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SRI RAMANUJA

e-Journal- 8 sarvajith Vaikasi

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amunA thapanAdhiSAyi bhUmnA yathirAjENa nibaddha nAyaka SrI: mahathI guru pamkthi hAra yashTi vibudhAnAm hridayamgamA vibhAthi ||

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Table of Contents
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 5 mARan malar adi vAzhga ...................................................................................................................... 6 ThirukkoTTiyUr nambi ........................................................................................................................... 7 Periya Thirumalai nambi ...................................................................................................................... 11 ThiruvaaymozhippiLLAi ...................................................................................................................... 14 Sri ParAsara Bhattar .............................................................................................................................. 17 Azhvar ThiruvarangapperumA L Araiyar ........................................................................................ 23

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Editorial
We are too happy to bring out the sixth edition of our Sri Ramanuja e-Journal in the month of panguni vyava year. The e-journal's main aim is to commemorate the Thirunakshathram-s of AzvAr-AchAryas in the form of discussion of the historical events, dates of the current year, of their divine workscommentaries, texts, pictures and so on. It is hoped that this journal will act as a catalyst in kindling the emotions of the devotees and precipitate thier inner feelings to manifest into celebrations at their places of residence as we are geographically divided. The celebration can be united as we are electronically integrated-thanks to the web and net-services and groups.This perhaps, will quench the thirst for bhagavatha/bhagavAtha anubhavham. Sri ANDAL advocated group devotion rather than bakthi in isolated manner. We are achieving this here. This mutual 'anubhavam-s' is expected to enrich one and all and enhance the divine experience, in the weeks and months to follow: 'bOdhayantha parasparam' KUdi irundhu kuLirndhEalOAr EmpAvAi' vara vara muni dasargaL

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1. Introduction
Nadai-kudai- vadai NamperumAL nadai, ThEvapperumAL kudai and Thirupathi vadai are famous. The month vAikAsi reminds of the wonderful 'Kudai' azhagu and the PEar aruLALan sannidhi. The utsavam culminating on the ThiruvONam day of vaikAsi sees us enjoying the beauty of the Lord proceeding on the streets leading to Periya Kanchi and dancing there in the raja vEdhi is a sight to watch. The typical umbrellas around the Lord needs thousand eyes to relish The Garuda sevai and the doddAchAr sevai are indeed a hallmark of the occasion. The 9th day, thirumozhi is chanted from Periya kanchipuram to chinna kanchipuram right through, is great. If this is north, the mid south does not get relegated. The kArpankAdu utsavam which is almost a replica of kAnchi utsavam is in fact for 10 days.The 5th day pAl mangA utsavam -The jackfruit festival is very popular. Down south of course, the grand utsavam of prapanna Jana kUdasthar, svAmi Nam AzvAr, is celebrated -vAikAsi visakam. This apart, the thirunakshathirams- of great doyens like ThiruvAimozhip piLLai, Periya Thirumalai Nambi, Thiru-k-kOttiyUr nambi,Thiruvarangap perumAl araiyar, Parasara Bhattar are also in this holy month. Kanchi utsavam -commencement -29.5.2007 Garuda sevai - 31.5.2007 ThiruthEar- 4 .6.2007 ThErthavAri- 6.6.2007 Visakham nammazhvar - 30.5.07 - Thiruvaymozhi piLLAi 30.5.2007 Swathi periya thirumalai nambi 29.5.2007 Rohini Thirukkottiyur nambi 18.5.2007 Kettai Azhvar thiruvarangapperumal araiyar 1.6.2007 Anusham - parasara bhattar/ vedavyasa bhattar /koil kandhAdai ANDAn- 31.5.2007 Let us enjoy and few droplets from this ocean, in this month

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2. mARan malar adi vAzhga

vAnathum vAnathuL vumbarum maN vuLLum maNNin kEzh ThAnathum, endisaiyum thavirAdhu ninRAn thannai, kUnal sangath thadakkai avanai kudamAdiyai vAnak kOnai kavi solla vallEan Thiruvaimozhi 4-5-9;

DhEVu maTraRiyEan kurugUr nambi mARanil mikkum Or dhEvum vuLadhEA! vuNdOA vaikAsi visAgathukku opporu nAL vuNDoA satakOparkku opporuvar vuNDOA ThiruvAimozhikku oppu then kurugaikku vuNDOA oru pAl thanil okkum vUr-upadEsa RethinamAlai -15.

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3. ThirukkoTTiyUr nambi
"vaisAka rohiNyudhitham gOshteepoorNam samAsrayE charamaslOka tAtparyam yathirAjAya yOvadhat" "Sri vallabha padhAmbhOja dheebhakthyAmrutha sAkaram Srimat gOshteepuripoorNam dEsikEndhram bhajAmahE " Thirukkotiyur Nambi was born in kAsypa gothram in the divya desam thirukkotiyur on a vaikasi month in the divine star rohini. He was one of the prime disciples of Swamy yamunacharya and one of the 5 acharyas of Swamy Ramanujacharya. Nambi's modesty Ramanujacharya underwent samasrayanam under periya nambi as per the directions of alavandaar. Periya nambi then directed him towards thirukottiyur nambi to learn the divine meanings of charama slokam. Ramanujacharya reached thirukkotiyur and met a short srivaishnava on the way. Ramanujacharya enquired, "Adiyen- can you please let me know where nambi thirumaligai is?" The person replied with indifference, "Oh! Why are you asking about some nambi, first go to the temple and have darshan of the real nambi (paripoorNan one who is filled with all divine qualities). Depressed with these words, Ramanujacharya proceeded towards the temple. He was in right time for the thiruveedhi purapadu. Srivaishnavas were ready for the arulicheyal ghosti (to recite the divya prabhandams in front of the lord in procession). Ramanujacharya with deep thirst to meet his acharya asked the person nearby, "can you please tell me who thirukkotiyur nambi is?" To the great surprise of ramanujacharya that person pointed towards the same short srivaishnava who he met first on the way. After the procession, Ramanujacharya started towards nambi's thirumaligai doing danda pranamams all through the way. Only that day people in thirukoshtiyur realized the greatness of nambi. On reaching nambi's thirumaligai ramanujacharya asked, "Why did devareer tell like that when adiyen met you first?" Nambi replied, "Everyone coming here enquires about me, a servant even before having the darshan of nambi, the king of this place. So adiyen got irritated and said so" Nambi's qualities as an acharya Though nambi had instructions from alavandaar to give the rahasya arthas to swamy Ramanuja still he didn't give the same right away. Thirukkotiyur nambi was an anuvriththi prasannacharya (acharya gives the divine meanings to the disciples only after confirming that they are fully qualified to receive the same). Krishna gave the divine bhagavat geetha to arjuna without any second thought but at the last instructed him not to do the same. Krishna says, "edham tE

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nAthabaskAya nAbhakthAya kadhAchana" (18-67) Don't give these divine arthas before testing that the person is really qualified to listen to the same. Thirukkotiyur nambi made ramanujacharya visit thirukkotiyur 18 times. Each time he instructed Ramanuja to develop a specific quality and come. During the 17th time though Ramanujacharya came along with the recommendation from ranganatha still nambi asked Ramanuja to come the next time and only on the 18th visit nambi gave the divine charama sloka arthas to swamy Ramanuja that too with a strict order that these should not be told to anyone.

Em-PerumAnAr But Ramanujacharya was a krupamAtra prasannacharya, who knew that it is very difficult for common ignorant people to get these divine arthas after so much difficulty. So filled with grace for the upliftment and benefit of all the interested but incapable jeevatmas he gave the thirumanthram ("AsudaiyOrkellAm"). Nambi rushed to ramanuja and asked, "Don't you know the result of going against the words of an acharya?" Ramanujacharya calmly replied, "Yes Swamy. But even if adiyen alone goes to naraka all these ignorant people will reach moksha"

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Nambi was filled with ecstacy on the act of his dear disciple. He embraced Ramanuja and celebrated him saying, "em-peruman-AneerO" (you have become my lord!) From that day Ramanujacharya got the name "EmperumAnAr". That is why nambi's vAzhi thirunamam says, "emberumAnArennum pEriyabhumavan vAzhiyE". Inspite of knowing the greatness of swamy Ramanuja, just to show the qualities of the good acharya and a good shisya nambi, did the above act. Selection of a care-taker KidAmbi AChAn Few miscreants tried to kill swamy ramanujacharya by giving him poisoned bhiksha. Coming to know of the same swamy ramanujacharya stopped taking bhiksha and hence didn't eat anything. Nambi came running to see ramanuja. Nambi and swamy ramanuja met in the banks of kaveri. Immediately on seeing the acharya ramanujacharya fell to his feet in sAshtanga pranamams. It was burning hot and nambi stood simply without lifting ramanuja up. All shisyas were troubled. They couldn't stand swamy ramanuja's thirumeni being burnt due to the hot sands. But they couldn't talk as nambi was acharya's acharya. But Kidambi Achchan, couldn't keep quiet. With great anger he commented, "What is this acharya, shisya lakshanam?" Nambi immediately lifted ramanujacharya and told Achchan, "I was waiting to find the person like you who has the ultimate concern towards the physique of Ramanuja. So from now on you alone will do ekabhiksha to Ramanuja". Such was nambi's divine way of tackling a crisis. Correcting ThirumAlai Aandan Thirumaalai Aandan was giving the divine meanings of thiruvaimozhi to Swamy Ramanuja. At many places Swamy Ramanuja had different anubhavams that he shared with the permission of the acharya. Thirumaalai aandan became a little upset with ramanuja as he gave new interpretations not given by his acharya aalavandaar and one fine day he stopped the kalashepam. Coming to know of this nambi rushed to srirangam and told aandan, "Don't think that you are the acharya and ramanuja your disciple; you are like sandeepani and vasista to Krishna and Rama to ramanuja; they are not ignorant students but pursuing the lessons just for the sake of doing it. Moreover he is like ekalavyan to swamy alavandaar and no meaning not acceptable to swamy alavandaar's mind will come out of ramanuja's mouth". Such was the great understanding of nambi about Ramanujacharya and our sampradayam. KoorathAzhvan and thirukkotiyur Nambi Once swamy ramanujacharya sent koorathAzhvan to nambi to get a clarification on the nature of the jeevatma, whether the seshatvam is prime or if jnAtritvam is the foremost quality of a jeevatma. Azhvan reached nambi thirumaligai and was doing all the services but couldn't get any clarification from nambi. One month passed. Azhvan felt sick due to the separation from swamy emperumanar and hence he decided to return back even without getting the doubt

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clarified. Azhvan went to nambi to take leave when nambi calmly said,"Don't you remember azhvar's words, 'adiyEnullan vudallullAn'" ThiruvAimozhi 8-8-2 and then gave permission to azhvan to leave. Azhvan returned back and told the same to emperumanar. We all will feel confused not knowing the purport of this incident. Here are the details. Though emperumanar himself knew the answer he sent azhvan to nambi to get the answer from his acharya. Nambi not just giving the answer made azhvan realize the answer. How was that? Q: Jeevatma has 2 main qualities Seshatvam (servitude) and jnAtritvam (possesser of knowledge). Which of these qualities is the foremost? Nambi's answer: As per azhvar's words in thiruvaimozhi 'adiyEnullAn vudalullAn' (He is there inside the atma (chit) and inside the body (achit)). While talking about the jeevatma azhvar says 'adiyen' implying that sEshatvam is the indicative quality of a jeevatma. The knowledge of jeevatmas being a sesha of the lord (servants of Sriman narayana) is the ultimate jnAtritvam. If Nambi had given this explanation before azhvan would not have experienced the difficulty of separation from swamy emperumanar (arising due to seshatvam towards the acharya). For the sake of reaching the divine feet of his acharya azhvan even decided to forego the clarification of his doubt. Hasn't seshatvam won over jnAtritvam? Thus nambi did not make azhvan know the answer but he made him realize the same. Let us sing mangalasasanams to that great acharya on this day and forever. "manniyaseer Alavandaar malarpadhaththOn vAzhiyE vaikhAsirohiNinAL vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE enniLa vanjikkini duraiththAn vAzhiyE emberumAnA rennum pEriyabhumavan vAzhiyE tannaNiyAm kAsipa kOththirathudiththO n vAzhiyE thirukkurukaippirA nennumpEr thigazhavandhOn vAzhiyE munnararum perumbhoodur munikkuraiththOn vAzhiyE mozhindha thirukkOtti nambi moodhulagil vAzhiyE"

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4. Periya Thirumalai nambi

srimal lakshmaNa yOgeendra sriramAyana dEsikam srisailapoorNam vrusha svAthi sanjAthamAsrayE Periya Thirumalai nambi, otherwise called srisailapoorna, was an ardent disciple of yamunacharya born in the month of vaikasi on a swathi star. He was the maternal uncle of elaiyazhvar (ramanujacharya) and govinda bhattar (embar) in their poorvashrama and also their philosophical mentor (acharya). Srisailapoorna was one of the pancha acharyas (5 mentors) of swamy ramanujacharya regarded as the jagadAcharya. Guruparamparai records that while Emperumanar and Embar were born, periyathirumalai nambi did pushpasamAsrayanam, which was a usual practice those days. According to the orders of AlavanthAr periyathirumalai nambi was given the task of handing over the SrirAmayana to emperumanar. He was involved in the divine theertha kainkarayam to thiruvenkatamudaiya n. Everyday he used to carry water from Akasha ganga for srinivasa's thiruvaradhanam. In the days, when elaiyazhvar and govinda was having their lessons in samanya sastra under yadhava prakasa, they undertook a kAsiyAthra, with the plot of killing ramanuja, Govinda understood the plot and he rescued ramanuja, but the group continued the journey. At Kasi, govinda happened to get a sivalinga while having a dip in ganga. Then as per the advice of yadava prakasa govinda become, 'ullan kai konarindha nayanar' and a great siva bhaktha and he remained at kalahasti doing services to siva. Transformation of Govinda As per the request of Ramanuja, periya Thirumalai nambi, started on a mission to get back govinda to the right track under the divine feet of Srinivasa. Instead of going to govinda directly and advising nambi sat himself with his shisyas on the way through which govinda passed to pick flowers for the pooja and started giving lectures to the disciples on nammazhvar's words of wisdom elaborating the appropriateness of submitting flowers and doing pooja only to the divine feet of Sriman Narayana ("poovum poosanaiyum tagumE"). The lecture was so captivating with various quotes from the sastras that made govinda realize his mistake and at once he fell to the feet of nambi and apologized for going astray and felt bad for losing so many days in a wrong place. For this entire task nambi had to travel three times from thirumalai to kalahasthi. During one visit embar asked nambi that what are you searching here. Nambi replied him, we are looking for a lost calf. Embar indeed was the lost calf. Following was a debate with embar which is indeed described wonderfully in 6000ppadi guruparamparA prabhAvam.

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Transferring the wealth of Ramayana to Ramanuja Swamy aalavandaar had left various treasures (of sampradayic knowledge) with various disciples to be handed over to a single successor, swamy Ramanuja. He had left the treasure of Ramayana with periya Thirumalai nambi. Nambi was waiting for handing over the treasure to Ramanuja. As per the instructions of periya nambi ramanuja reached the foothills of Thirumalai. Since the whole hill of thirumala is divine and considered to be the body of adisesha, swamy ramanuja though the incarnation of adisesha himself didn't want to step on the divine hill with foot and hence started to walk with his knees. Periya Thirumalai nambi coming to know of this rushed to the spot and welcomed ramanuja and said, "Oh! Ramanuja if you show this precedence of climbing the divine hill with the knees then no one will visit the divine place due to the difficulty in climbing. So please climb the hill considering it also to be bhagavat kainkaryam. Adisesha will be more than happy to get the bhagavata sripada sparsam (divine touch of bhagavatas's divine feet)". Swamy ramanuja obeyed his uncle and acharya and asked, "But for saying this why should you run all the way, why couldn't your holy self send somebody younger with your message?" Nambi replied, "Yes I also wanted to do that and searched all around thirumala and couldn't find anybody smaller than me (not in age but in knowledge-this is due to nambi's humility (naichyam) and to show the greatness of thirumala)"

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Swami stayed in Thirumalai for three days, but then he ascended down hill and stayed there. Sri Ramayana kalashepam was started. Ramanuja remained in the foothills and everyday nambi completed his theertha kainkaryam on top of the hill and came down to give the divine arthas of Srimad Ramayana to ramanuja. This continued for a year. That was nambi's dedication of bhagavat/bhAgavata/ acharya kainkaryam. Relationship between the acharya and shisya After the completion of the Ramayana kalashepam, instead of Ramanujacharya giving guru dakshina, nambi asked him what he wanted. Ramanuja requested nambi to send govinda bhattar along with him. Without any hesitation nambi also obliged and handed over govinda to ramanuja like parting with some object under possession. But govinda who obeying the acharya started with ramanuja couldn't stand the separation of nambi and hence fell sick on the way. Ramanuja sent him back to thirumala. Govinda rushed to thirumala and knocked at nambi's door. When nambi's wife wanted to open the door nambi stopped her and said "viRRa mAttukku pul iduvAr vundO" [will anyone feed the cow that has been already sold?] hearing this govinda realized his mistake and came back to the divine feet of Swamy Ramanuja and remained an ardent disciple till the last. Nambi becomes tattAchar In his last days, when nambi was very old he still was doing his kainkaryam of carrying water to thiruvenkatamudaiyan. One day a small boy came to nambi and requested for water while nambi was carrying water in a pot as usual for thiruvaradhanam. Nambi refused saying that if he gives him water he has to go and fetch fresh water again and that he didn't have the strength to do the same. The boy told, "tAtha! Oh my father I am very thirsty so please give me little water to quench my thirst". Nambi refused and proceeded towards the temple. The boy took a small stone hit the pot at the back without nambi realizing the same and started to drink the water that poured out. Suddenly nambi realized what was happening at the back and felt very upset for the boy's act. At the same time thiruvenkatamudaiyan gave darshan to nambi (the boy was none other than our beloved lord) and told him not to worry and fetch water from koneri pushkarini that is close to the temple. From that day Thirumalai nambi is celebrated as 'tattacharya'. Nambi's concern for EmperumAn When Nambi was very aged he was not able to perform thiruvAradhanam and offer food for EmperumAn. So he requested the Lord to take food at a place of another devotee who would offer Him such prasAdham. This is mentioned in the Edu vyAkyanam for the pAsuram "ini vunadhu vAy alagil in adisil vaippArai nADAyEa" thiruvAimozhi 1-4-8;

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This shows the concern of Periya thirumalai Nambi for the Lord and his conviction on the archAvathAram. Let us sing mangalasasanams to that great acharya father of emperuman, uncle and mentor of emperumAnAr. vaikasi sOdhinAL vandhudhiththAn vAzhiyE vaN thiruvEnkatamudaiyA n varapuththiran vAzhiyE ayyan sri alavandaar adithozhuvOn vAzhiyE anavaradham malaikuniyarkku adimai seivOn vAzhiyE meyyanirAmAnusAriya n virumbumavan vAzhiyE mikka thirumalaiyAr kellAm mElAvAn vAzhiyE seyyathamizh vEdaththin sirappaRindhOn vAzhiyE
thirumalainambigal ubhaya thiruvadigal vAzhiyE

5. ThiruvaaymozhippiLLAi
Thirunakshathram: vaikasi VisAkham namaH srI sailanAthhAya kunthI nagara janmanE prasAda ladha paramaprApya kainkarya SAlinE Enthai thiruvAymozhippiLLi yinnaruLAl vantha upadESamArgatthai Sindai seydhu pEsuginren- Says manavALamAmunikal in upadESa rathnamalai. Sri mAmunikAL expresses gratitude towards ThiruvAimozhip piLLai for granting him all knowledge. How did this happen? Had thiruvAmozhippillai not been there, we would not have even got a single knowledge about our acharyas and their works. Like the monsoon water brings flourishes to the land, thiruvaymozhippilla i brought all the srisukthis which were spattered here and there after the brutal attack over Srirangam by those who shall not be named in CE 1323. Sri Thirumalai azhvar took his birth in CE 1290, much before these (muslin invasion in Thiruvarangam) disasters happened, and had a peaceful time spent with his education. In the very young age Sri Thirumalai azhvar, got samasrayanam from swami piLLai lokacharyar himself. However, slowly he went into lowkika, and finally became very powerful person in pandya country politics. He was appointed as a caretaker and chief minister to the then adolescent king. While swami pillai lokacharyar was spending his final moments in jyothishkudi, he

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commanded to his sishyas that, it is Thirumalai azhvar who will continue the sampradayam. He delegated this task to various achAryas. Like Sri Ramanuja had several AchAryas who handed over the treasures from Sri yAmunAchArya, the treasures from Sri Pillai lOKAchAyra was to be handed over by these AchAryas. kurakulotthamadasa - the task of bringing thirumalaiazhvar back to sampradayam was given along with rahasya granthas. Thirukkannangudi pillai thiruvaymozhi swapadesams were given ThiruppuTkuzhi jeeyar, the task of thiruvaymozhi commentary was given. Naloor pillai the rest 3000 was given vilancholai pillai, sapthagathai and srivachanabhooshanam meanings. The task of directing thirumalaiazhvar was given solely to kurakulotthama dasa. How koorakulotthama dasa did this task, and how thirumalaiazhvar learnt the lessons from vilancholai pillai are already covered in SrI rAmAnuja Journal Volume 1

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While azhvar (SvAmi Nam AzvAr's archA ThirumEAni) was residing in the downhill of munthirippoo malai after a long time people came to know about azhvar's place, and it was thirumalai azhvar with the help of the king of travancore rescued azhvar and reinstalled azhvar at Azvar thirunagari to its past glory. Out of great love towards thiruvaymozhi and azhvar, he was named as thiruvaymozhippilla i. It was he who constructed ramanuja chathurvedi mangalam at azhvar thirunagari and made a wonderful shrine for bhavishyadacharyan sannidhi. Since that temple is in dilapidated condition now, Vedics is trying hard in bringing back that temple to its old glory. To read more about bhavishyadacharyan sannidhi please visit www.vedics.net in the live update section Thiruvaymozhippilla i was told by kurakulotthama dasa to go to ThiruppuTkuzhi jeeyar to learn thiruvaymozhi meanings. But the fate had something else for him. When he went to thiruputkuzhi, thirunarayana bali was going on as part of the jeeyar's charama kainkaryam. Not knowing what to do, thirumalai azhvar reached kanchipuram, where, pErAruLALan once again came to the rescue of sampradayam. During the goshti, accidentally nAlUrppiLLAi along with nAlUrACChAn piLLAi, from thirunarAyaNapuram came inside. To this nAlur piLLai was the duty of handing over rest 3000 pasurams to thiruvaaymozhippill ai was left with. While giving SriSaThakopam to nAlUrppiLLai, the arcchaka pressed the SriSaTakopam little hard to nAlurpiLLAi. After this, he caught hold of the hands of thiruvaymozhippilla i and gave it to nalurpillai's hand and told. I commanded you in jyothishkudi that to this thiruvaymozhipillai you have to give the meanings of 3000. (Remember that swami pillai lokacharya is an amsavatharam of devapperumaL) Now I command you to give Edu 36000ppadi along with the other meanings to him and you can give Edu to him, by doing this you will not make the mistake of going ahead of acharya's command. nAlUr pillai happily agreed, but since he was already old, he directed his son nAlUr AcchAn pillai to give the meanings to thiruvaymozhi pillai. At thirunarayanapuram, along with Ayee jananyacharyar, thiruvaymozhipillai learned the 3000 commentaries and Edu 36000 as an asset to be passed over to mamunikal. Mamunikal himself says in upadesarathnamalai nAlUr piLLaikkavartham, nallamaganArkkavart hAm mElArkku iNnthAravarEmikku After mamunikal surrendered to thiruvaymozhippilla i, he was given the kainkaryam of bhavishyadacharyan sannidhi, where mamunikal wrote yathirAja vimsathi by the command of thiruvaymozhippillai. To mamunikal he gave the entire wealth of commentaries. Mamunikal says in yathirAja vimsathi Sriman yatheendra thava divya padAbhja sEvAm SrIsailanAtha karuNA pariNAma dhatthAm

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During that time mamunikal got his first child, and mamunikal requested thiruvaymozhippilla i for a name. thiruvaymozhipillai replied, there is a name which is repeated 108 times and name him with that. And mamunikal readily named his son as emmayyan irAmAnusan. During the last time thiruvaymozhippilla i told mamunikal. I am still looking for a preceptor. Mamunikal vowed that, adiyen will satisfy your wishes. Thiruvaymozhippilla i then commanded, mamunikal that, once you do sribhashyakalakshep am, and once you do upadesam of it and then stop giving all kalaksepam in Sanskrit, and you should not go for prathipaksha nirasanam etc, just stay in srirangam, by enjoying the commentaries and Edu and give your eyes only for that. Giving such upadesams thiruvaymozhippillai left for eternal abode in CE 1410.

6. Sri ParAsara Bhattar

Thirunakshathram : Vaikasi Anusham SriparASarabhaTTAryaH SrirangESa purOhithaH SrivathsAnka suthaH SrImAn sREyasEmEsthu bhUyasE It is well known that Sri NampiLLai, Sri Periya vAchAn piLLai , Sri NanjEyar and so many others are the pillars of the vyAkyAnam-s. However, it is Sri Parasara Bhattar's prowess and education that this vyAkyAnam tradition sprouted and spread in geography of place and time. Periya Thirumozhi vyAkyanam and Edu are replete with quotes from Sri Bhattar. In fact, for some pAsuram-s, but for Sri Bhattar we would not know the true import of the pAsuram (e.g kaRavA mada nagu 7-1-1 of Periya Thirumozhi) Broadly, Bhattar's vyAkyAnam-s can be categorized into Sheer intelligence, Chaste Tamil, sarcasm, prejudice towards Chakravarthith thirumagan, and prejudice towards Sri NamperumAL. This apart, Sri Bhattar's works can be divided into two - Stotrams on the Lord and the thaniyan-s. Sri Bhattar dedicated the whole of Thiruvaimozhi to Thiruvarangam, The ThiruvAimozhith Thaniyan -vAn Thigazhum sOlai dedicates the ThiruvAimozhi to the auspicious qualities of Nam/Periya PerumAL. Sri Bhattar won over the great vEdhanthi who embraced our fold and gave us his anubhavam-s with bhattar and also blessed us with ONbadhinAyirappadi. The ThirunedunThaNdakam sAsthram, it is said, helped Bhattar establish in unequivocal terms our faith.

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It is also said that Sri Bhattar gave commentary for the 21st pAsuram of ThiruneduNthANdakam mai-vaNNa narun-kunchi.

Sri parASara bhaTTAR (look for Sri nanjeeyar at his feets, and sri vEdavyAsa bhattar) For namperumal bhattar composed several instant poems, for which he himself gave commentary. Collectively they are called thirumanjana kattiyam which are still recited in front of namperumaL during thirumanjanam. It was bhattar who started categorizing rahasyas, the first and formost work on rahasya thraya was by bhattar which is known as Ashtasloki. In 8 slokas bhattar summarizes rahasyathraya. Sribhattar combined the two pasruams of thiruppavai, Kutthuvilakkaeriya and chittham chiRukAlE and composed a thaniyan for thiruppavai the well known nILA thunga sthanagirithaDI While in asylum at thirukkOTTiur, he composed sriranganatha sthothram.

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After coming back to srirangam he composed his magnum opus sthothras Sri Rangaraja sthavam : an entire treatise of srirangam. Divided in to two, poorvasathakam in detail inch by inch enjoys srirangam. Uttharasathakam is a short sribhashyam bedecked with the metaphysics of visishtadwaitha. Sri GuNa-rathna Kosam : was written for sriranganAcchiyar, with 54 sloka it is a sthothra par excellence. It is believed that the commentator to Sriguna rathnakosam, Prathivadibhayangar am annangarachar swami, did not touch it till the end, just because of the reason, he did not find a satisfactory explanation for the wonderful second sloka, ullAsa pallavitha pAlaitha sapthalOki He is said to have written several other granthas like lakshmi kalyanam etc, which are lost. BhaTTar's bhAshyam: Bhattar himself has authored the detailed commentary for Sri VishNU sahasraNaamam. The vyAkyAnam does not see the Sahasranamam as just 1000 divine names but deciphers the link in the chain of garland of Divine names and attributes it to the Lord's auspicious qualities. bhIshma himself says, yAni nAmAni gauNAni- one thirunamam for one gunam-Since, this mirrors EmperumAn's qualities this is well known as "BhagavathguNAdarppa Nam" and is a must for all srevaishNavites to read and study. While sankaras bhashyam differs a lot with bhattars, in terms of the fundamental guna taken up. When sankara completely focused on the parathvam, bhattar bhashyam completely focuses on sousleelyam bedecked with parathvam, always our typical style. One example is the two thirunamams vijithAthmAvidhEyAthma sankara splits as AvijithAthma avidhEyAthma : the one who can never be won over and the one who is not at all obedient. Bhattar explains as for the devotees it is not the case he is vijithathma and vidheyathma. His final work is said to be the commentary to kaiSika puraaNam which is still read on kaiSika Ekadasi day. Though VyAkyAnam tradition commenced with Sri Ramanuja, a careful reading would reveal that this commentary culture flourished during BHattar-s period. Droplets from Bhattar's nirvAham-s An allan peN allan: Thiruvaimozhi

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The ThiruvAimozhi pAsuram "AN allan peN allan allA aliyum allan..." describes the Lord as neither male, female or otherwise. A question was raised that since the Lord is neither of these, He shoud be a concept of nothingness- sUnya vAdham. Bhattar refuted this with the reply : The words from thiruvAimozhi is An all-an peN allan and not An alladhu peN alladhu pointing to the fact that the LOrd is the superior Purushothaman in contrast to the masculine/feminine gender in our mundane context. This reflects Sri Bhattar's sheer intelligence and brilliance en nErmai kaNdu irangi: The thiru-voi-mozhi pAsuram 1-4-4 describes the thalaivi's change of physique due to separation from the Lord Almighty. The otherwise normal body gets bleached as if there is no blood circulation in that particular spot. Normally, when there is such a separation, the Lord can not see as He is away. ON the contrary, if He can so see, then He is not separated from AzhwAr. However, the fourth pAsuram takes a different tone: 'en nErmai kaNDirangi idhu thagAdhu ennAdhA..' 1-4-4; Having seen the bleach due to the separation. A tamilian -oru thamizhan who was in the ghOsthi of bhaTTar who was explaining this pAsuramquestioned the validity of this on the grounds that if the Lord can see this He is not away. Therefore, the words should be "kEATTu irangi' Sri bhaTTAr elucidated this aspect. The explanation was " When the thalaivan's one hand is touching on a particular side of the thalaivi, the other side gets whitened and vice-versa. Therefore, this can be indeed seen and not necessarily be heard only. Does this have a precedent? Yes said bhaTTAr and quoted one from kuRunthogai and thirukkuRaL The thirukkuRaL : 'pullik kidandhEan pudai peyarndhEan avvaLavil aLLik koLvaRREA pasappu" 1187.

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The thalaivi says "I was embracing my thalaivan and moved a bit and the whiteness-pasapputook over me. ThiruvAimozhi 1-4-4; This reflects Sri Bhattar's knowledge of Tamil literatue and using it in the context of our sampradhAyam kUnEai sidhai vuNdai vil: ThiruvAimozhi The pAsuram 'kUnEai sidhaiya vuNdai vil niRathil therithAi .." refers to Sri Chakravarthith Thirumagan's mud bullets being thrown on kUni. However, Sri Bhattar did not want to tarnish the image of Sri rama and said let us attribute all this to Sri krshNA who is the epitome of such misdeeds. This brings to the fore Sri Bhattar paksha pAdham towards Sri Chakravarthith Thriumagan. kal eduthu kal mAri kAthai : ThiruneduNthANdakam pAsuram describing the Lord as rescuing the folks by picking up the mountain "GovardhaNa Giri" and saving them. Sri Bhattar comments " The Lord took up the stone clad mountains to confront the hailstorm of stones: If the rain was of fire He would have confronted it with fire". This brings to the fore not just the rasANubhavam of sri Bhattar but also highlights the omnipotence of rakshagathvam of EmperumAn. kaRavA mada nagu: Periya Thirumozhi 7-1-1; The first two lines of the pAsuram reads as follows: kARavA mada nAgu than kanRu vuLLinAR pole , maRavAdhu adiyEan vunnaiyEa azhaikkinREAn" 7-1-1; A superficial study of the pAsuram will give the meaning "The Lord being likened to a unmilked cow thinking of the calf --the first line. The second line says --The calf without forgetting calls for the Lord. "Amudhanar tried to interpret the line "kaRavA mada nAgu than kanRu uLLinAr pOl" as "karavA mada nAgu,than kanRinai uLLinAr pOl" - that is, like a cow which has not been milked yet thinking of its calf. However, this did not go with the next line where Azhvar refers to him (the calf) calling out to the Lord (the cow). When Parasara Bhattar was presented with this pasuram,he explained it as follows: "kaRavA mada nAgu than kanRu, (than thAyai) uLLinAR pOl". That is, the calf (Azhvar) of the cow which has not been milked yet, thinking of its mother (the Lord)."

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Bhattar's Vyakyanic prowess. peN-arasu nADAyiRREA The masculine crab -alavan- affectionately goes in search of eatables, with the intention of submitting to its beloved, who is in the family way. The evening quest takes the alavan to a lotus and it enters the precinctsof the lotus and alas at the sunset the lotus closes itself. It tries to get out of the lotus but in smears itself with parts of lotus and nectars in the process.The crab has to wait till the sunrise in the morn. to get the doors opened and no sooner the gates are opened rushes towards the better half -who is resting in the alli - eagerly to give all the favourite gatherings it had made for its sweetheart. Unfortunately, being the morning the alli closes itself. Thirumangai mannan describes the wealth of the thirunaRaiyUr dhivya-dhEsam -in such a fashion. Sri bhaTTar, goes on to explain the fact that since the alavan-masculine gender of the crab, had spent all night elsewhere -actually it was trapped inside the lotus, the female naNdu - naLLi- on seeing the marks on the body of its man, did not allow it inside-questioning its whereabouts and nocturnal ventures. Not just being questioned, it did not permit the crab inside. This was the plight of this crab, which had in fact eagerly and affectionately spent a sleepless night for the sake of its wife. The pAsuram goes on as follows "paLLi-k kamalth idai-p-patta paguvAi alavan mugam nOkki, naLLi vuDum vayal sUzhndha naRaiyUr" 6-7-6; A natural day to day phenomenon, described splendidly by kaliyan, a description of sprawling blossomed lotus and closed Ambal-s, and equally wonderfully explained by bhaTTar. and there goes bhaTTar again with his supreme commentary skills One can understand the feeling generated after going through the write-up on praNaya kalaham. Yes, the emphaty of several members definitely gets transformed into sympathy towards the male crab, which innocently stands like an elementary school boy seeking entry into the classroom.

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It is said the love is rewarded with more love. The sincere love and affection of the alavan, not only put it into a ordeal prone night but at the end of the day ( night) it had to confront difficult questioning, standing under the rain of dewdrops - paNith thali vEzha nin vAsal kaDai paRRi. It is indeed sad and, observing the crab's commiserative situation, Sri piLLai thirunaRaiyUr araiyar exhibits similar sympathies and asks Sri bhaTTar " If one did indeed make a mistake, is it just to punish without necessary due diligence?Should not the award be handed over only after due enquiries?" 'Why this has not been done ?" was his question. Pat came the reply " en seivOam, kEALvi illAdha padi, peN arasu nADAyiRREA!" This timing reply by bhaTTAr is indeed typical to him. This being nAchiyAr kOil, the philoshopy of 'ladies first' is followed and he alluded to that as ' peN arasu nADAyiRREA' This brings to the fore Sri Bhattar's timing His commentary to the situation and mixing it with wonderful sarcasm. Bhattar's treatise on vyakyanam can go on and on. These are but a few drops from the ocean of nectar

7. Azhvar ThiruvarangapperumA L Araiyar

Thirunakshathram : keTTai 990th Thirunakshathram adhyApayadyathIndrA ya parAnkuSasahasrikA, tham nAthhavamSyam vandEham SrIrangAdhipadESika m DEVA gANam -A means to get YathirAjar to Thiruvarangam Periya PerumAL desired YathirAjar to leave kanchi and settle down at Thiruvarangam. However, Sri Devap perumAL who considered YathirAjar as his lifeline did not yield to this. Thiruvarangap perumAL araiyar with the blessings of Periya PerumAL left for kAnchi with the mission of obtaining Yathi Rajar from DEVAdhi Rajan. Thiruvarangap peurmAL araiyar, performed wonderful araiyar sEVai and rendered celestial Deva GANam in front of PEAr aruLALan.

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Immensely impressed DEVAdiRajan, granted him boon. Thiruvarangap perumAL requested for yathirajar and succeeded in that, though Sri Varadan was initially reluctant to leave his lifeline. Thanks to Thiruvarangap perumAL araiyar and His DEva GANam which brought Sri RamAnuja to Srirangam and established our faith which later pervaded at all places and times. The CharamOpAyam Azhvar thiruvarangapperumA L araiyar was son to swami yAmunAcharyar. It was to azhvar thiruarangapperumal araiyar, swami Alavanthar gave the task of giving charamopaya nishtai and the meanings of rest 3000 pasurams.

Swami took birth in the same year as that of Emperumanar's birth CE 1017. Once emperumanar was grinding turmeric for araiyar swami to bath. Araiyar swami seeing the turmeric, he did not like it much because of its roughness. But he did not mention this, but seeing araiyar swami's face, emperumanar understood that, the quality of turmeric is not good, he immediately himself went

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and ground it fresh, which araiyar swami liked a lot. He did service to araiyar for a period of six months. He prepared milk at the right boiling point and offered him. Araiyar asked emperumanar "have you come here to loot all my wealth? Oh emperumanar come, I will give you the meanings of Charama purushartha" and hence azhvar thiruvarangapperuma l araiyar gave him the rahasyarthas, meanings of rest of 3000 pasurams, and Abhinayam for all pasurams were also taught to emperumanar. He gave him the following counseling The charamOpAyam 'AchAryan is the highest brahmam; AchAryan is the highest wealth; AchAryan is the highest desire-kamam; He is the best means and end -prApakam and prApyam; He is the highest education. Since, He bestows us with knowledge of the Lord, He is so. Consider AchAryan as the highest Means and the highest end. Having said this Sri Thiruvarangap perumAL araiyar made his youngest brother 'sottai nambi as the disciple of Sri RamAnujA. Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam