life of raamaanujaacharya 2

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continued (naathamuni).....

 

Bidding adieu to the place, they bent their steps to

the purushottama kshetra(puri) , where Lord Jagannatha

is resident. After paying reverence to the Lord here,

they next went on to simhaadri or ahobilam where Lord

narasimha sheddeth his saving radiance around, and

thence they pursued their journey, till they arrived

at the sacred Hill of tirupati, celebrated as the

abode of Lord Srinivaasa, the abode on this earth

which He is said to have particularly chosen as His

centre for salvation of mankind, after having alighted

there on from His celestial abode SrI vaikuntha, or

what is called paramapada, paramaakaasa, etc. This

locality again was so prepossessing that it bid

naathamuni to dwell there permanently, but mannaaar’s

commands imperiously required his return home. The

sage could not resist this; and so left the Holy

tirupati, and en route visited, among others, the holy

spots known as ghatikaachala(Of Lord narasimha),

Ilastigiri(or kanchi of varadaraaja),

tiruvaheendrapura(near modern cuddalore –of Lord

devanaayaka), tirukkovalur(of Lord Trivikrama),

srirangam(of Lord ranganatha), tirukkudandai(or

kumbhakonam of Lord araa-v-amudu or sarangapaaNi); and

finally returned to his native place veera

naarayanapuram, Here the sage received an ovation from

the holy inhabitants, and was conducted in procession

to mannaar. The Lord was highly pleased and made His

wishes known to the assembled community that

thenceforward, they must look upon the sage as His

specially blessed devotee, provide him with suitable

lodgings, and all other necessaries of life; and take

care of him as His favourite deserved. All this they

gladly did. And naathamuni made a flower garden for

the Lord, and employed himself in its care, serving

the Lord with the offerings of garlands, scents,

lights; and in suchwise usefully spent his time in the

company of wise and holy men, in cultivation of Divine

knowledge and propagation.

 

One day, there came a party if Sri vaishnavas from the

uplands ( or the table lands to the north if

trichinopoly), to visit mannar, and they were heard to

sing the sacred hymn, ‘aaraa-v-amudu’ or tha Decad:

V-8 of St. Nammalwar’s Tiruvaay-moli, and ending with

the 11th verse of the same, in which it is said “this

ten out of thousand, sung by kurugur satakopa”.

Nathamuni, hearing this, begged of the visitor to

repeat the “One thousand”. But they said they only

knew this fragment of Ten and no more. On being again

asked whether any one else knew the same, or whether

there were written records preserved of the same, they

confessed that they knew nothing whatever of it. The

sage dismissed them with the usual holy teertha and

prasaada from mannaaar.

 

Naatha was anxious to trace out the rest of the

prabandha(the drAvida hymns of the saints are so

called); and surmised that they might in all

likelihood prove recoverable in the kurugu Land(=alwar

tirunagari near tinnevelly). He traveled south to this

place, and paid due honors to St. Nammalwaar, and Lord

Polindu-ninra-piran(or aadinaatha) and set about

inquiring for the missing prabandha. He met parankusa

daasar, a disciple of madhurakavi; and asked him for

information He said:- ‘sire! Not only the tiruvayi

moli of nammalwar but the prabandhas as well of the

other alwars have almost been forgotten, as a very

long time has elapsed since the days of their

composition. My aacharya, St. Madhurakavi, has left

this message that whosoever will concentrate his mind,

fixing himself in Yoga posture before St.

nammaalwar(holy image) and repeat the ten-versed hymn,

the kanninun-siruttaambu, twelve thousand times, all

the time devoutly dwelling on the Holy feet of the

saint, will place himself en rapport with the saint,

who will then bless the devotee with the vision of

himself.

........will be continued

 

 

 

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