Taken from 'The Life of Ramanujacharya'
At that time a very learned scholar was living at Kahci. His name was Yadavaprakasa, and the fame of scholarship had attracted a large group of disciples to him. Being desirous of understanding the Vedic literatures, Ramanuja also became his student, and his pleasant nature and quick intelligence soon endeared him to the great pandita. However, this relationship did not last for very long, for despite his learning and knowledge of the scriptures, Yadavaprakasa was a firm adherent of the mdydvdda philosophy of absolute oneness. He taught that the allpervading Brahman was the Absolute Truth and that the personal God, Lord Visnu, was illusory. Ramanuja was a pure devotee of the Lord, and so he was pained to hear the statements of Yadavaprakasa, that denied the supremacy of his beloved Lord. Out of humility and respect for his guru, Ramanuja would not point out the defects in these impersonalist teachings, but the situation gradually became impossible to tolerate.
One day when the other students had gone home to take lunch, Yadavaprakasa asked Ramanuja to massage his body with oil. At that time one of the other students returned to the school to discuss with his teacher a passage from the Chandogya Upanisad they had been studying that morning. In particular he inquired about the word kapydsam,which occurs in the first chapter, part six, verse eleven. Therein it is stated,apydsam pundankam evam akslni.Following Sahkaracarya's interpretation, Yadavaprakasa began to explain that kapi'dsam referred to the rearend of a monkey and that the whole passage meant that the Supreme Lord had eyes like lotuses as red as a monkey's rearend.
On hearing this horrible explanation of the appearance of his beloved Lord, Ramanuja, who was still massaging his guru, was filled with such intense grief that hot tears immediately began to pour from his eyes. When Yadavaprakasa felt the touch of these tears, he looked up in surprise. Seeing Ramanuja's distress, he asked what was causing him such pain. To this inquiry Ramanuja replied, "0 master, it causes me such suffering to hear this terrible explanation from a great soul like yourself. How sinful it is to compare the beautiful lotus eyes of the Lord to the posterior of a monkey. I never expected to hear such a thing from my teacher.Yadavaprakasa was angered by this challenge from one of his own students, and he replied sharply, "I also am very aggrieved. Impudent words from an inferior are never praiseworthy. If you have become so proud that you think yourself a better teacher than me, then let us hear your explanation of the passage."By your mercy everything is possible," replied Ramanuja.Yadavaprakasa smiled derisively. "Now we are going to see this boy outdo the great Sankara carya," he said.Ramanuja remained peaceful, and when he spoke it was in a very humble way. "Instead of understanding the posterior of a monkey from the word kapydsam," he said, "another meaning is possible. Kd'pi can be taken as kam jalam pibati, that which drinks up the water, or, in other words, the sun. The word dsam also means to blossom, so the whole word kapi'dsam can be understood as that which blossoms under the sun, or, in other words, the lotus flower. Thus we can understand the man' tra of the Upanisad to mean that the Lord has eyes as beautiful as the lotus flower.Yadavaprakasa was very surprised to hear such a clever explanation from one of his own students and he realized that Ramanuja was a staunch adherent of the devotional philosophy of dualism. The devotees understand that the perfection of life is to worship Lord Visnu without any personal desire, and so they never aspire for oneness as the mayavadis do. This philosophy was directly opposed to the teachings of Yadavaprakasa and after this incident his affection for Ramanuja began to wane.
A few days later when Yadavaprakasa was instructing his students from the Taittiriya Upanisad, he made the statement that the Supreme Brahman is Truth, Knowledge, and Infinity(Satyam, Gyanam, Anantam Bramhan). On hearing this impersonal idea of God, Ramanuja could not contain himself. He immediately objected to his teacher's explanation, saying, "No, this verse means that the Supreme possesses Truth, Knowledge and Infinity, but still He has His own existence beyond these attributes.Angered by this unexpected interruption, Yadavaprakasa replied, "You presumptuous child, if you won't accept my explanations, then why do you come here? Why not go home and start a school of your own?" When he had composed himself somewhat, he went on more quietly, "Your explanation is not in accordance with Sahkaracarya or any of the previous acaryas, so kindly keep your impertinence to yourself.By nature Ramanuja was humble and meek, and so he tried to avoid such confrontations with his teacher. However, he was also absolutely devoted to knowledge of the truth; thus, when he heard the misleading monist interpretations being put forward by Yadavaprakasa, he was sometimes unable to contain himself. In the presence of the other students Yadavaprakasa used to make light of these challenges, but in his heart there began to arise a growing fear and hatred for the boy "As he grows older," he contemplated, "this boy will strongly establish the dualistic philosophy of devotion."
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