Kaarthikai Kritthikai : Birthday of three great AchAryAs: Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Thirumangai AzhwAr , NampiLLai and the 5th Azhagiya Singar share

this day as their birthdays . Sri MadhavakaNNan has already paid

a wonderful tribute in his inimitable fashion to Thirumnagai.

Let us come back to Thirumangai AzhwAr and his Vaibhavam after

paying our tributes to the other two AchAryAs first .

 

1. SrivaNN SatakOpa Sri Sarva Tantra Sri SatakOpa YathIndra MahA Desikan

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Approximately 505 years ago , a miracle happened . The fourth Azhagiya

Singar was realizing that Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan was about to invite him

to join His lotus feet .H.H the 4th pattam Jeeyar was concerned about

picking his successor so that ArAdhanam for MaalOlan can continue without

interruption . He fell asleep at his sanchAra KshEthram , Singarkoil

with that worry in his mind.Parama KrupA Moorthy , MaalOlan appeared

in Jeeyar's dream and asked the Jeeyar not to worry , since his successor was

on his way to Singarkoil .

 

During the same night , a great scholar at KandalUr agrahArm

had a dream in which MaalOlan appeared and invited him to come to SingarkOil

and take charge of His AasthAnam . This great scholar woke up with alacrity

just as

the First Jeeyar woke up after his svapnam at Kanchi ,where the Lord

commanded him

to come to Ahobilam .The KandalUr scholar consulted his friends and understood

that it was BhagavAn Nrusimhan's command and proceeded immediately to

Singar Koil ,where the H.H , the 4th Jeeyar was ailing . Latter was so

happy to meet his successor , the great scholar , who was an authority

on all SaasthrAs . The fouth Jeeyar gave the pattabhishEka name of

Sarva Tanthra Svathanthrar to the fifth Jeeyar and joined thereafter

the lotus feet of his ArAdhana mUrthy , Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan .The fifth

Jeeyar ascended the throne of Ahobila Matam AasthAnam in April 1493 and

adorned the Peetam for five years and nine months . He was succeded

by one of the most famous Azhagiyasingars , SrivaNN SatakOpa Sri Shashta

ParAnkusa Yathindra Maha desikan from KaraLapAkkam agrahAram .It has

been recorded that there was no Kalai based differentiations

among Sri VaishNavAs upto the 5th Jeeyar's time at the Peetam . He joined

MaalOlan's scred feet during January , 1999 . It woill be exactly 500

years during the coming January .

 

His taniyan is :

 

Sri Nrusimha DayApAthram ParavAdhi GajAnkusam

Sarvatanthra Svathanthram SatakOpa munim BhajE

 

That he was the subject of Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan's great dayaa

is evident from the direct selection by the Lord . With his

Saasthra Jn~Anam , he was like a goad to the elephants of

Para Matha Vaadhins .He was gifted with prcious knowledge in so many

fields like Swami Sri Desikan ; that led to his birudhu ,

Sarva Tantra Svathanthrar. The ParvAdhi GajAnkusar was succeded by

the ParAnkusa YathIndra MahA Desikan .It is a very appropriate

succession between the deft wielders of ankusam against kudhrushtis

and para matha Vaadhins.

 

2. NampiLLai : Namjeeyar's dear sishyan

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This great authority on ThiruvAimozhi and the divya prabhandhams

is the blessed AchAryA of many great AchAryAs-to-be like

the VyAkhyAna Chakravarthi (PeriyavAcchAn PiLlai ), Vadakku Thiuveethi

PiLLai , Pinbhazhigiya PerumAL Jeeyar , EeyuNNI Madhavap PerumAL et al.

 

NampiLLai is revered as the other incarnation of

Thirumangai AzhwAr ( aparAvathAram ). Namjeeyar gave him

thus the telling name of Kalivairi Daasan .Thirumangai's devotion

to NammAzhwAr's Sri Sookthis is legendary and is immortalized

in the celebration of the AdhyanOthsavam even today at Srirangam .

 

NampiLLai is the affectionate name given by Namjeeyar to

this gruhasthA from NampUr in ChOla desam . His given name at

birth was VaradAchAr .His other names are LokAchAryar, Kalivairi Daasar

( Thirk KalikanRi Daasar).

 

It is instructive to dwell upon the reasons why NampiLLai

acquired the name of LokAchAr . A repentant scholar of his time

by name Thozhappar recognized the greatness of NampiLLai after

insulting latter publicly in front of Sri RanganAthA during a

jealous fit and gave NamiLLai the name of LokAchAryar .KanthAdai

Thozappar belonged to MudaliANdAn vamsam and was upset that every one

flocked to NampiLLai's feet a sishyAs , while his scholarship was

not recognized well . Thus arose the flames of jealousy that

almost consumed Thozhappar .This incident leading upto the conferral

of the name of LokAchAryar by the chastised ThOzappar is celebrated

by Sri MaNavALa Maamuni in the 51st UpadEsa rathna maalai verse :

 

thunnu pukazh KanthADai ThOzhappar tamm uhappAl

Yenna UlahAriyanO YenRuraikka --pinnai

UlahAriyan yennum pEr NampiLLaikku Ongi

vilahAmal ninRathu yenRum mEl

 

ThirunArAyaNapuram Araiyar , Ammangi AmmAL, YenkaLAzhwan

of ThiruveLlaRai , Thiruveethi PiLLai Bhattar

( KuRatthAzhwAn's grandson ) were contemproaries.Latter

had something in common with Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai

in that he wrote without AchAryA's niyamanam an anthology

of NampiLLai's Thiruvaimozhi KalakshEpam . NampiLLai did

not accept that grantham runing into one lakh paDis and

gave it as food to white ants without even looking at it .

 

The importance of AchArya Niyamanam was pointed out by NampiLLai

to the grandson of his ParamAchAryan through the allusion of

AchArya RaamAnujA's niymanam to Thirukkuruhai Piraan PiLLAn

to write the 6000 PaDi Yeedu grantham on NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi.

 

NampiLLai gave his niyamanam to periyavAcchAn PiLLai to write

to ThiruvAimozhi . This commentary is known today as

the 24,000 PaDi grantham .The Overzealous

and Jealouds Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai , the other Sishyan of

NampiLLai wrote another unauthorized version and received the

disapproavl of his AchAryan . Later Sri RanganaathA intervened and

saved that commentary (Yeedu 36,000 PaDi) from oblivion through

YeeuNNI Maadhavar.

 

Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai belonged to the Mudumpai Vamsam .

Mudumpai Nampi is one of the 74 Sri Bhaashya SimhAsanAdhipathis .

Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai's mother's name was Ammi AmmAL and

his father's name was Devap PerumAL . Ammi AmmAL was very sad

that there was no santhathi for her son due to a dhOsham

that made the wife of Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai appear

like a snake at night in their conjugal bed. PiLlai ran

out of the room and refused to be near his wife at night time.

Ammi AmmAL fell at the feet of NampiLLai and requested the

AchAryan to bless her son to have progeny . NampiLLai

prayed to Sri RanganAthA and sprinkled consecrated water

on the face and the stomach of the wife of Vadakku Thiruveethi(V.T)

PiLLai . The Sarpa DhOsham was removed by the divine power of

NampiLLai and ten months later a child was born to V.T.PiLLai.

Since the child came into being due to the grace of LokAcchAr

( NampiLLai ) , it was named PiLLai LokAcchAr . A brother

was born due to the grace of Sri RanganAthA few months later to V.T.PiLLai

and was named Azhagiya MaNavALa PerumAL NaayanAr. Both the brothers

are giants of our SampradhAyam in their own right and gave us

illustrious granthams like Sri Vachana BhUshaNam , AchArya Hrudhayam et al .

Both the brothers were Naishtika brahmachAris . Both the brothers

were contemproaries of Swami Sri Desikan . The Taniyan of

PiLLai LOkAchAr on the Sri Sookthis of Swami Desikan

is a famous one .

 

We will conclude this section of our tribute to NampiLLai

with the invocation of His Taniyan :

 

vEdAntha vEdhyAmrutha vAri rAsE : vEdAntha SaarAmrutha pUramgruyam

AadhAya Varshantham aham prapadhyE KaaruNya pUrNam KALIVAIRI DAASAM

 

AchAryAL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliapan Koil varadAchAri SadagOpan