Thirukkacchi Nambi & Kulasekhara Azhwaar birthdaty week: Feb 26 week

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Prapatti Group:

 

During the coming week , we will be celebrating the

birthdays of two of the greatest Vaishnavite Acharyas.

One of them is that of Sri Thirukkacchi Nambi,

whose birthday falls on Wednesday, February 28

(Maasi Krishna Paksha Dasami , Mrugaseersham );

the other one is that of Kulasekhara Azhwaar falling on

Friday, March 1((Maasi Krishna Paksha Ekadasi, Punarvasu ).

 

A.THIRUKKACCHI NAMBI

 

Thirukkacchi Nambi (Kanchi Poorna Muni)

is known for his Thiruvaalavatta (Fan) Kainkaryam for

Sri Varadaraja(Devaraja) Perumal of Kanchipuram. He

had the great and unique honor to have the conversations

with Sri Varadaraja . His role as a mentor for Sri Ramanuja

has been well-chronicled in the Guru Parambhara Prabhavam.

He got the answers from Sri Varadaraja for the questions

of Sri Ramanuja which start with "Ahameva Param Tatvam ".

( Other devotees are requested to follow this thread .)

This great soul was successful in persuading Sri Varadaraja

to break His Archa Samaadhi and speak to him in this Kali Yuga.

His devotion for Sri Varadaraja and his uninterrupted service for the

Lord is legendary. His great Bhakti for the Lord of Kanchi and his

concern for the struggling Samsaaris joined together and led to

his moving composition known as Sri Devarajaashtakam . On this

day, when Sri M. Vasudevan, a direct descendant of Prathivaadhi

Bhayankaram ANNangaraarya is joining the Prapatti group,

it augurs well to be inspired by a commentary left to us by this

prolific scholar on "Sri Devarajaashtakam " and share it with

the members of our group ,that includes Sri Krishna Prabha,

another descendant of Sri P.B. ANNangaraarya of Kanchi.

Latter's commentary on the Devarajaashtakam

goes back to the year 1947.

 

B. KULASEKHARA AZHWAAR AND HIS "TWO" WORKS

 

Next, I will focus on the 40 slokas of Mukunda Maala(MM) attributed to

Sri Kulasekhara Azhwaar. Inspite of the controversy as to whether

MM was created by the Azhwaar of Chera Naadu (Kerala region ) or

by one of the Vaishnavite descendant of the Azhwaar, we will rest upon

the traditional link of this sthotram to Sri Kulasekhara, who blessed us

with the 105 verses of Perumaal Thirumozhi. This great Rama Bhaktha,

who discarded his kingdom to live at Srirangam to worship the Archa Murthy

Sri Ramachandra and his ancestors of Ishvaaku Kulam

gave us the Sampporna Raamaayanam in his Thirumozhi verses

paying homage to the Lord of Tillai Thirucchitrakootam.

 

I am glad to note that the first test core page for the 108 Divya Desam project

constructed by Sri Dileepan focusses on Thiruchitrakootam ,

one of the 8 Divya Desams celebrated by Kulasekhara.

 

Prominent among the 8 Divya desams with the

Mangalaasaasanam of the Azhwaar is Srirangam

through his 30 verses of PerumaaL Thirumozhi.

 

The other 7 Divya Desams celebrated by this Azhwaar are Ayoddhi

with four paasurams, Thiru Aali (one), ThirukkaNNapuram (eleven ),

Thirucchitrakootam( eleven ), Thiruppaarkadal (two), Thiruvenkatam (eleven),

and Thiru Vittuvakkodhu (ten). Rest of the verses of his 105 Thirumozhi deal

with

well known incidents of Krishna and Rama Avathaarams.

 

Since there may be postings by other devotees of our Group on the

Kulasekhara PerumaaL and his Thirumozhis , I will focus on the 40 verses

of Mukunda Maala to illustrate the Parama Bhakti of this Azhwaar, who

is positioned between Nammazhwaar and Periyazhwaar in the hierarchy

of our illustrious Azhwaars.

 

Azhwaar AchaaryaaL thiruvadigaleh Saranam,

 

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan