The story

Though Sri: Yamunacharya had departed before Sri: Ramanuja could sit with him, he had arranged that the full artha — the lived meaning — of the Vedic tradition would not be lost. According to the Guruparampara Prabhavam and the Govindacharya biography, he had entrusted the five pillars of his teaching to five disciples, and each was to hand one pillar to Ramanuja when the time came.

From Maha:pu:rna, known as Periya Nambi, Sri: Ramanujacharya received the Thirumantra — the eight-syllable Om namo na:ra:yana:ya. Periya Nambi also performed his panca-samska:ra initiation at Madhurantakam, under the witness of Sri: Rama Himself enshrined there. From Go:shthi:pu:rna, the Thirukko:shtiyu:r Nambi, he received — after eighteen journeys and a strict vow of secrecy — the Dvaya Mantra and the Caramasloka of the Gi:tha. This meeting is commemorated in a separate naama, go:shthi:pu:rnakrupa:labdhamanthrara:ja-praka:saka (#37 in the Shatanamavali).

From Ma:la:dhara, the Thirumalai A:nda:n, Ramanuja received the Dravida-a:mna:ya — the meanings of Nammalvar's Thiruvaymozhi, the Tamil Veda. From Sri:saila-pu:rna, the Thirumalai Nambi — his own maternal uncle — he received the Ramayana-rahasya, the inner meaning of the Ramayana, over the course of eighteen expositions at the feet of Sri: Venkateshwara. And from Ka:nci:pu:rna, the Thirukkacci Nambi, the humble devotee who fanned Sri: Varadaraja Perumal daily, he received the teaching of a:sritha-kainkaryam — service to the Lord through service to His devotees — and the six sacred replies of Devaraja.

The Ashtottara records this distributed discipleship in its forty-second naama, pancha:cha:ryapada:sraya:ya — "one who has taken refuge at the feet of the five acharyas." He was already an acharya by learning. He made himself a sishya by posture.

Contemplation

Sri: Ramanujacharya could have declared himself a teacher and gathered disciples. Instead, he placed his head at five different pairs of feet, receiving from each what that acharya had most deeply realized. The lesson for the devotee is simple and severe: knowledge has many chambers, and no single human being holds all the keys. Humility before every rightful teacher — including those who outwardly seem less learned than oneself — is the posture of true discipleship. Offer the 108-chant of this naama when beginning a new course of study or seeking a sad-guru: Sri: Ramanujacharya himself modeled the way.