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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Fountain source of all Truths

 

CHENNAI, DEC. 2. While the task of redemption and salvation of

human beings has been left to some extent unfinished, during the

period of incarnation of God, saints deputed by Him later

completed it. They rendered the Vedic Truths into Tamil encased

in lilting verses so that all can easily follow the divine

teachings. These psalms contained spiritual knowledge and the

essence of the Vedas and Upanishads.

 

For instance, the Lord's exposition of the Bhagavad Gita on the

battlefield showing the different paths before a man to reach the

goal was forgotten by Arjuna after listening to its rendering for

quite some time and so he urged the Lord to repeat the song.

Krishna spelt out its gist at a later stage as ``Anu Gita''. One

of the saints, who never tasted the so-called sweets of this

clayey globe, sang the ``Thiruvoimozhi'' (1000 verses) in chaste

Tamil to be understood by all and packing them with the message

of the Veda. This wonderful presentation by Nammazhwar, whose

glory pales before that of other Azhwars, is the fountain source

of all revelational truths. He is a manifestation of the Lord and

was born 43 days after the Lord leaving the world in His

incarnation as Krishna.

 

Most popular and highly esteemed among the 12 Azhwars as their

``soul'', Nammazhwar was called ``Satakopa'' since even at birth,

he overcame ``Sata Vayu'', which veils spiritual knowledge. As a

baby, he behaved in a strange way remaining in a state of trance.

The parents left the child in front of the temple of Adinatha at

Thirukkurugur when it crawled into the hollow in the trunk of a

tamarind tree nearby and stayed there without food or sleep,

radiating spiritual glow. Dealing with the several similarities

in the lives of Lord Krishna and the Azhwar, in a discourse, Sri

R. Kannan Swamigal referred to the episode in the Ramayana

wherein Rama commanded Lakshmana not to allow anyone when He was

closeted with a sage. Despite all pleas, Durvasa defied Lakshmana

and went in. Rama cursed His brother to turn as a tree and this

indeed became the shelter to Nammazhwar who was none else than

Lord Krishna (reappearing). In the first aeon, the Lord was born

as Dattatreya (forward caste), in the next as Rama (Kshatriya),

in the third as Krishna (Vysya) and in the last (Kali) as

Nammazhwar (Vellala).

 

In the Gita, the Lord ordered Arjuna to fight (as his duty) while

Nammazhwar made his Thiruvoimozhi as the venerable work to be

recited during prayers. In a verse Vedanta Desika sang that

having engaged himself in detailed delineation of logic and

grammar hitherto, he would spend the rest of his time revelling

in the study of Nammazhwar's works.

 

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