Kulothunga Chola and the migration to Melukote

Now we reach that stage of the story where Swami Rāmānujar is reaching his mid-to-late fifties in age. At around this time, Kulothunga Chola I became the king of Kanchipuram and sought to establish Shaivism as the state religion. He managed to convert all the Vaishṇavas who were residents of Kanchipuram to Shaivism by force. He intended to extend this with an iron fist further, but noticed that Swami Rāmānujar posed a great hindrance to this movement.

Thus, he summoned his two most trusted aides, Tirukacchi Nambi and Kūrattāzhvān, to his court and held a great philosophical debate.

When he noticed that both Tirukacchi Nambi and Kūrattāzhvān were not budging from their claim of Nārāyaṇa being the greatest among the trinity, he asked them to substantiate how anyone or anything in existence could rival Lord Shiva's presence in the universe. Kūrattāzhvān immediately spoke up, citing drona-charcha, which says that the drona-pushpam, which sits atop the matted locks of Lord Shiva, is more significant than Lord Shiva. Hearing this, Kulothunga Chola became furious and decided to punish both Tirukacchi Nambi and Kūrattāzhvān.

The king ordered his soldiers to gouge out their eyes. The soldiers gouged out Tirukacchi Nambi's eyes. Still, before they could get to Kuratazhwan, he said: "Whoever thinks/says that Supreme Lord Sriman Nārāyaṇan is equivalent/on par with or inferior to other devathas, that paaapam would catch me!" He then said there would be no bigger sin. Thus, he gouged out his own eyes and placed them in the hands of the soldiers.

Kulothunga Chola felt terrible for his actions and paid a beggar who was residing outside the palace to escort both of them to Sri Rangam. Tirukacchi Nambigaḷ, by this time, was very old and said he could not face Swami Rāmānujar as he had disgraced him and his principles, and decided that it was time for him to depart to Paramapadam. Thus Tirukacchi Nambigaḷ departed for Paramapadam. Soon, the news reached Swami Rāmānujar that Kulothunga Chola was planning to annex Sri Rangam and take Swami Rāmānujar's life.

Therefore, Swami Rāmānujar departed from Sri Rangam and started to head north into Karnataka. By the time Swami Rāmānujar and a few of his disciples reached Karnataka, it was late at night, and they were in a dense forest. In the darkness of night, a hunter's tribe offered to protect Swami Rāmānujar and his disciples.

As they continued their journey, they reached a house by evening, where they decided to stay the night. A few of Swami Rāmānujar's followers went into the house and found a woman who was deeply immersed in bhakti.

She was performing aaradanam to a set of paduka. The disciples told her that they had come from the south and were seeking shelter for the night. The woman obliged. The disciples saw the paduka and asked her who her Āchārya was. She told them that she had once visited Sri Rangam and had received divine instructions from an Āchārya, but she soon forgot what she had learned. As luck would have it, she ran into her Āchārya once again, but she did not see his face.

She fell to his feet and told him that she had forgotten his instructions, and she wanted to learn his teachings once more. She said her Āchārya recognized her bhakti and gave her his paduka, and she has been performing aaradanam to the paduka since that day.

The disciples further probed her to see if she was speaking about Swami Rāmānujar. They asked to describe the face of the Āchārya she talked about. She said she never saw his face and only fell at his feet as a mark of respect. She said that her Āchārya's feet were like those of Sriman Nārāyaṇa, like a lotus, and she could recognize his feet if she were ever to see them again.

As she said this, Swami Rāmānujar entered the room, and she saw his feet and immediately started to prostrate herself before him, saying he was the Āchārya whose paduka she had been serving earnestly. She gave Swami Rāmānujar and his disciples shelter and guided them to Melukote (Tirunārāyaṇapuram).