SrI: SrImathE satakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
<< ALavandhAr
Glories of periya nambi
periya nambi is also known as mahA pUrNar and parAnkuSa dhAsar. He resided in SrIrangam. He was born in the month of mArgazhi and birth star, kEttai, the same month and star in which thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr was born. The Sishyas of ALavandhAr include periya nambi, thirukkOshtiyUr nambi, periya thirumalai nambi, thirumAlai ANdAn, AzhwAr thiruvarangapperumAL araiyar, thirukkachchi nambi, and mARanEri nambi. Among them, periya nambi was a very important Sishya. With the desire to make rAmAnujar (then known as iLaiyAzhwAr), a Sishya of ALavandhAr, periya nambi sets out to bring him to SrIrangam. However, ALavandhAr leaves his charama thirumEni (final divine form) and attains paramapadham before they arrived; and iLaiyAzhwAr returned to kAnchIpuram. After ALavandhAr’s time, based on the request from all the SrIvaishNavas in SrIrangam, he went to kAnchIpuram, met iLaiyAzhwAr enroute at madhurAndhagam and performed pancha samskAram for iLaiyAzhwAr. Therefore, periya nambi is considered as iLaiyAzhwAr’s AchArya.
iLaiyAzhwAr traveling from kAnchIpuram, and periya nambi traveling from SrIrangam, both meet at madhurAndhagam. iLaiyAzhwAr prayed to periya nambi to perform pancha samskAram as per the words of dhEvap perumAL. periya nambi agreed and performed pancha samskAram at madhurAndhagam and taught the thirumanthram, dhvayam, and charama SlOkam. Later, periya nambi sent rAmAnujar to thirukkOshtiyUr nambi to seek deeper meanings for the thirumanthram and charama SlOkam. He held rAmAnujar in great regard. Once in SrIrangam, when rAmAnujar was walking with all his Sishyas, periya nambi prostrates in front of him. Although he was the AchArya and rAmAnujar was in the position of a disciple, periya nambi fell at his feet and worshipped him because he saw rAmAnujar as ALavandhAr himself. Such was his devotion towards bhagavath rAmAnujar. His daughter aththuzhAy also possessed great bhakthi towards rAmAnujar. He authored the text thiruppathik kOvai.
periya nambi’s vAzhi thirunAmam
ambuviyil padhinmarkalai AyndhuraippOn vAzhiyE
ALavandhAr thALiNaiyai adaindhuyndhOn vAzhiyE
umbarthozhum arangEsarkku ugappudaiyOn vAzhiyE
Ongu thanuk kEttaidhanil udhiththa pirAn vAzhiyE
vambavizhthAr varadharurai vAzhiseydhAn vAzhiyE
mARanEr nambikku vAzhvaLiththAn vAzhiyE
emperumAnAr munivarkku idhamuraiththAn vAzhiyE
ezhil periyanambi SaraN inidhUzhi vAzhiyE
ambuviyil padhinmarkalai AyndhuraippOn vAzhiyE — In this beautiful world, he possessed the skill to analyze the prabandhams of the ten AzhwArs and explain their inner meanings. May periya nambi, who learned the prabandhams excellently from ALavandhAr and revealed them to the world, live long (pallANdu)!
ALavandhAr thALiNaiyai adaindhuyndhOn vAzhiyE — maNakkAl nambi brought ALavandhAr to SrIrangam and showed him periya perumAL; ALavandhAr then renounced his kingdom, became sanyAsi, and lived as a great AchArya. periya nambi who attained salvation by reaching his feet, live long (pallANdu)!
umbarthozhum arangEsarkku ugappudaiyOn vAzhiyE —”umbar” describes the nithyasUris. periya nambi gave great joy to SrIranganAthar (periya perumAL) in SrIrangam, who is worshipped by the nithyasUris and mukthas in SrIvaikuNtam. Once, there was a danger from some miscreants for periya perumAL and while rAmAnujar stood bewildered, periya nambi said “I will do a pradhakshiNam (circumambulation) of the saptha prAkAram (seven enclosures) around the periya kOyil and protect it from any danger. I need a great SrIvaishNava who is free from ahankAram (I) and mamakAram (mine) to accompany me”; and rAmAnujar sent kUraththAzhwAn. May periya nambi who served as a shield for periya perumAL during times of danger and gave him joy, live long (pallANdu)!
Ongu thanuk kEttaidhanil udhiththa pirAn vAzhiyE — periya nambi is the pirAn (benefactor) who appeared in the special month of mArgazhi, in the star of kEttai. The great help he did for us was giving bhagavath rAmAnujar, who has exalted qualities, to the SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam. Furthermore, when danger arose to bhagavath rAmAnujar because of kirumikaNda chOzha, kUraththAzhwAn, periya nambi, and his daughter aththuzhAy went to the chOzha king’s court. kUraththAzhwAn went in disguise as bhagavath rAmAnujar, and periya nambi went with him as an AchArya. Because kUraththAzhwAn established in the court that SrIman nArAyaNa is the supreme lord, the chOzha king became angry and ordered for their eyes to be plucked. periya nambi accepts that and on the way back to SrIrangam, in his old age attains ALavandhAr’s feet in paramapadham. May the benefactor, periya nambi, who made such great sacrifices and gave us jagadhAchArya rAmAnujar, live long (pallANdu)!
vambavizhthAr varadharurai vAzhiseydhAn vAzhiyE — varadharAjar of kAnchIpuram, one wearing garlands with honey flowing from flowers, graced thirukkachchi nambi with six commandments. The last of those principles was that SrI rAmAnujar should approach pUrNar and accept him as an AchArya. dhEvap perumAL gave ARu vArthaigaL (6 commandments) to rAmAnujar through thirukkachchi nambi. By following dhEvap perumAL’s command, periya nambi performed pancha samskAram, gave upadhESam to emperumAnAr, and transformed him to be a great AchArya. May he live long (pallANdu)!
mARanEr nambikku vAzhvaLiththAn vAzhiyE — mARanEri nambi, a great SrIvaishNava and a disciple of ALavandhAr, was born in a caste which was considered inferior in those days. However, he was deeply involved in SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam and performed service to the emperumAn while living within the walls of the SrIrangam temple. During his last days, mARanEri nambi requests not to handover his thirumEni (divine form) to his bodily relatives as the final rites has to be done as per SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam. He told “dhEvarkku purOdAsamAnavaRRai nAykku idumA pOlE” – that is, do not give the offering meant for dhEvas to the dogs. He compares his body to ‘havis’ (an offering in yAgam) that cannot be offered if it is eaten by a dog. He expressed his wish to periya nambi that his final rites have to be done as per SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam since his thirumEni belongs to emperumAn. periya nambi obliges and after mARanEri nambi attains paramapadham, he performs the charama kainkaryams (final rites) for him. Due to his varNam (not being a brAhmaNa), the local SrIvaishNavas did not accept periya nambi‘s action and makes a complaint to bhagavath rAmAnujar. On hearing this, bhagavath rAmAnujar, knowing that there was nothing wrong, but wanting to hear periya nambi’s words, goes to periya nambi and questions him. periya nambi replies, “SrI rAmapirAn did the final rites for jatAyu mahArAja. dharmaputhran performed the final rites for vidhurar. Similarly, I did bhAgavatha kainkaryam to an esteemed SrIvaishNava. ‘bhAgavatha SEshathvam’ has been emphasised by AzhwArs in their pAsurams and hence, the words of AzhwArs cannot be dismissed like sounds from the ocean”. Hearing this emperumAnAr was very pleased, he offers his obeisances to periya nambi and declares that periya nambi has indeed done a noble act. May periya nambi who provided sustenance to mARanEri nambi’s life by fulfilling his wish, live long (pallANdu)!
emperumAnAr munivarkku idhamuraiththAn vAzhiyE — periya nambi who as an AchArya gave upadhESam to the rAmAnuja muni, live long (pallANdu)!
ezhil periyanambi SaraN inidhUzhi vAzhiyE — May the beautiful divine feet of periya nambi live as long as the world exists!
Thus concludes the vAzhi thirunAmam of periya nambi.
AzhwAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam
adiyEn govindarAja rAmAnuja dhAsan
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