Sri: (Dec 11-17) We were with Ramanuja who had entered upvasa on the banks of river Kaveri, after he was alarmed to know that people were out to kill him through the ‘food’ served to him on his maadhukaram. He remained there without any kind of food/ fruits* etc; for days together. *a good leader has to accept all situations and be prepared to face it boldly. (You would recall how Ramanuja had to go without food for 7 days when he traveled from Srirangam in the western direction, till he was given some kind of coarse grain and honey as first -aid on the night of eighth day of travel, and he continued beyond that point via Mt Ekkarai, to reach Kollegal. And , that night also he had only fruits and milk to make it Navarathri upavasam.) The news of Ramanuja in fasting’ reached one Acharya Thirukottiyur Nambi, living some 100 Kms away from Srirangam. (We will cover the story of Ramanuja’s visit to Thirukottiyur and what he leant and what he did with the learnt mantra later; to tell many, many traits of Ramanuja. It would be suffice to know for the present Thirukottiyur Nambi was one of Five acharyas of Ramanuja detailed by Swami Alavandar-Ramanuja ‘s Manaseeka Acharya and Ramanuja had received his lessons from Thirukottiyur Nambi and the Nambi had held Ramanuja in high esteem and had lot of love and cared for him.) Thirukottiyur Nambi , on hearing from one of the traveler from Srirangam , about the “fasting” of Ramanuja , came almost at once- those days it would take at least 2 or 3 days to reach at a fast pace to travel that distance, to meet Ramanuja. Ramanuja was staying on the banks of Kaveri. When Ramanuja heard that is Acharya Thirukottiyur Nambi was rushing to see him and was already on the other bank of the river at that noon hour, Ramanuja rushed to meet the Acharya by walking across the dry river and fell at his Acharya’s feet, just as downed log of a tree- a true Sree Vaishnavite trait, never minding the hot- hot sand, where men would dare to put their feet. The Acharya was moved by the act but did not utter a word. Not a word was uttered for a long, long time. Every one gathered there wondered but did not open their mouth, although tears were seen rolling down their eyes, because of their reverence to Great Acharya. The seven-foot Ramanuja also did not move a bit and lay prone.His sandal colored soft skin was getting roasted/ baked by the hot-hot oven of sands and was turning from very, very fair to tan brown and to darker shades of brown (say dark chocolate) but men did not move. All of a sudden a ‘man ‘in the crowd shouted at the highest pitch of his voice to Thirukottiyur Nambi to say “what kind of sishya –acharya order (“kramam”) was that when a tender and fresh garland of flowers-”karumukai maalai’ had been subjected to the hot sun?”. The man, who voiced the sentiments of many, was a sishya of Thirukottiyur Nambi and his name was Kidaambi Aachan and; had gone over to Srirangam along with the Nambi. He was the man so concerned about Ramanuja and his welfare. He was not able to tolerate what he considered ‘inhuman act’ by an acharya to allow his sishya to lay in prone for a long time to come, that too in the hot sun, without asking him to get up. Nor the sishya Ramanuja would get up on his own. (Look at the fastidious attitude to Sampradaya, not to get up unless told!) Hence, Kidaambi Aachan burst out. But then, why did Thirukottiyur Nambi stay in silence? He was looking for a sincere, loving and caring man who would take care of Ramanuja from then on wards lest a repeat of the incidence of poisoning his food should take place How to select the man he was looking for? The natural affection, love and care towards Ramanuja came out of its own among all those present only in Kidaambi Aachan by his angry words of eruption against what was happening to shout at the Acharya, normally not accepted in general practice. That made Thirukottiyur Nambi to say he was on the lookout for a person who would sincerely care for Ramanuja and; actually he was looking for Kidaambi Aachan, to come out of his own to show his concern in the welfare of Ramanuja , the Udaiyavar. Thirukottiyur Nambi told Kidaambi Aachan swami, to take care of Ramanuja from that moment and said Aachan would prepare food and serve it to Udaiyavr as “eka-maadhukaram”. That means Udaiyavar would not be going on maadhukaram and instead Kidaambi Aachan would prepare food in the mutt itself and take care of Ramanuja. And, with that great decision a turning point came in the life of Ramanuja, so to say lesser exposure to the enemies who could try again to succeed. This was the second incidence, in the life of Ramanuja, to eliminate him and he got away with it by his own observation, thanks to the ‘grihini’ who, out of her deep respect to Udaiyavar, indicated something amiss in the maadhukaram she gave. The watchful eyes* of Ramanuja saved him. (The first one was the GDP when Govinda, the cousin of Ramanuja, saved him at Narasinghpur in Vindhyas: the third save was made by the veduvars of Kongu Nadu who gave ‘The First-Aid’ ’from the cold, fever and from total starvation of seven days till then!) *This powerful tool is needed in any great leader He should be sensitive to the surroundings and to the people , their behavior and acts etc Ramanuja could save himself only because his power of observation. One could see the level of acceptance by Ramanuja here. His power for tolerance shows up magnificently in many ways. His implicit acceptance of the command of his Acharya to do away with the system of maadhukaram from his life shows not only respects to his commander also his self discipline to obey without murmur. That shows the respect to the chain of command needed in any organization of standing and repute. One could voice one’s perception before a decision is taken but shall not deviate an inch from the decision arrived at, is for us to learn. Till next post ‘wait’, His will. Jai Parama Visishta Acharya Ramanuja!
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 10:58:30 +0000