maalukantha vaasiriyar.

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SrI:

Srimad Azhagiya singar thiruvadigalE saranam:

 

Dear devotees of 'AkalakillEn iraiyumendru alarmEl mangai urai marban':

 

Given below is an article on the unmatched devotee /

Saint-composer " AnnamAchArya " .

 

None of the music-composer can equal in devotion as well as in the

poetic skill to this great Sri Vaishnava music composer, as our Swami -

Swami Desikan says:

 

kaasiniyin maNiyanaiththungaayaa vaNNan

kadaintheduth thagavuththuvaththin seermaikkovvaa

kaasimuthalaakiya nannakariyellaam

kaarmEniyaruLaaLar kachchik kovvaa

" maasin manantheLi munivar vaguththa vellaam

maalukantha vaasiriyar vaarththaik kovvaa "

vaasiyaRinthivai yuraiththOm vaiyaththuLLeer

vaippaaka vivaikoNdu magizhmineerE.

 

All the words which are spoken by the great saints CAN NOT be equal to

even ONE WORD of our Sri Vaishna achAryAs.

 

rAmAnujar thiruvadigalE saranam.

 

adiyEn,

Lakshmi KumAr.

 

 

 

News Article From The Hindu (08/27/99):

 

Saint-composer of unmatched devotion

 

 

The 591st Jayanthi of Annamacharya was celebrated early this week. M.

S. RAMESH writes about the saint-poet and his evergreen compositions.

 

ANNAMAYYA WAS regarded as the manifestation of Nandaka, the Sword, one

of the Divya Ayudhas of Lord Narayana. He was a prolific composer

having to his credit as many as 32,000 Sankeerthanas. He is known for

his unswerving devotion to Sri Venkateswara. Most of the other

composers with the exception of perhaps Bhadrachala Ramadas, composed

their songs on the different Archa Roopas of Lord Narayana. But, for

Annamayya, there was only one God in Kali Yuga and He was Venkatadri

Vibhudu.The songs of Annamayya express and reflect the Truth enunciated

in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Ithihasas, the Puranas, etc. In many

of the songs, he reflects the thoughts expressed by famous Srivaishnava

Acharyas like Ramanuja and Yamunacharya. Besides, his songs compare

very favourably both with reference to the contents as also the style

to the Paasurams of the Alvars.

 

He used simple vocabulary, common everyday language, which however,

conveyed Brahma Jnana. Especially his Adhyatmika Sankeertanalu are

unmatched in their simplicity of language and the profundity of the

contents. Atma Vidya as we all know is knowledge of Atma and Paramatma

Jnana which when practised, would confer Moksha. The Adhyatmika

Sankeertanas of Annamayya fulfil this bill, because we find that many a

Truth expounded in the Gita and other scriptures are all contained and

expressed through his songs. The common man's vocabulary was used by

him to convey Brahma Jnanamu. That is why many have felt that while his

words were Amritha Kavyas, they conveyed Parama Jnanamu.

 

It is amazing to find that the Telugu language, in his hands, becames

pliable like wax. Sriman Puttaparthi Narayanacharyulu said that every

bhava expressed by Annamayya was a veritable `Nandanavanamu' garden

where the flowers used for the Lord are grown with devotion. It also

refers to Indra's Garden where every type of flower could be found.

 

Narayanacharyulu further says that to identify a particular line as

superb poetry is as difficult as attempting to bale out water with a

pichot from the ocean. He adds that Annamayya's poetry is like ``Sarva-

angeenamaina Chakkera Bomma''. It is the essence of sweetness or

personification of sweetness.

 

Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sama also eulogises Annamayya the poet, when

he says that the poet is a veritable Ksheera Samudra. He says,

``Shaililo bhava vaividhyamulo annamayya yoka rechananu minchinadhi

andhra vangmayamulo inkokati laedu'' meaning in both style and content,

there is no writing in Telugu that excels that of Annamayya's.

 

 

Dasarathi says that Annamayya is a Praja Kavi or people's poet, because

he uses familiar phrases and sayings, but conveys through them the

fundamental Truths. For example, in one song he refers as to how a

dog's tail cannot be straightened even by tying a stick to it, while in

another, he says even if one were to wash for one full year the skin of

a rat, the black colour will not become white. Any person who reads all

these statements is naturally convinced about the inescapability of

fate, but the greatness of Annamayya lies in that he makes all these

statements and will then gives a twist to it by concluding that even

such an apparently inevitable fate can be conquered by seeking succour

at the Divine Feet of the Lord of Venkatachala.

 

Sri Narayana Reddi says he is not able to decide whether Annamayya is

first a poet or a musician or a Bhaktha. His songs, he says, are

steeped in devotion, but they are also unmatched with reference to the

rhyme and the philosophic content. The poet says, ``Nanati Brathuku

Natakamu, Puttuta Nijamu, Povuta Nijamu, Natta Nadimi Natakamu''. (Life

is a drama. To be born is inevitable. To die is also inevitable. The

time in between is a veritable drama!)

 

Here, the poet is saying what many other great poets such as Omar

Khayyam as well as Shakespeare have said - that the world is a stage

and that we are all actors in this drama and that the Supreme Being is

the Sutradhar. So, we are like the ball in Omar Khayyam's song where

the poet says the ball being bounced by your hand has no right to say

yes or no, it goes wherever you direct it. So, we are all puppets held

on a string by Lord Venkatesvara.

 

The greatness of Annamayya lies in the fact that he made Atma Vidya,

Vedic Truths and principles sound so simple. No wonder it is said that

he offered the Vedanta Sastra on a plate in the form of Navaneetamu.

 

A study of the songs of Annamayya makes it very evident that through

his Adhyatma Sankeertanas, he has expatiated upon the fundamental

concepts of Visishtadvaita such as Saranagati, Nava Vidha Bhakthi

Marga, the role of kainkarya, the concept of Daasaanu Daasatva, the

role of Sri as Purushaakaara, quality of Daya, the Omnipresence,

Omniscience and Omnipotency of the Lord, etc. He has also touched upon

many other revolutionary concepts like the insignificance of caste and

community. Similarly, he has his own definition as to who is a true

Vaishnavite, what is a True Sandhyavandana Mantra, what is a true

Snana, and so on.

 

His definition of a true Vaishnava as not one who is born as a

Vaishnava; but one practises true Vaishnavism, is a revolutionary

thought. According to him, a person becomes a true Vaishnava only after

performing several Yagas, visiting many holy kshetras, and above all,

earning the Kripa of Lord Venkateswara. Similarly, he says the holy

bath, Snana, is not a mere dip in the holy rivers. Instead he says, he

will be satisfied as having had a truly holy bath, only when he has the

Mudras of the Lord on his shoulders, and only when he anoints himself

with the dust from the feet of the Lord's devotees and only when he

thinks of those who do Dhyana of the Lord and only when he sprinkles

the Sri Padha Theertha of those who have had the Darshan of the Lord on

his head and only when he has the darshan of the holy feet of the

Lord's Bhaagavathas.

 

The poet has no respect at all for caste and community. He says that it

is immaterial to which caste one belongs. Did he not say:

 

``Ye kulajudemi evvadaina nemi Aakada aathade Hari nerigina vadu''.

 

That is what matters is not the caste, but whether he is a Haribhaktha

or not. In another song he says:

 

Heenaadhikamulu inka edanunnavo kaani

 

Narahari thalacheti nama mantramu okkatae,

 

Aathanini kolichi pondhaetimokshamu okkatae''

 

That is, he says it is immaterial as to what is high and what is low.

The Moksha Mantra is only one, and the Moksha one attains by

worshipping is the same for the high and the low. Then why are you

foolishly thinking of different castes/communities, says the poet. In

another song he says that it is the same wind that blows over the dirty

spots and clean and fragrant paths and the same Sun shines on the

Elephant and the cur and that there is no room for distinction of high

and low as Hari is the Antaryami (`indweller') of all beings. The

catholicity of true Vaishnavism where there is no place for caste and

community, is forcefully and unmistakably brought out in Annamayya's

songs. We all know how the Alvars belonged to different communities,

but they were all sages who are revered even today.

 

One can go on quoting from various songs of Annamayya to highlight what

great Truths he enunciated through his simple songs. To conclude,

Annamayya is a poet who is often praised and extolled as unequalled,

unmatched. The greatness of Annamayya's poetry can be made known to the

wider reading public by bringing out English translations of the songs

and publishing booklets covering the various views expressed by

Annamayya. Only then will a wider audience be able to appreciate and

enjoy this poet and be blessed to share his unswerving faith in the

Lord of the Seven Hills. Only then can this poet get the worldwide

recognition that is due to him. Otherwise, it will be a case of ``Full

many a gem of purest rays serene the dark unfathomed caves of ocean

bear and Full many a flower is born to blush unseen and waste its

sweetness in the desert air.''

 

 

 

 

 

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