Photo: Swami Ramakrishnananda / Life of Sri Ramanuja
Caption: The well that Rakshakambal and Maha Purna’s wife used in front of Ramanuja’s house in Kanchipuram
Ramanuja couldn’t wait to get to Srirangam. Kanchi Purna—a great devotee of Lord Varadaraja—was blessed with the good fortune of having daily conversations with the Lord. During one such conversation, Sriman Narayana himself in the form of Varadaraja had told him to instruct Ramanuja to go to Srirangam and seek out Maha Purna as his acharya.
He tirelessly crossed town after town on his journey. In the middle of a small town called Madhurantakam, he was surprised to hear someone calling out his name. Ramanuja stopped walking and whipped his head around to see an effulgent saint—Maha Purna himself had come from Srirangam in search of Ramanuja.
“Ramanuja,” Maha Purna sweetly called out. “I have been looking for you.”
A wide smile grew on Ramanuja’s lips, and his heart melted thinking about the grace of Sriman Narayana that had sent his acharya to him. Ramanuja immediately fell flat at Maha Purna’s feet.
“Come on,” Maha Purna said. “Let’s go to your house in Kanchipuram. I will perform your pancha samskara and officially initiate you into our Srivaishnava fold.”
Ramanuja’s heart started beating quicker and quicker. “This material world is constantly fluctuating. We are unable to predict what might happen even a moment from now. Sriman Narayana has graced me by making us meet now. Please, allow me to be initiated right away.”
Maha Purna nodded. “Ramanuja, you are indeed correct. With no further delay, we will finish your pancha samskara right now and right here in Madhurantakam.”
After marking Ramanuja with the ceremonious inscriptions of Sriman Narayana’s shankha and chakra on each shoulder, Maha Purna along with his wife accompanied Ramanuja to Kanchipuram. Having accepted Maha Purna as his acharya, Ramanuja began conscientiously studying the divine compositions of the twelve azhvars under his guidance. Maha Purna began residing in Kanchipuram where Ramanuja dutifully served him.
Meanwhile, things weren’t as sweet between Ramanuja’s wife Rakshakambal and Maha Purna’s wife. One day, Rakshakambal was on her way to the well to collect water for the day. She stumbled into Maha Purna’s wife who was already lowering her pail into the well. Rakshakambal stiffened at the sight. The idea of sharing a well with Maha Purna’s wife—who was of a lower caste—had not really sat well with her. As Rakshakambal lowered her bucket into the well, a tiny drop of water spilled in from Maha Purna’s wife’s vessel.
Rakshakambal would have no more of it. She was furious. “Who do you think you are?” she yelled at Maha Purna’s wife. “Just because you are the wife of our acharya the great Maha Purna, you think you can do whatever you want? Now this entire bucket of water has been contaminated by the water you touched. What a waste!”
Fuming, Rakshakambal dumped all her water onto the ground. She was also mad at her husband for bringing her into this mess.
Maha Purna’s wife silently walked away. Later that day, she told Maha Purna what had happened.
“Don’t worry,” he told his wife. “This is simply a sign from the Lord that we have spent enough time in Kanchipuram. It is time for us to return home to Srirangam.”
The next morning Ramanuja was shocked to find Maha Purna missing from his house. He anxiously asked around and finally got to know from a neighbor about what had unfolded yesterday. He was appalled to hear of his wife’s unkind and discriminatory actions.
Within the next few days, Ramanuja departed to Srirangam and found Maha Purna. Filled with devotion from Sriman Narayana, he became a sanyaasi (a monk), moving forward his journey toward becoming the head—and one of the most well-known—acharya’s of the Srivaishnava sampradayam.
