UpadEsa Rathna Maalai(URM): Part 8 (Madhura Kavi Paausrams: 25-26)

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs:

 

The Paasurams 25-26 ) of URM pay tribute to

Madhurakavi AzhwAr and what he stands for in

our SamprahdAyam (viz)., the predominant position

given to achAryaaLs even over the Lord Himself and

Bhaagavatha Seshathvam .

 

paasuram 25: The importance of Madhura Kavi's Birthday

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yErAr Madhura Kavi ivvulahil vanthu uthittha

seerArum Chitthirayil Chitthirai NaaL --paarulahil

maRRuLLa AazhwArkaL vanthu uthittha nALkaLinum

uRRathu yemakku yeRu nenjEOr

 

(meaning): Oh My mind! Please reflect on the fact

that the birthday of the auspicious Madhura Kavi

( ChitthrA Nakshathram in the month of Chitthirai )

is even more sacred for celebration than that of

the birthdays of all the other AzhwArs .

 

(Comments): MM alludes here to the unique greatness of

Madhura Kavi celebrated by Sri PiLLai LokAcchAr in

the fourth prakaraNam of Sri Vachana BhUshaNam .Swami

Desikan salutes the greatness of Madhura Kavi in Prabhandha

Saaram and in Guru ParamparAsAram. In Prabhandha Saaram ,

Swami Desikan performs MangaLAsAsanam for Madhura Kavi

with great reverence: "thERiya Maa Jn~Anamudan , ChitthirayiR

Chitthirai nALL vanthu thOnRi , aaRiya nal anbhudanE

KuruhUr Nampikku antharanga adimai seythu , MaaRanai allAl

anRi yenRum maRanthum maRRu Devu aRiyEn yenum Madhura Kavi--".

Here Swami Desikan states that Madhura Kavi incarnated on

this earth with " thERiya Maa Jn~Anam "( full, crystal clear

Jn~Anam or ParipUrNa parisuddha Jn~Anam ) and performed

uninterrupted antharanga kaimkaryam to Swami NammAzhwAr

with mature parama Bhakthi .Swami Desikan explains further

the reason for Madhurakavi's unique glory among AzhwArs :

" maranthum thEvu maRRaRiyEn yenum Madhura Kavi". Madhura Kavi

stated that even by mistake or forgetfulness , he never

recognized any one as his Sarva Swami except KuruhUr SatakOpan.

 

When Madhura Kavi incarnated on this earth, Lord KrishNA

was still with the people of the earth in his Vibhava Vaibhavam.

Even when the Lord was there , Madhura Kavi was determined

to seek the Lord through a SadAchAryan and hence passed up

the opportunity to have direct sambhandham with the Lord

Himself and waited for the avathAram of SatakOpan .When

NammAzhwAr incarnated , Madhura Kavi sought the sacred

feet of NammAzhwAr as his sole " thAraka PhOshaka Bhogyam "

(for his succour, sustenance and enjoyment ) and showed

to the people of the world that AchArya Bhakthi is

far superior to Bhagavath-Bhakthi .The ennobling message

that Madhura Kavi left for us is that any amount of

Bhagavath bhakthi will not redeem one, if they do not

seek the sacred feet of a SadAchAryan .Swamy NammazhwAr

was deeply rooted in Bhagavath Bhakthi first

and then engaged in the celebration of BhaagavathAs.

Madhura Kavi on the other hand pushed aside Bhagavath

Bhakthi and engaged only in AchArya Bhakthi to demonstrate

the greatness of BhAgavatha SEshathvam .Swami Desikan

concludes that the path taken by Madhura kavi is an

ancient route that has been recognized as sacred by

BhagavAn Himself as Bhagaavtha Priyan .

 

Paasuram 26: Why KaNNinuNN sirutthAmpu became part of 4000 ?

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Vaayttha Thirumanthiratthin matthimamAm patham pOl

seertha Madhura Kavi sey kalayai--aartha Pukazh

Aariyarkal thAngaL aruLiccheyal naduvE

sErvitthAr thARpariyam thErnthu

 

(meaning ): Our great PoorvAchAryALs joined Madhura Kavi's

Prabhnadham of KaNNinuNN SirutthAmpu in the sacred

NaalAyira Dhivya Prabhandham inview of the blessed

message that this prabhandham houses.They recognized

very well that Madhura Kavi's Prabhandham is exactly like

the middle padham in our beloved AshtAksharam (viz).,

Nama: padham and therefore this prabhandham fits

very well in the middle of the sacred collect of

the Four Thousand .

 

(Comments): All the AzhwAr's prabhandhams other than

that of Madhura Kavi extolled the svarUpa rUpa guNa vibhUthi

chEshtithams of Sriman NaarAyaNan .Madhura Kavi's Paasurams

dealt only with the celebration of NammAzhwAr .There may be

people who might question the wisdom of combining under

one roof the prabhandhams that praise the Lord and the Prabhandham

that bypasses the Lord and focuses only on the AchAryan.

We celebrate the other AzhwAr's Prabhandhams since they

deal with the deep meanings of the three rahasyams

( Thirumanthiram ,Dhvayam and Charama slOkam).

In Thirumanthiram , the middle padham is nama: sabdham ,

which stands for the most important tattvam of

BhAgavatha sEshathvam. Madhura Kavi's prabhandham

celebrates this BhAgavatha Seshathvam exclusively

and hence PoorvAchAryALs decided that KaNNinuNN

SirutthAmpu has its rightful place in the middle

of Dhivya prabhandham .

 

Swami Desikan in Guru paramparA Saaram devoted

one verse to all the other AzhwArs including

Swami NammazhwAr and set aside a WHOLE Verse

to celebrate Madhura Kavi's incomparable glory .

Swami Desikan explains that there are ten kinds

of Sambhandham between the Isvaran and the Jeevan .

Madhura Kavi turned these ten kinds of sambhandham

to his AchAryan and sang his prabhnadham to glorify

the AchAryan over the Lord Himself and to seek his

AchAryan as his sole refuge . Swami describes

the ancient and sacred route shown by Madhura kavi

this way : " anbarkkE avatharikkum Aayan niRka ,

arumaRaikaL Tamizh seythAn aruLE koNdu thunpu aRRa

Madhura Kavi thOnRak Kaattum thol VazhiyE nall Vazhi--".

 

AzhwAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar ThiruvadigaLE saraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan