuitions, and (b) of being a work in which thedesired position (called Koti in logic) being wellestablished (Kritha) as unassaible. Ramanuja must haverealised that it would take years to Copy it, with palmleaves not being available there, and not liking the idea ofwasting time over this mere mechanincal copying.Ramanuja was also not so much interested in the formerpart of Ritualism. But the King was unwilling to give thetext away to Ramanuja, as his library would be poorer bythat one unique text, though it was not important to him orindispensable either. How long the Acharya stayed atKashmir, also is not known. But it must be long enoughfor his disciple Kuresha to memorise the whole of it, orat least those most valuable or crucial parts, without whicha new commentary could not be undertaken ! Tradition hastwo additional details of elements in this episode ! (i) thatit was a moth-eaten manuscript, and (ii) that Ramanujatook it away by force or presuming that it was a gift untohim, but that the King sent his men to recover it forcibly.We cannot ascertain these.Anyway, Ramanuja must have completed hismasterpiece on his return soon, and how long it took isalso not known. Kuresha was his scribe, taking down notpassively, without understanding the implications of thedictated text, but discerningly, with full discrimination toquestion, discuss, slow down, and to draw the master intogreater subleties, at crucial steps. Examples of these have18drt Ramanuja, Melukote and Sri Vaishnavism 57been preserved, as for instance at ‘‘Htsq wa’ (II-3-4)where the chief distinguishing characteristic of theIndividual Self is discussed. “Being a mere consciententity” is not enough of the real distinction at all, as itapplies to God too. The real distinction is of being totally,inalienably, subservient to God, Seshatva. But Ramanujacould not complete it with Kuresha as a scribe, in onestrech, some say ; and that when Kuresha was blinded byShaiva fanatics, and the work was halted inevitably,Vishnu Chitta, the other disciple, took it down, so as tomake Ramanuja claim him as another version ofKuresha, as Engal Alwan. If this version is true it wouldmean that Ramanuja composed most of his work beforehe left for Karnataka as an exile, and the rest wascompleted at Melukote, after 1098 A.D. One greatdifficulty with this version 1s, that in this case,Ramanuja's journey to win over others, to the north, thesecond journey, would have to be when the Acharya wasmore than 80 years of age, and then there would need tobe one more tour to recover the processional Deity ofSelva Pillai from somewhere in the north, with sufficienttime gap in between . That would lead us to inferences thatthe Acharya was nearing a hundred years of age when heundertook this third one which is very unlikely, as he hadreturned to Sri Rangam before the year 1118 or 1120A.D. What therefore, would be sensible to draw asconclusion and to reconcile is as follows : Sri Bhasyamwas completed before the Acharya left Sri Rangam,before he was sixty years of age, with Kuresha and Vishnuchitta as alternate scribes, this latter being as good as the1958former, also more close, and an equally tested prodigy, bymemory. After completing this great work, the Acharyamust have toured extensively all over the country tospread the right views of the Sastras to establish the rightinterpretation of Upanishads and the Gita.The second unfulfilled ambition of Yamuna wasfulfilled when the Acharya got a commentary written onNammalawar's Tiruvaymoli by Pillan in ‘6000’ words, inmani paravala style - i.e., ‘hightly Sanskritised Tamil’,looking like a garland with ' pearls and corals’ strungtogether. The third wish got realised when the twins bornof Kuresha were named after Parashara and Vyasa.

Ramanuja now had vanquished many an adversary inlong drawn debates, to convert them to views moreancient as he had discovered, including Yajnamurthy andhis own erstwhile preceptor Yadavaprakasha. Govinda(Embar) who had been perverted to Shaivism by thismischievous Yadava at one time, had now been reclaimedtoo. There must have been other important conversionstoo. Many shrines in dilapidated conditions had beenrenovated too, and converted to the Pancharathra modeof worship, as it facilitated the worship of the Alwars inicon forms, and the recitation of their Tamil verses.Ramanuja was not against Vaikhanasa the other Agama,but preferred this other more accommodative one, as hewas interested in fusing Tamil and Sanskrit scriptures, ashe was a synthesiser, a harmoniser, par excellence. Thegreat Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala Hills had alsobeen reclaimed into the hands of Vaikhanasa by provingthe Deity undoubtedly as Vishnu as against the claims ofthe then more powerful lobby of Shaivas.Naturally but unfortunately all this made him earnmore and more opposition and enmity from earlierestablishments and alien camps! Ramanuja hadundertaken reforms at Sri Rangam temple too !! Itsearlier manager Amudan who was a Vadama Vaishnavahad been won over to Vaishnavism and the templeestablishment was now in the hands of the Acharya,enabling him to carry on his reforms freely and2160unfettered. Ramanuja's reformations included perhapsthe economic aspect too, so as to include people of allcastes and social status, to be eligible for a due share oftemple-offerings, of food, remuneration, and otherprivileges - to make them available to thousands ofservants like the fan-bearers, oil-lamp lighters, torchbearers, palanquin bearers, flower-sellers, washermen,fragrance-offerers, oilmen, sweepers, etc., along withreciters, and the chief priests. Giving them suitable homesfor stay within the temple-island, was an additionalirritation too for vested interests !!The whole of the South in particular knewRamanuja, now very well, as an able and decisive re-interpreter of Vedas and Vedanta, as an efficientorganiser of temple-worship, as a liberal reformer, kindand genial to all manner of servants of God, and as onewho preferred the Pancharathra to Vaikhanasa Agama.Ramanuja was sought to be eliminated at Sri Rangam byresorting to the poinsoning of the Holy Waters, Tirtham,on one occasion, and the Acharya was saved by a knowingand loving disciple, and after this incident the master isreported to have moved to the adjacent temple town ofTiru Vellarai where he is reported to have stayed for some12 years. All this must have been before he was sixty.It is easy to infer from all this that the Vaikhanasafollowers, the Shaivas, the advaitins, and those othersthat were ill-affected by his adhyatmik and social reformsjoined together to hatch a plan to drive him away fromTamil Nadu, and to destroy all the work he had done, andmeant to follow in future. Reformations are never liked by2261vested interests !The ruler of the Chola empire of the times was KingKulothunga I (1070-1 122 A.D.) and a Shaivaite too. Buthe was fighting his wars in Kalinga, in a vain attempt toextend the empire, like his predecessors, when events ofgreat consequence were happening in his name, and in hisown court to damn him as a fanatic in black letters in thehistory of Srivaishnavism permanently. It is said that aninjunction was taken out for signatures of prominentSriVaisnavas, proclaiming that there was no God higherthan Shiva. The man who is said to be instrumental in thisbigoted act, and responsible for royal instigation ismentioned as Nalooran (a person who had gifts of some7 fertile villages’, from the King) and as a disciple ofKuresha |We might get this tangle clear and right, in someweighty conjectures about probabilities, here, asotherwise important details will remain in doubt.(1) Why did Ramanuja exile himself to Karnataka?Some historians say that Kulottunga-I not beingknown as a fanatic, the story of this injuction, and theconsequent blindings of Kuresha and Mahapurna whenthey refused to affix signatures to it, must be fabrications,by clever Vaishavas to blacken Shaivism in history. It ismore likely that the Acharya might have left the Tamilcountry in preference for Karnataka to reinforce theVaishnavism that already prevailed there, and to extendhis reforms there too, - they argue. What happens totraditional accounts then ? They are wished away as holy2362concoctions !! The king being benevolent and nothing toshow him as cruel, would lend valuable support, too !!!But there is a way of reconciling known facts withtraditional records, which historians have ignored so far.Who this Nalooran was is not very well known in thetradional accounts.SriVaishnava lineage of Acharyas of this traditionsay that he played ‘Judas’ to Ramanuja by betraying himto the establishment. But this cannot be establishedunless we see him as affected by the incessant reforms ofRamanuja. Unfortunately details are not preserved. Hemust have been a young convert to Sri Vaishnavismthrough Kuresha in the hope of receiving more patronagein terms of royal benefits and privileges. Probably he wasdisappointed, and regretted his self-conversion and waswaiting for an opportunity to harm the very cause he hadso joined or advanced, by adding himself as anew convert.Very likely, that irritation must have come most whenRamanuja did not appoint him as one among the 74 chiefanointed pontiff's (the Simhasanadhipatis) forpropagating his faith independently. What earlier hand hehad in the conspiracy to poison the Acharya cannot beascertained too !(2) From Ramanuja's zeal to establish thesupremacy of God as Vishnu and all other gods includingShiva as his retinue, as the true Vedic vision, Shaivismmust have been deeply affected, undoubtedly. Not onlyscholars but also large masses of common men weregetting converted to the Sri Vaishnava fold through these246374 authorised Acharyas. There were huge Shiva shrinesall over Tamil Nadu; and rivalries, now reached a burstingpoint, perhaps, because of camp-desertions on large scaleon the Shaiva side. Kalahasti went into background whenTirumala temple, rich as ever, changed from Shaivahands into those of Vaishnavas ! The fear was that ifunchecked, Ramanuja's zeal for propagation woulddestroy Shaivism altogher ! The Shaivas waited for a plot.The King was away ! the King's men, who were fanatical,took a Farmana, in his name, supported by all disgruntledelements deserting Ramanuja's camp, the ‘Naloorans’,the Vaikhanasas, the leftover Vadamas with Shaivaiteleanings, and other temple functionaries whose incomeshad been reduced by the new reforms of the Acharya,considerably. This suited the Shaiva non-Brahmins whothought that their religion was in danger of extinction.That must have been the time when opportunisticadvaitins ‘betrayed’ by Yadava who had converted toVaishnavism (as they thought), joined the Shaivas ! Thecounter-revolutionary camp now was complete with‘pseudo intellecutal adhyatmiks’ who could not face ordefeat Ramanuja in debates, temple functionaries bothshaiva and Vaishnava, affected in the camp ofdisgruntled ones, and the common shaiva fold instigatedwith the fear of their pet religion being in danger ! Fear isalways at the root of violent social upheavels !! It knowsno time-changes and is blind to geographical boundariesor historical realities ! The undesirable happened.Sanathana Dharma was now a divided camp, andsectarianism let loose ! Fanaticism took its toll.2564Exclusive Shaivaite enthusiam produced hereafter anequally exclusive Vaishnava enthusiasm on the otherside, and the name of the Chola (KrimiKantha as he wasknown with a carbuncle in his throat) became a hated namefor ever ! It is futile to look for epigraphical records forthis deplorable act on the part of the Shaivas, as evil doersdo not perpetuate their memories in such terms. The eventmust have happened as there are lierary evidences in SriVaishnava histories of the period, invariably in strongterms. Considering the length of the Acharya's exile, alsoone may draw the conclusion of total aversion of theAcharya to tread the soil ruled by a violent ruler orinfested by an equally violent community. All chronicleshave a say on this in Guruparampara records, and it willnot do well for historians to gloss over these in any zealto conceal this heinous act and bring out a twisted or‘secular’ record instead.Ramanuja's commentary had exploded the myth ofShankara's fidelity to the texts of Upanishads, Sutrasand Gita. His reclaiming of temples from Shaiva hands into those of Vaishnavas, was not a mere theologicalmatter ; there was money in it ; landed property involved;and the question of management by one camp instead ofthe other usurping one ; His conversions from advaitismand Saivism of people into Srivaishnavism producedheart burns, and communal hatred ; his propagation ofPancharathra as amore inclusive Agama, earned for himthe envy of the Vaikhanasas. Let us remember that atTirumala Hills, at Puri Jagannath, Sri Kurmam andTiruvanantha puram he could not replace any of the2665modes of worship into Pancharathra due to stiffopposition by vested interests, and not due to any seriousreligious or adhyatmik considerations. Records say, everynight when the Acharya was resting during nights at theseplaces, he used to find himself in the morning. sevenleagues away, separated from the intended places ofconversion of modes of worship ! What does this mythmean ? He was virtually not merely prevented, but alsokept far away, and not allowed to enter even the vicinity ofthose shrines ! Imagine the large number of enemies hemust have so made !! Added to all this, shaiva-vaishnavarivalries were at their worst pitch of quarrels. Someonetook the lead to initiate action against Ramanuja in thename of the Shaiva King, and the King was either a silentsupporter, or a behind-scenes wire-puller, or one whocould not assert himself against these outrages in hisname ! Fact is that he was nowhere in the Tamil countrywhen the accursed event happened.On learning of the injunction to be signed, and theimpending disaster for Vaishnavism, Kuresha smelt thedanger, adorned the saffron robes of his master,accompanied by the aged Mahapurna, reached the CholaCourt. Who was in the chair is not known. It does notmatter ! An Inquisition was held, namesake, with thejudge, not interested in hearing the case justly on bothsides, and a maligned judgement delivered declaringKuresha and Purna as heretics, and they be blinded thenand there for ‘insulting shiva’ - which was promptlycarried out !Ramanuja in the meanwhile was advised to escape2766to a safe hideout, or take asylum in Karnataka as therulers of this region were not camp followers of Cholasand were trusted as good protectors. There was no timeto think of other alternatives. Ramanuja along with abunch of his most illustrious disciples like, Acchan, andAndan, left for Karnataka on foot, in these unavoidablecircumstances.