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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00193 Nov 2005

 
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  Thiru Arangan Ula- the sojourn of the Lord. ? 8. namperumAL joined by a 
special friend
   
  namperumAL continued staying at JyOthishkudi for a month, before the 
SriVaishnavAs decided to continue with their original plan of getting to 
ThirumAlirunchOlai near Madurai. There is an interesting background to this: 
Thirumangai AzhwAr in one of his pasurams had glorified both namperumAl and 
kallazhagar (the deity of ThirumAlirunchOlai) to be the same. Once they safely 
arrived at ThirumAlirunchOlai, the SriVaishnavAs didn?t want to leak the 
information of namperumAL?s stay for the fear of Islamic invaders getting 
cognizant. They dug a well (which can be seen even today, popularly known as 
Azhagiya manavALan Thirukkinaru) and placed namperumAL inside the well, taking 
him out only during prayer times ? they wanted to hide namperumAL from the 
invaders at any cost; kallazhagar is safe anyway, as he was very dear to the 
kaLLars who were warriors and would fight for him with their lives. 
   
  Thus, namperumaL spent some time in hiding inside the well at 
ThirumAlirunchOlai. His devotees then decided to take him towards the mountains 
and hide in Kerala for some time. The path is strenuous yet not too long. The 
route from Madurai to Kerala goes through the valleys of the town called Kambam 
and cross the river named moonAru; the SrivaishnavAs rushed to Kerala in 
full-speed without any breaks in the middle, they reached the present day city 
of kOzhikkOde. namperumAL stayed at kOzhikkode for many months. But, there was 
a pleasant surprise for namperumAL, for his special devotee is visited him. Who 
is that special devotee?
   
  Just like his Lord, nammAzhwAr also left his location of AzhwAr Thirunagari 
at the south and traveled to Kerala just to escape the Islamic armies. The 
question arises: What is so special about this idol of nammAzhwAr? The answer 
is significant. The idol of nammAzhwAr at AzhwAr ThirunagarI is not sculptured. 
During the times of nammAzhwAr, his dear disciple Madhurakavi AzhwAr expressed 
his anxiety and sadness about missing his beloved AchAryA in case he attains 
parama padam (Salvation). Sensing the love of his disciple, nammAzhwAr 
instructed Madhurakavi AzhwAr to collect the water of the thAmaraparani river 
in a utensil and boil it, which the disciple did. 
   
  As the water started to boil and evaporate, there was a beautiful idol in the 
utensil, but to his surprise Madhurakavi AzhwAr noticed that the idol didn?t 
resemble nammAzhwAr. It seemed to replicate a noble sannyAsi (renunciant) ? it 
was the idol of Saint rAmAnuja!! nammAzhwAr explains, ?this is the idol of the 
great saint who will deliver the whole world?, thus predicting the greatness of 
rAmAnuja long before his advent. nammAzhwAr then instructed Madhurakavi AzhwAr 
to repeat the process ? the idol got this time was that of Swami nammAzhwAr?s, 
and that is the idol that has now traveled to kOzhikOde. 
   
  Once, as they were sailing on the backwaters of kOzhikOde, due to imbalance 
in the boat, the idol of nammAzhwAr fell into the deep water. As they were 
unable to pin-point the location where he fell, an Eagle (which had been 
following them all along) came close to the water and poked its beak as if it 
was trying to point something. As the SriVaishnavAs dived in that exact spot, 
they finally recovered the idol of nammAzhwAr. The eagle continued to follow 
the devotees. 
   
  Hence, namperumAL and nammAzhwAr enjoyed the company of each other in Kerala 
till they reached a town called thEnaikkidambai. namperumAL desired to visit 
ThirunArAyaNapuram, the place dear to Sri rAmAnujA. He instructed SwAmi 
nammAzhwAr to get back to the south and proceeded to ThirunArAyanapuram and 
stayed there for many months before finally arriving at Thirumalai. By the time 
he reached Thirumalai, only 2 VaishnavAs were remaining to take care of him and 
carry him, the rest had all died because of the old age and hardships (more on 
that later).
   
  nammAzhwAr was heading south, along with a huge group of vaishnavAs. As it so 
happened, they were under constant attacks from the dacoits and lost many 
expensive jewels and utensils of Swami nammAzhwAr. They realized that it was 
not safe to carry him anymore and hence decided to hide the idol in a safe 
enclave, just to collect him back when the time is right. Outside the 
boundaries of a town named mundhirippoo was a mountain, the other side 
presenting the sight of a deep valley. They placed the idol of swami nammAzhwAr 
inside a cave-like enclosure of the valley. They left the place, only praying 
for the quick arrival of the day when nammAzhwAr would safely return to AzhwAr 
Thirunagari. Astonishingly, the eagle was not following them anymore; instead 
it stayed back guarding nammAzhwAr?s deity.
   
  Back in AzhwAr Thirunagari, the news of nammAzhwAr?s hiding reached Sri 
ThOzhappar, an ardent devotee of the AzhwAr. Unable to bear the situation, Sri 
ThOzhappar immediately left for Madurai and had to wait for one month before 
meeting to Sri Thirumalai AzhwAr (ThiruvAimozhi piLLai, who was they very 
powerful minister of the PAndyA kingdom). Hearing the news, Thirumalai AzhwAr 
sent a letter addressed to the emperor of the ChErA dynasty of KEraLa, along 
with 100 soldiers for security. The ChErA king readily obliged; he also sent 
100 of his men to go along with the party in order to safely secure the idol of 
SwAmi nammAzhwAr. After a long search that took many months, the rescue party 
was finally able to locate the valley where the idol of SwAmi nammazhwAr was 
kept hidden. But, they couldn?t locate the exact location; since it had been 
many months, the deity of Swami nammAzhwAr was now buried because of the 
effects of seasonal weather. What to do?
   
  They engineered an elevator made of chains, pulleys and a makeshift swing. 
Sri ThOzhappar readily volunteered to go down the valley in the elevator- it 
was a very risky mission, but he was still enthused to rescue SwAmi nammAzhwAr, 
because of his strong devotion. When he descended down the valley, he was 
having a difficult time in locating SwAmi nammAzhwAr. Fortunately for him, he 
found an eagle standing on a particular mound, below which was the idol of 
SwAmi nammAzhwAr hiding. Sri Thozhappar immediately understood the signal and 
rescued SwAmi nammAzhwAr. He sent the deity up on the elevator, and the 
VaishnavAs were delighted to see SwAmi nammAzhwAr again. But, as the elevator 
was coming up carrying Sri ThOzhappar, the chains broke and Sri ThOzhappar fell 
down the steep valley and attained paramapadam (salvation).
   
  Although they mourned for the loss of Sri Thozhappar, the villagers and 
devotees were very joyous for having recovered the most important idol of SwAmi 
nammAzhwAr.  They had grand celebrations in the village of mundhiripoo and many 
vaishnavAs from different areas and backgrounds ? namboodiris, tattvavaadis, 
etc assembled and celebrated SwAmi nammAzhwAr?s return. Because of the love and 
devotion of the devotees of mundhirippoo, the idol of SwAmi nammAzhwAr stayed 
in the village for 1 year. 
   
                                                                                
    (To be continued???..)


                
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