PeriyAzhwAr Thirunakshathram- Today- aani swaathi... Let us pay our humble praNamams at the lotus feet of AzhwAr

June 26, 2007

Sri:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

Dearest all,

Today- Aani Swathi is our PeriyAzhwAr

thirunakshathram. It is adiyEn’s intent to ramble

something on “Periya AzhwAr”. (based on an excellent

article released as 75th Thirunakshathra malar for

Swami Sri U Ve Purisai Krishnamachariar)

Soodikkoduttha Naacchiyaar- GodhA PiraaTTi’s dear

father is PeriyAzhwAr, VishNu Chitthar or Bhattar

Piraan. Since his mind was always on VishNu, he was

called VishNu chitthar. He was conferred by the Pandya

king, Vallabhadevan, the title of Bhattar Piraan, when

he uttered Vedic statements to prove Parathvam of

Sriman Narayanan and was given a bag of gold coins.

Swami Desikan says (in GodhAsthuthi) in “thaathasthu

thE madhumidha…”slOkam, the last line “lEbE

mahattharapadhaanuguNam prasaadham..” Because You had

adorned Yourself with those garlands, Emperumaan

conferred Your father with the title

“mahattharapadham” (PeriyAzhwAr..)

Sri Manavala maauni says:

“mangaLaasaasanatthil maRRuLLaazhwArgaL/

thangaarvaatthaLavu thaananRi- ponghum/

parivaalE villiputthoor bhattar piraan peRRaan/

periyAzwArennum peyar.

Due to that pongum parivu, He was alled “PeriyAzhwAr”-

says Yatheendra PravaNar.

Now, just for our enjoyment: - Why should VishNu

chitthar be called PeriyAzhwAr?”

It should have been NammAzhwAr more suited for this

“Periya AzhwAr” title for 1. being in AchArya

Parampara 2. For being an avayavi with all other

AzhwArs as his parts of the body. or It should have

been PeyAzhwAr (who is called mahathaahvayar), who

burst out with ThirukkaNdEn ponmEni kaNdEn ..

But it is VishNu chitthar who is called PeriyAzhwAr.-

WHY???

1. NammAzhwAr: He sang 1000’s . But till the tenth

decad, He was longing to join Emperumaan. He declares

only in 10.10.. “ini naan pOgalottEn...onRum maayam

seyyEl ennaiyE…” (Hereafter I shall never ever leave

You; Don’t deceive me and leave me..). So

When NammAzhwAr was almost through in 10.10, he

declared that he would NOT let Emperumaan go away from

him. Since it is only in the end of Thiruvaymozhi,

NammAzhwAr loses the race of being

called “PeriyAzhwAr”.

2. pEyAzhwAr: Mahadhaahvayar: He was blessed with the

vison of Lord even before AzhwAr started compsoing

pAsurams. But AzhwAr did never get that fear of losing

Him and did not utter to that effect. He just said

“ThirukkaNdEn pon mEni kaNdEn..” He was blessed

With the saakshaathkaaram like what Dhruvan was

blessed with. Since AzhwAr did not have fear of losing

Him, nor was he worried about and started with his

kshEthraadnam with other two AzhwArs, pEyAzhwAr loses

the race.

Now, what about PeriyAzhwAr? He was blessed with

Emperumaan’s Kattaksham on GarudA and that’s when

AzhwAr burst out with “long live; long live”

The Lord, Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan appeared on

Garuda to enjoy and witness His bhaktha’s success,

Bhattar Piraan’s procession on elephant along with

whole lot of citizens of Pandya kingdom. That’s when

VishNu chitthar saw the Most exquisitely Beautiful

Emperumaan on Garuda and with the outburst of “Pongum

Parivu” (as nicely enjoyed by Sri Manvala maamuni)

(aiyO! ivLO azhagaa irukkaanE! VeLiyE vandhuttaanE!

KaN padumE!” ), sang PallaaNdu, PallaaNdu… Long live

and Long live Your Lotus Feet!

PeriyAzhwAr, the moment he sings first pAsuram

“pallaaNdu, pallaaNdu, He gets worried whether he will

lose this Bhagyam of having Him as He

Was present in front of AzhwAr. Immediately, he

sings(“adiyOdum ninnOdum PirivinRi aayiram

pallaaNdu..”) Long live Your relationship with me…

(Your eternal servant) without any gap /separation and

then only, AzhwAr proceeds to even pray for PiraaTTi

and other PanchAyudhams.

Since he has realised this, and sought for an eternal

bondage with the Lord right in the first two pAsurams

itself, He ALONE DESERVES BEING CALLED “PeriyAzhwAr”

(If there’s anything good in this write up, the credit

goes to the author who had written in Tamil. Any

errors/faults are only MINE. )

Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami adds in his inimitable

style:

Vishnuchitta was called " Periya Alwar " - the great

Alwar for very many reasons:

1. It is the greatness of his love for the Lord that

made him pour out the Pallandu hymns.

2. Ordinarily. only elders would bless the young ones

for a long life. " Periya' means elder and therefore he

was called Periyalwar. To the objection that such an

attitude was 'unnatural' ( Swarupa Viruddham), Pillai

Lokacharya has argued that as it was a 'Mangala

Aasaasanam', it was quite in order and because IT WAS

A STRANGE CASE OF KNOWLEDGE RIPENING INTO AN IGNORANCE

OF SORTS DUE TO AN EXTRAORDINARY LOVE AND AFFECTION.

3. King Janaka laid a challenge through the Siva

Dhanus in Sri Sita's marriage; Kumbar, the Aayar Chief

laid a challenge in the form of the 7 bulls in the

marriage of Nappinnai; But, Vishnuchitta laid no

challenges in the marriage of his daughter, Andal

because of his obvious conviction that in due time,

'THE OWNER WOULD CLAIM WHAT HE OWNED.'

4. It is natural to honor anyone who brings relief

from suffering. That is how Rishyasringa was honoured

when rains came to the parched land of Angadesa as he

set foot there. Vishnuchitta also performed a similar

miracle. When a famine raged in the northern city of

Kandam Kadinagar on the banks of Ganges, he was

invited to the city to solve the crisis. As he set

foot there, welcome rains showered and the place was

relieved of the famine. His greatness was honored.

Periyalwar himself is said to refer to this incident

thus " Venkali Naliyaa Vittuchittar "

5. Parasara who wrote Vishnu Purana known as Purana

Ratna deals with the story of Sri Krishna only in the

5th Amsa of his work; Sukhabrahmam who wrote Srimad

Bhaagavatam has dealt with the story of Krishna only

in the 10 th Skaandam; But, Vishnuchitta fills his

entire Tirumozhi with the story of Lord Krishna

vividly portraying every detail of the Lord's

childhood ' leelas ' in his own inimitable style.

6.Another esoteric aspect concerning Periyalwar that

really makes him ' Periya' is the fact that he is the

incarnation of Garuda. Garuda reincarnated himself as

Ajuna's chariot and as such he witnessed the Lord

delivering the Baghavad Gita - especially the Charama

Sloka to Arjuna. Thus, apart from Arjuna, he was the

one who was the direct recipient of the Lord's

message. Andal refers to this when she says " Meymei

Peru Vaarthai Vittu Chittar Kettiruppaar " .' Vaarthai'

is Moolamantram;' Peru Vaarthai is the Mantra Ratna of

Dwayam and ' Meymei Peru Vaarthai ' is the Charama

sloka.

7. He was great also in a different way. He became the

father- in- law of Lord Vishnu when his daughter,

Andal married the Lord. - - an honor none else

could claim.

PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dasan

______________________________\

____

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that gives answers, not web links.

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June 27, 2007

Jai Srimannarayana.

Om Asmathgurubyonamaha:

Srimaan Madhavan Swami,

Nice article regarding the 'Periya Alwar'.

Adiyen:

Raghu Ramanuja Dasa

-

Madhavakkannan V

; ; acharya ; nama-singapore ; oppiliappan ; parakalamatham ; ; desikasampradaya ; bakthi-indonesia ; ramanuja

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 3:09 PM

[sri ramanuja] PeriyAzhwAr Thirunakshathram- Today- aani swaathi... Let us pay our humble praNamams at the lotus feet of AzhwAr

Sri:SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:Dearest all, Today- Aani Swathi is our PeriyAzhwArthirunakshathram. It is adiyEn’s intent to ramblesomething on “Periya AzhwAr”. (based on an excellentarticle released as 75th Thirunakshathra malar forSwami Sri U Ve Purisai Krishnamachariar)Soodikkoduttha Naacchiyaar- GodhA PiraaTTi’s dearfather is PeriyAzhwAr, VishNu Chitthar or BhattarPiraan. Since his mind was always on VishNu, he wascalled VishNu chitthar. He was conferred by the Pandyaking, Vallabhadevan, the title of Bhattar Piraan, whenhe uttered Vedic statements to prove Parathvam ofSriman Narayanan and was given a bag of gold coins.Swami Desikan says (in GodhAsthuthi) in “thaathasthuthE madhumidha…”slOkam, the last line “lEbEmahattharapadhaanuguNam prasaadham..” Because You hadadorned Yourself with those garlands, Emperumaanconferred Your father with the title“mahattharapadham” (PeriyAzhwAr..)Sri Manavala maauni says: “mangaLaasaasanatthil maRRuLLaazhwArgaL/thangaarvaatthaLavu thaananRi- ponghum/parivaalE villiputthoor bhattar piraan peRRaan/periyAzwArennum peyar.Due to that pongum parivu, He was alled “PeriyAzhwAr”-says Yatheendra PravaNar. Now, just for our enjoyment: - Why should VishNuchitthar be called PeriyAzhwAr?”It should have been NammAzhwAr more suited for this“Periya AzhwAr” title for 1. being in AchAryaParampara 2. For being an avayavi with all otherAzhwArs as his parts of the body. or It should havebeen PeyAzhwAr (who is called mahathaahvayar), whoburst out with ThirukkaNdEn ponmEni kaNdEn ..But it is VishNu chitthar who is called PeriyAzhwAr.-WHY???1. NammAzhwAr: He sang 1000’s . But till the tenthdecad, He was longing to join Emperumaan. He declaresonly in 10.10.. “ini naan pOgalottEn...onRum maayamseyyEl ennaiyE…” (Hereafter I shall never ever leaveYou; Don’t deceive me and leave me..). SoWhen NammAzhwAr was almost through in 10.10, hedeclared that he would NOT let Emperumaan go away fromhim. Since it is only in the end of Thiruvaymozhi,NammAzhwAr loses the race of beingcalled “PeriyAzhwAr”. 2. pEyAzhwAr: Mahadhaahvayar: He was blessed with thevison of Lord even before AzhwAr started compsoingpAsurams. But AzhwAr did never get that fear of losingHim and did not utter to that effect. He just said“ThirukkaNdEn pon mEni kaNdEn..” He was blessedWith the saakshaathkaaram like what Dhruvan wasblessed with. Since AzhwAr did not have fear of losingHim, nor was he worried about and started with hiskshEthraadnam with other two AzhwArs, pEyAzhwAr losesthe race.Now, what about PeriyAzhwAr? He was blessed withEmperumaan’s Kattaksham on GarudA and that’s whenAzhwAr burst out with “long live; long live”The Lord, Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan appeared onGaruda to enjoy and witness His bhaktha’s success,Bhattar Piraan’s procession on elephant along withwhole lot of citizens of Pandya kingdom. That’s whenVishNu chitthar saw the Most exquisitely BeautifulEmperumaan on Garuda and with the outburst of “PongumParivu” (as nicely enjoyed by Sri Manvala maamuni) (aiyO! ivLO azhagaa irukkaanE! VeLiyE vandhuttaanE!KaN padumE!” ), sang PallaaNdu, PallaaNdu… Long liveand Long live Your Lotus Feet!PeriyAzhwAr, the moment he sings first pAsuram “pallaaNdu, pallaaNdu, He gets worried whether he willlose this Bhagyam of having Him as HeWas present in front of AzhwAr. Immediately, hesings(“adiyOdum ninnOdum PirivinRi aayirampallaaNdu..”) Long live Your relationship with me…(Your eternal servant) without any gap /separation andthen only, AzhwAr proceeds to even pray for PiraaTTiand other PanchAyudhams.Since he has realised this, and sought for an eternalbondage with the Lord right in the first two pAsuramsitself, He ALONE DESERVES BEING CALLED “PeriyAzhwAr”(If there’s anything good in this write up, the creditgoes to the author who had written in Tamil. Anyerrors/faults are only MINE. )Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami adds in his inimitablestyle:Vishnuchitta was called " Periya Alwar" - the greatAlwar for very many reasons:1. It is the greatness of his love for the Lord thatmade him pour out the Pallandu hymns.2. Ordinarily. only elders would bless the young onesfor a long life."Periya' means elder and therefore hewas called Periyalwar. To the objection that such anattitude was 'unnatural' ( Swarupa Viruddham), PillaiLokacharya has argued that as it was a 'MangalaAasaasanam', it was quite in order and because IT WASA STRANGE CASE OF KNOWLEDGE RIPENING INTO AN IGNORANCEOF SORTS DUE TO AN EXTRAORDINARY LOVE AND AFFECTION. 3. King Janaka laid a challenge through the SivaDhanus in Sri Sita's marriage; Kumbar, the Aayar Chieflaid a challenge in the form of the 7 bulls in themarriage of Nappinnai; But, Vishnuchitta laid nochallenges in the marriage of his daughter, Andalbecause of his obvious conviction that in due time,'THE OWNER WOULD CLAIM WHAT HE OWNED.'4. It is natural to honor anyone who brings relieffrom suffering. That is how Rishyasringa was honouredwhen rains came to the parched land of Angadesa as heset foot there. Vishnuchitta also performed a similarmiracle. When a famine raged in the northern city ofKandam Kadinagar on the banks of Ganges, he wasinvited to the city to solve the crisis. As he setfoot there, welcome rains showered and the place wasrelieved of the famine. His greatness was honored.Periyalwar himself is said to refer to this incidentthus "Venkali Naliyaa Vittuchittar"5. Parasara who wrote Vishnu Purana known as PuranaRatna deals with the story of Sri Krishna only in the5th Amsa of his work; Sukhabrahmam who wrote SrimadBhaagavatam has dealt with the story of Krishna onlyin the 10 th Skaandam; But, Vishnuchitta fills hisentire Tirumozhi with the story of Lord Krishnavividly portraying every detail of the Lord'schildhood ' leelas ' in his own inimitable style.6.Another esoteric aspect concerning Periyalwar thatreally makes him ' Periya' is the fact that he is theincarnation of Garuda. Garuda reincarnated himself asAjuna's chariot and as such he witnessed the Lorddelivering the Baghavad Gita - especially the CharamaSloka to Arjuna. Thus, apart from Arjuna, he was theone who was the direct recipient of the Lord'smessage. Andal refers to this when she says "MeymeiPeru Vaarthai Vittu Chittar Kettiruppaar".' Vaarthai'is Moolamantram;' Peru Vaarthai is the Mantra Ratna ofDwayam and ' Meymei Peru Vaarthai ' is the Charamasloka.7. He was great also in a different way. He became thefather- in- law of Lord Vishnu when his daughter,Andal married the Lord. - - an honor none else could claim.PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNamRegardsNamo Narayanadasan________ oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not web links. http://mobile./mobileweb/onesearch?refer=1ONXIC