Bhagavad Ramanuja Vaibhavam- 1.33- Nammazhwar is grander than the very sun..

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

All Acharyas, have paid greatest tributes to our Sri Nammaazhwar in recognition

of his unrivalled contribution, there is one sloka in particular, attributed to

Sri Nathamuni, which speaks volumes about the Azhwar's greatness:

 

" Yat gO sahasram apahanti tamAmsi pumsAm

NarayanO vasati yatra sashankha chakra:

Yan mandalam Shrutigatam praNamanti viprA:

Tasmai namO VakuLabhooshaNa BhAskarAya "

 

In this beautiful tribute, Sri NathamunigaL likens Sri Nammazhwar to the Sun.

 

Sri Sadagopan Iyengar Swami writes:

 

The following analysis of the similarities between the Lord of the Skies and the

Lord of the PrapannAs would make more interesting reading.

 

1. The Sun generates thousands of rays, each travelling millions of miles

to light up the earth. Similarly, Azhwar'd outpourings consist of a thousand and

odd pasurams and thousands of nectarine words dripping with devotion.

 

2. The Sun fills the earth with precious light, but for which the world

would wallow forever in benumbing gloom. Likewise, Azhwar's pasurams, by holding

forth the luminous lamp of knowledge, banish the darkness of ignorance from our

souls.

 

3. The Sun is touted to be the abode of the Paramapurusha. Numerous Shruti

vAkyAs can be found, giving the Lord's address as the centre of the Solar

System- " ya EshOntarAdityE Hiranmaya: purusha: " , " SayaschAyam PurushE,

eschAsAvAditye, sa Eka: " . The Smrti too confirms this- " DhyEya: sadA Savithru

mandala madhyavarti Narayana: "

 

More than the Sun, it is in Sri Nammazhwar that the Lord resides with delight,

as Azhwar himself confirms more than once-

" Tirumalirumsolai endrEn, enna, Tirumal vandu en nenju niraya pugundAn " .

 

4. The Sun (or the Lord residing in the luminous orb) is the object of

worship for all on earth. It is the Sun to whom prayers are addressed by

everyone thrice a day during Sandhyavandanam. Right from the brahmachAri to the

enlightened Maharshis pay obeisance to the Sun. Sri Nammazhwar is similarly

adored and adulated by one and all, from exalted Acharyas like Sri Bhashyakara

and Swami Desikan right down to the unlettered devotee, as the " Prapanna jana

kootasttha " , as the Satakopa Muni for whom the glorious Lord was mother, father,

wife, children and coveted wealth all rolled into one ( " MAtA, PitA, yuvataya:

tanayA vibhooti: sarvam yadEva niyamEna madanvayAnAm " ).

 

5. It is the Sun which makes the lotus bloom. The lotus is like a chaste

lady who is gladdened only by the presence of her husband. No amount of heat,

other than the Sun's, can make the flower open its petals. Sri Kulasekhara

Perumal attests to this- " Sen thazhalE vandu azhalai seididinum senkamalam

antaram sEr vem kadirOrkku allAl alarAvAl " . Likewise, Sri Nammazhwar too makes

the lotus of our soul bloom with divine wisdom, through the enlightening

Tiruvaimozhi and other prabandas. Since he himself has been blessed with

blemishless wisdom, Azhwar is able to impart enlightenment, eradicate the gloom

of ignorance and restore to the soul its original attribute of boundless wisdom,

which was hitherto clouded due to enshackling Karma. Looked at in a different

way, Sri Nammazhwar, through his immeasurably sweet pasurams, makes the lotus

eyes of the Lord bloom with delight.

 

6. The Sun is the crowning centrepiece of the Solar System, with all other

planets orbiting around the luminous Master, conceding supremacy and importance.

There are some planets like the Moon, whose glory is a reflected one, borrowed

from the Sun. Similarly, among the elite group of the Lord's devotees, Sri

Nammazhwar glows as the luminous, Sun-like centrepiece in a gem-studded garland.

It is an accepted tenet of our Sampradaya that Sri Nammazhwar is the " angi " and

all other Azhwars " angAs " , attesting to the primacy accorded to this scion of

TirukkurugUr. It is said, for instance, that Sri Parakala's prabandas are but an

expansion and reiteration of Sri Nammazhwar's outpourings.

 

7. The Sun absorbs salty water from the seas through the process of

evaporation and causes precipitation in needy areas, providing people with

life-giving water. Sri Satakopa Muni too imbibed the entire expanse of

difficult-to-comprehend Shruti and blessed us all with the quintessence of Veda

and Vedanta in the form of easily comprehensible, incredibly sweet Tiruvaimozhi

pasurams. It is for this immeasurable contribution that the Azhwar is acclaimed

as " Vedam Tamizh seida MAran Satakopan " , " eidarkku ariya maraigaLai Ayiram

intamizhAl seidarkku ulagil varum Satakopan " , etc.

 

The Sun offers suffers eclipses and is often masked by dark clouds. However,

Azhwar's glory can never be hidden and always shines forth through his immortal

compositions. The Sun performs his duty of illuminating the world due to fear of

the Lord, who is a hard task master- " bheeshOdEti Soorya: " says the Upanishad.

Azhwar's kainkaryam and outpourings, on the other hand, are prompted by an

overwhelming love and affection for Emperuman and are a result of " anubhava

janita preeti " , adoration born out of extremely sublime experience of divinity

in all its facets.

 

The Sun is but a jeevatma like us, albeit an exalted one, whereas Azhwar is a

nitya sUri or a permanent resident of Sri Vaikunatam, sent down to the mundane

worlds for the express purpose of reforming errant humanity, a task at which the

Lord Himself, despite numerous avataras, admitted defeat.

 

The Acharya Hridayam too follows in the footsteps of Sri Nathamuni in ascribing

to Sri Nammazhwar the glory of destroying internal gloom and drying up the Sea

of Samsara, a feat which could not be achieved by the Sun, as also by Sri Rama

who took birth in the Sun's own dynasty (Ravi kulam)

 

" Aditya Rama DivAkara Achyuta BhAnukkaLukku pOgAda uLLiruL neengi sOshiyAda

piravikkadal vattri vikasiyAda pOdil kamalam malarndadu VakuLa BhooshaNa

Bhaskara udayatthilE "

Thanks a million to Sri Sadagopan Iyengar Swami for the wonderful write up...

and his permission to share this.

 

AzhwAr ThiruvadigalE SaraNam

Regards

namo narayana

dAsan