Ramanuja and the Sacred Mantras

Sri Ramanuja had not yet formally called on his guru Sri Mahapurna at his home after arriving in Srirangam from Kanchi. Through his wife he might also have offended his teacher. He had put her aside on that account and taken the sannyasin's robes — but was that enough to make amends? Such thoughts troubled Ramanuja. He decided to go and offer full apologies. He walked to his guru's dwelling, prostrated himself in an attitude of veneration and humility, described his expiation for the past, and begged pardon for what had not truly been his own fault.

Mahapurna said he had never known there was anything to pardon — if anything, Ramanuja had grown daily in his esteem. "Sire," said Ramanuja, "to fill the void left by Yamuna's sudden departure, please impart to me all the mysteries of religion which that great guru entrusted to you for this purpose."

"With the greatest delight," replied Mahapurna. "I have been eagerly waiting for such an occasion. There shall be no more delay. The essence of our holy faith is embedded in the Dvaya-mantra. Oh, its greatness! Its power and strength! A gem eternal, holy — the very gist of the Vedas, purifying, meritorious, rich, world-winning, and healing."

So saying, he briefly imparted the essentials contained in it: There is but one God. He is all-merciful, and is therefore our Way. He is all-knowing and almighty, and is therefore our God. The soul's end and aim is eternal loving service at His holy feet. "There are glorious amplifications of this truth still to come," Mahapurna added. "Learn these at the feet of Tirukkottiyur Nambi (Goshthipurna), who was an intimate disciple of Yamuna."

Ramanuja took leave and set out for Tirukkottiyur near Pudukkottai. On arriving he asked the passers-by where Goshthipurna lived. "There, in that poor low hut," they said. Ramanuja fell to his knees, and from the place where he stood all the way to the hut he went prostrating. Only those who know how to see not the defects but the perfections of their masters — even to the point of exaggeration — can truly know such a guru.

Ramanuja approached Goshthipurna and fell at his feet. "Teach me, holy Sire, all the hidden doctrines of our faith. I am the humble disciple at the feet of Mahapurna." To test Ramanuja's sincerity, Goshthipurna replied offhandedly, "What have I to tell, and to whom?" — and paid him no further attention. Ramanuja did not utter another word, neither pleading nor reproaching. He simply prostrated and returned to Koil (Srirangam).

Goshthipurna later came to Srirangam for the festival season and paid homage to Sri Ranganatha. The Lord honoured him, and through the officiating priest commanded, "Instruct our Ramanuja in all the occult lore of the faith."

"But, O glorious God!" replied Goshthipurna. "It is You who has ruled: Tell not those who have not been apprenticed at least for a year. Reveal not high truths to the non-serious, the non-dutiful, who love Me not. If I am to keep the strict letter of Your law, I must still test Your Ramanuja."

"Not in his case," answered Sri Ranganatha, "for he already fulfils the requirement: Body, wealth, mind, life itself belong to the guru — therefore he may be instructed."

"Come to my place," said Goshthipurna to Ramanuja, and he left Srirangam. Ramanuja walked the whole way to Tirukkottiyur, but when he arrived, Goshthipurna said, "Not this time. Can you go and come again?" Ramanuja never thought to protest; he simply obeyed and returned to Srirangam. Eighteen times, it is recorded, did Ramanuja make that journey and each time receive the same answer. Goshthipurna had no other purpose than to test Ramanuja's faith and zeal, to see whether his spirit was strong enough to overcome the passions of the mind. A weak will would long since have given up the pursuit. Discouragement would have proved him an unworthy disciple. Meanwhile, Ramanuja's tenacity raised him in Goshthipurna's esteem every time.

When he returned to Srirangam for the eighteenth time, Ramanuja was moved to tears at the futility of his efforts and sat turning over in his mind what to do next. A disciple of Goshthipurna chanced to come from Tirukkottiyur and visited Ramanuja. After the preliminaries, Ramanuja poured out his grief and asked how he might become worthy. He ended by saying, "Has not God pledged to save us from evil and grant us bliss? So do His regents on earth. How am I to become worthy if the worthy do not remove my unworthiness? Unless the benefactor gives, how is the receiver to be blessed?"

The disciple returned to Tirukkottiyur and told his master how Ramanuja was pining for knowledge. "Has he such an appetite? Then I must feed him at once. A moment's further delay would be a sin. Let Ramanuja come to me — alone with his staff and pennant." So Goshthipurna sent the same disciple back to bring Ramanuja. Ramanuja started immediately, taking his two intimate disciples, Kuresa and Dasarathi, with him, and fell at Goshthipurna's feet.

"These, instead of you alone, as I had commanded!" exclaimed Goshthipurna, irritated.

"Holy Sire," explained Ramanuja, "come with staff and pennant was your order. So I have come."

"Staff and pennant! Which is your staff? Which is your pennant?"

"Sire, Dasarathi is my staff, and Kuresa is my pennant. I am never without them, nor they without me."

Goshthipurna's irritation vanished; he was moved by Ramanuja's beautiful conduct and wit. "Well," said Goshthipurna — who had by now received another command from Sri Ranganatha in a dream, to reveal the holy secrets to Ramanuja as none other than Adisesha himself incarnate — "I make an exception for you and your inseparables. But I command you to impart the sacred truths I am going to reveal to no one else."

He then led Ramanuja to a secret corner of his hut and revealed to him the hidden truths of the Tirumantra, or the Mantra of the Ashtakshara Upanishad — the eight-syllabled, three-worded mantra whose gravity is described thus: "Pranava is the first; Namas the middle; and Narayana the last. So runs the Eight-syllabled Mantra, to be ever used in prayer by seekers after God. It is the granter of every boon, the promoter of devotion and dispassion."

"This," said Goshthipurna, "is the mantra which all our saints and sages constantly recited and pondered. It is the bestower of eternal bliss."

Ramanuja received these teachings reverently and considered himself now regenerated and saved. But he could not contain the truth within himself, even though imparted under a vow of secrecy. "Why are such truths jealously guarded from all mortals? If God is not for sinners, for whom is He? Is not His holy word a message for all? Why should mortals be denied its saving power? I shall not keep it a secret. I shall proclaim it to all, whatever the consequences." Compassion for all humanity burned in his heart, and he resolved to publish the Word.

The next day he entered the great elevated hall of Tor-Kkazhvan, the shrine of Lord Nrisimha in Tirukkottiyur, invited the whole town to assemble, and from a full heart revealed to them the precious truths of the spirit that he had learned from Goshthipurna under vow.

The news reached Goshthipurna and roused his indignation. He summoned Ramanuja and demanded in angry tones, "Culprit! Did I not strictly forbid you to reveal our noble truths to the undeserving vulgar? How dare you break your promise?"

"Revered Sire," Ramanuja submitted, "I confess I am guilty of disobedience. But I taught the truths to others to glorify you and your teaching."

"That is beside the point," retorted Goshthipurna. "The disobedience itself is the question. What is your punishment for it?"

"My punishment is surely hell, Sire."

"Then you know it well. What made you violate my command?"

"Sire," said Ramanuja, "please hear me calmly. Disobedience deserves hell, no doubt — I must be sent there. But, holy Sire, may I submit that this is but a little sacrifice for one sinner to make, since it brings salvation to many? And the merit of that wholesale salvation goes to you, since the holy secret came from your great self. These thoughts emboldened me to break your command. Compassion for humankind blinded me to your injunction. I ask forgiveness. Do with me as you will."

Goshthipurna was struck dumb. His own heart was moved. "Oh, that this thought never entered my crippled heart!" he exclaimed. "My heart would not warm with love for humanity. Strange that I never felt the all-embracing love of Ramanuja. Ramanuja! Yatiraja! Indeed you are He, come on earth. I see it all now."

Venting these new emotions, Goshthipurna rushed forward, embraced Ramanuja, and continued: "Holy son, you are mine — my very own. Your name shall henceforth be Emberumanar (Our Exalted One). The creed that I gave you, till now known as the Creed of the High Vedanta, shall henceforth be known to the world as the Creed of Emberumanar. And more — beyond what you have already heard from me and proclaimed from the housetops, there are still further secrets. Come."

"Holy Sire," Ramanuja softly replied, "it is not for me to lay down the law to you. Had I thought for a moment that there were further secrets of which I stood in need, that would prove I lacked trust in you and doubted your sincerity. But if I now say, 'I need no more,' that would prove I had not understood the first set of secrets. So I hold my peace. It is for you to decide, master, what I deserve in these circumstances."

"My own son, Ramanuja, dear!" said Goshthipurna. "Then let it be deferred. Go now, and come again — but mind, come alone." Ramanuja prostrated before his guru, rose, and left for Srirangam with his staff and pennant.

Some time later Ramanuja journeyed again, as bidden, for further instruction and humbled himself before his master. "Come now," said Goshthipurna, clasping Ramanuja's hand with love. Taking him to a secluded spot, with every precaution against being overheard, he said, "Touch my feet and promise not to reveal our most cherished secrets any further." When Ramanuja had solemnly pledged, Goshthipurna began, in the manner of Lord Krishna:

"It is the Last Word (Charama-sloka) of the spiritual science, contained in the Lord's verse":

"Son, reveal not these holy truths to the unprepared, the undeserving, the unserving, and the haters of God — Bhagavad-Gita XVIII. 67. Ramanuja, if you value these truths, let no atheists or heretics hear them. Guard them against such."

"Let it be, Sire, as you wish," said Ramanuja. "But may I not make an exception for such worthy, God-loving souls as Kuresa? How can I conceal anything from him?"

"He may be worthy," said Goshthipurna, "but our Sastras lay down conditions: For one year, half a year, or at least a quarter of a year, the postulant shall be examined in every way, and then the guru shall initiate him — graciously, disinterestedly. After this trial period, seeing that he truly craves knowledge, teach him."

Ramanuja accepted and returned to Srirangam like a victor returning from a successful campaign. He thought to himself that just as the eighteen chapters of the Gita were preached by Sri Krishna before the Charama-sloka was revealed, in order to test Arjuna's mind, so the eighteen trips had been imposed on him by his guru. "I am Crown Prince now," he rejoiced. "I am heir to the Kingdom of God."

Kuresa now longed to learn this truth. He waited for his chance and, throwing himself at Ramanuja's feet, said: "Holy Sire, how I realise the effect of Yamuna's prayers to Lord Varada! Through them you have become the pioneer of our faith, having renounced all worldly concerns. A holy band is gathering round you. I am happily one of them. See how again Yamuna's disciple Goshthipurna has graced you with his special gift. May I not be so blessed by you in turn?"

"Son, beloved," said Ramanuja, "you must wait one year. That is my command."

"Master," Kuresa submitted humbly, "one year! That is unbearably long. Can I endure it? Shall I even live so long? I have heard that one month's fasting and lying at the master's door is counted a good equivalent for one year's probation." Kuresa put this into action at once. Ramanuja was moved by compassion, and at the end of the month he initiated him into the final principles of the Gita.

Dasarathi had been watching. He could find no peace until he too learned these saving truths. He approached Ramanuja and fell at his feet. "Teach me also, I pray, Master."

"Son, my permission was only for Kuresa. You must go to Goshthipurna and obtain his permission."

Dasarathi ran to Tirukkottiyur and threw himself before Goshthipurna. But Goshthipurna paid him no attention. Dasarathi stood firm and repeated his request, but Goshthipurna was just as resolute in turning away. This went on for six months. If Dasarathi had any pride of birth or learning, this probation was wholesome for him. He humbled himself again. Goshthipurna now looked at him. "You are one of Ramanuja's favoured ones, I take it?"

"Yes, Sire. I am called Dasarathi. I have come to learn the cream of the Gita teachings from you."

Goshthipurna said, "Let every trace in you cease of the threefold egotism that troubles humankind — pride of talent, pride of wealth, pride of ancestry. Ramanuja will be the best judge in these matters. Go to him and wait upon his will. He will bless you."

"Be it as you will, Sire," said Dasarathi, and humbly returned to Srirangam.

Ramanuja had been watching for Dasarathi's return. When he came and fell at Ramanuja's feet and related all that had passed at Tirukkottiyur, Ramanuja spoke to him in the presence of many assembled disciples: "See how Dasarathi is now a changed man. Whatever self-esteem he may have had before has vanished. What a transformation my guru has wrought! Rise, Dasarathi. You are now qualified to hear the high lessons of the spirit. I shall reveal them at once."

He then communicated to him the quintessence of the Gita teachings, and exclaimed joyously, "Now indeed I may claim as truly my own my Staff and my Pennant."