Don't Miss This! Know About AzhwArs!

February 6, 2006

harE krShNa! AzhwArgaL thiruvadigaLE sharaNam!

Dear Devotees,

Today I want to explain about AzhwArs briefly. I request everyone to read completely.

Before this, I want to explain a bit of 'Type Rules' for reading Sanskrit, thamizh and other Hindu scriptural words. Generally if a letter is written in 'CAPITALS', then you have to pull it long and in some other cases you have to pronounce it hard. For example if I write " Balaji Prabhu " , how a foreigner will read it? Definitely he will pronounce wrongly. So if others want to pronounce properly (let us say a foreigner or a new reader of Hindu languages), then you have to write: bAlAji praBhu, so that the reader, can pronounce correctly. Another example is: For Prita Devi Dasi, we have to write: prThA dhEvi dhAsi.

Now hope you can read properly " AzhwArgaL thiruvadigaLE sharaNam! " . (Here " zh " = L with more tongue twist and stress). This sentence is a Tamil (thamizh) sentence.

Word for Word Meaning: AzhwArgaL = AzhwArs; thiruvadigaLE = divine/holy feet; sharaNam = surrender

So, AzhwArgaL thiruvadigaLE sharaNam = I surrender to the holy feet of AzhwArs.

Now you may ask who are AzhwArs?

In one of shrIlA praBhupAdhA's lectures in Hyderabad

, he told that South Indians are most luckiest as very great devotees like AzhwArs and others are born here.

Well. AzhwArs are 12 staunch devotees of lord nArAyaNa or krShNa or viShNu, who took birth in Tamil Nadu. They all are weapons and associates of lord viShNu who incarnated in this world in between 7th to 12th centuries, in shrI vaiShNavam or mother lakShmI's parampara. Below is the list of the AzhwArs names and their incarnations respectively.

1) pOygai AzhwAr - incarnation of pAnchajanyam, the conch of lord viShNu.

2) bhUdhaththAzhwAr - incarnation of koumOdhaki, the mace of lord viShNu.

3) pEyAzhwAr - incarnation of nandhaka Khadgam, the sword of lord viShNu. Again incarnated as shrI annamAchArya in the year 1408 and composed and sung 32,000 hari sankIrthanAs. For more information on shrI annamAchArya, visit: http://www.annamayya.org.

4) thirumazhisai AzhwAr - incarnation of sudharshana chakram, the discus of lord viShNu.

5) nammAzhwAr - incarnation of viShwakshEna, the commander in chief (sEnAdhipathi) of lord viShNu.

6) maDhurakavi AzhwAr - incarnation of vainathEya or garuda, the divine carrier of lord viShNu.

7) kulashEkarAzhwAr - incarnation of kousthuBham, the necklace of lord viShNu.

8) periyAzhwAr - incarnation of garuda, the chariot of lord viShNu (not to be confused with carrier garuda. This is chariot garuda).

9) AndAL - incarnation of mother BhUdhEvi, the consort of lord viShNu.

10) thondaradippodi AzhwAr - incarnation of vanamAlA, the garland of lord viShNu.

11) thiruppANAzhwAr - incarnation of shrIvathsa, the chest mark (or mole on the chest) of lord viShNu.

12) thirumangai AzhwAr - incarnation of sArangam, the bow of lord viShNu.

In Tamil (thamizh), the meaning of the word 'AzhwAr' means 'one who deeply immerses'. So the AzhwArs were so deeply immersed in the devotion of lord viShNu and His forms like krShNa, rAma, nArAyaNa, etc. They are such a great devotees that they had power of purity to become some times like a women in the feelings and enjoyed lord nArAyaNa as their lover (example for this - thirumangai AzhwAr). All the AzhwArs got dharshanam of lord viShNu being in this world itself.

What they gave us:

Every AzhwAr contributed THE BEST of the topmost poems or hymns of lord viShNu (and his other forms too). They all totally composed 4000 hymns on lord nArAyaNa, which are considered as " vEdhAs in thamizh " . Even an intermediate devotee will fall in deep devotion by hearing just 1 poem out of 4000. They are so SWEET. In any vaiShNavam temple in South India, there will be a recitation of this 4000 poems frequently.

These 4000 gems (poems) are called as " nAlAyira dhivya prabanDham " . And every poem is called as " pAshuram " .

We are so unfortunate that we don't have meanings for all the 4000 verses. The problem is, even those who know thamizh, cannot understand the meanings of these verses as these 4000 verses are in very old thamizh literature.

Note to shrI vaiShNavam groups: It will be so beneficial if any one can provide meanings at least in thamizh, for all these 4000 verses. So that I can take care of translating those meanings to English.

The 108 dhivya dhEshams:

Every vaiShNava would have heard about this " 108 dhivya dhEshams " or " 108 temples of lord viShNu " . These 108 temples and its respective dieties (lord viShNu, nArAyaNa, Adhi kEshava perumAL, etc.) actually received the praises from AzhwArs in those times. Among 108 temples, 106 temples are in this world. And the 2 are kShIra sAgaram (ocean of milk where lord viShNu sleeps on shrI Adhi shEsha) and paramapadham or vaikunTa lOkam (where lord viShNu resides). It is a fact received from the vaiShNava parampara that those who visit 106 temples in this world, after the death, he WILL be taken by lord viShNu Himself to other 2 places (kShIra sAgaram and vaikunTa lOkam) and keeps that person (soul) with lord viShNu's vaikunTa lOkam itself. One can visit 106 temples in one or two months. For more details on every temple, visit: www.indiantemples.com/ddlist.htm. One more important point which makes very special about these temples is that lord viShNu has directly appeared and gave dharshanam to at least one devotee in each temple (of course, not at a time but in different times). Like for shrI indhra, shrI jatAyu, etc. And there are temples which are built by even pAndavAs and other great devotees of lord viShNu. For some temples there are no traces for the period of built also. Such ancient temples are present in 108 abodes.

Though I had in my mind to explain this to everyone for so many days, prashAnth praBhu made me to post this today. Thanks a lot prashAnth praBhu. For any further questions and clarifications on the topics of AzhwArs, please feel free to mail me. I also beg, " Oh! Lord krShNa! My dear father! Forgive me if anything went wrong while describing about our dear most AzhwArs. "

NOTE TO ALL: If you are a member of other than the above " To Address " groups, kindly forward this to other groups also and let all know about the 12 gems - AzhwArs.

- Balaji - The Servant of Devotees!