The Birth of Parasara Bhatta and Vyasa Bhatta

With this second pilgrimage across Bharata-Khanda, our Bhashyakara completed another great work. Those were days of religious renewal in India, kindled by the inspired personality of our Sri Ramanujacharya. His influence spread from house to house and village to village throughout Bharat, and his spirit fanned the fire of religion smouldering in human hearts.

Kuresa was the very soul and shadow of Sri Ramanujacharya. In learning he was a scholar; in conduct, a paragon of excellence. He was never lax in the daily duties, classed as Abhigamana, Upadana, Ijya, Svadhyaya, and Yoga.

As we have said, Kuresa lived on alms, for he had given away all his wealth at Kura and come to Srirangam to live with Sri Ramanujacharya. One day it rained all morning, until after the Sangava (the Upadana time, the part of the day set aside for begging rounds). Kuresa's strict rule was to beg each day's needs from the houses of virtuous folk, and never to store provisions for a second day. Prevented by the rain from going out, Kuresa and his pious wife Andalamma fasted after their usual bath, their morning sandhya and ceremonies, and after offering to their household God a fruit and a little water, which they then took as a sacrament.

Evening came. Kuresa performed his evening sandhya and spared not a thought for his hungry stomach. He went through a devout reading of the Tiruvaymozhi (Prabandha), which he took as his daily manual, and then went to sleep. But his wife lay awake, grieving at heart that her godlike husband was fasting. As she sat, she heard the temple drums and bugles announcing that Sri Ranganatha was receiving His night-offering of food, called the periya-avasaram. This shook her. She gave vent to her feelings: "Ranga, when your bhakta is fasting, how can You revel in feasting?" Such a cry of distress was, it is said, heard by the Lord, and it pierced His ears like arrows.

Uttama-Nambi, a temple-functionary, was asleep on a raised platform when Sri Ranganatha appeared to him in a dream and commanded: "Nambi, my bhakta Kuresa is fasting. Rise, go to my temple, and carry on your head the holy Aravanai-food just offered to me, in full processional style from the temple to his house." Uttama-Nambi awoke startled, hurried to the temple, and did as commanded.

As the music and din of the procession reached Kuresa's door, he was roused from sleep and wondered what was happening at that hour. He went out and asked. Uttama-Nambi said, "Sire, Sri Ranganatha bid me carry you His holy food. Pray accept." Kuresa received it devoutly, but he would not take the whole amount. He said, "Holy sires, I should not deprive the Lord of His due by disposing of this food as usual. Yet I cannot refuse it altogether, since it has been so graciously sent. I shall take only two morsels, one for myself and one for my wife. Sri Ranganatha has so fully made me His own that I have no need of anything on earth. I thank you, sires; please return with the rest to the temple."

After dismissing the temple servants he sat down and asked his wife whether anything in particular had been on her mind while he slept. She confessed that she had envied Sri Ranganatha enjoying His last rich course of food for the day while His bhakta went hungry. "Good lady," said Kuresa sharply, "you should not have been guilty of that thought. Do not do so again." They both devoutly ate the two retained morsels, and Kuresa went to bed again, somewhat displeased with his wife.

But he had a dream. Sri Ranganatha appeared and said, "My beloved, the two morsels you have eaten will be the seed for two precious sons in your family. They shall be considered as My own sons. I Myself choose to appear as them, for the sake of My own future purpose, as I chose to appear as Rama, the son of Dasaratha, and Krishna, the son of Vasudeva."

The dream ended. Kuresa awoke and told his wife and others, and quietly awaited the unfolding of events.

In time, as Sri Ranganatha had predicted, two sons were born to Kuresa. The ten-day sutaka (post-delivery period) passed, but Kuresa took no steps about the name-giving and other sacraments the Vedas prescribe for new-born infants. His thought was that these children belonged to Sri Ramanujacharya's spiritual family, and it was therefore for Sri Ramanujacharya to do what was needed.

And now Sri Ramanujacharya himself appeared, with Govinda beside him, and told Govinda to bring the little ones. Govinda hurried eagerly to Andalamma and lovingly gathered up the two jewels of babies. He ran back to Sri Ramanujacharya, murmuring the holy Dvaya-mantra all the way as a shield for them against evil influences, and lifted them up with love to his master.

Sri Ramanujacharya scanned them with eyes moist with love. Observing the splendid appearance and glorious faces of the infants, he blessed them warmly, and said to Govinda, "Brother, what did you do? The fragrance of the Dvaya-mantra comes to me from the babies." "Yes, Sire," replied Govinda, "as I carried the precious charges to you, I shielded them with the power of that mantra." "Then brother," said Sri Ramanujacharya, "since you have made yourself the guardian of the bodies of these gems, you shall be the guardian of their souls as well. These two infants are no other than the two sentences of the Dvaya itself, made manifest in these persons."

So saying, he stroked the infants, adorning them with the pancha-ayudha ornament (the five weapons of the Lord). In due course, he had Govinda administer the pancha-samskara of Parankusa, naming the infants Parasara Bhattarya and Vyasa Bhattarya, thus fulfilling another of the three wishes of his Great Guru Yamunacharya. Thus two great luminaries of the faith were ushered into the world in the wake of Sri Ramanujacharya.

Uttama-Nambi sang of them in a work he composed called the Lakshmi-Kavya.

Another event came about at this time that allowed Sri Ramanujacharya to fulfil the remaining wish of his Great Guru Yamuna, to name some fit person Parankusa, or Nammazhvar, in memory of the saint of that name.

Readers will remember the redemption of Govinda by Srisaila-Purna of Tirupati, told in an earlier chapter. When Govinda joined the Vaishnava band, he felt so blessed in his new life that he could not keep this delight to himself. He sought out his own brother, Siriya-Govindapperumal, and explained to him the beauty of the new faith. He brought him to Purna, who graciously accepted him as a disciple. Govinda and his brother thus became spiritual associates as well as brothers, and both came to live with Sri Ramanujacharya at Srirangam.

Now a son was born to Govinda-Perumal. This too was a precious acquisition for the faith. Sri Ramanujacharya hurried to Perumal's house, blessed the child, and named him Parankusa-Nambi. This fulfilment of Yamuna's third wish was also recorded by Uttama-Nambi in his Lakshmi-Kavya.

We shall close this chapter by asking our readers to remember the "three-finger miracle" of Yamunacharya related in Chapter IX. Its three fulfilments by Sri Ramanujacharya, on whom that sacred duty had fallen, were, in order: the composition of the Sri Bhashya, the commentary on the Brahma-Sutras; the naming of two children in memory of Parasara and Vyasa; and a third child in memory of St. Nammazhvar.