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Source: thThe Hindu

(http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/06/24/stories/2002062400430800.htm)

 

Miscellaneous

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Religion

 

 

Overwhelming love that reversed roles

 

 

 

 

CHENNAI

JUNE 24

 

.. The Nalayira Divya Prabandham of the Azhwars, in Tamil, is revered on a par

with the Vedas in Sanskrit in the Srivaishnava tradition. Though the 12 Azhwars

appeared at different times and sang their hymns in praise of the Lord,

Nathamuni compiled their works into the Prabandham and since then these hymns

are always treated as a corpus because it is their unalloyed devotion and mystic

experience of the Lord which form their underlying theme. Among them,

Vishnuchitta (Pattarpiran), addressed popularly as Periyazhwar, occupies the

pre-eminent position due to his singular status of becoming the father-in-law of

the Lord whom even the celestials worship, when he gave his foster-daughter,

Andal, in marriage to Lord Ranganatha. Commentators cite many interesting

reasons why the sobriquet "Periya", meaning great, is very apt for him.

 

Periyazhwar who was born in Srivilliputtur (in the Tamil month of Ani under the

Swathi asterim) lived during the reign of the Pandya king, Vallabhadevaraya,

during the 8th Century A.D., and served the deity Vatapatrasayi there by

offering flower garlands strung by him. His devotion became known to the world

at large when it gained the attention of the king who was ruling then in

Madurai. The king had invited scholars to an open theological debate, which

reached Vishnuchitta's ears, but he ignored it because his disposition was that

of loving devotion to God and hence he had no inclination to engage in polemics.

Lord Narayana appeared in the king's dream and commanded him to invite His

devotee to his court to proclaim His supremacy on the basis of the Vedas. And,

Vishnuchitta vanquished everyone by his articulation of Vedic passages to

substantiate his position and won the prize. Periyazhwar indeed he became, for

did he not proclaim the pre-eminence of Lord Narayana Himself?

 

In his discourse, Velukkudi Sri V.Krishnan said Periazhwar's works, the

Tiruppallandu and the Periazhwar Tirumozhi, comprised the opening sections of

the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. The reason for placing them as the foremost among

the hymns of the Azhwars is because his overwhelming love of God differed from

that of the other Azhwars. The Upadesaratnamala states that just as the Pranava

mantra is chanted at the commencement of the Vedas, the Tiruppallandu leads the

Prabandham works. This hymn is in the form of a benediction to the Lord in which

it is instead the devotee, out of love and concern for the Lord, who blesses

Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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