Acharya vaibhavam - 45- Swami NammAzhwAr- SaTakOpar- kaarimaaRan- VakuLAbharaNan - engaL Kula Pathi- Prapanna jana santhAna kooTasthar

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

According to Srivaishnava Guru paramparA, Lord

VishvaksEnar forms the bridge to the Celestial Acharya

and the Acharyas who appeared in human form for our

sake. Senapathi VishvaksEnar himself came down to

Alwar Thirunagari, and gave pancha samskAram and

initiated Swami SatakOpa [Nammazhwar].

 

Swami Desikan in his 4th verse of YathirAja saptathi:

 

yasya saarasvatham srOthO vakuLAmOdhavasitham |

srutheenAm viswa mAyAlam SatArim thamupAsmahE ||

 

We mediate on ShaTaari, (NammAzhwAr) whose garland of

VakuLa flowers gets its fragrance exuded into the

fluent flow of poetry - a work of literature at which

the Vedas, having been tired of imparting codes of

life, even ineffectively, can safely rest and relax

now, since AzhwAr's works will suffice and do the same

job more effectively!

 

VishvaksEnar revealed the meanings of the three

rahasyAs and yOgam to SatakOpan and thus became the

Achaarya for the latter. SatakOpan was blessed to wear

the Mahizhampoo garland of the Lord of Thirukkuruhoor

and as a result the prabandhams that came out of his

mouth carry the never-fading fragrance of those

flowers sanctified by the Lord. The blessed

prabandhams of the AzhwAr in Tamil instruct one and

all about the deep meanings of VedAntha in an easy

-to-understand manner. As a result of this unique

service by the AzhwAr to the Sanskritic VedAs , they

take a much needed rest . The flood of the paasurams

form the AzhwAr's lips flow and uplift us and bless us

with all kinds of auspiciousness.

 

Thus as a paramAchaarya , SatakOpan thru his most

merciful service deserves our uninterrupted meditation

on him and his aruLiccheyalgaL.

 

[From asmadhAcharyan His Holiness PaRavakkOttai

Andavan Swami’s tamil commentary on Yathiraja

Sapthathi- Translated into English by Sri CG Balaji

swami of Bangalore] Nammazhwar was born to a devout

couple by name Kaariyar and Udaya Nangai with the

divine anugraham of the Lord of Thirukkurungudi, on

the forty-sixth day of Kali yugam, which is around 9th

century CE, in the year of Pramadi, month of Vaikaasi,

Pournami, Friday in the constellation of Vishakha, as

the divine incarnation (amsham) of Sriman Narayanan

and Sri Vishwaksena Azhwan, the chieftain of the

Lord’s army, at a place called Thirukkurugur situated

in the land of Pandyas, on the banks of Tamraparni

river. Even after twelve days, the baby didn’t have

milk, didn’t cry, didn’t move and did not open its

eyes. It was then taken to the temple of Polindu NinRa

Piraan at Thirukkurugur and named as Maaran.

 

At the temple the baby crawled towards the tamarind

tree (Puliyamaram), which was considered as the amsham

of Adi Sheshan, and sat under the

tree in a yogic posture and started meditating which,

lasted for 16 continuous years without any food, water

or sleep. Vishwaksena Ahzwan then in ekaantham

(solitary environment) administered the sacraments of

Panchasmaskaram on Maaran and initiated him into the

manthrams and their esoteric meanings. Maran was known

as “Shathakopan” since he resisted the “shatha vayu”

or the binding wind that encompasses a newly born.

 

He also came to be known as “Vakulabharana” when he

accepted the garland of Magizhumpoo presented to him

by Polindu Ninra Piraan. With his powerful and

profound writings he subdued many other faiths and

philosophies and came to be known as “Parankusha” and

having born at Thirukkurugur, also came to be known as

“Thirukkurugaippiran”.

 

It is said that just as the name Rama always refers to

Sri Sita Rama, similarly the name Azhwar, though

twelve in number, always refers to Shathakopa. Lord

Krishna in his Geetha says “Vaasudevas sarvamithi

samahAthmA sudhurlaba: which means, “One who is

totally dedicated and surrendered to Vasudeva is very

rare to be found”. May be it is because of the reason

that the Lord during his incarnation as Lord Krishna

couldn’t see Nammazhwar who, throughout his life saw

Kannan or Lord Krishna, in whatever he ate or drank

and remained with his mind contemplating on the Lord

all the time.

 

Nammazhwar is also said to have lamented upon his

fate, for, had he born a few days earlier in dwapara

yugam then he would have had the bhagyam of seeing

Kannan directly during his manifestation on the Earth

as Lord Krishna.

 

Madhurakavi Azhwar, who incarnated in dwapara yugam

before Maaran, was touring the northern lands on a

pilgrimage. During this time at Ayodhya, when he

looked towards the southern direction and paid his

respects to the Lord there, he saw a strange

brilliance flashing in the sky. He followed that

brilliance and carried himself southward and finally

reached Thirukkurugur and saw the great luminary who

laid meditating under the tamarind tree. He clapped

his hands and Azhwar awoke from his yoga nidra hearing

the sound and opened his eyes and glanced at

Madhurakavi Azhwar. Madhurakavi Azhwar immediately

addressed Maaran with a question

 

setthathin vayiRRil siRiyadhu piRandhaal etthait

thinRu engE kidakkum ?

 

that is, “If a young one is born out of a dead one,

what will it have and where will it live?” If a

Jeevatma that is atomic in nature enters into a body

created due to the influence of a lifeless primordial

nature or prakruthi, then what will it experience and

where will it live? To this maaRan replied

 

atthai thinRu angE kidakkum..

 

that is, it shall have the same and there it shall

live”. That is, due to its association with the body,

it shall experience happiness and sorrow and shall

live there saying “inbutREn; vaadinEn”.

 

After hearing this, Madhurakavi Azhwar immediately

adopted Sri Nammazhwar as his acharya and prostrated

before him and requested Maaran to impart to him the

esoteric manthras. Maaran accepted his request and

after initiating him into the high truths, appointed

him as a scribe to record all his divine works.

 

Nammazhwar composed Thiruviruttam, a collection of

hundred psalms as the essence of Rig Vedam,

Thiruvaashiriyam with seven psalms as the essence of

Yajur Vedam, Periya Thiruvandadi with eighty-seven

psalms as the essence of Atharvana Vedam and

Thiruvaimozhi with a thousand hundred and two psalms

as the essence of Sama Vedam. He also sang thirty-six

divya deshams. Bhattar glorifies the works of

Nammazhwar and says “drAmideem vEda samhithAm” while

Swamy Deshikan glorifies it as “sahithA saarvabhoumee

samhithAm dhrushta vanthAm”

 

One should always remain in contemplation of the great

Shathakopa for his immense contributions to the

sampradayam. When a study of Vedas is undertaken, one

might find something in them to be of asaaram (without

essence), alpa saaram (with limited essence), saaram

(with essence), sarataram (greater essence) and

saaratamam (ultimate essence). It is required that one

accepts and studies only the ultimate essence of the

Vedas (saaratamam) suitable for paramaikantins after

having rejected the others. Azhwar’s srisooktis are

like the pure cloudburst which is free from the saline

qualities of sea-water and is rich in content like

(thirattu-paal) thick condensed sweet milk and the

ultimate truths (saratamam) depicted in them are

greatly cherished like the divine nectar.

 

Having adorned the garlands of magizhum-poo presented

by Paraman, it is not only Azhwar’s thirumeni that has

the fragrance of magizhum-poo but also the sri-sooktis

that were worded by him. What a fragrance! Having

extolled the divine glories of the Lord,

brahma-gandham emanates out of Azhwar while his tongue

is luscious with brahma-rasam.

 

Many philosophers, in order to show their native ideas

to be present in works of yore, have gone against the

rule of exegesis (mimamsa-nyaya) and have greatly

mis-interpreted those works in self-contradicting

ways. Having seen the statements of Vedic scriptures

being mis-interpreted, a deeply hurt Veda maatha finds

some solace in the divine outpourings of Nammazhwar.

Azhwar most beautifully speaks about the divine

attributes and glories of Paraman who is the sole

person exalted in the Vedas. Swamy Deshikan says that

may be it is for this reason that Vedamaatha moves

around in graceful paces in the divine outpourings of

Nammazhwar.

 

Swamy Deshikan says that he bows in front of Azhwar,

who opposed the binding wind of Shata-vayu and the

debates of those adversaries who had incomplete

knowledge. He stands as an enemy to those passing

purposeless statements. Nammazhwar, who remains in

perpetual contemplation of Paraman attains divine

communion with him. Because of this Paraman gets the

ethereal fragrance of Azhwar’s magizhum-poo while

Azhwar gets the fragrance of Paraman’s thirutthuzhaai

malai (garland of basil leaves). It is not an

exaggeration to say that, having adored Nammazhwar who

remains glorifying the Lord all the time, the same

ethereal fragrance of magizhum-poo and thirutthuzhaai

could be found near Deshikan and his sri-sooktis too.

 

Let us conclude with Sri AlavandhAr's sthOthra rathna

verse paying tribute to Swami NammAzhwAr:

 

mathA pithA yuvathayas tanayA vibhUthi:

sarvam yadhEva niyamEna madhanvayAnAm

Adhyasya Na: Kulapather VakuLAbhirAmam

Srimath Tadhangri YugaLam praNamAmi MoordhnA

 

For me and all those associated with me, Swamy

NammAzhwAr is always the Mother, Father, progeny,

spouses and all other wealth. At the most

beautiful pair of Thiruvadis of the emperor of our

Kulam [Kula pathi], Swamy NammAzhwAr adorned with the

most fragrant divine VakulA flower garland, adiyEn

salutes those holy feet with my head.

 

Swamy Desikan's tribute in UpakAra Sangraham:

 

"anthamilA pErinbham arundha yERkkum

adiyOmai aRivudanE yenRum kaatthu

munthai vinai nirai vazhiyil ozhuhAthemmai

munnilayAm Desikar tamm munnE sErtthu

manthiramum manthiratthin vazhiyum kaatti

Vazhippadutthi vaann yERRi adimai koLLa

Tanthai yena ninRa Tanit ThirumAl thALil

talai vaitthOm SATAKOPAN ARULAALE

 

----Mudal AdhikAram of UpakAra Sangraham

 

We bow unto the matchless thiruvadigaL of ThirumAl

solely due to the Krupai of Swamy NammAzhwAr, who made

us fit to enjoy the measureless aanandham of Moksham ,

who protected our eternal Dharma bhUtha Jn~Anam , who

saved us from being swept away by the ancient torrent

of karmaas by placing us at the feet of sadAchAryans,

who in turn initiated us

in to Thirumanthiram and Saranagati [Prapatthi]

UpAyam and then helped us climb the steps to Sri

Vaikuntam for nithya Kaimkaryam to Sriya: pathi.

[Translation by Sri V Satakopan Swami, USA]

 

Swami Nammaazhwaar ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm

 

Regards

Namo Narayana

dasan