MaNavALa mAmunigaL- Part 2

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srishailEsha dhayapAthram DhibhaktyAdi guNArNavam |

yathIndhrapravaNam vandhE ramyajAmAtharam munim ||

 

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

Dear Devotees,

Salutations to all. Continued from where it was left

off.

 

Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL established himself in Srirangam by

winning the allegiance of KandhAdai ANNan and his entire family. Soon

PrathivAdhi Bhayamkara ANNA became MM's follower. PB ANNA was

initiated by SriKumAra VaradhAchArya,son of Swami Desika,and also

studied Sri BhAShyam under him. ANNA was one of the

aShTadhiggajas,one of the eight chief disciples of Sri MM. After few

years in Srirangam,Sri MM returned to AzhvAr Thirunagari to visit the

sacred shrines and to give discourses on AzhvArs' hymns and rahasyas.

While lecturing AchArya Hrdhaya,he had trouble intrepreting some

verse and he was recommended to consult ThiruNArAyaNapuraththAy with

whom Sri MM's own AchArya had studied TiruvAymozhi at one time. So

Sri MM set out to Melkote but ThirunArAyaNapuraththAy had heard of

MM's erudition and had already headed southwards to see MM. Both met

just outside of AzhvAr Thirunagari. Sri MM brought him back home and

studied the secret meanings of AchArya Hrdhaya with him for some time.

Meanwhile,through some prominent and wealthy disciples MaNavALa

mAmunigaL renovated several temples near AzhvAr Thirunagari.

 

Soon after returning to Srirangam,Sri MM converted eRumbi

appA,who became MM's loyal supporter. Through eRumbi appA,Sri MM

gained several disciples,notably AppiLLai and AppiLLAn. Around AD

1430,Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL conducted a one-year lecture series on

ThiruvAymozhi according to all the five commentaries

(Six,Nine,Twelve,Twentyfour,Thirtysix/Idu Thousand)with special

reference to Idu. On the last day of the lecture series,a small boy

(Lord SriRanganATha)stepped forward and uttered the thaniyan

"srisailesa dayapAthram....munim". For rest of the MaNavALa mAmunigaL-

SriRanganATha story,please read Mukunda's(Vangipuram Pattangi)

postings on Lord's AchArya/MaNavALa mAmunigaL.

 

After this MM started writing maNipravALa commentaries on

the works of pUrvAchAryas (1) Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya's Sri Vachana

BhUShaNam(SVB),Tattvatraya,Rahasyatraya(known as Mumukshuppadi),

(2)Tiruvarangaththu AmudhanAr's Ramanuja nURRandAdi(RAN),(3)AruLALa

PerumAL EmperumAnAr's J~nAnasAra and PramEyasAra. Sri MM also

composed (1)TiruvAymozhi nURRandAdi,a thamizh work praising

NammAzhvAr's major work TiruvAymozhi,(2)UpadEsha RathnamAlai which

gives the guruparampara of AzhvArs'teachings and(3)TiruvArAdhanakrama

a maNipravALa work modeled on the samskrt nithyagranthas of

EmperumAnAr and Nanjeeyar.

 

Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL's last three works:after discovering

Periya vAcchAn PiLLai's commentary on PeriyAzhvAr's Tirumozhi was

missing(first four decads),wrote commentary only for the missing

portion. By the time he completed this work,his health was also

deteriorating;yet with great difficulty but wholeheartedly undertook

his commentary on AchArya Hrdhaya "for the sake of future

generations". He became too weak to worship in the temple,he started

dictating one thamizh stanza a day expressing to Bhagavad Ramanuja

his anguish(Arthi)at staying in this world and his eagerness to reach

VaikuNTa. These collected verses are known as Arthi Prabandham,his

final work.

 

During his last days,Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL called all his

disciples together and asked their forgivenss for any past offenses

he may have committed against them and the disciples in turn begged

his pardon for any offenses on their part. His final advice was to

serve Lord SriRanganATha without fail and to live in harmony among

Sri VaiShNavas. After surrendering all his property to Sri

RanganATha,MaNavALa mAmunigaL reached ThitunAdu/VaikuNTa.

 

What's the point of publishing many works if one can not

preserve those works. Precisely for the same reason,Sri MaNavALa

mAmunigaL preserved and safeguarded pUrvAchAryas works by writing

commentaries on the same rather than producing numerous works of his

own.

 

Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL's chief disciples,the

aShTadhiggajas or "the elephants of the eight directions":

(1)vAnamAmalai jeeyar (2)bhattarpirAn jeeyar (3) thiruvEnkatam jeeyar

(4)kOil kandhAdai aNNan (5)prathivadi bhayamkara aNNan (6)eRumbi appA

(7)appiLLai and (8)appiLLAn.

 

Five ThiruvAmozhi commentaries:

 

(1)ArAyirappadi/Six Thousand - Thirukkurugai pirAn piLLAn by

EmperumAnAr's grace and lectures

 

(2)onpadhinArAyirappadi/Nine thousand - Nanjeeyar by Parasara

Bhattar's grace and lectures

 

(3)pannIrAyirappadi/twelve thousand - vAdhikEsari azhagiya maNavALa

perumAL jeeyar by NAyanAr AcchAn PiLLai's grace and lectures

 

(4)irupaththunAlAyirappadi/twentyfour thousand - Periya vAcchAn piLLai

by NampiLLai's grace and lectures

 

(5)muppaththArAyirappadi/thirtysix thousand/Idu - Vadakku thiruvIdhi

piLLai by NampiLLai's grace and lectures

 

Note:Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya and Azhagiya MaNavALa PerumAL NAyanAr are

the sons of Sri Vadakku ThiruvIdhi PiLLai,disciple of NampiLLai. Sri

Azhagiya MaNavALa PerumAL NAyanAr's AchArya Hrdhaya is the essence of

Idu and NAyanAr had written in cryptic style(with hidden

meanings),defending the thoughts of NammAzhvAr and affirming

the "spontaneous" Grace of the Lord in effecting salvation and hence

one should learn under an AchArya otherwise may get mislead(aj~nAnam

and viparItha j~nAnam)

 

Just out of my desire I wrote this. Learned people may contribute

more information.

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai