Thiru Arangan Ula- the sojourn of the Lord. ? 8. namperumAL joined by a
special friend
namperumAL continued staying at JyOthishkudi for a month, before the
SriVaishnavAs decided to continue with their original plan of getting to
ThirumAlirunchOlai near Madurai. There is an interesting background to this:
Thirumangai AzhwAr in one of his pasurams had glorified both namperumAl and
kallazhagar (the deity of ThirumAlirunchOlai) to be the same. Once they safely
arrived at ThirumAlirunchOlai, the SriVaishnavAs didn?t want to leak the
information of namperumAL?s stay for the fear of Islamic invaders getting
cognizant. They dug a well (which can be seen even today, popularly known as
Azhagiya manavALan Thirukkinaru) and placed namperumAL inside the well, taking
him out only during prayer times ? they wanted to hide namperumAL from the
invaders at any cost; kallazhagar is safe anyway, as he was very dear to the
kaLLars who were warriors and would fight for him with their lives.
Thus, namperumaL spent some time in hiding inside the well at
ThirumAlirunchOlai. His devotees then decided to take him towards the mountains
and hide in Kerala for some time. The path is strenuous yet not too long. The
route from Madurai to Kerala goes through the valleys of the town called Kambam
and cross the river named moonAru; the SrivaishnavAs rushed to Kerala in
full-speed without any breaks in the middle, they reached the present day city
of kOzhikkOde. namperumAL stayed at kOzhikkode for many months. But, there was
a pleasant surprise for namperumAL, for his special devotee is visited him. Who
is that special devotee?
Just like his Lord, nammAzhwAr also left his location of AzhwAr Thirunagari
at the south and traveled to Kerala just to escape the Islamic armies. The
question arises: What is so special about this idol of nammAzhwAr? The answer
is significant. The idol of nammAzhwAr at AzhwAr ThirunagarI is not sculptured.
During the times of nammAzhwAr, his dear disciple Madhurakavi AzhwAr expressed
his anxiety and sadness about missing his beloved AchAryA in case he attains
parama padam (Salvation). Sensing the love of his disciple, nammAzhwAr
instructed Madhurakavi AzhwAr to collect the water of the thAmaraparani river
in a utensil and boil it, which the disciple did.
As the water started to boil and evaporate, there was a beautiful idol in the
utensil, but to his surprise Madhurakavi AzhwAr noticed that the idol didn?t
resemble nammAzhwAr. It seemed to replicate a noble sannyAsi (renunciant) ? it
was the idol of Saint rAmAnuja!! nammAzhwAr explains, ?this is the idol of the
great saint who will deliver the whole world?, thus predicting the greatness of
rAmAnuja long before his advent. nammAzhwAr then instructed Madhurakavi AzhwAr
to repeat the process ? the idol got this time was that of Swami nammAzhwAr?s,
and that is the idol that has now traveled to kOzhikOde.
Once, as they were sailing on the backwaters of kOzhikOde, due to imbalance
in the boat, the idol of nammAzhwAr fell into the deep water. As they were
unable to pin-point the location where he fell, an Eagle (which had been
following them all along) came close to the water and poked its beak as if it
was trying to point something. As the SriVaishnavAs dived in that exact spot,
they finally recovered the idol of nammAzhwAr. The eagle continued to follow
the devotees.
Hence, namperumAL and nammAzhwAr enjoyed the company of each other in Kerala
till they reached a town called thEnaikkidambai. namperumAL desired to visit
ThirunArAyaNapuram, the place dear to Sri rAmAnujA. He instructed SwAmi
nammAzhwAr to get back to the south and proceeded to ThirunArAyanapuram and
stayed there for many months before finally arriving at Thirumalai. By the time
he reached Thirumalai, only 2 VaishnavAs were remaining to take care of him and
carry him, the rest had all died because of the old age and hardships (more on
that later).
nammAzhwAr was heading south, along with a huge group of vaishnavAs. As it so
happened, they were under constant attacks from the dacoits and lost many
expensive jewels and utensils of Swami nammAzhwAr. They realized that it was
not safe to carry him anymore and hence decided to hide the idol in a safe
enclave, just to collect him back when the time is right. Outside the
boundaries of a town named mundhirippoo was a mountain, the other side
presenting the sight of a deep valley. They placed the idol of swami nammAzhwAr
inside a cave-like enclosure of the valley. They left the place, only praying
for the quick arrival of the day when nammAzhwAr would safely return to AzhwAr
Thirunagari. Astonishingly, the eagle was not following them anymore; instead
it stayed back guarding nammAzhwAr?s deity.
Back in AzhwAr Thirunagari, the news of nammAzhwAr?s hiding reached Sri
ThOzhappar, an ardent devotee of the AzhwAr. Unable to bear the situation, Sri
ThOzhappar immediately left for Madurai and had to wait for one month before
meeting to Sri Thirumalai AzhwAr (ThiruvAimozhi piLLai, who was they very
powerful minister of the PAndyA kingdom). Hearing the news, Thirumalai AzhwAr
sent a letter addressed to the emperor of the ChErA dynasty of KEraLa, along
with 100 soldiers for security. The ChErA king readily obliged; he also sent
100 of his men to go along with the party in order to safely secure the idol of
SwAmi nammAzhwAr. After a long search that took many months, the rescue party
was finally able to locate the valley where the idol of SwAmi nammazhwAr was
kept hidden. But, they couldn?t locate the exact location; since it had been
many months, the deity of Swami nammAzhwAr was now buried because of the
effects of seasonal weather. What to do?
They engineered an elevator made of chains, pulleys and a makeshift swing.
Sri ThOzhappar readily volunteered to go down the valley in the elevator- it
was a very risky mission, but he was still enthused to rescue SwAmi nammAzhwAr,
because of his strong devotion. When he descended down the valley, he was
having a difficult time in locating SwAmi nammAzhwAr. Fortunately for him, he
found an eagle standing on a particular mound, below which was the idol of
SwAmi nammAzhwAr hiding. Sri Thozhappar immediately understood the signal and
rescued SwAmi nammAzhwAr. He sent the deity up on the elevator, and the
VaishnavAs were delighted to see SwAmi nammAzhwAr again. But, as the elevator
was coming up carrying Sri ThOzhappar, the chains broke and Sri ThOzhappar fell
down the steep valley and attained paramapadam (salvation).
Although they mourned for the loss of Sri Thozhappar, the villagers and
devotees were very joyous for having recovered the most important idol of SwAmi
nammAzhwAr. They had grand celebrations in the village of mundhiripoo and many
vaishnavAs from different areas and backgrounds ? namboodiris, tattvavaadis,
etc assembled and celebrated SwAmi nammAzhwAr?s return. Because of the love and
devotion of the devotees of mundhirippoo, the idol of SwAmi nammAzhwAr stayed
in the village for 1 year.
(To be continued???..)
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