Am seeker of true knowledge , aspiring to serve and share the divine pastimes of Lord and HIS devotees . Interested in meeting devotees and love traveling to all holy places . Major interest is to interact with devotees and be of some use to the world in spreading Lord's divine play .
This blog which has crossed over 1 million hits is an attempt of knotting a garland of priceless pearls from Sri vaishnava Divya desam .....Divya leelai .. .......and Divyaanubhuthee shared by zillions of hari bhaktaas .
More than 1.3 million devotees have visited the blog and many more are visiting ...
Though Adiyen is neither competent or qualified in sharing this elixir of spiritual world , out of abundant mercy from Asmath Acharyar His Holiness Sri Sri MudaliAnddan swamigal , adiyen is attempting to reproduce the same which is done purely by the grace of AchAryar and the Lordships by hearing from various advanced devotees .
Am like a bee collecting the nectar from sacred flowers and posting the same in this honey comb blog ..
There can be few photographs which would have been uploaded from google images to practically have the feel of the holy place and be of some service to the devotees .
In case the owner of the pictures /images, videos has any objections for this adiyen shall remove the same .
If any of the images presented here violates copyright issues or infringes anyone copyright or are not under "Fair use" the same shall be removed ASAP .
Anything erroneous in adiyens post is completely my fault/ignorance and anything noteworthy goes to the spiritual masters . Any faults are solely due to my poor understanding and seek pardon for my poor expression .
All the divine pastimes shared are from the lectures and the ones shared by several advance devotees .
All the compliments and praise belong to the great Spiritual masters for their mercy on adiyen ( your servant ) to share and re share in this blog to remain that bliss always ......
Seeking your blessings in this small service of sharing the divine posts ..
Jai Sriman Narayana
Adiyen kazhiyur varadan Ramanuja dasan
IMPORTANT
1) Material posted in this blog are just for information purpose and spreading awareness. Few divine pastimes shared in discourses about the holy place is being re shared which are subject to mistakes or discrepancies with time .
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Adiyen do not warrant nor assure the accuracy/correctness/completeness of the materials/articles or the reliability of any advice, opinion, comment or other information displayed or distributed through this blog .
4) We are in the service of spreading the divine pastimes of LORD and HIS devotees Please correct adiyen in any shortcomings for improvements .
Once a disciple of the great Acharya Sri Periavachanpillai asked his Guru ,
Swamin ! My attempts to control the EGO is always ineffective and this EGO is not getting rid of me .
Few occasions this is becoming more prominent and making me to misconduct myself repeatedly .
Gurudeva , adiyen is enslaved by my nature and am scared.
Is there still any scope for me to attain the Supreme Lord ?? or will this behaviour of mine throw me in the deep pit of hell .
The disciple was in distress .
The revered Acharya replied ,
My Child !!
It is wrong for the jiva to think that he is the enjoyer or that he is totally independent . Once Lord decides to save the Jiva, he makes him do good things and If HE wishes him to push him down HE makes him to do the evil deeds….
Pride is an alternative name for EGO .
The feeling that I am Independent , strong , wealthy , intelligent , handsome etc compared to others invites this EGO with open arms .
Such EGO is responsible for disrespecting Elders .
The one who keeps EGO at a distance is alone eligible for God Realisation .
The paramour that accompanies the EGO is the feeling of I ness or the feeling of mine .Whenever any attractive thing is perceived the mind wants to claim it or possess it .This feeling is the wife of the EGO and as a chaste wife she will never leave her husband EGO .The children born to this couple are anger and jealousy .
The mischief created by these kids destroys the peace of the Jiva .
And to get rid of this couple !!!! the jiva suffers ….
Its like this my child !!
The head of the family is EGO .
If one has to destroy him the wife will also end her life .
Due to their absence the kids jealousy and anger also will vanish .
Whatever the Jiva does is under the control of the LORD .
Just as the minister functions under the limited delegation conferred by the King even the jiva is totally dependent on Paramatma .
The jiva enjoys only the fruits showered by the Lord .
Just as the independent one and the one who confers the rewards is the King , the totally Independent Lord is the complete enjoyer .
The Lord who creates this universe is constantly at work and enjoys the fruits also .
We enjoy only the balance that is given to us , because we have served the Lord in full faith and love .
We do not have a life of our own ( that is independent of hIM ) We are there to be used , where and when as required by HIM ..
The Lord is the principal enjoyer .
It is to be understood that we are here to be enjoyed by Him .
Assume , a person has gifted a Jack fruit to a King .
The King receives the entire fruit together with the skin and the fiber .
But when he desires to eat the fruit the King enjoys the inner kernel after removing the fibre and the skin which are not needed .
In the same manner LORD who is the principal enjoyer accepts the Jiva even though he may have qualities that are not favoured for his up liftment .
When the LORD wishes to enjoy the offering he removes the offending qualities of the jiva .He accepts whatever is offered with joy .
A pasuram from Divya Prabhandam by revered Nammazhwar goes as below
It means LORD is an ocean of mercy with a big heart ….
and
HE accepts all those who have a desire for liberation and even though they are covered with evil qualities which are sticking to them like dirty mud , HE ensures the same is cleaned thus correcting them (thiruthI ) and accepts them to HIS presence .
And finally he who has offered himself to LORD in his Saranagathi has nothing to fear at all .
The LORD himself will rid the person of the undesirable qualities and being the real enjoyer will accept him .
The devotee was pleased and was relieved to receive the advise .
It was a eye opener for him too to surrender his Freewill and accept the divine will .
The lesson was simple but crystal clear .
Any act of kindness , devotion , charity , cheerfulness obedience , love makes us near to LORD and its reverse takes us away from LORD .
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics courtesy : Google images and several social media uploaded by several devotees
Gauthama Maharishi was a great devotee of ParamaSivan . The Rishi used to offer fruits and fresh blossomed flowers for worship daily . For the same , he had to climb trees with great difficulty to pluck the same .
In order to continue his services with ease he prayed Paramasivan to grant him sharp eyes and claws like a tiger .Thus he got the name Vyangraapadha rishi. Rishi Vyangraapadha undertook penance at Chidambaram invoking the blessings of Lord Nataraja for salvation .
However , ParamaShivan instructed Vyangrapadha rishi ( Vyangra =Tiger ) ( Pada = feet) to proceed to Srirangam and worship Lord Ranganathar . Owing to his poor eye sight, the rishi lost his way, went southward and reached Krupa Samudiram Perumal near Mayavaram . Unable to walk any further, he sat in penance at Sirupuliyur.He did penance at Sirupuliyur for attaining Srivaikuntam by worshipping Lord SrimanNarayana .
The Lord appeared in his full sayana posture like the one at Srirangam. Since the sage was not able to swallow the big form with his feeble eye sight, Lord appeared in the form of a child – Baala Sayana.
As a mark of respect to the great saint the saint’s idol is seen under the feet of the Perumal in the Moolavar Sannathi. There is another divine pastime enacted at this holy place . Garuda and Adhisheshan were discussing about the services rendered to Lord by them .In the course of discussion ,Garuda pointed it was his service which was more compared to Adhishesha . Both the servants , surrendered to the LORD for judgement .
Lord who overheared Garuda’s egoistic words , sided with Adhisheshan to correct Garuda for his words of “I”.
Another important feature of the temple is we can have darshan of Adhisheshan sannithi separately. In this temple the Garuda sannithi is at a lowest level compared to other sannithi.
This wonderful temple can be reached by travelling about 15 km from Mayiladuthurai towards Thiruvarur Route . From Kollumangudi, the temple is just 2 km.
Sirupuliyur (Thiru sirupuliyur) which is one of the 108 divya desams in Tiruvarur district near to Mayavaram The Lord of this temple is Arulmaakadal, Sthala Sayana Perumal who gives darshan in bujanga sayanam posture facing south.
. The temple tower is a 75-foot structure and has two enclosures around. The Processional deities Krupa Samudra Perumal / aruL mA kaDal perumAL and Goddess Dayaanayagi grace the devotees with abundant mercy.
The association of Kadamba tree with Lord Krishna is most memorable . The Kadamba tree is consecrated by all the the devotees of Lord Krishna and its flowers are used as offerings to LORD at various temples.
Several legends that are related to the Kadamba tree are famous to relish . Under the Kadamba tree, Lord Krishna used to swing from the branches and dance in festivity with all the gopikas of Vrindavana.
Once
while grazing the cows along with the gopas near GOVERDHAN near a village Sammai our little krishna saw a elder gopa distributing kheer ( payasam ) to bhagavathas .
Our little krishna approached the elder gopa and asks Bhayya !!
what about my share ??
The elder gopa smilingly asks ( chinni krishna ) kanhaiyya to get a cup for collecting the Kheer not knowing what our chinni krishna can do ..
.
The butter thief he was goes near the Kadamba tree and asks for a leaf Cup .
Yes Master !!!
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The Kadamba tree with all obedience bows down to the Master and gives its leaf in the form of a small cup for kanhaiyya to have that Kheer .
This divine leela which was enacted few thousand years ago still continues in the sacred dhaam of Vrindavan near Giriraj Goverdhan .
As a part of our Vraj Dhaam yatra , during Sri Goverdhan Parikrama , we were eager to have darshan of the divine cup .
We had to go inside the village from the Goverdhan parikrama marg upto almost 3 kms in search of the kadamba trees .
Praying LORD for his grace we were trying to request vrajwasi to help us in having a darshan of the leaf cup which is rarely visible .
A brajwasee passing by entered the scene , but was not very sure about the location .
Our chant of the Holy name somehow attracted a dark skinned young boy who suddenly appeared under a tree smiling at us . He was nowhere around when we searched .
It was all of a sudden he appeared and the miracle happened……..
He called another vrajwasee ( who was also not seen for few seconds ) , and told him to go to a particular Kadamba tree and come with the divine cup .
Within seconds the divine cup arrived and it was a blessing to have a darshan of the butter leaf cup from the kadamba tree which was graced by a vrajwasee himself .
This divine anubhutee can be felt even after 5000 years the kadamba tree gives that divine cup to the lovable brajwasees ..
We later spent some divine time with this young lad (!) discussing some esoteric truths on Premabhava of gopikaas and Lord’s love to his devotees ..
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All of us were in tears for the mercy LORD showered on us …
All glories to the Divine leela
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Swamy Mudali Andan was the foremost disciple of Jagatha Acharyar Swamy Ramanuja . AndAn was sad that he did not have a male heir to continue the kainkaryam of Lord Ranganathar at Srirangam.
Lord out of abundant mercy enacted a divine play . Inside the temple at the same time , Swamy Ramanuja received prasadam from the temple priest which was covered with a garment (Kandadai- Kandal Gandam + aadai – a piece of cloth with fragrance) worn by Lord ( Lordships ).
Swamy Ramanuja indicated to Andaan about the auspicious happening and told him he will be blessed with a son soon. As per the divine will , during the tamil Masi Month , Poonarvasu thirunakshatram , Swamy Mudali AndAn was blessed with a child with divya thEjas.
Mudaliandan took the young boy wrapped in the cloth that was used to dry periya perumal after his ritual bath . The torn cloth was smelling of gandham ( sandal ) . Swamy Ramanuja took the little boy and blessed him . and said he came in a torn cloth, but he shall be with a golden heart and spread Sriman narayana’s moola mantram to the world and hence will be called Kandhadai .
Years passed , the child grew up and came to be known as KanthAdai AndAn . KanthAdai AndAn was just 28 years old when his father Swamy MudaliAndaan reached Srivaikuntam .
Swamy Ramanujar consoled him, took him to NamperumAls Sannidhi and gave him the duties and responsibilities performed by his father Mudali AndAn .
KanthAdai AndAn also discharged the responsibilities like his father . Among this great lineage another great Acharyar Swamy Appachiaranna appeared .
Swamy Appachiaranna was the direct descendant of Swamy Mudaliandan Swami and occupies the nineth (9) position in the legacy .
Appachiaranna was addresed by Swami Manavala Mamunigal as “Nam Appachiarannao”. Swamy Manavala mamunigal out of abundant compassion gifted two similar deities of himself to Appachiaranna (one for the worship of Sri Appachiaranna Swamy himself and the other for Swamy Vanamamalai jeer Swami, the Acharya of Appachiaranna) , made from the theerthapathram used by Swamy Ramanujar received by Swamy manavala mamunigal which was in a poor condition and later named as ‘RAMANUJAN’.
Swamy Manavala Mamunigal also gave Appachiaranna the deity of ” Lord Teemanam Keduthar”, the Perumal worshipped by Sri Atkondavilli Jeer.
As directed by Swami Manavala Mamunigal, Appachiaranna lived at Kancheepuram at Swamy Mudaliandan thirumaligai performing Nithya Thiruvaradhanam to “Sri Azhaithu Vazhivithavar” (the Lordships given to kandhadai thozzappar by ( Lord Varadarajar) Perulala perumal himself) one among the shad bheras of Kanchi Perarulalan .
In the foot steps of Swami Ramanuja, Appachiaranna also spent his life time doing the Salaikinaru Kainkaryam for the ( Abhishekam ) thirumanjanam of Perarulalan and Perundevi Thayar.
Swamy Appachiaranna’s thirunakshatram is Avani Hastham falls on25th of August 2017.
This grand festival is being celebrated for 5 days from August 21st 2017 , at Sri Sri Mudaliandan Swami Thirumaligai , Singaperumal Koil, Thirunarayanapuram & Srirangam .
On this grand occasion, Chellapillai Perumal and Swami Ramanujar grace Swamy Mudaliandan Thirumaligai at Thirunarayapuram ( Melkote) to bless all Sishyas and abhimanis. This grand festival is taking place for many years as practiced by our Poorvacharya’s.
Swamy Nampillai just finished his daily worship and was about to conduct a discourse .
His ardent disciple Pinbalagaram Perumal Jeeyar had a doubt to be clarified.
He approached Swamy Nampillai and submitted his question
.. Acharya !!
Please tell me , whenever a person is in difficulty we approach our Acharya and seek his blessings to ward off the problems .
Acharyar also blesses by abundant compassion ” shubena manasa dhyaatam ” adding Thathasthu …and the problem is solved .
Such incidents have happened several times in the past and continue to happen .
Adiyen wants to know whether this is because of Acharya or the Lord ?
Swamy Nampillai in a composed mood , clarifies his disciple that all the good that was happening was because of Lord himself .
Pinbalagam Jeeyar again once again submits , Acharya !! in that case can we approach LORD directly ?
Swamy Nampillai with compassion replies !
My child …….
It is incorrect to directly approach the Lord .
In order to seek LORD’s grace we must first seek HIS devotees blessings .
LORD ensures that the blessings showered by HIS pure devotees are always effective . There is no other way to seek HIS grace .
Pinbalagam Jeeyar was convinced with the answer , but expected more .
Swamy Nampillai continued !
Look my child !!
In Mahabharata, Jayadhrata the powerful warrior killed Abhimanyu ( Arjuna’s son ) after leading him into the Padmavyuham ( Lotus formation ) .
Arjuna deeply upset vowed that before the sunset he would kill Jayadhrata else he would kill himself.
Having coming to know about Arjuna’s vow the kauravas were very happy . They decided to protect Jayadratta till sunset to see the end of Arjuna . Meanwhile , Arjuna was searching for Jayadratha everywhere in the battle field till the evening . Time passed swiftly and the sun was about to set . The Kauravas were overjoyed . They were keen to see Arjuna killing himself as per his vow .
Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Kovil
Lord Krishna watching Arjunas anxiety , released his Sudarshana chakra and covered the sun thus appearing the night has arrived .
The kauravas were overjoyed . Jayadratta also came out from the hiding place . Looking at Kauravas , Lord Krishna ordered Arjuna to behead Jayadrata which was immediately obeyed and simultaneously recalled the sudarshana chakra . The sun came back in its own glory which amazed the kauravas . The vow announced by Arjuna was fulfilled by Lord Krishna . Lord ensured that HIS help is always available for HIS devotee. This pastime proves that LORD alone is responsible for the blessings of the devotee to be effective .
Swamy Nampillai further continued , Koorath azhwan the ardent disciple of Swamy Ramanuja was humiliated by the bigoted cruel king Krimikanta .
He along with Peria nambi lost their eyes in the process of saving the rich srivaishnava sampradaya . Koorathazhwan returned to srirangam in great distress . The tyrant king passed an order that all those who had any connection whatsoever with Swamy Ramanuja shall not be permitted to enter the temple in Srirangam.
Unknowingly , one day Koorathazhwan makes an entry into the SriRangam temple . The temple guards stop him from entering . However one temple guard allows him to enter into the temple to have darshan of Lord Ranganatha . Kooresan was curious to know what was the reason for his special favor towards him ? The temple guard replied Oh Seer ! you seem to look like a person with good qualities though a follower of Swamy Ramanuja and that is the reason you were being allowed . Kooresa was shocked .
He exclaimed ..
Are you concluding that the followers of Swamy Ramanuja have bad qualities ?? and If my good qualities entitle me to enter the temple are the followers of Swamy Ramanuja bad ?
In that case I do not wish to sever my relationship with Swamy Ramanuja and will avoid entering into the temple ………
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For realisation of the self, my association with Swamy Ramanuja is essential . No prayer pleases Lord without Acharyar’s mercy. Kooresan politely refuses to accept the gaurd’s honor and walks back to his house . This pastime establishes the supremacy of Acharya sambandham with our poorvacharyas …
A lotus which is not in the water , will not be allowed to blossom by the sun .. Not only that It will fade away soon …….
Amongst the 12 Azhwars , Vishnuchittar was glorified as ” Peria Azhwar” . Our poorvacharyars comment that though he appeared after Mudal azhwar, Nammazhwar, Thirumazhisai Azhwar, he was honoured with the title “Peria Azhwar because while all other azhwars glorified Lord as Supreme Personality, Azhwar had “pongum parivu” ( vatsalyabhava).
Swamy Manavala Mamunigal in ” Upadesa Ratnamala ” says “Pongum parivaale petraan Periazhwar ennum peyar” meaning that because of the vatsalya bhaavam like a mother towards the Lord, he was conferred with this title. Periyazhwar was overwhelmed to have darshanam of the Lord after winning the debate called by the Pandyan King at Madurai few hundred years back . Having darshan of Lord Koodal Azhagar Perumal , along with the Goddess who had come to witness the marathon procession honours done by the King to the Azhwar , on Garuda Vahanam , Periyazhwar was worried that such a beautiful form of Lord may attract evil eye .
He innocently takes the bell from the elephant’s neck from where he was riding (as symbol warding off the evil ) and starts glorifying Lord with his mangala shasanam instantly , by chanting the introductory verses of Divya Prabhandam “Thirup PallaNdu”
(Long live for many years, Long live for many years for Hundreds of thousands of years! my Lord !!!!)
Out of the vatsalya bhaavam which he had for the Lord, he considered himself to be Mother Yasodha and experienced all the divine pastimes which the Lord displayed during HIS avataram. Out of the 473 pasurams which he composed known as “Periazhwar Thirumozhi”, about 190 pasurams are about the divine pastimes of Lord Krishna …..
Periya Azhwar was an incarnation of Garuda (the divine vehicle of Lord Maha Vishnu).
Azhwar was serving Lord Vatapatrasayi perumal at Srivalliputhur . During a recitation event of Srimad Bhagavatam inside the temple , Azhwar was struck to one incident which inspired him to take up the garland service to Lord . This sweet pastime of Lord Krishna meeting a person at Mathura moved him . Lord Krishna meets a person who was carrying garlands to the demon king kamsa . Lord asks him to part with a flower garland much to the surprise of the villager.
The innocent man he was , replied Oh Lord !!! ” several saints perform austerity and devotional service to seek your company and I am humbled with your mercy on me . Please take this wonderful garland as a small gift .. I surrender even If Kamsa kills me ….
The lord was very pleased with his service and blessed him . The incident left a strong impression on azhwar’s mind and he concluded that preparing and offering flower garlands to the Lord was the best kaimkaryam to HIM and thus he cultivated flower gardens all around the temple and used to prepare a small flower garlands with different varieties of flowers. The list included Tulasi, lotus, lilly roses and other perfumed flowers ( shengazhaneer, mallikai mullai ) which he offered to Lord daily with deep love . He used to offer eight varieties of flowers which would blossom at different times in a day . The divine couple competed amongs’t themselves to bless this devotee. Bhoomi devi, the Lord’s eternal consort appeared as his daughter whom he named “Kodhai”/ Andal His love for Lord Krishna was ultimate . Always in the mood of serving LORD as little Krishna he used to swoon in bhakthi bhava of Yasodha .
After being conferred “Bhattar pirAn”, PeriaAzhwAr continued on his garland service while singing the pasurams on Lord Krishna .The mood in which Azhwar sung was as if he became His mother, yasOdhA. He bathed him, fed Him, dressed Him up played with him and enjoyed every part of his beauty . Azhwar imagines all his childhood mischief which yasOdhA had undergone. The Child’s naughty mischief, divine leelAs, were all sung by periyAzhwAr at a stretch which is a prayer book of all vaishnavas .
All the pAsurams of Azhwar are to be sung , re-sung and enjoyed.
All were bhakti laden pAsurams and shall taste like a ripe grape fruit soaked in honey by the devotees .
Azhwar , takes over the scene from LORD’s appearance , wherein all citizens of Mathura are happy on the appearance of Lord Krishna. Here he considers Thirukkottiyur a place near Madurai as Mathura and paints the picture of people going ecstatic, unable to contain the unlimited joy of LORD’s appearance . His choosing of words are so perfect that it can bring the divine scene before the devotees eyes . He reveals the ecstatic joy encountered by the gopas .
Azhwar immerses himself into the emotional outpourings of Yashoda maa that keeps the reciter to visualize the mood of a mother giving holy bath to little Krishna while cleansing the tiny mouth of the Lord in his pasurams . The verses keep the reciter emotionally charged with several divine pastimes of Lord Krishna in the following verses .
Azhwar observes the seven worlds or universe itself inside the little mouth ! Next, he enjoys the beauty of the parts of LORDs body from the Holy Feet to the lovely Locks of hairs and as a mother he invites other gopis to partake in his transcendental bliss .
As Lord Krishna was hid from the demon Kamsa notice and secretively brought up, Azhvar innocently says that this child was born in ascendant star that is tenth from Hastam star ! Counting forward tenth star from Hastam is Thiruvonam ( Sravana ) which is Lord Narayana’s star and counting backwards from Hastam is Rohini, Star of Lord Krishna. This is he does to ensure the demon kamsa does not harm little Krishna after knowing his whereabouts . Azhwar intelligently announces this for the safety of this child in his wonderful pasurams .
Azhvar further proceeds by singing a Lullaby for Divine Child and lists out the various presents made by different celestials Brahma, Rudra, Kubera, Varuna, Indra, Sri Mahalakshmi, Bhumadevi and Kali .
Azhwar visualises Yashodamma along with little krishna and shows him the moon. She invites the moon to come near as child is eager to play with him. She pleads the moon to come quickly as He is feeling sleepy after His food and if He sleeps late the food will not be digested properly ! She also cautions Moon not to ignore him saying He is no doubt a small kid and don’t take him lightly as one incident (reminds him of the experience of Mahabali with this small one !)
In the next few pasurams Azhwar visualises as mother keeping the child and sways him forward and back like a see saw . The outpourings further highlight about the dwarf and the faltering steps. Azhwar like any mother quotes ………………
Acho Acho …………for the child’s bravery for his little steps…….
While feeding the Lord and the ear boring ceremonies , he visualizes and sings the Twelve Holy Names of the Lord ,
and advises the ordinary mortals to name their kids with the holy names of Lord to be attached to the supreme personality .
Azhwar now visualises the holy oil bath ( Neerattam ) of little krishna . Krishna is not keen to join his mother for taking a bath . Yasoda pleads him with several quotes amusing the reciter . Little Krishna refuses and runs away every attempt . She entreats him saying- Kanna !! “Having besmeared your body with butter and mud, I will not let you soil your bed tonight. See! For how long I have been waiting with oil, scented soap-nut powder etc. O! Lord! Narana! who is beyond anybody’s reach. Please do come and have your bath”.
Yashoda having failed convincing , finally tricks him into a sense of shame by saying “I might even like to leave you go with all the dirt on your beautiful body smeared by you, while playing in the cattle-shed but others ‘will not like it a bit and more importantly, if your darling Nappinnai ( Radha rani ) sees you in this state, she will laugh at you!.
Are you so shameless to let this happen to you? Come,Quickly finish your bath and get ready” – This hymn is recited in all the Srivaishnava temples during Abhishekam Tirumanjanam (ceremonial bath) to the Lord. Azhwar amuses him by calling Kakkai (crow ) to groom the hair, to get a Stick for Him to play.
Further Azhwar visualises decorating the Lord with variety of eight flowers which is taken out immediately once it blooms . Azhwar dresses him with finest sandal perfume and to ward of the evil eye for his nectarian beauty he keeps a Rakshai …
The Naughty divine pastimes of little Krishna and the casual complaints of the neighbours on little Krishna is interesting .
The verses take the reciter to many moods of a mother . Affection , Emotion , Deep love concern etc …. ( why not !!!! And it has a message for ordinary mortals like us ) At one stage , Yashodamaa is in awe of child is refusing to feed her breast but only solid food.
She feels sorry that she had to send child to tend the calves for grazing , and worried about his safe return . The Gopikas getting enamored of Lord coming behind the Cattle. The verses conclude with some of the finest pictures of Krishna playing the flute in the forest.
The incident of Lord Krishna’s lifting Govardhana Hill follows with glories to the Hill and the Lord who lifted saving the entire inhabitants . He gives vivid description of mountain itself. Azhwar visualises Lord Krishna’s playing Flute mesmerizing the Gopis, Cows, the birds the trees and the celestial in heaven. Periazhwar describes Lord Krishna’s flute-playing in 10 mellifluous verses.
Azhwars often express their love as a mother OR of a daughter OR a lover meaning their own Souls longing for union with the Supreme Lord. Most of his 473 verses in Divya Prabandham, collectively known as “Periazhwar Tirumozhi” speak of the early years of Krishna. Azhwar became the father- in- law of Lord Narayana when his daughter Andal marries the Lord. – – an honor none else could claim.
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics credits : Courtesy : Google images uploaded by devotees
video credits: Shri Ananthanarayana for MS Amma’s clip
” paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge.
(In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to re establish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared at various times to protect the good and eradicate the evil. Out of the prominent Dasa-avatarams, Vamana avataram has a special significance .
Bhakta Prahalad’s grandson Mahabali Chakravarthy had conquered all the worlds including Deva lokam as a result of which the devas headed by Indra had to leave Devalokam and sought their mother, Aditi’s intervention. Kashyapa rishi and Aditi prayed to Lord SrimanNarayanan for protecting the devas.
The All compassionate Lord appeared to them as their own child during the month of Sravanam when the star Sravanam was ascendant which is celebrated as Vamana Jayanti. This place is presently in Buxar, Bihar .
The revered parents in the presence of rishis,devas and demi-gods performed yagnopaveetham (thread ceremony) to the divine child .
The demi gods attended in large numbers and presented deer skin, stalk, kamandalam, umbrella etc to the divine child who immediately left for the place where Bali Chakravarthy was performing a yaaga.
Though Bali Chakravarthy was born as an asura, he was dharmic and a great devotee of Lord MahaVishnu. Out of pride , he conquered the Devalokam and occupied Indra simhasanam which could be attained only after performing 100 aswamedha yagas. As the Lord had promised Prahalad earlier that HE would not kill any one his descendants and as Bali himself was a great devotee, Lord resorted to approach Bali Chakravarthy asking for alms.
As per the sastras only a brahmachari and a sanyasi can go for alms. The all-compassionate Lord arrived in the form of brahmachari for seeking alms.
This divine scene makes Andal glorifiy the Lord in Thiruppavai as “ONGI ULAGALANDHA UTTHAMAN PERE PAADI…..” She addresses Perumal as “UTHTHAMAN” because the all opulent Perumal resorted for seeking alms for the sake of saranagathaars (who took refuge in HIS LOTUS FEET )
Looking at the divine aura of Vamana murthi who was approaching Bali’s yaagam, Bali Chakravarthy went forward to welcome him. Bali Chakravarthy with reverence offered athithi sathkaaram and pleaded the boy to ask for anything.
The boy replied that HE needed only 3 measures of land measured by HIS holy feet to which Bali immediately consented. Bali’s guru, Sukracharyar guessed who the guest was and warned his disciple to refrain from fulfilling the grant. Bali didn’t listen to his guru and went ahead to make the offering.
The guru cursed him that he would loose all his wealth. His guru, in order to protect his disciple, assumed the form of a bee and obstructed water from passing through the kamandalam with which Bali was offering.
Lord Vamana poked the hole with a dharbai which resulted in Sukracharyar losing an eye. Bali was an exalted devotee who was prepared to forego everything for pleasing the Lord who was their kula dhanam.
The moment Bali Chakravarthy finished oblations, Lord grew gigantically and with HIS first foot measuring the earth, with HIS second foot measured the above worlds .
When the holy FEET reached Satyalokam, Brahma immediately did paada puja(washed the Lord’s Lotus Feet). The water which washed the holy feet became the holiest river, Ganges which Parama Shiva adorns on his head.
Annamacharyar says “Brahma Kadigina Paadhamu…….” Lord who had taken the Viswaroopam showed HIS two fingers saying that HE had conquered the entire Universe and asked as to where HE should place HIS third foot. Bali Chakravarthy with reverence offered his head to the Lord for him to place HIS LOTUS FEET.
Prahalada appeared before Lord and praised him for the mercy HE showered on his grandfather.
Lord pleased with his bhakti ordered him to rule the Patala loka and granted Bali’s prayer to have HIS darshan always by remaining as a guard in Patala loka!!!!! such was the Lord’s compassion…..
This Viswaroopam of Lord is glorified as Trivikraman .
One can have darshan of this Divya Roopam at 3 Srivaishnava divya desams in Tamil nadu- namely,
Kaazhiseerama vinnagaram(Sirkazhi ).,
2) Ulagalandha Perumal kovil at Thirukovalur and
3) Ulagalandha Perumal kovil at Kanchipuram.
As per elders version, in Sirkazhi, Lord Trivikraman measured the first step. Vamana murthi grew in size and taking the Viswaroopam measured the world with HIS left foot here which is on the air.
WE can have darsanam of right thiruvadi ( divine foot) along with Vamana murthi at this place only once in a year on Vaikunta Ekadasi when the kavacham from Thirumaal’s thiruvadi is removed. Here in garbagriham, Lord gives darshan all alone. Compared to the other divya desams mentioned above, the Lord ‘s thirumeni ( roopam ) is smaller in size . The main deity in this temple is glorified as ‘Kaazhicheerama Vinnagaram‘, and ‘Thavitu Paane Thadalan‘, the King of World.
LORD TRIVIKRAMAN AT SIRKAZHI
The Thirivikarama Perumal Temple is located near Seerkazhi of Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu. It’s about half mile away from the Seerkazhi Railway station. . Lord Thiru Vikrama is otherwise called “Thadalan”. As Lord scaled the world with his foot He is called “Thadalanperumal”.
Andal in her verses praise the glory of LORD THIRUVIKRAMANARAYANA calling him ‘THAADALAN’.
As LORD scaled the world and sky with his FOOT so he is called ‘THAADALA PERUMAL’.THAAL in tamil means‘THIRUVADEE’ (foot) and AALAN means MEASURING or SCALING.
Thirumangai Azhwar glorifies the LORD here with the below pasuram :
Oru kuralai irunilam moovadi mannvendi
Oolagamanathium Eeradiyal odukki onrum
Tharaga ena maavaliya sirayil vaitha
Thaadalan thaalanaiveer thakka keerthi
Arumaraiyin thiral naagum velvi ayinthum
Angamgal avaiyarum esaigal yezhum
Theruvil malivizha valamum sirukkum kazhi
Srirama vinnagare sermin neere
The next Divya desam is Thirukovilur located 75 kms from Cuddalore, 36km from Villupuram, 36 km from Thiruvannamalai, and 40 from Kallakurichi .
This holy place is celebrated as one of the 108 Divyadesam and more significant in the Nadunadu region. Lord in Thirukovilur adorns shankhu and chakaram as abharanam whereas in Thiru uragam of kanchipuram he is unarmed and raises his left and right lies up in order to scale the whole world by his foot, a majestic darisanam . But at Seerkazhi, Lord Narayana gives darshan as Thirivikrama with all his five weapons with his left hand extending upto the left foot, which is folded upwards.
The Thirukovalur darsanam of the Lord measuring the nether worlds with HIS second foot is majestic . This place is very important because this is
(1) one of the Pancha Krishna kshetrams with the temple tower is 192 feet tall , third biggest in Tamilnadu.
(2) the place where Poigai Azhwar from Kanchi, Bhoodath Azhwar from Mahabalipuram and Pey azhwar from Mylapore met for the first time on a rainy night. Perumal appeared to them and was glorified by each of these azhwars in 100 stanzas. This is the place where Naalayira Divya Prabhandham began.
(3) Another interesting feature is Thiurmangai Azhwar has glorified Vishnu Durga, a demigoddess here. Sukra, the teacher of the demon king has a temple here.
(4) Lord gives darsanam as Trivikraman. with HIS right thiruvadi raised , Lord is seen measuring heaven. On the right side top, Brahma from heaven is seen offering water to Lord’s thiruvadi which turned to be the sacred Ganges. Here, near the left Thiruvadi of Lord , Bali’s son is seen doing puja.
As this is the place where Mudal Azhwars met, we can have darsanam of Mudal Azhwars on the left side of Perumal and Mruganda rishi in whose hamlet Lord appeared to the Mudal Azhwars is seen on the right side. The Moolavar is seen in Pachai varnam. (Like in Tirukurungudi, they have now adorned Moolavar’s thirumeni with different colours using herbs. )
LORD TRIVIKRAMAN AT THIRUKOVALUR
Finally, the darsanam of the Lord placing the third foot on Mahabali’s head can be had at Kanchipuram in Ulagalandha Perumal temple. Ulagalandha Perumal (Trivikraman) is about 35 feet high with HIS left foot raised and right foot on Bali’s head.Lord’s 2 fingers on HIS left hand pointed upwards symbolising measuring of the entire Universe with HIS two feet and pointing out one finger of HIS right hand downwards towards Bali as to where HE has to place HIS third foot. Ulagalantha Perumal Temple is glorified in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the Vaishnava canon, with hymns sung by the great saint Thirumazhisai Azhwar
The Lord’s form is so captivating that it remains fresh in the minds of devotees. The beautiful floral design on Perumal’s vastram can be clearly seen on Perumal’s thirumeni. Perumal is under Srikara vimanam, the Pushkarini is known as Vamana Pushkarini, thirumanjanam is performed in Ekantham, the priest lights a lamp attached to a stick to enable us to have HIS gigantic darshan.
As Bali Chakravarthy who was under the Lord’s feet (as nammazhwar says “adikeezh pugundu….. in 6-10) wanted to have darshan of Perumal, the Lord appeared in a very small form of adisesha and fulfilled his wish. This form of the LOrd is known as Ooragathan and is one of the divya desams.
The priest clad in wet clothes with complete fasting performs abhishekam to the Lord and offer milk payasam to this Lord here on Fridays and Sundays.
Pictures credits : Google images
Video credits : HG Balagovindadasa for Brahmakadigina padamu
Our poorvacharyars comment that though he appeared after Mudal azhwar, Nammazhwar, Thirumazhisai Azhwar, he was honoured with the title “Peria Azhwar because while all other azhwars glorified Lord as Supreme Personality, Azhwar had “pongum parivu”( vatsalyabhava).
Swamy Manavala Mamunigal in ” Upadesa Ratnamala ” says “Pongum parivaale petraan Periazhwar ennum peyar” meaning that because of the vatsalya bhaavam like a mother towards the Lord, he was conferred with this title. Periyazhwar was overwhelmed to have darshanam of the Lord after winning the debate called by the Pandyan King at Madurai few hundred years back .
Having darshan of Lord Koodal Azhagar Perumal , along with the Goddess who had come to witness the marathon procession honours done by the King to the Azhwar , on Garuda Vahanam , Periyazhwar was worried that such a beautiful form of Lord may attract evil eye . He innocently takes the bell from the elephant’s neck from where he was riding (as symbol warding off the evil ) and starts glorifying Lord with his mangala shasanam instantly , by chanting the introductory verses of Divya Prabhandam
Out of the vatsalya bhaavam which he had for the Lord, he considered himself to be Mother Yasodha and experienced all the divine pastimes which the Lord displayed during HIS avataram. Out of the 473 pasurams which he composed known as “Periazhwar Thirumozhi”, about 190 pasurams are about the divine pastimes of Lord Krishna …..
Periya Azhwar was an incarnation of Garuda (the divine vehicle of Lord Maha Vishnu).
Azhwar was serving Lord Vatapatrasayi perumal at Srivalliputhur . During a recitation event of Srimad Bhagavatam inside the temple , Azhwar was struck to one incident which inspired him to take up the garland service to Lord . This sweet pastime of Lord Krishna meeting a person at Mathura moved him .
Lord Krishna meets a person who was carrying garlands to the demon king kamsa . Lord asks him to part with a flower garland much to the surprise of the villager.The innocent man he was , replied Oh Lord !!! ” several saints perform austerity and devotional service to seek your company and I am humbled with your mercy on me . Please take this wonderful garland as a small gift .. I surrender even If Kamsa kills me ….
The lord was very pleased with his service and blessed him . The incident left a strong impression on azhwar’s mind and he concluded that preparing and offering flower garlands to the Lord was the best kaimkaryam to HIM and thus he cultivated flower gardens all around the temple and used to prepare a small flower garlands with different varieties of flowers.
The list included Tulasi, lotus, lilly roses and other perfumed flowers ( shengazhaneer, mallikai mullai ) which he offered to Lord daily with deep love . He used to offer eight varieties of flowers which would blossom at different times in a day . The divine couple competed amongs’t themselves to bless this devotee.
Bhoomi devi, the Lord’s eternal consort appeared as his daughter whom he named “Kodhai”/ Andal His love for Lord Krishna was ultimate . Always in the mood of serving LORD as little Krishna he used to swoon in bhakthi bhava of Yasodha .
After being conferred “Bhattar pirAn”, PeriaAzhwAr continued on his garland service while singing the pasurams on Lord Krishna .The mood in which Azhwar sung was as if he became His mother, yasOdhA. He bathed him, fed Him, dressed Him up played with him and enjoyed every part of his beauty . Azhwar imagines all his childhood mischief which yasOdhA had undergone. The Child’s naughty mischief, divine leelAs, were all sung by periyAzhwAr at a stretch which is a prayer book of all vaishnavas .
All the pAsurams of Azhwar are to be sung , re-sung and enjoyed.
All were bhakti laden pAsurams and shall taste like a ripe grape fruit soaked in honey by the devotees .
Azhwar , takes over the scene from LORD’s appearance , wherein all citizens of Mathura are happy on the appearance of Lord Krishna. Here he considers Thirukkottiyur a place near Madurai as Mathura and paints the picture of people going ecstatic, unable to contain the unlimited joy of LORD’s appearance .
His choosing of words are so perfect that it can bring the divine scene before the devotees eyes . He reveals the ecstatic joy encountered by the gopas .
Azhwar immerses himself into the emotional outpourings of Yashoda maa that keeps the reciter to visualize the mood of a mother giving holy bath to little Krishna while cleansing the tiny mouth of the Lord in his pasurams . The verses keep the reciter emotionally charged with several divine pastimes of Lord Krishna in the following verses .
Azhwar observes the seven worlds or universe itself inside the little mouth ! Next, he enjoys the beauty of the parts of LORDs body from the Holy Feet to the lovely Locks of hairs and as a mother he invites other gopis to partake in his transcendental bliss .
As Lord Krishna was hid from the demon Kamsa notice and secretively brought up, Azhvar innocently says that this child was born in ascendant star that is tenth from Hastam star ! Counting forward tenth star from Hastam is Thiruvonam ( Sravana ) which is Lord Narayana’s star and counting backwards from Hastam is Rohini, Star of Lord Krishna.
This is he does to ensure the demon kamsa does not harm little Krishna after knowing his whereabouts . Azhwar intelligently announces this for the safety of this child in his wonderful pasurams .
Azhvar further proceeds by singing a Lullaby for Divine Child and lists out the various presents made by different celestials Brahma, Rudra, Kubera, Varuna, Indra, Sri Mahalakshmi, Bhumadevi and Kali .
Azhwar visualises Yashodamma along with little krishna and shows him the moon. She invites the moon to come near as child is eager to play with him. She pleads the moon to come quickly as He is feeling sleepy after His food and if He sleeps late the food will not be digested properly !
She also cautions Moon not to ignore him saying He is no doubt a small kid and don’t take him lightly as one incident (reminds him of the experience of Mahabali with this small one !)
In the next few pasurams Azhwar visualises as mother keeping the child and sways him forward and back like a see saw . The outpourings further highlight about the dwarf and the faltering steps. Azhwar like any mother quotes ………………
Acho Acho …………for the child’s bravery for his little steps…….
While feeding the Lord and the ear boring ceremonies , he visualizes and sings the Twelve Holy Names of the Lord ,
KESHAVA,
NARAYANA ,
MADHAVA,
GOVINDA,
VISHNU,
MADHUSUDANA
TRIVIKRAMA,
VAMANA,
SRIDHARA,
HRISHIKESHA,
PADMANABHA & DAMODARA
and advises the ordinary mortals to name their kids with the holy names of Lord to be attached to the supreme personality .
Azhwar now visualises the holy oil bath ( Neerattam ) of little krishna . Krishna is not keen to join his mother for taking a bath . Yasoda pleads him with several quotes amusing the reciter . Little Krishna refuses and runs away every attempt .
She entreats him saying- Kanna !! “Having besmeared your body with butter and mud, I will not let you soil your bed tonight. See! For how long I have been waiting with oil, scented soap-nut powder etc. O! Lord! Narana! who is beyond anybody’s reach. Please do come and have your bath”.
Yashoda having failed convincing , finally tricks him into a sense of shame by saying “I might even like to leave you go with all the dirt on your beautiful body smeared by you, while playing in the cattle-shed but others ‘will not like it a bit and more importantly, if your darling Nappinnai ( Radha rani ) sees you in this state, she will laugh at you!.
Are you so shameless to let this happen to you? Come,Quickly finish your bath and get ready” – This hymn is recited in all the Srivaishnava temples during Abhishekam Tirumanjanam (ceremonial bath) to the Lord. Azhwar amuses him by calling Kakkai (crow ) to groom the hair, to get a Stick for Him to play.
Further Azhwar visualises decorating the Lord with variety of eight flowers which is taken out immediately once it blooms . Azhwar dresses him with finest sandal perfume and to ward of the evil eye for his nectarian beauty he keeps a Rakshai …
The Naughty divine pastimes of little Krishna and the casual complaints of the neighbours on little Krishna is interesting .
The verses take the reciter to many moods of a mother . Affection , Emotion , Deep love concern etc …. ( why not !!!! And it has a message for ordinary mortals like us ) At one stage , Yashodamaa is in awe of child is refusing to feed her breast but only solid food.
She feels sorry that she had to send child to tend the calves for grazing , and worried about his safe return . The Gopikas getting enamored of Lord coming behind the Cattle. The verses conclude with some of the finest pictures of Krishna playing the flute in the forest.
The incident of Lord Krishna’s lifting Govardhana Hill follows with glories to the Hill and the Lord who lifted saving the entire inhabitants .
He gives vivid description of mountain itself. Azhwar visualises Lord Krishna’s playing Flute mesmerizing the Gopis, Cows, the birds the trees and the celestial in heaven. Periazhwar describes Lord Krishna’s flute-playing in 10 mellifluous verses.
Azhwars often express their love as a mother OR of a daughter OR a lover meaning their own Souls longing for union with the Supreme Lord.
Most of his 473 verses in Divya Prabandham, collectively known as “Periazhwar Tirumozhi” speak of the early years of Krishna. Azhwar became the father- in- law of Lord Narayana when his daughter Andal marries the Lord. – – an honor none else could claim.
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics credits : Courtesy : Google images uploaded by devotees
video credits: Shri Ananthanarayana for MS Amma’s clip
The above verse points out that the eight Swayam Vyakta Kshetrams , Srirangam, Tirupathi, SrimushNam, Vanamamalai, Salagramam, Badri, NaimisharaNyam and Pushkar grant liberation to those who visit the place and seek Lord’s grace .
Elders say the Lord as the Archa Murthy at each of these holy Kshetrams signify one Aksharam of the Ashtakshara Mantram .
Naimisaaranyam is 120 kms away from Lucknow between Sitapur and Balmau in the state of Uttar Pradesh .
Naimisaraanyam is 42 kms away from Shidoli .
Naimisharanya is situated on the left bank of the river Gomathi, which is a tributary of the river Ganges .
At ” NAIMISAARANYAM” Lord ( Perumal ) is in Aaranya ( Forest) swaroopam.
This is a swayam vyaktha kshethram. The Lord here is glorified as Deivapiran and goddess Harilakshmi as Pundarikavalli. Once, few sages went to BrahmA and asked him “In this vast world, which place is the best place for thapas (penance)?”.
BrahmA took few thruNam (dharbhaippul- grass) and joined them to make a circle. BramhA rolled the circular (nEmi- circular) dharbhai on the ground and said “Wherever this nEmi stops, let that be the best place for performing thapas”. And it rolled .. rolled and rolled. & finally stopped at this place of dense forest; and hence called as NaimisaaraNyam.
The rishis followed the wheel and arrived here. To purify the place, Lord Maha Vishnu sent his Sudarshana Chakra.
The place where the Chakram landed became a deep pit and came to be known as Chakra Theertha .
It is said to be the center of the universe and the location of Chakra Tirtha has no bottom. Legend says , whoever has a dip in Chakra Theertham will be redeemed from all their sins.
Lord blessed the rishis ( saints ) that hereafter this place would be the best place for them to do penance and attain the Lotus feet of the Lord. At the behest of the rishis, Lord decided to s remain there in Aaranya swaroopam. The rishis in due course got transformed into trees and are still doing penance.
It is believed that Lord Sri Rama performed Aswamedha yaga at this place after the war .
It is also said that this is the place where Goddess Sita Devi was accepted by Mother Earth. Sant Tulasidas wrote Sri Rama Charitha Manas here.
The deities of Divyadesam Perumal and Thayar as described in Divya Prabhandham is not to be seen here . It is believed that around 60,000 sages are still doing penance taking the form of trees. Every leaf in this forest is considered very sacred.
We will be graced to enter a South Indian temple Sri Balaji Temple and have darshan of Lord Srinivasa Perumal. On either sides of the Moolavar’s sannidhi, there are shrines for Padmavathi Thayar and Andal.
There is also a place called VyAsaghatti, where saint Sukhabrahmam narrated Srimad Bhagawtham, Bharatham to King ParIkshith.
It is in the banks of the river Gomathi and is reported to be the place where Veda vyAsa maharishi also performed his thapas (penance) for very many years.
There is a temple in this place, called PurANa mandhir wherein Sukhar’s bronze deity with parrot nose is worshipped here and besides this temple, there is a Hanumangatti temple, where HUGE HanumAn shows himself in standing posture carrying Lord Rama, Lakshmana on his shoulders.
Vyaas Gaddi also known as Puran Mandir. This is the place where Maharishi Vyasa divided the Vedas into four and wrote 18 puranas.
It was here that the famous epic Mahabharatham was composed..
Dadichi Kund is 5 kms away from Mishrik.
There is an interesting story connected with this place. The sage Dadichi,used to utter “NARAYANA KAVACHAM” here.
The whole episode related to Sage Dhadhichi donating his back bone to the devas happened at at Naimisharanya.
He donated his bones to the devas at this ashram to make weapons to defeat the demons (Vritrasura) and the place where the rishi gave up his mortal coils and merged with the Lord by giving up his life for worlds prosperity .
ThirumangaiAzhwAr sings on this Emperumaan as “thEnudaik kamalatth thiruvinukku arasE!” (the King of PiraaTTi, who is on honey dripping Lotus flower!) and performs sarangathy to Divya Dampatis, with PiraaTTi for Purushaakaaram (recommendation).
An emotional outpour from Thirumangai AzhwAr evokes tears to any devotee who reads this pasuram …..
Villidasan instantly fell in love with those large, beautiful eyes, for which nothing in the world is even a pale comparison. Villi prostrated at Sri Ramanujar’s feet proclaiming his slavery to the saint. …………………
Pillai Uranga Villidasan was a powerful wrestler. Not just any ordinary wrestler but one of very high standing. Almost all the wrestlers in the Chola Kingdom used to pay him a ‘protection fee’.
A Famous Wrestler was majestic in his looks and a terror to his rivals naturally .There was a beautiful lady in the village Ponnachi. (Pon in Tamil means gold.) Every one who saw her swore that she richly deserved her name. Her complexion, came closest to the yellow metal. She was slightly on the plumpy side. Her dance-like walk, her height and her dimpled cheeks made her the much-acclaimed beauty in her village. But the most prominent feature of her face was her eyes , very large, round and from which you cannot take your eyes off.
Ponnachi’s beauty was at least as well known as Villi’dasan s prowess. Villidasan was a very good man and had…
Soul stirring experiences at the cost of trimming the body ..and that is what is LIFE ….Realizations streaming ….This body ..mind and spirit in equilibrium is what is good quality of self realisation …The MIND understands and the body too ..as the soul is going to meet the supersoul ( PARAMATMAN)
Muktinath Kshetram is located in Nepal and is an important pilgrimage site for Sri Vaishnavites and Buddhists. It is one of the eight swayam vyakta kshetrams-out of this 4 are in southern India and 4 in Northern India. In Northern India, LORD has manifested Himself in the form of forest at Naimisaranyam, as divine water in Pushkar, as mountain in Badrinath and as Fossils in Saalagramam kshetram whereas in rest of India, Perumal is in Archa form (Tirumala, Srirangam) ,The best season to visit ( Mukthinaath) “saalagramam” is during March-April and during September to 1s week of October. May to August is rainy season and is not advisable as per locals . As a visit to this place bestows liberation, this kshetram is known as Mukthi kshetram and Perumal as MUKTHI NARAYANAN. This piligrimage was undertaken during 2006 and was posted in www.srivaishnavam.com . Was keen to share the…
I bow to Acharya Ananthazhvan, who is the repository of knowledge, mercy and wisdom, the one Acharyar who removes ignorance and is eminently eligible for surrender by disciples……
It may be mentioned here that TIRUMALAi is Kaliyuga Vaikuntam and Sri Vaikuntanathan has manifested Himself as Lord Srinivasar. The sacred TIRUMALA Hills consisting of seven peaks is considered to be seven-hooded. Blessed are the devotees who are fortunate to have his darshan .There are countless devotees who have served the LORD since ages .
One such great devotee was Swamy Ananthazhwan an ardent disciple of Swamy Ramanuja . As per Swamy Ramanuja’s directives he served the LORD few hundred years ago .There are several pastimes of Swamy Anathazhwan with Lord Srinivasa . One divine pastime is memorable as Lord himself accepts to become Swamy Anathazhwans disciple .
Knowing about the initiatives taken by Swamy Anathazhwan in organising the temple rituals with religious fervor few devotees decided to trek the hills and have darshanam of Lord and seek the blessings of his dear devotee too . The Srivaishnavites were walking from…
It was Namperumal’s divine plan to make Swamy Ramanujar leave Srirangam for a short time , and purify other places by placing his holy feet in Melnadu and retrieve Thirunarayanan who was worshipped by SriRamar and Sri Krishna during Tretha and Dwapara yugas .
Peria Perumal thus created a difficult situation by which Swamy Ramanujar had to leave Srirangam after taking Peria Perumal’s consent and thus proceeded towards north accompanied by Sri Mudaliandan Swamy. After many days of travel and undergoing various hardships following the course of Kaveri, Swamy Ramanuja finally arrived in Karnataka where the local tribals served them. En route he met his disciple kongu piratti and graced her . Later he moved near Srirangapatinam. The local people who were averse to Swamy Ramanujar conspired a plan to do away with him. Swamy Ramanujar learning their evil intentions ordered Mudaliandan Swamy to place his feet in the drinking water…
Nathdwara, one of the Nava Dwarakas, is a small town in Mavli-Udiapur route.
As part of Sri Krishna anubhava yatra, after darshan of the Lord at Mathura, Vrindavan and Goverdhan, we proceeded to have darshan of Nava Dwarakas scattered over in Gujarat, Saurashtra and Rajasthan. WE had taken a train from Mathura to Udaipur to visit Nathdwara. The co-passengers however advised us to get down at Mauvli as it is nearer to Nathdwara. A 40 minutes drive took us to Nathdwara from Mauvli . We refreshed ourselves in a nearby rest house Lakshmi Lodge, one of the hotels opposite car parking(a big open ground) on the way to temple. For one hour, we paid nominal amount of Rs.100/- for the same.
It was 10 A.M. by the time we finished and proceeded to the temple . A five minute walk along the narrow streets led to the temple. This reminded us of Pandirpur Divya Kshetram in Maharashtra .
STHALAPURANAM
Here LORD gives darshan with HIS left hand raised upwards with little finger pointing upwards, HIS right hand closed in a fist rests on HIS hip. HIS eyes glance downward affectionately at HIS devotees. Lord Shrinathji is very special and attractive diety. There is a diamond stone on the chin of the Lord. This deity is swayambhu (self manifested and not carved by anyone).
As the Lord is the combined form of Radharani and Gopala, HE is known as “SHRI SHRINATHJI”.( “SHRI” indicates Thayar ). The Lord is also affectionately called as “Banke Bhihari”. The LORD was earlier in Vrindavan near Goverdhana giri and is related to one of Sri Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan lifting Goverdhana hill.
To briefly recapitulate, Nanda Maharaja after consulting the other elderly gopas, decided to do pooja and give offerings to Indra, the king of devas , as they thought that Indra was responsible for timely rains and good yield of their crops. When the discussion was thus going on, child Sri Krishna , who was only 7 years old , intervened saying that Indra was not responsible for the cattle prosperity and it was Goverdhana giri which was responsible for the same as it provides the necessary grass to cattle, and crops to the gopas.
Krishna suggested that they should therefore give their offerings to Goverdhana giri and all the gopas including Nanda Maharaj accepted to this proposal. An auspicious day was selected and all the gopas assembled in front of Goverdhana giri with heaps of offerings. Krishna advised them to close their eyes and everyone obeyed.
Then Krishna assumed a huge form and with wide opened mouth, He consumed the entire offering without leaving anything for others. (Our poorvacharyars point out that Lord Krishna consumed the entire offering which was given to Goverdhana giri because HE didn’t want HIS devotees to partake the offering made to demi gods. We are supposed to consume only what is offered to Lord Krishna).
When it was finished, Krishna resumed HIS original child form and joined the gopis. The gopis were pleased to see that their offerings were accepted and happily returned home.
Indra was naturally upset that no offering was made and decided to punish the gopis by sending torrential rains accompanied by thunder storms. Not knowing what to do, all the vraj vasis( gopis) approached Sri Krishna for help with their cattle and children.
The child Krishna assured them and to their astonishment, lifted the Goverdhana giri with HIS left hand little finger and all the residents of Vrindavan along with their cattle took shelter under the hill .
(recollected Nammazhwar’s pasuram”
” KUNDRAM ENDHI KULIR MAZHAI KAATHAVAN” .
LORD Krishna thus stood braving for 7 days. Indra thus humbled realized HIS folly and surrendered at Lord Krishna’s Lotus feet for forgiveness. Repenting for not realizing who Krishna was, he prayed to Krishna for forgiveness which is known as Govinda Stuthi.
Krishna came to be known as “GOVINDA”- the protector of cows. Indra did Govinda pattabhishekam to Krishna with Kamadhenu , the divine cow and left the place. The devotees of Lord Krishna recite this Govinda stuti while offering abhishekam to the Lord.
To mark this incident, King Vajranabha constructed a temple at the foot of the hill. Due to passage of time, this deity disappeared and the whereabouts remained unknown for many years. After many years, LORD appeared as Gopala in Madhavendra Puri’s dream, informed him about HIS whereabouts and subsequently, a temple was constructed in Goverdhanagiri . When Aurangzeb invaded Mathura and Vrindavan, the deity disappeared into the hill and could not be traced out.
One night, the all compassionate Lord appeared in Vallabhacharyar’s dream who was a great devotee and ordered him to take HIM away from Goverdhan to Mewar.
When Sri Vallabacharyar reached Goverdhanagiri, the idol emerged out by itself . (This reminds me the of the incident connected to Melkote Selva Narayana Perumal. Melkote is a small village near Mysore on the banks of Kalyani Pushkarini . When Swamy Ramanujar arrived here, there was no temple. The Lord of the Universe chose to be hidden under sand dunes awaiting Swamy Ramanujar’s arrival. Perumal appeared in his dream and informed HIS whereabouts . With the help of the local king and devotees, Swamy Ramanujar dug the place and traced out Perumal.
The pathway to the hill which was filled with bushes and thorns were cleared and a temple was constructed in which the moolavar Thirunarayanan was placed in the sanctum sanctorum according to vedic rituals. As there was no utsavar, Udayavar prayed to Perumal for disclosing HIS whereabouts . The utsava murthi appeared in Sri Ramanujar’s dream informing that HE was presently with Sultan of Delhi.
At the ripe age , Swamy Ramanujar undertook the journey to Delhi and requested the king to return the idol. As there were many such idols which the king brought by looting various temples, he asked our acharyar to locate the idol. Ramanujar was taken to a storeroom where many idols were heaped. But as none matched with his divine vision of the Lord, acharyar was disheartened.
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Then he heard that there was an idol with the princess with whom she played with. With the king’s permission, Ramanujar went to the palace to see the vigraham and LO , the vigraham jumped up from the place and suddenly moved towards Sri Ramanujar and sat on his lap. Hence the Lord is known a “CHELLA PILLAI” and also as “Yathiraja Sampath Kumaran (son of the king of ascetics). As the princess was obsessed with the idol, she secretely followed our acharyar and finally Lord accepted her at HIS thiruvadi. At melkote, the utsava vigraham of Sri Ramanujar has Chella Pillai on his shoulders with the princess near the Lord’s thiruvadi )
Vallabacharyar arranged a cart for Perumal and left for Mewar. Rana Raja Singh of Mewar helped Vallabhacharyar . After 2 months, the cart reached the present Nathdwara enroute to Mewar in the 17th century.
But on the way to Mewar, the cart stopped suddenly at this place and did not move an inch. Vallabacharyar heard a divine voice say that Perumal wished to stay in this place itself as it was the place where HIS dear devotee, Meera bhai stayed.
( The story of Meera bhai is well known to all of us. To briefly recapitulate, Mira bhai was fondly attached to Krishna’s idol given by her father. As a child, she always used to play with the , dress Him up and sing songs in praise of the and considered Krishna to be her spouse.
She exhibited bhakti like the gopis of Vrindavan. The king of Mewar impressed with her bhakti married her despite having many queens. Though she was the queen of Mewar, she was totally disinterested in material comforts and always used to be in service of the Lord. In fact with every passing day, her bhakti enhanced and she was totally immersed in Krishna Bhakti. She was unmindful of all the hardships and tortures implicated on her by the annoyed king and her co-sisters. They tried to kill her in many ways by even giving her poisoned milk.
Mira offered the milk to her Lord and drank it.
Krishna’s Thirumeni turned blue as HE consumed the poison but nothing happened to her. The king realized HIS folly and begged for forgiveness . Mira felt that it was not fit for her to remain there and left the palace and stayed in this place. )
Swamy Vallabhacharyar with the help of Mewar king constructed a beautiful temple for the Lord . Vallabhacharyar used to please the Lord with his kirtans which was later followed by his disciples.
(Similarly, the original Dwarkadeesh idol left Dwaraka out of HIS own free will to stay at his devotee’s place in Dakore near Ahmedabad -this incident would be mentioned while narrating about Dakore Dwaraka)
Situated in the heart of the town, SHRINATHJI temple is the main attraction with thousands of devotees thronging to the temple daily. This is the second richest temple in India, first being Tirumala temple.
Opposite to the temple is the information centre who guide the pilgrims for prashad, timings etc. Near the entrance of the temple, we can find many vendors selling varieties of vegetables and fruits. .
There is a unique practice followed in this temple. Usually we find vendors selling coconuts,tulasi and flowers in front of the temple. But here vendors sell varieties of fruits,vegetables,milk etc which would be used for Lords (Perumal’s) bhog (neivedyam-food offering).
Devotees can offer milk, varieties of fruits,vegetables which would be used for Perumal’s bhog (neivedyam-food offering). Milk is to be given at a different place and vegetables , fruits in another place.
It is customary for the local devotees to pray to the Lord for fulfilling their wish and when it gets fulfilled, people offer to change the flag on the Gopuram ( Temple top ) .
The temple has 5 kainkaryapaars( serve the Lord) who are authorized to change the flag which is a hereditary right for them. While the flag is being changed, the assembled devotees continuously sing in praise of the Lord .
As we were waiting near the entrance, an elderly person came forward and offered to guide us . He gave us information about the temple which we could not get any where . He took us to the first floor of the temple where kirtan was going on while the temple flag was being changed. He informed that it was customary for the local devotees to pray to the Lord for fulfilling their wish and when it was fulfilled, people offer to change the flag.
The temple has 5 persons who are authorized to change the flag. This is hereditary right for them. While the flag is being changed, the assembled devotees continuously sing in praise of the Lord . He then took us to a room where a big photograph of Perumal “SHRI SHRINATHJI” was hung and pointed out to the nose ring worn by Perumal and a diamond stone studded on Perumal’s chin. It was for taking this diamond that Aurangzeb invaded Mathura but HIS attempts became futile because disappeared from that place.
He said that in the garbagriham, Perumal gives darshan as Krishna-Radha rani together and hence is known as “SHRI SHRINATHJI”.
The pandit ushered us to a room where the cart in which the Lord arrived is kept. This event is commemorated every year. A new cart is made and is rested on the cart. In the adjacent room, there are 2 mortars- one made of gold and the other made of silver.
Once in eight days, chandan(sandal paste ) for the LORD is ground using these mortars. In east of the temple, the photographs of Sri Vallabhacharyar along with his descendants are displayed. Bhog is offered to Perumal on behalf of Sri Vallabhacharyar. We offered our obeisances and reached the entrance of the main sannidhi. In front of the sannidhi, the guide showed us a place where sets of 5 coconuts were tied to a string and hung.
It was a typical Gokulam scene –serene atmosphere with vendors doing their business as god’s seva without any competition and cows moving around freely inside and outside the temple. Like in Puri dhaam , the pandas have hereditary right for their share in temple prashad daily and they in turn sell it to the devotees . Another similarity is like in Jagannath Puri, here many varieties of food are offered to the Lord..
To have the next darshan at 11.30 A.M. , devotees had already gathered in large numbers in front of the big closed doors. WE handed over the 11 varieties of fruits and 11 varieties of vegetables and 2 pots of milk which we had purchased earlier at the respective kitchens ( we wished we could have bought some rice , cereals, sugar , jaggery, dry fruits for the offering.) and started reciting Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam while waiting outside. When we completed , the doors sprang open and the devotees thronged inside to have darshan of the LORD .
There is a separate queue for ladies and gents. It is a common practice in North India to have darshan of the Lord when the doors are opened and aarthi is given . Hence the hall in front of the sannidhi is constructed in such a way so as to accommodate few hundreds of devotees at a time.
All the devotees can have darshan of the Lord during haarthi and the devotees themselves can offer prasadam- sweets/dry fruits to the Lord. As they consider the “Lord of Universe” as a small “child”- the Lord is “NANDHA LAALA”- the darling of Nanda maharaja, the darshan is allowed only for fifteen minutes because the child has to take rest. Again after an hour, the altar is opened for darshan. EVerytime, neivedyam is offered to the Lord. AFter darshan, the devotees who are immersed in the beautiful form of the Lord leave the place half-heartedly continuously gazing at the divya mangala swaroopam of the most enchanting CHILD of the Universe until they are gently ushered out.
The LORD is dressed like a small cowherd boy of 7 years . The haarthi had just begun and shodasa upacharams (16 types of upacharam) were offered to the Lord while chanting slokas and singing songs.
Lord was dressed in “Parrot green coloured “cloth round HIS waist like a typical cowherd boy and was adorned with varieties of flowers. Adiyen recollected Periazwar’s pasurams describing the Lord’s return to HIS home after gazing the cows.
Amidst loudly uttering “KANNAIYA LAL KI JAI” and singing of haarthi songs, we could experience the unalloyed vatsalya bhaavam of the devotees present. Like the gopis of Vrindavan , the devotees were unaware of their surroundings with their whole concentration on the LORD alone.
The enchanting beautiful divya mangala swaroopam of the LORD can only be described by sages ,pure devotees like azhwars and acharyars. WE mortals can only satisfy ourselves that our eyesight has been put to correct use only now. As Tiruppanzhwar says in Amalanadhipiran, “Unn Kangalai kanda kangal mattru ondraiyum kaanome “(The eyes which has seen the Lotus eyes of the Lord should not see anything else in this world!)
The LORD is very very attractive with HIS left hand raised up with HIS little finger lifted up and HIS right hand closed in a fist and placed on HIS waist. A small stick is placed in front of Him which is used while gazing cows. We were being squeezed out in the rush but were unmindful of the pushing .
The devotees were competing with each other to have a very close darshan. Fortunately, we had darshan to our heart’s content. We just couldn’t take our eyes off from the Lords Thirumeni. Every part is so attractive that we felt that one darshan is not enough. A person standing on a higher platform in the hall was touching the devotees head with a stick which is considered to be a blessing.
As they say, it is
NOT THE DARSHAN WHAT WE SEEK,………………………….
IT IS THE DARSHAN WHAT HE GIVES”.
After darshan, we had to come out through another door in front of which there is a small sannidhi where charanamruth (theertham/ holy water) is distributed. Beside this, there is a counter from which the devotees can purchase sweets, laddus etc by paying money. This counter also would be open only for limited time. As instructed by the panda who offered us prashad, we were sitting in front of the main door recollecting Perumal’s divya mangala swaroopam. After some time, my wife went in search of the Panda, and brought the prashad in two plates which was carried by panda’s attendant.. As having prashad in the temple premises is strictly prohibited, the attendant showed us a dharmashaala where we could have the prashad. Like in Jagannath Puri, many varieties of prasadam are offered to the Lord and are distributed to all the pandas. So it is better to purchase prasadam through two or three pandas because we would be able to partake the various prasadams.
After honouring prasadam and praying to Perumal for giving us another darshan, we left for Kankroli Dwaraka…
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics/videos credits : Uploaded from Google images and various social media sites which was shared by advanced devotees
LordKrishna in Guruvayoor stands out and has enticed everyone the most. The beautiful stature of Lord Guruvayoor attracts the devotees to come in large numbers and imagine to hug the Lord. Guruvayoor is located in Trichur district in Southern India. Sri Narayana Bhattatri composed the beautiful Narayaneeyam, containing thousand slokas which is sung in most of the houses in India .
Guru and Vayu adorned the deity of Lord Krishna to Narayana Saras and ParamaShivan was residing in a temple. On seeing Lord Krishna, it is said that Shiva moved out of the temple and shifted to a place called Mammiyoor. So Lord Shiva gave his own place to Lord Krishna and that is verily where Guru and Vayu consecrated Krishna. The little Krishna stands there as “Guruvayurappa” even today. Lord Shiva’s temple in Mammiyoor is about a kilometer away from the Guruvayur temple. It is believed that Lord Shiva…
The only divya desams where Perumal, Azhwar and Naachiyar had done thiru avatharam is the holy shrine Srivilliputhur near Madurai. Also our mother Andal came from Moolasthanam to garbagruham to welcome Swami Ramanuja and addresses our JagathAcharyar as Anna and hence during margazhi utsavams, Swamy Ramanujar is welcomed as ” aruLapAdu Koil Annan” . Srivilliputhur has been given to Sri Andal as ‘Sri dhanam’ by Lord Varaha Perumal (Adhipathi of the kshetram), Sri Vada Perunkoviludayan (referred to as ‘Kannan’ by Sri Andal) & ‘oru magal thannai udayavarana’ Sri Periazhwar and hence this is the reason all the houses in Srivilliputhur are glorified as ‘Nachiar Thirumaaligai’ and the Sannidhi is also be called as ‘Nachiar Devasthanam’,
And importantly not like other Nachimaars, for whom birth place is different from the husband’s place, Andal has both these places as the same place. This is another…
Swamy Nam pillai became Lokacharyar because he did not loose his temper with even the ones who abused him , instead showed the qualities of patience and mercy of sri vaishnava which converted others too.
Those were the days when Swami Nampillai the distinguished Acharyar was delivering religious discourses at Srirangam temple attended by many devotees . As Swamys discourses were absolutely soul stirring due its sweetness in delivery devotees used to throng in thousands inside the temple . Many occasions there was a confusion about the crowds pouring inside the temple whether some festival was going on there , as the numbers used to match with the number of devotees in Utsavams .
His reputation was increasing and consequently the reputation of other Acharyas was being overlooked.
A contempory of Swamy Nampillai was Sri Kandadai Thozappar , grandson of Swamy Mudali Andaan the foremost disciple of Swamy Ramanuja . Swamy Thozhappar was very knowledgeable . Somehow he became increasingly jealous about the fame and reputation of Swamy Nampillai which was going up day by day.
One evening while he was returning from the temple shrine , by divine…
Madhurakavi (meaning in sanskrit the sweet poet ) appeared at a holy place in Thirukolur,, Tamilnadu which happens today (chitrai nakshatram)
Once Madhurakavi Azhwar undertook an pilgrimage to Ayodhya.
He was very moved by the beauty of deities of Lord Rama, Sita Devi, Lakshmana & Anjaneya and decided to stay in Ayodhya for sometime.
During his stay, one night he saw a bright light in the sky emitting from the southern direction .
He couldn’t comprehend if it was a bright star, a forest fire or anything else. Amazed with the strange happening , he decided to follow the light and see it for himself.
Unmindful walking long distances , he followed the light .
After days of voyage, he finally reached Azhwarthirunagari a remote village and the light suddenly disappeared .
He was surprised at the phenomenon.
He enquired from the villagers about anything strange happening in their village assuming the dazzling light could have some prophecy too .
The villagers replied in negative, but expressed that a boy has been meditating under a Tamarind tree for past 16 years without even opening his eyes.
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He had crawled to the tree as a baby 16 years back and remained in the tree thereafter.
Madhurakavi Azhwar was amazed with the villagers expression .
He decided to see the child for himself. Azhwar goes close as near to the tree and finds the divine child with tejas . Eyes closed and meditating the boy was glowing with radiance which was what he saw at Ayodhya .
The place was filled with divine aura and true the boy was looking too divine as much as Lordships themselves ..
Azhwar attempts to question the divine boy about what is True knowledge and gets convinced with his instant replies .
He immediately accepts the divine boy who is none other than our great Swamy Nammazhwar as his ACHARYAN
Sri Madurakavi AzhwAr becomes an ardent disciple of NammAzhwAr and serves him with utmost devotion . With all humility he submits the 11 verses of the grand KaNNinunchiRuthAmbhu glorifying his Acharyan Swamy NammAzhwAr / Sri SaTakOpar with all humility equating to Lordships .
A devotee can dwell and enjoy these verses for ages on the divine works of Madhura kavi AzhwAr’s grand
“KaNNinunchiRuthAmbhu” .
Azhwar declared in this Prabhandham
“tEvu maRRariyEn”
( I do not know of any God other than my AchAryan, Swamy NammAzhwAr).
After NammAzhwAr departed from this earthly world to srivaikuntam , MadhurakaviAzhwAr was worshipping deity of Swamy NammAzhwAr with deep devotion
which he consecrated and performed ThiruvarAdhanA and uthsavams in his honour.
Impressed by Swamy NammAzhwAr’s works he wanted to stage NammAzhwAr’s works in front of other scholars .
Azhwar used to contemplate on the divine knowledge shared by Acharyar .
Vaikaasi visaakam the appearance day of Swamy NammAzhwar was celebrated in a grand manner .
One particular year, when Swami Madhurakavi azhwar was taking azhwar’s deity in a procession during the celebrations, few poets from Madurai Thamizh Sangam objected to Swami Madhurakavi azhwar and said .
“Oh! Madhurakavi!!
You are worshiping Nammazhwar who is a just a ordinary devotee not Perumal and reciting verses glorifying him ..
Are those verses “sangam” certified? and authenticated by the great Madurai Tamil Sangam as “ the original and of the highest quality”?
and is he really qualified enough to translate the Vedas into tamil ”?
Azhwar was completely disappointed hearing these critics .
He politely went to Azhwar’s sannidhi and pleaded “Azhweer!!
These people are objecting to adiyen’s only kainkaryam which is my only purpose of life ..
Please do something that will not come in the way of my service to you . Nammazhwar pleased with his devotion appeared before Swami Madhurakavi azhwar in a disguised form.
Dressed like an old man he asked Swami Madhurakavi azhwar about his reason for his grief. Swami repeated the story to the old man.
The old man replied please do not worry about these trivial issues. Submit this pAsuram of “kaNNan kazhaliNai…” and see the miracle “saying this he disappeared.
“Kannan Kazhalinai”
will support you always”.
Madhurakavi obeyed as instructed and proceeded to Madurai to meet the so called great sangam poets .
All of them were debating in a boat discussing the authenticity of the literature .
Madhurakavi offered the holy verse to the poets .
(Madhurakavi azhwar had offered the divine verses in a small leaf which was used during olden times and the divine verse “Kannam Kazhalinai…” from Thiruvaaimozhi was ever glowing )
The poets read those verses and laughed at Swami Madhurakavi azhwar for his childishness and threw it aside .
Suddenly the whole boat top sided all the poets much to their surprise .
They swam hard and with great difficulty reached the shore. To their astonishment, they found that the boat retained only that palm leaf .
The poets read it patiently and were of opinion that Swamy Nammazhwar was not any ordinary saint and apologised for their foolishness . Thus their ego was shattered
Azhwar further says that For a true devotee of Lord Krishna ….
all is Lord Krishna the Food – eaten to satisfy the appetite,
water drunk to quench the thirst,
the betel leaves consumed after the food, are all Lord Krishna .
Chanting HIS holy name, speaking of HIS qualities, and thinking of HIM , HIS devotee will feel the hunger and the thirst and all other needs satisfied.
They will not eat any other food since KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS is enough food for them and always remain in that bliss forever ……kaNNan kazaliNai naNNum manamudaiyeer eNNum thiru_naamam thiNNam naaraNamEnaaraNan emmaan paaraNangaaLan vaaraNam tholaiththa kaaraNan thane
“Oh Lord Sri Rama!” prayed the Britisher ,” Please do this, if not for my sake, then for the sake of the thousands who believe in You with all their spiritual might and conviction…. shall remain your slave
It was during the period 1795 to 1799 a British officer called Colonel Lionel Blazehe was Collector of Chengalpattu District . Colonel Lionel on his routine survey had witnessed two cracks to the huge tank in Madurantakam taluk. The enormity of the problem can be appreciated only when we know of the massive size of the tank. Having an area of 13 square miles and a depth of 21 feet, the breaching of the tank following torrential downpour was any official’s nightmare. Wanting to take preemptive action in the year 1798 the Collector camped at Madurantakam. During his sojourn the Collector was exploring ways and means to undertake urgent repairs of the breaches if and when they happened. During the course of his inspections, he happened to see a large collection of granite and other stones in the precincts of the LOrd Sri Rama…
The scene near the ocean was very different . Few squirrels suddenly noticed an army of vanaras marching near the mountains and lifting boulders and handing it over to the chain of vanaras who were carrying them to put in the ocean with valour . Few vanaras were uprooting the trees and a few making way for collecting the boulders . All squirrels residing near to the mountains were wondering what was going around .
They could hear all the vanaras doing the work with enthusiasm and were chanting . The sweetest name RAMA reverberated the entire area . Slowly they came out and found the vanaras were in fact constructing a bridge over the ocean ,.They understood that the bridge is being constructed for them to march to the other end of the ocean . Inquisitively few squirrels moved further to see the mammoth work being undertaken along with the Nama sankirtana . To their utter…
After the mahabharata war , Yudhishthir was ruling the kingdom .
Bhimasena was assisting the King in public relations ministry . He used to help in solving the problems of people; therefore whoever had any questions/problems would come to Bhimasena and ask him for help.
One day, a person confessed Bhimsena that he noticed a strange thing . His fence near the house was moving into other’s place and he was wondering why it would have happened .
Bhimsena said ..
Look ! I can help if a demon is troubling you, but not these kinds of strange puzzles.
As a result , he asked him to approach Yudhishthir Maharaj.
On the same day, another citizen expressed another strange thing. He confessed that he had a big pot with full of water.
He distributed this water into small pots , for the citizens to be served .
However as there was not much crowd to distribute , he thought these small pots may leak so decided to pour back all the water from the small pots to the original big pot but surprisingly he could fill only half the big pot.
Bhimsena not knowing what to say, asked them to contact Yudhishthir Maharaj.
Another person too came to Bhimsena and said that he saw a strange thing – a big elephant was passing through a needle hole but surprisingly its tail got stuck in that hole. Bhimsena was getting irritated with these unusual stories narrated by them . He was loosing cool .
But as a last resort he again referred him to Yudhishthir Maharaj.
Suddenly ,another person also joined the group and said that he saw big rock on the street. Many strong people tried to push the rock out but were not able to move it.
Suddenly a saint entered the gathering and he waved his Sanyasa danda at the rock And lo !! It moved !
Bhimsena thought that it was a really a bad day for him as he was forced to hear to many cock and bull stories from the citizens . He commanded his assistant to take all of them to the King immediately ..
They all went to Maharaj Yudhishthir and put forth these questions. Yudhishthir Maharaj politely heard their versions and said that, all these happenings shows that kali yuga has entered .
He meticulously answers to the strange incidents and what they really meant ……
The first case is one of the citizen’s fence is moving into other’s area shows that people are interested in what other’s have and feel unhappy why they don’t have, then start thinking a way to acquire them either by hook or by crook.
The second case the big pot full of water. When it is poured into small pots and pour back into big pot, he noticed only half was getting full, which means that one can expect 50% love/affection/help from others compared what you did to the same person.
The third case is big elephant is going through a needle but the tail is stuck, it means that people are ready to spend a huge chunk of their income/strength/resource for the sense satisfaction of their family, friends and love (Personal sense gratification)but when it comes to Bhagavan and devotee-seva they are not ready to spend a little bit also.
The fourth case is, big rock not moved by persons who are having lot of strength but a sadhu moved that rock just by waving his danda, which means that one can get rid of all their unlimited sins, just by performing Namasankirtanam.
(Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.) Though there are so many faults in this kaliyuga, the good thing is, just by chanting the holy names of the lord, one can get up to the highest benefit of liberation as mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatham
kaler dosha-nidhe rajann asti hy eko mahan gunah kirtanad
eva krsnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet –”
My dear King, ….
although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age is by simply by chanting the holy name of SRIMANNARAYANA, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.”
Just hold the HOLY NAME always and swim across this Kali….
Those were the days where Swamy Parasarabhattar was delivering discourses at his ashram in Srirangam . Many devotees used to attend in large numbers .
Amongst them a highly learned pundit and a srivaishnava used to attend the discourses daily .
The learned pundit was received with scant respect and the srivaishnava was received with great attention . One disciple who was watching swamy Parasara bhattar’s indifference reached his Guru and humbly submitted , Acharya !! This pundit is a famous scholar with high respect among the people in entire kingdom .
How could you be indifferent with him considering his scholarship amongst all the people assembled here . Bhattar replied , My child !! Listen to the discourse now . After the discourse you will be able to understand .
In the discourse Bhattar explained the importance of LORD RAMA’s avataram which was a divine gift of free grace to all . LORD irrespective of caste or creed or condition extended friendship with humble folk like Guhan , Sugriva , Vibhishana and many living beings . LORD went a step ahead in performing the obsequies of a brahman for jatayu the bird .
He was humble in accepting food from the hands of Sabari a tribal and partaking food along with hanumanjee. Bhattar continued , The Importance of LORD KRISHNA avatar was Lord delivering the Apocalypse of the epic Srimad Bhagavadgita with its charama sloka and in rejecting the hospitality of Bhishma and Drona for that of Vidura and so forth .
Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Kovil
The reputation of Srirangam comes to LORD RANGANATHAR having mixed with Tiruppan Azhwar as intimately as body and soul . The reputation of LORD OF SEVEN HILLS was as LORD moved freely with the potter kurumbuatta Nambi and King Thondaman .
The reputation of LORD VARADARAJA was his friendship with his dear devotee Sri Thirukachi Nambee and our LORD NARAYANA of Melkote for accepting Swamy Ramanuja as his father and himself being called Yatiraja Sampath kumara . The discourse had a message for unconditional surrender to Lord Narayana with utmost faith .
Once the discourse was done all the people paid their respects to Bhattar and were leaving .The pundit also came along along with the citizens . Bhattar casually asked the pundit ..
Swamin !! whom have you settled to yourself as Ultimate Truth ? The pundit who was attentively listening the discourse answered ! Some authorities speak of Brahma as Ultimate , Few say It is Rudra and few schools claim it is Lord Mahavishnu .
How can we arrive at a conclusion with so many school of thoughts claiming the supremacy of one over other .
Meanwhile the srivaishnava arrived and paid obesiances to the assembly and took permission to leave . Bhattar casually asked the same question to the srivaishnava .
The srivaishnava politely replied Swamin !
Adiyen knows none others than whom devareer daily discusses ..
the only NARAYANA ..maam” EKAM” ….
Bhattar once again asked Swamin , Pray what other truth is available to you ? The srivaishnava replied …
For adiyen Means as well as end is Swamy Ramanuja ..
my end of salvation is the lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja …forever and said ..
I seek the lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja who considered all the worldly things and pleasures as mere nothing (grass) because of his love towards the lotus feet of Achchuta.
He is our Acharya since he possesses all the auspicious qualities (guNAs) and therefore dayAsAgara (ocean of mercy) for uplifting us .
Continuing , he quotes Embaar’s verse on the divine beauty [azhagu] of Swamy Ramanuja and declares in the end
To reaffirm the faith of HIS devotees, LORD conversed with HIS devotees time to time .
There are three incidents which our Elders keep saying about the compassion of the LORD in temples .
Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Kovil
At Tirumala – Tirupathi, Lord Venkateshwara used to converse with the King Thondaman Chakravarthy . In Kancheepuram, Lord Vardarajar used to converse with his dear devotee Swamy Tirukachi Nambigal who used to fan him daily .
Similarly at Srirangam Lord Ranganathar used to converse with “Tiruvilakku pichan”the temple servant who used to light the lamps in the temple .
It is a general practice all the devotees surrender to LORD and express their gratitude pain and love for the LORD in this material world.
Few devotees develop extremely intimate relationship with the Lord conversing freely and interact almost daily treating him as a human friend.
At Srirangam , there lived a man who was serving at temple . His job was to light all the lamps at the huge temple of Srirangam .
He used to keep the lamps topped with oil and ensure they were maintained in perfect condition . Under constant vigilance he had to ensure the lamps are lighted effectively without any flaws.
He had free access to enter the temple and light all the temple lamps being the temple servant . He had a peculiar habit of addressing the LORD daily about how his day was and was he treated well .
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It was almost routine especially during festivals when LORD had to be amongst HIS devotees . For his behaviour he earned a title Pichan ( mad person ) . Unmindful of whatever people spoke of him he continued to greet the LORD and converse with utmost sincerity and faith .
Lord Ranganathar also got used to HIS devotee’s greeting . Days became months .Months turned to years .Lord out of abundant mercy wanted to reply to HIS dear devotee .
It so happened one day Lord spoke from his Archa thirumeni ,and this also happened regularly .Lord was answering his dear devotees queries .It was more of vatsalya bhavam inquiring the well being of each other . There was no barrier in the divine exchange of speech .A lowly employee of the temple speaking to the LORD who was replying too .To the devotees who were witnessing this man standing before the LORD and apparently talking to himself appeared to be a mad person conversing with himself and they called him “Picchan” ( a mad man). Combining his job title and popularity of remaining , he came to be known as “ThiruviLakku Picchan”.
One day, while carrying out his daily chores , Picchan conversed with the Lord about the great people and the huge crowd attending the festival in the temple .
All knowing Compassionate Lord wanted to draw out his opinion about the great people. Pichan politely replied Oh Lord ! even all these great men had their own weaknesses and it was very confusing to follow them. He submitted that he was very happy with the small service gifted to him by his Elders and seek no favors other than being near HIM always .
There is another pastime which installs absolute surrender to LORD in Archathirumeni . The great Acharyar Swamy Nampillai was delivering a lecture in the mandapam inside the temple and as usual our Thiruvilakku Picchan was standing in front of the sanctorum with a lamp in his hand. Lord was so impressed hearing Swamy Nampillai’s divine discourse which made him get up and wished to be among the august gathering hearing the divine discourse
Suddenly , Thiruvilakku Picchan saw a huge personality near him and realizing that it was LORD himself , he requested LORD to relax and not do this and remain in his original Archa Swaroopam . LORD politely obeyed his devotees concern……………
All glories to this great devotee who had the fortune to enjoy such intimate relationship with the Lord himself who listened to Him .
This Srivaishnava Divya desam is located near the shores of Bay of Bengal. Mamallamallapuram now corrupted as Mahabalipuram is Varaha kshetram and a famous tourist centre.
The sculptures speak volumes about the contributions of Chola,Pandya , Vijayanagara kings to this place and it was an important trade center.
This holy place also glorified as Thirukadalmallai is the birth place of the great Bhoodath Azhwar which is 55kms away from Chennai and one of the 22 Thondai naadu divya desam
STHALASAYANA PERUMAL IN BHUJANGA SAYANAM(Reclining) FACING EAST
UTSAVAR ULAGU UYIYA NINDRAN
THAYAR NILAMANGAI THAYAR
THEERTHAM : PUNDRIKA PUSHKARINI, GARUDA NADHI, BAY OF BENGAL
VIMANA : PUNDARIKA
MANGALASAASANAM :
THIRUMANGAI AZHWAR(20 pasurams-1088-1107),
BHOODATH AZHWAR (7 pasurams),
THIRUMZAHISAIZHWAR( NO 861)
Legend reveals about a devotee Sage Pundarika who was on a piligrimage visiting various shrines, reached this place. He was amazed to see numerous 1000 petaled lotuses in a pond. He immediately desired to offer them to Lord Ksheerabadhrinathan lying at the milk ocean and this desire was also endorsed by asareeri( heavenly voice).
The sage was so immersed in bhakti that he started his way to Ksheerasagaram and as the ocean, Bay of Bengal was obstructing his path, he left the garland of flowers near the shore and in the divine mood , attempted to empty the ocean which was an impossible task. This is as similar to the devotion expressed by the the great Kulashekhara Azhwar who marched towards the sea to fight with the rakshasas along with Lord Rama .
Pleased with the sage’s devotion, Perumal appeared as an old Brahmin and took the audience of the sage . The sage requested the Brahmin to take care of the flowers and left to Mahabalipuram to fetch some food.
When the sage returned he was astonished to see Perumal lying on the floor on Adisesha with the garland of flowers near His Thiruvadi. The sage glorified Perumal and pleaded the Lord to continue to stay in this place and give darshan. Thus, we can see the Perumal lying on the floor and the sage seated near His Thiruvadi.The temple priests were kind to explain about the sthala puranam .Adiyen offers humble obeisances to them .
Sena Nayi was a barber by profession who lived near Pandharapur .A very pious and god loving used to get up early in the morning, have his bath, perform his poojas and only then look at his occupation and other domestic affairs. Sena was also the king’s barber and would have to go to the palace whenever the king called him. One day as Sena was performing his pooja in his house, the king’s messenger came looking for Sena.
Sena was immersed in his prayers . His wife knew he will not entertain anyone disturbing him during his worship to LORD . She politely told the king’s messenger that he was not at home.
Sena’s neighbor who was also a barber on seeing his wife lying , calmly went and complained to the king, that Sena was very much at at home . He also submitted to do the job himself.
The king got angry on listening to him .He sent the guards to arrest Sena. Knowing what was in the king’s mind LORD KRISHNA immediately appeared in the form of Sena and came to palace. The moment the king saw him, his anger disappeared.He got attracted to his magnetic personality . Without battling his eyelids he was watching the beautiful form of sena smiling cheerfully and working with the dressing kit .
When Sena touched him , the king was filled with amazement. The feeling was something new . He had never felt the soothing touch . He watched him without any words . the beauty attracted him . His glance was something divine . Sena went on with his job . He then shaved the king and shampooed his head. It was heaven for the King .The cool feeling along with the fragrance made the King top of the world .
The king felt very happy and told him that he was the best barber in town and should remain with him in the palace forever . Sena then started applying the fragrant oil to the body of the king.
As Sena was collecting the oil from a vessel , the king could see the reflection of Lord Krishna in the oil. He was amazed on seeing this and unable to understand whose reflection that blue eyed lad was being reflected in the oil . That cheerful divine smile made him ecstatic wanting him for more and more of his form . He lost all consciousness and was absorbed in the form of LORD that he was seeing in the oil bowl. The men in the kings assembly started laughing at the king looking at his stage and told him that it was already afternoon and that he should go and have his bath.
The king looked at Sena and politely pleaded him to remain forever . Sena requested the King for a break to inform his family home so that he would return quickly. The king pleased with him gave him a handful of gold coins . Lord took the coins, placed it in the bag in Sena’s house and disappeared.
The king after finishing his bath came and commanded his servants to get Sena at once as he was in a different state of mind and could neither eat nor dress up or sleep . The royal servants immediately went to Sena’s house and pleaded him to reach the palace immediately. The real Sena was too scared to see the King for his act of non reporting to the King . Taking his bag, Sena immediately came to the palace. On seeing Sena entering the palace the king got up and greeted him . He pleads him to reveal that divine form he exhibited few hours ago . Sena was astonished . He then ordered his servants to bring the bowl of oil and saw Sena’s reflection in it, but was disappointed that he could not see the form he had seen in the morning. Sena understood what had happened in the morning His eyes were filled with tears .Sobbing uncontrollably he told the king that it was LORD KRISHNA who had graced him .He was sad that LORD had to take his role to save him from King’s punishment .
The king rushed up to Sena and thanked him for his devotion and told him that he had the fortune to have darshan of the Lord due to his association . Sena then saw the coins that god had put in his bag and distributed them to the Brahmans. Sena then took leave from the king and decided to serve the LORD permanently at Pandharapur
All glories to the DIVINE BARBER ..
All glories to Sena …
Swamy Ramanuja out of deep devotion to LORD VENKATESHWARA instructed his disciple Anathazhwan to proceed to Tirumala and do service to Lord few hundred years ago .
Anathazhwan immediately proceeded to Tirumala with family.
Swamy grew a flower garden which would provide Tulasi and all the fragnant flowers for the daily worship of Lord .
Coming to know about the dedicated service being executed by his dear disciple Anathazhwan Swamy Ramanuja undertook his first trip to Tirumala via Kancheepuram along with his disciples .
Looking at the holy hills Swamy immediately falls like an uprooted tree offering obeisances .
Swamy Ramanuja calls his disciples and gives a discourse about the sanctity of the Hills referring several pasurams which our Azhwars have sung on Lord and the Hills .
Watching the gigantic hills , glorifying the animate and inanimate beings who are serving the Lord Swamy goes in a divine trance .
Coming to know Swamy Ramanujas vist to Tirumala , the local king Vittala Deva rushes to have Swamy’s darshan .
He offers obeisance’s and orders his troupe to take care of the saint and his disciples with royal treatment .
A colony named IlayaMandapam is instantaneously constructed . Around thirty families reside in the colony . Swamy also stay along with them for few days given sermons and gracing the villagers coming from far off places
.
Coming to know about Swamy Ramanuja s visit , Tirumala Nambi rushes to the village for welcoming Swamy Ramanuja .
.Both the Acharyas are overjoyed to be in the holiest place . Tirmala Nambi requests Swamy to join him for the afternoon prayers at the Hills and leaves quickly up the Hills
.
All the disciples request Swamy Ramanuja to lead them to the hills for having Lord’s darshan . Swamy refuses to trek the hills owing to its sanctity .
Swamy informs about all the Azhwars who had remained at the foot of the hills glorifying the Lord and they never attempted to trek the hills hence trekking the Hills amounts to overstepping their commands
.
All the disciples plead Swamy to reconsider his decision as so many disciples will be sad to return without having the divya darshan of Lord .
Swamy Ramanuja considering the disciples plea decides to trek the hills crawling thus not putting his feet on the sacred Hills .
It was those days when the route was very tough even to trek .
Crawling , Swamy reaches the steep Knee breaker Hills .
He pauses to take rest on the step of `knee-breaker’ hill (`mokalla mitta’).
Tirumala Nambi and Ananthazhwar, rush to receive him with the Lord’s prasada — holy tirta and fruits.
Swamy is glad to see them .
He honors the prasad offering the same to many of his disciples .
He takes one Mango fruit and buries the seeds there. In course of time, a big mango tree grew out of these seeds.
On reaching the abode of Lord Venkatesa, Swamy Ramanuja is received with temple honours.
Swamy offers obeisance’s and feasts his eyes on the majestic form of the Lord.
Later he walks along with his disciples to see the verdant ( garden) nandavana, established by Anantazhwar, with a beautiful tank.
He affectionately embraces his dear disciple, and announces “Valarthadhanal Payan Petren” (I have obtained the fruits of bringing you up).
Swamy Ramanuja decides to remain for few days to deliver discourses on the Upanishads.
The discourses were soon compiled in the form of a book, “Vedanta Sangraha”, Swamy Ramanuja’s first work on the Vedanta.
Swamy Ramanuja stayed almost for a year in Tirupati, to study the essence of Valmiki’s Ramayana under the guidance of revered Acharya Tirumalai Nambi.
Since he thought it was a sacrilege to live on the holy hill, which he revered as the body of Adisesha, and Tirumalai Nambi could not miss his service and worship of Venkateswara even for a day, they met at the foot of the hills everyday to study the epic..
Lord Venkatesa, did not want to miss the company of His ardent devotees, and joined them.
The imprint of his lotus feet ( Tiruvadi ) can be seen at the foothills where they studied the Srimad Ramayana…
It was Swamy Manavalamamuni who identified the spot where Swamy Ramanuja had rested, and wished to build a temple there.
Kandadai Ramanuja Iyengar (Muni), a trusted lieutenant of Mamunigal, built a temple there and consecrated a beautiful archa deity (moolavar) of Swamy Ramanuja and arranged for regular aaradhanai .
Manavalamamunigal had lovingly referred to this archa form as
King Veerasikhamani was one of the disciple of Swamy Parasara bhattar . He used to personally come to Srirangam and have darshan of Lord Ranganathar and his Acharyar Swamy Parasara Bhattar . Due to preoccupation with the state matters , he arrived to Srirangam after few months . He was feeling guilty and sad for he could not progress in his spiritual endeavors like listening to discourses , worshiping the Lord , seeking satsangh etc . He humbly submitted to Acharyar about his poor commitment in spiritual progress . The King pleaded Acharyar to advise him a simple method for Lord realisation .
Swamy parasara bhattar out of abundant compassion , advised him to carry the image of LORD RAMACHANDRA always with him in his heart and cherish the divine pastimes . The King was curious to know that incident of Lord Rama which swamy cherished . Swamy Bhattar…
It was Namperumal’s divine plan to make Swamy Ramanujar leave Srirangam for a short time , and purify other places by placing his holy feet in Melnadu and retrieve Thirunarayanan who was worshipped by Sri Ramar and Sri Krishna during Tretha and Dwapara yugas .
Peria Perumal thus created a difficult situation by which Swamy Ramanujar had to leave Srirangam after taking Peria Perumal’s consent and thus proceeded towards north accompanied by Sri Mudaliandan Swamy.
After many days of travel and undergoing various hardships following the course of Kaveri, Swamy Ramanuja finally arrived in Karnataka where the local tribals served them. En route he met his disciple kongu piratti and graced her
.
Check the url below for kongu piratti divine pastime with Swamy Ramanuja
The local people who were averse to Swamy Ramanujar conspired a plan to do away with him.
Swamy Ramanujar learning their evil intentions ordered Mudaliandan Swamy to place his feet in the drinking water pond in that area now called saligrama near Thondanur , which he politely obeyed.
At salagrama ,by partaking this Sripada theertham, the minds of the evildoers changed miraculously and they fell at Swamy Ramanujar lotus feet seeking forgiveness. Such was the greatness of Swamy Mudaliandan .
Ramanujar named this place as “Saligramam” which is near to Melkote.
Even today this pond is maintained by the archakar family .
There is a small temple opposite to this pond in which Swamy Ramanujar’s lotus feet are worshiped.
Swamy Ramanuja had a large number of disciples at Melnadu .
Vangipurathu Achi , Vangipurathu Nambi , Thondanur Nambi , Marudhur Nambi, Malur Nambi , Anathazhwan were some of them in the large group of disciples he had at Melnadu.
Thondanur Nambi was a great bhagavatha , a saint and most respected scholar as he was close to the Royal family .
Thondanur Nambi , during his pilgrimage to Srirangam was attracted to Swamy Ramanuja .
He loved his approach and the simple teachings which leads to self realisation that takes one to godhead. He was one among the 74 Simhadhipathees .
Thondanur was the summer capital of the Hoyasala kingdom ruled by King Vittala deva who was a staunch follower of Jainism .
They were tolerant to other religions too . The King had a daughter who was possessed with an evil spirit .
No treatment could cure her illness . She was always under the possession of the evil spirit which made her do unnatural things .
She was almost dressed like a madwoman and was a big embarrassment to the Royal family . There was another tragedy , during a war the King lost his finger.
This earned him the name Bitti deva .
The King was very upset due to the deformity and the new worry of his daughter that took shape .
No treatment either medicines or tantric rituals could cure her .
The Jain monks also tried their best but nothing seemed possible to relieve her from the evil spirit .
Thondanur Nambi, the disciple of Swamy Ramanujar suggested to the queen that his spiritual master who arrived recently and staying at Saligrama was capable of restoring the princess to normalcy.
The Jain king pleaded Nambi to invite Swamy Ramanuja to his palace .
He even promises that If his daughter is cured he will adopt Srivaishnava faith and surrender to Swamy Ramanuja..
Thondanur Nambi goes to Saligrama and surrenders to the lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja and briefs him about the Jain Kings intentions .
It was a wonderful opportunity to grace the King and his people and induct them in the great srivaishnava sampradayam .
Swamy Ramanuja and Thondanur Nambi look for an auspicious time and leave to Thondanur to the Royal palace .
The Royal couple have the divya darshan of JagathAcharyar Swamy Ramanuja .
Both of them fall like uprooted trees looking at Swamy Ramanujas divine aura .
They welcome Swamy to their Royal chambers .
The whole Royal family pay their obeisance’s to Swamy Ramanuja .
The mad princess who was irritating the members few minutes back suddenly leaves into another room when Swamy enters the chambers . With some cajoling the princess who is shabbily dressed is brought before Swamy Ramanuja .
Looking at the pitiable state of the princess , Swamy gives the holy water that was offered to his Lordships and applies the holy turmeric paste offered to Lord on her forehead .
The moment she sips the holy water and makes an eye contact with the great Acharya the evil spirit vanishes and she almost faints before him .
The princess is slowly brought back to senses by sprinkling some water on her .
To everybody’s surprise she gets up , looks at herself feels shy and runs away to her chambers . She dresses herself elegantly and offers obeisances to Swamy Ramanuja amongst all the people .
The Royal couple are amazed with the sudden happenings . They accept that the great seer who is with them is a very pious soul who has incarnated to uplift them . Instantly they surrender to his lotus feet and beg to be taken into his fold .
Swamy Ramanuja asks them to offer prayers at Nambi Narayana Temple and meet him there .
At Swamy Nambi Narayana temple , Swamy Ramanuja conducts a discourse attended by many people . The King along with his Royal family too attend the discourse which speaks about the ultimate purpose of life as a srivaisnava .
. Attracted to his simple teachings the entire crowd adopt srivaishnavism . Amongst the citizens the King , Queen and all his family members are given Panchasamskara initiation .
The King is given a name a Vishnu vardhana after due initiation by Swamy Ramanuja himself . The celebration among st the citizens is multi fold .
All the citizens hail Swamy Ramanujas discourse and accept him as their Jagath Acharya .
Somewhere down the lane the Jain monks are upset with the happenings .
All of them march to the Royal Palace and argue with the king for taking such a foolish step
They convince the King that their proposed debate with Swamy Ramanuja will prove Jainism superiority and he must agree to their command .
The King knew very well that such thing can never happen .
However he along with the Jain monks in huge numbers walk up to the Yoga narasimhar temple located on a hillock as Swamy Ramanuja was staying there .
The Jain monks along with the King meet Swamy Ramanuja and invite him to a debate on the esoteric truths . All the Jain monks assemble and start posing questions .
The euphoria around makes Swamy Ramanuja to command his disciples to surround him with a curtain . Almost 1000 jain monks shoot questions on him without any break .
It is was ONE vs ONE THOUSAND .
The divine incident of Swamy Ramanuja taking over one thousand Jain monks was relished by the disciples . Inside , Swamy Ramanujar was covered by a curtain and with his original form as Adisesha with 1000 hoods, he answers every question of the monk with patience and clarity .
Thus he defeats all the 1000 Jains at a time. One monk was inquisitive to find out why the curtain was put .He slowly managed to peep inside the curtain .
To his shock he could see JagathAcharyar’s viswaroopam and fainted . The Jain monks had no reply and were forced to accept defeat and adopt to srivaishnavism .This incident happened at Lord Narasimha swamy temple in Bhakta nagari (presently known as Thondanur).
Swamy MudaliAndaan who gave us the nectarian sloka DHAATI PANCHAKA in praise of Swamy Ramanujar at this place. This place is on the way to Melkote(about 16 kms) from Srirangapatinam.
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The wonderful opportunity given by Swamy Ramanuja to Mudaliandaan is remembered even today . “Dhati Panchakam” speaks of the victory of Swamy Ramanuja over other philosophies – both those that accept Vedas and those that don’t – and his establishing the Visishtadvaita philosohpy that was built by Azhvars and Purvacharyas.
As the name suggests, it comprises of five slokas The word “DHATI” means “attacking” – as this work shows the attack that Ramanuja carried over the other philosophies that were widespread at that time, it is an appropriate name for it.
Swamy out of his love composed a wonderful composition on Swamy Ramanuja called “DHATEE PANCHAKAM” which starts with the introductory sloka ..
Our Varthamana swamy descendant of Swamy MudaliAndaan was kind to recite this sloka at our residence during his recent visit , a clip presented below and the sloka
It is only he who can command and all our acharyas and we follow his command .
Swamy Ramanuja is the only acharya who was referred with respect and followed by all other schools in vaishnavism like chaitanya, vallabhacharya, Swamy narayan as the margadayee .
Uyya Ore Vazhi Udayavar Thiurvadi!
(only way for spiritual up liftment is to take refuge in Yathiraja Padhuka)
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pictures courtesy : Google images uploaded by several devotees
King Thondaman Chakravarthy was a great devotee of Lord Venkateshwara .He was ruling the region of Tamil Nadu including Tirumala several hundred years ago . The King used to speak to Lord and by the mercy of LORD he was ruling the kingdom to the satisfaction of the people by all means .
During this period an Asura Simhada started torturing the people which made the king upset .No amount of resistance could drive out this Asura .The unusual happenings in the kingdom was causing fear among the people . The King was annoyed and hence surrendered to Lord Venkateswara to save the people from the calamity .
The Lord out of compassion to the King appeared to him and lent his ThiruSankha and Sri Chakra and commanded the King to vanquish the enemy with the divine weapons . The King obediently followed the Lord’s commands and won the battle . After the victory, He kept the sankha and chakra in his palace and worshiped them daily as they were the representation of the Lord on the Hills!
Later , Jagathacharyar’s Swamy Ramanuja’s contribution earned him the title ” Appanukku Sangaazhi Alittha Perumaal” in Tirumala .
Poet Arunagiri also sung in his poem “Ulageenra Pachai umaiyanan, Vada Venkadathil Uraibhavan, Uyar Sanga Chakra kara Thalan” .
During this period there lived another great devotee by the name Kurumbarutha Nambi near the foot of the holy hills .He was a potter by profession . A sincere devotee of the Lord , he made a deity of Lord Venkateshwara and worshipped daily with flowers made of ‘left over clay’ .
Kurumbarathu Nambi was worshiping with the mud flowers , King Thondaman chakravarthy was worshipping Lord with golden flowers. The King was surprised to observe every time he entered the sannithee of Lord he used to see the mud flowers crafted wonderfully lying , instead of the golden flowers that he was offering .
He was keen to find out the reason for the unusual happening . No amount of vigilance worked for him to get an answer . He hence decided to plead LORD to help him in revealing the identity of that intruder .
The King prayed LORD for helping him to reveal his identity . Lord out of abundant mercy spoke to the King about the poor potter , his dear devotee service to him in offering the mud flowers . The LORD said the mud flowers offered by Nambi contained rich fragrance of love than the golden flowers he was offering .
Elders say that generally a person develops EGO if he is good looking ,well educated, has administrative power and enormous wealth.
A person birth in upper caste etc also contributes to his ego and Kurumbarutha Nambi was not attached to all the above which placed him above everything . The divine pastime shows that the Lord attaches no importance to our wealth or position.
The devotee’s love for the Lord was like the maternal love of Periazhvar, who worried over the Lord, when he sang his glorious Pallandu pasuram , to ward off evil eyes from the Lord.
It is bhakti that the Lord values; it is often the humblest of us who gets the grace of Lord. While men may value wealth and bow before the rich, why would the Master of the Universe even care for such impermanent things?
The great saint Annamaya sings a wonderful kirtana in which he mentions the devotees pastime …
May for many hundreds, thousands and crores of years ,the Gem -Hued LORD with mighty wrestling shoulders, HIS bright red lotus feet be protected. This inseparable bond between us ,may it last many thousand years .To the GODDESS who ever adorns the Lord’s right chest many thousand years. To the fiery luminous sudharshan chakra on the right hand, many thousand years. To the Panchajanya ,the famous conch which stikes terror in the battle field ,many many thousand years…
King Vallaba Deva the Pandyan king was going around his kingdom one night in a civil dress . Somewhere near a temple He saw an old man sleeping on a pial (thinnai) in front of a house. The King out of curiosity , woke him up and asked him who he was and why he was sleeping there in the open. The man answered that he was a temple priest and was supposed to leave in the early hours of the day to Sethu to complete his Thirtha yathra . Being new to the place , he took shelter near to the temple .
Out of devotion the king requested him to chant a good sloka. The Priest chanted a sanskrit sloka to the request of the King . Delighted , the King asked the priest to explain the meaning of the chants .
Swamy Mudumbai Nambee Ananthacharya was one amongst the 74 Simhadipathees nominated by Jagathacharyar Swamy Ramanuja .
Swamy Ananthacharyar belonged to the illustrious family of the great srivaishnava stalwarts Swamy Pillai Lokacharyar and Vadakku Thiruvidhi pillai . .
During 1360 , Swamy Ananthacharyar was blessed with a son who was named as Hasthagiri Ananthar Anna being ardent devotees of Lord Varadaraja . ( Lord Varadaraja has been giving darshan to the devotees at this holy place called “Hastha giri”. ‘Hastham’ means elephant and “giri “ means hill) .
The young boy was very attractive and devotional right from his childhood .The boy was admitted in to the school of Swamy Nayana varadacharyar , the direct descendent of Swamy Vedanta Desikar . He received the Vedic inputs from his Acharya and progressed in leaps and bounds by his sheer devotion .
During this period , a staunch Advaitin Narasimha Mishra had come to Kancheepuram . He decided to debate with the learned scholars in that area in proving the supremacy of Advaitam and thus convert the opponent and his followers into his fold .
As his mission was incomplete , he invited Swamy Nayana varadacharyar for a debate as was done during those days .The bet was announced that the one who looses will follow others faith along with his followers .
Swamy Nayana varadacharyar was not keen to interact with the scholar and not able to decide how to ignore his request too . It was the last day .The young boy could see his Acharyar’s concern . He wanted to somehow make his Acharyar happy .
He understood from his senior disciples what made his Acharyar sad . He never wanted the rich heritage of Vishishtadwaitam being taken for a ride by the vedantin .It was a high time to make the world believe the glorious sampradaya Jagathacharyar Swamy Ramanuja had given us . The young boy approached his Acharya and pleaded him to be allowed to take upon the vedantin .
Swamy Nayanavaradacharyar was glad that the young boy was also thinking in the same lines .Confident of his victory , he blessed the child with Sri Hayagreeva Upadesa mantra and wished him the best .
The young lad Hasthagiri Anna with the blessings of his Acharyar walked into the debate hall which had revered scholars from different places . The locals also assembled to watch the Vedantins arguments. He looked at the learned scholars and the great vedantin Narasimha Mehta .
He was amused with his looks and the arrogance in his speech . The vedantin chuckled at the boys entry for his age and size . He said this boy is of no match to me .Anyway as his guru has sent him on his behalf , let me bundle him up with simple questions !! he thought .
Hasthagiri Anna looked at the vedantin and said ..
Hey Vedantin ..
Are you going to wage a war against me ?
Why does size or stature matter to you .
For a person like you I am the best match .Let me not disturb my Gurudeva ..
The debate is to convince you and all these so called scholars the illustrious sampradaya of Jagath Acharyar Swamy Ramanuja is supreme .
If you have any doubts , questions ask me else accept the sampradaya which will give you moksha .
The Vedantin was surprised with the boys daring words .
He decided to quiz him in shastras and then take him on about the sampradaya .
The outpouring of Vedic knowledge , apt recitation with intricate meanings made vedantin shocked .
The debate was almost looking like a repeat of Swamy Yamunacharya debate with the Vedantin few hundred years ago and Swamy Yamunacharya was glorified as Alavandar the King…
Few onlookers rushed to their Acharyar to inform him about Hasthagiri Annas mastery in handling the vedantin with esoteric truths .
The Old Acharyar walked along with his disciples to see the brave boy’s confidence . Hasthagiri Anna presented many verses in the Vedic texts to demonstrate the supreme position of Swamy Ramanuja’s Vishishitadwaitam .
The debate ended with the vedantin accepting the supremacy of the sampradaya .
All the scholars unitedly agreed with jubilations about the young boy defeating the arrogant vedantin in his own den.
Overjoyed the Acharyar hugged Hasthagiri Anna and said henceforth you will be called as Prathivadi bhayanakaram Anna .
Meanwhile the Vedantin along with his followers rushed to Anna accepting defeat and pleaded to be taken in their fold .
The Acharyar blessed both of the disciples and handed over the reins of the school for him to take over due to his old age .
Swamy Annan was carrying out the Theertha kainkaryam at Kancheepuram as done by our Jagath Acharyar Swamy Ramanuja .
One day he took permission from Lord Vardaraja for having darshanam of Lord Sreenivasa at Tirumala after getting immersed in the Nammazhwar’s description of Tirumala and Lord Srinivasa in Thiruvamozhi .
Anna became associated with Swami Ananthanpillai descendants and was engaged in serving Lord Srinivasa by collecting and preparing the water required for His worship every day.
One day, while returning from Akasha Ganga after having gathered the holy water to be taken to the Lord, a devotee from Srirangam came across his path.
As divine will would have it, they entered into a conversation.
The devotee from Srirangam narrated the glories of the revered saint Svami Mamunigal and his extraordinary service in Srirangam.
Anna was deeply moved on hearing about Swamy’s devotion to Lordships and the zeal to carry out the mantle of Jagathacharyar Swamy Ramanuja’s philosophy all over .
In the process of hearing the satsangath , he completely forgot about the holy water he was supposed to deliver to the Lord.
Having exhausted with their patience, the priests from the temple came out in search of Anna and hurriedly collected the pots of holy water from him and rushed back to the temple to complete the worship according to established protocol .
Anna was confused and hence rushed to the temple to inform the priests that he had not yet prepared the water by mixing in it fragrant substances, as was the norms .
But as it was too late the worship had already begun and nearing completion .
Anna was cursing himself for overlooking the protocol that was followed . He was dejected for not compiling with the procedures thus committing an offence . Standing all alone inside the temple Anna was seeking forgivance .
Lord Srinivasa , all compassionate Lord , broke his silence .
There was a divine voice coming from the deity form, addressing him ,
“Oh My dear Anna!
The holy water you delivered today had the best fragrance and quality. I am pleased with your service!”
Don’t be dejected !!!
This was a shock to Anna, who had not added any fragrance at all that day. On pondering , Anna realized that the water must have got fragnant by the mere mention of the account of Swami Manavala Mamunigal vaibhavam .
Realizing the glory of the saint, Anna took permission from Lord Sreenivasa and left Tirumala heading towards south to srirangam to have Swami manavala maamuni’s darshanam .
On reaching Srirangam , Anna has darshan of the Lordships and goes straight to attend the discourse of Swamy Manavala mamuni which impresses him very much . He waits patiently for having Acharyar’s darshanam .
Amongst all the disciples , Swamy Manavala Mamuni calls him and asks Oh! You are that srivaishnava called as Prathivadi Bhayankaran in a lighter vein .
Anna humbly offers obesiances and replies Swamy , that he is Prathivadi Bhayankaran to his opponents and a servant of servants to srivaishnavas .
Swamy is pleased with his commitment in protecting our rich sampradaya and honours him with another title “SrIvaishnava dAsan”.
Later , Anna moves to Tirumala for serving Lord Srinivasa . Swamy Manavalamamuni joins him at Tirumala and taken by the glory of Lord Srinivasa, he ordains his disciple Prathivadi Bhayankaram Anna to compose hymns on Lord Srinivasa through which Lord’s glory is well understood and enjoyed by all walks of people. Anna taking his Acharyar’s command composes hymns on LORD that shed light on the greatness of the Lord of the Seven Hills.
Annan, pens the morning song suprabhatham slokas comprising of (29 verses , stotram 11 verses , prapatti 16 verses and mangalam 14 verses) .
The holy verses has four aspects Suprabhatam, which is the actual awaking of Lordships Sree and Vishnu, Stotram, which is essentially a glorifications and the last Prapatti through Sree and the beautiful Mangalam to Lordships which serves as a conclusion.
These four hymnal renditions of Anna are the hallmark of worship that are conducted in Srivaishnava parlance. The Vaishnava Agamas require the Lord to be worshipped and honoured at least as much as a king is.
The Suprabhatam or wishing of an auspicious dawn is not only analogous to the service offered normally to the royalty but also an expression of Mangalasasanam. Mangalasasanam is the highest virtue recognized in Srivaishnavism.
It is It is the exalted state of devotion where the devotee is not worried about his own welfare or the welfare of others, but only about the welfare of the Lord (which automatically ensures the well being of everyone and everything else).
He serves the Lord, sings His benediction and longs for His auspiciousness always and the Prapatti is another core concept of Srivaishnavism that teaches the complete resignation to the saving grace of the Lord.
The final goal of a Srivaishnava is to please the Lord with one’s services. One of the most important forms of service is the service of singing the Lord’s praise. He is sthavapriya: or one who is pleased with stotrams. The Venkatesa Stotram serves this purpose. Through the four works, Anna captures the entire essence of Srivaishnavism as he sings the glory of Lord Venkatesa. The pleased Lord listens to these hymns several times every day during the course of His worship in several temples…
Swamy Manavala Mamuni then ordered his disciples , that every day except in the month of Margazhi, these four stotras must be recited at the time of opening of the temple sanctorum in the morning which is being religiously followed till date .
Thus we have an advanced Acharyar Swamy Prativadi Bhayankaram Annan of Tirupati Suprabhatam fame who was a disciple of both Swamy Vedantha Desika’s son and Swamy Manavaala Maamunigal, indicating that there was no remarkable differences in following between the two sects . His treatises establishing the unifying nature of all of our acharyas are a treasure for several generations .
A detailed description of THIRUMANJANA SEVA at Tirumala is appended in the below linked post
Swamy Prativadi Bhayankaram Annan Thiruadigale sharanam
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Picture credits : Google images/antaryami.org/varavaramuni /TTG/ISKCON and enlightened devotees who uploaded the beautiful pictures in social media web sites
Video credits : Thallapaka Annamacharyulu garu / Keerthi / Baba and other devotees
During the years 1690 to 1800 , the Nawabs of the Carnatic (also referred to as the Nawabs of Arcot), ruled the Carnatic region of South India. They had their capital at Arcot near Vellore region in Tamil Nadu . The temple town Kanchipuram was ruled by the Arcot Nawabs .
Robert Clive from East India was serving as a clerk could not digest the French expansion taking place at different parts of India .He was too upset with the British response to the French onslaught during the Carnatic wars .
He could see the French advancing in the areas around Madras with the Muslem kings . He was moved and hence proposed a plan to the governor at Madras to somehow defend this . He wished he could somehow challenge the strong Franco-Indian forces at Trichinopoly by taking a strike at Arcot, Chanda Sahib’s capital city, with the goal of forcing Chanda Sahib to lift the siege at Trichinopoly.
The plan was brilliant .Though they did not have enough forces , Saunders agreed . He commanded the 200 of the 350 British soldiers to charge under Robert Clives command. Those 200 soldiers and a further 300 sepoys along with artillery marched towards Arcot from Madras . It was a tough terrain .
Robert Clive was unwell due to the heat and was severely de hydrated . They somehow reached Kancheepuram which was at a distance 68 km from Madras.
Robert Clive was completely dehydrated in the journey .He was seriously ill and the doctors had given up hope.
The entire army was demotivated with his illness . Meanwhile at Kancheepuram ,the temple was busting with festival time .
Many pilgrim’s had camped at the outskirts of the temple seeking Lord’s darshan .
Robert Clive’s forces were camping near the present day Ekambareshwara temple which was used as military camp.
The Lordships are taken in procession accompanied by huge temple elephants , Nadaswaram ,Kolattam along with other festive customs .
The mood was ecstatic as the crowd were eagerly awaiting for the Lord’s shower of mercy on them . The unusual activities that was happening around was very new to Robert Clive .
During festivals Lordships arrive to meet the people . Clive summoned his soldiers to brief him about the unusual music and the crowd .
The soldier was overjoyed to praise the Lordships and briefed him about the Emperor of Emperors Lord Vardarajan .
Robert Clive was immersed in his description and the divine pastimes . One soldier braved to meet the Procession priests for the holy water and the sataari for Clive to honour them who was unwell . Being too tired and completely de hydrated he decided to submit to the Lord’s lotus feet for him to recover after having the holy water .
The prayers were with utmost faith . Oh Lord! I am new to your place . I have come here on a mission .Please help me in succeeding in the mission .To everybody’s surprise Clive had completely recovered by next morning. Thanking the Lord he marched along with his men to Arcot .
Clives’s intelligence informed him that the enemy garrison at Arcot was twice the size of his marching forces. Clive however decided to proceed to Arcot which was 43 km and the troops of Clive, in spite of a delay caused by a tremendous storm of thunder and lighting, reached Arcot .
The garrison left by Chanda Sahib to defend Arcot, struck with panic at the sudden arrival of Clives forces . They at once abandoned the fort, despite their larger number of sepoys and rushed to safe pastures . Clive and his forces took over the city and the fort without firing a single shot and went on to capture Arcot . He was amazed with the unusual events .
A blessing from Lord Varadarajar made the task so simple . He was so much impressed with Lord’s mercy that even without harming a single soldier the war was won . Being deeply indebted to Lord’s benevolence and mercy in gratitude, he decided that he would present to Lord Varadaraja the most valuable thing he captured from Arkad’s treasury. Clive while returning went to Lord Vardarajar’s temple and gifted most famous Arcot necklace to Lord and told the priests to offer the same to the Lord . This necklace Clive makarakandi is decorated to the Lord on ceremonial occasions even to this present day . Later once , on the way to Arkad, Clive stopped in Kanchi to have Lord’s darshan He observed the priests were fanning Lord Varadaraja amidst recitation of divine sukthis .
Clive expressed his doubts about the deity feeling hot. Upon hearing this, the priest fanning the Lord wiped the deity’s face with a small towel and gave it to Clive, who was amazed to find the wet cloth with divine fragnance . He had special regard for the Lord and made it a point to have his darshan whenever he visited Arcot .
Robert Clive later became an ardent devotee of the Lord , an Emperor of Emperors
The disciple wanted to know how to identify a srivaishnava ? Swamy sent his new disciple from Srirangam to Tirumala to ascertain from the great devotee Ananthazhwan as what was the quality of a srivaishnava . The disciple though bit amused with his Gurus instructions proceeded to Tirumala which took him almost a week to reach the holy place .
Being too hungry he reached the ashram of Sri Anatazhwan and expected some good hospitality from the intimates there . The Ashram was full of bhagavathas who were having the prasadam ( Thadiaaradhanai ) . He did not have a proper place to sit along with the guests in honouring the prasadam. He had to wait until everyone finished their prasad which almost took a long time as there were a good number of piligrims who had come to honour the prasadam.
Yagnyamurthy’ was a great scholar who lived near a place called “Vinjimoor” near to Tirumala hills. The scholar he was , highly successful in tarkha vaadam which forced the opponent to accepts defeat in an argument and accept the philosophy of the winner at once.
He had many victories during his encounters amongst learned men . As days progressed, his victories grew by leaps and bounds. Overjoyed , the great scholar decides to proceed to different parts of the country to win over his contemporaries and propagate Advaitam . Thus he moves towards Kasi and on the banks of river Ganges defeats many vidwAns in argument and as per the agreement converts them into advaitans .For his authorative knowledge he was almost being worshipped as one of Advaitin icon.
There were few devotees who somehow wished the learned scholar is corrected soon . They were just praying the Lord to correct the scholar who was a genius in tarka vadham .
Days passed and the count of his followers were increasing . Lord had a divine plan for uplifting this great scholar . It so happened few devotees from Srirangam and Kanchi had come for a pilgrimage to North .
They were glorifying Swamy Ramanuja’s commendable knowledge on shastras and his devotion to Lord propagating Vishishtadvaita . Yagyamurthy’s came to know about Swamy Ramanuja’s greatness through his disciples .Puffed with ego he decided to leave to South to confront on the scholars living there .Enroute , he was imagining the great knowledge he possessed which could nullify even the intellectuals .
After reaching Kancheepuram he invited Swamy Ramanuja for a debate on sasthras and Vedanta . Swamy Ramanuja with a smile told him , Swamy ! Adiyen accepts you are a genius and have no questions for raising a debate to avoid any unpleasant confrontations.
Yaghnamurthi was pleased at Swamy Ramanuja’s reply but took the opportunity to declare in that case you accept my philosophy instead of propagating Vishishtadvaita .
Swamy Ramanuja replied .. your philosophy kept people in a confused state. Hence , adiyen can neither accept it nor follow it. The scholar , took this as a nice opportunity to bow down Ramanuja and overtake him by forcing him for a debate.And it was destined that the debate was to happen . Swamy Ramanuja accepted for the same .
Finally the big debate was about to begin with the authoritative scholars of the era . Advaitam …Visishistadvaitam…at the famous divyadesam Pandavathootha perumal temple at Kancheepuram.
As usual, the rules of the debate were laid clearly before it began . The one who looses shall accept the others faith . The debate started and both the great philosophers put their revered points before . Attacks, counter attacks ensued from both the sides . At some point it looked that the battle would never end. The debate entered the seventeenth day .
The scholar challenged Swami Ramanuja on a key point for which Swami could not retaliate immediately. The day’s battle was regarded as “Over” and was set to continue the next morning .
Swami Ramanuja went back to his Ashrama and offered humble prayers to his “Aaradhana Perumal –Varadarajan” (AruLaLa perumal) .
Putting his request before the Lord he said Oh Lord ! The great Vishitadvaita sampradhayam nurtured and propelled by the revered Acharyas and Azhwars would have to come to an end for the only reason that an ignorant person like me is countering this vedantin .
It will be a disgrace to the entire followers of our sampradaya for a defeat . He was confident that Lord “PerAruLaLan” would always come to his rescue as done throughout his life .
And sure HE did. The same night, AruLaLa perumal came in Swami Ramanujar’s dream and pointed out some of the arguments he could use for winning over Yagyamurthy.
Specifically, HE suggested to take excerpts from “Maayavaandha Kandanam” chapter from Swami Alavandar’s Sidhithrayam. He told Ramanuja not to lose heart and instead said he was going to give him a nice disciple which was HIS plan only .
It was the final day .Almost 17 days of debate was about to end . Swami Ramanujar offered his prayers and cheerfully marched towards the debate hall .He was looking with divine tejas Swamy’s face looked like a freshly bloomed lotus. The scholar was shocked to see Swamy Ramanujar divine tejas . There was a divine aura around him that could neutralise the surroundings .He repeatedly kept watching Swamy’s Tejas . He just did not have any words .. He felt that Swamy Ramanuja was no ordinary human being .He knew he has possessed divine qualities and great wisdom.
He felt belittle and ashamed to think that he was a scholar and that false ego which puffed over his wisdom all these days which he did not realize . The debate was about to start .
Even before Ramanuja could put his points of contention , the scholar prostrated before the great Acharyar saying the debate is closed . He pleaded Swamy ! Adiyen am left with no words . Please forgive me for the foolishness to enter into this debate with an advanced seer and how foolish I was to argue on issues which are unworthy .
Swamy Ramanuja was surprised with his behaviour .He asked him with love , Oh Seer what was so sudden that made you submit ? Yaghnamurthi humbly replied , Swamin I was a fool blinded with ego thinking that I was the most learned man in the world . But looking at your simplicity ,humility and abundant wisdom my ego has been shattered .Swamin !! Please accept my obeisance’s and Kindly accept me as your disciple .Please enlighten me with wisdom .
Just one day back the scene was totally different Swamy Ramanuja felt that the sea-change in Yaghyamurthi’s behaviour was due to the benevolence of Lord PeraruLaLa PerumaL only. He accepted Yaghyamurthi as his disciple . He rechristened him as “ AruLaLaperumanar Emberumanar .” thanking Lord for his grace on him . Yaghyamurthi was now called by the name AruLaLaperumanar . He settled in a mutt near to Swamy Ramanuja’s ashrama and serving his Acharya with utmost devotion .
He became a Tridandee sanyasi from Ekadandi sanyasi . Swamy Ramanuja used to direct few srivaishnavas as his disciples. When Ananthazwhan seeked the lotus feet of Swamy Ramanujar for the first time, they were directed to surrender to Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar and seek refuge under him. Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar was taken back and he could not deny too since it was his Acharyan’s order again. He politely told them that even though you all surrender to me, there will be only one acharyan to you and me and to the whole world.
He is our Jagath Acharyar Swami Ramanujar.
He will take care of you just like he takes care of me”.
Ramanujar also established a separate mutt for Arulala Perumal Emberumanar. Once few strangers had come to have darshan of Swamy Ramanuja at his mutt Since they were new to the place, they asked one of the locals “Where is Emberumanar’s mutt?”.
The local person politely replied ,Swamin please let me know “which Emberumanar mutt are you talking about?
Is it our Swami Ramanujar who is also called as Emberumanar, Ethirajar,Udayavar, Godhagrajan
OR
Swami “Arulala Perumal Emberumanar’s mutt”?
While this conversation was going along, Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar accidentally happened to listen . He was shocked with the local’s reply . He wept terribly hearing that his mutt had caused confusion in the minds of people to an extent that they started believing that there is another Swamy who can be compared to his own Acharyar . Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar was very upset . He immediately went ahead and pulled down his mutt then and there .
He took the strangers along with him to Acharyar and seeked his blessings to serve them .He decided to serve Swamy Ramanujar in his mutt itself from then on . In Srivaishnava parlance, when we say “Swami”, it can refer to only one person. He is none other than Swami Ramaujar himself. Just like when we say “kovil” it refers to Srirangam, when we say “Swami”, it is our Ramanujar only.
Swamy Ramanuja along with his disciples proceeded on a pilgrimage to divyadesams glorified by Azhwars . He reached Thirunagari the holy place where Swamy Nammazhwar appeared .He prostrated the Lordships at Sri Aadhinathar swamin.
Later proceeded towards Thirukolur with the thirst to serve the Lordships who were glorified by Swamy Nammazhwar as ” Sri Aravindalochana and Sri Vaithamaanidhee perumals.
It is said that one who has darshan of this holy dhaam and Perumal here will not wish to leave the place .
Swamy Ramanujar proceeded further to the holy spot with entourage .He was overjoyed to reach the divine place where Sri Madhurakavi azhwar appeared . He recollected Swamy Nammazhwar pasurams in the sixth sataka of Thiruvaimozhi –..”Unnum soru parugu neere pasuram ..
Nammazhwar knew none other than Lord Krishna true to his divine pasuram
” Here the mother of ParAnkusa Nayaki decribes the KrishNA- conscious state of her daughter : ” My dear young daughter has gone to ThirukkOLoor . She would not have gone anywhere else. To her , ALL is KrishNA . Food (eaten to satisfy the appetite), water (drunk to quell the thirst ) and betel leaves (chewed for digestion after partaking of food ) are all KrishNA only in her case. Saying KrishNA, speaking of His (auspicious ) qualities , thinking (always ) of Him , she would feel she has eaten and enjoyed . She would not eat food at all since KrishNA-consciousness is enough food for her . Reciting the Lord’s names and inquiring of every one that she comes across , ” Am I on the right track for ThirukkOLoor ? How far is it from here ? , she would be going. The very thought of the place (of the Lord of ThirukkOLoor ) serves as her (total ) nourishment in her walking- journey .”
Immersed in the divine thoughts of Nammazhwar , Swamy Ramanuja saw a lady leaving the village with all her belongings near the boundary of the Thirukolur village .
Swamy was surprised and hence asked her why she was leaving such a holy place when many come from far distances to render service the the Lord here worshiped by the great Nammazhwar ?
Even if people do not have adequate food or clothes because of famine etc , they still come on a pilgrimage and ensure they serve the all compassionate Lord here . In that case what made you leave this holy space ? my child asked Swamy Ramanuja ..
The lady replied eloquently in a free flowing and unimpeded manner citing the history of various great devotees There are about Eighty one sayings ( small sentences ) uttered by her which are all full of great spiritual significance .
A vessel of nectarine sayings full of essence for a devotee ( a must for all devotees to en chew ) She said that it was her misfortune to leave this holy place as she did not have the fitness or eligibility of any of the great devotees she had quoted in the 81 sayings .
Swamy Ramanuja was wonderstruck at her candid reply and wondered her utter helplessness in leaving the holy space . Swamy delivered a sweet discourse so that her mind would be in peace and reconsider her hasty decision in leaving the holy place .
The lady very respectfully offered obeisance’s to Swamy Ramanuja and requested Swamy to initiate a system to be adopted at the temple where the Lord is offered traditional poojas daily , fortnightly ,monthly and annual festivals with pomp and show .
This would increase the glory of the holy place and force the people to stay there forever .
Both of them along with the disciples entered the holy place Thirukolur .The pious lady invited Swamy Ramanuja to her house and offered prasada to be honoured by Jagathacharya . Swamy gladly accepted the same . Later all of them went to the temple at thirukoloor and initiated the process of systematic seva to the Lordships .
Thus the glory of Thirukolur spread and the great spiritual treasure Thirukolur Penpillai rahasyam (Thirukkolur Ammal Varththaigal ) became a legendary guideline for ardent devotees seeking Lords lotus feet .
Brief details of the temple are mentioned below ..
LOCATION
2 miles to the east of Alwar Thirunagari near Thirunelveli , Tamilnadu
PERUMAL
VAITHAMANIDHI PERUMAL , NIKSHEPAVITHAM IN RECLINING POSTURE
THAYAR
KOLURVALLI NACHIYAR, KUMUDAVALLI NACHIYAR
VIMANAM
SRIKARA
THEERTHAM
KUBERA
PRATHEKSHAM
KUBERA, MADURAKAVI AZHWAR
IMPORTANCE
BIRTH PLACE OF MADURAKAVI AZHWAR
“THIRUKOLUR” signifies in tamil ( THIRU + KOLUR ) which means this is a treasure house of wealth. As per Puranas , Kubera was cursed by Parvathi to loose all his nava nidhis (9 types of wealth) , his beauty and one eye during one divine pastime .
As the nava nidhis felt insecure, they too came to this place and sought Perumal’s protection .
Kubera also came to this place during his course of wandering , took a holy dip in the temple tank and offered prayers to Perumal.
In response to Kubera’s prayers, Perumal gave a part of navva nidhis to kubera by measuring the wealth with marakkal( a unit used to measure commodities). Hence, Perumal is seen in sayana posture with marakkal as a pillow .
video Credits : 4000 Divya Prabhandam and Sri Padmanabhan
Thirukannapuram Divyadesam Sowriraja Perumal Temple is located 30 KM from Kumbakonam on the way to Thiruvarur, Tanjore District, Tamilnadu which is one among the Five Krishraranya Kshetrams.
The Main Deity is glorified as Thiru Neelamega perumal along with Sridevi and Bhoodevi Thayar . The Processional deity is worshipped as Lord Sowriraja perumal. Lord Sowriraja perumal is seen with prayoga chakkra in his hands. The place is considered as Bhoolokha vaikundam. This Vaishnava Divya desam temple is located on the Kumbakonam / Mayavaram-Nannilam-Nagapattinam route. One has to get down at Thiru Pugalur and take auto (2kms). The temple can also be reached directly from Thiruvarur. The temple has a 7-tier rajagopuram and a vast temple complex. The Nithya pushkarini just in front of the Temple is so vast that it looks more like a large lake As we go around the main sanctum we can have darshanam of Thirumangai…
The holy place Alwar Thirunagari is located in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. Those were the days when our most respected Azhwar , Swami Nammazhwar was meditating near the southern banks of the holy Tambaraparani river .
There was a yogi who was staying near the northern bank of the same river along with his dog . The dog used to daily leave the northern bank of the river and reach southern bank .It would eat the remnants of the food honored by the srivaishnavas near the temple . It would return daily by sun set back to wait near the tree along with the Yogi .This became a routine for the dog .
One day as usual the dog left in the morning but did not return as per the expected time . There was a change in weather and the weather was too cloudy for a heavy downpour . The yogi was feeling lonely without his company .
He went in search of his companion in the pouring rain . He could see the dog which was swimming against the current and somehow he was not able to succeed . In the struggle the dog had to leave his body . The Yogi was amazed to see another event . The head burst out from the dog and a shining light emanated that was going upwards to the heavens .
This made the Yogi wonder about the holy place .He observed that when a dog who just took the remnants of the pious sri vaishnavas could get salvation what can be told about this holy place where our Nammazhwar had graced this place with his divine darshan .
The great Sri Kamban azhwan had quoted this incident of the dog attaining moksha in his works Satagopar Anthadhee..
This incident of the dog attaining moksha is also sculpted in a stone on the banks of Tambaraparani river near Azhwar Theerthavari mandapam …
Blessed are those devotees who will be attending Swami Nammazhwars Apperance day at Thirukurugoor .
As Lord Narayana came here as ‘Mannan’ to take the hand of Mahalakshmi and later asked Nathamuni to share the Divya Prabandham and the Vaishnava Sampradayam to the world at large, he was referred to as ‘ Kattum’ ‘Mannan- Aanaar’ (the Lord who came as a king and later presented the entire prabandham through Nathamuni). In course of time, Kattum Mannan-Aanaar became Kattu Mannar.
The above sloka …. reverberates in all srivaishnava temples and homes glorifying the rich sampradaya we have inherited from our poorvacharyas who have given us .
Sriman Nathamunigal and Sri Alavandar, the two great acharyas who have been pillars to Srivaishnava sampradayam, took their avatara at Kattumannar koil, which is 25 kms from Chidambaram in Cuddalore district of Tamil nadu, South India. Kattumannarkoil (situated on the banks of the vast Veeranam Lake) hallowed by the birth of these Acharyas is the only place with magnificent temples dedicated to Sriman Nathamunigal and Sri Alavandar. Sriman Nathamunigal and Sri Alavandar were the pioneering and foremost Acharyas of Srivaishnavism.
Nathamuni, who mastered himself in Vedas at a young age, was very attached to Veera Narayana Perumal and spent most of his time performing daily poojas for the Lord here. One day, during his pilgrimage to Thirukudanthai (…
A man inspired with Azhwars Divya Prabhandam wanted to learn Nammazhwars Tiruvaimozhi .He proceeded to Swamy Nanjeeyars Ashram and was waiting for swamy’s audience . He was fortunate to be called immediately . Nanjeeyar was pleased with the man’s interest . Nanjeeyar without any thought , directed him to his disciple Nampillai.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
The man was a bit hesitant as he had come seeking spiritual instructions from Nanjeeyar only, as he was told by his friends about Nanjeeyar scholarship and had great regard for him . Though elderly , he was ready to fall at Nanjeeyar’s feet and learn from him rather than to fall at his disciple Nampillai’s feet.
Nanjeeyar calmed the seeker and told him at no point of time he has to fall at Nampillai’s feet. Nanjeeyar called Nampillai his foremost disciple and said ,Child , You need to teach this gentlemen Nammazhwars Thirumozhi .Please see that he is comfortable both in mind and action when you teach him .
Nanjeeyar also told Nampillai that this class shall be a bit different as you shall be seated on the floor and teach this gentlemen who will be seated on a chair . The great disciple he was , obeyed Acharyars command with cheerful smile . Nampillai welcomed the new student with respects to the class .
The lessons began, and as instructed by Nanjeeyar, Nampillai obediently sat on the floor, while the student sat on a chair. The classes was conducted with lot of respect to the student . As the classes progressed, the student felt very bad about being seated on a chair, while his young teacher sat on the floor. One day , he got up with tears and fell at Swamy Nampillais lotus feet like an uprooted tree with tears for his foolish behaviour .He pleaded Swamy to be seated on chair .
Surprisingly for him , Swamy Nampillai said he would no longer teach him. The reason given by Nampillai was that he had been asked by Nanjeeyar to sit on the floor and instruct the student. Now if he were asked to sit on a chair, he could not teach, because that was not what his acharya had expected from him . Thus Nampillai not only was humble enough to sit on the floor and teach he was also always obedient to his preceptor. Later , the student approached Nanjeeyar with tears apologising for his foolish act .
He pleaded Nanjeeyar to be allowed to attend Swamy Nampillai’s class along with other students as a true disciple .Nanjeeyar agreed and once again the student happily attended the classes sitting on the floor .
A similar incident happened in the days of Swamy Ramanuja . There was a learned scholar who wanted to know few esoteric truths from Kooratazhvan. He was a most influential person in the Kingdom . Almost an advisor to the Royal family .
Knowing about Koorathazhwans humility and great knowledge , he approached him for clearing his doubts . He said , the whole kingdom knows that I am a scholar and advisor to the Royal family but I do not want anyone to know about my doubts .
Both of them decided the classes would begin from the next day near the shores of the river . Kooratazhvar humbly suggested that the man sit on a chair and Koorathazhwan sat on the floor as If he was learning from the scholar . The moment they heard someone approach, the man could hand the book over to Kooratazhvar, and the visitor would think Kooratazhvar was the student, which was why he was seated on the floor!
Swamy Nampillai was the fourteenth Acharya in the prestigious Guruparampara lineage of Srivaishnava sampradaya .
One day Swamy Nampillai asked his Acharya Nan Jeeyar the most relevant question of present day. He submitted to his Acharyar humbly and asked Swamin !!
How can one confirm that he has the qualities of a srivaishnava ?
Nanjeeyar was a chosen disciple of Swamy Parasra Bhattar and naturally possessed all the divine knowledge from his Acharyar .
Nanjeeyar replied !
My child If a person undoubtedly believes that Lord Sriman Narayana in his Archa form gracing us in the temples and house does possess all supreme powers as in Srivaikunta Loka, He can count to be one among a Srivaishnava .
Our Azhwars were possessing that divine quality which made them glorify the Lordships in all the vaishnava divyadesams and Abhimana sthalas .
No doubt the Lord in the Divyadesam also replied to their devotion .
Thirumangai Azhwar had innumerable experiences in this kainkaryam
And , it is generally seen a man loves his son very dearly .
If the same person loves a srivaishnva as dear as his son he can consider to be in the list of srivaishnavas and in case he has been abused by a Srivaishnava and does not react , and accepts his pungent words with cheerful obedience as positive development for his durguna he is a Srivaishnava.
Finally , the Acharya summed up the answer in few words
Archaavatara abhimanam , Bhagavatha Prema and Bhagavatha Katinokthi Bhogyatha buddhi are essential characteristics of a srivaishnava .
If at all any one has these three virtues, he can conclude within himself that he is a Srivaishnava.
During the last days of his illustrious sainthood , Swamy Nanjeeyar the great disciple of the legendary Swamy Parasara bhattar was bedridden.
Swamy Nanjeer was one of the foremost pillar of Sri Vaishnavism after the period of our JagathaAcharyar Swamy Ramanuja . Before our beloved Jagath Acharyar Swamy Ramanujar left for heavenly abode he expressed his wish to his disciple Parasar Bhattar about bringing this Vedanthi into srivaishnava fold.(Namjeeyars original name was Madhvachariyar ,and swamin was expert in veda shastra and hence was addressed as Vedanthi).
As instructed by Acharyar , Bhattar travelled to Melkote metthe Vedanthi ( Namjeeyar) and for almost nine consecutive days a debate took place on vedantam . On the tenth day Vedanthi understood the proficiency in Bhattars knowledge and surrendered to the True Knowledge and submitted himself at the feet of Swamy Parasara Bhattar. Bhattar out of utmost compassion performed Pancha Samaskaram to Vedantin and returned to Srirangam.
One new disciple came to him and pleaded Acharyar “May I now request you Swamin, to chant the “Dwaya Mantra”?
Nanjeeyar looked at him and said Child ! “Why do you recommend the chanting to me? Do you not want it?” Is the holy mantra be chanted only by a bedridden man and not by a wandering soul?” The disciple on hearing this became dumb founded and felt ashamed of himself. Nanjeeyar continued
“Dwayam Mantra” must be chanted by all times irrespective of any condition of the body . As body needs oxygen to survive , soul needs Dwayam to progress ..
Another disciple of Nanjeeyar was hearing the conversation .He thought that there was some unfulfilled wish of Acharyar . He humbly approached his Acharyar and asked respectfully Swamin ! Kindly give us the opportunity to fulfill your desire .. what was longing….
NanJeeyar replied, My Child I need the entire wealth of this world .. The disciple was confused … The Acharyar smiled and said …My dear ……“I have a strong desire to behold Sri Namperumal’s Archavatara body in my mind forever . This is what I think that He can give me and it is equal to the wealth of the entire world.
The disciple immediately rushed to the main temple and conveyed Acharyars wish to the chief priest . The priest reported this wish with utmost devotion to Lord Namperumal. All compassionate Lord Namperumal agreed through asuri voice . All arrangements were made . Lord accordingly set out of his Sanctorum with pomp and grandeur and arrived in front of his favourite disciple Sri Nanjeeyar’s Mutt .
The arrival of Lord to Nanjeeyars mutt was very special . Lord Namperumal had just come directly to see his devotee as per his request . Nanjeeyar was overexcited . With copulent tears he was looking at Lord who graced him with very exhilarating divine darshana that was “Sarvasvam”(the wealth of entire world) . It was a one to one seva . NanJeeyar was overjoyed and was having uncontrollable tears all through . He turned round and looking at Swamy Nampillai and other disciples addressed them.
My dear children .. …
Our “Namperumal has fulfilled my wish by his cool grace which is the world wealth for me.
Dear Children ……
Now I am prepared to do reveal whatever knowledge I came to possess by the blessing of my learned Acharya Sri Bhattar. Those who have thirst for knowledge can quench their thirst….
Swamy Nampillai submitted him, Acharya ! Tell us something which I should ever remember as the sole refuge”. NanJeeyar replied …..
Do not think that the Lord is for the sake of the soul but think that the soul is for the sake of the Lord…..
Further Swamy NamPillai submitted another question humbly ,Acharyaa “What should be the behavior of Srivaishnavas when they get separated from the company a Srivaishnava by his departure to Sri Vaikunta Loka from this mortal world?”
My dear Nampillai , answered the great Acharyar .. Adiyens Acharyar Sri Parasara Bhattar advised me with few essential esoteric truths relating to the welfare of my soul which I shall reveal exactly as said by adiyen Acharyar ,
Do listen carefully ….
“Do not be popped up with pride for the following reasons
I am by name Vedanti (one who has learnt vedantas to its core).
I have for my Acharya, Sri Parasara Bhattar
I have given by way of Guru Dakshina plenty of wealth to Acharyar .
The I ‘ness …. dissolution is a must for the souls progress …..
Therefore think always that Swamy Ramanuja’s lotus feet are the sole means of salvation and take refuge unto him. I tell you now in a similar fashion – you also take refuge under Swamy Ramanuja . Do not be elated that you got the fame of Lokacharya and you are capable of bringing out the esoteric meanings of 4000 hymns of Azhwars and the propagator of Sri Bhashya (Beware of these pitfalls)”.
He advised few more essential truths to all his disciples . Nanjeeyar humbly spoke Dear Children ….. I beg your pardon for any fault if committed unknowingly, as it is very difficult for a soul with this body to be free from any fault . Blessing all of them , having “Sri Pada Thirtha” (the holy water after washing their holy feet) of Srivaishnavashe hosted (Tadiyaradhana) dinner for all the disciples ..
Subsequently, He showered his blessings on all the disciples ..Keeping his head on the lap of Sri Senapathi Jeeyar and his holy feet on the lap of Sri Pinbazhagiya Jeeyar facing towards the temple inside his mutt meditating on his Acharyar lotus feet of Swamy Parashara Bhattar, he began his journey to Sri SriVaikuntam
During the days of Swamy Parasarabhattar , a vedantin came to have darshan of Lord Ranganatha . He was very learned in sastras .
While having darshan he noticed Swamy Parasara bhattar advising a group of devotees .The Vedantin walked near to Swamy and asked him to explain how a vaishnava is distinquished from a smarta . Swamy Parasara bhattar did not care to enter into an elaborate controversy with the adversary on this query , delicate in as much as it is a bone of contention between the two divisions the advaitins and visishitadvaitins.
He just smiled and called his attention to the signs of chakra and shankha inscribed in both his arms a sacrament enjoyed by sastras on all vaishnavas .
The vedantin said ..Oh I see !! but what authorities can you quote from the shastras justifying you to set this type of custom ? of wearing Urdhva pundra and the sacraments.
Swamy Parasara bhattar replied .. I shall not trouble you with all that , for when I shall quote one authority , to which we commonly agree . The first sutra of Apastamba Dharma which says Wise practices of our wise elders are our best authority . Only after this comes Vedas .. Adiyens father Kooresa observed the sacrament in question and therefore , Adiyen does it .. Hope you to follow your Elders footsteps without doubt ..
The vedantin was silenced ..Though he was elder to Swamy Parasara bhattar , he offered obeisances and moved away quickly…..
The month of ( March – April ) in tamil (Panguni ) is sacred as it is the appearance month of – Lord Ranganatha on Revathi star and Goddess Sri Ranganayaki Thayar on Uthiram star both occur during the same month.
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The most important and the oldest festival called as “Adi Brahmotsavam” is performed during this month for 10 days and culminates on the day of Panguni Uthiram .
About 800 years ago ……………………………………………
an unusual incident occurred which has remained as one of the most cherished brave effort by our Acharyas for protecting and leaving us the legacy of our great srivaishnava sampradaya and our Lordships…
Almost 800 years ago , the festive mood was vibrating with splendor. At the banks of Kollidam river preparations were being made for Lord’s arrival with pomp and show . The stage was decorated with wonderful flowers and the best decorative lamps .
A huge golden throne decked with diamonds and costly jewels, attracted the venue. The devotees were discussing.. Who else except Lord of the Lords is going to preside now.
Devotees from far off arrived in large numbers to attend the great festival .It was a darshanam not to be missed .
It was customary for the Lord to alight and have Abhishekam done amongst the huge gathering of devotees
. The entire stage was decorated. Milk , Curd , Honey, Coconut water , Rose water , sandal oil , various types of perfumes , flowers , holy basil leaves garlands was set in order for the Lords ceremonial bath .The feast for the eyes was about to begin …
Finally the time arrived …amongst the mangala Nadaswaram and the priests chanting Azhwars prabhandams Lord of Lords arrived in majestic style .
The great Acharya Swamy Desikan , Swamy Sudarshana suri along with several disciples accompanied the Lordships and were guiding the priests in conducting the rituals . Mangala haarathee was offered amongst the huge crowd .
All the devotees in one voice chanted loudly clasping their hands on their heads …..
G O V I N D A ….. G O V I N D A G O V I N D A ….G O V I N D A…… RANGA
Among the most revered Acharyas , Priests and devotees , a distinguished very old devotee aging around 85 years or more ,was contemplating on the various divine pastimes of the great devotees who had served Lord in all aspects , even sacrificing their lives for the Lordships .
Silently glorifying the great Jatayu who served Lord Rama , and Lord Rama performing funeral rites for Jatayu , Lord Krishna preferring to dine with Sri Vidura even though he had the option of dining with exalted elders such as Drona or Bheeshma the episode of ThiruppAN azhvar, LOkasAranga Munithe the great kulasekhara azhwar attachment to Lord , Sri Periya Nambi and his attachment to Sri MaranEri Nambi, Swami Ramanuja and his deep devotion to Sri Thirukachchi Nambi he was silently cherishing …
His thoughts were with pure devotion overflowing ….
What have I done for the Lord ??? for his mercy in being among this august gathering . His face exuded serenity and was in total peace.
Caught up in these devotional thoughts and having darshanam of Lord Ranganatha he was lost in a different world full of bliss …
He had slowly forgotten the world around him.
That great personality was none other than our Jagath Acharyar Swami Pillai Lokacharya .
The proceedings were being conducted smoothly .All of a sudden among the august gathering a person rushed to the old Acharyar . He was sweating . He took courage and said … Acharya , I was washing clothes on the banks of Cauvery river when my donkeys ran away suddenly hearing some unusual noise .
I attempted to find what was the reason . Slowly I climbed a small hillock to see what was that frightening my donkeys . Much to my surprise I noticed a large battalion of men on horses with ammunition marching towards our direction .
With their attire I guess they should be the moslem invaders . I am told by my relatives that many temples around us were being looted and desecrated by these invaders. Acharya , I am scared .. What would happen to our temple and our Lord Ranganatha . I am afraid for our families .Please do something .
Swamy Lokacharya was taken aback . He closed his eyes and said ..Don’t worry ..Our Lord will take care .. He got up majestically and walked towards the deities . Prostrating to Lord seeking his grace He looked at that man and said … Just go and continue with your routine work . But ! Just keep watching the invaders movements and inform as soon as possible
Swamy Desikar , Swamy Sudarshana suri and other Acharyas assembled and met Swamy Pillai Lokacharyar and concluded it was Ulugh Khan the army commander sent by Tuglak. They had to take a quick decision .
All of them informed the priests for staying beside the deities at all cost , and gave some important tasks to be completed without any delay .
They briefed them about the unexpected calamity that may take place any time and hence instructed the priests to secretly carry the Lordships to the temple without the regular Abhisheka .
The devotees who had assembled were slowly coming to know about the sudden change in the programme as the news spread like fire . All the assembled devotees silently marched back to their respective homes cursing the enemies who created this unholy trouble. The Lordships were silently taken back inside the temple . Swamy Lokacharyar called the Chieftain and the Elders of the temple and advised them what could be the steps that may have to take facing the invader.
The objective was not to confront the enemy but to focus their efforts to ensure that the moola virat was not desecrated. All of them decided that they shall form three groups .
One group shall be headed by the eldest Swamy Pillai Lokachariya, who shall carry the deities of Lord Ranganatha and His concerts in a covered palanquin and proceed southward with few disciples .
Swamy Sudarshana suri took up the task of erecting a stone wall in front of the main sanctorum to misguide the invaders . A stone wall was constructed with support of many disciples in a short time ..
The third team was to provide cover for the team lead by Swamy Pillai Lokachariya [the team with the deities of our lord and his consorts so that swami had enough time to maintain safe distance from the enemy.
Swami Desika who was the youngest among the Acharyas was requested by Shri Sudarsana suri to go with the third party and somehow save himself so that he at least might be left to propound Sri Vaishnavism and the teachings of Jagatha Acharya Shri Ramanuja. Shrutaprakashika was the work that was made out of generations of learning’s from Acharyas and an elaborate commentary on JagathaAcharyar Swamy Ramanuja’s Sri Bhasyam .
Sudharsana Suri entrusted his two young sons and manuscript “SrutaprakaasikA” to Swami Desika Swami Desika had an earnest desire that this great work must at any cost be saved . Swami as instructed immediately took up the directions from Sudharsana Suri and was about to leave towards northward with the little boys .
At the temple town , all of them decided in one voice that they will not oppose the army , but behave as if nothing is so serious .. There was a regular update about the Invaders who were approaching . The people were in two moods whether they should remain in town or flee.
Who was to decide and advise them? The people were utterly confused .They decided to take counsel from Lord Ranganatha himself then decided to appeal to the LORD Himself .
They all dropped chits (Tiru Ulla seettu) expressing their opinion and with devotion they drew up one chit which said that all could remain at Srirangam itself. They decided in was the Lord’s order and remained facing the situation bravely.
The same evening, the invaders marched inside the Srirangam town from Samayavaram . Thousands of the town’s citizens were harassed and injured .The terror in which the enemy looted the prosperous town speaks about the bravery of the srivaishnavas there .It was a very sad plight and the bloodbath that followed who resisted will make one cry for our great forefathers who sacrificed their lives . This had been recorded in the History of Srirangam Temple known as Koil-Ozhugu .
The great bloodshed of 12,000 Sri Vaishnavas at Sri Varahaswamy Sannidhi makes it the worst day in the temple town .
Inside the Hall , Swamy saw heaps of corpses lying around . He somehow braved the boys to lie down unnoticed to give an impression that no one survived .
The little boys stretched underneath along with some of them and our dear Swami also lay down next to them along with the holy book. Swamy Desikar thus concealed the two boys and himself amidst a heap of corpses and passed the night with caution .
The enemy troops assumed that they were corpses and did not bother to probe. Observing the enemy troops moving away , Swamy slowly took the frightened boys before dawn unnoticed in North-Westerly direction towards Satyamangalam . He was completely exhausted and was worried with LORD and the other revered Acharyas .
At the other side of the temple , while the enemy was invading the town, the old Acharyar dutifully carried the Lord’s deity with a small group of disciples with utmost caution braving the worst scenarios of terror with fear . Leaving Srirangam, he had to suffer many hardships during the journey. He had to be wary of the enemy attack while he also had to protect himself and his party from robbers.
He was constantly praying LORD for his mercy and keeping his disciples motivated with LORD’s divya charitam . All of them decided that whatever sufferings may befall them, Lord Ranganatha’s should not face any danger or desecration. After an arduous trek, they reached Jyothishkudi near Madurai. Lokacharya was a man strictly adhering to religious modes of conduct and manners.
He was finding it difficult to secure accommodation and catering facilities on the way. These troubles were common to people in those days but the Acharya had to face more severe hardships as he had to carry Lord Ranganatha without any hardships to the Lord . All through the journey, they had to pass through possible attacks from invaders and thieves. They had to trek hundreds of miles on foot. In spite of all kinds of hardships, the Acharya carefully kept the Lord Ranganatha in his personal possession.
He was particular that the traditional daily worship of Lord Ranganatha should not be missed and therefore carried the deity himself with greatest care and devotion and proceeded towards the south. Trekking several miles with constant fear of the enemy lack of food and rest had adversely affected the Acharya’s health. Also enroute , he had to face the enemies wrath some occasions injuring him too .
Swamy Pillai Lokacharyar accepted all the sufferings for our LORD .He was mentally distressed about the future . His mind refused to continue living on this earth seeing the tragic state in which Ranganatha had to be kept often hiding here and there .
He wept several times with the unexpected turn of events . It was like Jatayu the great devotee of Lord Rama injured by Ravana while the latter was carrying away mother Sita, he wept helplessly.
He proceeded to a village called jyothishkudi, which was surrounded by the Anamalai mountains adjoining thick, dense forests. They found a dilapidated mandapam (ceremonial hall), and decided to retire for the night.
He was exhausted and came to know it was time for him to leave his body. He was surrounded by his great disciples . Looking at LORD sweating , he said to his disciples , Please fan the Lord as he is also tired coming along with us . The disciples were sad to see their Acharyar completely exhausted and had tears watching the scene when he was fanning the Lord with those injuries in his body ..
There was a pin drop silence ..With tears He meditated on his Acharyar and father, Swami vadakku thiruveedhip piLLai , pleaded them to forgive him as He could not able to protect Lord Ranganatha .
He could see numerous ants in the small place .
He touched all of them, for the reason they also would be in srivaikuntam along with him . as it is believed that any living being touched by the hands of a Sri vaishnavA is assured mOksha .
He was always pining, ‘Let this body and soul of mine be sacrificed for Lords sake!’ and had his wish fulfilled. He sought nothing for himself, amassed no earthly riches, and laid down his life for a Noble cause and became Lokacharyar .
He once again justified his name as the universal guru, for he delivered even ants and insects until his last moment!!
The most amazing incident was when we can observe millions of ants in that region even this day who could be the descendants of the ants that Swami delivered by his touch.
Lokacharya was one of our esteemed teachers and philosophers who preached equality of men irrespective of caste, place of residence, etc.
After the disappearance of Pillailokacharya the disciples performed the last rites and continued their journey along with Lord Ranganatha towards south passing through a very long route covering Thirukoshtiyur ,Jyotishkudi .Srivalliputhur ,Calicut , Gundulpet , Chittoor Melkote , Sathyamangalam and finally Tirumala in the present Sriranganatha Mandapam where LORD stayed for 60 years .
Click the appended blog post below for details of LORD meeting our Nammazhwar and the divine pastime of Swamy Srisailer with Azhwar and Lordships
The great Iyppasi sravana ( October –November ) festival is celebrated as a mark of respect for Acharyar Pillailokacharya’s sacrifice even today .
He attained the lotus feet of his Acharyar in the tamil month of Adi, on the dwAdasi day. On reading this wonderful divine pastime we need to believe that
May be our LORD wanted to see himself being protected by his devotees and glorify our respectful Acharyas who had done everything as HIS kainkaryam ..
Who or How else can we explain the need to “save” our Lord!!! who is beyond every thing.
All glories to Swamy Pillai LokaAcharyar
lOkAchAryAya guravE krushNapAdaSya SUnavE |
SamSArabhOgiSandashta jIvajIvAtavE nama: ||
All glories to Swamy Sudarshan suri
All glories to Swamy Desikar…………
“shrImAn venkaTa-nAthAryaH kavitArkika-kesari | vedAntAcharya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hridi | kavithArkika simhAya kalyANa guNa Saline Srimathe vEnkateSAya vEdhAntha guravE namaha
Those were the glorious days when the most revered Acharyar Swamy Yamuna Acharyar was living . A great devotee Nambi also lived near srirangam . One day, Swamy Yamunacharya was on the way to a village .
To his surprise he saw Nambi who was working in the field was drinking the mud water in the field with his two hands. Yamunacharya was amazed to see this action of Nambi. He sent one of his disciples to inquire about his strange act with Nambi .
Nambi with all humility answered Swamin !! philosophically this body goes into this mud (earth) after our death and this body made up of Panchabhootas has to rest at the place it originated , hence my taking mud water should not amuse you .
Swamy Yamunachary was hearing his statement with interest . He understood that Nambi was almost like Satakopa, who had eradicated with anger, the Sata vayu before it enters into his body and became Satakopa our Nammalvar only . He understood this great personality was non other than our Swamy Nammazhwar .
Hence he called him Maran Err Nambi.
Swamy Yamunachary pleased with his answer , invited Nambi to join his ashram . Nambi was touched ….
He said Oh Acharyaa !! ,
being born in a panchama varna my qualification doesn’t suit to be amongs’t learned disciples .
Swamy Yamunacharya replied ,
My child … Nambee …..there is no caste-bar for a Brahmajnani and he must join him without any obstacle.
Thanking his Gurudeva for the mercy … , He accompanied him to Srirangam and arranged his residence near his Ashram . Nambi was overjoyed and served his Acharyar with unstinted devotion .
He started attending classes regularly and relishing the esoteric truths . It was a great privilege to be amongst the great disciples of Swamy Yamunacharya. Nambi’s joy knew no bounds. He made a small idol, a replica of his Acharya in clay and started worshiping with deep devotion . He was always in the mood of serving his Acharyar and was thus immersed in the discourses .
Once , looking at the small hall where the daily discourses were conducted , Acharyar decided to enlarge the Hall in a new place and thus initiated construction . He fixed an auspicious muhurtha for inaugurating the New Hall and conduct a class .
Nambi came to know about the New Hall . He was keen to visit and do some service there . He managed to reach the New Hall and was amazed to see the large hall well ventilated . He walked inside the Hall with prestige for being a student of the great school .
Yamunacharya came to know through his disciples about Nambi visiting the Hall . Pleased with the happening , Yamunacharya cancelled the inaugural ceremony and informed that there is no need for any ceremony now , as Nambi’s foot sanctified the hall . He decided conduct the discourse immediately on the same day
Thus ,Maran Err Nambi earned that much of affection from his Acharya.
Once Swamy Yamunacharya was suffering from a painful disease called the carbuncle. Carbuncle, known as the King of Boils, Rajapilavai, in Tamil, is caused due to inflammation of tissues in the back and neck.
The shooting pain emanating from the fast-spreading boil would be unbearable.
Antibiotics and painkillers were unknown in those days and it is difficult to imagine the kind of pain the disease inflicted . Swamy Alavandar was suffering silently. He did not even let his disciples know about the disease lest they should be worried. Perianambi and Thirukoshtiyur Nambi the senior most disciples alone knew.
One day Maraneri Nambi went to Acharyars ashram .
He insisted that he should see his Acharyar . The diciples resisted .
But Maraneri was adamant.
So he was let in.
Acharyar attempted to cover his pain and welcomed him with a smile.
He thought that Nambi must have come to clear his doubts in his lessons.
The best way out was to dispose Maraneri as early as possible without letting him find about his disease.
Maraneri came into the room and prostrated at his Acharya’s feet.
The Acharyar spoke
“May you be blessed, Maraneri Nambi.
Please get up.
You see I have a lot of things to do today.
Please tell me your doubts fast. We don’t have much time.
Nambi replied …
“ Acharya ,…
I have been your disciple for decades. Have I asked anything from you?”
“No” ……. “Today I have come to you with a desire. I have set my mind on that object. And I can’t live without that. You have that with you. Can you give that to me?
“It’s yours Maraneri. Whatever it is.”
“Thanks, Acharya .”
Maraneri ran out to fetch a silver vessel containing the holy water. Yamunacharya was puzzled.
“Please Gurudeva my Gurudeva show me your hands.”
“What is this for, Maraneri?”
“When you gift a piece of land you need to solemnize the gift with the holy water, right?”
“Yes, you are right.
You want the mutt’s land near the river kaveri .
Well, it’s yours. Take it.” “No, Acharya.”
“Then..’ “Please repeat whatever I am going to say.
“I, Yamunaithuraivar , do hereby gift to my disciple Maraneri Nambi, the Rajapilavai disease which I have now, along with the pain, the suffering and all the after-effects.”
The Acharyar was shocked .. He roared …
“What the hell you are doing, you idiot? This is not a game. This water is holy. And if I repeat whatever you said, then you will have the disease, you moron. The disciple innocently pleads……
…. Acharyaa Don’t ever say the words again.” “You are one of the greatest Acharyas, the world has ever seen. You have promised to give whatever I want.
How can you go back on your word, Gurudeva?”
The Acharyar replied My child … “But that’s ridiculous, Nambi.”“What is ridiculous, Acharya? You are our Guru. You have a hundred disciples. A thousand people come to you every day to listen to your words.
Even the Lord in the temple is looking forward to see you every day.
“How can you afford to be confined to your bed? And by your kind, wise words you are removing our pains. Pains which have been following us for millions of births. How can you suffer in pain, Acharya?
“I am a low-born worm, Gurudeva.
By accepting me as your disciple you made a gift to me which is worth more than the whole universe.
“Now, Gurudeva, please.. I beg of you.. please allow me to do my part. If you refuse to gift your disease to me , then I will have no option than to die at your feet. It’s your call.” Alavandar melted. He poured the water on his hand and chanted the appropriate mantra.
“Please bear with me, Gurudeva. I have one more request.”
Alavandar looked at his disciple through a screen of tears.
“Let this transaction be not known to anybody else in the world.”
Alavandar was happy and sad at the same time.
Happy that he had such a loving disciple and sad because he was forced to give so much of pain and suffering to such a nice man.
Maraneri Nambi went out as a happy man.
Peria Nambi met him outside the room.
“Why are you so happy, my friend?”
“After many decades of discipleship it was only today that our Guru was kind enough to give me a precious prasadam.
And that too only after I compelled him to do so.”
Perianambi did not understand a word of what his friend said.
Alavandar’s recovery was quite dramatic after that day.
A week later Maraneri Nambi was down with carbuncle.
It is said that he suffered for three months from shooting pain.
Whenever he was in pain he would only chant the name of his Gurudeva and the pain subsided ..
Because his Guru’s blessings were fully on him and because the Lord was moved by his selfless love Maraneri Nambi recovered from the disease sooner than the usual time..
Pillai Uranga Villidasan was a favourite disciple to Swamy Ramanuja .
He became very close to his Master so rare that was his piety though belonged to a lower caste he had privileges conferred upon him .
Very often Swamy Ramanuja was seen returning from Kaveri leaning on the shoulders of Swamy MudaliAndaan and Villidasan .
A brahmana is unclean before bath and clean after a bath and the disciples watching were curious with their Masters way why they had not changed places while accompanying Swamy Ramanuja .
They took courage to question their Master for an explanation.
Swamy condescended to them saying , my children ! Have you not heard that learning , riches and high birth swell a fool with pride , but adorn the wiseman ?
This man our villidasan is utterly destitute of this three fold vice but we are not .
Hence he is fit enough to be touched by me .On hearing the golden words the disciples bent their head in shame and dared make any further protest , but all the same malice kindled their minds against the favourite disciple Villidasan who was a sudra and more close to their master than a Brahmin disciple could be .
They could not digest a sudra should stand so high to their masters estimation , as their own prestige as Brahmins was being jeopardised.
Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Kovil
Swamy Ramanuja was aware of the disciples grudge towards the advanced devotee who was a gem among all of them .
As a true Master he wanted to convince the error which is making them spiritually fatal .
He devised a plan and hence called a close disciple in private and ordered him to secrete all the clothes of the disciples in the night when they were fast asleep. ( these were the clothes which are washed and hanged high to be dried up ) .
The task was accomplished .
The next day all the disciples were aghast with the missing of their daily wear . Each one was accusing the other and the entire scene turned into chaos.
They were calling names against each other .
Swamy Ramanuja walked into the chambers hearing the unusual noise . All the disciples vented their anguish about the missing clothes .
Swamy Ramanuja calmed them and advised them to accept the same as Lords providence . Alternate arrangements were made .
Days passed , Villidasan who was living near to the Ashram was serving Acharyar with utmost devotion . One day it got delayed as Villidasar was entrusted some jobs for some festival .
Swamy Ramanuja walked into the disciples chamber and told them that they all must go to Villidasars house located few meters away and make an attempt to rob the precious jewellery and other ornaments from Ponnachee his wife when she is asleep.
All of them knew Villidasar was a rich person and had gifted many golden jewellary to his wife Ponnachee in the past on several occasions and she was always bedecked with the ornaments .
It was decided that they need to rob the jewels when Villidasar was serving Swamy Ramanuja in the ashram .
The disciples were very happy . All of them marched hurriedly to Villidasars house .They could see Ponnachee fast asleep .
Ponnachi was sleeping on the floor of the hut using her hand as a pillow. She was bedecked with wonderful gold jewelry The moment one of the disciples bent down to unhook her ear-ring, she woke up.
Without any inhibitions they waited , collected all the jewellery from the chest and attempted to remove the jewellery worn by her during her sleep once again . But , Ponnachee recognised the disciples and did not want to startle him.
She thought ,when Swamy Ramanuja’s disciple committed such an act of theft it must have a divine sanction .
She then laid still and allowed them remove the ear-rings, bangles and the nose-ring she was wearing on the left side of her body.
She felt they were taking away their own property for whatever effects she owned in this world were not really hers but entrusted to her for their sake .
This is how Property is to be spiritually viewed . She gently rolled over for them to strip the other side of the jewellery she was wearing .
She was anxious that the vaishnavas should complete their work and not go away with half work done . But her movement however created a fright and put the disciples on their toes to leave the place .
The vaishnavas returned to the ashrama .Pillai dasar after completing all the works assigned to him submits his humble prayers to Acharya and takes leave .
Meanwhile , the disciples entered the ashram and explain the happenings at Villidasars house in detail to Acharyar. Swamy Ramanujar orders them to follow Villidasar immediately up to his house and watch all that might take place in the house . The disciples quickly left the jewellery in Ashram and followed him in the dark .
In the house Ponnachee was eagerly waiting for her husband as done daily.
When she heard the footsteps of Villidasar , she hurriedly went to the entrance and welcomed him .She washed his feet with all affection .
Villidasar looked at her very strangely as she had decked jewellery one sided only.
He said , What is this lady ?? taken aback with her strange dress sense .
Nothing My Lord she replied soothingly .I shall explain you in detail .
Please honour the prasada quickly as it is already too late .
She continued about the incident that happened few minutes back .
She pleasingly said that the vaishnavas who are our gurus had come to our house just now my dear …..while I was lying asleep.
May be they were in need of their jewels .
I could hear them whisper that I was asleep and It was the right time to take the jewellery .
Lying down hearing their whisper , I pretended to be fast asleep so that they could complete their task .
They laid hands on me and took all the jewels from my right side as the left side was visible .
Our effects are theirs as you know , so to let them have all , I quietly turned around my right side with all my care doing so to make them believe that I was really fast asleep, but my bad luck it some how gave them a alarm and to my utter regret they left without completing the job they had come for .
On hearing this Pillai urangi got upset and was angry with her .
He said ..Hey Foolish woman !!! you have spoiled the great opportunity to serve the vaishnavas .
You must have laid motionless till their work is completed ….
……If the jewels were theirs Its their wish to take them as they like . I am really very upset with your behaviour……
He said half the jewels have been best invested , the remaining are vanity .
The vaishnavas were observing the conversation behind the doors . They hurriedly left back to Ashrama and gave a full report of the conversation .
Swamy Ramanuja the Acharyar now spoke to his disciples and asked them to remain awake. He then instructed them to wake up all the other disciples.
All of them should clean themselves and assemble before the Acharya for an important lesson. Eager to hear new lessons from the Acharya, they all gathered around him in no time.
Suddenly from no where Villidasan ran into the mutt with his wife .
He fell down at the Acharya’s feet like an uprooted tree.
He and his wife Ponnachee were with tears .
The other disciples were stunned at the unusual sight.
They had never seen Villidasan crying so much.
“We have committed a grace sin Acharya. We have together sinned. We are no longer fit to be your disciples. Condemn us to the worst of hells; even then the retribution will not be adequate.” cried Villidasan
“What happened, my child? Why are you crying? Why is your wife crying?” Swamy Ramanuja asked the devotee disciple ..
Acharya “Some of your learned disciples had come into our hut today to take my wife’s jewels.
She was sleeping.
Your disciples took the trouble of removing the jewels from her person themselves.
Ponnachi did not want to startle them by waking up all of a sudden.
When she turned the other side so that they can remove those jewels also, they just ran away.
“Acharya, I am not even fit to be a dust in the feet of those learned disciples. Aren’t you called the Udaiyavar?
Doesn’t that mean that all of us,all our belongings, properties and everything belong to you?
When you sent your men to take your things, Ponnachi should have welcomed them and should have given them whatever she had.
She has sinned, My Lord. “And I have sinned too.
Please curse us a punishment .
My wife has decided not to wear jewels on the one side of her body for the rest of her life.” for the grave sin committed ….
“You showed LORD to me. And I could not even give some worthless piece of yellow metal to you, when you needed it! What a sinner I am! There is no hope for me, there is no salvation for me!”he was uncontrollable ….
Swamy Ramanuja turned to his other disciples.
Please tell me whose wisdom is better , great yours or his ?
Please know that caste is of no importance..
It is the virtue that is most important and prized .
This is why I say ….
Even River Cauvery cannot clean me completely. But this man’s touch can purify me. That’s why I lean on him when I return from the river.
Villi, my child ….. please teach these people how to love.”
The disciple who first complained to Ramanuja about Villidasan prostrated to him and Ponnachi’s feet begging their pardon.
Swamy Ramanuja then returned the jewels to Ponnachi and commanded her to wear them then and there. And also ordered that she should never be without those jewels. The silence that reigned in the Ashram was pregnant with many lessons, many teachings and many leanings….
It is told that Villidasan was called as Mahamati ( a human wiser than wisdom ) the wisdom blinded by love for Lord .
He was love blind as to fear any danger for one who is above all dangers .
Mahamati used to walk with his sword drawn in front of the Lord so that he may stop anyone who dared to do any act in the least offensive to the Lord of Lords….
More details about this great disciple can be read in this post linked below :
THIRININRAVOOR is located 30 kms from Chennai on Arakonam route – and 5 kms from Thinnanoor station is this Sri Vaishnava divya desam .As Goddess Maha Lakshmi arrived from SriVaikuntam and stayed here, this place came to be known as “THIRU” “NINDRA” “OOR” (THIRU= LAKSHMI, NINDRA= STANDING, OOR=PLACE).
Lord MahaVishnu and Samudrarajan, Goddess mahalakshmi’s father reached Bhoolokam in search of Thayar as without Her presence, Sri Vaikuntam wore a dull lifeless look. Samudra rajan ,in the course of his search reached this place. He was overwhelmed to see his glorious daughter Mahalakshmi and addressed Her as “ENNAI PETRA THAI” (mother who gave birth to me emphasizing the fact that Mahalakshmi Thayar is the Divine Mother for the entire world). Varuna, the God of rain, who came in search of Samudrarajan as he had to quench the sea water for forming clouds saw Samudrarajan at this place. Hence, Samudrarajan…
It may be mentioned here that TIRUMALAi is Kaliyuga Vaikuntam and Sri Vaikuntanathan has manifested Himself as Lord Srinivasar.
The sacred TIRUMALA Hills consisting of seven peaks is considered to be seven-hooded. Blessed are the devotees who are fortunate to have his darshan .
There are countless devotees who have served the LORD since ages .
One such great devotee was Swamy Ananthazhwan an ardent disciple of Swamy Ramanuja . As per Swamy Ramanuja’s directives he served the LORD few hundred years ago .
There are several pastimes of Swamy Anathazhwan with Lord Srinivasa . One divine pastime is memorable as Lord himself accepts to become Swamy Anathazhwans disciple .
Knowing about the initiatives taken by Swamy Anathazhwan in organising the temple rituals with religious fervor few devotees decided to trek the hills and have darshanam of Lord and seek the blessings of his dear devotee too . The Srivaishnavites were walking from Srirangam and it was a very long journey .
While ascending the Hills, coming fromthey were feeling tired and had to take some rest . Completely exhausted they were perplexed how could they complete their pilgrimage. All of a sudden a young lad appeared before them .
The boy was appearing with divine tejas . With srivaishna Urdhva pundram he was almost looking like vamana avatara brahmachari .
He offered his humble obeisances and said .Oh swamins ! Adiyen has brought some temple prasada for all of you .
Kindly honor the same and please feel comfortable .
The srivaishnavites being orthodox were initially impressed with the divine boy .However one Elder person among the group wanted him to introduce his lineage and his Acharyar whom he was initiated .
The divine lad he was , smiled at the simple question .
He proudly replied that his name was Madhurakavidasa and his Acharyar was Swamy Anathazhwan who is serving Lord in all ways .
It was his Acharyars instructions , he had walked down the sacred hills to handover the prasada coming to know about their visit .
He further expressed that the Prasada was coming directly from the temple which was handed over to him by Swamy Anathazhwan to be given to them .
A bit surprised , the elders said ..
Oh swamin
Its nice to know about your association to Swamy Anathazhwan . But we wish to hear from you about his glories .
Can we hear your swamys Thanian ? as this a custom for the srivaishnavas to recite their Acharyars glories in the form of Thanians .
The divine boy majestically recited the thanian about Swamy Anathazhwan in the seven hills which vibrated
Akhilatmagunavasam ajnanatimirpaham
Asritanam susaranam vande Anantharyadesikam”
(I bow to Acharya Ananthazhvan, who is the repository of knowledge, mercy and wisdom, the one Acharyar who removes ignorance and is eminently eligible for surrender by disciples)
They liked the divine lads confident answer . However the Srivaishnavas then questioned the youngster how his taniyan made no reference to Ananthazhvan’s relation to Swamy Ramanuja.
The divine boy smiled and replied Swamins ! Actually there are two Thaniyans in praise of adiyens Acharyar Swamy Ananthazhvan, one referring to the glory of his divine personality and another referring to his connection with Swamy Ramanuja.
And please listen to the second verse of the Thanian
‘Srimath Ramanujacharya Sripadamboruhadvayam
Sathutha manga sandaryam Anantharyamaham Bhaje..
( I prostrate before adiyens Acharyar Swamy Ananthalvan who is the lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja and who is worshipped by Srivaishnavas all over the earth )
The Srivaishnavas were convinced that the divine boy was a true disciple of Swamy Ananthalvan . They honoured the prasada with relish .
They thanked the boy for his affection and love and blessed him .
The divine boy took leave of them and ascended the Hills welcoming them to join him . Slowly, the Srivaishnavas ascended the Hills and walked into Swamy Anathazhwans ashram .
Swamy Anathazhwan was overjoyed to recive the guests from Srirangam . They offered their obeisances and thanked him for the kind courtesy in sending the maha prasada down to the Hills They appreciated the young boy for his kindness and hospitality .
They praised the boys intellect and kindness and expressed their gratefulness to Swamy Ananthazhvan for having sent prasada through one of his bright young disciples.
Swamy Ananthalvan was bewildered. Amazed to note the divine leela , he was in total dark . He realised that it was his LORD who took the pains to walk down with the mahaprasada to his devotees . With tears , he wished to know about the divine lad .The Srivaishnavas explained about the divine glow the boy exhibited . His majestic recitation of the Thanians was memorable ..
The boy was so down to earth serving the prasada They informed that the boy introduced himself as Madhurakavidasa and had recited two slokas in his praise and as they were just trekking behind him up to the hills safely . They said that the boy went inside the temple citing some pending works.
Swamy Anathazhwan pleaded them to recite the verses the boy had sung ..
They recited the two verses before Swamy Ananthazhvan.The entire assembly was wonder struck. Swamy Anathazhwan was in tears .
They realised that the Lord had declared himself as Ananthalvan’s disciple and had chosen the name Madhurakavidasa .
Even though there were so many other Acharyas the second verse showed that it was Ananthazhvan who could be fittingly considered equal to the Lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja.
Since then the paduka (sathari) at the shrine of Swamy Ramanuja sanctorium up the Hills came to be known as Ananthazhvan since then the two verses became famous as the Thaniyans in praise of Swamy Ananthazhvan….
Pillai Uranga Villidasan was a powerful wrestler. Not just any ordinary wrestler but one of very high standing. Almost all the wrestlers in the Chola Kingdom used to pay him a ‘protection fee’.
A Famous Wrestler was majestic in his looks and a terror to his rivals naturally There was a beautiful lady in the village Ponnachi. (Pon in Tamil means gold.) Every one who saw her swore that she richly deserved her name.
Her complexion, came closest to the yellow metal. Her dance-like walk, her height and her dimpled cheeks made her the much-acclaimed beauty in her village. But the most prominent feature of her face was her eyes , very large, round and from which you cannot take your eyes off.
Ponnachi’s beauty was at least as well known as Villi’dasan s prowess. Villidasan was a very good man and had never abused his strength or position. And yes, he was the most eligible, most sought after bachelor in his town. As it would happen in love stories, he heard of Ponnachi’s beauty and set out to see her, more out of curiousity than anything else.
Once he saw her eyes, he could not think of anything else. As if possessed he sought her hand in marriage, something which Ponnachi was only too eager to give. Villidasan was virtually consumed by his love for the damsel.
He was just thinking of nothing else other than his lady love. Villidasan and Ponnachi got married on an auspicious day. Their married life was most blissful in karmic world , which never ended. They had been married for years.
Still to Villidasan Ponnachi was the most beautiful woman in the world with the most beautiful eyes.
It was spring time. Festival time at Capital town of Srivaishnavisim , Srirangam. ( Vasanthotsavam).
Ponnachi wanted to see the festival. To Villidasan her slightest whim was a Royal Command.
He made elaborate arrangements to ensure a comfortable travel for Ponnachi. She was borne in a palanquin till the main street of Srirangam where she had to get down and walk. Ponnachi got down from the palanquin.
Villidasan who was standing nearby was stunned by her beauty. She was dressed up in an exquisite silk saree. What captivated his attention even after years of marriage was her eyes.
Villidasan could not take his eyes away from hers.
As she started to walk towards the temple, Villidasan did the unthinkable. He was walking backwards facing her, unable to see anything else but her large eyes.
Those who saw this amusing sight giggled. Some even laughed out aloud. Villidasan gave a damn to what others thought. Ponnachi was half consumed by shyness and half by pride. She too loved her husband so much that she did not have the mind to object to his act, though she knew that it made people laugh behind their backs.
This strange procession – Ponnachi walking forward, Villidasan walking backwards, and the palanquin bearers and the retinue following Ponnachi – was nearing the temple gate. On the other side of the street, a very great saint was walking away from the temple followed by 1000 of his disciples.
The name of the great saint was Swamy Ramanujacharya.
Swamy Ramanujacharya was amused by the strange sight – Ponnachi walking towards the temple followed by her retinue and Villidasan walking backwards unable to take off his eyes from those of his beautiful wife! The great saint was moved on seeing this wonderful sight.
He inquired about the couple and then sent word to Villidasan asking him to come and meet him in his Ashram alone.
Swamy Ramanuja had decided to do something about that. Now why should Swamy Ramanuja do something about Villi’dasans love? As a spiritual Master of people he instinctively knew that Villi’s love was quite unique.
If only Swamy Ramanujacharya could make people love something as intensely as Villidasan did, yes, he would have made a difference in their lives.At the same time if he showed Villi’s love as an example to be followed,then ignorant people might mistakenly think that they also should love Ponnachi. In other words at the present level Villidasan’s love is not a copyable, replicable model.
So Swamy Ramanuja wanted to first shift Villi’dasans love to something else and then make people understand the greatness of love.
And in order to make so many people understand the meaning of love, there is no harm in shifting one person’s object of love.
So Villidasan was excited .He came running to see Acharya in his Ashram as soon as he got his call.It was late in the night. The Srirangam temple would be closed for the day in another half an hour. Swamy Ramanuja wanted to accomplish his mission within that time.
He asked Villidasan in a sarcastic tone,“Aren’t you shy , Villidasan ! to be seeing your wife’s eyes, when Lord’s festival is on?” Villidasans ’s reply was a correct blend of humility and the force of truth.
Acharya … But ……“Is there anything more beautiful than my wife’s eyes?” Swamy Ramanujacharya was waiting for this question.
“What …..will you do if I show something more beautiful than that?”
Now Villi knew for sure that there was nothing like that and so his words came with confidence.
Then …… “Then I will fall in love with those eyes.
Ponnachi and I will be your slaves for the rest of our lives.”
“Deal. Come with me.”
Swamy Ramanujar took Villidasan to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
The Lord of Love, Sri Ranganathar, Thiruvarangan, was sleeping in his comfortable snake-bed .
Then the great Acharya took hold of Villidasan’s hands. The Acharya’s touch sent waves of electric shock in his body. Swamy Ramanujar closed his eyes and prayed to the Lord.
“Oh, Lord, here’s is an example of perfect love. And the whole world is steeped in misery unaware of this kind of love.
I want the people to know that there is something like this love and that every one of us is capable of it. For that you need to give these two people to me.
“I know that these two people are as precious to you as your Devis and are holier than the holiest scriptures ever written on you.
I promise you my Lord, I’ll give them the reverence they deserve.
Now please, LORD Ranganatha show the beauty of your eyes to this man of love.”
A selfless prayer!
Two loving souls standing before Him!
Lord Ranganathar was helpless!
He had to grant the Acharya’s wish. And the great Lord, whose eyes are not to be seen even by the highest of Devas and the wisest of Rishis, whose Feet cannot even be touched by Vedas and all the knowledge in the world, opened his most beautiful eyes for Villidasan to see.
Villidasan was awe-struck; no he was love-struck. The sight lasted for a fraction of a second.
Villidasan instantly fell in love with those large, beautiful eyes, for which nothing in the world is even a pale comparison. Villi prostrated at Sri Ramanujar’s feet proclaiming his slavery to the saint.
Swamy Ramanuja lifted him as a loving father would lift his loving son.
Swamy Ramanujar’s eyes were so full with tears, his heart so full with love that for a few seconds he could not talk.
Villidasan continued to be in a state of ecstasy. If God decides to show His eyes even for a nanosecond, the effect will last for centuries, extending into millions of life –times, for ever, for eternity and even thereafter. When he went back to Ponnachi that night and told about his experience, she was also transformed.
She did not whine that her husband had found out another object of love.
She was ecstatic because she was the loving wife of a man to whom even the Great God had shown His eyes. The next morning Pillai Uranga Villidasan gives awayall his possessions, erects a small hut near Swamy Ramanuja’s Ashram and starts living there along with Ponnachi serving Swamy Ramanuja the entire life ….
.Let us seek our Acharyar to bestow devotion to Lord always ..
Another divine pastime is appended in the below link ..
Sri Vathsa Chinha Mishrebhyo Namah Ukthi Adheemahi
Yathukthaya: Thraiyee Kante Yaanthi Mangala Soothrathaam
( Meaning )
“I salute the great mahaan Sri Srivathsa Chinha Misra (Swamy Koorathazhwan)
whose sri sookthis became the thirumangalyam of the mother Veda (The 4 Vedas also named as Thrayee as mentioned in the above thaniyan)”
Swamy Koorath Azhwan the great sri vaishnava acharya , earned his daily bread by the traditional means prescribed for a Vedic “grahasta” (householder) viz. “unchavratti” ( the practice of going around one’s neighborhood for daily alms and sustaining oneself solely by such means)
Nothing was accumulated… be it food or clothes…nothing more was collected than what Kuresan considered as sufficient to satisfy the wants of his family in the space of a single day… that was kuresa the most advanced srivaishnava …
One day it rained heavily and the time for going around on his “unchavratti” came and passed. Kuresan and Andalamma his dear wife went without any food that day except for a sip of the holy water offered to the household deity. They skipped supper too. Kuresan was unmindful of his hunger since he kept reciting the hymns “tiruvoimozhi” ( Nammazhwars hymns on LORD ) throughout the rainy…
This incident took place in Srirangam .Swamy Nampillai was sick and recovering .
A srivaishnava came to swamy’s ashram and said , Oh Acharaya your respectable body has become lean and weak much to our concern .
Swamy replied While one wanes the other one waxes .
This is the universal rule . It means while knowledge of Lord ,devotion to HIM and detachment to material things increase the body of the person generally leans out owing to his devotion and love to the LORD as he is always immersed in LORD’s divine attributes .
His heart melts and slowly looses interests in food and looses the taste appetite etc .This results in the welcome weakness of the body , whereas for a worldly man who identifies his body with his soul, eats well and maintains a healthy body . Thus the physical stature waxes and the soul naturally wanes .
Another disciple came in the evening knowing about his ill health .He also enquired about his health for which swamy chucked .. Are we going to wage a war swamin ?? No !! The required fitness to serve the LORD is plentily available .
There is nothing in wanting .
Its LORDs wish as we are just under his custody ……
A srivaishnava will always consider disease to the body as a welcome guest and will strive to serve the LORD even in worst crisis come what way .
The disciples learnt a nice lesson .
True …
A srivaishnava will consider this body as a stumbling block for the enlightenment of soul .
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics credits ; Google images
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The divine blog crosses over One million divine views and igniting several soulsNovember 22, 2021
Over One million divine views .... .. igniting souls all over the world in realizing the Supreme Lord divya leela divya desams and divya anubhutee
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Looking at the holy hills Swamy immediately falls like an uprooted tree offering obeisances . 
He takes one Mango fruit and buries the seeds there. In course of time, a big mango tree grew out of these seeds.
There was a yogi who was staying near the northern bank of the same river along with his dog . The dog used to daily leave the northern bank of the river and reach southern bank .It would eat the remnants of the food honored by the srivaishnavas near the temple . It would return daily by sun set back to wait near the tree along with the Yogi .This became a routine for the dog .
Nanjeeyar looked at him and said Child ! “Why do you recommend the chanting to me? Do you not want it?” Is the holy mantra be chanted only by a bedridden man and not by a wandering soul?” The disciple on hearing this became dumb founded and felt ashamed of himself. Nanjeeyar continued
Swamy Ramanuja calmed them and advised them to accept the same as Lords providence . Alternate arrangements were made .
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