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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00077 Jan 2007

 
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SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

Dearest all,

According to Srivaishnava Guru paramparA, Lord
VishvaksEnar forms the bridge to the Celestial Acharya
and the Acharyas who appeared in human form for our
sake. Senapathi VishvaksEnar himself came down to
Alwar Thirunagari, and gave pancha samskAram and
initiated Swami SatakOpa [Nammazhwar]. 

Swami Desikan in his 4th verse of YathirAja saptathi: 

yasya saarasvatham srOthO vakuLAmOdhavasitham |
srutheenAm viswa mAyAlam SatArim thamupAsmahE ||

We mediate on ShaTaari, (NammAzhwAr) whose garland of
VakuLa flowers gets its fragrance exuded into the
fluent flow of poetry - a work of literature at which
the Vedas, having been tired of imparting codes of
life, even ineffectively, can safely rest and relax
now, since AzhwAr's works will suffice and do the same
job more effectively!

VishvaksEnar revealed the meanings of the three
rahasyAs and yOgam to SatakOpan and thus became the
Achaarya for the latter. SatakOpan was blessed to wear
the Mahizhampoo garland of the Lord of Thirukkuruhoor
and as a result the prabandhams that came out of his
mouth carry the never-fading fragrance of those
flowers sanctified by the Lord. The blessed
prabandhams of the AzhwAr in Tamil instruct one and
all about the deep meanings of VedAntha in an easy
-to-understand manner. As a result of this unique
service by the AzhwAr to the Sanskritic VedAs , they
take a much needed rest . The flood of the paasurams
form the AzhwAr's lips flow and uplift us and bless us
with all kinds of auspiciousness.

Thus as a paramAchaarya , SatakOpan thru his most
merciful service deserves our uninterrupted meditation
on him and his aruLiccheyalgaL.  

[From asmadhAcharyan His Holiness PaRavakkOttai
Andavan Swami?s tamil commentary on Yathiraja
Sapthathi- Translated into English by Sri CG Balaji
swami of Bangalore] Nammazhwar was born to a devout
couple by name Kaariyar and Udaya Nangai with the
divine anugraham of the Lord of Thirukkurungudi, on
the forty-sixth day of Kali yugam, which is around 9th
century CE, in the year of Pramadi, month of Vaikaasi,
Pournami, Friday in the constellation of Vishakha, as
the divine incarnation (amsham) of Sriman Narayanan
and Sri Vishwaksena Azhwan, the chieftain of the
Lord?s army, at a place called Thirukkurugur situated
in the land of Pandyas, on the banks of Tamraparni
river. Even after twelve days, the baby didn?t have
milk, didn?t cry, didn?t move and did not open its
eyes. It was then taken to the temple of Polindu NinRa
Piraan at Thirukkurugur and named as Maaran. 

At the temple the baby crawled towards the tamarind
tree (Puliyamaram), which was considered as the amsham
of Adi Sheshan, and sat under the
tree in a yogic posture and started meditating which,
lasted for 16 continuous years without any food, water
or sleep. Vishwaksena Ahzwan then in ekaantham
(solitary environment) administered the sacraments of
Panchasmaskaram on Maaran and initiated him into the
manthrams and their esoteric meanings. Maran was known
as ?Shathakopan? since he resisted the ?shatha vayu?
or the binding wind that encompasses a newly born. 

He also came to be known as ?Vakulabharana? when he
accepted the garland of Magizhumpoo presented to him
by Polindu Ninra Piraan. With his powerful and
profound writings he subdued many other faiths and
philosophies and came to be known as ?Parankusha? and
having born at Thirukkurugur, also came to be known as
?Thirukkurugaippiran?.

It is said that just as the name Rama always refers to
Sri Sita Rama, similarly the name Azhwar, though
twelve in number, always refers to Shathakopa. Lord
Krishna in his Geetha says ?Vaasudevas sarvamithi
samahAthmA sudhurlaba: which means, ?One who is
totally dedicated and surrendered to Vasudeva is very
rare to be found?. May be it is because of the reason
that the Lord during his incarnation as Lord Krishna
couldn?t see Nammazhwar who, throughout his life saw
Kannan or Lord Krishna, in whatever he ate or drank
and remained with his mind contemplating on the Lord
all the time.

Nammazhwar is also said to have lamented upon his
fate, for, had he born a few days earlier in dwapara
yugam then he would have had the bhagyam of seeing
Kannan directly during his manifestation on the Earth
as Lord Krishna. 

Madhurakavi Azhwar, who incarnated in dwapara yugam
before Maaran, was touring the northern lands on a
pilgrimage. During this time at Ayodhya, when he
looked towards the southern direction and paid his
respects to the Lord there, he saw a strange
brilliance flashing in the sky. He followed that
brilliance and carried himself southward and finally
reached Thirukkurugur and saw the great luminary who
laid meditating under the tamarind tree. He clapped
his hands and Azhwar awoke from his yoga nidra hearing
the sound and opened his eyes and glanced at
Madhurakavi Azhwar. Madhurakavi Azhwar immediately
addressed Maaran with a question 

setthathin vayiRRil siRiyadhu piRandhaal etthait
thinRu engE kidakkum ?

that is, ?If a young one is born out of a dead one,
what will it have and where will it live?? If a
Jeevatma that is atomic in nature enters into a body
created due to the influence of a lifeless primordial
nature or prakruthi, then what will it experience and
where will it live? To this maaRan replied 

atthai thinRu angE kidakkum..

that is, it shall have the same and there it shall
live?. That is, due to its association with the body,
it shall experience happiness and sorrow and shall
live there saying ?inbutREn; vaadinEn?.

After hearing this, Madhurakavi Azhwar immediately
adopted Sri Nammazhwar as his acharya and prostrated
before him and requested Maaran to impart to him the
esoteric manthras. Maaran accepted his request and
after initiating him into the high truths, appointed
him as a scribe to record all his divine works.

Nammazhwar composed Thiruviruttam, a collection of
hundred psalms as the essence of Rig Vedam,
Thiruvaashiriyam with seven psalms as the essence of
Yajur Vedam, Periya Thiruvandadi with eighty-seven
psalms as the essence of Atharvana Vedam and
Thiruvaimozhi with a thousand hundred and two psalms
as the essence of Sama Vedam. He also sang thirty-six
divya deshams. Bhattar glorifies the works of
Nammazhwar and says ?drAmideem vEda samhithAm? while
Swamy Deshikan glorifies it as ?sahithA saarvabhoumee
samhithAm dhrushta vanthAm?

One should always remain in contemplation of the great
Shathakopa for his immense contributions to the
sampradayam. When a study of Vedas is undertaken, one
might find something in them to be of asaaram (without
essence), alpa saaram (with limited essence), saaram
(with essence), sarataram (greater essence) and
saaratamam (ultimate essence). It is required that one
accepts and studies only the ultimate essence of the
Vedas (saaratamam) suitable for paramaikantins after
having rejected the others. Azhwar?s srisooktis are
like the pure cloudburst which is free from the saline
qualities of sea-water and is rich in content like
(thirattu-paal) thick condensed sweet milk and the
ultimate truths (saratamam) depicted in them are
greatly cherished like the divine nectar.

Having adorned the garlands of magizhum-poo presented
by Paraman, it is not only Azhwar?s thirumeni that has
the fragrance of magizhum-poo but also the sri-sooktis
that were worded by him. What a fragrance! Having
extolled the divine glories of the Lord,
brahma-gandham emanates out of Azhwar while his tongue
is luscious with brahma-rasam.

Many philosophers, in order to show their native ideas
to be present in works of yore, have gone against the
rule of exegesis (mimamsa-nyaya) and have greatly
mis-interpreted those works in self-contradicting
ways. Having seen the statements of Vedic scriptures
being mis-interpreted, a deeply hurt Veda maatha finds
some solace in the divine outpourings of Nammazhwar.
Azhwar most beautifully speaks about the divine
attributes and glories of Paraman who is the sole
person exalted in the Vedas. Swamy Deshikan says that
may be it is for this reason that Vedamaatha moves
around in graceful paces in the divine outpourings of
Nammazhwar.

Swamy Deshikan says that he bows in front of Azhwar,
who opposed the binding wind of Shata-vayu and the
debates of those adversaries who had incomplete
knowledge. He stands as an enemy to those passing
purposeless statements. Nammazhwar, who remains in
perpetual contemplation of Paraman attains divine
communion with him. Because of this Paraman gets the
ethereal fragrance of Azhwar?s magizhum-poo while
Azhwar gets the fragrance of Paraman?s thirutthuzhaai
malai (garland of basil leaves). It is not an
exaggeration to say that, having adored Nammazhwar who
remains glorifying the Lord all the time, the same
ethereal fragrance of magizhum-poo and thirutthuzhaai
could be found near Deshikan and his sri-sooktis too.

Let us conclude with Sri AlavandhAr's sthOthra rathna
verse paying tribute to Swami NammAzhwAr:

mathA pithA yuvathayas tanayA vibhUthi:
sarvam yadhEva niyamEna madhanvayAnAm
Adhyasya Na: Kulapather VakuLAbhirAmam
Srimath Tadhangri YugaLam praNamAmi MoordhnA

For me and all those associated with me, Swamy
NammAzhwAr is always the Mother, Father, progeny,
spouses and all other wealth. At the most
beautiful pair of Thiruvadis of the emperor of our
Kulam [Kula pathi], Swamy NammAzhwAr adorned with the
most fragrant divine VakulA flower garland, adiyEn
salutes those holy feet with my head.

Swamy Desikan's tribute in UpakAra Sangraham:

"anthamilA pErinbham arundha yERkkum
  adiyOmai aRivudanE yenRum kaatthu
munthai vinai nirai vazhiyil ozhuhAthemmai
  munnilayAm Desikar tamm munnE sErtthu
manthiramum manthiratthin vazhiyum kaatti
  Vazhippadutthi vaann yERRi adimai koLLa
Tanthai yena ninRa Tanit ThirumAl thALil
 talai vaitthOm SATAKOPAN ARULAALE 

----Mudal AdhikAram of UpakAra Sangraham 

We bow unto the matchless thiruvadigaL of ThirumAl
solely due to the Krupai of Swamy NammAzhwAr, who made
us fit to enjoy the measureless aanandham of Moksham ,
who protected our eternal Dharma bhUtha  Jn~Anam , who
saved us from being swept away by the ancient torrent
of karmaas by placing us at the feet of sadAchAryans,
who in turn initiated us 
in to Thirumanthiram  and Saranagati [Prapatthi]
UpAyam and then helped us climb the steps to Sri
Vaikuntam for nithya Kaimkaryam to Sriya: pathi.
[Translation by Sri V Satakopan Swami, USA]

Swami Nammaazhwaar ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm

Regards
Namo Narayana
dasan


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