MaNavALa mAmunigaL-Part 1

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srishailesha dhayapAthram DhibhaktyAdi guNArNavam |

yathIndhrapravaNam vandhE ramyajAmAtharam munim ||

 

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

Dear Devotees,

Salutations to all. A brief write up on Sri MaNavALa

mAmunigaL's life. Sources taken from YathIndhra PravaNa prabhAvam(YPP)

 

Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL/Azhagiya MaNavALa PerumAL was born

in Sikkil KidAram in 1370. His father, ThikazhakkidandhAn ThirunAvIRu-

daiyapirAn,gave him basic education on the teachings of AzhvAr's

hymns and the rahasyas(srivaiShNava doctrine) and also performed his

marriage. Sri MaNavALa MAmunigaL(MM) then moved to AzhvAr Thirunagari

and took Thirumalai AzhvAn/ThiruvAymozhipiLLai/Srisailesanatha,a

prominent scholar of ThiruvAymozhi,as his AchArya. ThiruvAymozhipiLLai

took refuge at Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya's feet as a small boy and had

studied NAlAyira Dhivya Prabandham,Idu and the rahasya doctrines with

several of Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya's disciples. KurakulOththama dAsa

taught ThiruvAymozhi PiLLai Sri Vachana BhUShaNam(SVB),nAlUrAcchAn

PiLLai of KAnchi taught him ThiruvAymozhi and Idu and with

ViLAnchOlai PiLLai of Trivandrum ThiruvAymozhi PiLLai studied the

rahasyas and AchAryabhimAna.

 

Sri MM's devotion to the shrines of NammAzhvAr and

Ramanuja and his own AchArya Thirumalai AzhvAn grew as he studied the

AzhvArs' hymns and rahasyas in AzhvAr Thirunagari. During this

time,he composed his first work "YathirAja Vimshathi" twenty samskrt

stanzas in praise of EmperumAnAr and he also named his son Ramanuja.

Thirumalai AzhvAn's final advice to his foremost disciple MM was that

he should spend his time teaching and discoursing on AzhvArs' hymns

especially ThiruvAymozhi(primary importance),to give only secondary

importance to samskrt sources and SriBhAShya(should study only once)

and to live in Srirangam like our elders. After his guru's departure,

Sri MM headed north to Srirangam with his co-disciple Ramanuja Jeeyar

(later to be known as vAnamAmalai jeeyar).

 

In Srirangam,Sri MM was well recceived by the Sri VaiShNava

community. After some initial friction with Uththama nambi,who was in

charge of temple administration,MM instituted teh distribution of

honors,the way Ramanuja did. MM conducted research on the rahasyas of

pUrvAchAryas,restored them and recopied. Then he set out on

pilgrimage to Thirumalai,KAnchi and Sriperumbudur. Sri MM stayed in

KAnchi for a few months and studied SriBhAShyam with KidAmbi nAyanAr,

a descendent of Vedanta Desika's guru(kidambi appiLLAr)and a disciple

of Desika's follower Brahma Tantra swatantra jeeyar. This confirms

that kAnchipuram was the centre for vedantic studies.

 

After returning to Srirangam, MM renounced his householder

status and became a sannyAsi. He started giving discourses on AzhvArs'

hymns and gathered a flock of disciples. He had deep reverence for

the previous AchAryAs of Srirangam and renovated Ramanuja's old maTam

for his activities. He brought clay from the floor of PiLLai

lOkAchArya's house and named the hall as "Thirumalai AzhvAn". He also

ordered Sri PiLLai lOkAchArya's idol to be set up in the Srirangam

temple.

 

to be continued...

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

nappinnai