MudalAzhvargal - TN This week,

[Guest guest]

sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namah

 

Dear Devotees: Please accept adiyen's humble pranam:

 

All of you already know this, but it is always great to talk about our

azhvars and acharyas.

 

Mudal Azhvars TN : Today, Tomorrow and Sunday.

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Mudhal AzhvArgaL: The three AzhvArs –

poigai AzvhAr, bhUdhaththu AzvhAr and pEy AzhvAr

are chronologically the earliest of all AzvhArs.

 

These three Azhvars are “ayOnijAs” – “ones who were not born from a

womb”. They appeared on water-flowers in three different water

sources.

 

Poigai AzhvAr manifested on a lotus flower in the temple tank

of srI yatthOkthakAri perumAL in Kanchipuram in the “thiruvONam”

star during the month of “aippasi”

 

BhUdhaththu AzhvAr appeared on a nIlOthphala (kurukkaththi flower in tamil)

on the seaside at thiru-k-kadal-mallai (present day Mahabalipuram),

on the day subsequent to Poigai Azhvar (aippasi, avittam).

 

PEy Azhvar appeared on a sengazhuneer flower in a well in thiru-mayilai

(present day Mylapore, in the temple of srI AdikEsava-p-perumAL) on the day

after bhUdaththu AzhvAr was born (aippasi month, sathayam star).

 

All three of them were born, blessed by the Lord with supreme

knowledge, and as a result, they lived a life focused on divinity,

worshipping the Lord at different temples, and living the life of ascetics.

Since the appearance of such great souls is invariably tied to a reason of

divine intent, the three Azhvars had to meet to fulfill the purpose of their

appearance, to wit, give the world the esoteric Vedas in a manner

accessible to the common folk. And this Sriman Narayana achieved by

making the Azhvars meet and become the harbingers in the effort

towards the composition of the holy Tamil Vedas.

 

The Lord made each of them go to the town of thiru-k-kOvalUr (a place

in present day Tamilnadu, where there is the most beautiful temple of Sri

Trivikrama), to the Ashrama (hermitage) of a saint called “mrgaNdu”.

Poigai AzvhAr reached there the earliest. Night time had come, and he

was lying down in a small room at the entrance to the Ashrama,

reflecting on the glories of the Lord. At that time, bhUdhaththu Azhvar

arrived at the same location. Poigai Azhvar welcomed him and indicated

“we have enough space for one to be supine, two to sit; please come in”.

Both of them were sitting, and were indulging in bhagavad guNa

anubhavam (recounting the innumerable auspicious qualities of the Lord)

when, pEy Azhvar came by to the same Ashrama. The two Azhvars

already present in that little room said, “in this place, one can lie down,

two can sit, and three can stand; please come in”.

PEy AzvhAr joined them, and the three Azhvars continued their joyfilled

discussion of the Lord’s auspicious qualities and His divine

activities (leelAs). At this time, the Lord, never one to give up on an

opportunity to interact with His true devotees (priyO hi

gnyAninOthyartham aham sa cha mama priyaha, BG 7.17), Himself arrived

at the Ashrama, invisible to the three Azhvars. As He entered the room,

the three Azhvars began to feel His presence, because suddenly, the

room which could accommodate the three of them in a standing posture

 

was beginning to feel inadequate. The Azhvars wondered on the cause

for this change, and immediately, using his yogic powers, poigai Azhvar,

realizing the divine presence, lit a spiritual lamp to the Lord of the lords

 

“vaiyam thagaLiyaa vaarkadalE neyyaaga, veyya kadhirOn viLakkaga”

 

“using the earth as the physical lamp structure, the sea of ether as the

ghee for the flame, and the lit flame being verily the Sun himself!.”

What poured forth was divine poetry, now famous as, mudhal

thiruvandhAdhi (first poem of the type andhAdi, meaning the last word

becomes the progenitor of the thought for the following verse). These

hundred verses bring out the essential auspicious nature of the supreme

Lord and His infinite kalyANa guNas (auspicious qualities).

 

BhUdaththu AzhvAr, in turn, offered a lamp using his yogic powers too,

yet different

– “anbE thagaLiyaa, aarvamE neyyAga” –

 

using his immense love for the Lord as the lamp structure, and his longing for

union with the Lord as the energy engendering the flame. He composed

a set of 100 verses known as “iraNdaam thiruvandhAdhi”

(second poem of the type andhAdhi).

 

The two lamps of spiritual love, lit by poigai Azhvar and bhUdhaththu

Azhvar, allowed the three Azvhars to see and experience the Lord in

manifest proximity. That Divine experience inspired pEy AzhvAr to

sing,

 

“thiru-k-kaNdEn, pon mEni kaNdEn;

thigazhum aruKKan aNi niramum kaNdEn;

seRukkiLarum ponnAzhi kaNdEn;

purisangam kai-k-kaNdEn;

en Azhi vaNNan pAl inRu”

 

meaning, “I saw the divine consort of the Lord – Lakshmi; I saw the

divine body of the Lord; I saw the beautiful complexion of the Lord and

the auspicious discus (chakra) verily the remover of obstacles that

prevent us reaching the Lord, and the beautiful, white, divine conch in

the hands of the Lord”. This is the first verse of mUnRaam thiruvandhAdhi

(third poem of the type andhAdi), which is a set of 100 verses too.

This uplifting divine experience bound them into a state of togetherness,

and they traveled across various parts of South India spreading the

message of the Lord, a message given by the Lord Himself through the

three thiruvandhAdhis. Another Azhvar, thirumazhisai Azhvar, bacame

a disciple of the three mudhal Azhvars – pEy AzhvAr in particular, upon

exposure to their message of Sriman Narayana as the para tattva

(supreme concept) and verily the all-auspicious progenitor of all that is

manifest and un-manifest.

 

The three Azhvars returned to thiru-k-kOvalUr after spreading their

message of love for the Divine and love of the Divine, and through their

yogic powers, left their earthly bodies and went to Sri Vaikuntam, the

wonderful abode of Sriman Narayana, which represents mOksham,

liberation from the miasma of samsAra (the ocean of life).

 

 

Article in previous issue of Vedic_Mag:

http://www.vedics.net/magazine/RD_0104_online_vers.pdf