Thirumazhisai Piraan Thirunakshathram today (Thai makam)

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

Today is Thai makam . Thirumazhisai AzhwAr [bhakthi sArar -person known for

representing the essence of

Bhakthi to Sriman NaarAyaNa] was born on this day.

 

makhAyam Makare MAse Chakramsham Bhargavodbhavam

mahisArapurADhEsham BhaktisAramaham bhajE.

 

I worship Bhaktisara, who was born as the son of Bhargava in Mahisapuram

(Thirumazhisai) in the month of Makaram (Jan-Feb) under the asterism of

Makham as a manifestation of the Chakram of Lord Narayana (Sudarshana

Chakram).

 

Let us look at his wonderful life history and pay our obeisance to AzhwAr on

his Thirunakshathram.

Born at Thirumazhisai, to Bhargava rishi and his pathni (wife) kanakAngi

after an unusual of 12 months stay in the womb). Seeing the foetus that came

out as just a lifeless lump of flesh with no arms, legs, etc., they were

terribly

depressed and with unwillingness left it at the "moongil" (bamboo) bush and

returned. Our Lord Sriya: pathi appeared with His consort and blessed the

"flesh" with Their katAksham and it turned into an alive, Divya tEjas, cute

little bundle of joy; a fully developed and lovely baby which was later

picked up with both the arms affectionately by a tribe(Harijan) named

"ThiruvALan". A really blessed couple ThiruvALan and pankaya chelvi, was

very much overwhelmed by the grace of God for this Gift of swarNa

vigraham-like baby.

 

Again an unusual (this unusualness is found on many occasions in this

AzhwAr's life) phenomenon of not drinking or eating any thing nor any

expelling of any wastes like any other normal child saddened them. They

really longed to see the baby drink or eat something; It was happening for

quite some time and this unusualness news spread everywhere and attracted

lots of people to see and be blessed with the darshan of this divine child,

who is growing and developing like any other normal child without absolutely

any intake. When a simple, devoted agriculturist old couple paid their

visit,

they brought some cow's milk with them and the old lady lovingly placed the

baby on her lap and offered the milk saying "Oh our beloved thirumazhisaiyE,

the one who came amidst us by the grace of Sriman nArAyaNa, please take this

milk and remove our worries, dear" and IT STARTED DRINKING.(one can imagine

the happiness mixed with "Anandha bhAshpam" tears of joy that must have

flowed!) And they were coming everyday to offer the milk to the baby; one

such day the baby AzhwAr showed and signalled the left over milk to be drunk

by the old couple; The moment they drank, they regained their youth; yet

another marvel by the Divine AzhwAr, who was none other than the ChakrA of

mahA vishNu. The "young" old couple, later were blessed with a male child

called "kaNikaNNan" who at a later stage became a close friend/aredent

disciple of

ThorumazhisaiAzhwAr.

 

The AzhwAr, actually had learnt tried all other religions/doctrines.,

namely., Buddhism, jainism, advaitA and in fact became a staunch devotee of

SivA (with a name siva vAkyA). He can also be called a Research Scholar . He

studied & rejected different philosophical systems and religions based on

them such as Buddhism , NyAyA , VaisEshikA , SaamkhyA , paatanjala and

KaapAlikA . Finally , he became an accomplished Siddhar worshipping Lord

SivA . Pey AzhwAr intervened and helped BhakthisArA accept Sri VaishNavism

and the supermacy of Sriman NaarAyaNA.

 

pEyAzhwAr argued with him, showed him evidences from vEdAs ans smrithis to

claim sriman nArAyaNA as the supreme deity, and finally initiated him into

vaishNavic philosophy and named him bhaktisArar. AzhwAr later declares his

struggles in his pAsuram:

 

sAkkiyam kaRROm samaN kaRROm, sankaranAr/ Akkiya Agama nool arinthOm

bhaktiyAl/ senkatkariyaAnai sErnthOm yAm theethilamE/ yenkatkariyathOnRil/

 

"After my futile efforts to know the supreme principle through jainism,

buddhism, and saivic philosophy, I am blessed by sriman nArAyaNa to take

refuge at the Lotus feet of Sri Devi and have escaped all problems and

misfortunes since then."

 

Once he was won over in the debate that established the supermacy of (

parathvam of ) Sriman NaarAyaNA, he rejected all the other mathams as Saara

Heenam (devoid of substance) and became a Parama VaishNavA. He became the

leading exponent of Sri VaishnNavite theosophy . He is the first AzhwAr to

refer to PaancharAthra Aagamam and VyuhA principles embedded in there.

BhaktisArar visited various sthalams (temples) and came to Thiruve:ka

(bhooshathAzhwAr's birthplace) and was allured by the beauty of the Lord and

the scenic beauties and decided to stay there for some time. Our kaNikaNNan,

too joined bhaktisArar and served him as an ardent disciple (sishyA) to

AzhwAr. There was also an old lady (unmarried) who devotedly, whole

heartedly served AzhwAr by cleaning, mopping, drawing "kOlams" etc.. AzhwAr

was greatly impressed by her indefatigable service and devotion towards

azhwAr and appreciated her openly; The old lady was moved and regretted that

she joined him at this age only and not when she was able so that she could

have continued to serve for more years. Hearing that, azhwAr's kind heart

melted and showered his graceful look (katAksham) on the lady, who was

immediately transformed into an extremely beautiful young lady. (This

AzhwAr's miracles are really great, dear vaishNavAs)

Later, during a royal procession, "nagarvalam", the pallava king saw her in

azhwAr's place and married her.

 

After some years, when the king actually noticed that his queen is not

ageing and has got the same youthful look while he was getting old, he found

out that it was AzhwAr's divine katAksham that did the magic. He asked

kaNikaNNan who was summoned to the court to make a request to AzhwAr on

behalf of the king, kaNikaNNan refused saying he and the AzhwAr will not

yield and sing for a mortal. That enraged the king and he ordered to banish

kaNikaNNan from his kingdom. KaNikkaNNan said "this is not the only sthalam

for me; The entire world is His" and walked off.

 

He went to azhwAr and narrated the incident which forced him to leave that

place and begged for his pardon for leaving him; AzhwAr felt very sad that

his dearest friend/devoted disciple is leaving him. He did not feel like

staying there without kaNikaNnan. Hence, AzhwAr, too decided to push off

from Thiruve:ka. AzhwAr went straight to the temple and prayed

wholeheartedly with tears in his eyes and requested the Lord also to come

along with them, as he can not think of living without the Lord.

 

kaNikaNNan pOginRAn kAmaru poon kacchi/ maNivaNNA1 nee kidakka vEndA/

sennAppulavanum pOginrEn neeyum unRan/ painnAgappAi suruttikkoL/

" kaNikkaNNan is going out of kanchi maNivaNNa, I am also leaving with him.

You don't have to lie down here any more; You also roll your "nAgam"

(serpent bed) and follow me" and FRIENDS, OUR LORD FOLLOWED THE AZHWAR WITH

THE SNAKE ROLLED AND TUCKED UNDER HIS ARMS.

 

The king next day got the news that the temple is desolated and the entire

city looks dark and lifeless, he understood his folly and rushed immediately

to chase the trio. He caught them on the way and prostrated on the ground,

repenting for what he had done; requested them to forgive him for his

mistake and to come back to kAnchi. AzhwAr and kaNikaNNan, understanding the

sincerity of his regret and repentance requested the Lord again to return

and stay at kAnchi. Needless

to say, the Lord obeyed.

 

kaNikaNNan pOkkozhindAn kAmaru poon kacchi/ maNivaNNA1 nee kidakka vEndum/

sennAppulavanum pOkkozhindEn neeyum unRan/ painnAgappAi viritthukkoL/

 

Once on his way to Tirukkudantai, he stopped for a while to take rest and he

sat on the "ThiNNai" ( a sort of bench-pial) in front of a house in

Perumpuliyur. A few brahmins were reciting vedas inside that house. On

seeing the "harijan" (our AzhwAr), they stopped their recitation since, as

per tradition and shAstrAs, Veda was not to be recited in the presence of a

person belonging to the fourth caste and our AzhwAr immediately understood

and was about to leave when the Brahmins started their recitation. They

forgot the next line and at what point they had left the recitation. The

AzhwAr broke open a black paddy seed that was lying there with his

fingernail to indicate the exact context which had a reference to the paddy

seed. The brahmins were simply flabbergasted and astonished and realized the

greatness of the AzhwAr and asked for his pardon.

 

When the Archaka (priest) of the local temple wanted to honour the AzhwAr,

knowing fully well his bhakti and GnAna, some people objected and spoke ill

of the AzhwAr. Tha AzhwAr felt hurt and prayed to the Lord to show himself

to these people in his physical body to prove that the antaryAmi (the

in-dweller- who has manifested) is the same nArAyanan in all living beings,

irrespective of the jAti, caste, creed, colour, sex etc.,

 

Akkarangal Akkarangal Enrum Aavadhu En Kolo /

Ik Kurumbai Neekki Ennai Eesanaakkka Vallaiyel /

Sakkaram Koll Kaiyane Sadankar Vai Adangida /

Ut Kidantha Vanname Puram Posindhu Kaattide /

 

Meaning:" What is the use of your having those resplendent hands if you

cannot remove the idiosynchrosy of these ignorant folk and make me powerful

in their midst? Lord, with the divine discus in your hand ! Teach these

fools a lesson by showing yourself appearing in my very physical body"

Again, The Lord obeyed the AzhwAr and showed himself off in the body of

AzhwAr and the protestors were simply astonished and prostrated and begged

for his pardon. (It only again goes to prove that no one is superior or

inferior by birth; it is just bhakti and love for Him which will make us

dearer to Him- No one chooses his kulam, parents, life; It is all His mercy)

 

On reaching Tirukkudantai (Kumbakonam), he let the birchbark leaf containing

his writings in the waters of river Kaveri. The leaf floated back to him

holding his works viz.,'Tiruchanda Viruttam' (a poem of beautiful verses) in

which he sang the following beautiful verse:

 

NinRadhu Enthai Ooragathu Irundathu Enthai Paadagathu /

AnRu Vekkanaik Kidandhathu EnnilAtha MunnelAm /

AnRu NAn PiRandilEn PiRandhapin MaRandilEn /

NinRadhum Irundhadhum Kidandhathum En NenjuLe /

 

" Before I was born, He was standing in Ooragam, was sitting in Paadagam and

was lying down in Tiruvekka.At that time I was not born with wisdom; When

once I was born with this wisdom, I never forgot. Therefore, the Lord left

all those places and has taken permanent abode in my heart". The idea is

that the great Gnanis never considered themselves as born at all until they

realized this ' artha gnAnam'. And, once they realized this, they had no

other avocation than being immersed in the thought of the Lord.

 

The other work of the AzhwAr is ' Naanmugan Tiruvantadhi'- an Antadhi

commencing with the words 'Naanmugan' - a reference to the four faced

Brahma. The first stanza of the Antadhi categorically states

 

Naan Mugani Naraayanan Padaithaan- Naan Muganum /

Thaan Mugamaaai Sankaranaithaan Padaithaan /

Yaan Mugamaai Anthaadhi Melittu Arivithen - Aazh Porulai

Sinthaamal Konmin Neer Therndhu

 

"The four faced Brahma was born to Narayana and to this Brahma was born

Sankara. I am declaring this truth in this Antadhi. Resort to this without

any doubt, if you desire to wipe out the pangs of birth"

 

The AzhwAr was so straight forwarded, outspoken, fearless and established

the oneness and supremacy of Sriman nArAyaNan and sri vaishNavam. He became

an exemplary Sri vaishNava AcharyA and it is told that he spent about 700

years meditating on TiruvallikkeNi perumAL Sri vEnkata krishNan.

 

The first three Azhwars, Poigai, Bhootham and pEy respectively stood for

parajn~Ana (transcendental knowledge), para bhakthi (transcendental

devotion) and the parama bhakthi (supreme devotion). After all that, it is

this Thirumazhisai vandha jyOthi- Bhakthi Sarar- Thirumazhisai Piraan is the

one who removed the weeds and declared to the world the Parathvam

unambiguously and crystal clear. After having seen an studied other

religions, he assertively and categorically declared and he proved with

conviction and authority that Sriman NaarAyaNA is the unalterable truth

behind " the primal and ultimate causality of all the Worlds".

 

Another lovely pAsuram of his from Nanmukhan ThiruvanthAthi (Sri Simhapuri

MS Hari’s favourite):

 

inRAha nALayEyAha inicchiRithu

ninRAha ninnaruL yenpAlathE --nanRaaha

naan unnai anRi ilEn kaNdAi nAaraNanE

nee yennaianRi ilai

 

Oh NaaRayaNA ! I may become the object of Your krupA today or it may happen

tomorrow or it may happen even after

that passage of time. It does not matter. I know that Your special Krupai

belongs to me . I do not exist without You and neither do You exist without

me. " Unnai anRi naan ilEn; yennai anRi nee ilai " . We can say that we are

not there without God. How can we say He is not there without us? We can.

Only if there is a son, there can be Father. Only if there is naaram, there

can be naaram + ayanam- NaaraayaNan. What a beautiful way of expressing our

relationship with Him! (unnOdu uRavEl namakku ingu ozhikka ozhiyAdhu..)

 

Another sample from his Thirucchandha viruttham,

 

atthanAhi annayAhi aaLum EmperumAnumAi

otthu ovvAtha pal-piRappu ozhitthu nammai AatkkoLvAn

MutthanAr MukundhanAr puhunthu namm uLL mEvinAr

yetthinAl idarkkadal kidatthi yEzhai nenjamE?

 

(Translation of Sri Uttamur Swamy’s commentary by Sri Satakopan ): Oh my

poor mind worried about lack of upAyam to attain Moksha Siddhi! The

blemishless Lord (MutthanAr), who is the granter of the boon of Moksham has

made sure that the incongrous births full of suffering will not happen any

more and has decided to accept us as His servants. For that

purpose , He has entered into us as the Father ( gariyAn Brahmadha: PithA

)instructing us on the upAyam , as the compassionate Mother , who grows that

Jn~Anam and as AchAryan who delivers us at the feet of the Dhivya Dampathi.

>From here on, Oh My mind ! where is the reason for your worries about

enjoying You at srivaikuntam with Bliss?

 

The sarIra sarIri bhAvam is also echoed by Thirumazhisai AzhwAr with a

simile:

Like the ocean which has waves spreading out from its own(though waves look

and are different from the ocean), and takes the whole lot of waves back to

its own waters; (and then the cycle repeats.) You (the Lord) let the moving

(chith) and non moving (achit) be born and dead and then take them

converging back to you (during mahApraLayam) (please forgive me for my free

translation).

 

thannuLE thiraiththezhum tharanka veNthadankadal

thannuLEthiraiththezhun^thadankukinRa thanmaipOl

ninnuLEpi RanthiRanthu niRpavum thiripavum,

ninnuLEya dankukinRa nIrmain^in_kaN ninRathE.

(Thirucchandha viruttham pAsuram)

 

What great example! (even dull headed ones like me can perceive!) Both his

prabhandhams , Naanmukan ThiruvantdAthi and Thirucchandhaviruttham, thus,

AzhwAr emphasizes that Sriman NarAyaNA is the one and only ultimate cause

and He ALONE is the way and the Goal.

Mazhisai Piraan ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

 

 

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