SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujaya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
<< emperumAnAr (SrI rAmAnujar)
Glories of embAr (gOvindhap perumAL)
embAr – madhuramangalam
embAr is the son of the younger maternal aunt of emperumAnAr, rAmAnujar. The mother of emperumAnAr and the mother of embAr were sisters. The birth name of embAr is gOvindhap perumAL. His birthplace is madhura mangalam, also called mazhalai mangalam. It is a kshEthram located near SrIperumbUthUr. His birth star is punarpUsam in the month of thai.
The works he graced us with are vigyAna sthuthi and emperumAnAr vadivazhagu pAsuram (hymn on the beauty of rAmAnuja – starting with “paRpamenath thigazh paingazhalum “). He is considered as the very shadow of the feet of rAmAnuja. He is called “rAmAnuja padhachchAyA” in his thaniyan (invocatory verse). He possessed the nature of enjoying and experiencing deep concepts of bhagavath vishayam and explaining them to others. He was completely detached from worldly matters. He did not even have a little bit of interest in them. He holds the glory of being the one who saved rAmAnuja.
In their youth, during the time when empErumAnAr was known as iLaiyAzhwAr and embAr as gOvindhap perumAL, while they were studying under yAdhavaprakASar, yAdhavaprakASar and his Sishyas became jealous upon seeing the greatness of iLaiyAzhwAr flourish. They planned to take him on a yAthrA to kASi, drown him in gangA and kill him. While they were thus traveling on the yAthrA, gOvindhap perumAL said to iLaiyAzhwAr, “dhevarIr, you should not remain here. Please leave this place. These people are thinking of killing you”. iLaiyAzhwAr also decided to return to kAnchIpuram. dhEvap perumAL and perundhEvith thAyAr remained as his companions and guided him. When gOvindhap perumAL went to kASi with yAdhavaprakASar gOshti and was bathing in gangA, a lingam was received in his hand as per bhagavath sankalpam. Upon seeing that, yAdhavaprakASar said, “You have the anugraham (blessing) of rudhra. Therefore, you must become a bhaktha of rudhra”; gOvindhap perumAL, feeling distressed in mind, reached kALahasthi and resided there for some time as a great devotee of rudhra. Time rolled on.
During the period when iLaiyAzhwAr had received sanyAsam as rAmAnuja and was living in SrIrangam, he thought that gOvindhap perumAL would be a great support to him in bhagavath kainkaryam and directed his maternal uncle, periya thirumalai nambi, to reform and bring back the Siva-bhaktha, gOvindhap perumAL. periya thirumalai nambi went to kALahasthi, gave upadhESams to gOvindhap perumAL, and brought him back to the SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam. periya thirumalai nambi performed pancha samskAram for gOvindhap perumAL and, acting as his AchArya, reclaimed him. A great sense of gratitude towards periya thirumalai nambi arose within gOvindhap perumAL. Therefore, he considered performing kainkaryam to periya thirumalai nambi as a great fortune (pERu).
At that time, rAmAnuja came to thirumalai thiruppathi and was listening to SrI rAmAyaNa kAlakshEpam from periya thirumalai nambi for a period of one year. When the kAlakshEpam was completed and rAmAnuja prepared to depart for SrIrangam, periya thirumalai nambi directed gOvindhap perumAL who was with him to go to SrIrangam with rAmAnuja and engage in bhagavath kainkaryam. gOvindhap perumAL, having no heart to part from his AchArya periya thirumalai nambi, yet having no heart to disobey the AchArya’s order (AgnyA), went with rAmAnuja. On the way, seeing him withered with grief over the separation from the AchArya, rAmAnuja sent him back saying, “stay with periya thirumalai nambi in thirupathi for a little longer and then come back”. When gOvindhap perumAL reachced periya thirumalai nambi’s abode, periya thirumalai nambi said, “We have already given you to rAmAnuja. We cannot accept you hereafter”. gOvindhap perumAL then understood his AchArya’s divine intent (thiruvuLLam) and returned to rAmAnuja. We learn that he performed kainkaryams to rAmAnuja with great delight.
After arriving in SrIrangam, rAmAnuja performed thirukkalyAnam (marriage) for him. However, he had no involvement in illaRa vAzhkkai (married life). rAmAnujar specifically instructs gOvindhap perumAL to be involved in EkAntham (solitude) with his wife. That night, while gOvindhap perumAL was in solitude with his wife, he saw the beauty of empErumAn’s divine form wherever he looked. He related that vision to his wife. The next morning, he informed rAmAnujar of the same and stated that he had no attachment to illara vAzhkkai. rAmAnuja also accepted this and graced him with sannyAsASrama and the thirunAmam ‘embAr’ was also bestowed upon him. It can be said that embAr, remaining as the next AchArya after rAmAnuja in the gurU paramparai and greatly helped the sampradhAyam to flourish.
embAr vAzhi thirunAmam
pUvaLarum thirumagaLAr polivuRROn vAzhiyE
poigai mudhal padhinmar kalaip poruLuraippOn vAzhiyE
mAvaLarum pUdhUrAn malar padhaththOn vAzhiyE
makaraththil punarpUsam vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE
dhEvumepporuLum padaikkath thirunthinAn vAzhiyE
thirumalainambikku adimai seyyumavan vAzhiyE
pAvaiyargaL kalaviyiruL pagalenRAn vAzhiyE
bhattar thozhum embAr poRpadhamiraNdum vAzhiyE
embAr vAzhi thirunAmam – Explanation
pUvaLarum thirumagaLAr polivuRROn vAzhiyE – May embAr, who excelled in the wealth of kainkaryam by the grace of mahAlakshmi thAyAr, who resides on the lotus flower, live long (pallANdu)!
poigai mudhal padhinmar kalaip poruLuraippOn vAzhiyEn – Long live embAr, who explained the inner meanings of the nAlAyira dhivyaprabandham graced by the ten AzhwArs starting with poigai AzhwAr. An interesting incident is highlighted here. When araiyar sEvai takes place in SrIrangam, emperumAnAr along with his gOshthi would enjoy it. araiyar sEvai means the araiyar will perform and show abhinayam (gestures) for the pAsurams of the AzhwArs. When embAr showed them an even better abhinayam through signs than what the araiyars were showing, they accepted it and they performed the very abhinayams shown by embAr the next time. When the abhinayams were changed when they performed the second time, emperumAnAr would appreciatively ask, “Are these the abhinayams of embAr?” Furthermore, he would clear any doubts arising in the AzhwArs’ pAsurams without any hesitation. For example, in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 5.4 palap pAsuram (pala sthuthi) for the lines “sAyaip pOlap pAda vallAr thAmum aNukkargaLE“, embAr reveals a special meaning while placing rAmAnuja’s divine feet on his head. He said that those who remain without separating from emperumAn will sing well. May embAr, who gives beautiful meanings to the AzhwArs’ pAsurams, live long (pallANdu)!
mAvaLarum pUdhUrAn malar padhaththOn vAzhiyE – ‘mA’ means animals. It is believed that ancient SrIperumbUthUr was surrounded by groves with animals. May embAr, who kept in his mind the flower-like thiruvadigaL (divine feet) of rAmAnuja, who incarnated in SrIperumbUthUr which is filled with groves where animals dwell, live long (pallANdu)!
makaraththil punarpUsam vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE – makara month refers to thai. May embAr, who incarnated in this world under punarpUsam star in the month of thai, live long (pallANdu)!
dhEvumepporuLum padaikkath thirunthinAn vAzhiyE – During the time when gOvindhap perumAL was a devotee of Siva in kALahasthi, periya thirumalai nambi took the fourth pAsuram of the second padhigam in the second paththu of nammAzhwAr’s thiruvAimozhi (2.2.4) – “dhEvum epporuLum padaikka pUvil nAmuganaip padaiththa dhEvan emperumAnukallAl pUvum pUsanaiyum thagumE” meaning “To whom else but the empErumAn, who created the four-faced one (brahmA) on a flower to create the dhEvas and all other things, are the flowers and worship appropriate?”
After he performed upadhESam by pointing out this pAsuram and explaining that flowers and worship are not fit for anyone other than SrIman nArAyaNan, who created brahmA from the lotus flower positioned in his navel, only then did gOvindhap perumAL changed his heart and entered the SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam. In that manner, may embAr, whose mind was reformed through nammAzhwAr’s pAsuram “dhEvum epporuLum padaikka” live long (pallANdu)!
thirumalainambik kadimai seyyumavan vAzhiyE – gOvindhap perumAL performed all kainkaryams to periya thirumalai nambi tirelessly. Once, emperumAnAr saw gOvindhap perumAL while performing the kainkaryam of making the bed for periya thirumalai nambi, he saw gOvindhap perumAL was rolling on the bed and then coming down with satisfaction. Upon seeing the Sishya getting up after lying down on the AchArya’s bed, empErumAnAr called gOvindhap perumAL and questioned him, “Is it proper for you to do such a thing?”. gOvindhap perumAL replied, “Only if I lie down on the bed I will be able to adjust it in such a way that even a tiny piece of straw does not cause any discomfort to the AchArya” We learn that emperumAnAr was filled with wonder upon seeing his AchArya bhakthi. In this line, it is shown – may embAr, who performed all kainkaryams excellently for periya thirumalai nambi in this manner, live long (pallANdu)!
pAvaiyargaL kalaviyiruL pagalenRAn vAzhiyE – gOvindhap perumAL is the one who took sanyAsam without any interest in illaRa vAzhkkai (married life). During the time he was in solitude with his wife, he saw emperumAn radiantly in all places and renounced illara vAzhkkai. May embAr, who attained an elevated state by considering union with women as darkness, live long (pallANdu)!
bhattarthozhum embAr poRpadhamiraNdum vAzhiyE – embAr is the AchArya for parAsara bhattar, who is the divine son of kUraththAzhwAn. During the puNyAkavachanam ceremony for the divine twin sons born to kUraththAzhwAn, emperumAnAr went there and asked embAr to bring the children; embAr himself recited the dhvaya manthram in the ears of those children so that it would serve as a protection for them. Realizing this, emperumAnAr said, “dhEvarIr, you yourself remain as the AchArya for these children”. Therefore, the divine sons of kUraththAzhwAn, namely vEdha vyAsa bhattar and parASara bhattar, accepted embAr as their AchArya. Thus, the vAzhi thirunAmam of embAr concludes by stating – may the pair of golden thiruvadigaL (feet) of embAr, which are worshipped by parASara bhattar, live long (pallANdu)!
Source – https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org/index.php/2020/12/vazhi-thirunamams-embar-bhattar-tamil-simple/
adiyEn govindarAja rAmAnuja dAsan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org