Tamil Nadu has a native Ethos associated with Narayana worship during the Sangamam age yet there was a time when Hinduism itself saw a back stage in the usurp of Bhudisam and Jainism.The advent of the Alwars and Nayanmars who propagated Vaishnavism and Shaivism gave a new life to temples and temple worship which had fallen into disuse. They spoke in the idiom of the common man and brought him face to face with the Divine overstepping the priest dominated frigid ritualism. thus a tremendous enthusiasm took hold and temple building became a passion and personal worship a way of life.Personal worship the new order of the day became an instant soul satisfying savior.
The Dravidian land south of the Vindhyas was never a stranger to the path of Devotion. Deities like Kotravai and Sevvel were being worshiped alongside Narayana (worshiped as Mayan and Tirumal) from over 2000 years ago.The time of the Paripadal in the 3rd century A.D saw the religious mythology ofnVaishnavism deeply imbedded in the Tamil consciousness. Paripadal describes Narayana sleeping on the Adisesha with Lakshmi on his breast. The Varaha incarnation which guarded the world and saved the vedas, the Narasimha incarnation that put an end to Hiranyakashupus egoistic rule. the destruction of Kesi by the dancing Krishna are references in the Paripaddal proclaiming the all pervading nature of Tirumal.
"Your heat and glow are seen in the Sun;
Your coolness and softness in the Moon;
Your compassion and grace in the rain;
Your guardianship and grace in the earth;
Your scent and brilliance in the blossoms;
Your image and wideness in the waters;
Your form and sound in the space;
Your appearance and withdrawal in the wind;
Therefore this that the rest and everything else
have descended from you yet are dependent upon you."
Again
" He takes the form desired by the devotees,
accepts the name decided upon by them,
even as they love and envision Him and meditate upon Him ceaselessly he becomes that image."
Thus the Bhakthi movement spread all over India with incredible speed.
Surdas Kabir Tukaram Eknath Meera Tulasidas guru Nanak Chitanyam were transforming the spiritual India to a period Utpannah Dravidechaham. The direction was the right one India became a center for the stage of religion in the world.
By reciting the names of the Lord
Who sports the right curling conch, we attract
Brilliance, strength, riches and beauty,
Birth in the blameless family and all the best that comes to us of their own accord.
This verse and many more of crystalline faith from Pey alvar was attracted Thirumazhisai alvar.he found Pey alvar planting the plants upside down, at first he thought him to be mad as he was also watering the plant with a pot full of holes. but an important message was being put across it was so effective it draws one to sit upright even today and to understand the meaning of all this not wanting to miss even the slightest message being conveyed.
"It was the experience of the Divine that mattered and not the explanation of His presence. Mere verbiage, the reasoning of logic and ritualism cannot reveal the Divine. One must till the inner countries of the mind, reject the vanities of the vital and physical nature. One must have a single-hearted aspiration for the Ananda of the Divine consciousness. When one's sincerity and surrender is total, the divine dissolves one's ego in a supernal experience."
For the first time in the history of Vaishnava literature we find Thirumalizhai alwar also known as Bhaktisara dealing with the vyuha theory, according to the Pancharatra Agama. The aim of the Alwar is to establish the supremacy of Narayana over all the godheads envisioned by man since the time of the Vedas. The Puranic age saw Brahma Vishnu and Shiva in prominence. now Bhaktisara established beyond doubt that the indwelling universal, the all pervading is Narayana alone Beautifully depicted in the Nanmukhan Tiruvanthathi.The lords love and compassion are boundless. he says there is no need for self torturing vows and penances. Limitless are the forms of Vishnu and each one is a pathway to divine consciousness. every part of creation is Vishnu.
The Lord with tresses. decorated by Tulasi leaves has long loved me.
Not wasting a moment Salute and meditate upon Him,
With bowed head worship Him,
offering cool blossoms, May your lips praise Him,
Your eyes feast upon his Image and ears listen to his deeds."
By giving the grace of the Lord the highest position in religion the Alvars paved a way of the Visitadvaitic explanation of the Avtara theory expounded by Ramanujacharya.
Mukti or liberation would be impossible if divine justice functioned through the mathematical rigour of the law of Karma. Therefore ethical religion requires that the legal conception of karma should be transformed into the religious idea of redemptive love, Krupa or the grace of God transfigures the rigorous law of karma and becomes the ruling principle of religion.
When the devotee can hear the flute call in his heart and gain the joy of God consciousness, he would have arrived. Having tasted the love of Narayana, he sees nothing else. He spends his time worshipping writing about the Lord, reading such works, listening to the Lord's greatness and praying to him. This truly is the life divine
" Having recognised the Primal Lord
And effectively tied Him with love
To their hearts --aspirants consider
This body a mere disease:
Their sights are now set
Towards the Beyond."
Hence forth the true knowledge remains with the devotee allowing him to stay unperturbed in this world of human affairs.
"O my heart! he is!
The good lord is a reality.
He is the meditative heart
The unequalled lord is the guardian
Of poor me and others like me as well."
My Lord who holds the fiery discus,
The conch, the mace, the bow
And the sword! one who'es chest
Is adorned by the Lotus born Lakshmi!
show me a way out of this body
That is itself a sickness, phlegm filled.
So may I be safe at your feet."
Bhaktisara indicates that despite faith born of pure devotion, his mind is beset with fears by the very fact of knowledge, philoshopy, religion and knowledge themselves can become a burden, create unnecessary doubts at crucial moments in one's life and become hurdles to the heart's direct movement towards the Supreme. he says the knowledge that helps man recognize the supreme can itself become a bar to man';s reaching the Supreme presence.
What is the way out of this fortress formed by the mind that has chosen to clutter itself with theologies, philosophies, religious and scriptural injunctions of varied hue?
ONLY INCANDESCENT DEVOTION CAN PULVERISE THE MENTAL BLOCK OF KNOWLEDGE THAT STANDS IN THE WAY OF ATTAINING THE DIVINE."
"O Ocean hued lord! Hail!
I have a request.
Your nature is to grant grace.
When you desire to do me good,
Please see to it that my mind
Is ever lost in thoughts
Of your lotus feet
Be pleased to think thus."
The Dravidian land south of the Vindhyas was never a stranger to the path of Devotion. Deities like Kotravai and Sevvel were being worshiped alongside Narayana (worshiped as Mayan and Tirumal) from over 2000 years ago.The time of the Paripadal in the 3rd century A.D saw the religious mythology ofnVaishnavism deeply imbedded in the Tamil consciousness. Paripadal describes Narayana sleeping on the Adisesha with Lakshmi on his breast. The Varaha incarnation which guarded the world and saved the vedas, the Narasimha incarnation that put an end to Hiranyakashupus egoistic rule. the destruction of Kesi by the dancing Krishna are references in the Paripaddal proclaiming the all pervading nature of Tirumal.
"Your heat and glow are seen in the Sun;
Your coolness and softness in the Moon;
Your compassion and grace in the rain;
Your guardianship and grace in the earth;
Your scent and brilliance in the blossoms;
Your image and wideness in the waters;
Your form and sound in the space;
Your appearance and withdrawal in the wind;
Therefore this that the rest and everything else
have descended from you yet are dependent upon you."
Again
" He takes the form desired by the devotees,
accepts the name decided upon by them,
even as they love and envision Him and meditate upon Him ceaselessly he becomes that image."
Thus the Bhakthi movement spread all over India with incredible speed.
Surdas Kabir Tukaram Eknath Meera Tulasidas guru Nanak Chitanyam were transforming the spiritual India to a period Utpannah Dravidechaham. The direction was the right one India became a center for the stage of religion in the world.
By reciting the names of the Lord
Who sports the right curling conch, we attract
Brilliance, strength, riches and beauty,
Birth in the blameless family and all the best that comes to us of their own accord.
This verse and many more of crystalline faith from Pey alvar was attracted Thirumazhisai alvar.he found Pey alvar planting the plants upside down, at first he thought him to be mad as he was also watering the plant with a pot full of holes. but an important message was being put across it was so effective it draws one to sit upright even today and to understand the meaning of all this not wanting to miss even the slightest message being conveyed.
"It was the experience of the Divine that mattered and not the explanation of His presence. Mere verbiage, the reasoning of logic and ritualism cannot reveal the Divine. One must till the inner countries of the mind, reject the vanities of the vital and physical nature. One must have a single-hearted aspiration for the Ananda of the Divine consciousness. When one's sincerity and surrender is total, the divine dissolves one's ego in a supernal experience."
For the first time in the history of Vaishnava literature we find Thirumalizhai alwar also known as Bhaktisara dealing with the vyuha theory, according to the Pancharatra Agama. The aim of the Alwar is to establish the supremacy of Narayana over all the godheads envisioned by man since the time of the Vedas. The Puranic age saw Brahma Vishnu and Shiva in prominence. now Bhaktisara established beyond doubt that the indwelling universal, the all pervading is Narayana alone Beautifully depicted in the Nanmukhan Tiruvanthathi.The lords love and compassion are boundless. he says there is no need for self torturing vows and penances. Limitless are the forms of Vishnu and each one is a pathway to divine consciousness. every part of creation is Vishnu.
The Lord with tresses. decorated by Tulasi leaves has long loved me.
Not wasting a moment Salute and meditate upon Him,
With bowed head worship Him,
offering cool blossoms, May your lips praise Him,
Your eyes feast upon his Image and ears listen to his deeds."
By giving the grace of the Lord the highest position in religion the Alvars paved a way of the Visitadvaitic explanation of the Avtara theory expounded by Ramanujacharya.
Mukti or liberation would be impossible if divine justice functioned through the mathematical rigour of the law of Karma. Therefore ethical religion requires that the legal conception of karma should be transformed into the religious idea of redemptive love, Krupa or the grace of God transfigures the rigorous law of karma and becomes the ruling principle of religion.
When the devotee can hear the flute call in his heart and gain the joy of God consciousness, he would have arrived. Having tasted the love of Narayana, he sees nothing else. He spends his time worshipping writing about the Lord, reading such works, listening to the Lord's greatness and praying to him. This truly is the life divine
" Having recognised the Primal Lord
And effectively tied Him with love
To their hearts --aspirants consider
This body a mere disease:
Their sights are now set
Towards the Beyond."
Hence forth the true knowledge remains with the devotee allowing him to stay unperturbed in this world of human affairs.
"O my heart! he is!
The good lord is a reality.
He is the meditative heart
The unequalled lord is the guardian
Of poor me and others like me as well."
My Lord who holds the fiery discus,
The conch, the mace, the bow
And the sword! one who'es chest
Is adorned by the Lotus born Lakshmi!
show me a way out of this body
That is itself a sickness, phlegm filled.
So may I be safe at your feet."
Bhaktisara indicates that despite faith born of pure devotion, his mind is beset with fears by the very fact of knowledge, philoshopy, religion and knowledge themselves can become a burden, create unnecessary doubts at crucial moments in one's life and become hurdles to the heart's direct movement towards the Supreme. he says the knowledge that helps man recognize the supreme can itself become a bar to man';s reaching the Supreme presence.
What is the way out of this fortress formed by the mind that has chosen to clutter itself with theologies, philosophies, religious and scriptural injunctions of varied hue?
ONLY INCANDESCENT DEVOTION CAN PULVERISE THE MENTAL BLOCK OF KNOWLEDGE THAT STANDS IN THE WAY OF ATTAINING THE DIVINE."
"O Ocean hued lord! Hail!
I have a request.
Your nature is to grant grace.
When you desire to do me good,
Please see to it that my mind
Is ever lost in thoughts
Of your lotus feet
Be pleased to think thus."