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srI:
SrI  upakAra  sangraham â?? 35
--- 
adikAram â?? 1
poorva upakAra paramparai
(The Foremost Series of Favours) 
---   
SECTION â?? 5 (6)  
(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for
MOKSHAM)  
----- 

        SwAmi Desikan has been listing various favours
conferred by the compassionate Lord and so far
referred to five favours.  Now we shall take up the
sixth favour of the Lord: -- 

(6) "AzhvArkaLaiyum AchAryarkaLatyum koNdu,
vEda-tattvArtta-prakAshanam paNNinatuvum;" 

        Illuminating the essential truths of Vedic scriptures
through AzhvArs and AchAryas is another favour done by
the Lord. 

        AzhvArs and AchAryas are two sets of personalities
who made their contributions in highlighting the most
essential truths embedded in VedAs and other connected
scriptures. 

        First, AzhvArs. They are twelve in number:
Poykai-AzhvAr, BhootattAzhvAr, pEyAzhvAr, Tirumazhisai
AzhvAr, nammAzhvAr, maturakavi AzhvAr, kulashEkara
AzhvAr, periyAzhvAr, ANdAL, tondaridippodi AzhvAr,
TiruppANAzhvAr and Tirumangai AzhvAr. 

1.      Poykai AzhvAr, the first Azhvar, appeared on a
lotus flower in a pond adjoining the yatOtkAri temple
in TiruvehA of  kAnci city, in the dvApara yuga. He is
considered as the incarnation of SrI pAncajanyam, the
Conch held by SrIman nArAyaNa. He sang 100 verses, the
collection of which is named "The First TiruvantAdi".
He was a highly held devotee of the Lord. His birth
Star is shravaNam of aippasi month. 

2.      Bhootat tAzhvAr, the second AzhvAr to appear. He
appeared in a flower of a kind of slender tree,
(geortnera racemosa), in mahAbalipurm, on the
following day of PoykaiAzhvAr's appearance. His
collection of 100 verses is named, "irandAm
TiruvantAdi". He is considered to be an incarnation of
the Mace held by the Lord. His birth Star is
shravishta of aippasi month.   


3.      PEyAzhvAr, (mahadAhvya), the third in the line,
appeared on the next day of the appearance of Bhootat
AzhvAr, on a red flower in a well, near the temple of
SrI Adi kEsava, in Mylapore (in Chennai city).  He
also recited 100 verses, which are named  "mOOnRAm
TiruvantAdi".  He was the incarnation of the Lord's
sword, SrI nandaka.
        His birth Star is Shaadaya in aippasi month. 
        These three AzhvArs are known as "ayOnijas", as they
were not born from mother's womb. 

        All the three met at the temple town of tirukkovaloor
in a hermitage where they sought shelter during a
rainy night. Their Tamil prabanda appeared at that
time, when, Poykai AzhvAr lit the lamp with the earth
as the container, the ocean as the oil and the sun as
the light. Following him, BhootattAzhvAr lit another
lamp, made of love as the vessel, enthusiasm as the
oil and lovable thought as the wick and knowledge as
the light. This enabled them to have the darshan of
the Lord with His Consort, Lkshmi.  It was left to
PEyAzhvAr to describe the appearance, beginning with
SrI, Lkshmi, the golden body of the Lord along with
His beautiful colour and the fierceful Wheel
(Sudarsana) and the Conch in His hands. 
        In their three works of 100 verses each, the three
AzhvArs brought out the essence of the Vedas: The
Ultimate Reality is nothing but SrIman nArAyaNa, who
is the source of the entire creation, His different
states of appearance as Paratatva,  in SrI VaikuNtam,
VyUka incarnation before the start of creation, His
taking various incarnations in the world to protect
the virtuous and to destroy the wicked and His playful
deeds, His eternal presence as the innermost soul in
every being and finally, His incarnations as idols for
worshipping Him in temples. His birth star in makham
in the month of Tai. 
                 
        Following these three AzhvAs, appeared the fourth,
Tirumazhisai AzhvAr. According to the legend,
Tirumazhisai had studied various religious
philosophies and finally chose Sri Vaishnavism as the
only religion which develops in the followers bhakti,
devotion, for the Ultimate Lord who is no one but
SrIman nArAyaNa. This AzhvAr, though belonging to
lower caste, had a thorough knowledge of all the Vedas
through his intuition. He has left us two valuable
works, Tirucanda-Viruttam and nAnmukan TiruvantAdi,
containing the essence of Vedic scriptures. 

        The fifth AzhvAr was Sri nammAzhvar. He is also known
as Shatakopan, since he, even while taking birth from
his mother's womb, drove away the encircling shata-gas
which hides the knowledge of earlier births of the
soul. Normal human beings cannot remember their
earlier births, as that memory will stand in the way
of smooth life starting afresh. 
nmmAzhvAr's birth star is vishAkam of the month of
vaikAshi. He was an incarnation of VishvaksEna, the
Chief Body-guard of the Lord.

        nammAzhvAr is held in high esteem as our first
AchArya at the human level. He was the AchArya of Sri
Nathamuni who learnt from him the entire works of all
the Azhvars hundreds of years later. 

        nammAzhvar was discovered by Madurakavi AzhvAr, as a
young boy sitting in penance under a big banyan tree
in a city down south, which later got the name, AzhvAr
Tirunagari. He recorded all the four works of
nammAzhvAr, which were expressions of the AzhvAr's
vision of the Lord in various forms and His playful
deeds during his various incarnations in the earth.
However, nammAzhvAr's outpourings were full of
expressions of his intensive devotion for the Lord.
His experience of the Lord was direct in different
ways. These include his reactions as AzhvAr himself,
as a lady-love, as the maid-friend of the lady-love
and as the mother of the lady-love. The verses were
the expressions of his joy of being with the Lord, his
deep love for Him, his pangs of separation from Him
and advice to others to develop deep devotion towards
the Lord saying that He is the only Resort for all
beings. On three occasions, nammAzhvAr went in to
trance as He witnessed the Lord's humility during His
incarnations. He wondered how the highest Lord who has
neither equal nor a superior to Him, could come down
to the lowest level of existence and move with
ordinary human beings, even when they are of the
lowest of the castes, or even if they are considered
by other human beings as untouchables. 

        nammAzhvar's Tiruvaimozhi is a treasure containing
the highest philosophy describing various Vedic truths
including the guidance for the mankind to attain the
Ultimate goal which is nothing but being with Him for
ever in SrI VaikuNtam. 

        His works are considered divine gifts to ordinary
folks who have no knowledge of Vedic or other
scriptures. An ordinary person need not go after the
Upanishads, PurANas or any other scriptures, if he has
the works of nammAzhvAr in his possession after
learning them through a proper teacher.         

        Of the four works of nmmAzhvAr, the first one is
Tiruviruttam of 100 verses, the first verse of which
being the subject matter of this rahasya-granta of
SwAmi Desikan now under our study. The second,
TiruvAciriyam with seven verses is the description of
the form and he auspicious qualities of the Lord. The
third work, Periya TiruvantAdi, containing 87 stanzas
in VeNbA meter, describes the AzhvAr's deep devotion
for the Lord in His various forms. Lastly,
Tiruvaimozhi of over 1000 verses is an outstanding
work left to us by the AzhvAr with all his compassion
for the ordinary souls like us wandering in the world
in deep ignorance. Only a few among the human beings
seem blessed to have the rare opportunity of studying
this scripture which is nothing but Veda itself in
Tamil language. Though all the works of the eleven
AzhvArs are regarded as Tamil maRai (Tamil Veda),
Tiruvaimozhi is a bright gem among the entire bhakti
literature in Tamil, we can declare.  

        nammAzhvAr cannot be remembered without Madurakavi
AzhvAr who, though much senior in age than nammAzhvAr,
became the first disciple of him and got his
outpourings recorded for the posterity. He has sung 11
verses, the collection of which is known as
KaNNinuNciRuttAmbu, eulogizing nammAzhvAr, his
AchArya, saying that he will not even turn towards the
Lord when he has got the grace of nammAzhvAr as his
guru. 

        It is the practice to recite KaNNinuNcirutAmbu
preceding and following the recital of Tiruvaimozhi,
in all the Vaishnavite temples and in SrIvaishnavites'
dwellings.      


(To continue)
dAsan 
Anbil S.SrInivAsan
------ 
                 
 






      
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