Madhurakavi AzhwAr Thirunakshathram - Chitthraiyil Chitthirai

[Guest guest]

SRI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

Now let us enjoy Sri MAdhurakavi AzhwAr’s glories. AdiyEn will cover the two

Taniyans--one in Sanskrit and the other in Tamil--created by Swamy

Naathamuni out of his gratefulness to Madhura Kavi and his powerful

Prabhandham ; Swamy Naathamuni had the rarest of blessings of being

initiated into the divine collect by Swamy NammAzhwAr himself as a result of

reciting Madhura Kavi's prabhandham .

 

First his life history:

 

AzhwAr Madhurakavi is the one who helped us by compiling the outpourings of

NammazhwAr; Not just that, he also sang 11 beautiful "anthAdhi" style

pAsurams starting with "kaNNinun siRutthAmbhu" which do not have any

parallel to any other pAsuram /slOka for AchArya Bhakti. The other

prabandhams on Acharya are Iraamaanusa nooRRanthAthi and Pillai anthAthi.

 

AzhwAr sang these (11) pasurams only in praise of his AchArya "nammAzhwAr"

and claimed, in the end, that one can attain

mOkshA certainly and definitely after reciting just these 11 pAsurams.

 

It is also told that Nathamuni, who compiled 4000 pAsurams of AzhwArs, was

blessed with a darshan of nammAzhwAr and was given a set of all 12 AzhwArs'

pAsurams (by NammAzhwAr himself) after he recited Madhurakavi's 11

bhakti-laden pAsurams on nammAzhwAr 12000 times. (That is the dynamite

packed power of Madhurakavi's pAsurams- It has manthra shakthi).

 

Madhurakavi (meaning in sanskrit the sweet poet), a vainathEya (divine

bird) incarnate, was born in the year Easwara, chitrai month and in chitrai

nakshatram at ThirukkOLoor. He learnt Tamizh and sanskrit and became a great

scholar in both the languages. He was a great BhaktA of Sriman NarAyaNa and

had an excellent conduct. He was on visits to the North India and obtained

divya Darshans of AyodhyA, gayA, Badri, DwArakA etc., and He chose to stay

at AyOdhyA as he could not resist being attracted by the Holiness of Sri

RAMA's birth place. From there, he was dragged by an unconrolled desire to

follow the new Southern BRIGHT Star/Light appeared in the sky (as seen only

by his eyes at night) and found himself at the feet of the Greatest AzhwAr

"NammAzhwAr". After a brief encounter (setthathin vayiRRil siRiyadhu

piRandhaal etthai thiNru yengE kidakkum? " atthai thiNru angE kidakkum..) he

prayed to NammAzhwAr requesting him to protect and accept him as his

disciple. From then on, he stayed with NammAzhwAr and complied all pAsurams

of NammAzhwAr. Madhurakavi was so much devoted to NammAzhwAr, his AchAryA,

that he held him equal to (higher than)

Lord Sri nArAyaNa

 

After NammAzhwAr departed from this earthly world, he was blessed with a

Golden vigraham of NammAzhwAr which he cosecrated and performed

ThiruvarAdhanA and uthsavams in his honour. He was so mesmerized and

impressed by nammAzhwAr's works so much that wanted to stage NammAzhwAr's

works in front of other scholars. the sangam poets objected to such claims

and praises NammazhwAr who had no connection with Sangam ( a big deal!).

Madhurakavi, it seems was saddened by this protest and was weeping

literally.

 

NammAzhwar, appeared as an old Brahmin and consoled him saying " Do not

woory about these petty issues, my child, You just place this pasuram of

"kaNNan kazhaliNai..." on a boat (sangap palagai) and watch the fun" and

disappeared. Madhurakavi did the same and the boat, it is told capsized

throwing out all the jealous, haughty poets while it retained only the leaf

containing "kaNNan kazhaliNai.."

 

It is also told that each one of those poets struggled to reach the shore

and composed a verse dedicating to NammAzhwAr. And when they were about to

publish their verses, they were simply AMAZED to find that each one wrote

the same verse in same words; (What a marvel! what a divine AzhwAr and

Divine Disciple!-simply made for each other)

 

The sangam chief says " NammAzhwAr's works are superior and other poets are

like flies compared to Garudan (that is NammAzhwAr); fire flies (minmini) in

the presence of sun; dogs in front of the ferrocious tiger; wolf before the

Lord NrsimhA, ugly clumsy dwarfs dancing before the havenly beautiful

OOrvasi- All their works are not equal to even one utterance of nammAzhwAr."

 

Madhurakavi's eyes were full of tears for his (his AchAryA's) success; The

eleven pAsurams are counted as part of 4000 verses simply because the whole

of 4000 pasurams is claimed to be Bhagavadh vishayam while Madhurakavi's is

on his AchAryA which is the central gem that sheds lustre on the other jems

of the garland (so says MaNavALa mAmunigaL). It is the work that holds the

key to the treasure of other pAsurams.

 

Needless to say, NAthamuni's t haniyans (Thaniyan means dedeicated verse) on

this AzhwAr depict the glory of AzhwAr and it is neccessary for us to be

blessed by such Great BhaktALs; Before we conclude about this mahAn who

performed AchArya Nishtai and attained the feet of mOksham, let us get

benefitted by the rich two thaniyans of NAthamuni:

 

Aviditha Vishaya Antharas /Sadaarer Upanishadam Upagaana Matra Bogah /

Abhi Saguna Vasaath Tad Eka Seshee /Madhura Kavir Hridaye Mamaavirastu /

(in sanskrit)

" Here is one who knew none other than Nammalwar; the one who made it his

mission in life to sing the Tamizh upanishadam of Nammalwar; The one being

overwhelmed by Nammalwar held him as his very God; Let such Madhurakavi fill

my heart" (our hearts, too)

 

Veronrum Naan Ariyen Vedam Tamizh Seitha /Maaran Sadakopan Vun Kurugur -

Yeru Engal /Vaazhvaam Enru Ethum Madhura Kaviyaar Emmai /

Aalwaar Avare Saran /

(in Tamizh)

Madhurakavi said -" I do not know anything other than Nammalwar also known

as Maaran(original name of NammAzhwAr) who rendered in Tamil the essence of

the Vedas and who is the head of Tirukkurugur. This Madhurakavi is OUR

master. He is THE guardian of the group of Prapannaas.

- Let us recite everyday these 11 pAsurams and be blessed!)

 

Let us now enjoy Swamy Desikan's rich tributes:

 

As mentioned earlier, there are 11 paasurams in KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu

Prabhandham of Madhura Kavi. The last paasuram is a Phala Sruthi describing

the fruits of reciting this prabhandham.In the rest of the ten paasurams,

Madhura Kavi conceded that all the relationships that he should have with

BhagavAn are instead with Swamy NammAzhwAr. Swamy Desikan captured this

unique disposition of Madhura Kavi in one insightful paasuram of his

adhikaara sangraham:

 

Inbatthil iRainjuthalil isayum pERRil

ihazhAtha pall uRavilirAgam maaRRil

tann paRRil vinai Vilakkil tahavOkkatthil

tatthuvatthai uNartthutalil tanmai aakkil

anbarkkE avatharikkum Aayan niRka

arumaRaikaL Tamizh seythAn thALE koNDu

thunpaRRa Madhura Kavi thOnRak kaattum

tholl vazhiyE nall vazhikaL thuNivAhatkkE

 

Pada URai( Word by word Meanings by Sri V SatakOpan Swamy- New York, USA)

Inbatthil = in gaining(experiencing ) bliss

iRainjuthalil= in performing SaraNAgathi

isayum pERRil= in granting desired purushArthams

ihazhAtha pall uRavil = in sustaining many types of durable relationships

irAgam mARRil = in destroying attachment to other matters

tann paRRil = in giving His hand (Jn~Anak Kai)

vinai vilakkil = in banishing the paapa -puNyams

tahava Okkatthil = in exhibiitng deep compassion(dayA)

tatthuvatthi uNartthutathil = in generating clear Jn~Anam

tanmai aakkil = in blessing the jeevan with many qualities similar to His(

above ten being the anugrahams of the Lord for the Jeevan)

anbarkkE = That Lord , who incarnates in this world avatharikkum solely

for those , who have bhakthi for Him

Aayan niRkka = while that Sulabha-Gopaalan is waiting to bless him

(Madhura Kavi) with His anugraham , Madhura Kavi let go of Him

aru MaraikaL Tamizh seydhaan thALE koNDu= and took refuge instead at the

sacred feet of Swamy NammAzhwAr --who transformed the Sanskrit VedAs into

pure TamiL-- for gaining the above ten anugrahams granted normally by the

Lord Himself

Thunpu aRRa Madhura Kavi thOnRak-kaattum tholl VazhiyE nall vazhigaL

thuNivArkatkku = That ancient path (AchArya abhimatham) travelled by Madhura

Kavi and described in his prabhandha paasurams for the benefit of the people

of this world , is the noblest path to be travelled by those with unalloyed

AchArya VisvAsam.

 

Swamy Desikan - the kavi thArkikha simham in his own inimitable style has

thus summarized the essence of Madhura Kavi's ten paasurams in his one

prabandham each word depicting the meaning of each PAsuram of KaNNinun

ChiRutthaambu and the noblest of paths advocated by him for our ujjevanam.

 

Swamy desikan also pays his obeisance to AzhwAr in Prabandha saaram as

follows:

 

ThERiya maajn~Anamudan ThirukkOLUril

ChitthirayiR Chitthirai naaL Vanthu thOnRi

AaRiya NalanbhudanE KuruhUr Nampikku

anavaratham antharanga-adimai seythu

MaaRanai allAl yenRum maRanthum thEvu

maRRaRiyEn yenum Madhura kaviyE nee munn

kooRiya KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu athaniR paattuk-

kulavu pathinonRum yenakku uthavu neeyE

 

(Meaning by Sri Satakopan Swamy): Oh Maadhura Kavi born on

Chitthirai maasa Chitthirai at ThirukkOLUr with clear Jn~Anam and who

performed antharanga kaimkaryam for Swamy NammAzhwAr with intense

devotion and without let ! You declared that You do not know of any gods

other than Swamy NammAzhwAr . Please bless me now with the Jn~Anam

about the eleven paasurams of Your aruLiccheyal (blessed work) KaNNinuNN

SirutthAmpu that you blessed the world earlier

 

Sri Manavala Mamunigal pays his tribute to AzhwAr in Upadesa Ratthina malai:

 

yErAr Madhura Kavi ivvulahil vanthu uthittha

seerArum Chitthirayil Chitthirai NaaL --paarulahil

maRRuLLa AazhwArkaL vanthu uthittha nALkaLinum

uRRathu yemakku yeRu nenjEOr (25)

 

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.

 

Vaayttha Thirumanthiratthin matthimamAm patham pOl

seertha Madhura Kavi sey kalayai--aartha Pukazh

Aariyarkal thAngaL aruLiccheyal naduvE

sErvitthAr thARpariyam thErnthu (26)

 

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 .

References:

1. KanninunchiRutthambu vyAkhyAnam- Prabandha raksha by Sri UttamUr Swamy

2. Kanninun chiRutthambhu vyakhyanam by Thirukkudanthai Desikan and Periya

Parakala Swamy (book released by Srimad Poundarikapuram Andavan Ashramam)

3. Sri V Satakopan Swamy's article on Madhurakavi AzhwAr

 

Madhurakavi AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

AzhwAr Emeprumaanaar Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

namo narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

_______________

[Guest guest]

SRI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas

 

Sri TR Govindrajan Swamy and Sri Srinivasa Raghavan Swamy have "corrected"

(thirutthip paNikollal) adiyEn on the Thirunakshathram. The star Chitthirai

comes twice this month and Our Acharyans generally celebrate the second one

(which comes on May 14).

 

Hence, we will enjoy again on May 14th the glories of these AchArya /AzhwAr.

Thanks Sri U Ve Swamins.

Please forgive me for the error.

Regards

Narayana Narayana

NarayaNa dAsan madhavakkannan

 

 

 

 

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