The Life of Kuresan-4
From the Bhakti List Archives
• January 24, 2000
Dear friends, In Srirangam, although Ramanuja and Kuresan succeeded in the stupendous task of systematising an exciting and epochally new philosophy, they both knew that the "sri-bhAshyA" still needed a final coat of brilliant polish.... the polish of irrefutability... before it could go into and earn an unchallenged place in the annals of Vedantic history. Ramanuja knew that in order to lend irrefutable authority to his commentaries on the "brahma-sutras", he badly needed to consult with ancient texts and treatises that could be actually shown to expressly affirm some of the the fundamental postulates and theses of VisishtAdvaita. Ramanuja knew he must access an ancient parchment or document called "boddhAyana vrutti" --- a rare exegetical treatise on VyAsa's "brahma-sutras" incorporating the insights of other great 'bhAshyakAr-s' of a distant past like Dramida, Guhadeva, Tanka and Bharuchi. The "boddhAyana vrutti", Ramanuja learnt, was lying somewhere in a musty library in the royal library of the then king of an obscure Kashmiri state. Daunting as the task appeared to him, Ramanuja decided that he must have access to the "vrutti". To that end he, at the advanced age of about 60 odd years, decided that he would undertake a "digvijayam" of the country --- an All-India tour by foot --- which would not only take him to Kashmir in pursuit of the "vrutti" but also enable him to propagate his message throughout the vast land through establishment of several "ramanuja- koodam-s" and "mutts"... his pontificial centres. Ramanuja with his disciples thus set out from Srirangam on their formidable expedition. Kuresan was with him. The expedition sojourned through vast provinces --- Tirupati, then south to the Malabar areas, up north along the western coastal belt of India to the eastern regions of Puri, Kasi, NaimishAranyam, Varanasi, Salagrama in Nepal, the West to Dwaraka, Pushkaram and to Bhatti (near Lahore) and finally into the Himalayan districts of Kashmir. In the court of the King of Kashmir, Ramanuja was told that before they gave him access to their library he would first have to prove his credentials as a philosopher genuinely propagating a new school of thought. Ramanuja not only put forth his exposition of the new VisihtAdvaita but also engaged the royal pundits in debate to show them the inadequacy of their own monism. The King was pleased and freely gave permission for Ramanuja and Kuresan to access the archives in the royal library. The royal pundits however were none too happy about the King's generosity and played malicious mischief to frustrate Ramanuja. They held that, notwithstanding the royal assent, Ramanuja would not be permitted to take the "vrutti" out of the library precincts. Ramanuja and Kuresa then began to study the "vrutti" within the library premises itself. Then the pundits came up with another plot to frustrate them. They held that Ramanuja would not be allowed to take down any notes from the "vrutti". So Ramanuja and Kuresan proceeded to memorise vast portions of the "vrutti". The pundits seeing that Ramanuja and Kuresan were thwarting them at every point finally plotted murder. It was then that Ramanuja decided that enough was enough and decided to leave Kashmir... The expedition slowly wound up and returned south to SriRangam. In spite of the disappointment faced in Kashmir, Ramanuja however, as it turned out, suffered no loss at all! For, back in Srirangam, when Kuresan and he sat down to complete the "sri-bhAshya" by incorporating authentic references to the "boddhAyana vrutti", Kuresan by the sheer power of his prodigious memory was able to instantly and accurately recall vast passages from the "vrutti"--- word for word! The commentary of Ramanuja on VyAsa's "brahma-sutrA-s" -- the labour of so many, many years --- quickly progressed to its conclusion. It turned out to be a real miracle of miracles! Ramanuja finished his immortal "sri-bhAshyA" with a sense of utter fulfillment thanks to the "vrutti" and even greater thanks to the daring enterprise and phenomenal memory of his chief disciple, Sri.Kuresan! (contd) dAsan, Sampathkumaran __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com
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