SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujaya nama: Srimath varavaramunayE nama:
Glories of vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai
vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai – kAnchIpuram
He was born in SrIrangam. His original name was SrI krishNapAdhar. In olden days, no one resided within the saptha prakAram (seven enclosures) of SrIrangam. We learn that because he lived in an agrahAram (thiruvIdhi) located on the northern side beyond the saptha prakAram, hence, he gained the divine name ‘vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai’. Similar to him, another AchArya was named as ‘naduvil thiruvIdhipppiLLai bhattar‘ because he lived in the middle (naduvil) agrahAram. vadakkuth thiruvIdhipppiLLai is nampiLLai’s antharanga (intimate) Sishya. He excelled in bhakthi towards his AchArya. He would always listen to nampiLLai’s kAlakshEpam, take notes of every single word and transcribe them onto palm leaves.
Even though he was married, he had no interest in domestic/family life. When his mother complained about this to nampiLLai, nampiLLai summoned both vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai and his wife and advised them to live together and give birth to good children for the growth of our sampradhAyam. According to AchArya ‘s niyamanam (command), a male child was born within a year; he named him ‘piLLai lOkAchAryar‘, signifying a child born out of the affection of lOkAchAryar (which is another name for nampiLLai). Hearing this, nampiLLai was greatly delighted. emperumAn, SrIranganAthar also heard of this and graced vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai with a divine promise. “Just as a child was born by the grace of your AchAryar, another child shall be born to you by my grace.” As per his words, another male child was born, and since he was born by the emperumAn’s grace, he was named ‘azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr‘. We know that in later times, these two children stood like two pillars for SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam.
vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai transcribed the entire essence of nampiLLai’s kAlakshEpams on thiruvAimozhi. That itself is known as ‘eedu 36,000 padi’ vyAkyAnam. nampiLLai had two beloved Sishyas: one was vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai and the other was periyavAchchAn piLLai; therefore, nampiLLai was called ‘irukaNNar’ (the one with two eyes and two krishNas). The birth star of vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai is Ani swAthi. He was born on the same birth star as periyAzhwAr. Just as periyAzhwAr raised a daughter, ANdAL, and gave her in marriage to the SrIrangam emperumAn, vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai raised two “gems of sons” and ensured that they remained solely for emperumAn.
Both of his sons lived as naishtika bramhachAri (lifelong celibates) without marrying. A naishtika bramhachAri is one who takes a sankalpam (vow) at a young age to remain a celibate throughout his life. Apart from transcribing nampiLLai’s thiruvAimozhi vyAkhyAnam, he also transcribed several other vyAkhyAnams given by nampiLLai.
vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai vAzhi thirunAmam
AnithaniR sOdhinannAL avathariththAn vAzhiyE
AzhwArgaL kalaipporuLai AyndhuraippOn vAzhiyE
thAnugandha nampiLLai thAL thozhuvOn vAzhiyE
satakOpan thamizhkkIdu sARRinAn vAzhiyE
nAnilaththil pAdiyaththai nadaththinAn vAzhiyE
nallavulagAriyanai namakkaLiththAn vAzhiyE
InamaRa emaiyALum iRaivanAr vAzhiyE
engaL vadavIdhipppiLLai iNaiyadigaL vAzhiyE
vAzhi thirunAmam – Explanation
AnithaniR sOdhinannAL avathariththAn vAzhiyE– May vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who was born in the month of Ani under the auspicious star of swathi, live long (pallANdu)!
AzhwArgaL kalaipporuLai AyndhuraippOn vAzhiyE – May the one who analysed and spoke to us about the inner meanings of the prabandhams graced by the AzhwArs, live long (pallANdu)! He listened to nampiLLai’s kAlakshEpams and transcribed them. May vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who mastered the dhivya prabandhams and shared them with us, live long (pallANdu)!
thAnugandha nampiLLai thAL thozhuvOn vAzhiyE – vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai had great devotion toward his AchArya nampiLLai. May vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who worships the thiruvadi (divine feet) of his beloved AchArya nampiLLai, live long (pallANdu)!
satakOpan thamizhkkIdu sARRinAn vAzhiyE – ‘SatakOpan’ refers to nammAzhwAr. May vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who listened to nampiLLai’s kAlakshEpam on nammAzhwAr’s thiruvAimozhi and documented it as the 36000 padi eedu vyAkyAnam, live long (pallANdu)! Once, nampiLLai mercifully visited the thirumALigai (residence) of vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai. As per the custom of those days, he requested his AchArya (nampiLLai) to perform the thiruvArAdhanam for the emperumAn in his thirumALigai’s kOyilAzhwAr (home shrine). Accordingly, after nampiLLai performed thiruvarAdhanam and mangaLASAsanam, he saw a bundle of palm leaf manuscripts and was stunned. This was because vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai had excellently transcribed nampiLLai’s kAlakshEpam without missing a single word. nampiLLai wondered how vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who spent the whole day listening to kAlakshEpams and performing kainkaryam, could have found the time to transcribe it. nampiLLai realized that he must have done those during the night hours and was amazed about it.
But still, nampiLLai felt a slight sadness. With a heavy heart, he said, “You have transcribed this without asking me; do not release this eedu vyAkhyAnam now”. He said that an adhikAri (qualified person) would come in the future to release it and took the manuscript away. Later, he gave it to another Sishya, eeyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL and instructed him to pass it on to a deserving authority. eeyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL gave it to his son eeyuNNi padmanAbhap perumAL, who then gave it to nAlur piLLai. nAlur piLLai gave the eedu vyAkyAnam to his son, nAlUrAchchAn piLLai, who gave it to thiruvAimozhip piLLai, who finally handed it to his Sishya, maNavALa mAmunigaL. maNavALa mAmunigaL performed kAlakshEpam on this 36000 padi eedu vyAkyAnam for the pleasure of the emperumAn. Thus, vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who documented the eedu vyAkyAnam for thiruvAimozhi, live long (pallANdu)!
nAnilaththil pAdiyaththai nadaththinAn vAzhiyE – In this world consisting of four types of lands — kuRinji (mountaineous region)|, mullai (forest region), marudham (fertile fields region) and neydhal (seashore region), vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai explained emperumAnAr’s SrI bhAshyam (vyAkhyAnams of brahma sUthram) so that everyone can understand well. We can see that all our pUrvAchAryars were scholars in samskrutham (Sanskrit) just as they were proficient in thamizh. Those who occupy the AchArya pItam (seat of AchArya) must be well-learned and qualified in all matters. May the illustrious vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who expounded the meaning of the SrI bhAshyam (in Sanskrit) to the people of this world, live long (pallANdu)!
nallavulagAriyanai namakkaLiththAn vAzhiyE – The one who gifted us the most excellent and supremely merciful (parama kAruNikar) son, piLLai lOkAchAryar. We learned that he named his son ‘lOkAchAryar’ after his own AchArya, nampiLLai. Thus, vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who gave us two “gems of sons”— piLLai lOkAchAryar and azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr, live long (pallANdu)!
InamaRa emaiyALum iRaivanAr vAzhiyE – This line shows: May vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, who stands as our master to ensure all our lowliness and evils vanish, live long (pallANdu)!
engaL vadavIdhippiLLai iNaiyadigaL vAzhiyE – The vAzhi thirunAmam of vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai ends with: “May the divine two equal feet of our vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai live long (pallANdu)!”
AzhwAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam
adiyEn govindarAja rAmAnuja dAsan
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