SrI: SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama: Dearest all, According to Srivaishnava Guru paramparA, Lord VishvaksEnar forms the bridge to the Celestial Acharya and the Acharyas who appeared in human form for our sake. Senapathi VishvaksEnar himself came down to Alwar Thirunagari, and gave pancha samskAram and initiated Swami SatakOpa [Nammazhwar]. Swami Desikan in his 4th verse of YathirAja saptathi: yasya saarasvatham srOthO vakuLAmOdhavasitham | srutheenAm viswa mAyAlam SatArim thamupAsmahE || We mediate on ShaTaari, (NammAzhwAr) whose garland of VakuLa flowers gets its fragrance exuded into the fluent flow of poetry - a work of literature at which the Vedas, having been tired of imparting codes of life, even ineffectively, can safely rest and relax now, since AzhwAr's works will suffice and do the same job more effectively! VishvaksEnar revealed the meanings of the three rahasyAs and yOgam to SatakOpan and thus became the Achaarya for the latter. SatakOpan was blessed to wear the Mahizhampoo garland of the Lord of Thirukkuruhoor and as a result the prabandhams that came out of his mouth carry the never-fading fragrance of those flowers sanctified by the Lord. The blessed prabandhams of the AzhwAr in Tamil instruct one and all about the deep meanings of VedAntha in an easy -to-understand manner. As a result of this unique service by the AzhwAr to the Sanskritic VedAs , they take a much needed rest . The flood of the paasurams form the AzhwAr's lips flow and uplift us and bless us with all kinds of auspiciousness. Thus as a paramAchaarya , SatakOpan thru his most merciful service deserves our uninterrupted meditation on him and his aruLiccheyalgaL. [From asmadhAcharyan His Holiness PaRavakkOttai Andavan Swami?s tamil commentary on Yathiraja Sapthathi- Translated into English by Sri CG Balaji swami of Bangalore] Nammazhwar was born to a devout couple by name Kaariyar and Udaya Nangai with the divine anugraham of the Lord of Thirukkurungudi, on the forty-sixth day of Kali yugam, which is around 9th century CE, in the year of Pramadi, month of Vaikaasi, Pournami, Friday in the constellation of Vishakha, as the divine incarnation (amsham) of Sriman Narayanan and Sri Vishwaksena Azhwan, the chieftain of the Lord?s army, at a place called Thirukkurugur situated in the land of Pandyas, on the banks of Tamraparni river. Even after twelve days, the baby didn?t have milk, didn?t cry, didn?t move and did not open its eyes. It was then taken to the temple of Polindu NinRa Piraan at Thirukkurugur and named as Maaran. At the temple the baby crawled towards the tamarind tree (Puliyamaram), which was considered as the amsham of Adi Sheshan, and sat under the tree in a yogic posture and started meditating which, lasted for 16 continuous years without any food, water or sleep. Vishwaksena Ahzwan then in ekaantham (solitary environment) administered the sacraments of Panchasmaskaram on Maaran and initiated him into the manthrams and their esoteric meanings. Maran was known as ?Shathakopan? since he resisted the ?shatha vayu? or the binding wind that encompasses a newly born. He also came to be known as ?Vakulabharana? when he accepted the garland of Magizhumpoo presented to him by Polindu Ninra Piraan. With his powerful and profound writings he subdued many other faiths and philosophies and came to be known as ?Parankusha? and having born at Thirukkurugur, also came to be known as ?Thirukkurugaippiran?. It is said that just as the name Rama always refers to Sri Sita Rama, similarly the name Azhwar, though twelve in number, always refers to Shathakopa. Lord Krishna in his Geetha says ?Vaasudevas sarvamithi samahAthmA sudhurlaba: which means, ?One who is totally dedicated and surrendered to Vasudeva is very rare to be found?. May be it is because of the reason that the Lord during his incarnation as Lord Krishna couldn?t see Nammazhwar who, throughout his life saw Kannan or Lord Krishna, in whatever he ate or drank and remained with his mind contemplating on the Lord all the time. Nammazhwar is also said to have lamented upon his fate, for, had he born a few days earlier in dwapara yugam then he would have had the bhagyam of seeing Kannan directly during his manifestation on the Earth as Lord Krishna. Madhurakavi Azhwar, who incarnated in dwapara yugam before Maaran, was touring the northern lands on a pilgrimage. During this time at Ayodhya, when he looked towards the southern direction and paid his respects to the Lord there, he saw a strange brilliance flashing in the sky. He followed that brilliance and carried himself southward and finally reached Thirukkurugur and saw the great luminary who laid meditating under the tamarind tree. He clapped his hands and Azhwar awoke from his yoga nidra hearing the sound and opened his eyes and glanced at Madhurakavi Azhwar. Madhurakavi Azhwar immediately addressed Maaran with a question setthathin vayiRRil siRiyadhu piRandhaal etthait thinRu engE kidakkum ? that is, ?If a young one is born out of a dead one, what will it have and where will it live?? If a Jeevatma that is atomic in nature enters into a body created due to the influence of a lifeless primordial nature or prakruthi, then what will it experience and where will it live? To this maaRan replied atthai thinRu angE kidakkum.. that is, it shall have the same and there it shall live?. That is, due to its association with the body, it shall experience happiness and sorrow and shall live there saying ?inbutREn; vaadinEn?. After hearing this, Madhurakavi Azhwar immediately adopted Sri Nammazhwar as his acharya and prostrated before him and requested Maaran to impart to him the esoteric manthras. Maaran accepted his request and after initiating him into the high truths, appointed him as a scribe to record all his divine works. Nammazhwar composed Thiruviruttam, a collection of hundred psalms as the essence of Rig Vedam, Thiruvaashiriyam with seven psalms as the essence of Yajur Vedam, Periya Thiruvandadi with eighty-seven psalms as the essence of Atharvana Vedam and Thiruvaimozhi with a thousand hundred and two psalms as the essence of Sama Vedam. He also sang thirty-six divya deshams. Bhattar glorifies the works of Nammazhwar and says ?drAmideem vEda samhithAm? while Swamy Deshikan glorifies it as ?sahithA saarvabhoumee samhithAm dhrushta vanthAm? One should always remain in contemplation of the great Shathakopa for his immense contributions to the sampradayam. When a study of Vedas is undertaken, one might find something in them to be of asaaram (without essence), alpa saaram (with limited essence), saaram (with essence), sarataram (greater essence) and saaratamam (ultimate essence). It is required that one accepts and studies only the ultimate essence of the Vedas (saaratamam) suitable for paramaikantins after having rejected the others. Azhwar?s srisooktis are like the pure cloudburst which is free from the saline qualities of sea-water and is rich in content like (thirattu-paal) thick condensed sweet milk and the ultimate truths (saratamam) depicted in them are greatly cherished like the divine nectar. Having adorned the garlands of magizhum-poo presented by Paraman, it is not only Azhwar?s thirumeni that has the fragrance of magizhum-poo but also the sri-sooktis that were worded by him. What a fragrance! Having extolled the divine glories of the Lord, brahma-gandham emanates out of Azhwar while his tongue is luscious with brahma-rasam. Many philosophers, in order to show their native ideas to be present in works of yore, have gone against the rule of exegesis (mimamsa-nyaya) and have greatly mis-interpreted those works in self-contradicting ways. Having seen the statements of Vedic scriptures being mis-interpreted, a deeply hurt Veda maatha finds some solace in the divine outpourings of Nammazhwar. Azhwar most beautifully speaks about the divine attributes and glories of Paraman who is the sole person exalted in the Vedas. Swamy Deshikan says that may be it is for this reason that Vedamaatha moves around in graceful paces in the divine outpourings of Nammazhwar. Swamy Deshikan says that he bows in front of Azhwar, who opposed the binding wind of Shata-vayu and the debates of those adversaries who had incomplete knowledge. He stands as an enemy to those passing purposeless statements. Nammazhwar, who remains in perpetual contemplation of Paraman attains divine communion with him. Because of this Paraman gets the ethereal fragrance of Azhwar?s magizhum-poo while Azhwar gets the fragrance of Paraman?s thirutthuzhaai malai (garland of basil leaves). It is not an exaggeration to say that, having adored Nammazhwar who remains glorifying the Lord all the time, the same ethereal fragrance of magizhum-poo and thirutthuzhaai could be found near Deshikan and his sri-sooktis too. Let us conclude with Sri AlavandhAr's sthOthra rathna verse paying tribute to Swami NammAzhwAr: mathA pithA yuvathayas tanayA vibhUthi: sarvam yadhEva niyamEna madhanvayAnAm Adhyasya Na: Kulapather VakuLAbhirAmam Srimath Tadhangri YugaLam praNamAmi MoordhnA For me and all those associated with me, Swamy NammAzhwAr is always the Mother, Father, progeny, spouses and all other wealth. At the most beautiful pair of Thiruvadis of the emperor of our Kulam [Kula pathi], Swamy NammAzhwAr adorned with the most fragrant divine VakulA flower garland, adiyEn salutes those holy feet with my head. Swamy Desikan's tribute in UpakAra Sangraham: "anthamilA pErinbham arundha yERkkum adiyOmai aRivudanE yenRum kaatthu munthai vinai nirai vazhiyil ozhuhAthemmai munnilayAm Desikar tamm munnE sErtthu manthiramum manthiratthin vazhiyum kaatti Vazhippadutthi vaann yERRi adimai koLLa Tanthai yena ninRa Tanit ThirumAl thALil talai vaitthOm SATAKOPAN ARULAALE ----Mudal AdhikAram of UpakAra Sangraham We bow unto the matchless thiruvadigaL of ThirumAl solely due to the Krupai of Swamy NammAzhwAr, who made us fit to enjoy the measureless aanandham of Moksham , who protected our eternal Dharma bhUtha Jn~Anam , who saved us from being swept away by the ancient torrent of karmaas by placing us at the feet of sadAchAryans, who in turn initiated us in to Thirumanthiram and Saranagati [Prapatthi] UpAyam and then helped us climb the steps to Sri Vaikuntam for nithya Kaimkaryam to Sriya: pathi. [Translation by Sri V Satakopan Swami, USA] Swami Nammaazhwaar ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm Regards Namo Narayana dasan __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:SriRangaSri-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:SriRangaSri-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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