Guest guest Posted June 24, 2002 Report Share Posted June 24, 2002 ============================================================= This article has been sent to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran ) ============================================================= Source: thThe Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/06/24/stories/2002062400430800.htm) Miscellaneous - 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. Copyright: 1995 - 2002 The Hindu Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the consent of The Hindu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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