K and PVP

 periyavAchAn piLLai – sEngaNUr

thirunkaksathram: AvaNi rOhiNi

avathAra sthalam: sanganallUr (sEngaNUr).

AchAryan: nampiLLai

sishyas: nAyanArAchAn piLLai, vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar,  parakAla dhAsar, etc

Born as krishnan as the son of yAmunar in sEngaNUr, he becomes to be known as periyavAchAn piLLai. He is one of the prime sishyas of nampiLLai and learnt all sAsthra arthams from nampiLLai himself. periyavAchAn piLLai became an illustrious AchAryan in our sampradhAyam by the grace of nampiLLai.

As identified in periya thirumozhi 7.10.10, it is said that thirukkaNNamangai empeumAn wanted to learn the meanings of thirumangai AzhwAr‘s pAsurams from kaliyan himself – so kaliyan took the avathAram of nampiLLai and emperumAn took the avathAram of periyavAchAn piLLai to learn all the meanings of the aruLicheyal. He is also known as vyAkyAna chakkaravarthi, abhaya pradha rAjar, etc. He adopts nAyanArAchAn piLLai as his son.

In his life time, he has done vyAkyAnams for:

• 4000 dhiyva prabhandham – He has written vyAkyAnams for all of aruLicheyal. vyAkyAnams for approximately 400 pAsurams for periyAzhwAr thirumozhi was lost and mAmunigaL just wrote those missing pAsura vyAkyAnams.
• sthOthra granthams – He has written vyAkyAnams for pUrvAchArya srisUkthis like sthOthra rathnam, chathu slOki, gadhya thryayam, etc and jithanthE sthOthram.
• sri rAmAyaNam – He has selected important slOkams from sri rAmAyaNam and written a detailed commentary for those in rAmAyaNa thani slOki. He was named abhaya pradha rAjar for his masterful explanation of vibhIshaNa sharanAgathi episode.
• He has also written many rahasya granthams such as mANikka mAlai, parantha rahasyam, sakala prAmANa thAthparyam, etc which explains rahasya thrayam in an excellent manner. He was a pioneer in documenting rahasya thrayam – piLLai lOkAchAryar took the essence of nampiLLai and periyavAchAn piLLai’s teachings and wrote his astAdhasa rahasya granthams.

His expertise in aruLicheyal and sri rAmAyaNam can be understood by his grantham called pAsurapadi rAmyAyanam where he uses words from aruLicheyal to explain the whole of sri rAmAyaNam in a crisp manner.

The power of his grace can also be understood from the incident happened in vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar. jIyar, in his pUrvAshramam was serving in the thirumadappaLLi (kitchen) of periyavAchAn piLLai’s thirumALigai. He was an illiterate but had strong devotion towards his AchAryan. Once when he overheard some srivaishnavas discussing some vEdhAntha vishayam, he enquired from them about the topic of discussion. Them being arrogant and considering him as an illiterate said they were discussing about a grantham called “musala kisalayam” (newly blossomed  pounder). He went and mentioned this to his AchAryan and periyavAchAn piLLai out of his grace decided to teach everything to him. After a few years, he becomes a master of all sAstram and goes on to become vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar and writes several granthams himself on our sampradhAyam.

Just like periya perumAL, periya pirAtti, periya thiruvadi, periyAzhwAr and periya kOil, AchAn piLLai also due to his greatness became to be known as periyavAchAn piLLai.

maNavALa mAmunigaL in his upadhEsa rathina mAlai dedicates two pAsurams specifically to periyavAchAn piLLai.

pAsuram: 43

nampiLLai thammudaiya NallaruLAl Eviyidap

pin periyavAchAn piLLai athanAl

inbA varubathi mARan maRaip poruLai chonnathu

irupathu nAlAyiram

Simple Translation: Out of his grace, nampiLLai orders periyavAchAn piLLai to write a commentary for thiruvAimozhi. Having that in mind, periyavAchAn piLLai wrote the most enjoyable commentary for nammAzhwAr‘s thiruvAimozhi which is the essence of all vEdhas.  The commentary was written similar to sri rAmAyaNam, i.e., containing 24000 padi (similar to 24000 slOkams in sri rAmAyaNam).

 

pAsuram: 46

periyavAchAn piLLai  pinbuLLavaikkum 

theriya vyAkiyaigaL cheyvAl

ariya aruLichcheyal poruLai AriyargatkippOthu

aruLichcheyalAyth thaRiNthu

Simple Translation: It is due to periyavAchAn piLLai’s commentaries for aruLicheyal, the great teachers are able to understand and propagate the true meanings of aruLicheyal. Without these vyAkyAnams, no one can speak about the inner meanings of aruLicheyal.

 

Also, mAmunigaL in pAsuram 39, identifies that periyavAchAn piLLai was one of the 5 vyAkyAna karthAs for thiruvAimozhi, there by saving it and propagating it to everyone since without the vyAkyAnams we cannot understand the inner meanings of aruLicheyal.

 

Several incidents from his life are recorded in vArthA mAlai grantham and other pUrVAchArya granthams. Let us see some here:

• When some asks if we are target of emperumAn‘s krupai or leelai – periyavAchAn piLLai says “if we think that we are caught in this samsAram, we are target of emperumAn’s krupai and if we think that we are happy in this samsAram, we are target of emperumAn’s leelai”.
• When some one asks what does pArathanthriya mean? periyavAchAn piLLai says that depending fully on emperumAn‘s sakthi, completely giving up upAyAntharams (including self efforts) and ever longing for bhagavath kainkarya mOksham is pArathanthriyam.
• When some one asks what is upAyam? Is it us giving up everything or holding on to him? periyavAchAn piLLai says that both are not upAyam it is emperumAn who made us give up everything and hold on to him is the upAyam.
• Once when bandhu of periyavAchAn piLLai is worried and he asks for the reason. She says she is very worried since she has been in this samsAram since anAdhi kAlam and with so much karma how emperumAn will give her mOksham. For that periyavAchAn piLLai says, we are emperumAn‘s property and he will take us when he wants to irrespecitve of our karmas.
• When a srivaishnava finds fault in another srivaishnava, periyavAchAn piLLai says that yaman is asking his servants to move away from srivaishnavas without looking at their faults, pirAtti says “na kaschin na aparAdhyathi” – dont look at anyone’s faults, perumAL says even if my bhakthas do mistakes it is good only, AzhwAr says who ever emperumAn‘s bhakthas are, they have to be praised. So sarcastically he says, some one needs to say the faults in srivaishnavas and let that some one be this person who finds faults in the other person.
• During a discussion about the greatness about bhAgavathas, some one starts speaking about emperumAn and periyavAchAn piLLai says  why speak sAmAnya vishyam (general matters) when speaking about visEsha vishayam (special matters).
• periyavAchAn piLLai says every srivaishnava must have involvement in aruLicheyal.
• and so on.

Venkatesa Ashtakam

 1.Venkatesho , Vasudeva, pradhyumno , amitha Vikrama,

Sankarshano anirudhascha Seshadri patireva cha.

He is Lord of Venkata mountain , son of Vasudeva , Pradhyumna,
The greatly valorous Sankarshana , Anirudha and the Lord of Seshadri hills.

2.Janardhana , padmanabho , venkatachala vasana,
Srushti Kartha , jagannatho, Madhavo, Bhaktha vathsala.

He is one who punishes bad people , one with a lotus on his belly,
One who lives in the Venkata mountain, He is the creator ,
Lord of the universe, Lord of knowledge and one who is dear to his devotees.

3.Govindo , gopathi , Krishna , Kesavo , Garuda dwaja,
Varaho, Vamanaschaiva , Narayana , Adhokshaja

He is the chief of cows, Lord of cows, the black one ,
One who gives lustrous body, One with Garuda in his flag,
He is Varaha the boar, Vamana the dwarf ,
And one in whom all souls reside and one who is forever victorious.

4.Sridara , pundarikaksha , sarva deva sthutho hari,
Sri Narasimho , maha Simha, suthrakara purathana.

He is the one who carries Lakshmi , one with lotus like eyes,
He is Vishnu prayed by all devas,He is the man lion,
He is the great lion and the ancient master of all actions.

5.Ramanatho mahi bhartha, bhoodhara , purushothama,
Chola puthra Priya santho , brahmadeenaam vara pradha

He who is Lord of Rama ,husband of earth ,
One who carries earth , greatest among males,
He is son of Chola , is a dear one , he is peaceful,
And he is the giver of boons to Lord Brahma and others.

6.Srinidhi sarva bhoothaanaam bhayakruth , bhaya nasana,
Sri Ramo Ramabhadrascha bhava bhandhaika mochaka.

He who is the treasure of Lakshmi , and one who creates fear
He also destroys fear among all beings, He is Rama,
He is Rama who ensures safety and also one who cuts off the ties with birth

7.Bhuthavaso girivasa , srinivasa , sriya pathi,
Achyuthanantha govindo vishnur venkata nayaka

He lives in all beings . lives on a mountain , Lives with Lakshmi
He is the consort of LakshmiHe is one cannot be destroyed,
He is one who does not have limits , who is Vishnu and the Lord of Venkata hills

8.Sarva devaika saranam , sarva devaika daivatham,
Samastha deva kavacham , sarva deva shikamani

He is the refuge of all devas and who is the God of all devas,
He is the protection of all devas and he is the most superior among the devas.

Phala sruthi
(Effect of reading)

9.Ithidham keerthitham yasya Vishnor amitha thejasa,
Trikala ya paden nithyam papam thasya na vidhyathe.

This is the song of the great glory of Lord Vishnu,
And if this is read by one at dawn, noon and dusk ,
All his sins would not remain.

10.Rajadware padeth ghore sangrame ripu sankate,
Bhootha sarpa pisachdhi bhayam nasthi kadachana.

There will be no fear in the gates of the palace ,
In Fierce war when the enemies are troubling,
And when troubles are caused by ghosts , serpents and devils.

11.Aputhro labhathe puthraan , nirdhano dhanavan bhyaveth,
Rogartho muchyathe rogath, bhadho muchyathe bhandanath.

The sonless one will get son, The money less will get money,
The one suffering from disease would get cured,
And the one who is in the prison would be set free.

12.Yadya adhi ishtathamam loke thathat praponathya asamsaya,
Aiswaryam, raja sanmanam , bhukthi , mukthi phala pradham.

Whatever one desires most in the world , would without doubt would be fulfilled,
And results like wealth, honour by kings, pleasures , and salvation would be attained.

13.Vishnor lokaika sopanam sarva dukhaika nasanam,
Sarva iswarya pradham nirnaam sarva mamgala karaka,

This is the stair case to the world of Vishnu and destroyer of all sorrows,
It results in all sorts of wealth and results in all auspicious things.

14.Mayavi paramandam thyakththwa vaikunda muthamam,
Swami pushkarani theere ramaya saha modhathe.

One will leave the illusory happiness and reach the great Vaikunda, the land of Vishnu,
If one prays the Lord with Lakshmni in the banks of the sacred tank of the God.

15.Kalyanadbhutha gathraya , kamithartha pradhayine,
Srimad Venkata nadhaya , Srinivasaya mangalam.

Oh God who has a wonderful form giving rise to good,
Oh God who gives all the wealth one desires for,
Oh God who is the Lord of the Venkata hills,
And Oh God in whom Lakshmi lives, let there be good.

Ithi Sri Brahmanda purane , Brahma-Narada SAmvadhe , Venkata giri Mahatmye,
Srimad Venkatesha stotram sampoornam

Thus ends the prayer addressed to Lord Venkatesa, which occurs in the chapter4 on “ Greatness of tha Venkata mountain”, which occurs in the midst of the discussion between Lord Brahma and sage Narada which occurs in Brahmanda Purana.

PB

 Prathivadhi Bhayankaram Aṇṇan was a Sri Vaishnava Acharya,Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, the composer of the popular Venkateswara Suprabhatam. He appeared in this world bearing the name Hasthigirinathar Aṇṇan in the year AD 1361. He was one of the prominent disciples of Manavala Mamunigal, belonged to a distinguished line of "Acharya Puruṣas" and had a large number of followers. Aṇṇan composed many hymns, of which the popular Venkateṣa Suprabhātham, Venkateṣa Stotram, Venkateṣa Prapatti and Venkateṣa Mangaļāṣāsanam are recited daily at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at the wee-hours of the day to wake up the Lord. The rendition of the hymns by Smt. M S Subbulakshmi is played everyday in millions of households in India and abroad.^[1][2][3]

Sri Kanchi Prativadibhayankar Jagadguru Anantacharya Gaddi Swamiji

Aṇṇan was born in Kanchipuram, and initiated into the Sri Vaishnava Sampradāyam by his father, who was the 10th generation descendant of Mudumbai Nambi one of the 74 simhāsanādipathis appointed by Ramanuja.^[4] He later became a disciple of Vedanta Desika's son Nayana-Varadāchārya. Nayana-Varadāchārya him the name "Prathivathi Bhayankaram Aṇṇan". Aṇṇan was acknowledged as an authority on Sanskrit literature and spiritual discourses in those times. He is said to be the most prominent scholar in South India of his time, and was widely respected throughout India. After studying Sribhaṣyam from Nayana-Varadāchārya, Aṇṇan went to Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and did devotional service to Lord Venkateswara.

At the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Aṇṇan heard the glories of Manavala Mamuni and about his nectarine discourses on the works of the Azhwars and the doctrines of Sri Vaishnava Sampradayam. Following this, Aṇṇan became the disciple of Manavala Mamuni and learnt the entire commentaries of these works from him a Srirangam. At the time Aṇṇan surrendered at the feet of Manavala Mamuni, Manavala Mamuni gave him the dāsya nama "Sri Vaiṣnava Dāsan" seeing his humility towards the devotees of the Lord. Further, Manavala Mamuni, after seeing Annan's prowess in Sribhāṣyam, bestowed him the Sribhāṣya Simhāsanam and the title 'Sribhāṣyāchārya'. Aṇṇan also served as one of the aṣta-dik-gajas of Manavala Mamuni.

People often confuse Prathivadhi Bhayankaram Annan with a 20th-century scholar-Acharya Prathivṣdhi Bhayankaram Annangarāchārya, who was one of the first āchāryās to publish the entire works of Sri Vaishnava āchāryās like Azhwars, Ramanuja, Vedanta Desika, Manavala Mamuni etc., in the first half of the 20th Century.

The twelve divya Saligrama ṣilas and the Śri-Bhu Sametha Ranganatha Swamy idol that were once worshipped by him are now being worshipped by Sri Prativadhi Bhayankaram Raghavacharyulu, a fifteenth generation descendant in his lineage in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Popular Indian Playback Singer P. B. Sreenivas was one of his descendants in his lineage in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.

Literary works[edit]

• Sri Venkateṣa Suprabhātam,
• Sri Venkateṣa Stotram,
• Sri Venkateṣa Prapatti,
• Sri Venkateṣa Mangaļa Sāsanam, authored as ordered by the divine Māmunigaļ.
• Short Commentary (Vyākhya) for Sri Bhaṣyam,
• Short Commentary (Vyākhya) for Srimad Bhāgavatam,
• Short Commentary (Vyākhya) for Subala Upaniṣada.
• Commentary (Vyākhya) for Bhattar’s Aṣta Shloki.
• Sapthathi Rathnamālika (A 73-verse ode to Swami Vedanta Deṣikan, praising his amazing calibre in Sampradāya and literature)
• Varavara Muni Sathakam (100 ṣlokas in Sanskrit in glorification of Māmunigaļ),
• Varavara Muni Mangalam,
• Varavara Muni Suprabhātam, "Cheyya Thāmarai Thālinai Vāzhiye…"
• Vāzhi Thirunamam Of Māmunigal (recited at the end of Arulicheyal Goṣti),
• Other Sloka Granthams
• Other Stotra Granthams

KS

 

Some find glory through their fantastic deeds & achievements. Some become glorious by enabling others perform fantastic deeds & achievements. Madurakavi Alwar is a shining example of the latter.

Despite being senior in age, Madurakavi Alwar became the disciple of Nammalwar (also among the 12 Alwars) and he made sure that the world came to know about Nammalwar’s compositions. The verses of Madurakavi Alwar are not about the Lord. Instead, it is about his Guru – Nammalwar.

937. Even more than the name of the Lord who allowed himself to be tied to a mortar by a small rope, taking the name of my master who was born in Tirukurugur (Nammalwar) is as sweet as tasting nectar!

938. I will find happiness by chanting his name. I will seek refuge at his feet. I know of none other than him. I will sing joyfully about my master of Tirukurugur!

939. Wherever I go, I am able to worship the Lord of all celestials who is accompanied by his consort – Shree (Lakshmi). This is only through the grace of my master of Tirukurugur.

940. Those who know the Vedas well, will consider me as a speck of dust. It is only my master – Sadakopan (Nammalwar) who accepts me and treats me like his own child!

941. Before finding him, I was deceived into pursuing wealth & women. But, now, I have found refuge in the master of Tirukurugur – the place surrounded by beautiful gardens!

942. Starting now, for the next seven rebirths, I will sing praises of the master of Tirukurugur – the place surrounded by huge gardens. I know that he will forsake me not!

943. He has released me from the burden of past sins. In beautiful Tamil, I will sing loudly in eight directions, about Sadakopan (Nammalwar)!

944. Delighting those who seek the meaning of the Vedas, he has composed 1000 verses in Tamil, distilling the essence of the Vedas. Isn’t this astounding?

945. The meaning of Vedas is elusive even to scholars. Yet, he has beautifully conveyed the same and he has found place in my heart. My love for him has no limits. Service to Sadakopan is the purpose of my life!

946. Even if you don’t gain by it, you tutor those who are unworthy! My Lord! I will serve your feet to the best of my abilities.

947. Those who read these verses composed by Madurakvi, who is most devoted to the master of Tirukurugur, will find place in Vaikuntam!

 

 Sri MAdhurakavi AzhwAr?s glories. two Taniyans--one in Sanskrit and the other in Tamil--created by Swamy Naathamuni out of his gratefulness to Madhura Kavi and his powerful Prabhandham ; Swamy Naathamuni had the rarest of blessings of being initiated into the divine collect by Swamy NammAzhwAr himself as a result of reciting Madhura Kavi's prabhandham .

First his life history:

 

AzhwAr Madhurakavi is the one who helped us by compiling the outpourings of NammazhwAr; Not just that, he also sang 11 beautiful "anthAdhi" style pAsurams starting with "kaNNinun siRutthAmbhu" which do not have any parallel to any other pAsuram /slOka for AchArya Bhakti. The other prabandhams on Acharya are Iraamaanusa nooRRanthAthi and Pillai anthAthi.

AzhwAr sang these (11) pasurams only in praise of his AchArya "nammAzhwAr" and claimed, in the end, that one can attain

mOkshA certainly and definitely after reciting just these 11 pAsurams.

 

It is also told that Nathamuni, who compiled 4000 pAsurams of AzhwArs, was blessed with a darshan of nammAzhwAr and was given a set of all 12 AzhwArs' pAsurams (by NammAzhwAr himself) after he recited Madhurakavi's 11 bhakti-laden pAsurams on nammAzhwAr 12000 times. (That is the dynamite packed power of Madhurakavi's pAsurams- It has manthra shakthi).

Madhurakavi (meaning in sanskrit the sweet poet), a vainathEya (divine

bird) incarnate, was born in the year Easwara, chitrai month and in chitrai nakshatram at ThirukkOLoor. He learnt Tamizh and sanskrit and became a great scholar in both the languages. He was a great BhaktA of Sriman NarAyaNa and had an excellent conduct. He was on visits to the North India and obtained divya Darshans of AyodhyA, gayA, Badri, DwArakA etc., and He chose to stay at AyOdhyA as he could not resist being attracted by the Holiness of Sri RAMA's birth place. From there, he was dragged by an unconrolled desire to follow the new Southern BRIGHT Star/Light appeared in the sky (as seen only by his eyes at night) and found himself at the feet of the Greatest AzhwAr "NammAzhwAr". After a brief encounter (setthathin vayiRRil siRiyadhu piRandhaal etthai thiNru yengE kidakkum? " atthai thiNru angE kidakkum..) he prayed to NammAzhwAr requesting him to protect and accept him as his disciple. From then on, he stayed with NammAzhwAr and complied all pAsurams of NammAzhwAr. Madhurakavi was so much devoted to NammAzhwAr, his AchAryA, that he held him equal to (higher than)

Lord Sri nArAyaNa

 

After NammAzhwAr departed from this earthly world, he was blessed with a

Golden vigraham of NammAzhwAr which he cosecrated and performed

ThiruvarAdhanA and uthsavams in his honour. He was so mesmerized and impressed by nammAzhwAr's works so much that wanted to stage NammAzhwAr's works in front of other scholars. the sangam poets objected to such claims and praises NammazhwAr who had no connection with Sangam ( a big deal!). Madhurakavi, it seems was saddened by this protest and was weeping literally.

NammAzhwar, appeared as an old Brahmin and consoled him saying " Do not

woory about these petty issues, my child, You just place this pasuram of

"kaNNan kazhaliNai..." on a boat (sangap palagai) and watch the fun" and

disappeared. Madhurakavi did the same and the boat, it is told capsized

throwing out all the jealous, haughty poets while it retained only the leaf containing "kaNNan kazhaliNai.."

It is also told that each one of those poets struggled to reach the shore and composed a verse dedicating to NammAzhwAr. And when they were about to publish their verses, they were simply AMAZED to find that each one wrote the same verse in same words; (What a marvel! what a divine AzhwAr and Divine Disciple!-simply made for each other)

The sangam chief says " NammAzhwAr's works are superior and other poets are like flies compared to Garudan (that is NammAzhwAr); fire flies (minmini) in the presence of sun; dogs in front of the ferrocious tiger; wolf before the Lord NrsimhA, ugly clumsy dwarfs dancing before the havenly beautiful OOrvasi- All their works are not equal to even one utterance of nammAzhwAr."

Madhurakavi's eyes were full of tears for his (his AchAryA's) success; The eleven pAsurams are counted as part of 4000 verses simply because the whole of 4000 pasurams is claimed to be Bhagavadh vishayam while Madhurakavi's is on his AchAryA which is the central gem that sheds lustre on the other jems of the garland (so says MaNavALa mAmunigaL). It is the work that holds the key to the treasure of other pAsurams.

Needless to say, NAthamuni's t haniyans (Thaniyan means dedeicated verse) on this AzhwAr depict the glory of AzhwAr and it is neccessary for us to be blessed by such Great BhaktALs; Before we conclude about this mahAn who performed AchArya Nishtai and attained the feet of mOksham, let us get benefitted by the rich two thaniyans of NAthamuni:

Aviditha Vishaya Antharas /Sadaarer Upanishadam Upagaana Matra Bogah /

Abhi Saguna Vasaath Tad Eka Seshee /Madhura Kavir Hridaye Mamaavirastu /

(in sanskrit)

" Here is one who knew none other than Nammalwar; the one who made it his

mission in life to sing the Tamizh upanishadam of Nammalwar; The one being overwhelmed by Nammalwar held him as his very God; Let such Madhurakavi fill my heart" (our hearts, too)

Veronrum Naan Ariyen Vedam Tamizh Seitha /Maaran Sadakopan Vun Kurugur -

Yeru Engal /Vaazhvaam Enru Ethum Madhura Kaviyaar Emmai /

Aalwaar Avare Saran /

(in Tamizh)

Madhurakavi said -" I do not know anything other than Nammalwar also known as Maaran(original name of NammAzhwAr) who rendered in Tamil the essence of the Vedas and who is the head of Tirukkurugur. This Madhurakavi is OUR master. He is THE guardian of the group of Prapannaas.

- Let us recite everyday these 11 pAsurams and be blessed!)

 

Let us now enjoy Swamy Desikan's rich tributes:

 

As mentioned earlier, there are 11 paasurams in KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu Prabhandham of Madhura Kavi. The last paasuram is a Phala Sruthi describing the fruits of reciting this prabhandham.In the rest of the ten paasurams, Madhura Kavi conceded that all the relationships that he should have with BhagavAn are instead with Swamy NammAzhwAr. Swamy Desikan captured this unique disposition of Madhura Kavi in one insightful paasuram of his adhikaara sangraham:

Inbatthil iRainjuthalil isayum pERRil

ihazhAtha pall uRavilirAgam maaRRil

tann paRRil vinai Vilakkil tahavOkkatthil

tatthuvatthai uNartthutalil tanmai aakkil

anbarkkE avatharikkum Aayan niRka

arumaRaikaL Tamizh seythAn thALE koNDu

thunpaRRa Madhura Kavi thOnRak kaattum

tholl vazhiyE nall vazhikaL thuNivAhatkkE

 

Pada URai( Word by word Meanings by Sri V SatakOpan Swamy- New York, USA)

Inbatthil = in gaining(experiencing ) bliss

iRainjuthalil= in performing SaraNAgathi

isayum pERRil= in granting desired purushArthams

ihazhAtha pall uRavil = in sustaining many types of durable relationships

irAgam mARRil = in destroying attachment to other matters

tann paRRil = in giving His hand (Jn~Anak Kai)

vinai vilakkil = in banishing the paapa -puNyams

tahava Okkatthil = in exhibiitng deep compassion(dayA)

tatthuvatthi uNartthutathil = in generating clear Jn~Anam

tanmai aakkil = in blessing the jeevan with many qualities similar to His( above ten being the anugrahams of the Lord for the Jeevan) anbarkkE = That Lord , who incarnates in this world avatharikkum solely for those , who have bhakthi for Him Aayan niRkka = while that Sulabha-Gopaalan is waiting to bless him (Madhura Kavi) with His anugraham , Madhura Kavi let go of Him aru MaraikaL Tamizh seydhaan thALE koNDu= and took refuge instead at the sacred feet of Swamy NammAzhwAr --who transformed the Sanskrit VedAs into pure TamiL-- for gaining the above ten anugrahams granted normally by the Lord Himself Thunpu aRRa Madhura Kavi thOnRak-kaattum tholl VazhiyE nall vazhigaL thuNivArkatkku = That ancient path (AchArya abhimatham) travelled by Madhura Kavi and described in his prabhandha paasurams for the benefit of the people of this world , is the noblest path to be travelled by those with unalloyed AchArya VisvAsam.

Swamy Desikan - the kavi thArkikha simham in his own inimitable style has thus summarized the essence of Madhura Kavi's ten paasurams in his one prabandham each word depicting the meaning of each PAsuram of KaNNinun ChiRutthaambu and the noblest of paths advocated by him for our ujjevanam.

Swamy desikan also pays his obeisance to AzhwAr in Prabandha saaram as follows:

ThERiya maajn~Anamudan ThirukkOLUril

ChitthirayiR Chitthirai naaL Vanthu thOnRi

AaRiya NalanbhudanE KuruhUr Nampikku

anavaratham antharanga-adimai seythu

MaaRanai allAl yenRum maRanthum thEvu

maRRaRiyEn yenum Madhura kaviyE nee munn

kooRiya KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu athaniR paattuk-

kulavu pathinonRum yenakku uthavu neeyE

 

(Meaning by Sri Satakopan Swamy): Oh Maadhura Kavi born on

Chitthirai maasa Chitthirai at ThirukkOLUr with clear Jn~Anam and who performed antharanga kaimkaryam for Swamy NammAzhwAr with intense devotion and without let ! You declared that You do not know of any gods other than Swamy NammAzhwAr . Please bless me now with the Jn~Anam about the eleven paasurams of Your aruLiccheyal (blessed work) KaNNinuNN SirutthAmpu that you blessed the world earlier

Sri Manavala Mamunigal pays his tribute to AzhwAr in Upadesa Ratthina malai:

 

yErAr Madhura Kavi ivvulahil vanthu uthittha

seerArum Chitthirayil Chitthirai NaaL --paarulahil

maRRuLLa AazhwArkaL vanthu uthittha nALkaLinum

uRRathu yemakku yeRu nenjEOr (25)

 

meaning: Oh My mind! Please reflect on the fact that the birthday of the auspicious Madhura Kavi ( ChitthrA Nakshathram in the month of Chitthirai ) is even more sacred for celebration than that of

the birthdays of all the other AzhwArs.

 

Vaayttha Thirumanthiratthin matthimamAm patham pOl

seertha Madhura Kavi sey kalayai--aartha Pukazh

Aariyarkal thAngaL aruLiccheyal naduvE

sErvitthAr thARpariyam thErnthu (26)

 

meaning: Our great PoorvAchAryALs joined Madhura Kavi's Prabhnadham of KaNNinuNN SirutthAmpu in the sacred NaalAyira Dhivya Prabhandham inview of the blessed message that this prabhandham houses.They recognized very well that Madhura Kavi's Prabhandham is exactly like the middle padham in our beloved AshtAksharam (viz)., Nama: padham and therefore this prabhandham fits very well in the middle of the sacred collect of 4000