"We Have Sinned, Acharya"

The kind of responses I have had for this story make me tremble in fear. May the Udaiyavar Sri Ramanujacharyar and Sri Renganatha bless me with the strength to continue the narration!

Villidasan (his full name was Pillai Uranga Villidasan) continued to be in a state of ecstasy. If God decides to show His eyes even for a nanosecond, the effect will last for centuries, extending into millions of life –times, for ever, for eternity and even thereafter.
When he went back to Ponnachi that night and told about his experience, she was also transformed. She did not whine that her husband had found out another object of love. She was ecstatic because she was the loving wife of a man to whom even the Great God had shown His eyes.

The next morning Villi gave away his possessions, erected a small hut near Sri Ramanuja’s Asram and started living there along with Ponnachi. The couple would spend most of the time serving in the Ashram using their hut only for sleeping for a few hours in the night.

In those days the social order based on caste was very rigid. Apart from being a saint and a spiritual leader, Ramanuja was also a social revolutionary; but even then he could not do much about it.

Mutt-heads had disciples from the higher castes as well as from the lower ones. The latter were needed because running a mutt required a lot of funds and wealthy disciples from the trading class provided that. The caste-feelings were so ingrained in the system that the Mutt-heads would show the discrimination in subtle ways.


For instance when the head went to the river in the morning for his bath, he would lay his hands on the shoulder of a lower-caste disciple. But after the bath, after performing his morning rituals, when he returned from the river, he would not go near the lower-caste disciple. Thereafter he would be only touching a brahmin disciple who has also peformed similar rituals.

Ramanuja was hurt by such practices. Life produces such a rare combination of love and intelligence only once in several aeons and we should all be grateful that Sri Ramanuja was born in our aeon.

Ramanujar had a disciple belonging to the highest caste by name Mudaliyaandan. He hailed from one of the most respected Brahmin families and he was a great scholar. When Ramanuja went to Cauvery in the morning for his bath he would place his hands on Mudaliyandan’s shoulders. Ramanuja had become old and he required support while walking.

After the bath, after applying the sacred symbols all over his body, after performing his morning prayers, while returning from the river he would place his hands on the shoulders of…. Yes, you have guessed it right, Villidasan. After all Villidasan was a disciple gifted by the Lord of Srirangam, wasn’t he? But Villidasan stood much lower in the pecking order of castes.

Now this became a curious sight to the people of Srirengam, and an eyesore to his disciples- Ramanuja holding a high-class Brahmin’s hand while going to bath and holding a wrestler’s hand after his bathing and prayers. Given the social order of those days, this spectacle was as much a curiousity as Villi’s walking backwards, seeing Ponnachi’s eyes.

The whole town was talking about that. Ramanuja’s disciples were furious, to put it mildly. Please do not get me wrong. Mudaliaandan was not upset about it. For he was a good and a humble brahmin. But the others thought this was an affront to their caste.


They even thought that Ramanuja had become senile as he was doing things in a skewed reverse order. They first showed faces, mumbled something and finally unable to put up with that any longer, one disciple went ahead and complained to Ramanuja.


“We don’t mind Villi being your disciple. We don’t even mind your placing your hands on his shoulders while walking. But what we do mind is the order in which you do things. When you go to the river you can place your hands on Villidasan. But when you come back, don’t go near him; use somebody like Mudaliandan for your support. The whole town is laughing at you.”

 

Even a hardened sinner, a person who has killed people and raped women, has some hopes.

But a person with pride, especially spiritual pride, the pride of having been born in a superior class, has absolutely no hopes of salvation. He is condemned to live a life of misery till he realises in the depths of his heart, that before God and love, all are the same. Ramanujar did not want that misery for his other disciples.

He just told them in an apologetic voice,

“Habits die hard. Give this old man a few more days of time. I will try to reform myself.”

The disciples were happy that their Guru had at least listened to their words of wisdom.

Ramanuja asked Villidasan to meet him in his chambers that night.

“Will you do whatever I ask you to?”

“I am your slave, Acharya. Your tiniest whim is a divine command for me.”

“If I ask you to commit an act of sin…”

Villidasan did not let his Acharya finish the sentence.

“When my Guru, the person who showed the Great Lord to me, asks me to do something, it can’t be a sin, even if you ask me to kill or maim.”

“Good. I appreciate your devotion, Villi. It’s late in the night now. The other disciples are asleep. You know where they would dry their spare dhotis? Yes. Go there and tear off a portion of their dhotis. From all the dhoties. OK? Don’t ask me why.”

“As you please, Acharya.”

“And do come early tomorrow for you can watch a wonderful sight.”

Villidasan executed his command and went home.

Pandemonium ruled the Ashram the next day. The disciples were using foul language to condemn the miscreant who had played with their clothes. They showered the choicest of abuses on the vandalist.

Villidasan went and bowed to Ramanuja who was dumbfounded by his disciples’ rude behaviour. On that day too Ramanuja leaned on Mudaliandan when he went to Cauvery and on Villi when he returned.

That very night Ramanuja summoned two of his disciples belonging to the highest caste.

“We are in the midst of a grave financial crisis. I don’t think we can run the mutt this month without additional money. You go to Villi’s hut tonight. When his wife Ponnachi is asleep silently remove her gold ornaments and bring them to me.”

“We can Guruji…. We definitely can..but … you …. see…… the….”

“What’s your problem?”

“Villi is our problem. He is a wrestler and if he catches us stealing we had it. We are afraid of him…”

“Don’t worry. I will retain Villi in the Ashram on some pretext so that you can do your job in peace.”

Ramanuja retained Villi near his side till mid-night. The disciples went to Villi’s hut. Ponnachi was sleeping on the floor of the hut using her hand as a pillow.

The moment one of the disciples bent down to unhook her ear-ring, she woke up. But then she recognised the disciple and did not want to startle him. When Ramanuja’s disciple committed such an act of theft it must have a divine sanction, she thought. She then laid still and let them remove the ear-rings, bangles and the nose-ring she was wearing on the left side of her body.

As soon as they were finished, she turned the other side so that they could remove the ornaments on the right side of her body too. But the disciples thought she had woken up and fled the scene.

 

As soon as the two thieves returned to the mutt, Ramanuja sent Villi away for the day. The disciples handed over the booty to the Acharya and wanted to go to sleep.

Ramanuja asked them to remain awake. He then instructed them to wake up all the other disciples. All of them should clean themselves and assemble before the Acharya for an important lesson.

Eager to hear new lessons from the Acharya, they all gathered around him in no time.

Now Villidasan ran into the mutt with his wife in tow. He fell down at the Acharya’s feet like an uprooted tree. He and his wife were sobbing.

The other disciples were stunned at the unusual sight. They had never seen Villidasan crying so much.

“I have sinned Acharya. We have sinned. We are no longer fit to be your disciples. Condemn us to the worst of hells; even then the retribution will not be adequate.”

“What happened, my child? Why are you crying? Why is your wife crying?”
Ramanuja asked like an innocent man.

“Some of your learned disciples had come into our hut today to take my wife’s jewels. She was sleeping. Your disciples took the trouble of removing the jewels from her person themselves. Ponnachi did not want to startle them by waking up all of a sudden. When she turned the other side so that they can remove those jewels also, they just ran away.

“Acharya, I am not even fit to be a dust in the feet of those learned disciples. Aren’t you called the Udaiyavar? Doesn’t that mean that all of us,all our belongings, properties and everything belong to you? When you sent your men to take your things, Ponnachi should have welcomed them and should have given them whatever she had. She has sinned, My Lord.

"And I have sinned too. Please name a punishment for us. My wife has decided not to wear jewels on the one side of her body for the rest of her life.

"You gave God to me. And I could not even give some worthless piece of yellow metal to you, when you needed it! What a sinner I am! There is no hope for me, there is no salvation for me!”

Ramanuja turned to his other disciples.

‘”You fools, when a piece of your worthless clothes were torn you shouted, used foul language and gave me hell. See Villidasan! How many lifetimes would it take for you to acquire his love!

"Now listen to me idiots. Even River Cauvery cannot clean me completely. But this man’s touch can purify me. That’s why I lean on him when I return from the river.

Villi, please teach these people how to love.”

The disciple who first complained to Ramanuja about Villi prostrated at Villis and Ponnachi’s feet begging their pardon.

Ramanuja then returned the jewels to Ponnachi and commanded her to wear them then and there. And also ordered that she should never be without those jewels. The silence that reigned in the Ashram was pregnant with many lessons, many teachings and many learnings.

Ramanujacharya looked up as if to ask Lord Renganatha, ‘Did I treat your favoured children well? Did I use them to convey the message of love? Is my mission accomplished?’

The Great Lord, always asleep yet eternally aware, just let out a smile from the corners of his beautiful lips.

Raamanujasya sharanau sharanam prapathye