a pilgrimage to Varanasi.
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Look here. If you are not satisfied with my way of teaching, you don't have to take any more lessons." The teacher spoke with obvious displeasure. Ramanuja went away without uttering a word. He was too full of respect for his teacher. Who Saved Him? His fellow students hated Ramanuja and wanted to get rid of him. The teacher and the students including Govinda and Ramanuja were all going on a pilgrimage to Varanasi. They approached the Vindhya Mountains. They were travelling through an impenetrable jungle when Yadava Prakasha and his other disciples hatched a plot to kill Ramanuja, Govinda somehow sensed it; he warned his brother and advised him to run for his life. Accordingly Ramanuja went away. The teacher and the other students frantically searched for him in the forest. They presumed that he had been killed by some wild animal and they proceeded on their way to Varanasi. Ramanuja wandered wildly in the forest. He was tormented by hunger and thirst. There was also the fear of the wild animals. He prayed to God and slept under a tree. It was already nightfall when he awoke. He was not feeling hunger and thirst any longer. However it was not easy to find his way out from the wild forest. Just then a man and a woman appeared on the scene. They were a hunter-couple. They felt sad when they heard the boy's tale of woe. Since they were also heading south, Ramanuja followed them. It was already dark when they emerged from the jungle. They found a suitable place in the plain and rested for the night. Some time after midnight, the hunter’s wife said she was thirsty. Ramanuja got up and went in search of water. He fetched water from a far-off pond. The hunter's wife, after drinking it, asked for some more. When Ramanuja went back to the pond for more water, it was already daybreak. Ramanuja surprised to find himself in the midst of familiar surroundings - temple towers, coconut trees and woods. He had unconsciously come back to Kanchipuram! He wondered how he had managed to come all the way here from the Vindhyas, and that in a single night. It must be the will of -the Almighty, he thought. He then guessed that the hunter-couple who had accompanied him were none other than Lord Narayana and his consort Lakshmi. He rushed back to the, place where the hunter-couple had stayed. They were no longer there. Ramanuja was profoundly grateful to God. From that day onwards he made it a custom to carry water from the pond for the worship of God Varadaraja. Ramanuja took upon himself the responsibility of carrying the holy water every day. Back To the Old Guru
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