Malliyoor, Guruvayoorappan's gift to His Devotees !!

February 10, 2010

Dear Bhaktas,

Hinduism ( Sanatana Dharma) contains several paths. All these paths are founded on the Vedas ,

A vedic path is vibrant when it's Bhagavan and His divine scriptures are smoothly transmitted to the Bhaktas. For this , Bhagavan-realized MahAtamas should be available at all times .

In the case of Krishna-bhakti, the pro-active Sri Krishna assigns Rishis to distribute the wisdom of Gita and Bhagavatam among His bhaktas.

At present Brahmashri Malliyoor Sankaran Namboodiri is the foremost Vaishnava-Rishi . The hugely popular ritual *Bhagavata Sapthaham * was initiated and popularized by Him .

Bhagavatha-Hamsam

As the eldest son of Parameswaran Namboodiri and Arya Antharjanam., Sankaran Namboodiri was born in the year 1096. At the age of 9 he had his Upanayanam and at 14 he completed his Samavarthanam. Later he spent few years at Narasimha temple by studying and performing puja and returned home at the age of 12.

His father did not send him to school only because he thought that by doing so his son will lose his Brahmanya and will get into bad company. And thus at the age of 14 Sankaran Namboodiri started learning Sanskrit under tutelage of Panmana Vasudevan Namboodiri.

He fell ill due to prolonged working hours at the temple, studies and lack of adequate rest. It all started with indigestion. In a matter of a year his health deteriorated further and was taken various places for treatment including that of Thaikkatu Mooss where he felt better but illness still bugged him. Further, on the instructions of Kaithamattom, he was treated by Kuzhiyadi Raman Namboodiri which lasted for almost 6 months. But all these could not bring Sankaran Namboodiri back to good health.

It was at this point of time that Kuzhiyadi Raman Namboodiri suggested him to practice Surya Namaskaram along with the medicines. In between, he also went to Thiruvananthapuram and stayed there for 15 days as part of treatment but in vain. All these prolonged affairs affected Sankaran Namboodiri psyche.

It was at this critical juncture that he turned towards Bhagavan Sri Guruvayoorappan following his mother's request. And thus during the Malayalam month of Thulam Sankaran Namboodiri reached the Sree Krishna temple at Guruvayur. It was at Guruvayur that Sankaran Namboodiri met the scholarly bhakta Brahmasri Padappa Namboodiri who stayed at Guruvayur at that time. He spent much time with him whose diet included only *Nedyam* ( prasadam) which he shared with all those who were near him at the time of having it.

Padappa Namboodiri had an instant liking for his new bhakta. It was the same for the devotee too. It was at this revered place that Padappa Namboodiri blessed his new bhakta-disciple with lessons of Bhagawatha. And the young bhakta submitted the only coin that he had as dakshina at the guru's feet. It's an unwritten rule that one should read the Bhagawatha everyday after learning the Bhagawatha. But the bhakta had no means to buy one. However, Bhagavan Guruvayorappan himself found out a way for procuring one. An old lady who was a staunch bhakta brought a Bhagawatha and gave it to him. Thus Sankaran Namboodiri started reading out the Bhagawatha and along with it he also explained the same in a vivid manner. It was a moving experience for those who happened to listen to Sankaran Namboodiri. His Bhagawatha reading was well appreciated by one and all and soon he returned to his home.

At that time Mamanna Swamiyar (Samavedi) used to stay at Thiruvarpu. He invited Sankaran Namboodiri to continue his pursuit for knowledge and stayed at the Math for two years and went ahead with his higher studies. He was very happy at the fact that his desire to learn was getting its continuity from unexpected corners. During his two year tenure Malliyur studies Nishedham, Tharkam, Kavyam, Kaumudi, Vyakaranam etc.

It was at this point of time that Malliyur felt like going for Bhajan at Adityapuram. And he reached the Adityapuram Surya temple and continued with his Bhajana. Soon his in-depth knowledge of Bhagawatha and its interpretations had good following in and around Adityapuram. And he received an invitation from Ilanjhithanam Illam for Bhagawatha recital. For a period of six months he stayed there and continued with his Bhagawatha recital and again at Kandamaruku Illam for a period of two years with recitals and lectures. From there he went to Kumaranellur Bhagawathy temple with his recitals.

It was during this period that he received an invitation from Chirattam Illam at Olassa for rendering his lectures and he reached the place and stayed there for nearly two years as he got an offer to learn Ashtangahridayam. As he stayed there he was very disturbed with the thoughts of illness and one fine day he had a *Swapna-darshan* ( revelation in dream) which advocated him to practice surya-namaskaram to get relived of all his illnesses.

Bhagavatha Sapthaham

Shrimad Bhagavatham is a sacred text rendered by Sage Veda Vyasa. Despite the fact that Veda Vyasa passed on the Vedas, the Puranas and the Mahabharatha to his disciples he felt a void in his heart. To fill this void, he was initiated by sage Narada into doing a Bhakthi Grantha (devotional scripture) on Bhagavan Sri Krishna, namely, Shrimad Bhagavatham. Though Sage Veda Vyasa passed on the Vedas, the Puranas and the Mahabharatha to his disciples he kept Shrimad Bhagavatham, the greatest treasure, to himself, as he felt that the recipient had to be of the highest order.

And so it was later given to none other than his own son - Brahma Jnani (man of supreme knowledge) Sri Shuka. The Bhagavatham that we read is the one that Sri Shuka narrated to King Parikshith (son of Abhimanyu and the grandson of Arjuna) on the banks of the Holy Ganges for seven days. Just listening to the narration of Bhagavatham took Parikshith to eternity. Such is the greatness of this text, it is the visible form of Sri Krishna ,"Shrimad Bhagavathaakhyoyam Prathyaksha Krishnavahai"The Essence of Shrimad Bhagavatham

Dharma is classified into Vaidhika dharma and Bhagavatha dharma. The six ways of nithya karma (daily duties) constitute Vaidhika dharma. And Bhagavatha dharma constitutes, `Prabhodanam', `Unchavruthi,' `Japa/paarayana`, `katha' `shravanam', `keerthanam' and dolotsavam (waking up Bhagavan, begging for food, repetition of a single name of Bhagavan /reading the Bhagavatham, listening to the divine plays, singing the glory of Bhagavan and putting Bhagavan to bed, respectively). Observance of this Bhagavatha dharma is the very essence of Bhagavatham and will take one to the ultimate goal – Sri Krishna –realisation .

Om Namo Narayanaya!!!!