The Lesson of What We Must Never Do
“The Acharyas taught us how to serve Bhagavān.
But sometimes, the greater lesson was learning whom we must never hurt.”
Our Ācārya Yātrai had already taken us through so many sacred places.
We had met revered Acharyas.
We had stood where our Pūrvācāryas had walked.
We had listened to their divine pastimes from priests and elders who had inherited those memories through generations.
Every place had given us something.
Every Acharya had left a lesson.
Yet when we reached Pettai, the place associated with the appearance of Swamy Mudali Aandaan, something happened that I still remember with immense gratitude.
It was evening.
There was a discourse by our Acharyar.
And for me…
that discourse became the silver lining of the entire Yātrai.
Until then, much of the journey had taught me:
What should I do?
How should I surrender?
How should I serve?
How should I remember Bhagavān?
How should I follow my Acharya?
But that evening…
I learnt something equally important.
Perhaps even more difficult.
What should I NEVER do?
Our Acharyar began by taking us to the final days of Jagadāchārya Śrī Rāmānuja.
On the sacred occasion of Pāṅguṇi Uttiram, when Periya Pirāṭṭi and Periya Perumāḷ were together, Śrī Rāmānuja performed the Gadya Trayam.
The Acharyar explained how Rāmānuja had already performed Prapatti earlier, when he received Pañca Saṁskāra from Periya Nambi at Madhurāntakam.
Then why did he surrender again?
The answer itself reveals the extraordinary humility of Rāmānuja.
He expressed the concern that considerable time had passed since his earlier surrender and that, through continued association with worldly life, perhaps his resolve had weakened.
He therefore prayed again.
Not because he distrusted the Lord…
but because he wished to remain completely dependent upon Him.
What humility!
The Lord then granted his prayer for eternal service at His lotus feet.
But Rāmānuja did not stop with his own liberation.
He prayed for all those connected with him.
That was Rāmānuja.
He never thought only of himself.
As his earthly departure approached, his disciples became inconsolable.
They could not imagine life without their Acharya.
Some even wished to give up their own lives along with him.
But Rāmānuja firmly commanded them not to do so.
He wanted them to live.
To continue the sampradāya.
To continue service.
To continue the path he had shown them.
And during those final days…
he gave his disciples several profound instructions.
Among them was one teaching that our Acharyar explained to us that evening.
It concerned one of the greatest dangers in spiritual life:
Bhāgavata Apacāra.
Insulting…
judging…
belittling…
or causing pain to a devotee of Bhagavān.
As the Acharyar spoke…
I suddenly realized something.
We spend so much time learning:
“How should I pray?”
“How should I perform kainkaryam?”
“How many times should I recite a mantra?”
“How should I conduct myself?”
But perhaps the first discipline is even simpler:
Do not hurt a Bhāgavata.
Do not judge a devotee.
Do not measure another soul by worldly standards.
Do not allow the ego to make us feel superior to another servant of Bhagavān.
And then came the twelve forms of Niroopanam.
I listened…Immediately took my diary and noted the points which is a must for me to practice
and my heart became increasingly uncomfortable as I penned down
Because every one of them seemed to be asking me including my inner being …
“Have you ever done this?”
Twelve Ways We Must Not Judge a Bhāgavatha
Our Acharyar explained that Rāmānuja had warned his disciples against analysing a Bhāgavata through various worldly considerations.
The teaching is extraordinarily radical.
We are not asked merely to tolerate another devotee.
We are asked to respect the Bhāgavata without reducing him to his external identity.
- Janma Niroopanam……. Do Not Judge His Birth
Do not ask:
“Which caste was he born into?”
Do not decide the spiritual worth of a devotee based upon his birth.
The body has a birth.
The Ātma does not belong to a caste.
The soul is the eternal servant of Śrīman Nārāyaṇa.
This lesson connected directly with the question I had been carrying since the previous day.
Caste or virtue?
The Acharya’s teaching took the question much deeper.
2. Śarīra Niroopanam …..Do Not Judge His Body
Do not decide the worth of a Bhāgavata based upon whether the person is:
male… female… young… old…
or even upon the form of the body itself.
The body is temporary.
The soul is eternal.
Why should the outer vessel determine our reverence for the one who belongs to Bhagavān?
3. Bhāva Niroopanam …. Do Not Judge His Stage of Life
Do not look at a devotee and think:
“He is only a child.”
“He is young.”
“He is old.”
“He has not reached maturity.”
Spiritual worth cannot be measured by the number of years a body has existed.
4. Āśrama Niroopanam ..Do Not Judge His Status
A devotee may be: a bachelor… a householder… a recluse… a sanyāsi…
or belong to another stage of life.
Do not imagine that the external āśrama alone determines the depth of his devotion.
The Lord looks at the soul and its surrender.
5. Avayava Niroopanam…. Do Not Judge Physical Form
Do not look at bodily defects.
Blindness… physical limitations… differences in appearance… or any other bodily condition.
How can we judge a soul by something that belongs only to the temporary body?
This brought back memories of Kūrathāḻvān.
The world saw a blind man. The Lord saw one of His greatest devotees.
6. Ālasya Niroopanam… Do Not Judge External Cleanliness or Appearance
The Acharyar explained that we must not measure a Bhāgavata merely by external appearance or by how agreeable he may appear to our eyes.
The true devotee must be respected.
The teaching was not an invitation to abandon personal discipline.
It was a warning against looking down upon another devotee because of external appearance.
And I understood: How easily the eyes become judges.
How quickly the mind creates categories.
7. Vāsa Niroopanam….Do Not Judge Where He Lives
Do not ask: “Where does he live?”
Is he in a Divya Deśam?
Is he in a village?Is he in a distant countryside?
Does he live near a temple?Or far away from one?
Bhagavān is not restricted by geography. A heart filled with devotion can become a sannidhi.
8. Bandhu Niroopanam … Do Not Judge His Family Connections
Do not belittle or elevate a Bhāgavata merely because of his family relationships.
“His family is important.”
“His family is ordinary.”
“He is related to an Acharya.”
“He has no such connection.”
These calculations have no place when we are looking at a servant of Bhagavān.
The only relationship that ultimately matters is:
Bhagavān sambandham.
9. Prakāśa Niroopanam …. Do Not Measure His Spiritual Recognition
Do not decide the importance of a devotee based upon whether the world recognizes him.
Some Acharyas became famous.Others lived quietly.
Some were surrounded by thousands.
Others served almost unnoticed.
The absence of public recognition does not diminish a Bhāgavata.
The Lord knows. That is enough.
10. Prakāra Niroopanam… Do Not Compare His Service
One devotee may perform temple service.
Another may clean. Another may cook.
Another may recite Divya Prabandham.
Another may quietly serve devotees. Another may have no visible service at all.
Do not create a hierarchy of Bhagavata worth based merely upon the form of service.
The Lord knows the heart behind the service.
11. Vardhana Niroopanam…. Do Not Judge His Profession
A devotee must live in this material world.
He may have a profession.
He may be a scholar. A farmer.
A businessman. A worker. A scientist. A priest.
Or someone performing an ordinary occupation.
Do not measure his spiritual worth by the profession through which he sustains his body.
The profession belongs to the material circumstance.
Bhāgavata sambandham belongs to the soul.
12. Doṣa Niroopanam….Do Not Make Another’s Fault Your Weapon
This was perhaps the most difficult teaching for me.
A devotee may have shortcomings.
A human being may make mistakes.
Do we then make those mistakes the basis for denying his Bhagavata identity?
The Acharyas warn us against this tendency.
Instead of magnifying another’s faults…
we must remember our own dependence upon Bhagavān’s mercy.
Who among us is without defects?
I Suddenly Understood the Question
The previous day I had been thinking:
“Is it caste or virtue?”
Now the question had transformed.
The Acharya had shown us that even virtue itself must not become a reason for ego.
If I say:
“I am more learned.” “I am from a better family.”
“I have more devotion.” “I have done more kainkaryam.”
“I know more śāstra.” “I have visited more Divya Deśams.”
“I belong to a great lineage.” Then…
I have missed the lesson.
Because the very things that should make me humble have become reasons for pride.
The Great Paradox
The more we learn from the Acharyas… the less qualified we should feel to judge others.
The more we understand Rāmānuja… the more we should bow.
The more Divya Prabandham we recite…
the more our heart should soften. The more we receive from the Acharya…
the more we should become servants.
That evening at Pettai… I felt this truth with unusual force.
“What Should We Never Do?”
Our Acharyar’s discourse had given me the answer.
Never reduce a Bhāgavata to:
his birth.
his body.
his age.
his āśrama.
his appearance.
his residence.
his family.
his recognition.
his service.
his profession.
his shortcomings.
And perhaps…
never reduce yourself to these things either.
The Lesson Behind All Twelve
When I looked at the twelve teachings together, I saw something beautiful.
They were all telling us:
Stop looking at the covering.
Look at the Ātma.
Look at the Bhagavān sambandham.
Look at the Bhāgavata sambandham.
And above everything… look at our own ego.
Because the greatest danger is not that another devotee may be imperfect.
The greatest danger is that I may become proud because I think I am better than him.
Swamy Rāmānuja’s Final Compassion
As our Acharyar concluded the discourse, I imagined Rāmānuja in those final days.
He knew he was leaving.
He knew his disciples were grieving.
He knew the world would continue without his physical presence.
Yet what did he leave behind?
Not merely philosophy.
Not merely institutions. Not merely books.
He left a way of living. A way of seeing Bhagavān.
A way of seeing the Acharya.
A way of seeing the Bhāgavata.
And a warning:
Do not commit Bhāgavata Apacāra.
The Silver Lining
That evening at Pettai became one of the most important memories of our entire Ācārya Yātrai.
We had come to see the place associated with Swamy Mudali Aandaan.
We received something more precious.
We were shown the boundaries within which a Śrī Vaiṣṇava must live.
The previous lessons had taught us:
What to do. This lesson taught us:
What never to do. And sometimes…
knowing what not to do is what protects everything we have learnt.
A Personal Confession
I returned from that discourse unusually quiet.
I began remembering people. People I had judged.
People I had misunderstood. People whose behaviour I had analysed.
People about whom I had formed opinions. And I wondered:
How much of this was Bhagavata Apacāra?
I could not answer. I could only pray.
“Swamy Rāmānuja, please forgive me.
Teach me to see Your devotees through Your eyes, not mine.”
The Prayer of a Pilgrim
I do not want to become a person who merely knows the terminology of Śrī Vaiṣṇavism.
I want to become someone whose conduct reflects it.
Let my speech not hurt a Bhāgavata.
Let my eyes not judge a Bhāgavata.
Let my mind not compare Bhāgavatas.
Let my ego not make me feel superior to another servant.
Let me remember:
The person before me may be someone whom Bhagavān loves infinitely.
How then can I treat that soul lightly?
“The greatest danger on the spiritual path is not ignorance of Bhagavān. It is pride about knowing Bhagavān.”
“Do not ask who a Bhāgavata was born as. Ask whose servant he is.”
“Do not measure a devotee by the body. The body belongs to prakṛti; the soul belongs to Bhagavān.”
“A true Vaiṣṇava does not climb above others. He bends lower to serve them.”
“The Acharya taught me what to do. At Pettai, he taught me what I must never do.”
The Journey Within
That evening… as the sun slowly disappeared…
I realized that our Ācārya Yātrai was no longer merely a journey through history.
It had become a mirror.
Every Acharya… every incident… every teaching…
was showing me something about myself. The journey was slowly stripping away the outer identities.
Until only one remained:
“I am Rāmānuja Dāsa.” That is the identity I want to carry.
Not above anyone. Not against anyone.
Only… at the feet of my Acharya Jagath Aharyar Swany Ramanuja
Srimathey Ramanujaya namah
to be continued ……
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pictures Courtesy Google images
