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SRI RAMANUJA

(swamy emberumAnAr in thiruvallikeni)

e-Journal- 4 -thai vyaya

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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. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 5 embAr ............................................................................................................................. 6 thirumazhisai azhwAr ................................................................................................ 11 Sri kooraththAzhwAn vaibhavam ............................................................................ 15 kurukaikAvalappan .................................................................................................... 25

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Editorial
We are too happy to bring out the forth edition of our Sri Ramanuja e-Journal in the month of thai 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
Thaiyyoru ThingaLum.. The month Thai is no behind margazhi in having thirunakshathrams on its credits. AndAL in SrIvilliputhur ends her nIrATTa uthsavam on the first of Thai which is a special uthsavam conducted for the sake of mamunikaL unlike in other divya desams where the nIrAtta utsavam ends the day before. Legend says that mAmunikal wanting very badly to have the divine darshan of Andal during nIrAtta utsavam happened to reach Srivilliputtur a day later. Pleased with the great devotion (Arthi) of Swamy manavala mAmunikal Andal decided to extent the utsavam to one more day and that became the special jeeyer sevai on the first day of thai.

gOdhA nAchiyAr undergoing nErAtta utsavam in Srivilliputtur

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The UtharAyanam opens its eyes to the next half of the year with Thai with the Thirunakshathram of one of the unique AzhvArs who gets the title pirAn and two giants in our glorious guruparamparai. The Recitations of the AruLicheyals for homes and thirumagilkais are also resumed from Thai Hastham. Uttarayana punyakAlam-sankaranthi-Jan 15 2007 Rathasapthami-Jan 25 2007 Thirunakshathram of SrI ThirumazhisaippirAn Thai makam-Feb 3 2007 Thirunakshathram of SwAmi EmbAr Punarpoosam-Jan 31 2007 Thirunakshathram of Swami kUratthAzhvAn Hastham-Feb 7 2007 Thirunakshathram of kuRukaikkAvalappan- visakam-Feb 10 2007 Sri kuRukaikkAvalappan was a sishya of SrimannAthamunikal, who learned Ashtangayoga rahasyam from sriman nathamunikal. He agreed to swami alavandAr that he will pass this on to him, just before his ascension, but swami alavandAr could not make it up to that time. Hence this wonderful rahasyam is lost with this mahAthmA. ThirukkovalUr emperumAnar jeeyar is the only jeeyar in our sampradayam who lives in grihasthAsrama and still a jeeyar. The first in this clan was born on a thai mrugaseerusham day and he is adorned in his thaniyan as "vandhE yatheendra pravaNa pravaNam lakshmaNa munim" [He was pravaNa of Yatheendra PravaNa, swamy manavala mAmunikal]-Jan 29 2007

2. embAr
EmbAr thirunakshathram-Jan 31st 2007 Thai PunarpUSam rAmAnuja padacchAya gOvindAhvAna pAyini thadAyattha svarUpAssA jeeyAnmadviSramasthali SrI Govinda known as Embar adorns the Pontifical throne of srivaishnava sampradyam, immediately after swami Emperumanar. He was born to kamala nayana bhaTTar and periya piraTTi, in a glorious vaishnava family. Periya pirATTi and kanthimathi were two sisters of periya thirumalai nambikaL. To kanthimathi, Emperumanar was born on 1017 CE. A few years later in CE 1021 was the birth of embar. With the direction of periya thirumala nambikaL embar was named as govinda. As they grew up, both brothers joined at thirupuTkuzhi with yadavaprakasa to learn the poorvapaksha

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siddhantham. After the incident happened in vindhyachala, where Govinda saved Emperumanar from the doomed thoughts of yadava prakasa, the group proceeded to Kasi, while Emperumanar was brought back to KAnchipuram by VaradarajapperumAL in disguise. At kasi during the bath in Ganges, embar got stuck with a stone in his hand, to which yadava prakasa claimed, GangAsanAnam seytha punyam, gangAdharanE kaikkoNdAn (you are blessed with siva linga due to your ganga yathra). Since then govinda became a staunch saivite nayanmAr with the name uLLamkai koNarntha nAyanaR and stayed back in kaLahasthi doing services in the siva temple. At a later stage Emperumanar came to know about this and requested periya thirumalai nambikal to bring back govinda. The incident of bringing back govinda from his saivaite appetite to a complete SrivaishNava is a heart melting episode narrated like a drama in 6000ppadi guruparambarA prabhAvam.

swAmy embAr at his avatAra stalam madura mangalam

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After this Govinda joined periya thirumalai nambikaL and was doing kainkaryams in Thirumalai. Swami Emperumanar reached thirumalai for having SrIrAmAyaNam kalakshEpam from periya thirumala nambikal. And both govinda and Emperumanar reunited again for the kalakshepa goshti. AchArya prathipathi of govinda: Once, during that time Sri EmperumAnAr noticed that while making bed for the periya Thirumalai Nambi, EmbAr lied on it and then prepared it to his achAryan. When EmbAr was questioned he replied,' I know that one who uses the bed of AchArya will go to hell but this is the best way to ensure that the bed does not have any irritants or pricks to the AchAryan'. Sympathetic even towards snakes: we all know about the melting heart of swami kUratthAzhvAn the aithihyams of azhvan falling unconscious by hearing the cry of a frog, and seeing water oozing out of banana tree etc are best examples of a srivaishnava trait. Once in Thirumalai, Sri EmbAr put his hand in a snake's mouth and took it off and went on to perform kainkaryam. When vudayavar asked 'what is this you have done?" pat came the reply: i was just removing the thorn from the snake's tongue. EmperumAnAr was astonished by the compassion.

swamy embAr and emberumAnAr These caused Emperumanar to ask periya thirumalai nambi to give Govinda for him, which periya thirumalai nambi immediately agreed. After leaving to srirangam with Emperumanar, govinda could not bear the separation with his acharya and became sick. Emperumanar noticing this change, he sent Govinda back to Thirumalai. Like a new

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born calf, Govinda returned back to Thirumalai, where Periya thirumalai nambikal did not receive him with pleasure. Instead he asked to go back to ramanuja, telling that once a cow is sold, it is never taken back. So soon with great grief Govinda rejoined Emperumanar, which swami was keenly expecting. Govinda after coming to SrIrangam, to Emperumanar's lotus feet, he still remained unmarried, and once Govinda's mother went and requested Emperumanar to compel him for marriage. Subsequently Emperumanar asked him to get married. Eventually, after the marriage when the couples were inside the nuptial chamber, Govinda deeply moved in bhagavad gunam, started discoursing to his wife and they spent the entire night deeply contemplating on the discourse. The next day when Emperumanar came to know about this and told govinda that, Sasthras describe that a man should always be in an asramam, and obviously he proved that he was least interested in married life, so Emperumanar asked him immediately to go to kaveri and take a dip, and gave him sanyasam. There ended the one day long married life for Govinda. After taking asrama sweekaram, Udaiyavar named Govinda as Emperumanar itself. But he refused for this name, and cut short to Embar (shadow of Emperumanar) and hence forth there was another gem added to our guruparampara as Embar. There are no srisukthis attributed to embar as far as we know, but the Edu and commentaries of periavAcchAn piLLAi, one can find innumerable number of pasura nirvahams attributed to Embar. His nirvahams always carries something special in them. It is said that, the Araiyars in Srirangam, used to act looking at Embars face expression and they valued his opinion as the most befitting for abhinayam. One example one can see in the pasuram of En chinam Theervan nAnE (perumaaL thirumozhi) Sri KulasEkarAzvAr when displeased with EmperumAn- (vUDal) mentionsvarudhiyEal, en sinam thErvan nAnEA. For enacting this anger araiyar gave gestures as kicking the Lord when he arrived. In fact, Lord would be much too happy to have the AzvAr ticking him off with her legs. EmbAr signaling to araiyAr that this will make the Lord happy rather than unhappy, gave a different gesture and the ariyar picked up the clue. This time ariayar took his face the other way - ignoring the Lord totally and depicting utter indifference. EmperumAnAr who did not knew that embar was present in the goshti, when he noticed this change in the abhinayam, he immediately exclaimed EmbAR uLLIRO ? (Embar Are you there?) a great compliment from none other than our Sri RamAnujA. There are several great interpretations for thiruvAizhmozhi as given by EmbAr, in Edu. SvAmi Nam AzvAr who was happy in the fifth thiruvAimozhi of the fourth ten = vETrirundhu - relapses into feminine tenor and degresses into depression.

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Embar while describing the nexus- the oscillation from extreme mirth to utter dismay 'asangadhirEva sangathi'. Superficially this means, the non connection is the connection. Deeply looking the separation from EmperumAn-asanghadhi-vishlEshamis indeed the cause for the dismay.. The above two are just samples of Sri EmbAr's brilliance. Embar was asked to become Bhattars Acharya by Emperumanar. And swami bhattar pays the befitting tributes to embar both his magnum opus compositions, SrI ranga rAja sthavam and in Bhagavad guNadarpaNam. And his advise to bhattar is straight away coined as a wonderful Churnai in mumukshuppadi-charamasloka prakaranam by swami pILLai lOkAcharyar AsthikanAy ivvarththatthil ruchi visvAsankaLai uDaiyanAy ujjIvitthal nAsthikanAy naSitthalozhiya naDuvil nilai illai" entru BhaTTarukku EmbAr aruLiccheytha vArtthai(mumukshuppadi 275) Meaning: (From mamunikal commentary) The adhikari who understands the meaning of the charamasloka, and thinks that with the mercy of the lord this is absolute truth, believe that the charamasloka never fails( visvasam) and has got great taste (ruchi) such an Asthika only gets ujjivanamliberation. The other set of people who think that Sasthras proclaim karma-jnjanabhakthi yogas as upaya, overlooking the charamasloka proclaiming ' sarvadharman parithyajya'. How is this possible?' such nasthikas will perish (nasithal). In between flourishing like an asthika and perishing like a nasthika as said above, there is no intermediate level (naduvil nilai illai) These were said to the Bhattar who knows every sasthras, by Embar who is dearest to the heart. vandE gOvinda thAthau munimathha manavai laxmaNArya mahAntham dhyAyEyam yaamunArya mama hrdi rAmamEvAbhiyAmam padmAxa prExishiya prathhamamapi munim nAthhamiiDhE SaThArim sthaumi prExEya laxmiim SaraNamaSaraNam SrIdharam samSrayEmam

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3. thirumazhisai azhwAr
thirumazhisai azhwAr thirunakshathram-Feb 3rd 2007 Thai magmam The magam of thai is an excellent day. Why so? It gave us the great apostle thirumazhisaip pirAn.

thirumazhisai azhvAr at his avatara stalam thirumazhisai Thirumazhisai AzhvAr, Thirumazhisai-p pirAn, BakthisArar, vuraiyil idAdhavar are a few names of the AzhvAr fourth in the sequel of our distinguished clan. 'poigaiAr, bUdhathAr, pEyan, pugazh mazhisai aiyan' declares SvAmi mAmunikaL.

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Having experienced other religions and got himself into the right path by none other than Sri pEai AzhvAr, Sri Thirumazhisai AzhvAr went on to be a great devotee of EmperumAn and blessed us with two divine prabhandham-s nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi and thiruchandhaviruththam. The name Thirumaizhisai AzhvAr as the name goes, indicates the birth place of the AzhvAr at Thirumazhisai which is located between Chennai and Sri PerumbUdhur and near pUndhamallE. The Relationship with the Lord: The devotion of Mazhisaip pirAn is so intimate with that of the LOrd that Sri ArAvamudhan of Thirukkudanthai became to be known as 'ArAvamudhAzhvAn' and AzhvAr became 'Thirumazhisaip piran' The Thirukkudanthai EmperumAn tries to get up and welcome AzhvAr but azhvAr requests Him not to tire Himself further and The Lord speaks by just raising Himelf from the reclining posture -kidanthavARu ezhundhirundhu pEAsu (Thiruchandhaviruththam) At ThiruvekkA, Sri yathOthakAri perumAL reclining, folded his bed and walked behind AzhvAr and stayed away for a night (at a place near kAnchi - this place is now known as Orikkai i.e. Or iravu irukkai) and unfolded his bed again at the same place in a different position, all just for the sake of Azhvar. Having done as per the desire of AzhvAr, This EmperumAn came to be known as 'sonna vaNNam seidha perumAL (yathOthakAri)'. Incidentally, AzhvAr requested this EmperumAn to shift for the sake of his devotee 'kani-k-kaNNan' which reflects his unassuming nature. The relationship with EmperumAn and how Emperuman manages the whole jeevathma's and grants moksham to them is summarized as 'athAnAgi annaiyAgi ALum EmpirAnumAi, othovAdha pal piRappozhithu nammai AtkOLVAn' Thirucchanthavirutham 115; The Almighty who is our all encompassing relation rescues us and elevates us releasing from bondage using his nirhethuka kripa. In fact, this is the crux of Charamaslokam and our sampradhAyam and has been most appropriately quoted in mumUkshuppadi by Sri PiLLai lOkAchAryAr Varthai aRibavar enkiRapATTum AththanAgi enkiRa pATTum ithukkartham Aka anusandhEyam (mumukshuppadi 278 ) [The songs "varthai aRibavar" and "AthhanAgi" are considered to give the meaning of this (charama slokam)]

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Vurayil idAdhavar: We have seen Kaliyan having a spear in his hand. So is Sri PiLLai vuRangAvilli dAsar. However, Thirumazhisai AzhvAr is known as 'vurayil idAdhvar'. The person who does not put the spear in its sheath. When the Supremacy of Lord is questioned, pat comes the solution from Thirumazhisai AzhvAr- and always is alert in this regard. So is known as 'vuraiyil idAdvhar'. The verses of nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi is prominent in this regard. The first pAsuram describes the lineage of creation-The creator being EmperumAn and all others then. That He is the one who can grant liberation, the supreme spelt out in the vEdhAm-s is given the 13th pAsuram. 'VEdAkkum meipporuLthan, VEdha mudhalporuLthAn, viNNavaRku naRporuLthAn nArAyaNan' nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 13 The final pAsuram sees AzhvAr concluding that Sriman NarAyaNA is the Lord of others and He is the cause of one and all and everything. -ini aRindhEan Esarkkum nAnmugaRkum dheivam, ini aRindhEan kAraNan nE.. nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 96; BakthisArar: Thirumazhisai AzhvAr an ardent devotee of EmperumAn, unflinched and staunch devotion is well known. He terms these type of srEvaishNavites as 'maRandhum puRam thozhA mAndhar' nAnmugan thiruvandhadhi ; That is though one may forget Him, they will not indulge in anya-devathA worship. The legend goes that once, the couple pArvathi and ShivA, were going along the skies and they wanted to bless AzhvAr and descended to earth and offered some boons. AzhvAr mentioned that he was not interested in anything. However, on being insisted, he requested for liberation, which of course was not possible. Then AzhvAr asked for long living years, which was also not done and therefore, asked the thread to go into the eye of the needle. Furious at this, ShivA opened the eye on his forehead and azhvAr opened the eye on his foot thumb finger, to originate water to douse the fire from the eyes. Realizing the devotion he came to be known as ' BakthisArar'. The Divine works: The ninety six pAsuram-s of nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi resonating with Supremacy and our faith and the one hundred and twenty pAsuram-s of Thiruchandha virutham embedded with experience with the Lord and asserting our philoshopy are the two divine works of Sri Thirumaizhisaip- piran. The role of pirATTi has been well established in the pAsuram- thiruvillAth dhEvarai thEREAn min dhEVu.(Dont consider those without Sri as devas)

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The reverence of other deities towards SrivaishNavties is depicted in the pAsuram namanum than dhUthuvarai kUvich chevikku (yama called his dhoothas and told in their ears...) Yama dharmA advises his messengers to respect the srEvaishNavites and take care when they meet them. The devotion to devotees is highlighted in the pAsuram 'vEARAGa yEathi iruppArai vellumEA mathavari sAThi iruppAr thavam' 18 reiterating the fact the thadEya shEshathavam is superior.

sri bakthisArar Thirumazhisai azhwar moolavar at thirumazhisai Coming to Thiruchandha virutham, the sweet words and rhymes reverberates and pervades. The great souls assume that they are born only on knowledge of Thirumanthram is pointed out in the pASuram 'anRu nAn piRandhilEan, piRandha pin maRAndhilEan' (I was not born before and after I never forgot.....)

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and thinking of Him permanently also springs from His causeless mercy is spelt out 'nirandharam ninaippadhAga nE ninaikka VEANDumEa (Please think (make your sankalpa) that I should think of you always)' 101;

This can go on and on. The life of Thirumazhisai AzhvAr is hallmarked with his superior intelligence, his grasp of vEdhic tenets and texts is far ahead of others. Despite being born in a lower caste -kulangaLAya Er iraNdil onRilum piRandhilEan(I am not born in none of the 4 upper castes)- he mastered all these. This is summed by mAmunikAL as 'thuyya mathi peTRa mazhisaip piran' (Mazhisai piran filled with clear knowledge)12 of upadEsa rathinamAlai. Let us commemorate the Thirunakshathiram of Thirumazhisaip pirAn recalling a few details on him and thinking of his ascension as he himself has given this message 'ARADha inba vEDu peTRAdhEa (Attaining the ever imperishable house)' Thiruchandha virutham 120

4. Sri kooraththAzhwAn vaibhavam

thirunakshathram-Feb 7th 2007 Thai hastham Sri Vathsa Chinha Mishrebhyo Namah Ukthi Adheemahi Yathukthaya: Thraiyee Kante Yaanthi Mangala Soothrathaam This is the Thaniyan that praises swamy Kurathaazhwaan given to us by Swamy Parasara Bhattar who is Swamy Koorathazhwan's son. The meaning of the above thaniyan goes like this : "I salute the great mahaan Sri Srivathsa Chinha Misra (Swamy Koorathazhwan) whose sri sookthis became the thirumangalyam of the mother Veda (The 4 Vedas also named as Thrayee as mentioned in the above thaniyan)" Let us take refuge at this great mahaan with the above thaniyan. Let us glance through swamy's greatness, swamy's character as an absolute Sri Vaishnava. If we have to see a living example of a Sri Vaishnava Lakshanam, we could just read the entire life history of swamy Koorathaazhwaan. Swamy's life history is full of incidents that every Sri Vaishanavan should follow and experience in his/her day to

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day life. Some of swamy's great characters were his kaarunuyam to even the lowest creature in this earth, his absolute faith on emperumaan and sharanagathi and more

swamy koothathzhwAn at his avatara stalam - kooram

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than all these, his attitude of surrendering at the lotus feet of our great emperumaanaar. His greatness was such that even Swamy Emperumaanaar was so delighted to have his sambandham, which emperumaanaar himself has directly told in his kalakshepa ghoshti. A two or four page write-up cannot even cover a drop of the ocean of swamy's kalyana gunas.

swamy koorathAzhwAn at thiruvallikEni

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Swamy was born in a small and beautiful village named "Kooram" near the great divyadesam Thirukachi (Kancheepuram) where Devathirajan resides in the Hasthi hills along with his consort Sri Perundevi Thaayaar. With the grace of emperumaan Devathirajan, swamy was born to Sri Koorathu Azhwan or Sri Ananthar and Sri Perundevi ammal. The thiruvavatharam of swami Azhvan took place eight years before Emperumanars thiruavatharam. Their family was very rich in the nearby villages or town. Their wealth was admired by even Devathi Rajan and by the goddess of wealth herself i.e Sri Perundevi Thaayaar. We should now imagine the amount of wealth that swamy's family had at that time. But even though swamy was born in a well to do family, swamy's character was never affected by his wealth. We can very clearly see that from swamy's life history. Swamy was very brilliant in his knowledge; he always loved to serve Sri Vaishnavas, poor people and showed immense love to even a small insect or even a non living thing like a tree. Swamy lost his mother at his young age. Seeing swamy's great character Swamy's father thought getting swamy married and sought for a suitable alliance for swamy who can support swamy in all his kainkaryams and who can understand swamy's nature and be with swamy till the end. Then Swamy was married to Sri Andaal ammaiyaar whose family was equally rich. Sri Andaal ammaiyaar was very good in her knowledge, her character. Her knowledge was so great that it is said that often swami kuratthAzhvan used to discuss the sampradayic matters with her. Swamy Koorathaazhwaan also lost his father in a few years. Swamy then took over the wealth and use to do lots of anna dhanams to the needy. Swamy donated lots of money to the needy and whoever asked for it. At the same time Swamy use to do Thadeeyaaradhanam for all those who use to come to Devathi Rajan sannidhi till the midnight. There might be a situation that no one is left out to have food at swamy's thirumaaligai but lots of food is still left out there to serve many more people. Once when the Devathi Rajan sannidhi was closed at the late hours. Devathi Rajan, Perundevi Thaayaar and Swamy Thirukkachi nambigal were left alone in the temple. By emperumaan's grace no one knew that Swamy Thirukkachi Nambigal was inside the temple. At this point of time we have to even think of swamy Thirukachi Nambigal's greatness because swamy was one among those to who emperumaan came out of his Archaa Thirumeni and spoke. Swamy Thirukachi Nambigal use to do Thiru Aalavattam (Fan) kainkaryam to devathi rajan and Perundevi Thaayaar. On one day when the sannidhi doors were closed, Devathi Rajan and Perundevi Thaayaar were amidst their discussion. They heard a great sound of a door bell. Perundevi Thaayaar was so astonished that she wanted to know from where the sound came from. Swamy Thirukachi Nambigal was asked about it and swamy Nambigal told that its Swamy Koorathaazhwaan's thirumaaligai's door was closed as no one was left out to have food at Swamy Koorathaazhwaan's thirumaligai. Hearing

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this Perundevi Thaayar herself admired and told that how could ever a person afford to live if he donates his wealth to people like this? She also admired at Swamy Koorathaazhwan's wealth and wanted to see swamy. Hence Devathi Rajan ordered Swamy Thirukachi Nambigal to bring Swamy Koorathaazhwaan the next day. Swamy Thirukachi Nambigal after his services to the lord went home and the next went to see Swamy Koorathaazhwaan to let him know about the conversation between the Lord and his Consort and that the Lord and his Consort wanted to see Swamy Koorathaazhwaan. Here is where one should admire Swamy Koorathaazhwaan's vairagyam and his great character. Swamy was not at all happy that his wealth was admired by the Lord and his Consort. He immediately told Swamy Thirukkachi Nambigal that "I would have been happy and would be willing to accompany devareer to see the Lord and his Consort if adiyen was invited because adiyen is his Bhakthan, Adiyen has great characters, Adiyen is a scholar but adiyen is not at all happy that adiyen was admired because of adiyen's wealth. Hence adiyen will not accompany devareer to see the Lord and his consort". What a great mahaan swamy is !! One should have immense vairagyam and boldness to disobey the Lord's command. After this incident swamy was in deep thought and was so vexed that he was admired for his wealth. Swamy thought that it was because of his wealth he couldn't go and worship Devathi Rajan as a bhaktha. Swamy got so frustrated on his wealth and on himself that swamy at once came to a decision. Again, look at swamy's vairagyam. Swamy never called a lawyer or a panchayat to say that he is leaving his wealth for the needy or poor. Swamy never wrote any documents to say that he is leaving this wealth for the needy. Swamy just threw away all the wealth so that let it be taken by anyone. Swamy didn't even care to take a small piece of his belongings. Swamy told his dharma pathni Sri Andal Ammaiyaar about his decision to leave the wealth and go. Now look at Sri Andaal ammaiyaar's greatness. She never asked a question nor even suggested swamy to make arrangements and give the wealth away to the needy. Both of them at once left their thiru maaligai. At that time Swamy Emperumaanaar was given Sanyaasaahramam by Lord Devathirajan and gave swamy Emperumanaar a title with the name Sri Yathiraja. Devathi Rajan himself called Emperumaanaar "Vaaraai Yathiraja" meaning "Welcome the king of saints" and asked emperumaanaar to have a mutt in Kancheepuram. Swamy Koorathaazhwaan has heard about emperumaanaar's greatness and his divine qualities and hence decided that "Emperumaanaar Thiruvadigale namakku thanjam. Emperumaanaar Thiruvadigale Sharanam" meaning the only place for our refuge is at emperumaanaar's lotus feet and we have to surrender at emperumaanaar's thiruvadi. Deciding thus both Swamy Koorathaazhwaan and Sri Andal Ammaiyaar started walking towards Kancheepuram.

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They were travelling in the middle of a forest. Suddenly Sri Andaal ammaiyaar asked swamy if there could be any disturbances due to thieves. Swamy was wondering as why she was asking this question as swamy did not have anything in his hand. Hence swamy immediately asked when I am not worried about thieves why you are worried. Sri Andal ammaiyaar answered that she had a gold vessel that was given at the time of their wedding which normally women never leave it. Hence she said that she brought that vessel along with her. Now, just look at swamy's reaction to this. Swamy said when we decided to leave everything back why do you have to carry this with you. This is the reason for your fear in this forest. Hence throw it away. Saying thus swamy took the vessel from Sri Andal Ammaiyaar and threw it away in the forest. We need to put a thought at this point that how many of us honestly could ever even think of doing this atleast in our dreams. At last swamy reached emperumaanaar's thiruvadi and was a part of emperumaanaar's ghoshti. Even after many years Swamy Koorathaazhwaan and Sri Andal Ammaiyaar never had any offsprings. When emperumaanaar moved to Sri Rangam, they also moved along with swamy emperumaanaar and lived in a very small cottage near the temple. They didn't even have anything to eat. Swamy everyday goes to every home in Sri Rangam for Uncha vruthi (Collecting rice and groceries from various houses by singing the praise of the lord) and with what swamy gets as Uncha Vruthi whether it may be rice or anything else, Sri Andal Ammaiyar use to cook them and swamy use to do thiruvaradhanam and then take that prasadam. One particular day swamy was so involved in reading Srimad Ramayanam that swamy totally forgot to go for Uncha Vruthi and Thiruvaaraadhanam. Sri Andal ammaiyar did not know how to disturb swamy as she did not want to be an obstacle to swamy's anubhavam in Srimad Ramayanam. Hence she was just keeping quiet. At that time the temple bell which was rung to indicate that Lord Sri Ranganatha and his Consort Sri Ranganayaki were offered thaligai (food) in the temple was heard by Sri Andaal Ammaiyaar. She then thought that "can ever a mother or father have great food when their kids are suffering from hunger". Soon after thaligai was offered to the lord and his consort, Lord Ranganatha ordered through his temple kainkarya parars to go and deliver the thaligai (aravanai prasadam) that was offered to him to Sri Koorathaazhwaan and Sri Andaal ammaiyaar with all honours. As per the command the prasadam was taken in procession with all the necessary paraphernalia. Seeing the bhagavath prasadam coming toward his gruham swamy koorathaazhwan immediately woke up and with due respect just fell at the feet of bhagavath kainkaryaparars. They told swamy about the Lord's command and then gave the prasadam to swamy. Swamy immediately thought why this sudden order was given by the lord. Hence swamy asked Sri Andaal ammaiyaar if she prayed to emperumaan for food. Sri Andaal ammaiyaar

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answered about what she thought when the Divya Dhampathis were offered food. We should now pay attention to what swamy told as a reply:"By asking for food from the Lord you have now deviated from our Sri Vaishnava swaroopam or characteristic feature. The relation between you and me is only from the day we got married. But the relationship between me or you and the lord has been there for ages and yugams. When he knows this relationship and he knows that we are his own beings, can't he provide food and shelter for us. By asking for food for both of us you have made a mistake and infact bhagavath apachaaram thus insulting the lord." Saying so, swami took two small portions of the prasadam and parted with Andal, and asked the sannidhi paricharakas to take the rest of the prasadam back to the sribhandaram for further viniyogam. With the two portions of prasadam AndAl became pregnant, at a very old age (Azhvan was almost at his 90's) and two wonderful kids were born to them, swami parasara bhattar and swami vedavyasa bhattar. At that time the chola king named Kulothunga the second later named as "Krimi Kanta" was ruling the chola dynasty which included Sri Rangam. He was a pure Saivaite and had hatred towards Vaishnavam and Sri Vaishnavas. He removed all temple servants from Sri Rangam and didn't allow anyone to offer daily pooja to emperumaan. When he was discussing with his ministers as to how to make every Sri Vaishnava follow Saivism and surrender to Lord Shiva, they at once told that if emperumaanaar signs that there is no supreme being than Lord Shiva then everyone will surrender immediately to Lord Shiva. Hence the king ordered his servants to arrest emperumaanaar and bring swamy to his court. Knowing this Swamy Koorathaazhwar and other emperumaanaar's disciples requested emperumaanaar to go away from Sri Rangam for few years to get away from the King's trouble. Accepting the request from his disciples swamy emperumaanaar wore a dress of a gruhastha (White dhothis) instead of his Kaashaayam and Swamy Koorathaazhwaan wore emperumaanaar's Kaashaayam. Being mistaken by the appearance the King's servants arrested Swamy Koorathaazhwaan and took swamy to the court. Hearing this Swamy Periya Nambigal the acharya of swamy emperumaanaar also went to the court. In the court the king assuming Swamy Koorathazhwan as emperumaanaar asked swamy to sign that there is no supreme being than Lord Shiva. But having learnt all four Vedas and Shastras swamy refused to do so but wrote a contradicting statement. Seeing this, the king became furious. He at once asked both Swamy Koorathaazhwaan and Swamy Periya Nambigal to sign but since swamy Periya Nambigal refused to sign the king ordered to take Swamy Periya Nambigal's eyes at once. Hence the King's servants removed Swamy Periya Nambigal's eyes. After

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seeing this attrocity, swamy Koorathaazhwaan immediately told that "Oh!! King you are the worst soul that I have ever seen. You took away the eyes of a great bhaagavatha. After seeing this cruel deed of yours, I don't want to see this world in which you live. Also I don't want to see emperumaan after seeing you through these sinful eyes. Hence let me remove both my eyes with my own hands". Saying thus swamy plucked his own eyes with his hands. What a greatness swamy had? Can we ever do like this even in our dreams? Let us all praise Swamy Kooraadhinatha. Finally after swamy lost his eyes, and being not able to withstand the parting with Emperumanar, swamy didn't want to stay in Sri Rangam. Hence swamy shifted his family to Thirumaalirumsolai or Azhagar malai in Madurai where Azhagar resides as Sri Sundarabaahu (meaning the one with beautiful and broad shoulders) showering his blessings to all the needy. Swamy stayed there for a long time doing Pushpa Kainkaryam to the temple (Service of making garlands to emperumaan). In the mean time the king Kulothunga died due to cancer on his neck and thereby he was given a name as "Krimi Kanta" due to his Bhagavatha apacharam to Swamy Periya Nambigal. Knowing this as the reason the King's son realized his father's mistake and brought Sri Vaishnavam back to Sri Rangam and ordered the servants of the Sri Rangam temple to carry on with their daily poojas to the Lord. Hearing that the Sri Rangam returned to its normal state Emperumaanaar started his journey from Melukote toward Sri Rangam and on the way hearing that Swamy Koorathaazhwaan lost his eyes and that he now stays in Thirumaalirum solai, swamy emperumaanaar wanted to see Swamy Koorathaazhwaan. Hence swamy emperumaanaar came to Thirumaalirumsolai to see Swamy Koorathaazhwaan. Swamy Emperumaanaar stayed along with Swamy Koorathaazhwaan in Thirumaalirumsolai for a while. During his stay swamy emperumaanaar requested swamy koorathaazhwaan to ask Lord SundarabhAhu to give back his eyes? But see the greatness of Swamy Koorathaazhwaan here. He at once told Adiyen would have made fun of some Sri Vaishnavan's Thiruman being in an improper form and hence emperumaan would have given this punishment to adiyen. Adiyen doesn't have the habit of asking for anything from emperumaan". But swamy emperumaanaar repeatedly insisted on asking for swamy eyes from the Lord. Swamy emperumaanaar told Swamy Koorathaazhwaan that "Please ask emperumaan to give back your eyes as ramanujan needs them". Even after this we have to see swamy Koorathaazhwaan's great quality and how much our poorvahcaaryaas wanted to save our Sri Rangam. Swamy immediately sung "Sri SundarabAhustavam" and at the end requested emperumaan to give back the eyes of all Sri Vaishnavas which is Sri Rangam to its normal state safe and with all its glory.

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Finally after repeated compulsion of swamy emperumaanar swamy Koorathaahwaan

swamy emberumAnAr and swamy koorathAzhwAn at kooram went to Sri Rangam along with swamy emperumaanaar and prayed to the Lord to give back his two eyes as emperumanaar needs them to save our Sri Vaishnavam. At Once Lord Ranganatha commanded Swamy Koorathaazhwaan to go to Kancheepuram and request Devathi Rajan to give swamy's eyes. It was at this time swamy along with swamy emperumaanaar went together to Kancheepuram and Swamy Koorathaazhwaan sung "Sri Varadarajasthavam" his last work requesting the lord to give his eyes back. Now here we have to learn how to even show affection to those who did evil things to us. One of swamy Koorathaazhwaan's disciple named "Naalooraan" who actually told the King Krimi Kanta to get the sign from emperumaanaar that there is no supreme being than Lord Shiva. Swamy Koorathaazhwaan immediately thought of his disciple and when swamy requested his eyes back from Devathi Rajan, swamy also requested that moksham be granted to himself and also Naalooraan even though he has done a great bhagavatha apacharam.

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Soon after swamy got back his eyes from Devath Rajan, swamy requested Lord Ranganatha to offer him Moksha as he wanted to go before swamy emperumaanaar and make all necessary arrangements there for swamy emperumaanaar. Swamy gave us a gift of 5 granthas or stothrams called as "Panchasthavams" namely 1. Sri Sthavam (10 SlOkas) on Sri Ranga NAchiyAr 2. Sri VaikunTa Sthavam (100 SlOkas) on ParamapadanAthan. The SAstra arthas contained in Sri Baashyam and other Rahasya granthas have been clearly brought out in this Sthavam without transgressing the preclusions and exclusions ordained in the study of the vEdas, in such a manner that it used to be said "Sri VaikunTa Sthavam theriyAdhavan Sri VaishNavan allan" meaning- "one who does not know Sri VaikunTa Sthavam is not a Srivaishnavan at all" 3. AthimAnusha Sthavam (61 SlOkas). Here, the AzhwAn argues how though PerumAL claimed to be just human, He did superhuman feats in the various avatAras. AzhwAn has unassailably proved with Tharkam (logic) PramANam (authority) and Anubhvam (experience) how EmperumAn is THE SarvEswaran. 4. Sri Sundara bAhu Sthavam (132 SlOkas) on Azhagar of TirumAlirum SOlai. 5. Sri VaradarAja Sthavam (102 SlOkas) on Hasthigiri Varadan, This is considered to be the last StOtra composed by AzhwAn. Now let us bring swamy's entire life history in our mind. Don't we get tears in our eyes hearing to such great qualities of a true Sri Vaishnava? We may not be able to be as perfect or as great as swamy Koorathaazhwaan due to this kali's strong presence. But adiyen definitely believe that by spilling few tears from our eyes everyday thinking of swamy's Koorathaazhwan's life history and his great qualities as a Sri Vaishnava, we can definitely bring in some transformation within ourselves and thereby to our entire Sri Vaishnava community and our SriVaishnavam. This is just a tip of an iceberg. There are lot more interesting and educative incidents in the life of Swamy koorathAzhvan. Mozhiyai Kadakkum Perumpugazhaan // Vanjamukkurumbaam kuzhiyaikkadakkum // Nam Koorathaazhwaan sharan koodiya pin // Pazhiyaikkadathum iraamaanusan // Pugazh paadiyallaa vazhiyaikkadathal // Enakkini yaadhum varythamanre (Thiruvarangathu Amudhanaar's Iraamanusa nootrandhaadhi Verse 6)

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5. kurukaikAvalappan
thirunakshathram-Feb 10th 2007 Thai visAkam

In this month of the divine birth of Sri Kurugai kAval appan, let us experience his divine work of mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi Thaniyan as explained by Sri PiLLai LOkam jEyar mrugE vishAka sambhootham nAdhamowni padhAsritham jnAna yOgAthi sampannam kurukAtyakshamAsrayE

"SeerArum mAda thirukkOvaloor adhanul kArAr karumugilai kAnappukku-OrAth thirukkandE nendruraiththa seerAn kazhalE vuraik kaNdAi nenjE vugandhu" MUNRAm thiruvandhAdhi - Thaniyan This thaniyan was rendered by a shisya of swamy nathamunikal, kurukaikavalappan, one who learned the bhakthi yoga rahasya from swamy nathamunikal. The first three azhvars namely poigai, bhoodham, and peiAzhvars have the qualities of parabhakthi, parajnAna and paramabhakthi predominantly gleaming in them respectively and thereby had the special vision to enjoy the bhagavat sAkshAtkaram (divinity in front of their eyes). All three were so deeply immersed in enjoying the divine qualities of sriyapathi that they all got completely detached from the worldly affairs. All three due to divine grace of Sriman Narayana met at thirukkOvaloor and among them the one born in "mAdamAmayilai" and named as "mahadhAhvayar" and the one who has reached the ultimate paramabhakthi state sung with utmost devotion the divyaprabandham, moondrAm thiruvandhAdhi starting with 'thirukkandEn' visualising the divine beauty of the divine couples in front of him and elaborating the same to one and all. 'Oh! Mind constantly meditate on the divine feet of that great mahan instructs kurukaikavalappan to his mind in this thaniyan.

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ThirukOvilUr Ayan

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(seerArum mAda thirukkOvaloor) "seerERum maRaiyAlar niRaindha selvath thirukkOvaloor " [periya thirumozhi 2-10-8]. Here he is referring to the place Thirukkovalur, which is rich in tradition and culture and filled with palaces that host scholars and righteous pious persons. The other meaning being - Since it is an abode of 'kOvalan who is Ayan' [King who is a cowboy]-it is called as thirukkOvaloor. Thereby the place has both bhagavata and bhagavat sambhandam (The adjective refers to bhagavatas and the noun refers to bhagavan) (voor) 'thAnugandha'oor place cherished by Emperuman. Since the lord enjoyed joining the mudal azhvars in the edaikazhi (corridor) along with his consort and from that day remains in archa roopam showing various kalyana gunas to the world.

(adhanuL) Why did he enjoy squeezing himself along with the mudal azhvars in the corridor? Inside resided a rishi who was a sadhanAntaraparan (one who believed in doing sadhana-tapas to attain the lord); Outside were the samsaris-prayOjanAntaraparam (those who came to the lord to fulfill their wishes); Mudal azhvars didn't fall into both the above categories. They are ananyasAdhanar (sriman Narayana is the only means) and ananyaprayojanar (Sriman Narayana is the only goal). They believed Lord Sriman Narayana to be the upaya (way) and upEya (goal). So Emperuman cherished joining them, even though the place was hardly sufficient for a person to lie down.

(adhanuL kAnappukku) In such a special place they had a special darshan. How were they able to see in such darkness? With the help of the light "vayyakadhirOn vilakkAga" (mudal thiru-1) "nanburugi jnAnasudar ERRinEn" (erandam thiru-2) "varuththum puRaviruL mARRa empoigaipiran maRaiyin kuruththin poruLaiyum senthamizh thannaiyum kootti, ondRath thiriththu andrEriththa thiruvillakkai" (iramanusa nooRRandhAdhi-8)

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"eraivanai kAnum edhayath thirulkeda jnAnamennum niRivilakkERRiya bhoodhath thiruvadi" (iramanusa nooRRandhAdhi-9) Thereby the first 2 azhwars removed the outside (worldly darkness) and inside darkness (darkness of the mind-ignorance) by singing the first 2 andhAdhis that has been collectively reiterated by thiruvarangaththamudhanar in his iramanusa nooRRandhAdhi. Since darkness was removed, peyazhvar had a clear vision. (kArAr karumugilai kAnappukku) "mazhai mugilE pOlvAn thannai seeraNgu marai alar niRaindha selva thirukkOvalooradhanuL kandEn" (per.thirumozhi 2-10-10) says kaliyan. Similar to kaliyan's anubhavam the mudal azhvars also wished to have divine darshan of the lord (a black hued cloud) ready to shower rain. They found shelter in this place to escape from the lowkika rain and ultimately landed in the darshan of alowkika kamAmruthavarshi- great shower of divine grace kAlamEgam (black cloud) Peyazhvar expresses the same in his paasurams:"polindiruNda kArvAnil minnE pOl thOndri malindhu thiruvirundha mArban" (moondram thiruvandhAdhi-57) (kAnappukku) "Angu arumbi kaNNeer sOrindhu anbhu koorum adiyavarkatku AramudhmAnAn tannai thirukkOvaloor adhanuL kandEn nAnE" (per.Thiru. 2-10-4) as per the above words, azhvar a devotee filled with love and affection stepped into the divine experience of divine darshan. (thirukkOvalooradhanuL kArAr karumugil) "kurunkudiyulmugil" (thirunedunthandakam-17) similar to the kalamEgam (dark cloud) in thirukkurunkudi this is also a cloud that showers rain of grace. (kArAr karumugil) The dark clouds indicate rain and so does the dark color of Emperuman's thirumEni, ever waiting to shower unconditional grace on one and all. (kAnappukku) "endrEnum katkaNNal kANaththagAdhadhAgaiyAlE, nenjennum vutkaNNal kAnappugundhu" says nammazhvar in periya thiruvandhadhi-28 [Being ineligible to see you with my eyes I try to see you inside my heart] (OrA) Kept on reiterating the wish to see the lord and thereby meditated on the same and,

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(thirukkandEnendruraiththa) Immersed in the divine anubhavam, the joy azhvar experienced poured down as paasurams starting with 'thirukkaNdEn' to uplift all of us. The first two lighted lamps removed the darkness and the third enjoyed the fruit of darshan. The first two were in the state of jnAna and bhakthi and the third in the state of sAkshAtkAram. "manniya pEriruL mAndapin kOvalul mAmalarAL tannOdu mAyanai kAndamai kAttu tamizhthalaivan" (erAmAnusa nooRRandhAdhi-10) says amudhanar. (seerAn kazhalE) The sripadham (divine) of one who is sriman (pEyAzhvar) due to enjoying the sriman (Sriman Narayana) who is always with 'sri' (piratti). PeyAzhvar is the only azhvar who started his prabhandam with thiru and ended with thiru. (vuraikaNdAi nenjE vugandhu) Like azhvar elaborating his divine darshan, oh! Mind you also elaborate your divine darshan of azhvar. "yatthi manasA dyAyathi tat vAchA vadhathi" [what you think in mind, say the same with your mouth] (nenjE vugandhu) Oh! My mind you support me in bhagavat/bhagavata matters. "mana Eva manushyAnAm kAranam bhanda mOkshayO:" says Vishnu puranam 6-7-28 [Mind plays the major role in leading us to moksha or samsara] Instead of pushing me into samsaram you make me feel the goodness in bhagavat/bhAgavata vishayam (vugandhu vurai) stepping one step higher than bhagavat vishayam, since you are talking bhAgavata vishayam talk with pride. "vuRREn vugandhu paNiseidhu" (thiruvai 10-8-10) "tanimAth deivaththu adiyavarkku eninAm AlAgavE esaiyumkol voozhi thOroozhi OvAdhE" (thiruvasiriyam3 ] Conclusion: Those srimans who had bhagavat sAkshAtkAram and have given the same in words for the pleasure of the samsaris, their divine feet have to be celebrated and honoured always concludes the thaniyan