SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
The greatness of nammAzhwAr
The birthplace of nammAzhwAr is AzhwAr thirunagari. There is a place called appan kOyil. nammAzhwAr’s birth happened at this place! Even today, there is a temple for thiruvEngadamudaiyAn in this place, hence it is known as appan kOyil. appan refers to thiruvEngadamudayAn. The room in which AzhwAr’s birth took place is preserved in that temple. nammAzhwAr’s birth star is viSAkam star in vaikAsi month. He has composed four prabandhams equivalent to the four branches of vEdhas. His prabandhams thiruviruththam, thiruvAsiriyam, periya thiruvanthAdhi and thiruvAimozhi are considered equivalent to rig, yajur, atharvaNa and sAma vEdhas respectively. These prabandhams are considered equivalent to vEdhas as they contain the essence of the meaning of vEdhas.
He was very involved in krishNAvathAram! He is celebrated as “prapanna jana kUtasthar” – leader of all the SrIvaishNavas. He has other divine names like mARan, SatakOpan etc. He was very dear to namperumAL and hence was called as “our AzhwAr” by him, hence became to be known as nammAzhwAr. He is the leader among AzhwArs. All the other AzhwArs are considered to be the various divine limbs of nammAzhwAr, who is the whole body.
nammAzhwAr’s vAzhi thirunAmam
Ana thiruviruththam nURum aruLinAn vAzhiyE
Asiriyam Ezhu pAttaLiththa pirAn vAzhiyE
InamaRa andhAdhi eNbaththEzhIndhAn vAzhiyE
ilagu thiruvAimozhi Ayiraththoru nURRiraNduraiththAn vAzhiyE
vAnaNiyum mAmAdak kurugai mannan vAzhiyE
vaigAsi visAgaththil vandhudhiththAn vAzhiyE
sEnaiyar kOn avathAram seydha vaLLal vAzhiyE
thirukkurugaich chadagOpan thiruvadigaL vAzhiyE
nammAzhwAr vAzhi thirunAmam – simple meanings
Ana thiruviruththam nURum aruLinAn vAzhiyE
The prabandham thiruviruththam has 100 pAsurams. nammAzhwAr blessed us with this prabandham. May he live long for many many years. The word “Ana” means very apt. AzhwAr, in the very first pAsuram of thiruviruththam “poy ninRa gyAnamum pollA ozhukkum azhukkudambum inninRa nIrmai iniyAm uRAmai” itself expresses that he cannot sustain in this samsAric world. In the same pAsuram, he expressed how emperumAn bestowed blemishless knowledge and devotion on him. This prabandham, thiruviruththam, is a tough one and contains inner meanings (svApadhESam) within its pAsurams. May nammAzhwAr, who blessed such thiruviruththam, live long!
Asiriyam Ezhu pAttaLiththa pirAn vAzhiyE
The collection of 7 pAsurams called thiruvAsiriyam greatly describes the beauty and qualities of emperumAn’s thirumEni (rUpam). This prabandham contains concepts like emperumAn’s auspicious qualities, not to go after and worship other dhEvathAs while we have emperumAn who is ever present like a mother. May nammAzhwAr, who is of great knowledge and gave us this prabandham, live long!
InamaRa andhAdhi eNbaththEzhIndhAn vAzhiyE
The prabandham, periya thiruvandhAdhi, contains 87 pAsurams. Inam means lowliness. nammAzhwAr gave us 87 pAsurams to get rid of our lowliness. May such nammAzhwAr live long! Even though there are other prabandhams in anthAdhi format, like mudhal thiruvandhAdhi, iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi, mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi and nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi, why did this prabandham get the special title of being “periya” (big/great) thriruvandhAdhi? Even though this prabandham contains only 87 pAsurams compared to 100 pAsurams in other anthAdhi prabandhams, it gets the name “periya” as nammAzhwAr gives us highly valued sampradhAyam concepts through this prabandham. In pAsuram 75, nammAzhwAr asks emperumAn if He is “periyan” or AzhwAr is “periyan” – nammAzhwAr says to emperumAn “ everyone hails You as sarvESvaran, greatest of all etc., You are hailed as periyan – supreme Lord. Such a supreme Lord has entered through my ears and is permanently situated in my heart. So, am I not bigger than you?” Such is the deep involvement of AzhwAr in this pAsuram. Hence, this prabandham came to be known as “periya” thiruvandhAdhi. AzhwAr also is known as “periyan” in his birthplace AzhwAr thirunagari. During aruLappAdu, AzhwAr is hailed as “nam periyan”. May such nammAzhwAr, who gave us periya thiruvandhAdhi to remove our lowliness, live long!
ilagu thiruvAimozhi Ayiraththoru nURRiraNduraiththAn vAzhiyE
nammAzhwAr composed 1102 pAsurams titled “thiruvAimozhi” which is beyond comparison. This is the crown jewel among 4000 dhivya prabandhams. AchArya nampiLLai’s celebrated commentary for thiruvAimozhi is called “bhagavadh vishayam” and “ Idu 36000 padi vyAkhyAnam”. It is nammAzhwAr who gave such glorious thiruvAimozhi to us. ilagu means very simple. thiruvAimozhi is considered equivalent to sAma vEdham which consists of more than 1000 branches. Since, it is very difficult and also not possible for everyone to learn the vEdhas and its deeper meanings, nammAzhwAr’s thiruvAimozhi simplifies and summarises the essence of such vEdhas for everyone to understand easily in simple thamizh. AzhwAr has revealed many beautiful experiences through this prabandham – He assumes the form of his suffering from separation as a devotee of emperumAn, as a mother to emperumAn’s lover, a lover’s state and maiden/friend state, sending messages, performing “madal” (a form of public complaint on emperumAn with an intention to shame Him publicly so that He immediately fulfills the devotee’s wish) and many such experiences are repealed through his pAsurams. It explains all the deeper concepts explained through the SAsthrams. It also brings out the artha panchaka gyAnam as explained by this thaniyan:
mikka iRai nilaiyum meyyAm uyir nilaiyum
thakka neRiyum thadaiyAgith thokkiyalum Uzh vinaiyum
vAzhvinaiyum Odhum
kurugaiyar kOn yAzhin isai vEdhaththiyal
iRai nilai is paramAthma svarUpam, uyir nilai is jIvAthma svarUpam, neRi is the means to reach emperumAn, Uzh vinai is the obstacles that jIvAthmA faces in reaching emperumAn and vAzhvinai is the ultimate goal that one can reach. thiruvAimozhi pAsurams explain all these 5 important meanings every aspiring devotee should know in a very simple manner. May nammAzhwAr who gave us such thiruvAimozhi live long!
vAnaNiyum mAmAdak kurugai mannan vAzhiyE
It was only after AzhwAr’s birth, the dhivya dhESam of thirukkurugUr came to be known as “AzhwAr thirunagari”. nammAzhwAr had the complete experience of archAvathAram in this dhivya dhESam with polinthu ninRa pirAn as its main deity. He exclaims that Adhi pirAn is the supreme Lord through this pAsuram:
onRum dhEvum ulagum uyirum maRRum yAdhum illA
anRu nAnmugan thannodu dhEvar ulagOdu uyir padaiththAn
kunRam pOl maNi mAda nIdu thirukkurugUr adhanuL
ninRa Adhip pirAn niRka maRRaith theyvam nAdudhirE
When dhEva species [celestial entities], their world, other species, all entities (in collective form or without name/form) were all annihilated and became subdued [in bhagavAn], emperumAn created brahmA who is the samashti purusha, dhEvathAs, their world and other different species; when such emperumAn is standing well in AzhwAr thirunagari that is having tall mountain like mansions, he being the cause of everything and the great benefactor, you are approaching these dhEvathAs who are [also] affected by creation and annihilation. Also, nampiLLai and azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr, in their commentaries, emphasize that one should fold their hands together in respect every time they hear the name “kurugUrch chadagOpan” to show the greatness of this dhivya dhESam. This practice is present even today during dhivya prabandha gOshti. It is also deemed as a rule in pUrvAchArya commentaries. May nammAzhwAr, who is considered the king of such kurugUr with large mansions, live long!
vaigAsi visAgaththil vandhudhiththAn vAzhiyE
vaikAsi viSAkam is the thirunakshathiram (birth star) of nammAzhwAr. In upadhEsa raththina mAlai, maNavALa mAmunigaL states “uNdO vaikAsi visAgaththukku oppu oru nAL”. Such is the greatness of this star! Every year, a 10 day uthsavam is celebrated grandly concluding on the vaikAsi viSAkam day. A unique thIrthavAri (thirumanjanam – bathing ritual) happens for AzhwAr by placing AzhwAr’s vigraham on a wooden table and placing in the thAmiraparaNi river. Such a matchless spectacle cannot be seen anywhere else. AzhwAr came into this world on such an auspicious vaikAsi viSAkam day. This kind of thIrthavAri also happens on mAsi viSAkam – the day AzhwAr’s vigraham was installed (prathishtai). It was on viSAka star on a mAsi month that madhurakavi AzhwAr boiled the waters of thAmiraparaNi river and brought out the divine vigraham of nammAzhwAr. Long live nammAzhwAr who took birth on vaikAsi viSAkam!
sEnaiyar kOn avathAram seydha vaLLal vAzhiyE
nammAzhwAr is celebrated to be born with the divine attributes of vishvaksEnar who is hailed as sEnai mudhalvar. We all know that AzhwArs are from this samsAric life and were chosen by emperumAn and reformed as AzhwArs. In spite of that, AzhwAr is sometimes celebrated as avAtharam of thirukkurngudi nambi and sometimes as vishvaksEnar’s avathAram. This is because of the great qualities of AzhwAr. Also, it is explained by our elders that emperumAn chose an AthmA from samsAram and induced the qualities of vishwaksEnar in that AthmA. Since AzhwAr brought the essence of vEdhams in his incomparable pAsurams, he can be considered as vaLLal (a person who is magnanimous). He is so generous that he provided the pAsurams composed by him and also all the prabandhams composed by the other AzhwArs to SrIman nAthamunigaL. When nAthamunigaL sat under the thirupuLiyAzhwAr (the holy tamarind tree in thirukkurungudi) and recited kaNNinun chiRuththAmbu 12000 times with a desire to have darshan of nammAzhwAr and acquire his thiruvAimozhi pAsurams, nammAzhwAr appeared before him and granted all the 4000 pAsurams which included his thriuvAimozhi pAsurams. All the other AzhwArs are considered to be a part of nammAzhwAr’s thirumEni, divine form (avayavi – avayava bhAvam) and since nammAzhwAr is also a seer who has knowledge of past, present and future, he was able to provide all the prabandhams to SrIman nathamunigAL.This is the manner in which dhivya prabandhams are being passed on to us until today. nammAzhwAr also taught the meanings of dhivya prabandham to SrIman nathamunigaL. He did not stop his grace with that! He is present as SrI SatAri and shows us the way to reach emperumAn. He is present as SrI SatAri and enables the grace of emperumAn’s lotus feet on us! May nammAzhwAr, who is so generous (vaLLal) , live long!
thirukkurugaich chadagOpan thiruvadigaL vAzhiyE
May nammAzhwAr, hailed as thirukkurugUrch chadagOpan, live long! nammAzhwAr was blessed with blemishless knowledge and devotion and hence he showed his anger at “Sata vAyu” (the air that surrounds the womb at the time of birth and covers the AthmA with ignorance). Hence, he came to be known as SatakOpan. When an AthmA enters the womb, it undergoes a lot of difficulties. It prays to emperumAn to grant mOksham as soon as the AthmA is born. However, during the time of birth, the Sata vAyu covers the true knowledge of the AthmA. This becomes the reason for the AthmA to be filled with ignorance and go through the difficulties in this samsAric world.However, nammAzhwAr kicked away the layer of Sata vAyu at the time of birth and did not allow it to cover his true knowledge. Hence, he came to be known as SatakOpan. May such SatakOpan live long!
The glories of thirukkurugUr
thirukkurugUr is glorified as one of the 108 dhivya dhESams and also the birth place of nammAzhwAr. It has another reason for pride as it is in this place that the bhavishyadhAchAryan vigraham of emperumAnAr was found! When madhurakavi AzhwAr wanted to have a thirumEni of nammAzhwAr, he was instructed to boil the waters of thamirabharaNi. When he did so, the first vigraham that appeared was that of bhavishyadhAchAryan with anjali mudhrA (joined palms). madhurakavi AzhwAr was perplexed and inquired with nammAzhwAr as to who this AcharyAn is, nammAzhwAr replied “ He is an AchArya akin to my divine feet and will appear after 4000 years in this world to nurture and prosper our sampradhAyam”. madhurakavi AzhwAr boils the thamirabharaNi waters again and gets the vigraham of nammAzhwAr. It is the same vigraham that we worship at AzhwAr thirunagari today! Today, we can have the dharSan of bhavishyadAchAryan at AzhwAr thirunagari and this sannidhi is located to the west side of SrI AdhinAthar/AzhwAr temple at AzhwAr thirunagari. It is the same vigraham that was obtained by madhurakavi AzhwAr.
This thirukkurugUr known as AzhwAr thirunagari is the birth place of maNavALa mAmunigaL as well. He lived in his maternal village of sikkil kidAram for a few years. He reached thirukkurugUr upon hearing the greatness of thiruvAimozhip piLLai and requested him to be accepted as his disciple. It was from him him, mAmunigaL learnt all the principles of our sampradhAyam and performed kainkaryams. It was thiruvAimozhip piLLai who established chaturvEdhi mangalam and built bhavishyadAchAryan sannidhi and made sure that sannidhi activities were happening as per the SAsthram. As per his orders, maNavALa mAmunigaL, who is considered as the reincarnation of rAmAnujar (yathi punaravathAram), performed thiruvArAdhanam to bhavishyadAchAryar. After thiruvAimozhip piLLai ascended to paramapadham, maNavALa mAmunigaL reaches SrIrangam and accepts sanyAsa ASramam. He loses his original name of azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr and comes to be known as azhagiya maNavALa mAmunigaL.
As the bhavishyadhAchAryan vigraham was found well ahead of his birth in SrIperumbudhur, this dhivya dhESam of thirukkurugur is glorified to be the birthplace of AzhwAr (nammAzhwAr), emperumAnAr (rAmAnujar) and jIyar (maNavALa mAmunigaL).
-adiyen vidhya rAmAnuja dAsyai
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