[sri ramanuja] Four is a Crowd!

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

Four is a Crowd!

 

 

 

The month of Iyppasi is perhaps the best of all the twelve months in the calendar. As a child, I remember having eagerly anticipated the month, right from the previous Karthigai. The reasons are not far to seek. It is the month of Deepavali, which brings with it a lot of gifts-new clothes, sweets, crackers, etc. "Iyppasiyil adai mazhai" is the popular saying-it is the month which brings copious rains, making farmers happy, for, rain in so crucial to crops and therefore to farmers' own wellbeing. North Indians begin their new accounting year this month and also celebrate the festival of lights as the day of return of Sri Rama to Ayodhya, from His long sojourn in the jungles. After Purattaasi, which is considered unsuitable (not because it is bad per se, but because it is a month devoted to the worship of Pitru devatas during the Mahaalaya Paksham) for secular functions, marriages and other such celebrations begin again in Iyppasi. Thus, looked at from the popular angle, Iyppasi is indeed a month everyone welcomes.

 

 

 

And for SriVaishnavas, Iyppasi has a triple bonanza, for it is the month of appearance of three of the holiest sages of our Sampradayam, who are celebrated as the forerunners of the band of apostles that Emperuman sent from Sri Vaikunttam to Earth, for emancipating errant souls like us. There is no month like Iyppasi, in which three of the Azhwars were born, that too on three consecutive days of the month. Iyppasi is also the month, during which Sri Tirukkurugai Piraan Pillaan, the foremost disciple of Sri Ramanuja and known as his "Gnaana Putran", took birth and later went on to compose the famous "Aaraayirappadi" commentary on Tiruvaaimozhi, which is the seed from which the later commentaries blossomed. Sri Ramanuja is known not to have written a single word in Tamizh, nor to have quoted a single word from Azhwars' Aruliccheyal, in his vast works. However, it is Sri Pillan's commentary, reported to be a transcription of Sri Bhashyakara's lectures on Tiruvaaimozhi, which tells us how dear Divya Prabandam was to Sri Ramanuja's heart and how deep his erudition was, as far as Tamizh Vedam is concerned. And Iyppasi is indeed a red-letter month, for it is the month of avataram of Sri Pillai Lokacharya, who gave up his life in a gesture of supreme sacrifice in the defence of Sri Ranganatha and Sri Manavala Mamunigal too, whose Aarti Prabandam and Yatiraaja Vimsati bring tears to our eyes. Apart from Sri Varavaramuni, Sri Koorakulotthama Daasar and Sri Aay Jananyaacharya of Tirunarayanapuram, (the author of the famous commentary on Tiruppavai) were also born during Iyppasi. Sri Utthama Nambi, renowned for his and his descendants' innumerable kainkaryams to Sri Ranganatha and who is repeatedly mentioned with appreciation in Koilouzhugu, was also born in Iyppasi. Strangely enough, none of the Acharyas belonging to Sri Ahobila Matham or Srimad Andavan Ashramam, or for that matter, Sri Poundareekapuram Ashramam, appear to have been born in Iyppasi-perhaps they did not want to divert devotees' attention from the celebrations relating to the Mudal Azhwars. There are no major utsavams at various sannidhis too during this month, perhaps for the same reason. And Tulaa maasam, as it is known, is a month for teerttha sevai and a dip in the Kaveri during this month is supposed to purify us and make us eligible for the worlds above.

 

 

 

However, the emphasis of this article is not on Tulaa Maasam, but on the three saints who descended to earth during this month and how they were eulogized by Swami Desikan, who appears to have had special devotion for the trio.

 

 

 

The first of the three Mudal Azhwars, Sri Poygai Azhwar, incarnated on a golden lotus in the temple tank (Poigai) of Sri Yathoktakaari Perumal at Kanchipuram, as the "amsam" of Paanchajanyam, under the Lord's own asterism of Sravanam. Sri Bhootattaazhwar appeared at Mahabalipuram (Tirukkadalmallai) in a Kurukkatthi flower, when the star "Avittam" was in ascendance, as the amsam of Koumodaki, the Lord's Magnificent Mace. Emperuman's sword Naandakam took birth as Peyazhwar on a red lily flower, in the well of AdiKesava Perumal Sannidhi at Mylapore, under the star "Sathayam". It can thus be seen that these three Azhwars came into the world without undergoing the mandatory imprisonment in a womb. The coordinating hand of Emperuman is seen throughout the lives of the Mudal Azhwars, first in their births, not out of a human womb, but on a flower, secondly on successive asterisms in the same month and finally in their providential meeting at Tirukkovalur. Though the three Azhwars were born hundreds of miles apart and spent their early years apart, engaged in deep spiritual search within themselves, oblivious to the outside world (which earned them the rather unusual sobriquets of "Bhootam" and "Pey") the Lord decided to bring them together, for the benefit of posterity and for His own benefit.

 

 

 

Before we see the beautiful connection between Swami Desikan and the Mudal Azhwars, I would like to narrate a small tale which everyone would definitely know, but which is still worth recounting. The Lord is an extremely playful person, an "alagilaa vilayaatu udayaar" and a "teeraada vilayaaatu pillai". However, His play always has the effect of bringing into limelight the glory of some devotee, who has hitherto remained without popular recognition. And the current leela also was with the same aim, that of introducing three of His matchless devotees to one another and to the world.

 

 

 

It was a dark and stormy night at Tirukkovalur, with rain coming down in torrents, the threatening roar of thunder shaking all souls and with flashes of lightning serving as the only illumination. It was a night when none would venture out and everyone had shut himself up tight in his home. Yet, it was a night on which three Yogis, who had the Lord entrenched in their hearts, chose to be out and about. When they reached Tirukkovalur separately by different routes, they found all houses shut, all choultries locked up, with the inmates unlikely to open up. The first to reach was Poigayazhwar, who found a narrow passage in the front portion of an ashramam belonging to Mrigandu Maharshi and lay down, prepared to spend the night among the inhospitable and confined environs. Sometime later, Bhootattaazhwar too discovered the same place and finding someone already occupying the space, enquired whether there would be room for one more person. The first occupant welcomed the stranger, saying that if there was space enough for one person to lie down, two could sit there. An hour or so passed and there came knocking another worthy, wet and drenched to the skin and seeking shelter in the passage. He too was welcomed by the other two, who thought that three could at least stand comfortably in the small space, which could seat two and provide a bed for one. The three Azhwars were thus standing in the pitch dark, sharing with one another their experiences of the Lord and His auspicious attributes. All of a sudden, they felt rather tight pressed. Where they were standing comfortably earlier, they now felt that the available space had diminished, as if a fourth person, unknown to the other three, had entered the narrow passage and was crowding them. Apparently, someone had sneaked into the already constricted space without announcement and was standing as one with them.

 

 

 

As it was pitch dark and they had no way of producing light, Poygaiazhwar hit upon the idea of lighting a novel lamp. Using the elements of nature as ingredients, considering the whole earth as a lamp, the waters of the salty seas as oil and with the shining Sun as the wick, he lit a glorious lamp that would shine forever and show up with clarity even the tiniest speck of dust. For his part, Bhootattaazhwar lit another lamp, using entirely home-made ingredients, all available within oneself and yet the hardest to find in any human being: he fashioned a lamp out of his unafathomable love for Emperuman. Oil for the lamp was his uncontrollable urge to see the Lord and the wick was his intellect, made sweet and melting by constant contemplation of the Lord's auspicious attributes.

 

 

 

Such was the extraordinary illumination provided by the two lamps lit by these two Yogis, that the third, Sri Peyazhwar, was able to see clearly the fourth person who had been squeezing them tight. First and foremost, Azhwar's eyes alighted on the glorious form of Sri Mahalakshmi adorning the broad chest of the intruder-"Tiru kanden" sang out Sri Peyazhwar, exulting in the wonderful spectacle that greeted his eye. Having realized, from the presence of the Divine Consort, that it was none other than the Paramatma Sriman Narayana who had entered the passage and was squeezing the trio, Azhwar's sight fell next on the glorious golden tirumeni of the Paramapurusha-"Ponmeni kanden". The brilliant and blazing complexion of the stranger imprinted itself upon Azhwar's eyes, prompting him to comment ecstatically on the same-"Tigazhum arukkan ani niramum kanden". The Lord's Divine Discus and the Cosmic Conch adorning His upper hands presented a spectacular sight to the thirsty eyes of Azhwar-"Serukkilarum Ponnaazhi kanden, puri Shankham kai kanden".

 

 

 

The three Azhwars, inspired by the grand spectacle of Emperuman's glorious form in their midst, poured out their devotion in a hundred beautiful verses each, brimming over with Bhakti. These are the paasurams which served as forerunners of the four thousand nectarine verses that were to be composed by the other Azhwars. Though there is no direct internal evidence in the Divya Prabandas of one Azhwar eulogizing another (except in the case of Sri Madhurakavi and Sri Andal), Sri Nammazhwar refers to these three "pioneer" Azhwars as "Paaley Tamizhar, Isaikaarar, patthar", paying generous tribute to their devotion and the beauty of their compositions.

 

 

 

Sri Nammazhwar's eulogy to the Mudal Azhwars is rather cryptic and concise; nor have other Poorvacharyas rendered specific poetical tribute to these three Yogis, but for Sri Amudanaar, who has devoted one paasuram each in his Iraamaanusa Nootrandaadi. When you come to think of it, it is indeed strange that our Poorvacharyas have somehow not composed paeans of praise (excluding "Tanian"s) for these three Azhwars, as part of their Stotrams and Prabandams, though commentators on the Tiruvandaadis have naturally spoken about them.

 

 

 

It was therefore left to Swami Desikan to bring out fully the glory of these three Azhwars, in his inimitable poetic style. And being at home in Sanksrit and Tamizh, the Acharya lavishes choice words of praise on these worthies. His tribute to this trio is not limited to a single stotram, but extends to several other compositions too. Dehalisa Stuti, Prabanda Saaram and Adhikaara Sangraham are some of Swami Desikan's works, in which generous tributes are paid to the Mudal Azhwars. In Dehalisa Stuti, which consists of 29 slokas, Swami Desikan reserves not less than 6 slokas for singing the praise of the Mudal Azhwars-it would appear as though in the guise of adulating the Emperuman of Tirukkoilur, Swami Desikan really wanted to lavish praise on Poigai Muni, Bhootattaar and Peyaazhwar. And each of these 6 slokas serves to bring out the glory of the Azhwars in all its myriad facets. Here is a beautiful one for a sample:

 

 

 

Everyone knows that sugarcane grows well near rivers. Swami Desikan likens Dehaleesan of Tirukkovalur to ripe and succulent sugarcane, grown on the banks of the Penna river, near which Tirukkovalur is situated. And it is this sugarcane which gets squeezed, when it tries to encroach upon the narrow space already occupied by the three Azhwars on that stormy night at Tirukkovalur. What happens when you squeeze sugarcane? Out flows its sweet juice. This juice is nothing but the best of the Lord's auspicious attributes, viz., Souseelyam, the quality which makes the Paramatma come down to the level of and move as one with mundane mortals. The purport is that due to their matchless devotion, the Mudal Azhwars succeeded in making manifest the Lord's ever-latent attribute of Souseelyam. And this sugarcane juice mixes with the honey constantly flowing from the Lord's lotus feet, ("Tene malarum tiruvadi taamarai") making for an extremely delicious and heady mixture, a new and unprecedented type of divine and delectable sugar-"Nootana sharkkaraa".. Those who taste this special sugar find themselves so enslaved by it that they spurn all other types of sweets-the reference being to devotees who, once they have an experience of the Lord, find themselves unable and unwilling to delight from any other pleasure. Here is the slokam, for your enjoyment:

 

 

 

 

 

"Kaasaara poorva kavi mukhya vimarda janmaa

 

Panna tata ikshu subhagasya raso bahuste

 

Tvat paada padma madhuni tvat ananya bhogye

 

Noonam samaasrayati nootana sharkkaraa tvam"

 

 

 

We are now able to appreciate why Swami Desikan is acclaimed as a lion among poets-"Kavi Simham". To whom else would strike the idea of conceiving the three Azhwars as the rollers through which sugarcane passes, squeezing out its essence? And who else can contemplate the process generating a sugar of immeasurable sweetness, when it mixes with the heady honey from the Lord's lotus feet?

 

 

 

When he compares the Lord of Tirukkovalur to sugarcane, Swami Desikan's mind is obviously musing over the lines of Tirumangai Mannan, (for, he is, after all, "Kaliyan urai kudi konda karutthudayon") who too sings of this divine sugarcane gracing the fields near Penna river, delighting itself with the sweet songs of the honey bees thronging the cane fields. The bees here represent the Mudal Azhwars and the songs, the first three Tiruvandaadis. Here is the relevant portion of the beautiful paasuram-

 

 

 

"Konkarumbu sura punnai kuravaar solai kuzhaa vari vandu isai paadum paadal kettu

 

Teenkarumbu kan valarum kazhani soozhnda Tirukkovaloor adanul kanden naane"

 

 

 

It is no surprise that during Trivikramavataram, all the three wide worlds were easily measured by just three steps of the Lord's holy feet, avers Swami Desikan. What is indeed surprising is that He made His huge, cosmic form small enough to be accommodated in the narrow passageway at Tirukkovalur, squeezing it in somehow along with the three Azhwars. The extent to which He reduced His primordial form shows how much He was enamoured of the three Azhwars and wanted to be one with them, on that stormy night.

 

 

 

"Chitram na tat trishu mitaani padeshu yat te

 

visvaani amooni bhuvanaani visankateshu

 

Bhaktai: samam kvachit asou bhavana ekadese

 

Maati sma moorti: amitaa tat iha adbhutam na:"

 

 

 

In another slokam, pondering over the possible reasons for the Lord's strange conduct of squeezing in with three of His devotees in a narrow space, Swami Desikan concludes that Emperuman's infatuation with Azhwars was due to their having mastered Vedas and Yoga and the purity of their devotion. Having known intimately about the Lord's auspicious attributes from the Shruti, Azhwars could verily see the Lord through their deep Yogic saadhana. When these two attainments combine with boundless love for the Lord, it is but natural that Emperuman revealed Himself to them in all His glory, says the following slokam, again from Dehalisa Stuti:

 

 

 

"Deepena kenachit aseeta ruchaa niseete

 

sneha upapanna parisuddha guna arpitena

 

dahra avakaasa nibidam dadarusu: bhavantam

 

svaadhyaaya yoga nayanaa: suchaya: kaveendraa:"

 

 

 

These Azhwars were not mere poets, but kings among poets-"Kaveendraa:", their divine poetry capable of moving not only men but the Lord Himself. They are to be counted as the principals among poets-"Kavi mukhya:" Just as the Ganga originated from the Lord's feet during Trivikramaavataram and split into three huge streams, the beautiful compositions of the three Azhwars too originated from the upraised feet of the Lord of Tirukkovalur (it was the Lord's beautiful and gigantic form which inspired the three Tiruvandaadis of the three Azhwars). To Swami Desikan, it appears as though the Lord's holy feet originated another set of three streams, a new Ganga so to say, in the form of the three hundred paasurams of Peyazhwar, Bhootattaazhwar and Poigaiyazhwar-

 

 

 

"Vetaala Bhoota Sarasaam apadisya vaacham

 

Praayena tat prasava bhoomim avaapa bhooya:"

 

 

 

Swami Desikan continues to describe how much Emperuman was enamoured of the Azhwars. The Acharya says the Lord created a new and broad route through the heavens to Sri Vaikunttam and took the Azhwars there personally. The upraised feet of the Tirukkovalur Emperuman and His reddish nails are so luminous that they cast their brilliance far and wide, appearing to light up a new route to Paramapadam, created specifically for the Mudal Azhwars. As compensation for having made their place of stay at Tirukkovalur congested by squeezing in with them, Emperuman appears to have fashioned a broad and spacious route to His abode, meant solely for these devotees, says Swami Desikan-

 

 

 

"Kreedaa parena bhavataa vihita uparodhaan

 

Aaradhakaan anuparodham udanchayishyan

 

Taamrena paada nakharena tadaa anda madhye

 

Ghantaa padam kamapi noonam avarttaya: tvam"

 

 

 

If such are Swami Desikan's tributes to the Mudal Azhwars in his Sanskrit Stotras, he praises them no less in his Tamizh Prabandams. In Prabanda Saaram, for instance, he tells us that Sri Poigayazhwar was divine mercy and compassion personified-"Arul migutthathu oru vadivaai Kacchi tanil...vandu uditta Punitha!". Swami Desikan's devotion for the three Azhwars is such that he addresses these Azhwars as "Vende! ("Oh! My King!"), "Deve! (Oh! My Lord!)", "Parama! (Supreme Being)", "Punitha!" (sacred and immaculate person) etc., all of which are normally used to denote the Lord Himself. By calling himself "Pazhavadiyen", Swami Desikan signifies that not only he, but his predecessors and forefathers for innumerable generations past, had been devotees of Mudal Azhwars. Swami Desikan also tells us that hard-to-understand parts of the Shruti can be understood only through the paasurams of Azhwars-"Teliyaada marai Nilangal teligindrome". In Adhikaara Sangraham, the Acharya praises Mudal Azhwars as "Paatukku uriya pazhayavar"-ancient sages who knew how to adulate Emperuman-- and the lamps lit by them as being Lamps of Truth, capable of destroying the gloom of ignorance enveloping the whole world and highlighting the eternal message of the Upanishads-" Naatukku irul sega, naanmarai andi nadai vilanga, veetukku idai kazhikke veli kaattum am mey vilakke". He swears further that the contribution of the Mudal Azhwars is immeasurable and beyond recompense-the Lord Himself would not be able to think of a suitable reward for the Mudal Azhwars' yeomen service of lighting up the lamp of wisdom and devotion, thereby driving away ignorance and sin from our souls-

 

 

 

"Etri manatthu ezhil gnaana vilakkai irul anaitthum

 

maatrinavarkku oru kaimmaaru Maayanum kaanakillaan"

 

 

 

and that the only way we can repay them even slightly is to constantly adore them and to spread their glory for all to know.

 

 

 

While Swami Desikan's reverence to Azhwars in general is boundless, as can be gauged from his various works, he seems to reserve a special niche of devotion and a lofty pedestal of respect for the Mudal Azhwars, who take precedence over other Azhwars not only chronologically, but also by their symbolic acts of lighting up lamps of wisdom to drive away the demon of ignorance from our souls. They had the unique distinction of enjoying and benefiting from the enlightening company of one another, which no other Azhwar was blessed with. The reason for Swami Desikan's empathy with the Mudal Azhwars is not far to seek-both were responsible for lighting up lamps in darkened souls, banishing ignorance and sin. Both (at least Poigayazhwar) were born under the star of Sravanam. Both were "amsam' of nitya suris, sent to earth by the Lord for emancipation of errant souls. Sri Amudanaar tells us that the three Azhwars were enshrined in Sri Ramanuja's heart-

 

" Bhootat tiruvadi taalgal nenjatthu uraya vaitthu aalum Iraamaanusan",

 

"Poygai Piraan .erittha tiru vilakkai tan tiruvullatthe irutthum paraman Iraamaanusan"

 

"Tamizh talaivan ponnadi pottrum Iraamaanusan".

 

Anything or anyone so dear to Sri Ramanuja cannot but be the very pulse of Swami Desikan's heart.

 

 

 

To conclude, shall we enjoy a couple of paasurams from the Upadesa Ratnamaalai, which finds Sri Manavala Mamunigal in absolute agreement with Swami Desikan about the glory of the Mudal Azhwars?

 

 

 

"Iyppasiyil Onam Avittam Sathayam ivai

 

Oppillaa naatkal ulagattheer-eppuviyum

 

Pesu pugazh Poygayaar Bhootatthaar Peyaazhwaar

 

Tesudane tondru chirappaal"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mattrulla Azhwaargalukku munne vandu udittu

 

Nattramizhaal nool seidu naattai uyttha-pettrimayor

 

Endru Mudal Azhwaargal ennum peyar ivarkku

 

Nindradu ulagatthe nigazhndu"

 

 

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

dasan, sadagopan