Kooratazhvan, disciple of Ramanujacharya, felt it was time to leave the world. He prayed to Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam and requested that moksha be granted soon. Because of Kooratazhvan’s devotion to his Acharya, the Lord agreed to grant his request, said P.T. Seshadri, in a discourse.
Kooratazhvan had always been by Ramanuja’s side. When Ramanuja wrote his monumental commentary — Sri Bhashya , Kooratazhvan was with him, offering valuable inputs. To Ramanuja, therefore, parting from Kooratazhvan seemed unthinkable.
Ramanuja went to the Srirangam temple to request the Lord to take back the boon he had just granted to Kooratazhvan — the boon of moksha soon. But just as he got to the entrance to the temple, Ramanuja paused. He began to have second thoughts about placing such a request before the Lord. The Lord would definitely have granted Ramanuja’s request, and that would have meant that Kooratazhvan would be by Ramanuja’s side, as usual. But would that not lead to people saying that the Lord did not keep His word to His devotees? Was it right to expose the Lord to such criticism? So Ramanuja changed his mind.
The Lord had promised moksha to all those associated with Ramanuja, and His granting of moksha upon request to Kooratazhvan, was, therefore, not surprising. If Lord Ranganatha now went back on His word to Kooratazhvan, that would be like nullifying His promise not only to Kooratazhvan himself, but also His promise of liberation to all those associated with Ramanuja. So to pray that the Lord’s boon to Kooratazhvan be cancelled, would again tantamount to asking the Lord to break His own promise. Ramanuja, therefore, did not ask the Lord to cancel His promise to Kooratazhvan, and Kooratazhvan left this earth, as promised by the Lord.
