Pearls of Wisdom ~ Azhaikindran Arangan Episode July 10th 2012

Even though one may know the sastras, any mantras or knowledge it has to still come from the Guru which is the norm. With due respect to the master, Sri Ramanajar as a student of Yadavaprakashar was learning the Vedanta sastras under his tutelage. Yadavaprakashar was well versed in the sastras, mantra sastra as well as the jyothisha sastra and was a maha pandit. Just like how Thanjavur was the capital of Cholas, Madurai being the capital of the Pandyas likewise Kanchipuram was the capital of the Pallavas. The king of Kanchipuram who was ruling at that time had a daughter who was very beautiful, would sing very well, a great dancer and would play the veena very well. Having been endowed with so many artistic abilities, the king’s daughter suddenly had a change overcome her. 




Whenever anyone would see her, they would be filled with fear. She would run here and there, shout loudly and with her hair unbraided she would run helter skelter. She would not eat or sleep well and would be shouting often.
Humans have predominantly two types of diseases. One due to the body and the other due to the mind. With the body we have diseases attributed to blood pressure shooting up, sugar increase or an injury. In the mind, if there is this uncontrollable distress, failed belief or an unforeseen event that caused distress which gets locked inside the mind and not being able to come out becomes a disease of the mind. Aside from the body and mind, due to some hidden or unseen influence of the ghostly or dead beings, one gets to be inflicted as well. This is also a type of affliction seen in the world. For this Rajakumari, if it was a body affliction then she could have been given some medicines and if it was a mind affliction then she could have been given consultation to resolve her of the difficulties. But what has happened here is that some being has caught her in its grasp and afflicting her. All here actions and reactions to people causing fear, her shouting and behaviour seem to show that something has taken over her. Some advised the king that if he went on a theertha yatra to Rameshwaram and take all the baths there, this would go away. Then they advised the King to perform archana and arAdhana to all the devathas of several temples. Having done these, there was still no benefit. Then the astrologers came and looked at the various planetary influences and recommended several procedures. Even this did not yield any benefit. The King having done all this including offering charity and performing acts of dharma and finding no change in his daughter, he approached Yadavaprakasar. Yadavaprakasar was the raja guru and he decided that he would approach his gurunathar for a solution. The King knowing that Yadavaprakasar was well versed in the mantras decided to bring him and show his daughter’s present condition. One day the king visiting Yadavaprakasar described about the problem with his daughter and said he was not sure if this was a disease of the mind or body or a different one as his daughter’s actions are frightening. He requested Yadavaprakasar to come and see his daughter and find out what has happened, suggest some relief from this and help his daughter. He shared his worries that his daughter is still young and needs to get married and she should become normal otherwise who would marry her. Yadavaprakasar says to the king not to worry as he has learnt lots of mantras and tantras and that nothing is impossible for him and says now that the king has told of this problem, to take it as solved already and promises he will come tomorrow and get all things sorted thus giving the king great confidence. Yadavaprakasar cannot go on his own to the raja sabha as it would not be respectful and so he came accompanied by a few disciples. So he takes all his disciples with him. Being the rajaguru, the king likewise honours him with due respect with poorna kumbham, chatra, chamara upachAram, the king himself comes to the door of the palace and escorts him inside. Yadavaprakasar comes and sits majestically inside the royal chamber and then asks for the king’s daughter to be brought before him. Then with about ten people holding her, the rajakumari with her head shaking and hair let down is brought before Yadavaprakasar. Yadavaprakasar knowing that she will be subjugated to his mantras, approaches her. Suddenly, the daughter exclaims calling yadavaprakasar by his name, ‘Hey Yadavaprakasa, I am not going to be afraid of your mantras or yukthis. You cannot do anything to me. Just by doing some mantra, tantra or yukthi do you think I will leave this woman. I am a brahmarakshas and I have caught her. You cannot do anything’. Not only this she jumps at yadavaprakasar who is taken aback and goes back to his seat in fear, faints and does not know what to do.

On one side, fear and the other, shame being in front of everyone in the raja sabha, YadavaprakAshar sits stupefied. The onlookers now are getting confused as to who has been possessed, the girl or YadavaprakAshar himself such being the state of affairs. Now the Brahmarakshas comments "There is a kshEtram called MadurAntakam where the "yEri kAtha rAmar" is present and by the side of this temple there is a lotus pond and nearby there is a cave and in that cave you were a "udumba" in your previous life. There was a haribhakthar, who would perform namakeerthanam, a vaishnavOttamar whose practice was to visit various kshEtrams and have the darshan of moorthis as well as taking bath in the rivers near the kshetram, would cook his own meal and offering it first to the bhagavan, only then he would eat. That was his custom. Such a mahatma now visited Madurantakam, took bath in the North side of the yEri kAtha rAmar theertham, setup a stove for himself and having made his own food, offered this food mentally to the bhagavan and after eating he threw this into the cave where you, as a "udumbu" and being so, ate some of this food. Having consumed the uchistAnam of such a sadhu in your previous life, you have now became such a great pandit in this life. Now that I have told your lifestory, let me tell you mine", said the brahmarakshasas. The brahmarakshasas continued "Even I too read all the sastras and there is no sastra that I was unaware of. Thinking of performing a great yaga, amidst great pomp and splendour, in that yaga, there were wrongs committed with mantra, kriya and tantra and therefore the yaga did not complete successfully. Because I did not complete the yaga with the prescribed norms, I now became a brahmarakshasas. Like this I came to kanchipuram and here in the park I saw this Rajakumari whom I caught upon her instantly. Thus the brahmarakshasas told its own story as well as described the previous life story of YadavaprakAshar. Now everyone really understood what had happened to the Rajakumari. Now the brahmarakshasas tells YadavaprakAshar that the mantras he chanted now will not catch him or do anything, no yantra or mandalam will not affect him. "Let me tell you an idea to make me go out of here and the reason why I am telling this idea is that there is a gain for myself in it". It mentions to YadavaprakAshar that amongst the disciples whom he has brought, the disciple named Sri Ramanujar is a great one and an avatArapurushar. How could YadavaprakAshar keep such a great mahatma as his disciple. Indeed he must learn from him. The brahmarakshasas tells YadavaprakAshar not to treat Ramanujar as his disciple as it is indeed the adishEsha in Srivaikuntam, who came as lakshmanAzhwar and balarAmar and tells him to get Sri Ramanujar's grace and get benefit from that. The brahmarakshasas tells YadavaprakAshar to tell Sri Ramanujar to place his lotus feet on the forehead of the Rajakumari and then he will run away from the Rajakumari. It also tells that if the brahmarakshasas gets the theertham from Sri Ramanujar and sips it, it will get relieved from this swaroopam and will thus get liberated.
In the Ramayanam, kapanthan gets liberated which we read about when doing the pArAyanam. Even Ahalya gets releived from her curse. Likewise this brahmarakshasas also was desirous of getting relieved of its curse at the feet of Sri Ramanujar looks forward eagerly and hopes that the feet of the great Sri Ramanujar will be placed on her head.
"Ramanujascha charanou abhivadhya sadharyayA uvAcha madhuram vakyam lakshmanArjya mahaujasam. 
Ramanuja mahapragyna rakshemakamya mama tvam mahatmyAm na jAmi sharanAgatha rakshaka"
The King pleades for his daughters life to be saved. Sri Ramanujar with his kripa places his lotus feet on the head of the princess and immediately the brahmarakshasas leaves the princess. Sri Ramanujar also gives the sripadas theertham and then an amazing thing happens, the brahmarakshasas form goes away and is replaced by a beautiful body and attains a very high place in the heavens. Needless to say, such a blessing for the brahmarakshasas to have had the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujar placed on its head. The king became very happy and performed a kanakAbhishEkam in the sabha with lots of gold coins. Sri Ramanujar, being very humble, not being fond of this, however looks upon YadavaprakAshar to obtain permission, then all the gold that was showered upon him was immediately given by Sri Ramanujar to YadavaprakAshar. Sri Ramanujar never accepted even one coin for him or his family. He gave away all of it to his vidwan, YadavaprakAshar. YadavaprakAshar, being a vidwan although having read the sastras, was however not free from jealousy and shame in front of the people in the court. Since Sri Ramanujar was the reason for this, he got anger on him for no reason. This is typical of manushya swabhAvam. He reflects on what the brahmarakshasas did to him, called him disrespectfully, described his past life, all his mantras are ineffective but let alone that, the fact that Sri Ramanujar who had learnt under his tutelage was being hailed as greater by the brahmarakshasas in front of everyone present in the court. Also the brahmarakshasas took the sripAda theertham and the king performed kanakAbhishEkam in front of him. YadavaprakAshar being the rajaguru was the rightful recipient of the kanakAbhishEkam was the thought that troubled him. He now thought that the king will disown him for Sri Ramanujar as he had no effective powers. These thoughts were troubling the mind of YadavaprakAshar. He had no peace having lost his place and respect and this thought was troubling him. Sri Ramanujar, on the other hand was quite peaceful and was never affected by all that happened to him, he had no feeling of fame or greatness about it all. 
The reason being mahapurushars are always "Mahapurushars" indeed

Radhe Radhe
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