The Glories and History of AzhwArs

AzhwArs – glories and history

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The glories and history of AzhwArs

poigaiyAr, bhUthathAr, pEyar, pugazh mazhisai aiyan, aruL mAri, chEralar kOn, thuyya

bhattanAthan, anbar thAL thULi, naRpANan, narkaliyAn

madhurakavigaL, ANdAL, yathirAjar


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Preface

sri:

srimathE rAmAnujAya nama:

srimadh varavaramunayE nama:

sri vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:

bhUtham sarascha mahathAvya bhattanAtha

srI bhakthisAra kulasEkara yOgivAhAn

bhAkthAngri rENu parakAla yathIndra misrAn

srImath parAngusa munim praNathOsmi nithyam

I constantly worship the lotus feet of bhUthathAzhwAr, poigai AzhwAr, pEyAzhwAr, periyAzhwAr, ANdAL, thirumazisai AzhwAr, kulasEkara AzhwAr, thiruppANAzhwAr, thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr, thirumangai AzhwAr, srI rAmAnujar, madhurakavi AzhwAr and nammAzhwAr.

This divine slOkam was rendered by srI parAsara bhattar when he was in thirukkOttiyUr with nanjIyar. He left srIrangam due to the disturbances given by vIra sundhara brahma rAyan. At that time, out of the unbearable separation from srIranganAthan, bhattar wrote this slOkam and the thanians of thiruppAvai to immerse himself in bhagavath/bhAgavatha anubhavam.

In this slOkam, in addition to identifying the 10 AzhwArs (poigaiyAr, bhUthAr, pEyar, thirumazhisai AzhwAr, nammAzhwAr, kulasEkara AzhwAr, periyAzhwAr, thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr, thiruppANAzhwAr and thirumangai AzhwAr), he also identifies ANdAL using the word “srI”, madhurakavi AzhwAr using the word “misra” (very learned/respected) and rAmAnujar using yathIndhrar.

mAmunigaL follows similar pattern in his upadhEsa rathina mAlai, where he first identifies the thirunakshathrams (birth star) and the glories of the 10 AzhwArs and subsequently identifies the same of ANdAL, madhurakavi AzhwAr and emperumAnAr.

In fact, mAmunigaL identifies the greatness of AzhwArs, AchAryas and their works in the 3rd pAsuram itself.

AzhwArgaL vAzhi aruLicheyal vAzhi

thAzhvAthumil kuravar thAm vAzhi

EzhpArum uyya avargaL uraiththavaigaL thAm vAzhi

cheyya maRai thannudanE chErNthu

ஆ�வா�க� வாழி அ�ளிெசய� வாழி தா�வா�மி� �ரவ� தா� வாழி ஏ�பா�� உ�ய அவ�க� உைர�தைவக� தா� வாழி ெச�ய மைற த� டேன ேச�$�


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Long live the AzhwArs, long live the AchAryas, Long live their srIsUkthis (works – dhivya

prabhandhams, sthOthrams, vyAkyAnams) which are for the upliftment of the entire world. Let

them co-exist along with the divine and pure samskritha vEdhams.

As nampiLLai shows in his eedu mahA grantham avathArikai, nammAzhwAr who is the leader

of AzhwArs was hand picked by emperumAn from this samsAram and sarvEsvaran blesses

him with divine blemishless knowledge for the purpose of propagating the divine message

uninterrupted devotion to emperumAn.

This is a humble effort from adiyen to bring out the glories and the history of AzhwArs as

explained mainly in 6000padi guru paramparA prabhAvam (written by pinbazhAgiya perumAL

jeeyar) and vyAkyAnams. adiyen is very grateful to all the grantha kAlakshEpa AchAryas who

imparted this valuable sampradhAyam knowledge into adiyen. In addition to the AzhwArs, as

shown by our pUrvAchAryas, emperumAnAr’s charithram and vaibhavam are also included.

Meditating on the lotus feet of asmadhAchAryan srImath paramahamsa ithyAdhi pattarpirAn rAmAnuja jIyar (29th pattam, vAnamAmalai mutt), adiyen is submitting this small work at the thiruvadis of Srimath paramahamsa ithyAdhi kaliyan rAmAnuja jeeyar swAmy (30th pattam, varthamAna swAmy, vAnamAmalai mutt).

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

Email: [email protected] Web: http://ponnadi.blogspot.com , http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com, http://srivaishnava-events.blogspot.com mAsi uthrattAdhi (Feb 13th, 2013) – second release


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asmadhAchAryan

Srimath paramhamsa ithyAdhi pattarbhirAn rAmAnuja jeeyar (29th

pattam, vAnamAmalai mutt)

varthmAna swAmy

Srimath paramhamsa ithyAdhi kaliyan rAmAnuja jeeyar (30th

pattam, vAnamAmalai mutt)


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Contents

mudhalAzhwArgaL............................................................................................................................................... 6

thirumazhisai AzhwAr .........................................................................................................................................13

nammAzhwAr .....................................................................................................................................................22

madhurakavi AzhwAr .........................................................................................................................................26

kulasEkara AzhwAr .............................................................................................................................................33

periyAzhwAr .......................................................................................................................................................40

ANdAL ................................................................................................................................................................49

thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr ...................................................................................................................................56

thiruppANAzhwAr ..............................................................................................................................................61

thirumangai AzhwAr ...........................................................................................................................................67

emperumAnAr....................................................................................................................................................79

dhivya prabhandha prAmANya samarthanam.....................................................................................................86


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mudhalAzhwArgaL

In this article we will discuss the vaibhavam of mudhalAzhwArgaL (poigaiyAr, bhUthathAr, peyAr).

poigai AzhwAr

thirunakshathram: ippasi, thiruvONam

avathAra sthalam: kAnchipuram

AchAryan: sEnai mudhaliAr

Works: mudhal thiruvanthAdhi

poigai AzhwAr was born in a pond near thiruvekhA yathOkthAkAri temple. He is also known as kAsAra yOgi and sarO munIndhrar.

His thanian kAnchyAm sarasi hEmAbjEjAtham kAsAra yOginam kalayE ya: shriya:pathyU ravim dhIpam akalpayath


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bhuthathAzhwAr

thirunakshathram: ippasi, avittam

avathAra sthalam: thirukkadalmallai


Works: irandAm thiruvanthAdhi

bhUthathAzhwAr was born in a pond near thirukkadalmallai sthalasayanap perumAL temple. He is also known as bhUthahvayar, mallApuravarAdhIshar.

His thanian mallApura varAdhIsham mAdhavI kusumOdhbhavam bhUtham namAmi yO vishNOr jyAnadhIpam akalpayath

pEyAzhwAr

thirunakshathram: ippasi, sadhayam

avathAra sthalam: thirumayilai



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Works: mUnRAm thiruvanthAdhi

pEyAzhwAr was born in a well near thirumayilai kEsava perumAL temple. He is also known as mahathAhvayar, mayilApurAdhIpar.

His thanian dhrushtvA dhushtAva yO vishNum ramayA mayilAdhipam kUpE rakthOthpalE jAtham mahathAhvayam AshrayE

mudhalAzhwArgaL charithram/vaibhavam

All the 3 AzhwArs are usually glorified together because of the following reasons.

• They were all born a day after each other in sequence – poigaiyAr, bhuthathAr, pEyar. They were born in the time period between the end of dhvApara yugam and the beginning of kaliyugam (yuga sandhi – transition period – see in the bottom for details).

• They were all ayOnijars – one who is not born from a human mother. They all appeared from flowers by the divine mercy of emperumAn.

• They were attached to emperumAn right from their birth – they were fully/divinely blessed by emperumAn and were fully enjoying bhagavath anubhavam throughout their life.

• At some point in their life, they meet each other and from then onwards they stayed together and they travelled together to various dhivyadhEsams/kshEthrams. They are

also called “Odith thiriyum yOgigaL” (ஓ&� தி'(� ேயாகிக�) – the yOgis who are

always doing pilgrimage.


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All the 3 AzhwArs were born in different locations and enjoying emperumAn thoroughly. emperumAn who considers his adiyArs as his life (gIthai – jnAniI thva Athma Eva mE matham) wanted to see them all together. So he made a divine arrangement to bring all 3 of them to thirukkOvalUr in the night time.


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It was raining heavily and one by one started arriving to a small shed. When they got in to the shed there was just enough space for the 3 of them to stand. Being completely situated in bhagavath bhAvam, they started inquiring about each other and found out the details about each other. When they were sharing their divine anubhavams, emperumAn with his thirumAmagaL suddenly entered the shed where it was very dark. Wanting to see who arrived,

• poigai AzhwAr lit the place using the world as a lamp, the ocean as the oil and sun as the light.

• bhUthathAzhwAr lit the place using his love as lamp, his attachment as the oil and his mind as the light.

• pEyAzhwAr, being helped by the other two AzhwArs, sees the glowing beauty of emperumAn who is with his pirAtti, thiruvAzhi and thiruchchangu and performs mangaLAsAsanam for that sErthi.

Thus they enjoyed the thirukkOvalUr Ayan and many other archAvathAra emperumAns together during their time in the leelA vibhUthi.

In the eedu vyAkyAnam, nampiLLai beautifully brings out the glories of mudhalAzhwArgaL wherever applicable. Let us see a few such examples:

• pAlEy thamizhar (1.4.10) – nampiLLai identifies aLavandhAr’s nirvAham (conclusion/statement) here. He says nammAzhwAr is glorifying mudhalAzhwArgaL here who were the first to bring out the glories of emperumAn in the sweet thamizh language.

• inkavi pAdum paramakavigal (7.9.6) – Here, nampiLLai identifies that mudhalAzhwArgaL are also known as “chendhamizh pAduvAr”. He also identifies that AzhwArs were so expert in thamizh, when poigai AzhwAr and pEyAzhwAr asked bhUthathAzhwAr to glorify emperumAn – he spontaneously sung the glories of emperumAn like how a male elephant fetched the honey for the female elephant immediately when asked by the female elephant (this elephants incident is explained by bhUthathAzhwAr in “perugu madhavEzham” – iraNdAm thiruvanthAdhi – 75th pAsuram).

• palaradiyAr munbhrauLiya (7.10.5) – nampiLLai beautifully brings out the thiruvuLLam of nammAzhwAr here. nammAzhwAr says in this pAsuram that emperumAn blessed him to sing thiruvAimozhi instead of great rishis like sri vEdhavyAsar, sri vAlmiki, sri parAsarar and mudhalAzhwArgaL who were expert in thamizh.

• chenchorkavikAl (10.7.1) – nampiLLai refers to mudhalAzhwArgaL as “inkavi pAdum parama kavigaL”, “chendhamizh pAduvAr”, etc and identifies that they are ananya prayOjanargaL (one who glorifies emperumAn without expecting anything in return).

mAmunigaL identifies how they became to be known as mudhalAzhwArgaL in his upadhEsa rathina mAlai pAsuram 7.

maRRuLLa AzhwArgaLukku munnE vaNthuthiththu (ம)*�ள ஆ�வா�க+,�

-�ேன வ$�தி��)

Nal thamizhAl NUl cheythu NAttaiyuyththa – peRRimaiyOr (ந� தமிழா� /� ெச��


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நா0ைட(��த – ெப)றிைமேயா�) enRu mudhalAzhwArgaL ennum peyarivarkku (எ�* -தலா�வா�க� எ� �

ெபய'வ�,�)

NinRathulagaththE NigazhNthu (நி�ற�லக�ேத நிக�$�)

Simple translation: These 3 AzhwArs appeared before the other 7 AzhwArs and benedicted the world with their divine thamizh pAsurams. It is because of this glorious act they became to be popularly known as mudhalAzhwArgaL.

In the vyakyAnam, piLLai lOkAm jIyar brings out some beautiful aspects.

• He identifies that mudhalAzhwArgaL are like praNavam which is always considered as the beginning.

• He also identifies that these AzhwArs were born during the dhvApara-kali yuga sandhi (transition period) and thirumazhisai AzhwAr appeared along the same time. Subsequently, in the beginning of the kaliyugam, other AzhwArs appeared one after the other.

• They laid the foundation for dhivya prabhandhams in the great dhrAvida bAshai (thamizh).

mAmunigaL also brings out the glories of ippasi – thiruvONam, avittam and sathayam as these dates became so popular after the appearance of the mudhalAzhwArgaL on these days.

As identified in the thirunedunthAndagam vyAkyAna avathArikai by periyavAchAn piLLai, mudhalAzhwArgaL are focussed on emperumAn’s parathvam. That is why, they are often glorifying thrivikramAvathAram. On the other hand, they also glorified many archAvathAra emperumAns since by nature all AzhwArs had great attachment to archAvathAra emperumAns. Their archAvathAra anubhavam is already discussed in here – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-azhwars-1.html.

yuga sandhi

yathIndra matha dhIpikai explains various technical concepts in our sampradhAyam and is considered as one of the most authentic sources for our sidhAntham.

In this, kAla thathvam is explained in detail and we see the definition of the various yugams and their sandhi periods.

• 1 day of dhEvas (svargam) is 1 year for manushyas (bhUmi) • 1 chathur yugam is made of 12000 dhEva years – (krutha – 4000, thrEthA – 3000,

dhvApara – 2000, kali – 1000) • brahmA’s day is made of 1000 chathur yugams. His night is of the same length but no

creation during that time. brahmA lives for 100 years of 360 such days. • sandhi period is fairly lengthy between each yugams. Here are the sandhi periods

between each yugam:


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o between krutha yugam and thrEthA yugam, there is a sandhi period of 800 dhEva years.

o between thrEtha yugam and dhvApara yugam, there is a sandhi period of 600 dhEva years.

o between dhvApara yugam and kaliyugam, there is a sandhi period of 400 dhEva years.

o between kaliyugam and the next krutha yugam, there is a sandhi period of 200 dhEva years.

• Also, in 1 day of brahmA, there is 14 manus, 14 indhrans and 14 saptha rishis (all of these are posts that are given to certain jIvAthmAs based on their karmA).


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thirumazhisai AzhwAr

thirunakshathram: thai, magam

avathAra sthalam: thirumazhisai

AchAryan: vishwaksEnar, pEyAzhwAr

sishyas: kaNikaNNan, dhrudavrathan

Works: nAnmugan thiruvanthAdhi, thiruchandha viruththam

Place where he attained paramapadham: thirukkudanthai

mAmunigaL glorifies AzhwAr as the one who has absolutely clear knowledge about the essence of sAsthtram – i.e, only srIman nArAyaNan is worshippable and we should not even have a tinge of association with anya dhEvathas (other demi-gods). mAmunigaL uses the phrase “thuyya mathi” meaning pure mind for AzhwAr. piLLai lOkam jIyar explains the purity of AzhwAr hear means having no tinge of parathvam (supremacy) for dhEvathais other than


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srIman nArAyaNan and removing any such doubts from our minds as well. In many pAsurams, AzhwAr identifies how srIvaishNavas conduct themselves in relation to anya dhEvathais. For example:

• nAnmugan thiruvanthAdhi – 53 - thiruvillAth thEvaraith thERElmin thEvu

(தி�வி�லா� ேதவைர� ேதேற�மி� ேத4) – dont consider the one who is

not related to srImahAlakshmi as worshippable dhEvathai. • nAnumugan thiruvanthAdhi – 68 – thiruvadi than NAmam maRaNdhum puRaNthozhA

mANdhar (தி�வ& த� நாம� மற$�� 5ற$ெதாழா மா$த�) - even if they

forget srIman nArAyaNan who is sarva swAmy, srIvaishNavas will not worship other dhEvathais.

In their introduction for their vyAkyAnams for nAnumgan thiruvanthAdhi, both periyavAchAn piLLai and nampiLLai beautifully explains thirumazhisai AzhwAr’s act of clearing the doubts in the minds of everyone on emperumAn’s supremacy and other dhEvathAs limitations.

periyavAchAn piLLai‘s explanation:

mudhalAzhwArs establish that emperumAn is the only person to be perceived and enjoyed. thirumazhisai AzhwAr removes the weeds in that process. He explains to the samsAris who perceive other dhEvathAs as Ishvara (controller) that these other dhEvathAs are also kshEthragya (jIvAthma – knower of the body) and they are also controlled. He explains that srIman nArAyaNan is the only controller of the entire universe.

nampiLLai‘s explanation:

mudhalAzhwArs understood sarvEshvaran through the worldly vision, vision of sAsthram, through their bhakthi and ofcourse through emperumAn’s nirhEthuka krupai. thirumazhisai AzhwAr also understood and enjoyed emperumAn in the same way. But looking around in the world, he feels sad that most people have not understood that srIman nArAyaNan is the controller and everything else is controlled as explained in the sAsthram, out of his utmost mercy reveals the secrets of vEdham. He says “Since brahmA (the first progenitor) himself is a jIvAthmA and is appointed by srIman nArAyaNan during srushti and since srIman nArAyaNan is the antharyAmi for all sentient and non-sentient entities, as clearly explained in vEdham, srIman nArAyaNan is the supreme person. Hold on to this principle clearly without losing it”.

Thus mAmunigaL, periyavAchAn piLLai and nampiLLai explain the unique speciality of thirumazhisai AzhwAr in their beautiful works.

Beyond these, in the thanian for thiruchandha viruththam, it is beautifully explained that once when great sages wanted to do thapas in a nice secluded place, they compared the entire universe with thirumazhisai (which is the avathAra sthalam of AzhwAr), thirumazhisai was determined by them as greater. Such is the greatness of AzhwAr/AchAryas avathAra sthalams that they should be glorified even more than dhivyadhEsams since AzhwAr/AchAryas showed us who emperumAn is and without them we would not have acquired great these anubhavams on emperumAn.


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With this in mind, let us enjoy the charithram of AzhwAr now.

AzhwAr is like krishNan – kaNNan emperumAn was born to vasudhEvar/dhEvaki and then raised by nandhagOpar/yasOdhai. Similarly, AzhwAr was born to bhArgava rishi/kanakAngi and was raised by thiruvALan/pangayachelvi (a wood cutter and his wife). He is also known as srI bhakthisArar, mahIsApirAdhIsar, bhArgavAthmajar, thirumazhisaiyAr and most importantly thirumazhisai pirAn. pirAn means one who has done a big favour and AzhwAr has done the biggest favour of establishing nArAyaNa parathvam.

Once the maharishis such as athri, bhrugu, vasishta, bhArgava, AngIrasa, etc., went to brahmA (chathur mukan) and asked him “We want to live in the best place in bhUlOkam. Please establish factually the best place”. brahmA, with the help of viswakarmA, measured the whole universe in one side and thirumazhisai in another side and thirumazhisai wins the competition. It is also known as mahIsAra kshEthram. So, the maharishis go and live there for some time.

At that time, When bhArgava maharishi was performing a yagyam named dhIrga sathra yAgam on srIman nArAyaNan, his wife becomes pregnant and after 12 months, she gives birth to a piNdam (lump of flesh – early stage embryo) who is thirumazhisai AzhwAr. He appears as sudharsana amsam (looking at the glories of AzhwArs, some AchAryas have said that they are amsam of nithyasUris, but our pUrvAchAryas have firmly explained that AzhwArs were in samsAram time immemorial and blessed suddenly by emperumAn). bhArghava maharishi and his wife did not want to support that child which had no form yet and just left that under a bush. bhUdhEvi nAchiyAr, by the divine will of srIdhEvi nAchiyAr, took that piNdam and protects that and by her touch that piNdam becomes a beautiful child. Immediately, he starts crying out of hunger, and jagannAthan emperumAn (of thirumazhisai) appears in front of AzhwAr, shows him the divine form of thirukkudanthai ArAvamuthan, blessed him with full knowledge and soon enough, once emperumAn disapppeared from his vision, he started crying out of separation.

At that time a wood cutter named thiruvALan who was passing by, notices the young and crying baby, and with great joy, picks him up and brings him to his wife. Since she did not have a child, she happily accepts that child and starts raising him. Out of motherly affection, she attempts to breast-feed AzwAr, but AzhwAr being fully engaged in bhagavath kalyANaguNa anubhavam does not show in eating, speaking, crying, etc., but still by the grace of bhagavAn continues to grow beautifully.

Hearing about this astonishing news, an old man who is born in chathurtha varNam, along with his wife, one day, prepares nice warm milk, visits him early in the morning, looks at the child’s magnificent thEjas, offers him the milk and requests him to kindly accept the same. Azhwar being greatly pleased with their devotion, accepts the milk, drinks some and gives them back some of the sEsham (remnants) of the milk. He tells them to consume that milk prasAdham and blesses them that they will have a sathputhan (good son) soon. At once, by the grace of AzhwAr, they regain their youth, and the woman becomes pregnant soon. After 10 months, she begets a child like srI vidhurar (who was extremely attached to kaNNan emperumAn). They name him kaNikaNNan and teach him everything about emperumAn.

AzhwAr, after becoming 7 years old, since he is the son of bhArghava rishi and also blessed by emperumAn during his birth, wants to perform astAnga yOgam. To do that he first wants to


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understand the parabhrammam properly and he searches through all different mathams (so he can firmly establish that they are defective) such as bhAhya mathams (sAkhya, ulUkya, akshapAdhat, kshapaNa, kapila, pathanjali) and kudhrushti mathams (saiva, mAyAvAdha, nyAya, vaisEshika, bhAtta, prabAkara, etc) and clearly analyses/establishes that all of these mathams dont lead to the ultimate truth. Finally, he becomes firmly situated in the srivaishNava sidhAntham which is the sanAthana dharmam.Thus 700 years pass by.

sarvEsvaran then blesses him with divine blemishless knowledge, and shows him

• his divine svarUpam, • his most auspicious qualities, • his divine forms (which showcases the svarUpam and qualities), • the beautiful ornaments on those divine forms, • his divine weapons which are also viewed like ornaments by anukUlars, • his mahishIs (srIdhEvi, bhUdhEvi, neeLA dhEvi, etc) and nithyasUris who constantly

enjoy emperumAn with all of the above (svarUpam, qualities, forms, ornaments, weapons, etc),

• parampadham – their eternally beautiful residing place and finally • samsAram – which contains prakruthi, purusha, kAla thathvams and where there is

continuous process of srushti, sthithi, samhAram is done by emperumAn both directly himself as well as indirectly through other dhEvathAs.

emperumAn with such great qualities, shows AzhwAr how he creates brahmA (his first son) from his nAbhi kamalam (lotus flower in his naval) according to svEthasvathAra upanishadh “yO brahmANam vidhAdhAthi pUrvam” meaning parabrahmam is one who creates brahmA and as per chAndhOgya brAmaNam “brahmaNa: puthrAya jyEstAya srEshtAya” – rudhran, who is the first and best son of brahmA. AzhwAr seeing this immediately declares the same meanings in his nAnumgan thiruvanthAdhi as “NAnmuganai NArAyanNan padaiththAn

NAnmuganum thAn mugamAych chanGkaranaith thAn padaiththAn” (நா�-கைன

நாராயண� பைட�தா� நா�-க � தா� -கமா�7 ச8கரைன� தா�

பைட�தா�) meaning nArAyaNan created brahmA and brahmA inturn created rudhran, and

clearly removes any doubts in the minds of samsAris about the supremacy of emperumAn. AzhwAr himself declares that he learnt various mathams and finally by the mercy of emperumAn he attained the lotus feet of emperumAn. After that, he was constantly meditating on the most auspicious qualities of sriya:pathi (husband of srI mahAlakshmi) on the banks of kairvaiNi pushkariNi in thiruvallikkENi (brindhAraNya kshEthram).

One day, rudhran along with his wife, was passing by on his rushabam on the sky. When their shadow was about to touch AzhwAr, AzhwAr moves away. Noticing this pArvathi tells rudhran that they should go and meet him. rudhran replies that he is a great soul and devotee of emperumAn and he will simply ignore them. She insists that she wants to go down and meet him and rudhran obliges. AzhwAr does not even bother to look at him. rudhran then asks AzhwAr “How can you ignore us, when we are right next to you?”. AzhwAr replies “I have nothing to do with you”. rudhran says “We want to give you some benediction”. AzhwAr says “I dont want anything from you”. rudhran say “My visit will be wasted, you ask for whatever you desire”. AzhwAr with a smile says “Can you give me mOksham?”. rudhran says “I have not authority to give that. Only srIman nArAyaNan can give that”. AzhwAr then asks “Can you


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postpone the death of some one?” and rudhran replies “That is based on the individual’s karmA. I have no control over that”. AzhwAr then shows his needle and thread and asks rudhran sarcastically “Can you send this thread into the needle?”. rudhran becomes very angry and declares that he will burn him down like he burnt kAma dhEvan. He opens his 3rd eye and fire starts flowing from there. AzhwAr also opens his 3rd eye from his right toe in retaliation and great fire flows from there too. rudhran unable to bear the heat of that fire from AzhwAr’s thiruvadi, at once surrenders to srIman nArAyaNan, and all the dhEvas, rishis, etc also approach emperumAn and request him to stop the chaos. emperumAn, immediately orders the praLaya clouds to bring a great rain and when they ask if they have the power to subside AzhwAr’s fire, emperumAn says he will give them the power. A great flood gets formed after subsiding the fire, and AzhwAr being fixed on emperumAn continues his meditation without any disturbance. rudhran being amazed at AzhwAr’s nishtai gives him the title “bhakthisArar”, glorifies him and explains to his wife that “dhurvAsar was punished for his apachAram to ambarIshan. So, bhAgavathas cannot be defeated” and leaves to his place.

AzhwAr continues his meditation, and one kEcharan (an aerial being) was travelling in the sky on his tiger and on seeing AzhwAr, he is unable to cross him due to AzhwAr’s yOgic powers. He comes down and offers his praNAmams to AzhwAr. Magically, he creates a divine shawl and says to AzhwAr “Please give up your torn shawl and please accept this beautiful one”. AzhwAr easily creates a more beautiful shawl with gems and stones and he becomes embarassed. He then removes his hAram (necklace) and submits that to AzhwAr and AzhwAr removes his thuLasi mAlai and shows him like diamond necklace. kEcharan understands the yOga shakthi of AzhwAr, glorifies him, offers him praNAmams and takes leave from him.

Hearing about AzhwAr’s glories, a magician named konkaNasidhan arrives to meet AzhwAr, offers his praNAmams and submits him an alchemy stone (that which will transform stone/metal to gold), AzhwAr disregards that. He then collects some dirt from his beautiful body (ear portion) and gives that to the magician and tells him that the piece of dirt will transform stone to gold. He tests that out and it works – he becomes very happy, offers his praNAmams to AzhwAr and leaves.

AzhwAr continues his meditation in a cave for some time. mudhalAzhwArs (poigai AzhwAr, bhUdhathAzhwAr, pEyAzhwAr) who are who are constantly travelling and glorifying emperumAn, oberves the divine thEjas from the cave where AzhwAr lives and comes to the cave. Immediately realizing thirumazhisai AzhwAr’s glories, they enquire about his well being. AzhwAr also understanding mudhalAzhwArs glories, enquire about them. They continue to share their bhagavath anubhavam together for some time. They all leave from there and reach thirumayilai (mylapore) which is the avathAra sthalam of pEyAzhwAr and stays on the banks of kairava thIrtham for some time. Subsequently, mudhalAzhwArs continue on their divine journey and AzhwAr returns to thirumazhisai, his avathAra sthalam.

He searches for thirumaNkAppu but does not find that. He feels sad and thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn appears to AzhwAr in his svapnam and shows him the place where he can find thirumaN. He happily retrieves the same and applies dhvAdhasa Urdhva puNdram (12 thirumaNs on various parts of the body as instructed in sAsthram) and continues his bhagavath anubhavam. Desiring to go to poigai AzhwAr’s avathAra sthalam, he arrives at kAnchipuram-thiruvekkA which is glories as the best among puNya kshEthrams. He continues to stay there for 700 years worshipping the emperumAn who is lying down beautifully on


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AdhisEshan and being served by srIdhEvi and bhUdhEvi. He stays on the banks of the pond where poigai AzhwAr appeared and spent him time meditating on poigai AzhwAr.

yathOkthakAri with nAchiyArs, thiruvekkA

At that time, kaNikaNNan arrives to him and takes shelter of his lotus feet. An old woman comes and serves AzhwAr everyday with great devotion. AzhwAr, being pleased with her devotion and service, asks her if she has any desires to be fulfilled. She says, she wants to regain her youth again and AzhwAr blesses her with the same and she thus becomes a beautiful young girl. The local king, pallavarAyan, becomes very much attracted with her and requests her to marry him. She agrees and they both marry and enjoy the married life together. One day, pallavarAyan, noticing that he ages by day while his wife (blessed by AzhwAr) stays young, asks her how she got her divine youth. She explains AzhwAr’s blessing and instructs the king to humbly request kaNikaNNan (who visits the king for materials for his kainkaryam) to recommend to AzhwAr to bless him also with the same divine youth. The king summons kaNikaNNan and requests him to bring AzhwAr over to the palace for him to worship. kaNikaNNan replies that AzhwAr does not go anywhere other than emperumAn’s temple. The king requests kaNikaNNan to glorify him and kaNikaNNan says he will not glorify anyone other


19

than srIman nArAyaNan and his devotees as per sistAchAram (by elder’s principles and acts). The king becomes angry and asks kaNikaNNan to leave his kingdom since he refused to glorify him. kaNikaNNan at once leaves the palace, reaches AzhwAr, explains him the incidents and takes leave from him. AzhwAr says “If you are leaving, I am going to leave as well. If I am leaving, emperumAn will also leave. When emperumAn leaves, all dhEvathAs will also leave from here”. He then says “I will go to the temple and wake emperumAn up and bring him with me” and goes to the temple. AzhwAr then sings in front of thiruvekkA emperumAn:

kanNikanNnNan pOginRAn kAmarupUnGkachchi manNivanNnNA NI kidakka vEnNdA thunNivudaiya cheNNAppulavanum pOginREn NIyum unRan paiNNAgappAy churuttikkoL

கணிக9ண� ேபாகி�றா�

காம�:8க7சி மணிவ9ணா ந; கிட,க ேவ9டா �ணி4ைடய ெச$நா<5லவ � ேபாகி�ேற�

ந;(� உ�ற� ைப$நாக<பா� =�0&,ெகா�

Oh! one with the beautiful form staying in thiruvekkA! kaNikaNNan is going, I am (the firmly situated poet) also going, you wind up your AdhisEshan and leave with us”.

emperumAn accepts AzhwAr’s words and at once follows him and kaNikaNNan. Thus he got the name yathOktha kAri (kAri – one who performed, yathA – as, utktha – instructed). All the dhEvathas also follow emperumAn and thus kAnchIpuram becomes lifeless due to the absence of all auspiciousness. Due to that, the sun does not rise also, the king and his ministers understanding the problem, run behind the travelling party and falls at the lotus feet of kaNikaNNan and asks for pardon. kaNikaNNan then requests AzhwAr to return and AzhwAr prays to emperumAn to return to yathA sthAnam as per:

kanNikanNnNan pOkkozhiNthAn kAmarupUnGkachchi manNivanNnNA NI kidakka vEnNdum thunNivudaiya cheNNAppulavanum pOkkozhiNthEn NIyum unRan paiNNAgappAy paduththukkoL

கணிக9ண� ேபா,ெகாழி$தா�

காம�:8க7சி மணிவ9ணா ந; கிட,க ேவ9>�

�ணி4ைடய ெச$நா<5லவ � ேபா,ெகாழி$ேத�

ந;(� உ�ற� ைப$நாக<பா� ப>��,ெகா�

Oh! one with the beautiful form staying in thiruvekkA! kaNikaNNan is returning, I am (the firmly situated poet) also returning, you open up your AdhisEshan and lie down as before”.

Such was emperumAn’s saulabhyam-NIrmai (ந;�ைம – simplicity) and this is why AzhwAr was

immersed on this quality of emperumAn and sung veHkanNaikkidaNthathenna NIrmaiyE


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(ெவஃகைண,கிட$தெத�ன ந;�ைமேய) – how merciful emperumAn is by lying down in

thiruvekkA per my request.

Subsequently, AzhwAr with great desire starts his travel to thirukkudanthai (kumbakONam) to perform mangaLAsAsanam to ArAvamudhAzhwAr (emperumAn). It is said in the thirukkudanthai mAhAthmyam that “one who stays in kumbakONam for even a moment will be guaranteed a place in srIvaikuntam, what to speak about wealth in this world” – such is the greatness of this dhivyadhEsam. On his way, in a village named perumpuliyUr, he is resting on the veranda of a house. There were a few brAhmaNas who were doing vEdha adhyayanam at that time and looking at AzhwAr, they misunderstand him from his ragged looks and stops their recital. AzhwAr, out of great humility, understanding that, starts leaving the place. The brAhmaNas, wanting to resume their recital, but unable to do that since they forgot where they left. AzhwAr, immediately takes a grain of black rice and splits it using his nail and indicates the exact verse which is “krishNAnAm vrIhiNAm nakanirbbinnam” from yajur kANdam. The brAhmaNas immediately realise his greatness and offer their praNAmams and beg for forgiveness for their mis-conduct.

When AzhwAr was looking for materials for his thiruvArAdhanam, the emperumAn in the village temple was constantly turning towards his direction. The archakas show this amazing incident to some brAhamaNas and in turn they go to perumpuliyUr adigaL who is performing a yagyam in that village and informs him about the incident and greatness of AzhwAr. perumpuliyUr adigaL, at once leaves the yAgasAlai (yagya bhUmi) and reaches out to AzhwAr and looking at his aprAkrutha (divine spiritual) thirumEni (body), offers his praNAmams and requests AzhwAr to visit his yAgasAlai. On his visit, adigaL performs the agra pUjai (foremost respects) to AzhwAr in his yagyam. Some of the priests object to that like sisupAlan and his friends objected to dharmaputhran giving agra pUjai to krishNan during their rAjasUja yAgam. adigaL feels sad and informs AzhwAr that he cannot bear their words. AzhwAr decides to reveal his great position sings a pAsuram towards the antharyAmi emperumAn requesting him to reveal his presence within AzhwAr’s heart to everyone. emperumAn, obliging at once, reveals his presence with his dhivya mahishIs, AdhisEshan, garudAzhwAr, etc., in AzhwAr’s heart. All the priests who opposed AzhwAr realise his greatness and falls flat at his feet and beg for his forgiveness. They then performed brahma ratham (carrying AzhwAr in a palanquin) and became the target of AzhwAr’s mercy. AzhwAr then explained them the essence of sAsthram in great detail. Then, he left to thirukkudanthai to meet ArAvamuthan emperumAn.

After reaching thirukkudanthai, he then throws all his granthams (palm leaves) in to the river cauvery. By emperumAn’s thiruvuLLam, nAnmugan thiruvanthAdhi and thiruchchantha viruththam float against the tides and return to AzhwAr. He picks them up and goes to ArAvamuthan sannidhi and worships the most beautiful emperumAn from his thiruvadi (foot) to thirumudi (head). With great love, he instructs emperumAn “kAvirikkaraik kudaNthaiyuL

kidaNthavARezhuNthiruNthu pEchu” (காவி',கைர, �ட$ைத(�

கிட$தவாெற@$தி�$� ேப=) meaning “Oh the one who is lying down in thirukkudanthai

which is on the banks of cauvery! stand up and speak to me”. Hearing AzhwAr’s words, emperumAn literally tries to stand and AzhwAr becoming overwhelmed by emperumAn’s act

performs mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAn in “vAzhi kEchanE” (வாழி ேகசேன) meaning

“Oh the one with beautiful hair! Long live”. Meditating on this divine form, AzhwAr speent


21

another 2300 years in thirukkudanthai without accepting any food other than milk. Thus he spent 4700 years in this bhUlOkam and gave the most important essence of sAsthram through his prabhandhams for the upliftment of everyone in this samsAram out of his divine grace.

kOmaLavalli thAyar samEtha ArAvamuthan, thirukkudanthai

He became to be known as thirumazhisai pirAn (since pirAn means one who does great favours and this word is usually indicated to glorify emperumAn) – since he did the greatest favour in clarifying the supremacy of emperumAn – AzhwAr became to be known as pirAn. In turn, thirukkudanthai ArAvamudhan emperumAn became to be known as AzhwAr (since AzhwAr means one who gets immersed in the name, form, qualities of emperumAn and this word is usually for the great devotees of emperumAn) – since he got immersed in the name, form, qualities, etc., of thirumazhisai AzhwAr, ArAvamudhan emperumAn became to be known as ArAvamuthAzhwAr.

Let us pray for AzhwAr’s divine mercy, so we can also develop the same attachment towards emperumAn and his adiyArs.

His thanian shakthi panchamaya vigrahAthmanE shukthikArajatha chiththa hAriNEmukl mukthidhAyak murAri pAdhayOr bhakthisAra munayE namO nama:

His archAvathAra anubhavam is already discussed in here – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-thirumazhisai-azhwar.html.


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nammAzhwAr

thirunakshathram: vaigAsi, visAgam

avathAra sthalam: AzhwAr thirunagari

AchAryan: vishwaksEnar.

Sishyas: madhurakavi AzhwAr, nAthamunigaL, etc

He is also known as mARan, sataGopan, parAngusan, vakuLAbharaNan, vakuLAbhirAman, magizhmAran, satajith, kurgUr nambi, etc.

NammAzhwAr was born in ThirukkurugUr (AzhwAr thirunagari) as the child of KAri and udayanangai. He was born days after the advent of kaliyugam. In bhagavad gIthA, krishnan declares that “After many many birth one comes to the conclusion that everything belongs to vAsudevan (himself). And it is very rare to find such jnAnis”. NammAzhwAr from his life and works proves that he was one such jnAni who is very dear to emperumAn. Throughout his life (which only lasted 32 years in this samsAram), he stayed under the tamarind tree (thirupuLiyAzhwAr) and was always in yOgam (meditation) thinking about emperumAn. It is said in our pUrvAchArya vyAkyAnams that, the moment we hear kurugUr (generally in thiruvAimozhi pAsurams, the last pAsuram of each padhigam will have nammAzhwAr’s name and will generally be prefixed with kurugUr which is his avathAra sthalam), we should do an anjali towards the south direction (which is where AzhwAr thirungari is).


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NammAzhwAr is hailed as prapanna jana kUtasthar – i.e., the first one in the prapanna gOshti. He is also hailed as vaishnava kula pathi – the leader of the vaishnava fold by ALavandhAr. AlavandhAr in his sthOthra rathnam, 5th slOkam declares that he bows down at the lotus feet of vakUlAbhirAman who is everything (father, mother, child, wealth, etc) for him and his followers/descendants.

AzhwAr in sayana thirukkOlam and emperumAnAr at his lotus feet – AzhwAr thirunagari

emperumAnAr (who is himself an avathAram of AdhisEshan) is glorified as “mARan adi

panNiNthu uyNthavan” (மாற� அ& பணி$� உ�$தவ�) meaning one who surrendered

to nammAzhwAr and flourished.

NampiLLai, based on pUrvAchArya works, in his eedu vyAkyAna avathArikai and thiruvirutham vyAkyAna avathArikai, establishes that NammAzhwAr was hand picked by emperumAn from leeLA vibhUthi to sing his glories and to bring in many baddha jIvAthmAs into the fold of srivaishnavam. NampiLLai establishes this based on the words of nammAzhwAr himself. emperumAn gives pure knowledge out of his own will to nammAzhwAr so that AzhwAr can see past, present and future right in front of him. In his works, he says in several places that he suffered in samsAram since time immemorial. He also says that he cannot stay in this samsAram even for a single moment – living in this samsAram for him is like standing on red-hot floor without shoes/chappals. Right in the first pAsurm of thiruvAimozhi he says that he was blessed with the divine knowledge by emperumAn. Based on this we can easily understand that he was a samsAri (baddha jIvAtmA) before and was blessed by emperumAn with divine knowledge. The same logic is applied for other AzhwArs also due to the following reasons:

• Since nammAzhwAr is called the avayavi (whole) and all the other AzhwArs (except AndAL ofcourse) are avayavam (parts), and


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• Other AzhwArs have also said the same thing in their works, that they were suffering in samsAram and are blessed by emperumAn with divine knowledge.

NammAzhwar has sung 4 divya prabhandhams namely,

• thiruviruththam (rig vEdha sAram) • thiruvAsiriyam (yajur vEdha sAram) • periya thiruvandhAdhi (atharvaNa vEdha sAram) • thiruvAimozhi (sAma vEdha sAram)

nammAzhwAr’s prabhandhams are equal to 4 vEdhas. He is also known as “vEdham thamizh cheitha mAran” – one who gave the essence of samskrita vEdhas through his thamizh prabandhams. All the other AzhwArs prabhandhams are considered to be similar to the supplementary portion of vEdhas (like sIkshA, vyAkaraNam, etc). ThiruvAimozhi is glorified as the essence of all the 4000 divya prabandhams sung by AzhwArs. All our pUrvAchAryas works (vyAkyAnams and rahasya granthams) are based on the knowledge extracted from thiruvAimozhi. thiruvAimozhi itself has 5 vyAkyAnams and more detailed explanations in arumpadham.

Our pUrvAchAryas establish that nammAzhwAr is considered to be having the qualities of many great personalities like srIdhEvi, bhUdhEvi, nILA dhEvi, goPikAs, lakshmaNan, bharathAzhwAn, sathrugnAzhwAn, dhasarathan, kousalyai, prahlAdhAzhwAn, vibhIshaNAzhwAn, hanuman, arjunan, etc. While nammAzhwAr has the qualities of every one of these personalities, they each only have some of the qualities of nammAzhwAr – such is his glories.

With this in mind, let us see his charithram:

nammAzhwAr who is considered as the avayavi (the whole) and other AzhwArs are considered as avayam (parts of him), appears in thirukkurugUr, on the banks of river thAmirabharaNi which is considered to be greater than all other rivers like gangA, yamunA, sarasvathi, etc. He appears as the son of kAri who is part of the prappanna kulam for many generations. These great personalities would not worship any one other than srIman nArAyaNan as explained by thirumazhisai AzhwAr as “maRaNthum puRam thozhA mANthar”

(மற$�� 5ற� ெதாழா மா$த�). There was one thiruvaLuthi vaLa nAdar, whose son is

aRanthAngiyAr, whose son is chakrapANiyAr, whose son is achyuthar, whose son is chenthAmaraik kaNNar, whose son is poRkAriyAr, whose son is kAriyAr and whose son is nammAzhwAr.

In this great vaishNava family, poRkAriyAr decides to look for a vaishnava girl for his son kAri to establish him in gruhasthAshramam and create vaishnava children for the upliftment of the entire world. poRkAri goes to thiruvaNparisAram dhivyadhEsam and meet thiruvAzhmArbhar (who is seeking to get her daughter married to a vaishnava and get vaishnava offsprings) and requests him to give her daughter udaiya nangai in wedding to kAriyAr. thiruvAzhmArbhar accepts and a grand wedding ceremony is conducted between kAriyAr and udaiyanangai. Both kAriyAr and udayanangai worship thiruvAzhmArbhan emperumAn in thiruvaNparisAram and returns to thirukkurugur. On their return, everyone in thirukkurugUr welcomed them with a


25

great mood of devotion and celebration just like when srI rAman married sIthA pirAtti and brought her along to ayOdhyA from mithilA.

After some time, kAriyAr and udayanangai visit thiruvaNparisAram and on their way back, they visit thirukkurungudi and worship nambi emperumAn. They pray to him to have a child and nambi promises them that he himself will appear as their child. They return to thirukkurugur happily and after some time udaya nangai becomes pregnant. On the 43rd day after the dawn of kaliyugam, as per the orders of emperumAn, nammAzhwAr as he himself declares in

“thirumAlAl aruLap peRRa chatagOpan” (தி�மாலா� அ�ள< ெப)ற சடேகாப�)

meaning nammAzhwAr who was divinely blessed by srIman nArAyaNan, appears as an amsam of vishwaksEnar on bahudhAnya year (also said that it is pramAdhi year), vasantha ruthu (spring season), vaikAsi month, sukla paksham, paurNami thithi and thiruvisAka nakshathram. Similar to azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr‘s declaration in his AchArya hrudhayam, here it is said that “Adhithya rAmadhivAkara achyutha bANukkaLukku NInGgAtha uLLiruL NInGgi chOshiyAtha piRavikkadal chOshiththu vikasiyAtha pOthil kamalam malarumpadi vakuLabUshanNa bAskarOdhayam unNdAyththu udaiyaNanGgaiyAgiRa

pUrvasaNdhyaiyilE” (ஆதி�ய ராமதிவாகர அ7(த பாA,க+,� ந;8காத

உ�ளி�� ந;8கி ேசாஷியாத பிறவி,கட� ேசாஷி�� விகஸியாத ேபாதி�

கமல� மல��ப& வ�ள:ஷண பாDகேராதய� உ9டா��

உைடயந8ைகயாகிற :�வஸ$�ையயிேல) meaning the inner ignorance of samsAris

that was not removed by the appearance of the sun (Adhithya), srI rAman (rAma dhivAkara) who is glorified as a shining sun and krishNan (achyutha bAnu) who is also glorified as a shining sun, the ignorance was removed and the knowledge bloomed after the arrival of nammAzhwAr (vakuLA bhUshaNa bAskara) and this nammAzhwAr was conceived by udaiyanangai.

AdhisEshan appears as the divine tamarind tree to protect AzhwAr (knowing that AzhwAr will take shelter in thirukkurugUr AthinAthan emperumAn’s temple).

AzhwAr’s subsequent activities are described in madhurakavi AzhwAr’s charithram – http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/madhurakavi-azhwar/.

nammAzhwAr’s thanian

mAthA pithA yuvadhayas thanayA vibhUthi sarvam ya dhEva niyamEna madh anvayAnAm Adhyasyana: kulapathEr vakuLAbhirAmam srimath thadhangri yugaLam praNamAmi mUrdhnA

His archAvathAra anubhavam is discussed in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-nammazhwar.html.


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madhurakavi AzhwAr

thirunakshathram: chithirai, chithirai

avathAra sthalam: thirukkOLUr

AchAryan: nammAzhwAr

Works: kaNNinuN chiruthAmbu

Place where he attained paramapadham: AzhwAr thirunagari

nampiLLai, in the vyAkyAna avathArikai brings out the glories of madhurakavi AzhwAr beautifully. Let us see some glimpses of it.

rishis are focussed on sAmAnya sAsthram which establishes ishvaryam, kaivalyam and bhagavath kainkaryam as purushArtham (goal to be attained by a soul). Azhwars are focussed on the uththama purushArtham (ultimate goal) that is loving service to srIman nArAyaNan. madhurakavi AzhwAr is focussed on the epitome (top most stage) of bhagavath kainkaryam that is bhAgavatha kainkaryam – ofcourse bhagavAn appreciates service to his devotees more than service to him.

We can see this in srI rAmAyaNam as well. Since srI rAmAyaNam is vEdha upabruhmmaNam (that which explains the intricate meanings of vEdham) it promptly establishes the main aspects of vEdham.


27

• perumAL (srI rAman) is an embodiment of dharmam – so he established sAmAnya (ordinary/simple) dharmams of “pithru vachana paripAlanam” (following the orders of father/elders), etc.

• iLaya perumAL (lakshmaNan) established the visEsha (special) dharmam of sEshathvam that a sEshan (servant) should always follow and serve the sEshi (master). He said “aham sarvam karishyAmi” (I will do everything for you) to srI rAman and also put that in to practice.

• srI bharathAzhwAn (bharathan) established pArathanthriyam which is the real svarUpam of jIvAthmAs. pArathanthriyam means full following the desires of the master without any expectations on our own. Because perumAL wanted bharathAzhwAn to stay in ayOdhyA and take care of the rAjyam, he obliges and accepts that as his supreme command and stays outside ayOdhyA for 14 years with the same attire and anushtAnam of srI rAman.

• srI chathrugnAzhwAn (chathrugnan) established the epitome of our svarUpam which is bhAgavatha sEshathvam. He simply followed bharathAzhwAn and served him without any interest in anything else.

nampiLLai quotes srI bhAshyakArar (rAmAnujar) saying because of chathrugnan’s total surrender to srI bharathAzhwAn, he was more dear to srI rAman than the other 2 brothers – iLaya perumAL and bharathAzhwAn. madhurakavi AzhwAr was like srI chathrugnAzhwAn who was fully established in bhAgavatha nishtai. madurakavi AzhwAr also was fully surrendered to nammAzhwAr and was fully serving him. For him, nammAzhwAr is both the goal and the process to attain that goal. That is what is established by madhurakavi AzhwAr in his dhivya prabhandham.

piLLai lOkAchAryar in his magnum opus srIvachana bhUshaNam, in the last prakaraNam which fully reveals the glories of AchArya abhimAna nishtai (depending fully on AchAryan’s abhimAnam) establishes this principle by citing madhurakavi AzhwAr’s life and attachment towards nammAzhwAr as the example. In the 8th prakaraNam, bhagavan nirhEthuka krupai is explained. At the same time, bhagavAn is also bound to give results to jIvAthmA per their karmA. So, one may have a doubt that emperumAn may or may not accept us. In the 9th (and last) prakaraNam, piLLai lOkAchAryar establishes the greatness of charama upAyam (the final way) which is depending on AchAryan and how that will easily deliver the jIvAthmA. Let us see that now.

In sUthram 407, it is shown that one may have a doubt in the mind that emperumAn being svathanthran, may accept us or reject us depending on him following sAsthram (which gives results based on one’s own karmA) or his kAruNyam (mercy). mAmunigaL shows in the vyAkyAnam that the sUthram is completed by adding “When we depend on AchAryan who is a parathanthran (fully dependent on emperumAn), there is no doubt, since he will ensure that we will get delivered, because AchAryan is embodiment of kAruNyam and will look for the upliftment of the jIvAthmA only”.

In sUthram 408, it is explained that, this cannot be proved by the pAsurams of the 10 AzhwArs who are fully surrendered to emperumAn. These AzhwArs were divinely blessed by emperumAn with blemishless knowledge. When they get immersed in bhagavath anubhavam they glorify the bhAgavathAs. But when the are in separation from emperumAn, they get upset with bhAgavathAs out of their desperate situation (many pAsurams are cited by mAmunigaL in


28

the vyAkyAnam). mAmunigaL summarizes in the end that we cannot determine the true glories of AchArya vaibhavam through the pAsurams of 10 AzhwArs but we have to do that using madhurakavi AzhwAr’s pAsurams.

In sUthram 409, it is explained that madhurakavi AzhwAr is far greater than other AzhwArs since he is only focussed on AchArya (nammAzhwAr) vaibhavam unlike other AzhwArs who glorifies bhAgavathas some times and ignores them at other times. It is through the words of madhurakavi AzhwAr we can establish the glories of AchArya vaibhavam.

mAmunigaL explains the glories of madhurakavi AzhwAr and his kaNNinuN chiruthAmbu in 25th and 26th pAsurams.

In the 25th pAsuram, he says that madhurakavi AzhwAr’s thiruvavathAram (appearance) day – chithirai/chithirai, is most suitable for prapanna’s svarUpam, even more than the appearance days of other AzhwArs.

In the 26th pAsuram, he explains the glories of AzhwAr and his prabhandham wonderfully.

vAyththa thirumaNthiraththin maththimamAm padham pOl chIrththa madhurakavi chey kalaiyai Arththa pugazh AriyargaL thAnGgaL aruLicheyal NaduvE chErviththAr thARpariyam thErNthu

வா��த தி�ம$திர�தி� ம�திமமா� பத� ேபா�

சீ��த ம�ரகவி ெச� கைலைய

ஆ��த 5க� ஆ'ய�க� தா8க� அ�ளிெசய� ந>ேவ

ேச�வி�தா� தா)ப'ய� ேத�$�

piLLai lOkam jIyar gives beautiful explanation for this pAsuram. nama: padham in thirumanthram is taken as an example here for kaNNinuN chiruthAmbu. thirumanthram is gloried as the one which will relieve the reciter from bondage in this samsAram. In this thirumanthram, nama: padham is the most important word – it clearly establishes that we have no involvement in protecting ourselves and we have to fully depend on our master (emperumAn) to protect us. This same principle is explained by madhurakavi AzhwAr (who himself is great because of his AchArya nishtai) in his prabhandham that we should fully depend on our AchAryan to protect us. It is because of this fact that it brings out the essence of sAsthram, our pUrvAchAryas included this prabhandham in to the collection of 4000 dhivya prabhandham. Just like madhurakavi AzhwAr is born in chithrai thirunakshathram which comes in the middle of the 27 nakshathrams, his prabhandham is also considered the center piece of the dhivya prabhandha rathan hAram (necklace).

Thus, we can see how beautifully emperumAnAr, nampiLLai, piLLai lOkAchAryar, mAmunigaL and piLLai lOkam jIyar are explaining the same principle from different angles.

With this understanding, let us now go through his charithram.


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madhurakavi AzhwAr appeared in chaithra mAsam, chithrA nakshathram in thirukkOLUr. Just like sun’s rays appear before the sun itself, he appeared just before nammAzhwAr’s divine appearance. Looking at his greatness, in dhivya sUri charitham, garuda vAhana pandithar glorifies him as an amsam of “kumudha gaNEshar” or “garudAzhwAr” (though AzhwArs were handpicked from samsAram by emperumAn and divinely blessed by him).

He was born in a family of pUrva shikai brAhmaNas who are part of sAma vEdham. At the appropriate ages, he undergoes jAtha karma, nAma karaNa, anna prAsana, chauLa, upanayanam, etc., and learns vEdham, vEdhAntham, purANa, ithihAsam, etc. He was completely detached from everything else other than emperumAn and goes on a thIrtha yAthrai to ayOdhyA, mathurA, etc. – dhivyadhEsams/kshEthrams in the northern part of bhAratha dhEsam.

nammAzhwAr, madhurakavi AzhwAr, nAthamunigaL – kAnchipuram

nammAzhwAr who appeared after madhurakavi AzhwAr, was staying without any interest for even mother’s milk and without uttering any sound (in complete silence). His parents kAri and udaya nangai, on the 12th day after his appearance, with great anxiety for the child’s behaviour, brought him infront of polindhu ninRa pirAn emperumAn who is having his beautiful temple in the south side river thamirabharaNi, who is decorated beautifully with shankam (divine conch) and chakram (divine disc), who is having lotus like beautiful eyes, who is holding the abhaya hastham (a posture of the hand which declares he will protect us) and who is with his dhivya mahishIs srIdhEvi, bhUdhEvi and nILA dhEvi. In front of emperumAn, they give him the name “mARan” (one who is different from others) and leaves him under the divine tamarind tree and considers him as a divine personality and worships him there. paramapadhanAthan then instructs vishwaksEnar to go and perform panchasamskAram to nammAzhwAr and teach him dhrAvida vEdham (from this we can understand dhrAvida


30

vEdham is also eternal as declared by nAyanAr in AchArya hrudhayam) and all rahasya manthrams/meanings and vishwaksEnar obliged as such.

nammAzhwAr then stayed for 16 years under the thiruppuLiyAzhwAr (divine tamarind tree). His parents understanding his greatness but unable to share the same since not many understood AzhwAr’s greatness, keeps praying to thirukkurungudi nambi emperumAn. madhurakavi AzhwAr also hears about this matter and once when he went to the river banks in the night and noticed there was a bright light shining in the south side. He first thinks that may be there is some village burning or a forest fire.

But, subsequently he notices the same light for 2 or 3 nights consecutively. He decides to investigate what it is and so sleeps in the morning and starts following that light in the night. He checks many dhivya dhEsams on his way and reaches srIrangam. He still sees the light from further south and finally reaches thirukkurugUr (AzhwAr thirunagari). He no longer sees the light and concludes that it must be originating from here. He then enters the temple and under the thiruppuLiyAzhwAr, he sees nammAzhwAr who looks filled with complete/pure knowledge, who has beautiful eyes, who is just 16 years young and beautiful like the moon on a full moon day, who is seated on padhmAsanam, who has the upadhEsa mudhrai instructing about emperumAn and who is the AchAryan for all prapannas. Observing that he is fully immersed in bhagavath anubhavam, he takes a rock and throws in front of him. AzhwAr beautifully wakes up and looks at madhurakavi AzhwAr. Wanting to check if he can speak, madurakavi AzhwAr asks him “cheththaththin vayiRRil chiRiyathu piRaNthAl eththaiththinRu enGgE kidakkum”

(ெச�த�தி� வயி)றி� சிறிய� பிற$தா� எ�ைத�தி�* எ8ேக கிட,��)

meaning if a chEthanan (jIvAthmA – sentient) enters an achEthanam (insentient), what will he enjoy and where will he stay. AzhwAr replies “aththaiththinRu anGgE kidakkum”

(அ�ைத�தி�* அ8ேக கிட,��) meaning “He will keep enjoying the materialistic joy

and sorrows and will stay permanently there”. Hearing this madhurakavi AzhwAr realises that “He is a sarvagyar (omniscient – one who knows everything) and I should serve this great personality and be uplifted” and falls flat at the lotus feet of nammAzhwAr. He then stays with AzhwAr permanently, serves him always and sings his glories.

Subsequently, srIvaikunta nAthan (from paramapadham) who is the cause of all causes, who is the proprietor or everything, who is the controller of everyone, who is the in-dwelling supersoul of every one and every thing, who one who has a beautiful blackish/bluish thirumEni (body) wants to meet AzhwAr. periya thiruvadi (garudAzhwAn) at once arrives in front of emperumAn and emperumAn along with srI mahAlakshmi climbs on them and they reach thirukkurugUr at once and gives his divine dharshan to nammAzhwAr and blesses him divine blemishless knowledge. nammAzhwAr, being blessed by emperumAn, immerses in bhagavath anubhavam and as that anubhavam overflows beyond limits, they flow out as divine pAsurams in the form of thiruvirutham, thiruvAsiriyam, periya thiruvanthAdhi and thiruvAimozhi (which are the essence of 4 vEdhams) revealing emperumAn’s divine svarUpam, divine forms, divine qualities. nammAzhwAr then teaches the same to madhurakavi AzhwAr and others who were surrendered to him. All the dhivya dhEsa emperumAns arrive to thiruppuLiyAzhwAr to bless nammAzhwAr and sustain themselves by the mangaLAsAsanam of nammAzhwAr. nammAzhwAr then blesses everyone to become like him, to develop the same attachment towards emperumAn like him and nithya sUris (from paramapadham) and svEthadvIpa vAsis (residents of kshIrAbdhi) arrive to glorify nammAzhwAr and nammAzhwAr after seeing them


31

performs mangaLAsAsanam to them. nammAzhwAr being overwhelmed by the glories of nithya sUris and svEthadvIpa vAsis and them coming to see him, declares himself to be the greatest in the universe (sAthvika ahankAram arising out of emperumAn’s divine blessings), lives with unlimited glories, always sustaining himself by thinking about kaNNan emperumAn. He fully reveals artha panchakam (paramAthma svarUpam, jIvAthma svarUpam, upAya svarUpam, upEya svarUpam and virOdhi svarUpam) and the meanings of dhvaya mahA manthram through thiruvAimozhi which is divine nectar for the devotees of emperumAn. He finally leaves this samsAram at the age of 32 and reaches paramapadham by the divine desire of emperumAn.

Subsequently, madhurakavi AzhwAr who is the main disciple of nammAzhwAr (who is the prapanna jana kUtasthar – leader of the prapanna kulam), compiles kaNNinuN chiruthAmbu in glorification of his AchAryan and presents the same to mumukshus who are panchamOpAya nishtars (situated in 5th upAyam – AchArya nishtai, the other 4 upAyams being karma, jnAna, bhakthi and prapathi). He establishes the archA vigraham in AzhwAr thirunagari and arranges for nithya (daily), paksha (fortnightly), mAsa (monthly), ayana (half-yearly) and samvathsara (yearly) uthsavams in a grand manner and performs the same. He glorifies nammAzhwAr as “vEdham thamizh cheytha perumAL vaNthAr, thiruvAymozhip perumAL vaNthAr, thiruNagarip perumAL vaNthAr, thiruvazhuthivaLaNAdar vaNthAr, thirukkurugUrNagar Nambi vaNthAr,

kArimARar vaNthAr, chatagOpar vaNthAr, parAnGguchar vaNthAr” (ேவத� தமி� ெச�த

ெப�மா� வ$தா�, தி�வா�ெமாழி< ெப�மா� வ$தா�, தி�நக'< ெப�மா�

வ$தா�, தி�வ@திவளநாட� வ$தா�, தி�,��F�நக� ந�பி வ$தா�, கா'மாற� வ$தா�, சடேகாப� வ$தா�, பரா8�ச� வ$தா�) meaning One who gave

the essence of vEdham arrived, the great author of thiruvAimozhi arrived, the leader of thirunagari arrived, son of kAri arrived, sadagOpar arrived, one who controlled everyone arrived, etc. At that time, the thamizh experts from (south) madhurai thamizh sangam arrive there and they object to these glories and say that unless nammAzhwAr’s greatness is proved and sanga palagai (the plank which measures the greatness of literature) accepts his literature, they will not accept that nammAzhwAr gave the essence of vEdham. madhurakavi AzhwAr says that nammAzhwAr will not travel anywhere and writes “kanNnNan kazhalinNai”

(க9ண� கழலிைண) which is the beginning of thiruvAimozhi 10.5.1 pAsuram on a small

palm-leaf and hands it over to those poets from thamizh sangam. He tells them that if the sanga palagai accepts these 2 words of AzhwAr then his greatness will be proved. The poets agree to madhurakavi AzhwAr’s words and go to madhurai and explain the incidents to the leader of thamizh sangam. The leader agrees and they keep the palm-leaf with AzhwAr’s pAsuram along with 300 other great poets of those days. The magical plank retains AzhwAr’s words alone and pushes everyone else immediately proving AzhwAr’s greatness. The leader of the sangam at once compiles a poem glorifying AzhwAr as follows:

IyAduvathO garudaRkethirE iravikkethir minminiyAduvathO NAyOduvathO uRumippulimun NarikEcharimun NadaiyAduvathO pEyaduvathO ezhilUrvachimun perumAnadi chEr vaguLAbharanNan OrAyiramAmaRaiyin thamizhil oru chol porumO ulagil kaviyE


32

ஈயா>வேதா க�ட)ெகதிேர இரவி,ெகதி� மி�மினியா>வேதா நாேயா>வேதா உ*மி<5லி-�

ந'ேகச'-� நைடயா>வேதா ேபய>வேதா எழிI�வசி-�

ெப�மான& ேச� வ�ளாபரண� ஓராயிரமாமைறயி� தமிழி� ஒ� ெசா�

ெபா�ேமா உலகி� கவிேய

nammAzhwAr‘s (who is surrendered to srIman nArAyaNan and have given the essence of vEdham in his 1000+ pAsurams) one word cannot be compared any number of these poems of these worldly poets just like there is no comparison between

• flying skill of garudan and a house fly • brightness of sun and a fire fly • roaring of a tiger and barking of a dog • the majestic walk of a lion and the ordinary walk of a fox • the beautiful dance of Urvasi (a dhEva lOka dancer) and the dancing of a ghost

Seeing this, all the poets at once begged for their forgiveness from nammAzhwAr and glorified him. Thus madhurakavi AzhwAr spent his time glorifying his AchAryan as per “gurum

prakAchayEth dhImAN” (�� <ரகாசேய� த;மா$) meaning ones AchAryan should be

glorified in public and uplifted all beings. After some time he left this samsAram and reached his AchAryan thiruvadi to perform nithya kainkaryam to nammAzhwAr.

His thanian avidhitha vishayAntharas chatArEr upanishdhAm upagAna mAthra bOga: api cha guNa vachAth thadhEka sEshi madhurakavir hrudhayE mamAvirasthu

His archAvathAra anubhavam is already discussed in here – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-madhurakavi.html.


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kulasEkara AzhwAr

thirunakshathram: mAsi, punarpUsam

avathAra sthalam: thiruvanjikkaLam

AchAryan: vishwaksEnar

Works: mukundha mAlai, perumAL thirumozhi

Place where he attained paramapadham: mannAr kOyil (near thirunelvEli)

kulasEkara AzhwAr’s greatness lies in the fact that he was born in kshathriya kulam (which is condusive for having great ego) but was still so humble in his attitude towards emperumAn and bhakthas. It is because of his great devotion and attachment towards perumAL (srI rAman) he came to be known as kulasEkara perumAL himself. In his perumAL thirumozhi, after performing mangaLAsAsanam to periya perumAL in the first padhigam (iruLiyach chudar manigaL), he immediately glorifies srIvaishNavas in the second padhigam (thEttarum thiral thEn). He is also popular to have been so attached to srIvaishnavas which we will see in his charithram in the subsequent sections.


34

He himself declares the real svarUpam of jIvAthmA as sEshathvam in his perumAL thirumozhi in the end (10.7) as “thillaiNagar chiththirakUdam thannuL arachamarNthAn adichUdum

arachai allAl arachAga enNnNEn maRRarachu thAnE” (தி�ைலநக� சி�திரFட�

த� � அரசம�$தா� அ&K>� அரைச அ�லா� அரசாக எ9ேண� ம)றர=

தாேன) meaning “I will not consider any thing as kingship other than holding the lotus feet of

the king of thiruchithrakUdam (gOvindharAjan emperumAn). He clearly eradicates any thought of dhEvathAnthara/vishayAnthara sambandham of jIvAthmA through these words.

He also declares the ultimate svarUpam of jIvAthma svarUpam as “achithvath pArathanthriyam” in thiruvEnkata padhigam. In 4.9, he explains:

chediyAya valvinaigaL thIrkkum thirumAlE NediyAnE vEnGkatavA! Nin kOyilin vAchal adiyArum vAnavarum arambaiyarum kidaNthiyanGgum padiyAyk kidaNthu un pavaLa vAyk kAnNbEnE

ெச&யாய வ�விைனக� த;�,�� தி�மாேல

ெந&யாேன ேவ8கடவா! நி� ேகாயிலி� வாச�

அ&யா�� வானவ�� அர�ைபய�� கிட$திய8��

ப&யா�, கிட$� உ� பவள வா�, கா9ேபேன

Oh srIvEnkatEsa! You are the one who can eradicated my strong karmAs. I want to be like the stepping stone at the entrance of your sannidhi where your great devotees, dhEvas who expect material benefits from you and their dependants are longing to take your dharshan.

periyavAchAn piLLai explains that the jIvAthmA should be both like

• (padiyAik kidanthu) achith (insentient) in the sense that emperumAn should have full control over the jIvAthmA. Just like chandhanam (sandal wood), kusumam (flower), etc – which are only present for the pleasure of the consumer and have no personal interest at all.

• (un pavaLa vAyk kANbEnE) chit (sentient) in the sense that we should acknowledge that he is having pleasure by accepting our service. If we dont acknowledge and receiprocate then we will be no different than achith.

This principle is called “achithvath pArathanthriyam” meaning jIvAthmA being fully controlled by emperumAn and still reciprocating with emperumAn – this is the highest principle of our srIvaishNava sidhAntham.

We have already enjoyed how mAmunigaL glorifies kulasEkara AzhwAr in his archAvathAra anubhavam article – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-kulasekara.html.

nAyanAr in his magnum opus AchArya hrudhayam explains that one should discriminate between devotees based on their birth in a series of chUrNikais and establishes the greatness


35

of nammAzhwAr and other great personalities in the end. In that section, while explaining the greatness of the births which is condusive to bhagavath kainkaryam, nAyanAr cites the example of how various great personalities opted/desired for so-called low births only because of the reason that those births are very condusive for kainkaryam. Let us see the essence of 87th chUrNikai and how this relates to kulasEkara AzhwAr.

anNaiya Ura punaiya adiyum podiyum padap parvatha bhavaNanGgaLilE EthEnumAga jaNikkap peRugiRa thiryak sthAvara jaNmanGgaLai perumakkaLum periyOrum parigrahiththup prArththippargaL.

அைணய ஊர 5ைனய அ&(� ெபா&(� பட< ப�வத பவந8களிேல

ஏேத மாக ஜநி,க< ெப*கிற தி�ய, Dதாவர ஜ$ம8கைள ெப�ம,க+�

ெப'ேயா�� ப',ரஹி��< <ரா��தி<ப�க�.

The nithyasUris like ananthan, garudan, etc., opts to take birth as bed (AdhisEshan), a bird (garudAzhwAr), etc. nammAzhwAr identifies how thiruththuzhAi is so dear to emperumAn that he wears it everywhere (on his head, shoulders, chest, etc). Great sages like parAsara, vyAsa, sukha, etc., desired to be born as the dust of vrindhAvana which gets touched by the lotus feet of krishNan and gOpis. kulasEkara AzhwAr desired to be born as anything in thiruvEnkata hill. ALavandhAr desired to be born as a worm in the house of a srIvaishNava. Let us see kulasEkara AzhwAr’s desire in a little bit detail as explained by mAmunigaL in the vyAkyAnam of this chUrNikai.

In perumAL thirumozhi 4th padhigam, AzhwAr desires to have some relationship with thiruvEnkata hill which lasts forever – he wants to be eternally connected to thiruvEnkata hill.


36

He desires to be:

• A bird in the pond on the hill • A fish in the pond since the bird may fly away • Some one who will hold the golden utensil which is used in emperumAn’s service, since

the fish may swim away • A flower on a tree, since holding the golden utensil may create ego in my mind and that

will drive me away • A useless tree since once the flower is used up, it will be thrown away • A river on thiruvEkata hill, since the useless tree will be removed some day • The stairs leading up to the sannidhi, since the river may dry up some day • The stepping stone in front of the sannidhi (this is how it became to be known as

kulasEkaran padi), since by being the stairs, route may be changed some day • Anything on thiruvEnkatam that stays eternally – periyvAchAn piLLai explains in the

vyAkyAnam that AzhwAr would not even mind becoming thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn himself to be eternally connected to the hill. He also identifies bhattar‘s quote “Neither I need to know that I am there, nor thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn needs to know that I am there and no one need to glorify that I am there. I am just happy to be present there in some form eternally”.

Such was the greatness of kulasEkara AzhwAr, he was fully craving for bhagavath/bhAgavatha sambandham without any personal expectation.

With this in mind, let us see his charithram now.

srI kulasEkara perumAL was born in the kingdom of kollinagar (thiruvanjikkALam) in the kshahriya vamsam an amsam of srIkausthubam as shown in dhivya sUri charitham by garuda vAhana pandithar (though AzhwArs were handpicked from samsAram by emperumAn and divinely blessed by him). He is also known as kolli kAvalan, kozhiyar kOn, kUdal nAyakan, etc.

As explained in his thanian as “mARRalarai, vIranGkeduththa chenGkOl kolli kAvalan

villavarkOn, chEran kulachEkaran mudivENthar chikAmanNi” (மா)றலைர, வ ;ர8ெக>�த

ெச8ேகா� ெகா�லி காவல� வி�லவ�ேகா�, ேசர� �லேசகர�

-&ேவ$த� சிகாமணி) meaning he is the destroyer of his enemies and the king of the

chEra kingdom, he had great strength of chariots, horses, elephants and foot soldiers and was able to drive out all his enemies. He ruled according to sAsthram and ensured that the strong did not trouble the weak and like srI rAman, he was most generous and most humble during his rule.

Being a great king, he was thinking to be fully independent and the controller of his rAjyam. srIman nArAyaNan who is the supreme controller of both paramapadham and samsAram, out of his causeless mercy, blessed him blemishless divine knowledge, removed his rajO/thamO guNams and made him fully situated in sathva guNam and revealed his divine svarUpam (true nature), rUpam (form), guNam (qualities), vibhUthi (his wealth/controlling power) and chEshtithams (pastimes/leelais) in detail. Seeing that and understanding the same, AzhwAr became greatly anguished to be in the midst of samsAris who are fully indulged in bodily aspirations without any interest in bhagavath vishayam (spiritual matters). As nammAzhwAr


37

declares that great material wealth is like big fire which will destroy the owner himself by indulging him in just more and more material aspirations, kulasEkara AzhwAr had no attachment to his rAjyam (kingdom) and stayed aloof from everything like srI vibhIshaNAzhwAn gave up all his wealth and surrendered to srI rAman.

He developed great attachment towards srIrangam and srI ranganAthan and more so towards the devotees of srI ranganAthan who are completely detached from worldly affairs and spend their time only singing the glories of srI ranganAthan. He wanted to live amidst such srIvaishNavas who are called sAdhus (vaishNava agrEsa: – leader of vaishnavas) and the

ones who are identified as “anNiyaranGgan thirumuRRaththu adiyAr” (அணியர8க�

தி�-)ற�� அ&யா�) meaning the devotees who spend all their life in srIranganAthan’s

temple. Understanding that srIranga yAthrai and the desire to go to srIrangam itself will give paramapadham what to speak of living in srIrangam, he lives everyday thinking about going to srIrangam.

Also, he developed great attachment towards thiruvEnkatam (thirumalai) which has the swAmy pushkariNi that is glorified to be greater than the holy rivers gangA, yamunA, etc. As ANdaL

also speaks about “vEnGkataththaip pathiyAga vAzhvIrgAL” (ேவ8கட�ைத< பதியாக

வா�வ ;�கா�) meaning we should live in thiruvEnkatam as our eternal residence where

great sages and mahAthmAs stay eternally, he also has the same desire. As we have already seen in the beginning, he desires to be a bird, a plant or even a stone on this dhivyadhEsam. Beyond this he also desires to live in many dhivyadhEsams serving the archAvathAra emperumAn and his devotees there.

After analysing and observing the various purANams, ithihAsams, etc., he blesses with a great sanskrit slOka grantham named mukundha mAlai. As the greatness of srIrAmAyaNam is explained in the following slOkam:

vEdha vEdhyE parE pumsi jAthE dhacharathAthmajE vEdha: prAchEthasAdhAsIth sAkshAth rAmAyanNathmaNA

ேவத ேவ�ேய பேர 5�ஸி ஜாேத தசரதா�மேஜ

ேவத: <ராேசதஸாதாO� ஸாPா� ராமாயண�மநா

Just like srIman nArAyaNan who can be understood through vEdham appeared as srI rAman (the son of dhasarathan), vEdham itself appeared as srI rAmAyaNam from srI vAlmIki.


38

AzhwAr took up listening to srI rAmAyaNam and discoursing the same as his daily routine. He becomes immersed in srI rAmAyaNam that some times he forgets even who he is. Once when the lecturer explains the sequence were 14000 rAkshasas under kara/dhUshaNa prepare for a battle with srI rAman who leaves sItha dhEvi under the protection of iLaya perumAL (lakshmaNan) in a cave and all the rishis become very scared seeing at this situation where perumAL is single handedly taking on 14000 rAkshasas, AzhwAr being overwhelmed with emotions, at once orders his army to get ready for the battle and march towards the battle field to help srI rAman. Seeing this, some of his ministers, arrange for a few people to come from the opposite side and inform him that the battle is already won by srI rAman and sIthA dhEvi is nursing his injuries by tenderly attending him and he need not go any more. AzhwAr being satisfied, returns to his kingdom.

His ministers then start thinking about AzhwAr’s behaviour and decide that this is an outcome of his association with the srIvaishnavas. They decide to drive the srivaishnavas out and devise a plan for that. They steal one of the diamond necklace from the thiruvArAdhanam room of AzhwAr and proclaim that his close confident srIvaishnavas must have stole it. At once, AzhwAr orders for a pot with a venomous snake placed in it and once it arrives, he puts his hand inside and declares that “srIvaishnavas will not indulge in such acts” – the snake does


39

not bite him due to his honesty and the ministers feel ashamed, return the necklace and beg for forgiveness from AzhwAr and srIvaishnavas.

Subsequently, AzhwAr starts feeling greatly anguished living amidst samsAris as stated in saunaka samhithai that “For a prapanna, being with people who dont glorify bhagavAn is worse than being amidst a ball of fire”. He then crowns his son as the king of the kingdom and hands over all the responsibilities and declares that “AnAtha chelvaththu arambaiyargaL

thaRchUzha vAnALum chelvamum manNnNarachum yAn vEnNdEn” (ஆனாத ெச�வ��

அர�ைபய�க� த)Kழ வானா+� ெச�வ-� ம9ணர=� யா� ேவ9ேட�)

meaning He no longer desires to rule great wealth surrounded by many servants and entertainers. He then leaves to srIrangam with his close srIvaishnava friends and performs mangaLAsAsanam to srIranganAthan who looks like a diamond placed on golden plate (him lying down on AdhisEshan) and who is always looking out for the welfare of everyone. He glorifies emperumAn every moment and as a result of his outpouring emotions, he compiles perumAL thirumozhi and blesses that to every one and thus uplifted them. After some time he leaves this samsAram and reaches the divine abode of paramapadhanAthan and eternally serves him there.

His thanian gushyathE yasya nagarE rangayAthrA dhinE dhinE thamaham sirasA vandhE rAjAnam kulasEkaram

His archAvathAra anubhavam is already discussed in here - http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-kulasekara.html.


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periyAzhwAr

thirunakshathram: Ani, swAthi

avathAra sthalam: srIvilliputhUr


Works: thiruppallANdu, periyAzhwAr thirumozhi

Place where he attained paramapadham: thirumAlirunchOlai

periyavAchAn piLLai wonderfully glorifies periyAzhwAr in the vyAkyAna avathArikai (introduction) of thiruppallANdu. He identifies the purpose of periyAzhwAr’s avathAram is to uplift the suffering jIvAthmAs from this samsAram. periyAzhwAr is decorated with sahaja dhAsyam (natural servitorship) towards emperumAn by the grace of emperumAn himself. He wanted to conduct his life by performing kainkaryam and studied the sAsthram to find out the best kainkaryam. srI krishNan himself enters into the house of mAlAkArar (the garland maker) in mathurA before going to the assembly of kamsan, requesting him for some garlands and when the mAlAkArar happily gives the best garland with great love and affection, kaNNan emperumAn becomes extremely pleased and wears it with great joy. Observing this, periyAzhwAr determines that making flower garlands is the most pleasing service for emperumAn, he starts making a garden where he plants fresh flower-giving seeds, nurtures the same and makes fresh garland every day to srIvilliputhur emperumAn with great love and affection.


41

There is a big difference between periyAzhwAr and other AzhwArs. Other AzhwArs want to get their desires (them serving emperumAn eternally) fulfilled. But periyAzhwAr is focussed on fulfilling emperumAn’s desires (bringing many suffering jIvAthmAs to be with him eternally in paramapadham) even at the cost of his own desires. Other AzhwArs think that Ishvaran is the protector and they are the protected and thus get rid of their fears. periyAzhwAr thinks that he is the protector and Ishvaran is to be protected. This point is further explained by piLLai lOkAchAryar and mAmunigaL beautifully which we will see in the subsequent sections.

Similarly, thiruppallANdu is greatly glorified in comparison with other dhivya prabhandhams. While other prabhandhams discuss many vEdhAntham related complicated matters thiruppallANdu simply focusses on performing mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAn. While other prabhandhams are big in size, this prabhandham is crisp and small – in just 12 pAsurams all the essential principles are explained.

piLLai lOkAchAryar in srI vachana bhUshaNa dhivya sAsthram, explains the glories of mangaLAsAsanam as part of the sidhdhOpAya nishtar’s (one who is fully situated in bhagavAn as upAyam(process)/upEyam(goal)) dhinacharyai (daily activities). The srIvaishnava dhinacharyai is already discussed in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/08/srivaishnava-lakshanam-10.html and http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/08/srivaishnava-lakshanam-11.html as part of the srIvaishnava lakshaNam series of articles - http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/p/srivaishnava-lakshanam.html.

mangaLAsAsanam means desiring/praying for the well being of some one. AzhwArs are always looking out for emperumAn’s well being. But piLLai lOkAchAryar shows that periyAzhwAr’s attachment towards emperumAn is far greater than others. This is already explained in detail in the introduction section of periyaAzhwAr’s archAvathAra anubhavam – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-periyazhwar.html. Let us just see 255th sUthram which nicely brings out the glories of periyAzhwAr and srI bhAshyakArar (rAmAnujar).

allAthavargaLaip pOlE kEtkiRavargaLudaiyavum, chollukiRavargaLutaiyavum thanimaiyaith thavirkkaiyanRikkE ALumALAr engiRavanudaiya thanimaiyaith thavirkkaikkAgavAyiRRu bhAshyakArarum ivarum upathEchippathu.

அ�லாதவ�கைள< ேபாேல ேக0கிறவ�க+ைடய4�,

ெசா�Qகிறவ�க+ைடய4� தனிைமைய� தவி�,ைகய�றி,ேக

ஆ+மாளா� எ�கிறவ ைடய தனிைமைய� தவி�,ைக,காகவாயி)*

பாRயகார�� இவ�� உபேதசி<ப�.

Unlike other AzhwArs/AchAryars, periyAzhwAr and bhAshyakArar instructs the meanings of sAsthram to reform jIvAthmAs and engage them in mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAn so emperumAn’s loneliness is removed (emperumAn wants naturally every one to serve him because every one belongs to him, just like a father or mother will not be happy even if one of their children is not with them, emperumAn will not be happy even if one jIvAthmA among many is not with him). The real focus is not removing the loneliness of the instructor, loneliness


42

of instructed and the upliftment of jIvAthmA – but it is to fulfill emperumAn’s natural desire and having the jIvAthmA being situated in his natural position.

mAmunigaL in his vyAkyAnam for this sUthram explains that AzhwAr understands the most tender/delicate nature of emperumAn and determines that such tender natured person cannot bear separation from the jIvAthmAs and thus wants to fully focus on that alone. He also brings out beautifully that piLLai lOkAchAryar said bhAshyakArar (instead of emperumAnAr, rAmAnujar, etc) to reveal that bhAshyakArar means one who established the essence of vEdhAntham through srIbhAshyam – and thus his act of focussing on emperumAn’s pleasure alone is also in line with vEdhAntham.

mAmunigaL in his upadhEsa rathina mAlai, glorifies periyAzhwAr in 5 pAsurams consecutively.

• In the 16th pAsuram, he tells to his own heart that Ani svAthi is to be greatly glorified since that is the day when pattarpirAn (periyAzhwAr) who brought us great auspiciousness by compiling thiruppallANdu appeared.

• In the 17th pAsuram, he instructs his own heart to always think that there is no one equal in this whole world to the gyAnis who become pleased on hearing the glories of Ani svAthis which is the appearance day of periyAzhwAr.

• In the 18th pAsuram, he explains that periyAzhwAr’s interest in performing mangaLAsAsanam is far greater than other AzhwArs and because of his overflowing affection towards emperumAn, he became to be famously known as periyAzhwAr.

• In the 19th pAsuram, among all the pAsurams (which are defectless – here defect means discussing other matters than emperumAn) of AzhwArs (who are defectless – here defect means having attachment to other upAyams like karma/gyAna/bhakthi and also not having great desire to reach emperumAn), thiruppallANdu is the foremost. Just like praNavam is the foremost and essence of samskritha vEdham, thiruppallANdu is the foremost and essence of dhrAvida vEdham since this discusses mangaLAsAsanam.

• In the 20th pAsuram, he asks his heart to observe all pramANams and see if there is a prabhandham better than thiruppallANdu and to observe all AzhwArs and see if there is another AzhwAr better than periyAzhwAr.

His unique speciality is that he is the father-in-law of periya perumAL by giving his daughter ANdAL in marriage to him.


periyAzhwAr was born in srIvilliputhUr where many great experts of vEdham lived. He was born on Ani svAthi and named vishNuchithar by his parents. Since he did parathathva nirUpaNam (establishing srIman nArAyaNan’s supremacy) like garudan who is called as vEdhAthmA (one who has vEdham as his body) and who always holds srIman nArAyaNan’s lotus feet (thus establishing srIman nArAyaNan’s parathvam), he was considered as an amsam of garudAzhwAr (though AzhwArs are hand-picked from samsAram and divinely blessed by emperumAn).

He was blessed by vatapathrasAyI by his causeless mercy during his birth itself just like prahlAdhan was born with bhagavath bhakthi. It is said in sAsthram that “Na


43

akinYchithkurvathach chEshathvam” (ந அகிSசி��வத7 ேசஷ�வ�) meaning when

one does not perform atleast small service to emperumAn, his sEshathvam (servitorship) does not exist. Thinking that he should also engage in some kainkaryam purely for the pleasure of emperumAn, he started observing all the purANams, etc. He observes that sarvEshvaran appears as krishNan in mathurA as stated in:

Esha NArAyanNa srImAN kshIrArnNava NikEthaNa: NAga paryanGkam uthsrujya hyAgathO madhurAm purIm

ஏஷ நாராயண Tமா$ P;ரா�ணவ நிேகதந:

நாக ப�ய8க� உ�D�Uய Vயாகேதா ம�ரா� 5W�

srIman nArAyaNan who was lying down in kshIrAbdhi gave up his AdhisEsha bed and descended to mathurA as krishNan.

Also, nammAzhwAr says that “manNnNin bhAram NIkkuthaRkE vadamathuraip piRaNthAn”

(ம9ணி� பார� ந;,�த)ேக வடம�ைர< பிற$தா�) meaning kaNNan emperumAn

appeared in mathurA to remove the pains of bhUdhEvi. It is also said in mahAbhArahtham that the eternal bhagavAn appears as kaNNan emperumAn and lives in dhvArakA to establish the dharmam, protect the sAdhus and to annihilate the miscreants. Such emperumAn was born as the son of the most beautiful dhEvaki and was raised by the most beautiful yasOdhai. Such beautiful krishNan who is decorated with beautiful garlands by nithyasUris, goes to mAlAkArar who works for kamsa and asks him to give him some garlands. mAlAkArar being very pleased with kaNNan emperumAn himself coming and requesting for garlands, offers him the best and most fresh garlands to him to please emperumAn. Seeing this, periyAzhwAr understands that offering garlands which are prepared with great love and affection is the most pleasing kainkaryam for emperumAn and starts performing that kainkaryam to vatapathrasAyi emperumAn of srIvilliputhUr.

At that time one king named srI vallabha dhEvan who comes in the lineage of pAndiya king (who planted his fish flag on the divine mEru mountain) was ruling the pAndiya kingdom from (south) madhurai in a very virtuous manner. One night he was going on a walk in disguise to check the proper functioning of the kingdom, he noticed a brAhmaNa sitting outside someone’s house. The king asks him about his identity and whereabouts and the brAhmaNa tells him that he is a brAhmaNa and is returning from ganges after doing gangA snAnam. The king asks him to recite a slOkam if he knows and the brAhmaNa recites the following slOkam.

varshArthamashtau prayathEtha mAsAN NichArththamarththam dhivasam yathEtha vArdhdhagyahEthOr vayasA NavENa parathra hEthOriha jaNmaNA cha

வ�ஷா�தமRெடௗ <ரயேதத மாஸா$ நிசா��தம��த� திவஸ� யேதத

வா��த,யேஹேதா� வயஸா நேவந பர�ர ேஹேதா'ஹ ஜ$மநா ச

People work hard for 8 months to stay relaxed during the 4 months of rainy season; To be happy in the night they work hard in the day time; To live comfortably when they get old,


44

people work hard when they are young; People should thus work hard in this life to have a good after-life.

Hearing this, the king starts contemplating that he is comfortable in this life from material wealth, comforts, etc, but he is not sure about the after-life and how to approach that. He then goes to his purOhith (pandit) and asks him how to establish the supreme god and how to attain him after this life. selva nambi who is a great devotee of srIman nArAyaNan at once says we must assemble all the vidhwAns (scholars) and establish the parathathvam based on vEdhAntham. He invites the scholars to establish the truth since the most important principle per Apasthambha dharma sUthram, “dharmajnYasamaya: pramAnNam vEdhAchcha”

(த�மUஞஸமய: <ரமாண� ேவதா7ச) meaning the acts of the knowers of vEdham is

the primary source of knowledge and vEdham is the secondary source. The king prepares a pouch filled with great wealth as the prize for the one who establishes the truth and hangs that in a decorative ceiling. He invites the scholars from all over the region to assemble at his palace for a debate.

vatapathrasAyi emperumAn (srIvilliputhUr) wants to uplift the samsAris by establishing his supremacy (as explained in vEdhAntham) through periyAzhwAr, appears in his dream and instructs him to go and fetch the prize. AzhwAr replies to emperumAn that the prize is for establishing the supremacy of emperumAn through vEdhAntham and out of humility says that “How can I go and fetch that prize with my hands which have become rough due to working in the garden?”. emperumAn insists to him that “I will take care of everything since I am revealer of vEdham and its meanings as necessary”. AzhwAr waking up early in the morning as per

sAsthram which says “brAhmE muhurththE cha uththAya” (<ராVேம -ஹு��ேத ச

உ�தாய) meaning one should wake up in the brahma muhurtham (around 4am) and realising

the divine dream, performs his nithyAnushtAnam and leaves to madhurai to the palace of the king. Arriving at the palace, the king and selva nambi welcome AzhwAr who is a brAhmaNOthama (top most brAhmaNa) and offer their obeisance to him. The local scholars informs the king that AzhwAr is not well learned – but selva nambi and the king already knowing about AzhwAr’s dedication to vatapathrasAyi and his kainkaryam gave him great respect and asked him to establish the parathathvam based on vEdhAntham. By the divine grace of emperumAn, periyAzhwAr was able to visualize and understand the essence of vEdham, vEdhAntham, ithihAsam, purANam, etc. Just like srI vAlmIki bhagavAn was able to understand all the great principles by the grace of brahmA and prahlAdhAzhwAn became sarvagya (omniscient) immediately by the touch of emperumAn’s pAnchajanyam, periyAzhwAr by the causeless mercy of emperumAn, understood that the essence of sAsthram is srIman nArAyaNan’s parathvam (supremacy). This can be seen in the logical sequence of pramANams as follows:

samastha chabhdha mUlathvAdh akArasya svabhAvatha: samastha vAchya mUlathvAth brahmanNOpi svabhAvatha: vAchyavAchaka sambhaNdhas thayOr arththAth pradhIyathE


45

ஸமDத ச<த [ல�வா� அகாரDய Dவபாவத:

ஸமDத வா7ய [ல�வா� <ரVமேணாபி Dவபாவத:

வா7யவாசக ஸ�ப$தD தேயா� அ��தா� <ரத;யேத

All the sounds naturally originate from akAram; All the meanings (or the objects) of those sounds naturally originate from brahmmam. So, it can be understood that the relationship between akAram and brahmmam is natural as well.

gIthAchAryan himself declares in bhagavath gIthai that “aksharAnNamakArOsmi”

(அPராணமகாேராDமி), meaning I am akAram amongst letters.

It is said that “akArO vishnNuvAchaka:” (அகாேரா விR\வாசக:) meaning akAram

represents vishnNu establishing that srIman nArAyaNan is the supreme being.

thaithriya upanishadh identifies the foremost qualities of such srIman nArAyaNan as follows:

yathO vA imANi bhUthANi jAyanthE, yENa jAthANi jIvaNthi, yathprayaNthi abhisamvichaNthi, thath vijijnYAsasva, thath brahmEthi

யேதா வா இமாநி :தாநி ஜாய�ேத, ேயந ஜாதாநி ஜ;வ$தி, ய�<ரய$தி அபிஸ�விச$தி, த� விஜிUஞாஸDவ, த� <ரVேமதி

That from which this whole universe and the beings are created, on which the whole universe is sustained, in which it merges during destruction, where the beings reach upon attaining mOksham, know that and know that to brahmam. Thus jagath kAraNathva (being the cause of the universe), mumukshu upAsyathva (being the object of the worship for the ones who desire to get mOksham) and mOksha pradhathva (having the ability to benedict mOksham to a jIvAthmA) are identified as the most important qualities of the supreme being.

These qualities are fully seen in srIman nArAyaNan as explained in:

vishnNOs sakAchAdhudhbhUtham jagath thathraiva cha sthitham sthithi samyamakarththAsau jagathOsya jagachcha sa:

விRேணாD ஸகாசா��:த� ஜக� த�ைரவ ச Dதித�

Dதிதி ஸ�யமக��தாெஸௗ ஜகேதாDய ஜக7ச ஸ:

As stated in vishNu purANam, this universe appears from vishNu; it subsides in vishNu during praLayam (when there is no creation); He is the one who sustains it and annihilates it; He also has the whole universe as his sarIram (body).

NArAyanNAthparO dhEvO Na bhUthO Na bhavishyathi Ethath rahasyam vEdhANAm purAnNANAm cha sammatham


46

நாராயணா�பேரா ேதேவா ந :ேதா ந பவிRயதி ஏத� ரஹDய� ேவதாநா� 5ராணாநா� ச ஸ�மத�

As stated in varAha purANam, there has not been a higher being than nArAyaNan in the past or present, nor there will be on in the future. This is the most confidential message of vEdham and is accepted in purANams as well.

sathyam sathyam puNassathyam udhdhruthya bhujamuchyathE vEdha chAsthrAth param NAsthi Na dhaivam kEchavAth param

ஸ�ய� ஸ�ய� 5நDஸ�ய� உ��ய 5ஜ-7யேத

ேவத சாD�ரா� பர� நாDதி ந ைதவ� ேகசவா� பர�

As stated in nAradhIya purANam, I declare this 3 times (emphasis) with raised hands – there is no god greater (or other) than kEsavan and there is no sAsthram greater (or other) than vEdham.

periyAzhwAr, thus established the parathvam of srIman nArAyaNan using the above pramANams and many more from smruthi, ithihAsams, purANams, etc. At once, the pouch of wealth (prize for the winner) automatically comes down from the ceiling by the divine will, periyAzhwAr fetches the prize quickly.

Seeing this, the scholars who rejected periyAzhwAr, the king and every one become extremely pleased and offers their obeisances to him. They declare that periyAzhwAr revealed the essence of vEdhAntham in pristine clarity and with great affection, arranges for a grand procession for AzhwAr on the ceremonial elephant. On the side, all the scholars carry chathram (umbrellA), chAmaram (soft fan), etc and proclaim that “All glories to the most trustworthy person who shows the essence of vEdham has arrived”. The king srI vallabha dhEvan honours him with the title pattarpirAn meaning one who has done great favours to bhattars (great scholars) by revealing the most valuable details of knowledge. The king also joins the procession and there is grand celebration everywhere.


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paramapadhanAthan, seeing these, just like a mother/father will be very happy to participate in an event where their sons are glorified, he also wants to join the great celebration. Along with srI mahAlakshmI (sriyapathithvam – being the husband of pirAtti is his main identity) climbs up on the magnificient garudAzhwAn, emperumAn having decorated with pAnchajanyam and sudharshanAzhwAn, arrives on the sky. To see him and AzhwAr together, all dhEvathais of this material world like brahman, rudhran, indhran, etc., arrive immediately along with their family and subordinates. periyAzhwAr being blessed by emperumAn and able to visualize the arrival of srIman nArAyaNan and the others, instead of being proud about the celebrations for him and their arrival for him, at once sees emperumAn and starts worrying about emperumAn’s presence in this material world. Being blessed with divine knowledge, even though he understands srIman nArAyaNan is sarvagya (onmiscient), sarvasaktha (omnipotent), etc., and is undefeatable by any one, out of great love towards emperumAn, he starts thinking about emperumAn’s tender, delicate nature. It is said in sAsthram that emperumAn’s dhivya mangaLa vigraham (divine auspicious body) is made of pancha upanishadh (spiritual components) and is constantly enjoyed by nithyasUris in paramapadam which is not reachable for even great sages or dhEvathais of this world like brahmA, rudhran, etc., what to speak of asuras/rAkshasas (demoniac people). But he has left that divine abode and entered into this material world which is full of ignorant and demoniac people and is ruled by kali in this yugam. AzhwAr starts thinking “emperumAn has arrived here and may become the victim of dhrushti (inauspicious looks/thoughts) as well, so let us pray for his well being now” and picks up the bell from the neck of the elephant which is carrying him and starts singing thiruppallANdu at once. Forgetting his own svarUpam as dependent and emperumAn’s svarUpam as fully independent and capable, AzhwAr out of great love, invites everyone (ishvaryArthi – one who desires wealth, kaivalyArthi – one who desires for AthmAnubhavam, bhagavath charaNArthi – one who desires for eternal kainkaryam to emperumAn) along with him and sings thiruppallANdu. srIman nArAyaNan then returns to his abode happily after the celebrations.

Subequently, periyAzhwAr blesses the king and he is well honoured by the king. Wanting to serve vatapathrasAyi again, AzhwAr returns to srIvilliputhUr and offers all the wealth that was given to him by the king to the emperumAn there. According to manu smrithi, it is said that:

thraya EvAdhaNA rAjaN bhAryA dhAsas thathA sUtha: yaththE samadhigachchaNathi yasyaithE thasya thadhdhaNam

�ரய ஏவாதநா ராஜ$ பா�யா தாஸD ததா ஸூத:

ய�ேத ஸமதிக7சநதி யDையேத தDய த�தந�

Wife, servant, son who does not own anything. All they earn will belong to their respective owners (husband, master and father).

According to this periyAzhwAr also offered everything to his master vatapathrasAyi and tells him “since these are earned by your grace these belong to you alone”. Completing the additional task, he then goes back to his routine kanikaryam of preparing many fresh variety of garlands with great affection and continues offering them to vatapathrasAyi like srI mAlAkArar prepared and offered them to krishNan and glorified him. Becoming greatly attached with kaNNan emperumAn’s charithram starting from his birth through his divine pastimes, he takes


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the bhAvam of yasOdhai and greatly relishes his sauseelyam (magnanimity) and saulabhyam (easy accessibility). Such overflowing emotions resulted in him revealing the divine prabhandham named periyAzhwAr thirumozhi. Contemplating on srIya:pathi allways, He nourished and uplifted his sishyas and abhimAnis who were surrendered to him and blessed everyone in the world.

Its not over yet, his divine charithram is further explained in ANdAL’s charithram which can be read at http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/andal/.

His thanian gurumukam anadhIthya prAhavE thAn asEshAn narapathi parikluptham sulkamAdhAthu kAma: svasuram amara vandhyam ranganAthasya sAkshAth dhvija kula thilakam vishNuchiththam namAmi

His archAvathAra anubhavam is already discussed in here – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-periyazhwar.html.


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ANdAL

thirunakshathram: thiruvAdi, pUram

avathAra sthalam: srIvilliputhUr

AchAryan: periyAzhwAr

Works: thiruppAvai, nAchiAr thirumozhi

In thiruppAvai 6000 padi vyAkyAnam, periyavAchAn piLLai first establishes the greatness of ANdAL over all other AzhwArs. He builds a beautiful layer of different categories of jIvAthmAs and shows the difference between each category.


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• The difference between samsAris (dhEhAthma abhimAnis – materialistic people) and the rishis who have realised the Athma svarUpam is similar to that of a small stone and a big mountain.

• Difference between such rishis (who attain the knowledge by their own effort and at times fall down from their positions) and AzhwArs (who are divinely blessed by emperumAn himself and are completely pure) is similar to that of a small stone and a big mountain.

• Difference between rest of the AzhwArs (who focus on svAnubhavam at times and mangaLAsAsanam at other times) and periyAzhwar (who is fully focussed on mangaLAsAsanam only) is similar to that of a small stone and a big mountain.

• Difference between periyAzhwAr and ANdAL is similar to that of a small stone and a big mountain. The reasons for this are:

o all AzhwArs were first divinely blessed by emperumAn and then they woke the samsAris up from their sleep, i.e., gave them the knowledge about emperumAn. but ANdAL, being an avathAram of bhUmi pirAtti, she herself went and woke emperumAn up from his sleep, i.e., reminded him about his responsibilities of protecting every one. As it is established by nampiLLai in thiruvirutham and thiruvAimozhi vyAkyAnams, AzhwArs were originally samsAris who were blessed with divine knowledge by emperumAn, but ANdAL is bhUmi pirAtti herself who is already a nithyasUri and specifically she is one of the dhivya mahishis of emperumAn himself. periyavAchAn piLLai follows similar line here and establishes the same principle.

o ANdAL being a woman, it is natural for her to engage in husband/wife relationship with emperumAn (unlike AzhwArs who had male thirumEnis) and it is shown that her love towards emperumAn is far greater than the love of AzhwArs.

piLLai lOkAchAriar brings out the divine glories of ANdAL in a few sUthrams in his srIvachana bhUshaNa dhivya sAsthram. Let us enjoy some of that here.

• sUthram 238 – brAhmanNOththamarAna periyAzhwArum thirumagaLArum

gOpajaNmaththai AsthANam panNnNinArgaL (<ராVமேணா�தமரான

ெப'யா�வா�� தி�மகளா�� ேகாபஜ$ம�ைத ஆDதாந�

ப9ணினா�க�). In this prakaranam, piLLai lOkAchAriar is explaining the greatness

of bhAgavathas (irrespective of their varNam – birth, etc). Here, he gives many examples where great personalities desired to take different births which are condusive for bhagavath anubhavam/kainkaryam. In this sUthram, he explains that periyAzhwAr and ANdAL, even though born in great brAhmaNa families, they themselves desired to be the cowherd girls of vrindhAvan. ANdAL specifically showed that kainkaryam that pleases emperumAn is the most important goal and one must glorify and desire for such kainkaryam in whatever form.

• sUthram 285 – koduththuk koLLAthE konNdaththukkuk kaikkUli kodukkavEnNum

(ெகா>��, ெகா�ளாேத ெகா9ட��,�, ைக,Fலி ெகா>,கேவ\�).

In this prakaraNam, piLLai lOkAchAriar is explaining how one should do kainkaryam. This is related to sUthram 238 – in that sUthram piLLai lOkAchAryar shows one should desire for kainkaryam that pleases emperumAn. In the previous sUthram (284), piLLai lOkAchAriar explains that kainkaryam should done be with out any expectation in return,


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i.e., we should not do kainkaryam to get something else. In this sUthram, he says that kainkaryam should be done and when emperumAn gets pleased we should do more kainkaryam to him. mAmunigaL explains this concept beautifully using ANdAL’s words. ANdAL says in NAchiar thirumozhi 9.7 “inRu vaNthu iththanaiyum cheythidapperil, NAn

onRu NURu AyiramAgak koduththu pinnum ALum cheyvan” (இ�* வ$�

இ�தைன(� ெச�திட<ெப'�, நா� ஒ�* /* ஆயிரமாக, ெகா>��

பி� � ஆ+� ெச�வ�). In the previous pAsuram she says she wants to offer

100 plates of butter and 100 plates of sweet rice to thirumAlirunchOlai azhagar. In this pAsuram she says seeing emperumAn accepting her offerings, to show her gratitude towards emperumAn, she will offer more such offerings to please emperumAn further and keep doing it (without expecting anything other than his happiness from him ever). Thus she shows her the pinnacle of our sampradhAyam so easily in her pAsurams.

Ay jananyAchAryar in his vyAkyAna avathArikai identifies the glories of thiruppAvai (and there by ANdAL nAchiAr) very beautifully. He has done 2 vyAkyAnams – 2000 padi and 4000 padi. In the avathArikai, he shows an incident where emperumAnAr’s sishyas request him to perform an upanyAsam of thiruppAvai and explain the meanings of the same. emperumAnAr replies that “You will find people (to explain and to hear) thiruppallANdu but not for thiruppAvai” meaning thiruppaLLANdu is done by periyAzhwAr as mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAn (pratham parvam – initial level) for which we will find more people, but thiruppAvai is done by ANdAL as mangaLAsAsanam to bhAgavathas (charama parvam – ultimate level) for which there will be less people in that highest state. He also explains that “Men are not qualified to explain and hear about thiruppAvai.” meaning one should have full dependency on emperumAn like a woman is dependent on her husband to be able to understand the intricacies of thiruppAvai and the heart of ANdAL. He further explains that “Even amongst women, not even emperumAn’s pirAttis who are constantly looking for anubhavam (and having the same) with emperumAn can explain/hear about the subject matter of thiruppAvai. ANdAL (who reflects the best aspects of all the AzhwArs put together) is the only person with qualification and bhAvam to explain and hear about the subject matter of thiruppAvai”. Such is the greatness of ANdAL and her thiruppAvai.

mAmunigaL also glorifies ANdAL’s greatness in upadhEsa rathina mAlai pAsurams 22, 23 and 24.

• In the 22nd pAsuram, he becomes greatly emotional thinking about how ANdAL gave up her comforts in paramapadham and stepped down to samsAram to protect him (svAnubhavam) and took birth as the divine daughter of periyAzhwAr. Just like if a mother sees her child caught in a river, she also jumps into the river to save the child, ANdAL being the mother of all, she jumps into samsAram to save the samsAris.


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• In the 23rd pAsuram, he says there is no equal to the birth day of ANdAL “thiruvAdi pUram” just like there is none equal to ANdAL.

• In the 24th pAsuram, he says ANdAL is the daughter of “anju kudi” and her activities are far greater than other AzhwArs and how she developed love for emperumAn right at a very young age. piLLai lOkam jIyar in his vyAkyAnam explains that “anju kudi” means:

o descendant of the clan which contains all the AzhwArs just like parikshIth was the great descendant of the pancha pANdavas.

o the descendant of AzhwArs who are part of the prapanna kulam o the descendant of periyAzhwAr who is always worried (achcham – fear) about

emperumAn and performing mangaLAsAsanam.

ANdAL is purely in AchArya nishtai. It is because of periyAzhwAr’s attachment towards emperumAn, ANdAL also developed attachment towards emperumAn and glorified him. This is seen from:

• her own words in nAchiAr thirumozhi, pAsuram 10.10, ANdAL says “villiputhuvai vittuchiththar thangaL dhEvarai valla parichu varuvipparEl athu kAnNdumE”

(வி�லி5�ைவ வி0>சி�த� த8க� ேதவைர வ�லப'= வ�வி<பேர�

அ�கா9>ேம). She says, if periyAzhwAr can convince his dear emperumAn to

come here, she will worship him. • mAmunigaL in his upadhEsa rathina mAlai, after explaining the 10 AzhwArs, introduces

ANdAL, madhurakavi AzhwAr and emperumAnAr together since all 3 of them are AchArya nishtars.

With this in mind, let us enjoy the charithram of ANdAL now.


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ANdAL was born in srIvilliputhUr (where nAchiAr temple is now seen) near a thuLasi mAdam. Just like sIthA pirAtti was born from the earth when janakarAjan was ploughing the field and was named sItha (named after the plough which means sIthA), periyAzhwAr found ANdAL who is an avathAram of bhUmi pirAtti near a thuLasi mAdam and named her kOdhai (which means a garland).

As she was growing up, she was fed with emperumAn’s divine leelais by periyAzhwAr. periyAzhwAr was regularly making garlands and offering them to vatapathrasAyi emperumAn. She shows great attachment to emperumAn and want to marry him only. Once, in his absence, ANdAL took a garland which was ready to be offered for emperumAn, wore it and checked if it fits her and also checks if she looks like a good match for emperumAn. periyAzhwAr returns and he offers those garlands to emperumAn. This routine goes on for some time and one day periyAzhwAr notices that ANdAL is wearing the garland before it is offered to emperumAn. He becomes very anguished knowing about this and that particular day he does not offer the garland to emperumAn. That night, emperumAn appears in the dream of periyAzhwAr and asks him why he did not bring garlands that day. AzhwAr says since it was first worn by ANdAL it became unfit to be worn by emperumAn. emperumAn immediately tells him that he actually likes the garlands worn by ANdAL first as they have the special fragrance of bhakthi of ANdAL. AzhwAr becomes very pleased hearing this and then after develops great attachment and respect towards ANdAL. After that, he offers the garlands first to ANdAL and subsequently to emperumAn every day.

ANdAL nAchiAr, was born with parama bhakthi towards emperumAn (since she is bhUmi pirAtti herself) who is naturally attached to emperumAn. Her attachment towards emperumAn is far greater than AzhwArs’ attachment. Unable to bear the separation of emperumAn she starts to look for ways to marry him. Following in the foot steps of gOpis (cowherd girls) who acted out the pastimes of kaNNan emperumAn during his sudden absence during rAsakrItai to sustain themselves, ANdAL pretends that vatapathrasAyi is kaNNan emperumAn, his temple is NandhagOpan’s thirumALigai, srIvilliputhur is thiruvAippAdi and her local friends are gOpis and starts singing thiruppAvai.

In thiruppAvai, ANdAL beautifully explains the following details:

• establishes that prApyam (goal) and prApakam (path) are emperumAn only. • do’s and dont’s for srivaishnavas and all of that fully based on pUrvAchArya

anushtAnam (sistAchAram) • bhagavath anubhavam should be done as a group instead of doing it individually

(selfishly) – she wakes up 10 gOpis to go along with her to meet kaNNan emperumAn • we should take shelter of emperumAn’s close adiyArs like dhvAra pAlakas, balarAman,

yasOdhai, nandhagOpan, etc., before going to emperumAn • we should always take the help (purushakAram) of pirAtti before going to emperumAn • we should always perform mangaLAsAsanam to him • we should ask for kainkaryam to him – kainkaryam should be prayed for as it is

svarUpam for jIvAthmA to request emperumAn to accept his kainkaryam • that he is the upAyam to get that kainkaryam and we should never think that our effort is

the upAyam even a little bit • kainkaryam should be done for his pleasure only and we should not look for anything in

return


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Even after that, emperumAn had still not appeared to emperumAn and accepted ANdAL. So, ANdAL out of unbearable sorrow, calls out to emperumAn in her nAchiAr thirumOzhi. Many great principles of our sampradhAyam are explained in nAchiAr thirumOzhi and it is generally explained that one has to be very matured to even start listening/reading nAchiAr thirumozhi’s meanings. In this she says that “mAnidavarkkenRu pEchchuppadil vAzhagillEn”

(மானிடவ�,ெக�* ேப7=<ப&� வாழகி�ேல�) meaning “even if some one without

my knowledge talks about marrying me to some one else other than emperumAn I will die”. She dreams about her marriage with emperumAn in her vAraNam Ayiram padhigam (9.6). periyAzhwAr then explains to ANdAL the vaibhavam (greatness) of all the archAvathAra emperumAns and ANdAL becomes very attached to thiruvaranganAthan. AzhwAr becomes filled with anxiety thinking how he can fulfill ANdAL’s desire. One night, in his dream, thiruvaranganAthan appears and asks him to bring ANdAL over to srIrangam so that they can unite there. AzhwAr feels greatly satisfied with that and in the mean time srIranganAthan sends a beautiful palanquin, chAmaram, umbrella and his kainkaryaparars to srIvilliputhUr to bring ANdAL over. AzhwAr, after getting permission from vatapathrasAyi, leaves to srIrangam along with ANdAL in the closed palanquin with mELam (band music), etc in a grand procession.

After entering srIrangam, ANdAL who was most beautifully decorated, stepped out of the palanquin, entered the temple and subsequently into the garbagruham of periya perumAL and touched the lotus feet of emperumAn. Immediately she vanished and reached the divine abode of paramapadham.

Every one became astonished seeing these events and started glorifying periyAzhwAr. periya perumAL immediately declares that periyAzhwAr has also become his father-in-law just like samudhrarAjan and gives him special honors.and in returns to srIvilliputhUr to continue his kainkaryams to vatapathrasAyi emperumAn.


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ANdAL’s unlimited glories are heard so many times (atleast once an year during mArgazhi month) but every time we hear/read about them, they always feel like new and there are so many divine principles that we find in her life and prabhandhams every time we read them.

To have a glimpse of the true glories of ANdAL and thiruppAvai, we can end with bhattar‘s divine words. bhattar says that one should recite the 30 pAsurams of thiruppAvai every day. If that is not possible at least one should recite the chiRRam chirukAlE pAsuram every day. Even if that is not possible, at least one should think that there was bhattar who had great attachment to thiruppAvai – simply that thinking itself will please emperumAn. Just like when a mother cow starts giving milk even when she sees a fake calf (which is made of straws and covered with calf’s skin), emperumAn will see us thinking about bhattar’s attachment towards thiruppAvai or us reciting 1 pAsuram or reciting 30 pAsurams – as long as we have some connection with ANdAL emperumAn will shower us with his causeless mercy, since that is what ANdAL (as bhUmi pirAtti) requested varAhan emperumAn. Out of her causeless mercy, ANdAL took birth in this samsAram and sung thiruppAvai, so that we can also be blessed with the divine grace of emperumAn and be permanently relieved of the pains of this samsAram and enjoy bhagavath anubhavam/kainkaryam in paramapadham.

Her thanian nILa thunga sthanagiri thatI suptham uthpOdhya krishNam pArArthyam svam shruthi shatha shiras sidhdham adhyApayanthI svOchishtAyAm srajinikaLitham yAbalAth kruthya bhungthE gOdhA thasyai nama itham itham bhUya EvAsthu bhUya:


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thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr

thirunakshathram: mArgazhi, kEttai

avathAra sthalam: thirumaNdangudi


Works: thirumAlai, thiruppaLLiyeLuchi

Place where he attained paramapadham: srIrangam


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nanjIyar, in his vyAkyAna avathArikai for thiruppaLLiyeLuchi, identifies that AzhwAr was in samsAram as per “anAdhi mAyayA suptha:” (since time immemorial, he was sleeping (due to ignorance) in this samsAam) and emperumAn wakes him up (gives him blemishless knowledge). But periya perumAL is in yOga nidhrai after that, and AzhwAr takes his turn to awake him and request him to engage him in kainkaryam.

periyavAchAn piLLai, in his vyAkyAna avathArikai for thiruppaLLiyeLuchi, brings out the glories of AzhwAr through AzhwAr’s own pAsurams. When AzhwAr was awakened by emperumAn, AzhwAr after realising his svarUpam, goes to periya perumAL only to find him lying down with his eyes closed instead of welcoming him, enquiring about his well being, etc. It cannot be said that periya perumAL is not interested in AzhwAr since AzhwAr is very dear to emperumAn and vice versa. It can also not be said that periya perumAL is lying down out of indigestion because these defects are only seen in material nature which is filled with thamO guNam – but periya perumAL is fully spiritual – so there is no question of that. The reason for periya perumAL’s lying down on meditation is because he is contemplating to how to reform everyone like he reformed AzhwAr who has the following great qualities:

• He has full knowledge that this prakruthi sambandham (relationship with matter) is not

appropriate for jIvAthmA as he says “AthalAl piRavi vEnNdEn” (ஆதலா� பிறவி ேவ9ேட�) meaning I no longer want to be born in this samsAram.

• He has full knowledge of svarUpa yAthAthmya jnAnam (understanding the true nature of the soul) is bhAgavatha sEshathvam as he says “pOnagam cheytha chEtam

tharuvarEl punidham” (ேபானக� ெச�த ேசட� த�வேர� 5னித�) meaning if a

srivaishnava gives the remnants of the food he/she consumed. • He has clear understanding of material vs spiritual aspirations as he says “ichchuvai

thavira achchuvai peRinum vEnNdEn” (இ7=ைவ தவிர அ7=ைவ ெபறி �

ேவ9ேட�) meaning I only want to enjoy periya perumAL and nothing more.

• He has full control of his own indhriyams (senses) as he says “kAvalil pulanai vaiththu”

(காவலி� 5லைன ைவ��) meaning I have controlled my senses.

• He has completely given up all other upAyams as he says “kuLiththu mUnRu analai

Ombum kuRikoL aNadhanNamai thannai oLiththittEn” (�ளி�� [�* அனைல

ஓ�5� �றிெகா� அநதணைம த�ைன ஒளி�தி0ேட�) meaning I have

given up the path of karma yOgam, etc. • He has complete understanding of the upAya yAthAthma jnAnam (true upAyam) as he

says “un aruL ennum Achai thannAl poyyanEn vaNdhu NinREn” (உ� அ��

எ� � ஆைச த�னா� ெபா�யேன� வ$� நி�ேற�), I have come here

fully depending on your krupai (mercy) as the upAyam.

Finally, periyavAchAn piLLai says, since AzhwAr has these great qualities he is very dear to

periya perumAL as said in “vAzhum chOmbarai ugaththi pOlum” (வா@� ேசா�பைர உக�தி ேபாQ�) meaning those who fully surrender to emperumAn are very dear to him.


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mAmunigaL glorifies AzhwAr as the one who is glorified by the ones who have mastered the vEdhams since they are the ones who truly understand the essence of vEdhams and observe/glorify AzhwAr’s activities which are fully in line with the essence of sAsthram. We have already seen this and archAvathAra anubhavam of AzhwAr in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-thondaradippodi.html.

With this in mind, let us enjoy the charithram of AzhwAr now.

With the divine blessings during his birth by namperumAL, AzhwAr was born as sudhdha sathva nishtar and was named vipranArAyaNar. He undergoes proper samskArams like chauLam, upanayanam, etc. at the proper age and learns all vEdhams with their angams and meanings. Developing great knowledge and detachment, he enters srIrangam and worships periya perumAL. periya perumAL, being pleased with his devotion, enhances his bhakthi further by showing his divine beauty and makes him stay in srIrangam forever.

AzhwAr, established a beautiful nandhavanam (garden) and performed pushpa kainkaryam for periya perumAL every day following in the footsteps of puNdarIkar (who was a great mahAn), mAlAkArar (one who offered flower garlands in mathurA to kaNNan emperumAn and balarAman with great love and affection), gajEndhrAzhwAn who was a great kainkarya srImAn and our great periyAzhwAr who made beautiful garlands out of eight flowers.

Once, a beautiful vEsyA (courtezan) named dhEva dhEvi from thirukkarambanUr was returning from uraiyUr, enters the garden of AzhwAr and gets amazed by the beauty of the garden, the flowers, the birds, etc.

At that time they see vipranArAyaNar who looks very beautiful with long hairs on head and face, wearing pure vasthrams (clothes), thuLasi/lotus mAlais, urdhva puNdrams, etc with water and garden equipments in his hand. While they were looking at him, vipranArAyaNar was sincerely focussing on his kainkaryam without noticing them at all. dhEva dhEvi asks her sister and friends “is he mad or unmanly, how come he is not looking at a beautiful girl like me standing in front of him?”. Her friends inform her that he is vipranArAyaNar who is a kainkaryaparar of namperumAL and will not bother about her beauty. They say that they will give 6 months time to mesmerize him and change him to be mad at her and if she does so, they will agree that she is the most beautiful girl and will serve for 6 months as her maid-servant. She agrees and gives her valuable jewels, etc to her friends and assume a sAthvika form/dress.

She then goes and prostrates at AzhwAr and tells him that she wants to surrender to a bhAgavatha who is performing confidential service to emperumAn. She approaches AzhwAr and tells him, she can wait until AzhwAr comes back after his mAdhukaram (bhikshai). AzhwAr agrees and she goes on to serve for some time eating the sEsha prasAdham of AzhwAr.

One day, when dhEva dhEvi was working in the garden, it rains heavily. So, she slowly enters the Ashramam of vipranArAyaNar. Seeing her fully drenched, vipranArAyaNar gives his upper cloth to her. After that vipranArAyAnar and dhEva dhEvi becomes intimate to each other like butter and fire. The next day, she brings back her jewels and attractive clothes and wears them and presents her beautiful form to him. He then becomes so attached to her and completely forgets and gives up his kainkaryam itself. She shows some affection towards him for some


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time and he becomes fully surrendered to her. After taking all his wealth away, she pushes him out and asks him to leave her place. He then becomes very sad and stays at the entrance of her house waiting for her to accept him. At that time, periya perumAL and periya pirAtti happens to pass that street for their divine walk. pirAtti asks emperumAn who is that person waiting at the entrance of the prostitute? and emperumAn replies that he is vipranArAyaNar who was a kainkaryaparar for him and now has become mad on her and is suffering due to that. pirAtti then initiates her purushkAram and asks emperumAn “How can you leave a confidential devotee even if he becomes attached to vishayAntharam? Please remove his mAyai and bless him again to become a close servant of us”. emperumAn agrees and he picks up one of the gold utensils (part of the pancha pAthram used in thiruvArAdhanam) from his sannidhi and goes to dhEva dhEvi’s house (in a different identify/form – not as his own self) and knocks at her door. When she opens the door and asks him who he was, he says, his name is azhagiya maNavALan who is a messenger of vipranArAyaNar and tells her that he gifted this gold utensil for her. She becomes very pleased and asks him to send vipranArAyaNar inside. He then goes to vipranArAyaNar and informs him that dhEva dhEvi invited him inside. Hearing these sweet words, he becomes very pleased and enters her house and they become immersed in material pleasures yet again. periya perumAL returns to his sannidhi and happily lies down on his AdhisEshan paryankam.

The next day, when the sannidhi is opened by the kainkaryaparars, they notice that one of the utensils is missing and they inform that to the king. The king then becomes angry with the kainkaryaparars for their negligence. When one of the maid servants goes to bring water from the well, she hears one of her relatives being the target of the king’s anger and so informs him that vipranArAyaNar gave a gold utensil to dhEva dhEvi and it is under her pillow. That kainkaryaparar informs that to the soldiers of the king and they Immediately go to dhEva dhEvi’s place, locate the gold utensil and arrest both vipranArAyaNar and dhEva dhEvi. When they are brought to the king’s court, the king asks her “Even if some one brings periya perumAL‘s utensil, how can you accept it?” and she replies “I dont know that this is perumAL’s utensil; vipranArAyaNar sent this as his own utensil through his messenger named azhagiya maNavALan and I accepted it without doubting it”. vipranArAyaNar says that neither he has a messenger nor he owns any gold utensil. Hearing these, the king slaps a fine on dhEva dhEvi and releases her. He then offers to utensil back to emperumAn and asks his soldiers to keep vipranArAyaNar in the jail until further investigation can be done in the robbery case.

pirAtti, looking at the incidents, requests emperumAn to make vipranArAyaNar an object of his krupai instead of an object of his leelai. emperumAn at once agrees and appears in the dream of the king that night. He tells the king that vipranArAyaNar is his confidential servant and emperumAn enacted this leelai to remove his prArabdha karmam (for prapannas emperumAn removes the sanchitha karmam during surrender and lets prArabdha karmam to be exhausted by enjoying the results of it. sanchitha karmam means the whole baggage of piled of karmam; prArabdha karmam means that which has started bearing fruits now and is being enjoyed currently); Please release him and re-engage him in his previous kainkaryam of maintaining garden and making me garlands. The king wakes up and realises the greatness of vipranArAyaNar and at once orders his release and explains him the whole dream. He honours vipranArAyaNar with great respect and wealth and sends him home. vipranArAyaNar then realises the glories of emperumAn and his efforts to purify him, at once gives up all attachments to material pleasures and accepts srIpAdha thIrtham of bhAgavathas (which is considered as the prAyaschitham – atonement for all sins).


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After that, he becomes popularly known as thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr and bhakthAngri rENu – which means thoNda/bhaktha (devotee), adi/angri (lotus feet), podi/rENu (dust) – the dust of the lotus feet of emperumAn’s devotees. This is his unique greatness which is not seen in any other AzhwArs – he is the only one who has a name which reflects bhAgavatha sEshathvam. Just like thiruvadi (hanumAn), iLaya perumAL (lakshmaNan) and nammAzhwAr (satagOpan) who said they will not consider anything other emperumAn as worthy, AzhwAr

also said “indhira lOkam ALum achchuvai perinum vENdEn” (இ$திர ேலாக� ஆ+�

அ7=ைவ ெபறி � ேவ9ேட�) meaning I dont even want to think about

paramapadham – I only want periya perumAL‘s anubhavam in srIrangam. He also shows his upakAra smrithi (gratitude) towards periya perumAL constantly for reforming him and becomes fully attached to periya perumAL only unlike other AzhwArs who have travelled to and sung many archAvathAra emperumAns. Looking at his unflinching faith and attachment towars him, namperumAL also reciprocates such love towards him, blesses him with blemishless knowlege and shows his names, forms, divine activities etc., of parathvAdhi panchakam (the 5 different manifestations of emperumAn explained in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-parathvadhi.html) in thiruvarangam itself. Also, looking at his devotion, dhEva dhEvi becomes purified and offers all her wealth to periya perumAL and constantly serves emperumAn.

AzhwAr being fully situated in para bhakthi, para gyAna and parama bhakthi and fully understanding that periya perumAL is everything for him, enjoys periya perumAL constantly through thirumanthra anusandhAnam and nAma sankIrthanam. Understanding his divine position, he declares that srivaishnavas need not fear for yaman. He says the servants of yaman will look out for the thiruvadi of srivaishnavas while srivaishnavas will look out for the thiruvadi of other srivaishnavas as their object of worship. Thus he sings thirumAlai infront of periya perumAL just like saunaka rishi explained the glories of emperumAn’s divine names to sadhAnandhar. Just like nammAzhwAr identified the defects of achith (24 elements: mUla prakruthi; mahAn; ahankAram; manas; pancha jnAnEndhriyam, pancha karmEndhriyam, pancha thanmAthrai, pancha bhUtham), AzhwAr also identifies the achith thathvam clearly as

“puRam chuvar Ottai mAdam” (5ற� =வ� ஓ0ைட மாட�) meaning this body is just the

outside wall and the AthmA is the in-dweller and controller. He then declares the svarUpam of

jIvAthmA as servant of emperumAn’s bhakthas in “adiyarOrkku” (அ&யேரா�,�) meaning

this jIvAthmA is the servant of bhAgavathas. He, being a thirumanthra nishtar, reveals that

emperumAn is the only upAyam in the “mEmporuL” (ேம�ெபா��) pAsuram which is the

essence of thirumAlai prabhandham. Finally he declares that service to bhAgavathas is the ultimate goal of srivaishNavas in the pAsurams following “mEmporuL” pAsuram and in the last pAsuram of thiruppaLLiyeLuchi by requesting emperumAn as “unnadiyArkkAtpaduththAy”

(உ�ன&யா�,கா0ப>�தா�) meaning make me subservient to your devotees. Thus, he

revealed these high principles in two divine prabhandhams named thirumAlai and thirppaLLiyeLuchi for the upliftment of the whole world.

His thanian thamEva mathvA paravAsudhEvam rangEchayam rAjavadharhaNiyam prAbhOdhikIm yOkrutha sUkthimAlAm bhakthAngrirENum bhagavanthamIdE


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thiruppANAzhwAr

thirunakshathram: kArthigai, rOhiNi

avathAra sthalam: uraiyUr


Works: amalanAdhipirAn

Place where he attained paramapadham: srIrangam

It is explained in pUrvAchArya charithram that ALavandhAr had special attachment towards thiruppANAzhwAr who is also known muni vAhanar.

periyavAchAn piLLai, azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr and vEdhAnthAchAryar have written beautiful vyAkyAnams for AzhwAr’s amalanAdhipirAn prabhandham.


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azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr wonderfully glorifies the greatness of thiruppANAzhwAr in his vyAkyAna avathArikai (introduction). Let us see that now.

mudhalAzhwArs are focussed on srIman nArAyaNan’s parathvam (supremacy) and also touched upon his archAvathAram. kulasEkarAzhwAr is focussed on srIrAma anubhavam like srI vAlmIki bhagavAn and also engaged in archAvathAram. Like vEdha vyAsa bhagavAn, nammAzhwAr, periyAzhwAr and ANdAL are focussed on krishNa anubhavam and also enjoyed archAvathAram. thirumazhisai AzhwAr is focussed on dhEvathAnthara parathva nirasanam (removing any thought of attachment towards other dhEvathais as supreme) and also engaged in archAvathAram. thirumangai AzhwAr is focussed on all archAvathAram emperumAns by visiting each one of them and glorifying them. But he also constantly inter-exchanged vibhava avathArams (srI rAman, krishNan, etc) and archAvathArams at various places. thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr fully engaged in enjoying periya perumAL (srI ranganAthan) but at the same time, in his pAsurams, he showed his own limitations, engaged in upadhEsam for others, etc.

thiruppANAzhwAr being in a totally different level than other AzhwArs, is fully focussed on enjoying archAvathAra emperumAn alone, that too periya perumAL. Since katavalli (upanishadh) declares archAvathAram is the complete manifestation of emperumAn, AzhwAr engaged in simply glorifying periya perumAL.

Just like krishNan gave divine eyes to arjunan and showed him his viswarUpam and like he attracted akrUrar, mAlAkArar, etc by showing his beauty, magnanimity, etc., periya perumAL even though being in archA samAdhi (where he does not interact with ordinary people), he showed AzhwAr his beauty and AzhwAr at once enjoys it through out the divine form of periya perumAL.

Since AzhwAr was born in panchama kulam, naichyam (humility) is janma sidhdham (natural by birth). So, he did not have to assume naichyam like other AzhwArs since he naturally had it. He himself considers himself as outside four varNams (as panchama) and periya perumAL also considers himself as outside four varNams (as nithyasUri).

Just like thiruvadi (hanuman) declared to srI rAman that he wants to constantly be immersed in rAma anubhavam and did not want to even go to paramapadham, AzhwAr also only wanted to be immersed in periya perumAL‘s anubhavam and nothing else.

Because of his greatness, just like srI rAman sent sugrIva mahArAjar to bring srI vibhIshaNAzhwAn over to him, periya perumAL sends srI lOka sAranga mahAmuni to bring AzhwAr over to periya kOil. When srI lOka sAranga mahAmuni invites AzhwAr, AzhwAr out of humility refuses to enter the kshEthram. So, mahAmuni then insists him and carries him on his shoulders and brings him over to periya perumAL. AzhwAr sings 9 pAsurams of his dhivya prabhandham amalanAdhipirAn on the way and completes the 10th pAsuram inside the main sannidhi in srIrangam and at once reaches the divine abode of paramapadham to be with paramapadhanAthan and all the nithyas/mukthas eternally glorifying him.

We have already seen mAmunigaL‘s glorification of AzhwAr in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-thiruppanazhwar.html.


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thiruppANAzhwAr’s charithram starts with uraiyUr kamala valli nAchiyAr charithram (since they both are born in this dhivyadhEsam).

It is said that whoever breathes cauvEri river’s air, they will get mOksham – what to speak about the ones who live on the banks of that river. nichuLApuri (uraiyUr) is one such kingdom on the banks of cauvEry which had great temples, palaces, etc. There was a king named chOLa bhUpathi coming in sUrya vamsam who was ruling very virtuously. Like srI mahAlakshmi appeared from samudhra rAjan (king of kShIrAbdhi), nILA dhEvi (consort of paramapadhanAthan) appears as uraiyUr nAchiyAr as the daughter of dharmavarmA who is very attached to namperumAL (srI ranganAthan). She grew up always contemplating on namperumAL and once she became matured, she went to a garden in the kingdom. At that time namperumAL arrives at the same place for hunting. Seeing him, uraiyUr nAchiyAr becomes greatly attached and informs her father that she would marry only namperumAL. dharmavarmA, greatly joyed hearing that, goes to namperumAL and informs that to him. namperumAL being very pleased to hear that, accepts that and orders him to arrange for the wedding. A grand wedding happens, where dharmavarmA gives uraiyUr nAchiyAr to namperumAL like janakarAjan gave sIthA pirAtti to srI rAman. The king gives great wealth to namperumAL as srIdhanam and continues ruling the kingdom.

At that time, thiruppANAzhwAr appears on kArthigai, rOhiNi in panchama kulam as some one who has performed all his duties (and have no more obligations to any one). Looking at his glories, it is said by garuda vAhana pandithar in dhivya sUri charitham that he is like the srIvathsam (divine mole on srIman nArAyaNan’s chest) – though all AzhwArs are hand-picked by emperumAn from samsAram and divinely blessed by him with blemishless knowledge.

jAyamANam hi purusham yam pachyEN madhusUdhaNa: sAthvikassa thu vijnYEyas sa vai mOkshArththa chiNthaka:

ஜாயமாந� ஹி 5�ஷ� ய� ப7ேய$ ம�ஸூதந:

ஸா�விகDஸ � விUேஞயD ஸ ைவ ேமாPா��த சி$தக:

When madhusUdhanan emperumAn blesses a jIvAthmA during his birth, he will be born with pure sathva guNam. Such jIvAthmA will be fully focussed on mOksham only.

As said in the above slOkam in mahAbhAratham, as emperumAn blesses AzhwAr during his birth, he was born with pure sathva guNam and was like nAradha bhagavAn (who had great attachment towards emperumAn and is constantly glorifying him) and like nampAduvAn (one who was engaged in singing and glorifying thirukkurungudi nambi) who relieved the brahma rakshas (brAhmaNa who became a rAkshasa) from all of his sins as explained in kaisika purANam. From his glories, it looked like a nithya sUri took birth to specifically sing and glorify emperumAn. Following varNAshrama dharmam, without stepping into srIrangam, everyday, he stays in the south side of the river and facing srI ranganAthan, as some one fully surrendered to srIman nArAyaNan who has sudharshana chakram on his right hand, constantly sings and glorifies periya perumAL with great natural emotions. periya perumAL also enjoys AzhwAr’s singing and glorification with great pleasure.


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Once, srI lOka sAranga mahAmuni arrives to the place where AzhwAr is present to bring thIrtham (water) for kainkaryam. He sees AzhwAr being fully immersed in anubhavam, but considering his birth, he asks him to move away so that he can fetch water. AzhwAr being immersed in bhagavath anubhavam, does not hear/realize mahAmuni’s words. mahAmuni throws a stone towards AzhwAr which hits him on his forehead and blood starts oozing out. Realizing his action, AzhwAr at once feels very bad for interrupting mahAmuni’s kainkaryam, asks for forgiveness and moves away quickly. lOka sAranga mahAmuni then bathes, performance his nithya karmAnuushtAnams and brings water for periya perumAL kainkaryam also along with chathram (umbrella), chAmaram (fan), mELam (drum), thALam, etc (as it is customary do so while bring thIrtham for emperumAn). periya perumAL being distressed with lOka sAranga muni’s action, nAchiyAr asks perumAL “How can we allow pAN perumAL (as AzhwAr is affectionately called) to be outside our sannidhi?”, periya perumAL at once shuts his sannidhi doors and with anger asks lOka sAranga muni “How can you do this to my dear devotee?”. lOka sArangar realizes his mistake immediately and is upset with himself very much. He then asks periya perumAL “I have done this great bhAgavatha apachAram (offense). How can I be saved from this great mistake?”. periya perumAL replies out of great mercy towards pAN perumAL and his total independence (of not anyone being able to question him) that “You now go and bring him her by carrying him on your shoulders with great devotion” in his dream that night. lOka sArangar wakes up early in the morning and thinks that this day is a great day for him as akrUra thought “adhyamE sapalam jaNma suprabhAthA cha

mE NichA” (அ�யேம ஸபல� ஜ$ம ஸு<ரபாதா ச ேம நிசா) meaning Today my life

became meaningful and it is a great dawn for me today when kamsan asked him to go and bring balarAman/krishNan to mathurA. He went to the cauvery river along with pure hearted devotees, took bathe and performed his nithyAnushtAnams.

As said in “sudhUramapi gaNdhavyam yathra bhAgavathas sthitha:” (ஸு^ரமபி க$த_ய� ய�ர பாகவதD Dதித:) meaning even if a bhAgavatha is staying in a far

away place, one should go to him (and serve him), lOka sAranga muni goes to thiruppANAzhwAr who is standing farther than srIrangam. AzhwAr is facing the direction of srIrangam which is covered with beautiful gardens, etc and glorifying srI ranganAthan. lOka sAranga muni falls at the lotus feet of AzhwAr and requests him to enter srIrangam as per the orders of namperumAL. AzhwAr refuses and says he is taken a very lowly birth, not being born in the chatur varNam and is unfit to place his lotus feet in srIrangam. srI lOkasAranga muni, at once says, “Oh yes! You cannot keep your lotus feet on srI rangam, but you can certainly climb my shoulders and I can carry you directly to srI ranganAthan. I insist you do so according to periya perumAL‘s orders”. AzhwAr being totally surrendered to bhagavAn and bhAgavathAs, unable to refuse periya perumAL and lOka sArangar’s words, accepts those words and begins contemplating emperumAn’s most merciful favours for him and gives up all responsibilities and submits to lOka sAranga muni. srI lOka sAranga mahAmunI, being overjoyed, lifts AzhwAr up and places him on his shoulders and carries him towards srI rangam just like AdhivAhikars (the ones who lead jIvAthmA during their final journey towards paramapadham) bring the jIvAthmAs who are becoming mukthas to the thirumAmaNi mandapam (divine mandapam decorated with divine jewels where paramapadhanAthan is seated with his dhivya mahishIs and nithyasUris).

Note: This charithram is shown beautifully by azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr in AchArya hrudhayam – 85th chUrNikai.


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lOka sAranga mahAmuni, thiruppANAzhwAr, namperumAL

periya perumAL manifests his divine form which is shown to nithyasUris in front of AzhwAr and AzhwAr starts reciting amalanAdhipirAn with beautiful music from his divine vINai and sings 9 pAsurams outside the sannidhi. Once he enters the sannidhi of periya perumAL, periya perumAL manifests in front of him beautifully as explained in srIranga mAhAthmiyam as follows:

brahmA worshipped srI ranganAthan who is beautifully decorated with a crown, shoulder bangles, beautiful ear rings made of diamonds and precious routines, wearing beautiful necklace and garlands made of pure pearls, his broad chest which is shining with srI kausthuba jewel, his greatly masculine chest which is the eternal dwelling place of srImahAlakshmi, wearing a beautiful yellow garment which shines like molten gold, wearing a beautiful waist belt, wearing beautiful anklets in his lotus feet, wearing beautiful and soft yagyOpavItham, gracefully having one hand as support for his head and stretching the other hand towards his lotus feet, having slightly bent and raised lotus feet, having beautiful and long form, having raised shoulders and beautifully decorated, and lying down on thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhisEshan).

AzhwAr after entering the sannidhi of such magnificent emperumAn who is worshipped by everyone starting from brahmA, just like an infant will only look for the breast of the mother which sustains the infant, AzhwAr looks for the lotus feet because the surrendered ones always sustain by meditating and praying at the lotus feet of the master. This is why AzhwAr also stated in his first pAsuram itself that “aranGgaththammAn thirukkamalapAdham vaNdhu


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en kanNnNinuLLana okkinRathE” (அர8க�த�மா� தி�,கமலபாத� வ$� எ�

க9ணி �ளன ஒ,கி�றேத) meaning my master srI ranganAthan’s lotus feet reaches

out and enters into my eyes. arangaththammAn indicates sEshithvam (emperumAn being master), kamalam (lotus) indicates bhOgyathvam (enjoyable) and pAdham indicates upAyathvam (way to attain the goal). periyAzhwAr also glorified emperumAn from his lotus feet to head in his periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 2nd padhigam in 20 pAsurams. Like wise, thiruppANAzhwAr being brought over by lOka sAranga mahAmuni by the divine orders of periya perumAL, enjoyed periya perumAL’s lotus feet to head fully and the overflowing emotions resulted in the dhivya prabhandham named amalanAdhipirAn which gives the essence of our sampradhAyam – thirumanthra artham – the detailed explanation of thirumanthram. periya perumAL accepted thiruppANAzhwAr at once with the same thirumEni and in front of every one AzhwAr ascended to parampadham through the lotus feet of periya perumAL.

His thanian ApAtha chUdam anubhUya harim chayAnam madhyE kavEra hithur mudhithAnthrAthmA adhrahtruthAm nayanayOr vishayANtharANAm yO nischikAya manavai munivAhananm tham

His archAvathAra anubhavam is already discussed in here – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-thiruppanazhwar.html.


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thirumangai AzhwAr

thirunakshathram: kArthigai, kArthigai

avathAra sthalam: thirukkuraiyalUr

AchAryan: vishwaksEnar, thirunaRaiyUr nambi, thriukkaNNapuram sauri perumAL

Sishyas: His brother-in-law iLayAzhwAr, parakAla sishyar, nIrmEl nadappAn, thALUthuvAn, thOrA vazhakkan, nizhalil maRaivAn, uyarath thonguvAn,

Works: periya thirumozhi, thirukkuRunthANdagam, thiruvezhukkURRirukkai, siriya thirumadal, periya thirumadal, thiruneduNthANdagam

Place where he attained paramapadham: thirukkuRungudi


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periyavAchAn piLLai’s introduction to thirumangai AzhwAr brings out the essence sAsthram, i.e., emperumAn out of his causeless mercy reforms AzhwAr and thereby uplifts many jIvAthmAs through him. Let us see that now.

thirumangai AzhwAr had kept his AthmA (himself) in the hot sun and the body in the pleasing shadow. Keeping AthmA in hot sun means not engaging in bhagavath vishayam (spiritual matters) and keeping body in pleasing shadow means being attached to materialistic aspirations since time immemorial and having that as the goal in life. The real shadow is

bhagavath vishayam only as it is said in “vAsudhEva tharuch chAyA” (வாஸுேதவ

த�7சாயா) meaning vAsudhEvan (krishNan) is the real shadow giving tree. He is the

original/only pleasing tree which gives shadow that pleases us everywhere and all the time, This shadow can destroy any thApam (anguish) and is neither too hot nor too cold. Because thirumangai AzhwAr was very attached to vishyAntharam (material aspirations) which were pleasing to the eyes, emperumAn diverts his attachment from vishayAntharam to the many dhivyadhEsams and archAvathAra emperumAns who are most pleasing to the eyes and makes his mind fully fixed on archAvathAra emperumAns and gives him full anubhavam that AzhwAr cannot sustain himself without seeing emperumAn even for a moment. Further more, emperumAn converts him to be at the stage of nithyas/mukthas while he is here in this samsAram, develops his urge to reach paramapadham and ultimately benedicts him with paramapadha prApthi also.

AzhwAr understands that “emperumAn only looked for AzwAr’s adhvEsham (that is bhagavAn is trying to help jIvAthmA every moment and jIvAthmA is rejecting his help since time immemorial, the moment jIvAthmA stops rejecting, that is enough for emperumAn to uplift the jIvAthmA – this adhvEsham is explained as adhikAri visEshaNam meaning a natural attribute of the jIvAthmA) and the limitations of material aspirations to reform AzhwAr, AzhwAr’s taste for material aspirations as the key (and diverted that taste towards emperumAn) and AzhwAr’s sins from time immemorial as the target of emperumAn’s mercy and blessed AzhwAr by first revealing the thirumanthram and emperumAn’s svarUpa (true nature), rUpa (forms), guNa (divine qualities) and vibhUthi (wealth)”. AzhwAr being overwhelmed by these favours of emperumAn, at once starts glorifying thirumanthram in his periya thirumozhi out of gratitude. It is the svarUpam of chith (sentient beings) to manifest the knowledge and insentient being devoid of knowledge cannot appreciate anything. Thus to demonstrate his gratitude and glorify emperumAn’s archAvathArams, AzhwAr sings these many divine prabhanahdams.

Thus periyavAchAn piLLai establishes the nirhEthuka krupai (causeless mercy) of emperumAn and upAya sUnyathvam (devoid of performing any positive act to get the mercy of emperumAn) of AzhwAr in this vyAkyAna avathArikai. But once AzhwAr was divinely blessed by emperumAn, his attachment towards emperumAn becomes unparallel as he himself declares in periya thirumozhi 4.9.6 – “NummadiyArOdum okka enNnNiyiruththIr adiyEnai”

(A�ம&யாேரா>� ஒ,க எ9ணியி��த;� அ&ேயைன) – “dont consider me like

other adiyArs”.

We have already seen more of periyavAchAn piLLai’s glorification of AzhwAr and mAmunigaL‘s glorification of AzhwAr in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-thirumangai.html.


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emperumAnAr (srI rAmAnujar) was declared by amudhanAr in rAmAnuja nURRanthAdhi, 2nd

pAsuram as “kuraiyal pirAnadikkIzh viLLAtha anban” (�ைரய� பிரான&,கீ� வி�ளாத

அ�ப�) meaning one who had unflinching attachment on thirumangai AzhwAr’s thiruvadi.

mAmunigaL, while visiting thiruvAli-thirunagari dhivyadhEsams, was so attracted to the enchanting beauty of AzhwAr’s divine thiumEni saundharyam (beauty of the form) and at once submitted a pAsuram which most beautifully brings out the graceful form in front of our eyes. Let us enjoy that now:

anNaiththa vElum, thozhukaiyum, azhuNthiya thiruNAmamum, OmenRa vAyum, uyarNtha mUkkum, kuLirNtha mukamum, paraNtha vizhiyum, irunNda kuzhalum, churunNda vaLaiyamum, vadiththa kAthum, malarNtha kAthu kAppum, thAzhNtha cheviyum, cheRiNtha kazhuththum, aganRa mArbum, thiranNda thOLum, NeLiththa muthugum, kuviNtha idaiyum, allikkayiRum, azhuNdhiya chIrAvum, thUkkiya karunGkOvaiyum, thonGgalum, thani mAlaiyum, chAththiya thiruththanNdaiyum, chathirAna vIrakkazhalum, kuNthiyitta kanNaikkAlum,


70

kuLira vaiththa thiruvadi malarum, maruvalartham udal thunNiya vALvIchum parakAlan manGgaimannarAna vadivE enRum

அைண�த ேவQ�, ெதா@ைக(�, அ@$திய தி�நாம-�,

ஓெம�ற வா(�, உய�$த [,��, �ளி�$த -க-�,

பர$த விழி(�, இ�9ட �ழQ�, =�9ட வைளய-�,

வ&�த கா��, மல�$த கா� கா<5�, தா�$த ெசவி(�,

ெசறி$த க@��, அக�ற மா�5�, திர9ட ேதா+�,

ெநளி�த -��, �வி$த இைட(�, அ�லி,கயி*�,

அ@$திய சீரா4�, ^,கிய க�8ேகாைவ(�,

ெதா8கQ�, தனி மாைல(�, சா�திய தி��த9ைட(�,

சதிரான வ ;ர,கழQ�, �$தியி0ட கைண,காQ�,

�ளிர ைவ�த தி�வ& மல��, ம�வல�த� உட� �ணிய

வா�வ ;=� பரகால� ம8ைகம�னரான வ&ேவ எ�*�

parakAlan/mangai mannan’s divine form is always in my heart. This form is narrated as the one with the spear that is supported by the shoulder, the hands which are worshipping emperumAn, the beautiful Urdhva puNdram, the mouth which is saying Om, Sharp/slightly raised nose, cooling face, broad eyes, blackish hairs which are beautifully curled, ears which are perfectly built and which are slightly bent (to hear ashtAkshara mahAmanthram from emperumAn), well rounded neck, broad chest, strong shoulders, well shaped upper back, narrow waist, beautiful garlands, wonderful anklets, knees which reflect AzhwAr’s valour, slightly slanting divine lotus feet and the sword which will destroy all enemies. We can easily declare that kaliyan’s archA vigraham in thiruvAli-thirunagari is the most beautiful one in the entire creation.

AzhwAr is also known as parakAlan, kaliyan, neelan, kalidhvamsan, kavilOka dhivAkaran, chathushkavi sikAmaNi, shat prabhandha kavi, kalivairi, nAlukavip perumAL, thiruvAvIrudaiya perumAn, mangaiyar kOn, aruL mAri, mangai vEndhan, AlinAdan, arattmukki, adaiyAr sIyam, kongu malark kuzhaliyarvEL, koRRa vEndhan, koRRavEl mangai vEndhan.


AzhwAr takes birth in thirukkuraiyalUr (near thiruvAli-thirunagari) as an amsam of kArmuka in chathurtha varNam and was named as neelan (dark complexioned) as identified in dhivya sUri charitham of garuda vAhana pandithar.

While he grew up in his child hood without any attachment to bhagavath vishayam, once he became a youth he became very materialistic. He had a strong body and great fighting skills with knowledge in handling many weapons and thus went to the chOla bhUpathi (the king of the region) and requests him to include him in his army. The king being pleased with neelan’s abilities appoints him as a commander of his army and gives a small region to rule.


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In the mean time, in thiruvAli dhivya dhEsam, in a beautiful pond, some apsaras sthrIs (dancing gilrs from dhEva lOkam, etc) comes to play in the water. One such girl named thirumAmagaL (kumudhavalli) goes to fetch some flowers and her friends leave the place forgetting about her. She accepts a manushya sarIram (human form) and looks for some help. A srIvaishnava vaidhyan (doctor) comes by that side and enquires about him and she informs that her friends left her alone and the whole incident. Since he did not have any children, he happily brings her home and introduces her to his wife and they both happily accept her as their daughter and starts raising her. Seeing her beauty, some people go and inform about her to neelan and becoming very attached to her beauty, at once he goes to the bhAgavatha vaidhyar and starts a conversation. At that time, kumudhavalli goes by and the vaidhyar tells neelan that he is worried about marrying this girl to a proper man since he does not know her kulam, gOthram, etc. neelan at once tells the vaidhyar that he wants to marry her and offers him great wealth. The vaidhyar and his wife agrees to marry her to him but kumudhavalli puts forth a condition saying she will only marry a srivaishnava who has had pancha samskAram from an AchAryan. As it is said that an intelligent person will perform good things immediately, neelan at once runs to thirunariyUr and goes in front of thirunariyUr nambi and asks him to bless with panca samskAram. emperumAn out of his divine grace performs him sanka chakra lAnchanam and thirumanthra upadhEsam.

It is said in padhma purANam that

sarvaich chvEthamruthA dhAryam UrdhvapunNdram yathAvidhi rujuNi sANtharALANi hyanGgEshu dhvAdhachasvapi

ஸ�ைவ7 7ேவத��தா தா�ய� ஊ��வ590ர� யதாவிதி �ஜுநி ஸா$தராளாநி Vய8ேகஷு �வாதசDவபி

Urdhva puNdram must be applied in 12 parts of the body, facing upwards with proper gaps in between and using white colored sand from dhivya dhEsams.

Thus AzhwAr returned to kumudhavalli, wearing dvAdhasa urdhva puNdram and asks kumudhavalli to marry him. kumudhavalli says that she will marry him, but will accept him as husband only when AzhwAr performs thadhiyArAdhanam for one full year for 1008 srIvaishnavas every day without fail. AzhwAr agrees for the condition out of his attachment towards kumudhavalli and they both are married in a grand ceremony.

It is said in padhma purANam that:

ArAdhaNANAm sarvEshAm vishnNOr ArAdhaNam param thasmAth paratharam prOktham thadhIyArAdhaNam NrUpa

ஆராதநாநா� ஸ�ேவஷா� விRேணா� ஆராதந� பர�

தDமா� பரதர� <ேரா,த� தத;யாராதந� $`ப

Oh King! Worshipping vishNu is considered to be greater than worshipping any one else. Worshipping vishNu bhakthas is considered even greater than vishNu himself.


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As per the above pramANam, AzhwAr started performing thadhIyArAdhanam (feeding srivaishnavas with sumptuous prasAdham everyday) using all his wealth. Looking at that, some people go and complain to the king that parakAlan (AzhwAr) is spending all the wealth of the kingdom by just feeding the srIvaishnavas. The king sends his soldiers to bring AzhwAr to his court, but AzhwAr just speaks pleasantly to them and keeps them waiting. The soldiers insist that AzhwAr should pay his tax for the king, and AzhwAr becomes angry and pushes them out. The soldiers return to the king and inform him about the incidents. The king orders the commander-in-chief to go with the full army and arrest him. The commander brings a big army with him and attacks AzhwAr. AzhwAr being most powerful and brave responds back and drives the commander and his army out of their region. The commander returns to the king and informs AzhwAr’s victory. The strong king himself decides to fight with AzhwAr and brings his big army with him and attacks AzhwAr. AzhwAr again demonstrates his bravery and easily destroys the king’s army. The king becomes very pleased with AzhwAr’s bravery, declares peace and hails his glories. Trusting the king, AzhwAr goes near him, but the king cunningly arrests him through his minister and asks him to pay the pending tax. The minister brings AzhwAr and jails him inside a temple of emperumAn and AzhwAr fasts without taking any food for 3 days. It is said that, at that time, nAchiyAr of thirunaraiyUr tells thirunaraiyUr nambi that she cannot witness AzhwAr starving and brings some prasAdham to him. AzhwAr just stays fully surrendered to periya perumAL and thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn and keeps meditating on them.

dhEva perumAL of kAnchipuram appears in the dream of AzhwAr at that time and informs him that there is a great treasure in kAnchipuram which will be given to him if he comes there. AzhwAr informs this to the king and king arranges AzhwAr to visit kAnchipuram along with great security. AzhwAr reaching kAnchipuram, does not find the wealth and dhEva perumAL being the one who gives everything to his devotees, appears in AzhwAr’s dream again and shows him the location of treasure on the banks of river vEgavathI. AzhwAr locates the treasure, gives the king’s share and returns back to thirukkuraiyalUr to continue with his thadhIyArAdhanam. Again after some time, the king sends his soldiers to collect tax, and again AzhwAr becomes filled with sorrow and again dhEva perumAL appears in his dream and instructs him to gather the sand from vEgavathi river and present that to the soldiers. When the soldiers receive the sand, it appears like invaluable grains to them. They happily carry that to the king and explains him all the details. The king then understands the greatness of AzhwAr, invites him to his court again, begs for forgiveness and submits great wealth to him. To atone for the offenses he committed to AzhwAr, the king spends his wealth by doing charities to dhEvas and brAhmaNas.

AzhwAr continued his thadhIyArAdhanam and his wealth eventually became exhausted. He then decides to continue the kainkaryam even by robbing wealthy people who pass by his region. He robs the wealth people and performs thadhIyArAdhanam with great devotion. sarvEsvaran, thinking that, even if he is robbing the wealthy people, atleast he is spending the money in feeding srIvaishnavas thus being situated in charama purushArtham (ultimate goal), decides to uplift him from samsAram by blessing him with divine blemishless knowledge. As it is said that srIman nArAyaNan takes a human form (as AchAryan) and with the help of sAsthram uplifts the jIvAthmA who suffers in the samsAram, emperumAn starts going towards AzhwAr’s place along with nAchiyAr with wedding costumes as vayalAli maNavALan with beautiful ornaments and with a big wedding party. AzhwAr, being excited at the opportunity of getting a big bounty, surrounds the emperumAn with his wedding party and robs them of


73

everything. Finally, AzhwAr bites off the toe ring from emperumAn’s lotus feet and emperumAn

being greatly amazed at AzhwAr’s valour proclaims “Nam kaliyanO” (ந� கலியேனா) meaning Are you my kaliyan? (kaliyan means one who is great in valour).

After that, AzhwAr prepares a big bundle of ornaments and wealth and tries to lift them up but is unable to do so. He looks at the bridegroom (emperumAn) and tells him that you have recited some manthram which is stopping me from lifting this. emperumAn agrees that there is a manthram and says that he can reveal it to AzhwAr if we wants to hear that. AzhwAr shows his sword and says that he wants to hear it immediately. emperumAn reveals the thirumanthram to AzhwAr which is most pleasing to hear, which is full in all meanings, which establishes the ultimate goal to be attained, which is the essence of all vEdhams, which can uplift one from this samsAram which is full of sorrows, which can benedict the reciter with ishvaryam (happiness in this world), kaivalyam (enjoying ones own self) and bhagavath kainkaryam. This thirumanthram is glorified in sAsthram as follows:

vruttha hArItha sruthi

ruchO yajumshi sAmANi thathaiva atharvanNANi cha sarvam ashtAksharANthasththam yachchANyadhapi vAnGmayam

�ேசா யஜு�ஷி ஸாமாநி தைதவ அத�வணாநி ச

ஸ�வ� அRடாPரா$தD�த� ய7சா$யதபி வா8மய�


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All the meanings of rg, yajur, sAma, atharvaNa vEdhams and their upabruhmaNams are contained in ashtaksharam itself.

nAradhIya purANam

sarvavEdhANtha sArArththas samsArArnNava thAraka: gathir ashtAksharO NrunNAm apuNarbhavakAnGkshinNAm

ஸ�வேவதா$த ஸாரா��தD ஸ�ஸாரா�ணவ தாரக:

கதி� அRடாPேரா $�ணா� அ5ந�பவகா8Pிணா�

For the one who desires to attain salvation, ashtAksharam which is the essence of all vEdhAntham and one that can help cross the ocean of samsAram is the only refuge.

nArAyaNa upanishadh

OmithyagrE vyAharEth, Nama ithi pachchAth, NArAyanNAyEthyuparishtAth, OmithyEkAksharam, Nama ithi dhvE aksharE, NArAyanNAyEthi panYchAksharAnNi

ஓமி�ய,ேர _யாஹேர�, நம இதி ப7சா�, நாராயணாேய�(ப'Rடா�,

ஓமி�ேயகாPர�, நம இதி �ேவ அPேர, நாராயணாேயதி பSசாPராணி

Om should be recited first, followed by Nama: and NArAyaNAya; Om has one letter, nama: is made of two letters and NArAyaNAya is made of 5 letters (thus this manthram contains 8 letters and called ashtAksharam). Thus sAsthram gives the exact structure of ashtAksharam and how it should be recited without any doubt.

nAradhIya purANam

maNthrAnNAm paramO maNthrO guhyANAm guhyamuththamam pavithranYcha pavithrAnNAm mUlamaNthras saNAthaNa:

ம$�ராணா� பரேமா ம$�ேரா �Vயாநா� �Vய-�தம�

பவி�ரSச பவி�ராணா� [லம$�ரD ஸநாதந:

ashtAkshara mahA manthram is the greatest manthram among all manthrams, most confidential one amongst the confidential manthrams, the purest one among the pure manthrams and is the eternal/ancient one.

Beyond all of these, this ashtAkshara mahA manthram is the one which is accepted by pUrvAchAryas who are great intellectuals as said in thirumozhi 7.4.4 as “pErALan pErOdhum

periyOr” (ேபராள� ேபேரா�� ெப'ேயா�) meaning the great personalities who recite the

names of emperumAn. Also, AzhwAr himself reveals in the first padhigam of periya thirumozhi itself as “peRRa thAyinum Ayina cheyyum Nalamtharum chollai NAn kanNdu konNdEn’


75

(ெப)ற தாயி � ஆயின ெச�(� நல�த�� ெசா�ைல நா� க9>

ெகா9ேட�) meaning I found the manthram that will do me good even better than ones

own mother.

After hearing the thirumanthram from emperumAn, emperumAn then shows him his divine form along with srImahAlakshmi who is mercy personified on the divine garudAzhwAr whose body shines like beautiful gold. He also blesses AzhwAr with divine blemishless knowledge out of his nirhEthuka krupai (causeless mercy). AzhwAr, after seeing all of those and understanding the blessing of emperumAn, which was triggered by srImahAlakshmi thAyAr’s purushakAram, blesses everyone with 6 prabhandhams – periya thirumozhi, thirukkuRunthANdakam, thiruvezhukkURRirukkai, siriya thirumadal, periya thirumadal and thirunedunthANdakam which are considered as 6 angams for nammAzhwAr’s four dhivya prabhandhams. His prabhandhams are made of different forms of poetry – Asu, madhuram, chitham and vistharam and thus became to be famously known as nAlu kavip perumAL.

emperumAn finally orders AzhwAr to go to various dhivyadhEsams along with his sishyas and perform mangaLAsAsanam to various dhivya dhEsa archAvathAra emperumAns and disappears. AzhwAr along with his ministers and sishyas, starts his dhivyadhEsa yAthrai, takes bathe in many divine rivers and performs mangaLAsAsanam at srI bhadhrAchalam, simhAchalam, srI kUrmam, srI purushOththamam (puri jagannAth), gayA, gOkulam, vrndhAvanam, mathurA, dhvArakA, ayOdhyA, badhrikAshram, kAnchipuram, thiruvEnkatam, etc. He arrives at chOLa mandalam, his sishyas exclaim his glories “chathush kavi has arrived”, “kaliyan has arrived”, “parakAlan has arrived”, “One who won over all other mathams have arrived”, etc. A saiva scholar/bhakthar named thirugyAna sambandhar was living there at that time and his sishyas object to the glories of AzhwAr. AzhwAr at once says he will debate with sambandhar and establish nArAyaNa parathvam (supremacy). They bring him over to sambandhar’s residence and informs him about the same and he agrees to debate with AzhwAr. Since, the whole place/town was filled with avaishnavas and since there is no vigraham (form) of emperumAn, AzhwAr is unable to start speaking and starts worrying about the situation. At that time, he notices a srivaishnava lady and asks her to bring her thiruvArAdhana perumAL (vigraham). She brings her emperumAn who is krishNan and brings him over to sambandhar’s place and starts the debate. sambandhar recites a poem and AzhwAr finds fault in that. sambandhar then challenges AzhwAr to recite a poem and AzhwAr recites “oru kuraLAi” padhigam (periya thirumozhi – 7.4) on thAdALan emperumAn (kAzhi chIrAma viNNagaram – sIrgAzhi). sambandhar unable to respond back for that great padhigam which is perfectly and beautifully composed wonders about the greatness of AzhwAr and accepts his glories and worships him.

AzhwAr desires to visit srIrangam and perform mangaLAsAsanam and kainkaryam to srIranganAthan. It is said in bhrahmAnda purANam that:

vimANam pranNavAkAram vEdhachrunGgam mahAdhbhutham srIranGgachAyI bhagavAN pranNavArththa prakAchaka:

விமாந� <ரணவாகார� ேவத7�8க� மஹா�5த�

Tர8கசாய ீ பகவா$ <ரணவா��த <ரகாசக:


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The most marvelous srIrangavimAnam is a manifestation of OmkAram; Its peak is vEdham itself. bhagavAn srIranganAthan is manifesting himself as the ultimate meaning of praNavam (which is the essence of thirumanthram).

AzhwAr wanting to build a fort around the temple, discusses with his sishyas about getting the wealth to build the same. They reply that there is a vigraham of an avaidhiha matham in nAgapattinam which is fully made of gold and if we can acquire that we can do a lot of kainkaryam using that. AzhwAr at once leaves to nAgappattinam and finds a lady and asks her if there is any secret information in that town. She says that her mother-in-law use to say that there is a golden vigraham (deity) and the architect who made that vigraham and the most protective vimAnam where the vigraham is kept, lives in a different dvIpam (island/region of bhUlOkam). AzhwAr at once leaves to that place along with his sishyas and enquire about the architect who is comparable to vishwakarmA (the chief architect of dhEvas). The people direct AzhwAr to the palace which is huge and beautiful and AzhwAr reaches the palace. Along with his sishyas he started discussing about various things outside the palace and at that time the architect steps outside after finishing his bathing and meal. Seeing him, AzhwAr strategically says with great sorrow that “Oh! Some invaders came and destroyed the temple in nAgappattinam and took away the golden vigraham. Why are we still living in this world?”. Hearing this, the architect feels great pain, starts crying out loud and says “It must be one of the mischievous sculptors who revealed the secret to open the peak of the vimAnam through which any one can enter there. I made the most complicated key – a twisted iron chain inside a stone and kept that under the slab where the water falls and how did they break that?” thus revealing the actual secret unknowingly.

AzhwAr along with his sishyas, at once leaves the place happily since the secret is known, and reached the seashore to return to nAgappattinam. He sees a virtuous merchant who is boarding his ship with a huge shipment of nuts (pAkku) and blesses him and requests him to leave them in the other side of the sea. He agrees and they all board the ship and begin the journey. On the way, AzhwAr picks up a nut, cuts it into half and gives it to the merchant and tells him that he will accept it back at the end of the journey and asks him to give a small chit with his signature saying that “I owe AzhwAr half the nut of my ship”. The merchant does so and after reaching nAgappattinam, AzhwAr asks him to give half the load of the expensive nuts in the ship (to use that in kainkaryam for srIrangam temple). The merchant is shocked and refuse to do so. They both argue and decide to go bring all the merchants together to get a neutral judgement and all the merchants declare that the merchant should give half the shipment to AzhwAr. The merchant without any choice gives the money for half the shipment to AzhwAr and leaves.

AzhwAr and his sishyas then go to the temple and hide there until the night. In the night they break open the slab, retrieve the key, go to top of the vimAnam and opens the entrance by rotating it both sides and see the most shining vigraham. Seeing AzhwAr, the vigraham says “IyaththAl AgAthO irumbinAl AgAthO, bhUyaththAl mikkathoru bhUthaththAl AgAthO, thEyathEy piththaLai NaRchembugaLAlAgAthO, mAyappon vEnNumO mathiththennaip

panNnNugaikkE” (ஈய�தா� ஆகாேதா இ��பினா� ஆகாேதா, :ய�தா�

மி,கெதா� :த�தா� ஆகாேதா, ேதயேத� பி�தைள ந)ெச�5களாலாகாேதா, மாய<ெபா� ேவ\ேமா மதி�ெத�ைன< ப9\ைக,ேக) meaning “Could you

not just use iron, copper, bronze, etc? You needed me to be made of divine gold so that you


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can come and use me in kainkaryam for bhagavAn”. AzhwAr then gets his brother-in-law to fetch the vigraham and leaves the place with all of them.

In the next morning, they reach a small town, where in a small farm land which was just ploughed, AzhwAr buries the virgaham for safety and rests there. When the farmers arrive there and start ploughing the field, they find the vigraham and declare that it was theirs. AzhwAr says it was his forefathers’ who buried it under the field. A debate follows and AzhwAr finally says that he will show a document in the next morning proving his ownership and the farmers agree and leave the place. AzhwAr and his sishyas, after sunset, leave the place with the vigraham, reaches uththamar kOil dhivya dhEsam and store the vigraham safely there. In the meantime, the temple incharge in nAgappattinam along with the local leaders come to know about the stealing of the vigraham and traces it upto the farm land where it was buried and finally reaches uththamar kOil. When they ask AzhwAr for the vigraham, he first says he does not know anything about the vigraham but subsequently says that he will restore the vigraham fully upto the finger to them in panguni month after the rainy season. He writes a document to that effect, signs that and gives that to them with his signature and they accept that and leave. AzhwAr immediately melts the vigraham, sells it to get money and starts building the fort around srIrangam temple. He runs into the nandhavanam (garden) which was setup by thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr and he carefully leaves that area un-disturbed with great reverence and builds the fort around the area. Being very pleased with thirumangai AzhwAr’s act, thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr names his gardening tool (shear/fork) as aruLmAri (one of the names of thirumangai AzhwAr) with great affection. Thus AzhwAr performed many such kainkaryams and showed his gratitude to emperumAn.

After the rainy season, they come back looking for the vigraham. He asks them to read the document and as written in the document he returns a small finger. A debate rages and they go to the mediators and the mediators give their judgement that according to the agreement in the document, they can accept the finger and leave. They understand AzhwAr’s smartness and leave without even accepting anything. AzhwAr subsequently invites the architects of that temple and tells them that he wants to give some wealth to them and that wealth is in a nearby island. He gets them all boarded on a boat and after going some distance in the water, he signals to boatman, who jumps into a smaller boat along with AzhwAr and tilts the boat that carries all the architects and drowns them. AzhwAr returns to his place and the grand children of the architects arrive there and enquire about their grandfathers. AzhwAr tells them that he showed them great wealth in the island and they are packing them to bring them along over here. The grandchildren suspecting AzhwAr, tells him that they would not leave unless their grandfathers are brought back to life and returned to them. AzhwAr becomes very worried and srIranganAthan appears in his dream and tells him “Do not worry anymore”. He then asks all of them to go to Cauvery river, take a bath there, apply Urdhva pundrams and arrive at my main mandapam and invite each of their grandfathers by their names. They accept emperumAn’s orders and starts inviting their grandfathers one by one. To their astonishment, every one arrive from behind srIranganAthan and appear in front of them and tells them “By the divine grace of AzhwAr, we have now reached periya perumAL’s lotus feet. You also take shelter of him, be here in this samsAram happily for some time and get yourselves uplifted”. Following their grandfathers’ orders every one of them accept AzhwAr as their AchAryan and return to their place eventually.


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periya perumAL then asks AzhwAr if he has any desires. AzhwAr tells periya perumAL that he wants to worship emperumAn’s dhasAvathAram. periya perumAL tells him “If that is your desire, you can install my archAvathAra vigrahams of dhasAvathAram” and at once AzhwAr builds the sannidhi for dhasAvathAra emperumAns in srIrangam.

Subsequently, periya perumAL invites AzhwAr’s brother-in-law and orders him to make an archA vigraham for AzhwAr (since AzhwAr is his brother-in-law’s AchAryan) and install the same in thirukkuraiyalUr, build a beautiful temple there and celebrate AzhwAr’s uthsavams in a grand manner. His brother-in-law, immediately gets archA vigrahams made for both AzhwAr and his wife kumudhavalli nAchiyAr, goes to thirukkuraiyalUr with everyone and installs the archA vigrahams there and performs grand uthsavams there. AzhwAr continued to uplift all his sishyas and others and spent his life constantly meditating on periya perumAL as both upAyam and upEyam.

His thanian kalayAmi kalidhvamsam kavim lOka dhivAkAram yasya gObi: prakAshAbir Avidhyam nihatham thama:

His archAvathAra anubhavam is already discussed in here – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-thirumangai.html.


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emperumAnAr

thAnAna thirumEni

(srirangam)

thAnugantha thirumEni

(sriperumpUdhUr)

thamarugantha thirumEni

(thirunArayaNapuram)

Thirunakshathram: chithirai, thiruvAdhirai

avathAra sthalam: sriperumpudhUr

AchAryan: periya nambi

Sishyas: kUrathAzhwAn, mudhaliAndAn, embAr, aruLaLa perumAL emperumAnAr, ananthAzhwAn, 74 simhAsanAdhipathis, many thousands of sishyas. It is said that he had 12000 srivaishnavas, 74 simhAsAnadhipathis, 700 sanyAsis, and many many srivaishnavas from different caste/creed were his disciples.

Place where he attained paramapadham: thiruvarangam

Works: He has done nine granthams which are considered as nava rathnams namely sri bhAshyam, gItha bhAshya, vEdhArtha sangraham, vEdhAntha dhIpam, vEdhAntha sAram, sharaNAgathi gadhyam, sriranga gadhyam, srivaikunta gadhyam and nithya grantham.

iLayAzhwAr was born in sriperumbudhUr to kEsava dhIkshithar and kAnthimathi ammangAr as an avathAram of AdhisEshan and is also known by many other names. Let us see his many names and who gave them to him.

• iLayAzhwAr given by his parents.


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• sri rAmAnujar given by periya nambi during his pancha samskAram. • yathirAjarar given by dhEva perumAL during sanyAsAshrama svIkAram. • udayavar given by namperumAL • lakshmaNa muni given by thiruvaranga peumAL arayar • emperumAnAr given by thirukkOshtiyUr nambi when emperumAnAr gave

charamaslOka artham to the ones who surrendered to him in thirukkOshtiyUr. • satagOpan ponnadi given by thirumAlaiAndAn. • kOil ANNan given by AndAL after emperumAnAr offered 100 plates of akkAra adisil and

100 plates of butter to thirumAlirunchOlai azhagar. • sri bhAshyakArar given by sarasvathi in kashmir. • bhUthapurIsar given by Adhi kEsava perumAL of sriperumputhUr. • dhEsikEndhrar given by thiruvEnkatamudayAn.

Brief life history

• Born in srIperumputhUr by the grace of thiruvallikkENi pArthasArathy emperumAn as his amsAvathAram.

pArthasArathy with ubaya nAchiArs and udayavar – thiruvallikkENi

• Marries thanjammAl (rakshkAmbAL). • Goes to kAnchipuram and learns sAmAnya sAstram and pUrva paksham from yAdhava

prakAsar. • When yAdhava prakAsar gives crooked interpretations to sAstra vAkyams, iLayAzhwAr

corrects them. • On a pilgrimage towards vAraNAsi, some disciples of yAdhava prakAsar plans to kill

iLayAzhwAr. Govindhar (embAr in the future), a cousin of iLayAzhwAr thwarts the plan and sends iLayAzhwAr towards kAnchipuram. iLayAzhwAr feeling lost in the forest is helped by dhEva perumAL and perundhEvi thAyar and comes back to kAnchipuram.


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• On his return, based on his mother’s advice, he serves dhEva perumAL under the guidance of thirukkachi nambi.

• iLayAzhwAr travels with periya nambi to srirangam to meet ALavandhAr – but only sees ALavandhArs charama thirumEni. He vows that he will fulfill ALavandhArs 3 wishes.

• iLayAzhwAr considers thirukkachi nambi to be his AchAryan and asks him to do pancha samskAram, but nambi refuses to do that citing pramANams from sAstram. iLayAzhwAr wants to have sEsha prasAdham of thirukkachi nambi but his desire is not fulfilled.

• dhEva perumAL gives Aru vArthaigaL (6 words) to iLayAzhwAr through thirukkachi nambi.

• iLayAzhwAr and periya nambi meet at madhurAnthagam. periya nambi does pancha samskAram to iLayAzhwAr and gives rAmAnujan as dhAsya nAmam.

• periya nambi stays at rAmAnujar’s thirumALigai and teaches him all sampradhAya arthams. Eventually periya nambi leaves to srirangam.

• rAmAnujar accepts sanyAsAshramam from dhEva perumAL. • AzhwAn and AndAn becomes sishyas of rAmAnujar. • yAdhava prakAsar becomes a sishya of rAmAnujar and becomes gOvindha jeeyar. He

writes “yathi dharma samuchayam” – which is used as guidelines for srivaishnava yathis.

• periya perumAL sends thiruvaranga perumAL to dhEva perumAL to bring rAmAnujar to srirangam. dhEva perumAL agrees and rAmAnujar becomes srirangavAsi.

• rAmAnujar gets periya thirumalai nambi to bring gOvindha bhattar (embAr) back into the srivaishnava dharmam.

• rAmAnujar travels to thirukkOshtiyur to learn charama slOkam from thirukkOshtiyUr nambi. He teaches the meaning to every one who came with the desire to learn that and was named emperumAnAr by thirukkOsthiyUr nambi.

• emperumAnAr listens thiruvAimozhi kAlakshEpam from thirumAlai AndAn. • emperumAnAr learns panchamOpAya (AchArya) nishtai from thiruvaranga perumAL

arayar. • emperumAnAr out of his parama krupai, performs sharaNAgathi in front of

namperumAL and sriranga nAchiAr on a panguni uthram day for the benefit of all of his followers.

• emperumAnAr is given poisoned food. ThirukkOshtiyUr nambi visits srirangam and orders kidAmbi AchAn to take care of emperumAnArs bikshai.

• emperumAnAr defeats yagya mUrthy in debate. yagya mUrthy becomes aruLaLa perumAL emperumAnAr and is given thiruvArAdhana kainkaryam for emperumAnArs thiruvArAdhana emperumAn.

• emperumAnAr instructs ananthAzhwan, etc to become aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr’s sishyas.

• emperumAnAr sends ananthAzhwAn to thirumalai to perform nithya kainkaryam to thiruvEnkatamudayAn.

• emperumAnAr goes on pilgrimage and finally visits thirumalai. • emperumAnAr establishes that thiruvEnkatamudayAn is a vishnu mUrthy (vigraham)

and defeat the kudhrustis who claimed otherwise. He is glorified as the AchAryan of thiruvEnkatamudayAn and can be seen with a jnAna mudhrai in thirumalai.


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emperumAnAr – thirumalai

• There he hears sri rAmAyaNa kAlakshEpam from periya thirumalai nambi. • emperumAnAr gives sanyAsAshramam for govindha bhattar and names him embAr. • emperumAnAr visits kashmIr along with kUrathAzhwAn to bring bOdhAyana vruthi

grantham. They get the grantham but the wicked pandits send their soldiers to take it away from empermAnAr. When it was lost, AzhwAn says he memorized everything.

• emperumAnAr with the help of AzhwAn writes sribhAshyam fulling ALavandhAr’s first wish.

• emperumAnAr visits thirukkurungudi and empeumAn becomes a sishya of emperumAnAr and gets the name “srivaishnava nambi”.


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• AzhWan and AndAL, by the grace of prasAdham from namperumAL gets 2 children. emperumAnAr names them parAsAra and vEdha vyAsa fulfilling ALavandhAr’s second wish.

• embAr’s brother siriya gOvindha perumAL gets a child and emperumAnAr names him “parAngusa nambi” fulfilling ALavandhAr’s third wish. It is also said that emperumAnAr instructed thirukkurugai pirAn piLLAn to write a commentary for thiruvAimozhi to fulfill ALavandhAr’s third wish.

• emperumAnAr travels to thirunArAyaNa puram, establishes the temple worship there and initiates many into our sampradhAyam.

• emperumAnAr takes the form of 1000 headed AdhisEshan and defeats 1000 jain scholars simulataneously.

• emperumAnAr retrieves selvapiLLai utsava mUrthy from muslim king’s daughter and performs the marriage of the muslim king’s daughter and selva piLLai.

• emperumAnAr returns to srirangam after the saiva kings death. He instructs AzhwAn to get his eyes back by glorifying dhEva perumAL.

• emperumAnAr travels to thirumAlirunchOlai and offers 100 plates of akkAra adisil and 100 plates of butter as per ANdAL’s wish.

• emperumAnAr shows the greatness of piLLai urangA villi dhAsar to other srivaishnavas. • emperumAnAr gives many final instructions to his sishyas. He instructs his sishyas to

treat parAsara bhattar as himself. Also, He instructs parAsara bhattar to bring nanjeeyar into our sampradhAyam.

• Finally, meditating on ALavandhAr’s thirumEni, emperumAnAr completes his leelai in leelA vibhUthi and returns paramapadham to continue his leelai in nithya vibhUthi.

• Just like AzhwAr’s charama thirumEni was preserved inside the AdhinAthan temple in AzhwAr thiunagari, emperumAnAr’s charama thirumEni is also preserved inside the ranganAthan temple in srirangam (under the mUlavar thirumEni in emperumAnAr sannidhi).

• All his charama kainkaryams were done in a grand manner just like the brahmOtsavam of thiruvaranganAthan himself.

emperumAnAr’s unique position in our sampradhAyam

In our AchArya rathna hAram emperumAnAr is considered as the nAyaka maNi (the center piece). In charamOpAya nirNayam, nAyanAr AchAn piLLai (son of periyavAchAn piLLai) brings out the full glories of emperumAnAr. Let us see some glimpses of this magnificient grantham:

• Through the words of many AchAryas (before and after emperumAnAr), emperumAnAr is proven to be the charamOpAyam for all srivaishnavas.

• Even though our pUrvAchAryas were fully dependent on their own AchAryas, because everyone’s AchAryas showed that “we have to fully dependent on emperumAnAr only”, emperumAnAr’s uththArakathvam was fully established.

• periyavAchAn piLLai also says in mAnikka mAlai that “AchArya sthAnam is special and only emperumAnAr fully qualifies for that sthAnam”.

• AchAryas before empeumAnAr were anuvruthi prasannAchAryas, i.e., they had to be served continuously before they will be pleased and give valuable instructions and accept sishyas. But emperumAnAr, looking at the difficulties in this kaliyugam, identified that AchAryas should be krupA mAthra prasannAchAryas, i.e., they should be full of mercy and accept sishyas purely based on the desire in the heart of the sishya.


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• It is also explained that just like when pithrus in pithru lOkam get benefited by sath santhAnam (good offsprings) in their families and ofcourse the subsequent generations will also benefit by such persons, AchAryas before and after emperumAnAr benefit from the appearance of emperumAnAr in the srivaishnava kulam. Just like vadudhEvan/dhEvaki, nandhagOpan/yasOdhA and dhasarathan/kausalyA were blessed by giving birth to kannan emperumAn and perumAL, AchAryas before emperumAnAr were blessed by the appearance of emperumAnAr in the prapanna kulam.

• nammAzhwAr glorifies the appearance of emperumAnAr in poliga poliga poliga padhigam and presents the bhavishyadhAchAryan (emperumAnAr) vigraham to him even before the appearance of emperumAnAr.

bhavishyadhAchAryan – AzhwArthirungari

• From nAthamunigaL this thirumEni was preserved and worshipped by uyyakkondAr, maNakkAl nambi, ALavandhAr, thirukkOhstiyUr nambi, etc and finally by thiruvAimozhi piLLai and manavALa mAmunigaL in AzhwAr thiunagari bhavishyadhAchAryan sannidhi.

• periya nambi says that just like perumAL appeared in raghu kulam and made that kulam famous, emperumAnAr appeared in prapanna kulam and made this kulam famous.

• periya thirumalai nambi says to embAr that “you should think that emperumAnAr thirvadigaLE thanjam and think about emperumAnAr more than myself”.

• thirukkOshtiyUr nambi during his final days says that “he was fortunate to have the relationship with emperumAnAr”. Also when there is misunderstanding by thirumAlaiAndAn, thirukkOshtiyUr nambi says that “you are not instructing anything new to emperumAnAr, he is sarvajnar already. Just like kannan emperumAn learnt from sAndIpani and perumAL learnt from vasishtan, emperumAnAr is learning from us”.


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• peraruLALan, periya perumAL, thiruvEnkatamudayAn, thirumAlirunchOlai azhagar, thirkkurungudi nambi, etc also highlighted the importance/glories of emperumAnAr and instructed everyone to completely depend on emperumAnAr.

• aruLaLa perumAL emperumAnAr, AzhwAn, ANdAn, embAr, vaduga nambi, vangi purathu nambi, bhattar, nadAthUr ammAL, nanjeeyar, nampiLLai and many other AchAryas show to their sishyas that “we should always think that emperumAnAr thiruvadigaLE thanjam”.

• It is explained that by our pUrvAchAryas that we have to think emperumAnAr as the upAyam and upEyam. This is called charamOpAya nishtai or anthimOpAya nishtai.

• thiruvarangathamudhanAr after being reformed by kUrathAzhwAn, developed great attachment towards emperumAnAr. He poured out his emotions in his prabhandham rAmAnusa nURRanthAdhi. A fitting glorification of emperumAnAr, this prabhandham was composed when emperumAnAr was living in srirangam and was ordered by namperumAL to be recited in front of him during his purappAdu without any other disturbances like vAdhyam, etc (which are usually present in front of any purappAdu). This prabhandham was also included as part of 4000 divya prabhandham by our pUrvAchAryas considering the glories of emperumAnAr and his contribution towards our sampradhAyam. Not only that this became to be known as prapanna gAyathri – that which should be recited fully by every srivaishnava at least once a day.

manavALa mAmunigaL in upadhEsa rathina mAlai shows that our dharisanam is named as “emperumAnAr dharisanam” by namperumAl himself. He also says that AchAryas before emperumAnAr, were anuvruthi prasannAchAryas and were only instructing to few sishyas who served them with utmost dedication for long durations. But emperumAnAr changed the trend and showed that in this kaliyugam AchAryas should be filled with mercy. Looking at the sorrows and difficulties in the samsAram, the AchAryas should look out for individuals who simply have the desire to leave samsAram and give them the valuable meanings on the process to leave samsAram. Not only emperumAnAr himself did that, he also established 74 simhAsanAdhipathis who will propagate our sanAthana dharmam everywhere and give the mercy to every one.

It is easy to speak about and summarize emperumAn’s vaibhavam but emperumAnAr’s vaibhavam is unlimited. Even he himself with his thousand tongues (as AdhisEshan) cannot speak his glories, so how can we do that to our full satisfaction. We just have to satisfy ourselves saying that some how we benefited immensely by speaking (and reading) about him today.

empermAnAr’s thanian

yOnithyam achyutha padhAmbuja yugma rukma vyAmOthas thathitharANi thrunAya mEnE asmadhgurOr bhagavathOsya dhayaikasindhO: rAmAnujasya charaNou sharaNam prapadhyE


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dhivya prabhandha prAmANya samarthanam

This article is based on the section that is available in 6000 padi guru paramparA prabhAvam

immediately after AzhwArs' charithram, where the following principles are established:

• srIman nArAyaNan's supremacy and his relationship with other dhEvathas

• Validtity of dhivya prabhandhams based on their glorification of srIman nArAyaNan

• AzhwArs' greatness and supremacy over other dhEvathas

• Glories of AzhwArs' irrespective of their varNam and glories of dhivya prabhandhams irrespective of their language

• the glories of one who fully depends on AzhwArs and their dhivya prabhandhams

The publisher of 6000 padi guru paramparA prabhAvam identifies that this section is not consistently

found in the various original manuscripts and concludes that this section might have been added by

later day AchAryas to firmly establish the truth in some of these matters.

Let us proceed with the article now.

While dhivya prabhandhams of AzhwArs who appeared as thathva dharsis (one who fully understands

the truth) are considered as the most important pramANam (valid source of knowledge), they present


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various aspects of srIman nArAyaNan and dhEvathAntharams (other dhEvathas).

Establishing that other dhEvathas are created by srIman nArAyaNan

In many pAsurams, it is established by AzhwArs that all dhEvathas are created by srIman nArAyaNan.

Let us see some pramANams for that here:

• thiruvAimozhi - 2.2.4 - pUvil NAnmuganaip padaiththa dhEvan (:வி� நா�-கைன<

பைட�த ேதவ�) - the god who created brahmA from his naval lotus

• thiruvAimozhi - 4.10.1 - NAnmugan thannodu dhEvar ulagOduyir padaiththAn (நா�-க�

த�ெனா> ேதவ� உலேகா>யி� பைட�தா�) - srIman nArAyaNan created brahmA,

dhEvas, all beings and the material world

• thiruvAimozhi - 10.10.3 - biraman chivan iNdhiranAdhikkellAm NAbikkamala mudhaRkizhanGgu

(பிரம� சிவ� இ$திரனாதி,ெக�லா� நாபி,கமல -த)கிழ8�) - one whose

naval is the root of brahmA, shiva, indhra, etc

• nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi - 1 - NAnmuganai NArAyanNan padaiththAn (நா�-கைன

நாராயண� பைட�தா�) - nArAyaNan created brahmA

• and more

Establishing that srIman nArAyaNan has given a place in his body for all dhEvathas

In many pAsurams, is established by AzhwArs that bhagavAn, just like giving his chest as the residing


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place for srI mahAlakshmi who is hailed as vishNOsrIranapAyinI" (One who is the wealth of vishNu

and who never separates from him), who is eternally most auspicious and is the main consort of

bhagavAn, he gives place to brahmA, rudhran, etc who are situated in the mode of rajas (passon) and

thamas (ignorance).

• thiruvAimozhi - 1.3.9 - valaththanan thiripurameriththavan idam peRaththuNthith thalaththezhu

thichaimugan (வல�தன� தி'5ரெம'�தவ� இட� ெபற��$தி� தல�ெத@

திைச-க�) - srIman nArAyaNan has rudhran (the one who destroyed the 3 towns) on his

right side, in his naval he has brahmA who has 4 heads (one head per direction). • thiruvAimozhi - 2.2.3 - ERanaip pUvanaip pUmagaL thannai, vERinRi vinN thozhath thannuL

vaiththu (ஏறைன< :வைன< :மக� த�ைன, ேவறி�றி வி9 ெதாழ� த� �

ைவ��) - One who keeps rudran (rishaba vAhanan), brahmA (one who is on a flower) and

srImahA lakshmi (who residing in a flower) and is most worshippable by everyone because of this.

• thiruvAimohi - 4.8.1 - ERALum iRaiyOnum thichaimuganum thirumagaLum kURALum thani

udamban (ஏறா+� இைறேயா � திைச-க � தி�மக+� Fறா+� தனி உட�ப�) - rudhran (one who controls the rishabam), brahmA and srImahAlakshmi have their

own parts in srIman nArAyaNan' divine form

• and more

Establishing that all other dhEvathas worship srIman nArAyaNan

In many pAsurams, it is established by AzhwArs that brahmA, rudhran, etc approach bhagavAn, offer

their obeisances and glorify him.


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• thiruvAimozhi - 2.2.10 - kaLvA emmaiyum Ezhulagum NinnuLLE thORRiya, veLLERan

NAnumugan iNdhiran vAnavar puLLUrthi kazhal panNiNthu Eththuvar (க�வா எ�ைம(�

ஏ@ல�� நி� �ேள ேதா)றிய, ெவ�ேளற� நா -க� இ$திர� வானவ� 5�b�தி கழ� பணி$� ஏ��வ�) - rudhran, brahmA, indhra and the dhEvas worship the

lotus feet of srIman nArAyaNan (the garuda vAhanan) and glorify him as "Oh thief! you are the one who created me and all the 7 worlds from you".

• thiruvAimozhi - 10.10.3 - mEvith thozhum biraman chivan iNdhiran (ேமவி� ெதா@�

பிரம� சிவ� இ$திர�) - brahmA, rudhran, indhra who fully worships srIman nArAyaNan.

• irandAm thiruvanthAdhi - 12 - avar ivar enRillai aravanNaiyAn pAdham, evar vanNanGki EththAdhAr enNnNil, pavarum chezhunGkadhirOn onNmalarOn kanNnNudhalOn anRE?

thozhuNthagaiyAr NALum thodarNdhu (அவ� இவ� எ�றி�ைல அரவைணயா�

பாத�, எவ� வண8கி ஏ�தாதா� எ9ணி�, பவ�� ெச@8கதிேரா�

ஒ9மலேரா� க9\தேலா� அ�ேற? ெதா@$தைகயா� நா+� ெதாட�$�) -

If we enquire who are all the worshippers of the lotus feet of the sEsha sAyi srIman nArAyaNan, the most popular dhEvathas like Adhithyan, brahmA, rudhran worships him and glorifies him every day.

• and more

Establishing that other dhEvathas are not qualified enough to glorify srIman nArAyaNan

While sathvam arises in the minds of other dhEvathas, they start glorifying bhagavAn. But since

bhagavAn wants to be glorified by persons who are constantly in the mode of sathvam, when other

dhEvathas (who are in mixed modes of sathvam, rajas and thamas), bhagavAn does not prefer that.

This is shown in the following pAsurams:

• thiruvAimozhi - 3.1.7 - kEzhththa chIr aran mudhalAk kiLar dheyvamAyk kiLarNdhu

chUzhththamarar thudhiththAl un tholpugazh mAchUnNAdhE (ேக��த சீ� அர� -தலா,

கிள� ெத�வமா�, கிள�$� K��தமர� �தி�தா� உ� ெதா�5க� மாKணாேத)

- if brahmA, rudhran, etc (who are well knowledgable) with their capable words, glorify you, that will only minimize your natural greatness.

• thiruvAimozhi - 1.5.2 - NinaiNdhu NaiNdhu uLkaraiNdhu urugi imaiyOr palarum munivarum punaiNdha kanNnNi NIr chANdham pugaiyOdu ENdhi vanNanGkinAl ... un perumai

mAchUnNAdhO? mAyOnE! (நிைன$� ைந$� உ�கைர$� உ�கி இைமேயா� பல�� -னிவ�� 5ைன$த க9ணி ந;� சா$த� 5ைகேயா> ஏ$தி வண8கினா� ... உ� ெப�ைம மாKணாேதா? மாேயாேன!) - Even if dhEvas starting

with brahmA, rudhran, etc and sanakAdhi munis meditate upon you, complete melt upon thinking your glories, worship you with flowers, water, etc., considering your glories, their worship can never be a match.

• thiruvAimozhi - 3.1.10 - piRaiyERu chadaiyAnum NAnmuganum iNdhiranum iRaiyAdhal

aRiNdhEththa vIRRiruththal idhu viyappE? (பிைறேய* சைடயா � நா�-க �

இ$திர � இைறயாத� அறி$ேத�த வ ;)றி��த� இ� விய<ேப?) - Since rudhran

who has a crescent in his matted hair, brahmA, indhran are created by srIman nArAyaNan himself, even if they understand emperumAn's supremacy and glorify him, that will not add any new glories to him (since their knowledge is limited and bhagavAn's glories are unlimited). But you accept their glories out of your kindness since they have taken shelter of you.


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Establishing that other dhEvathas are sarIram of srIman nArAyaNan

• thiruvAimozhi - 3.5.8 - NaLirmadhich chadaiyan engO? NAnmugak kadavuL engO?

(நளி�மதி7 சைடய� எ�ேகா? நா�-க, கட4� எ�ேகா?) - Can I say you are the

one with the cool crescent on the matted hair (rudhran)? Can I say you are the one who is the father of rudhran (brahmA)?

• thiruvAimozhi 6.9.1 - chivanAy ayanAnAy (சிவனா� அயனானா�) - You became shivan

and brahmA. • thiruvAimozhi - 7.6.7 - en thirumArban thannai, en malaimagaL kURan thannai, enRum en

NAmagaLai agampAl konNda NAnmuganai (எ� தி�மா�ப� த�ைன, எ� மைலமக�

Fற� த�ைன, எ�*� எ� நாமகைள அக�பா� ெகா9ட நா�-கைன) - One

how has srI mahAlakshmi in his chest, One who has pArvathi as his better half (of the body) and one who is the husband of saraswathi.

• thiruvAimozhi - 10.10.1 - muniyE NAnmuganE mukkanNnNappA (-னிேய நா�-கேன

-,க9ண<பா) - Oh the one who is constantly meditating for the upliftment of jIvAthmAs!

Oh the four faced brahmA! Oh the 3 eyed rudhrA!

Thus AzhwArs have presented many different ideas about srIman nArAyaNan in relation to other

dhEvathas right from the beginning, in the middle and in the end. Can we trust such dhivya

prabhandhams as the most important pramANam for us?

Yes. We can trust their words. Let us see how.

Trustworthy nature of AzhwArs' words due to their affiliation to vEdham/vEdhAntham

AzhwArs right upfront establish their vairAgyam (detachment) towards other dhEvathas in many

pAsurams.

• thiruvAsiriyam - 6 - OO! ulaginadhu iyalvE! InROL irukka manNai NIrAtti, padaiththidaNdhu unNdumizhNdhaLaNdhu thErNdhu ulagaLikkum muthaRperum kadavuL NiRpa, pudaip pala

thAn aRi dheyvam pEnNudhal, thanAdhu pullaRivu AnNmai poruNdhak kAtti (ஓஓ!

உலகின� இய�ேவ! ஈ�ேறா� இ�,க மைண ந;ரா0&, பைட�திட$�

உ9>மி�$தள$� ேத�$� உலகளி,�� -த)ெப�� கட4� நி)ப, 5ைட< பல

தா� அறி ெத�வ� ேப\த�, தனா� 5�லறி4 ஆ9ைம ெபா�$த, கா0&) -

The nature of this samsAram (material world) is very pathetic. When ones own mother is present, ignoring her, the less intelligent people will be decorating and worshipping a wooden-plank. The same way, when srIman nArAyaNan who first created the universe, rescued it from the ocean, protected the universe by keeping it in his stomach safely, etc., is present, the less intelligent people reveal their lack of intelligence by worshipping/glorifiying other dhEvathas who themselves were created..

• thiruvAsiriyam - 7 - em perumA mAyanai allathu orumA dheyvam maRRudaiyamO yAmE (எ�

ெப�மா மாயைன அ�ல� ஒ�மா ெத�வ� ம)*ைடயேமா யாேம) - Do I have

any other dheivam other than the great srIman nArAyaNan). • nAnumugan thiruvanthAdhi - 84 - pidhirum manamilEn pinYchagan thannOdu ethirvan avan

enakku NErAn (பிதி�� மனமிேல� பிSசக� த�ேனா> எதி�வ� அவ� என,�


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ேநரா�) - I am firmly confident that rudhran who sings emperumAn's glories (when his sathva

guNam arises) is not an equal to me since I am constantly situated in sathva guNam. • periya thirumozhi - 8.10.3 - maRRumOr dheyvam uLadhenRu iruppArOdu uRRilEn

(ம)*ேமா� ெத�வ� உளெத�* இ�<பாேரா> உ)றிேல�) - I will not associate

with the ones who accept other dhEvathas.

• thiruvAimozhi - 1.1.7 - uLan chudarmigu churuthiyuL (உள� =ட�மி� =�தி(�) - shining

brightly in vEdham which is both nithyam (eternal) and apaurushEyam (authorless/defectless). • thiruvAimozhi - 2.8.6 - thIrththan ulagaLaNdha chEvadimEl pUNthAmam chErththi avaiyE

chivan mudimEl thAn kanNdu pArththan theLiNdhozhiNdha paiNthuzhAyAn perumai pErththum

oruvarAl pEchak kidaNdhadhE? (த;��த� உலகள$த ேசவ&ேம� :$தாம� ேச��தி அைவேய சிவ� -&ேம� தா� க9> பா��த� ெதளி$ெதாழி$த

ைப$�ழாயா� ெப�ைம ேப�� ஒ�வரா� ேபச, கிட$தேத?) - When arjunan

wanted to blessed by shiva with some weapons in the battle field, he asks krishNan what to do. krishNan simply asks him to worship his most pure and auspicious lotus feet (that measured the universe) with some flowers and in the night shivan appears in arjunan's dream and shows him carrying those same flowers in his head and blessed him the weapons. Thus it is shown that srIman nArAyaNan's supremacy is well established.

• and many more.

Thus AzhwArs established through various words from vEdham and various incidents that srIman nArAyaNan is the supreme god and all other dhEvathas are subservient to him. This is established in varAha purANam in the following slOkam: yadhEtha paramam brahma lOkE vEdhEshu patyathE

sa dhEva: punNdarikAkshas svayam nArAyanNa: para:

யேதத பரம� <ரVம ேலாேக ேவேதஷு ப0யேத

ஸ ேதவ: 59ட'காPD Dவய� நாராயண: பர: srIman nArAyaNan (puNdarikAkshan - the lotus eyed) is the supreme god who is seen in the vEdham

and in the entire universe.

periyAzhwAr also established that srIman nArAyaNan's supremacy in the king's court in front of many

great scholars and got the reward from the madhurai king. He established that using verses from

vEdham and great sages.

periyAzhwAr being honoured by the king after establishing vishNu parathvam


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vishNu purANam

para: parAnNAm purushO yasya thushtO jaNArthdhaNa:

sa prApNOthyakshayam sthANamEthath sathyam mayOdhitham

பர: பராணா� 5�ேஷா யDய �Rேடா ஜநா��தந:

ஸ <ரா<ேநா�யPய� Dதாநேமத� ஸ�ய� மேயாதித�

If janArdhanan who is greatest amongst everyone and who is known as purusha gets pleased with

anyone, he achieves the eternal spiritual planet. I am confidently declaring this.

mahAbhAratham

NAsthi NArAyanNa samO Na bhUthO Na bhavishyathi

EthENa sathya vAkyENa sarvArththAN sAdhayAmyaham

நாDதி நாராயண ஸேமா ந :ேதா ந பவிRயதி ஏேதந ஸ�ய வா,ேயந ஸ�வா��தா$ ஸாதயா�யஹ�

There never was some one equal to NArAyaNan, there never is and there never will be. I can

accomplish everything using these most truthful words.

Thus based on the above pramANams, we can see that, AzhwArs are fully following what is said in

vEdham and are never bound to the any defects. We can also understand that they would not display

any inconsistency in their words. The reason why we see the various pAsurams on the relationship

between srIman nArAyaNan and other dhEvathas is due to the nature and activities of these other

dhEvathas. Let us see that now.

The nature of other dhEvathas

brahmA, shiva are subjected to karmA (repeated birth/death cycle based on ones own actions). They

achieve their position by great penances and are rewarded their posts by srIman nArAyaNan for their

efforts. This is explained in the following 2 slOkams:

mahAbhAratham

yuga kOti sahasrAnNi vishnNum ArAdhya padhmabhU:

puNas thrailOkya dhAthruthvam prApthavAN ithi chusruma

(க ேகா& ஸஹDராணி விR\� ஆரா�ய ப�ம::

5நD �ைரேலா,ய தா��வ� <ரா<தவா$ இதி =D�ம

It is heard that brahmA who was born from the lotus flower of srI mahAvishNu worships vishNu for 1000

crore yugams and again becomes the main progenitor and heads the material creation.


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mahAbhAratham

mahAdhEvas sarvamEdhE mahAthmA huthvASSthmANam dhEvadhEvO bhabhUva

மஹாேதவD ஸ�வேமேத மஹா�மா ஹு�வாSS�மாந� ேதவேதேவா ப:வ

shiva who is a mahAthmA offers himself in the sarvamEdha yAgam and becomes the lord of lords.

Thus, the various relationships between srIman nArAyaNan and other dhEvathas, as presented by

AzhwArs are perfectly valid based on the following:

• these dhEvathas worship srIman nArAyaNan and are given their great positions to enjoy the result of their penances by bhagavAn, their value of existence will diminish when they ignore bhagavAn

• when their sathva guNam arises they will be qualified to glorify bhagavAn

• since they act against bhagavAn when their rajO/thamO guNam arises their glorification of bhagavAn is not much preferred by bhagavAn, and

• since their svarUpam, sustenance, action and inaction are fully dependent on bhagavAn as the sarIram (body) fully depends on the jIvAthma/sarIri (soul).

srIman nArAyaNan himself declares:

Eka Eva jagathsvAmI chakthimAN achyutha: prabhu:

thadham chAchchakthimaNthOSNyE brahmEchANAdhayOSmarA:

ஏக ஏவ ஜக�Dவாமீ ச,திமா$ அ7(த: <ர5: தத� சா7ச,திம$ேதாS$ேய <ரVேமசாநாதேயாSமரா:

Achyuthan is the only master/controller of the whole creation and is fully capable. brahmA, shiva, etc

have certain powers/capabilities (which are a miniscule fraction of bhagavAn) and are bhagavAn's

amsams (forms).

Thus, we can conclude that AzhwArs' dhivya prabhandhams are the most important pramANams

based on the above explanations.

There are many slOkams from shruthi, smrithi, purANams, ithihAsams, etc that establish that srIman

nArAyaNan's antharyAmithvam for all other dhEvathas. Let us see them now:

vishNu purANam

sa Eva srujyas sa cha sargga karththA sa Eva pAthyaththi cha pAlyathE cha

brahmAdhyavasthApir achEshamUrththir vishnNur varishtO varadhO varEnNya:

ஸ ஏவ D�UயD ஸ ச ஸ�,க க��தா ஸ ஏவ பா�ய�தி ச பா�யேத ச

<ரVமா�யவDதாபி� அேசஷ[��தி� விR\� வ'Rேடா வரேதா வேர9ய:


94

The created beings are also him (his own forms); The creators like brahmA, etc are also him; He is the

one who sustains the universe; He is the one who swallows the universe; He is the one who is being

sustained. vishNu, the one who has everything as his body is the most supreme; the one who can

benedict; the one who is fit enough to be worshipped.

kalpANthE rudhrarUpI yOgrasathE sakalam jagath

thamAdhyam purusham vishnNum pranNathOSsmi jaNArthdhaNam

க�பா$ேத ��ர`ப ீேயா,ரஸேத ஸகல� ஜக�

தமா�ய� 5�ஷ� விR\� <ரணேதாSDமி ஜநா��தந�

I surrender unto janArdhanan/vishNu who is the primordial being who takes the form of rudhran at the

end of the kalpam (during praLayam) and destroys everything.

vishNu purANam

srushti sthithi aNthakaranNIm brahma vishnNu chivAthmakAm

sa samjnYAm yAthi bhagavANEka Eva jaNArthdhaNa:

D�R& Dதிதி அ$தகரண ;� <ரVம விR\ சிவா�மகா�

ஸ ஸ�Uஞா� யாதி பகவாேநக ஏவ ஜநா��தந:

janArdhanan (srIman nArAyaNan) gets the names brahmA, vishNu, shiva while performing the duties of

creation, sustenance and destruction respectively.

thiruvAimozhi 2.7.12

dhAmOdharan uruvAgiya chivaRkum thichaimugaRkum

தாேமாதர� உ�வாகிய சிவ)�� திைச-க)��

shiva, brahma who are various forms of dhAmOdharan (one who was bound by yasOdhai on his waist).

thiruvAimozhi 1.1.8

aran ayan ena ulagazhiththu amaiththuLanE

அர� அய� என உலகழி�� அைம��ளேன

When bhagavAn is paramAthmA and these other dhEvathas are his sarIram (body), sometimes they

themselves are directly indicated as him because when something is mentioned about the body it leads

up to the soul (its actually intertwined). When a person says "I am fat, I am thin" himself and others say

"You have become fat, You have lost weight" - I and You refers to the AthmA (soul) and fat and thin

refers to the body. Similarly, if these dhEvathas are explained/glorified some times it goes all the way to


95

the paramAthmA (super soul) who controls these dhEvathas.

AzhwArs present bhagavAn as chEthanams (sentients) and achEthanams (insentients) in many

pAsurams.

• thiruvAimozhi - 10.4.1 - NIr vAnam manN eri kAlAy NinRa NEmiyAn (ந;� வான� ம9 எ'

காலா� நி�ற ேநமியா�) - srIman nArAyaNan who is the holder of chakram manifests

himself as the panch bhUthams (five gross elements - water, sky, earth, fire and air) • thiruvAimozhi - 10.10.10 - chUzhNdhaganRAzhNdhuyarNdha mudivil perum pAzhEyO!

chUzhNdhadhanil periya para Nanmalarch chOdhIyO! chUzhNdhadhanil periya chudar jnYAna

inbamEyO! (K�$தக�றா�$�ய�$த -&வி� ெப�� பாேழேயா! K�$ததனி�

ெப'ய பர ந�மல�7 ேசாத;ேயா! K�$ததனி� ெப'ய =ட� Uஞான

இ�பேமேயா!) - You are the one who is manifesting yourself as this great prakruthi (matter);

You are the one who is manifesting as this innumerable number of jIvAthmAs! You are the paramAthmA who is the benedictor of the ultimate bliss

• mudhal thiruvanthAdhi - 15 - mudhalAvAr mUvarE; ammUvaruLLum mudhalAvAn mUri NIr

vanNnNan (-தலாவா� [வேர; அ�[வ��+� -தலாவா� [' ந;� வ9ண�) - brahmA, vishNu, shiva are the main deities; of those 3, srIman nArAyaNan - the

one who looks like a beautiful cloud (both for the color and the generosity) is the controller of the other two.

AzhwArs present srIman nArAyaNan as everything based on the following:

shruthi (vEdha) vAkyam - bruhadhAraNyaka upanishadh

yasya AthmA charIram; yasya pruthivI charIram

யDய ஆ�மா சWர�; யDய <�திவ ; சWர�

Supreme god is the one who has all sentients as his body and all insentients as his body.

bhagavAn's own words in varAha charama slOkam:

vichvarUpanYcha mAmajam

வி7வ`பSச மாமஜ�

I am the one who has the whole world as my body and I am the unborn

AzhwArs also establish srIman nArAyaNan's parathvam (supremacy) and sarva antharyAmithvam (him

being the super soul of everyone/everything) based on his showing of vishwarUpam for arjunan in the

kurukshEthra battle field.


96

hari vamsam

ka ithi brahmanNO NAma IchOSham sarva dhEhiNAm

AvAm thavAnGgE sambhUthau thasmAth kEchavaNAmavAN

க இதி <ரVமேணா நாம ஈேசாSஹ� ஸ�வ ேதஹிநா�

ஆவா� தவா8ேக ஸ�:ெதௗ தDமா� ேகசவநாமவா$

rudhran's words - ka represents brahmA; I am the master of the ones who are focussed on their

bodies. We are born from you - so you are called kEsava (the master/controller of brahmA and Isa).

pAdhENa kamalAbhENa brahma rudhrArchchithENa cha

pasparcha punNdarIkAksha: chichOrApAdhamasthakam

பாேதந கமலாேபந <ரVம ��ரா�7சிேதந ச

பDப�ச 59டWகாP: சிேசாராபாதமDதக�

puNdarikAkshan (krishNan) touched parIkshith's head to foot with his lotus feet that was worshipped by

brahmA and rudhran.

Thus, we can see that sruthi, smruthi, ithihAsa, purANas establish that all the dhEvathas are


97

subservient to srIman nArAyaNan, they worship him and their everything depend on his will.

paramAthmA parO yOSsau NArAyanNa samAhvaya:

thasyANapAyiNI chakthir dhEvI thadhdharma dharminNI

பரமா�மா பேரா ேயாSெஸௗ நாராயண ஸமாVவய:

தDயாநபாயிந; ச,தி� ேதவ ; த�த�ம த�மிண ;

srI mahAlakshmi never separates from srIman nArAyaNan who is the most supreme; she is his dear

consort, his power potency and has the same qualities like him.

It is shown in the sAsthram that these other dhEvathas also exist on bhagavAn's divine form. Do they

reside on his form always like srI mahAlakshmi as explained in the previous slOkam?

They will stay on bhagavAn's divine form for their sustenance. This is one of the greatest qualities -

sauseelyam (magnanimity) of bhagavAn and contemplating this great quality, AzhwArs praise him often

for this act of him. This is explained by AzhwArs in the following pAsurams:

thiruvAimozhi - 9.3.10

thALa thAmaraiyAn unadhuNdhiyAn

vALkoL NILmazhuvALi unnAgaththAn

ALarAyth thozhuvArum amarargaL

NALum en pugazhgO una chIlamE?

தாள தாமைரயா� உன�$தியா�

வா�ெகா� ந;�ம@வாளி உ�னாக�தா�

ஆளரா�� ெதா@வா�� அமர�க�

நா+� எ� 5க�ேகா உன சீலேம?

How can I glorify your magnanimity? You are presenting yourselves to brahmA (who is in the lotus

flower and has taken up your naval as his residence), rudhran (who holds an axe and has taken up

your right side as his residence), nithya sUris who contantly serve you and dhEvas who are always

looking some material benediction from you. Even if I constantly glorify you, I will not be satisfied.

periya thirumozhi - 9.6.1

akkum puliyin adhaLum udaiyAr avar oruvar

pakkam NiRka NinRa panNbar

அ,�� 5லியி� அத+� உைடயா� அவ� ஒ�வ� ப,க� நி)க நி�ற ப9ப�


98

The most auspicious one who is filled with good qualities due to him allowing rudhran to stand next to

him in thirukkurungudi.

This principle of bhagavAn giving his form as the residence for other dhEvathas is explained using an

example. bhattar explains to NanjIyar that "During kalahams (floods or disturbance from invaders),

every one (irrespective of their nature) will come and stay inside the adayavaLaindhAn layer/fort in

srIrangam. Once normality returns, every one will return to their residences outside, but even in their

absence, the place where they resided will be identified as their past residence. Similarly, even though

bhagavAn gives his body as the residence for these dhEvathas at times, even when they are not there,

that place is identified as the residence place of those dhEvathas".

So far, we have seen that AzhwArs presented the core principles of vEdham/vEdhAntham, i.e., srIman

nArAyaNan is the supreme god and all other dhEvathas are subservient to him.

AzhwArs identify that whatever explained previously in case of other dhEvathas is also applicable for evey one of us. Let us see how:

• thiruvAimozhi - 1.4.9 - vAdAtha malaradikkIzh vaikkavE vagukkinRu (வாடாத

மலர&,கீ� ைவ,கேவ வ�,கி�*) - Our true nature is to serve emperumAn by

offering fresh flowers to his fresh lotus feet

• thiruvAimozhi - 2.7.11 - ennaiyAkkikkonNdu (எ�ைனயா,கி,ெகா9>) - after

creating me and accepting me

• thiruvAimozhi - 3.2.1 - aNNAL NI thaNdha Akkaiyin vazhi uzhalvEn (அ$நா� ந; த$த

ஆ,ைகயி� வழி உழ�ேவ�) - I become subservient to the body that was given

to me by you


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• thiruvAimozhi - 8.7.1 - ennaith than ponnadik kIzh iruththi (எ�ைன� த�

ெபா�ன&, கீ� இ��தி) - Keeping me at his golden feet

• thiruvAimozhi - 6.10.1 - kulathol adiyEn (�லெதா� அ&ேய�) - I am born in a

family in which served you for many many generations

• thiruvAimozhi - 9.2.1 - kudikudi vazhi vaNdhu Atcheyyum thonNdar (�&�& வழி வ$� ஆ0ெச�(� ெதா9ட�) - Servitor in family which served emperumAn for

many many generations • thiruvAimozhi - 1.5.1 - aruvinaiyEn kaLavEzh venNnNey thoduvunNda kaLvA enban

(அ�விைனேய� களேவ� ெவ9ெண� ெதா>49ட க�வா எ�ப�) - I

(who is unqualified to glorify him) will pretend to be his mother yasOdhai and chastise him for stealing butter

• and more

Through the above pAsurams, we can understand that AzhwArs (all pAsurams happens to be from nammAzhwAr) have stated that he is also given his body by bhagavAn, he is also given a place in bhagavAn's sarIram, he also worships srIman nArAyaNan, he is also not qualified to glorify bhagavAn, etc - i.e., the qualities that were explained for other dhEvathas are not unique to them and are common for all jIvAthmAs.

But, are AzhwArs the same as dhEvathas? Ofcourse not. AzhwArs are far greater than other dhEvathas. Let us see how:

• dhEvathas (brahmA, rudhran, etc) are given their position based on their karmam. AzhwArs were personally hand-picked from samsAram by emperumAn out of his desire to reform many jIvAthmAs.

• dhEvathas reside in bhagavAn's form during praLayam for protection. AzhwArs are

glorified as "NIkkamillAvadiyAr" (ந;,கமி�லாவ&யா�) - those who are never

separated from bhagavAn. • dhEvathas are called servitors of bhagavAn only because they glorify him when sathva

guNam (mode of goodness) arises in them. AzhwArs are fully situated in sudhdha sathvam (pure goodness) and are constantly engaged in kainkaryam without any break.

• When dhEvathas become affected with rajO/thamO guNam they sometimes ask "Who is that vishNu?" and at times even fight with bhagavaN like it happened during bANAsura charithram where rudhran fought against krishna bhagavAn.

Thinking about all of these, thirumazhisai AzhwAr sung "pidhirum manamilEn pinYchagan thannOdu ethirvan avan enakku NErAn" where he himself says he is greater than rudhran because he is constantly thinking about srIman nArAyaNan. Thus, we can understand that AzhwArs are far greater than other dhEvathas.

Establishing that AzhwArs' varNam and the language of dhivya prabhandhams does not minimize the glories of dhivya prabhandhams

But, How can we understand that dhivya prabhandhams to be equivalent to samskritha vEdham (which is nithyam - eternal, apuarushEyam - not compiled by any one and


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nirdhOsham - no defects). dhivya prabhandhams are in thamizh language (instead of the dhEva bhAshai samskritham) and that are sung (some) AzhwArs who are not born in brAmaNa varNam. It can be compared easily - let us see how.

If the dhivya prabhandhams were sung by brAhamaNa AzhwArs only, only brAhmaNas will be able to understand that and attain salvation and the others may not be able to relate to that and benefit. Also, since prapathi is sarvAdhikAram (any one can perform prapathi) and dhivya prabandhams fully focus on prapathi, emperumAn facilitated AzhwArs to be born in different varNams for the upliftment of samsAris who are immersed in this ocean of samsAram.

Even though dhivya prabhandhams are in thamizh which is not hailed as dhEva bhAshai as in the case of samskritham, they are great due to the following aspects:

• mathsya purANam - harikIrththim viNaivANyath brAhmanNENa NarOththama;

bhAshAgANam Na gAthavyam thasmAth pApam thvayA krutham (ஹ'கீ��தி�

விைநவா$ய� <ராVமேணந நேரா�தம; பாஷாகாந� ந காத_ய�

தDமா� பாப� �வயா ,�த�) - Oh best of men! Except while glorifying lord

vishNu, poems/songs in other languages cannot be uttered; But since you punished the ones who were glorifying Lord vishNu (in other languages) you have acquired sins for that.

• Since, nammAzhwAr said "vadamozhi maRai" (வடெமாழி மைற) in thiruvAimozhi

8.9.7 - northern language (samkritha) vEdham, it is clear that there is southern language (dhrAvida) vEdham (which is thiruvAimozhi and other 3 prabhandhams of nammAzhwAr).

• Since nammAzhwAr says "poyyil pAdal" (ெபா�யி� பாட�) in thiruvAimozhi 4.3.11

which means his pAsurams are fully truth and not mixed with any lies. • As azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr identifies in AchArya hrudhayam -

"Agasthiyamum aNAdhi" (ஆகDதிய-� அநாதி) - thamizh language which was

taught by agasthya muni is also beginningless (similar to samskritham)

apaurushEyathvam (not created by any one) is one of the unique qualities of vEdham. When something is created by some one it will be bound by the limitations of the creator. Even if bhagavAn himself creates some scripture, some one could say it will have his own personal influence (which is actually good). But since vEdham is not created by any one (including bhagavAn), it has free from all defects (nirdhOsham). Here it is established that AzhwArs dhivya prabhandhams are also free from all defects.

• As nammAzhwAr himself says in thiruvAimozhi - 10.7.5 - "yAnAyththannaith thAn pAdith

thennAvennum ammAn" (யானா��த�ைன� தா� பா&� ெத�னாெவ� �

அ�மா�) - srIman nArAyaNan sung on himself through the mouth of nammAzhwAr

and gets blissful. Since bhagavAn is called sthava priya (in vishNu sahasranAmam), he likes to be glorified and he glorifies himself through AzhwArs.

• As thirumangai AzhwAr says in periya thirumozhi - 5.7.3 - "annamAy anRanGku

arumaRai payaNdhAn" (அ�னமா� அ�ற8� அ�மைற பய$தா�) -


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bhagavAn appears as a divine swan and reveals the vEdham to brahmA and as bhagavAn appears as vyAsar (shakthi AvEsha avathAram) and explains the vEdham in detail, he reveals the dhrAvida vEdham through AzhwArs.

Thus it is explained that dhivya prabhandham is also apaurushEyam and defectless.

Just like samskritha vEdham, dhivya prabhandhams are also nithyam (eternal). Let us see how:

• As per suptha prabhudhdha (ஸு<த <ர5�த) nyAyam, when a teacher teaches to his

students every day after awakening the students from sleep - their teaching is considered as continuous, bhagavAn periodically wakes up jIvAthmAs through AzhwArs with the eternal dhivya prabhandham.

• Just like bhagavAn preserves vEdham in his heart during praLayam and reveals them it brahmA, etc., dhivya prabhandhams are also revealed in every chatur yugam through AzhwArs.

Thus dhivya prabhandhams also are as valid as vEdham itself with respect to apuarushEyathvam, nithyathvam and nirdhOshathvam.

Now, Let us see that dhivya prabhandhams are in fact much greater than samskritha vEdham.

In bhagavath gIthai, kaNNan emperumAn declares that "thraigunNya vishayA vEdhA:"

(�ைர�9ய விஷயா ேவதா:) meaning samskritha vEdham is meant for people of all

modes (sathvam, rajas and thamas). But dhivya prabhandhams are presented by AzhwArs who were divinely blessed with blemishless knowledge by bhagavAn himself for the whole purpose of uplifting jIvAthmAs from this samsAram and leading them in to the path of emancipation through prapathi (surrender). So, it is fully meant for people who want to be fully situated sudhdha sathvam (pure goodness). Thus dhivya prabhandhams are far greater than samskritha vEdham.

archAvathAra upAdhANa vaishNava uthpaththi chiNthaNam mAthruyONi parIkshayAs thulyamAhur maNIshinNa:

அ�சாவதார உபாதாந ைவRணவ உ�ப�தி சி$தந�

மா��ேயாநி பWPயாD ��யமாஹு� மந;ஷிண:

The learned people state that "analysing archAvathAra emperumAn based on the raw material (metal, wood, stone, etc) and the qualities of a vaishnava based on his birth are considered as doubting the chastity of ones own mother (which is very cruel)".

The same principle is explained by azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr beautifully in his AchArya hrudhayam 75th chUrNikai as:

vIttinbha inbhappAkkaLil dhravya bhAshA NirUpanNa samam inbha mAriyil ArAychchi


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வ ;0&�ப இ�ப<பா,களி� �ர_ய பாஷா நி`பண ஸம� இ�ப மா'யி�

ஆரா�7சி

(mAmunigaL beautifully explains this in his vyAkyAnam as follows.

emperumAn out of his causeless mercy descend into the temples and homes of his most dear devotees who melt by simply hearing about him. He takes the form that is desired by his devotees. AzhwArs are most dear to bhagavAn because they were hand picked by bhagavAn from this samsAram and blessed by him and thus became so attached to him. Their dhivya prabhandhams are glorified by great intellects like srIman nAthamunigaL, srI yAmunAchAryar, srI rAmAnujar, etc. Thus having any misconception in archAvathAra emperumAns based on the raw material that is used to make the divine vigraham, AzhwArs because of their varNam and their dhivya prabhandhams based on their language is considered very cruel.)

Thus it is fully established that dhivya prabhandhams are most glories and are the most valid pramANams for us to accept and follow.

AzhwArs' bhagavath dharshanam

Did AzhwArs see emperumAn in prathyaksham (directly) or in mAnasa/jnAna sAkshAthkAram? It is jnAna sAkshAthkAram only and not direct vision. But sometimes we see AzhwArs saying in thiruvAimozhi 1.9.9"kamalak kanNnNan en kanNnNinuLLAn kAnNban"

(கமல, க9ண� எ� க9ணி �ளா� கா9ப�) - puNdarikAkshan is within my

eyes and I am seeing him, thiruvAimozhi 5.5.1 "Nambiyai NAn kanNdapin" (ந�பிைய நா�

க9டபி�) - After seeing thirukkuRungudi nambi, etc. Those are all jnAna sAkshAthkAram

(vision in mind) which is equivalent to direct vision.

In many pAsurams AzhwArs crave for a direct vision of emperumAn. In thiruvAimozhi 4.7.10

nammAzhwAr says "pakkam NOkki NinRalaNdhEn pAviyEn kAnNginRilEn" (ப,க� ேநா,கி நி�றல$ேத� பாவிேய� கா9கி�றிேல�) - I was looking for your arrival and being

very unfortunate, unable to see you. He shows great desire to see emperumAn directly. In

thiruvAimozhi 4.7.4 "kAnNa vaNdhu en kanN mugappE" (காண வ$� எ� க9 -க<ேப)

pAsuram he says that even brahmA, rudhran, etc cannot directly see emperumAn and him desiring to have that dharshan is not reasonable. But in the next pAsuram "appanE

adalAzhiyAnE" (அ<பேன அடலாழியாேன) itself he cries out "Because of your glorious

generosity and since you are capable of removing any hurdles, please present your beautiful

form in front of me". Finally in 4.7.10 he first says "kAnNginRilEn" (கா9கி�றிேல�)

saying he still does not see emperumAn directly and finishes the pAsuram saying "thakka

jnYAnak kanNgaLAlE kanNdu thazhuvuvanE" (த,க Uஞான, க9களாேல க9>

த@4வேன) - I will see him with my inner eyes and embrace him. Thus we can understand

that AzhwArs saw emperumAn through their inner eyes and not external eyes. This is what is explained by azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr in AchArya hrudhayam chUrNikai 230


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"kanNdEn enRa paththum utkanNnNAlE" (க9ேட� எ�ற ப�� உ0க9ணாேல)

meaning 10 places where AzhwAr identifies that he saw emperumAn relates to mAnasa sAkshAthkAram (inner vision only). (mAmunigaL in his vyAkyAnam, most beautifully brings out the 10 places where AzhwAr says he saw emperumAn). This is the principle of sudhdha sampradhAyam as taught by our pUrvAchAryas. nammAzhwAr, thirumangai AzhwAr, mudhalAzhwArs, etc., identified in their pAsurams that they saw emperumAn only through their inner eyes. Now, archAvathAra emperumAns is the only place where prathyaksha dharshanam (direct vision) is possible.

Thus, the ones who are fully faithful towards AzhwArs (who are most glorious, who are the leaders of prapanna kulam, who appeared for the upliftment of everyone and who blessed us with their dhrAvida vEdham which can be easily understood by everyone) are called jIvan mukthars (Note: this is to highlight the glories of srIvaishnavas as it is explained by AzhwArs themselves as nilath thEvar/bhUsurar - sUris of this world - this is not the same jIvan mukthar concept of advaitham).

Those srIvaishNavas who have given up any interest in heretical doctrines and materialistic aspirations, who are so fixed in sAsthram that they do not give up their AchAram/anushtAnam even when their life is under threat, being subservient to bhagavAn vishNu instead of their own senses, always contemplating on the true knowledge about the jIvAthmA, giving up violence fully and being situated in full control over their senses, being merciful towards all living beings, giving up all attachment towards lust and wealth, being full realised, being content, having good control over the prasAdham (food) they consume, not being coward and at the same time not being angry, not having mamakAram towards wife and children, etc are considered to be jIvan mukthars as nammAzhwAr said in thiruvAimozhi 5.5.11 "aRiyakkaRRuvallAr

AzhkadalnYAlaththuLLE vaittanNavar" (அறிய,க)*வ�லா� ஆ�கட�ஞால��ேள ைவ0டணவ�) - the one who knows the core principles of

thiruvAimozhi and lives by that are great vaishNavas in this world itself.


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Thus, AzhwArs, out of their mercy, blessed us these dhivya prabhandhams for the upliftment of everyone in this world and then ascended to paramapadham.

Thus ends this beautiful section named dhivya prabhandha prAmANya samarthanam in 6000 padi guru paramparA prabhAvam.

Documents

The Glories and History of AzhwArs