Madhurakavi AzhwAr Thiru nakshathram today... [extract from Sri Satakopan Swami's write up on this AzhwAr]

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE SatakOpAya namah:

Dearest all,

 

Today Chithrai Chitthrai is Madhurakavi AzhwAr

ThriunakshathramN..[birthday]. Let us enjoy about his

glories. All of us are indeed aware of his excellent

divine 11 verses of kaNNinunchiRuthAmbu..

 

Reproduced below is the wonderful extract from one of

Sri Satakopan swami's articles on this AzhwAr..

 

[Thanks to him for his permission to share this info

with all of you]

 

Swami Desikan in Prabandha sAram devoted

one verse to all the other AzhwArs including

Swami NammazhwAr and set aside a WHOLE Verse

to celebrate Madhura Kavi's incomparable glory .

Swami Desikan explains that there are ten kinds

of Sambhandham between the Isvaran and the Jeevan .

Madhura Kavi turned these ten kinds of sambhandham

to his AchAryan and sang his prabhnadham to glorify

the AchAryan over the Lord Himself and to seek his

AchAryan as his sole refuge . Swami describes

the ancient and sacred route shown by Madhura kavi

this way : " anbarkkE avatharikkum Aayan niRka ,

arumaRaikaL Tamizh seythAn aruLE koNdu thunpu aRRa

Madhura Kavi thOnRak Kaattum thol VazhiyE nall Vazhi--

 

ThERiya maajn~Anamudan ThirukkOLUril

ChitthirayiR Chitthirai naaL Vanthu thOnRi

AaRiya NalanbhudanE KuruhUr Nampikku

anavaratham antharanga-adimai seythu

MaaRanai allAl yenRum maRanthum thEvu

maRRaRiyEn yenum Madhura kaviyE nee munn

kooRiya KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu athaniR paattuk-

kulavu pathinonRum yenakku uthavu neeyE

 

(Meaning): Oh Maadhura Kavi born on

Chitthirai maasa Chitthirai at ThirukkOLUr

with clear Jn~Anam and who performed antharanga

kaimkaryam for Swamy NammAzhwAr with intense

devotion and without let ! You declared that

You do not know of any gods other than Swamy

NammAzhwAr . Please bless me now with the Jn~Anam

about the eleven paasurams of Your aruLiccheyal

(blessed work) KaNNinuNN SirutthAmpu that you blessed

the world earlier.

 

(Comments):Even when KrishNa ParamAthmA was living at

DhvArakai during his (Madhura kavi's) lifetime , he

did not seek Bhagavan's feet for Prapatthi based on

his conviction that he has to approach the Lord

through a sadAchAryan and hence he waited for Swamy

NammAzhwAr's avathAram to perform Prapatthi at His

sacred feet. He considered thereafter

that his AchAryan's sacred feet alone are his

Taaraka-Poshaka Bhagyam and performed uninterrupted

kaimkrayam to his AchAryan.Through this act , Madhura

Kavi showed the world the ancient , auspicious and

safe route (Tholl Vazhi)of AchArya Bhakthi even over

Bhagavath Bhakthi . Madhura Kavi thus pointed out that

even with the greatest bhakthi to Bhagavaan , those

who do not approach Him through a sadAchAryan will

not be redeemed.Madhura Kavi instructed us on this

very important doctrine for the first time (nee munn

kooRiya) through his Prabhandham .

 

SrI Manavala maamuni in his upadesa Ratthina maalai

verse 25

 

yErAr Madhura Kavi ivvulahil vanthu uthittha

seerArum Chitthirayil Chitthirai NaaL --paarulahil

maRRuLLa AazhwArkaL vanthu uthittha nALkaLinum

uRRathu yemakku yeRu nenjEOr

 

(meaning): Oh My mind! Please reflect on the fact

that the birthday of the auspicious Madhura Kavi

( ChitthrA Nakshathram in the month of Chitthirai )

is even more sacred for celebration than that of

the birthdays of all the other AzhwArs .

 

(Comments): MM alludes here to the unique greatness of

Madhura Kavi celebrated by Sri PiLLai LokAcchAr in

the fourth prakaraNam of Sri Vachana BhUshaNam .

Paasuram 26: Why KaNNinuNN sirutthAmpu became part of

4000

 

Vaayttha Thirumanthiratthin matthimamAm patham pOl

seertha Madhura Kavi sey kalayai--aartha Pukazh

Aariyarkal thAngaL aruLiccheyal naduvE

sErvitthAr thARpariyam thErnthu

 

(meaning ): Our great PoorvAchAryALs joined Madhura

Kavi's Prabhnadham of KaNNinuNN SirutthAmpu in the

sacred NaalAyira Dhivya Prabhandham inview of the

blessed message that this prabhandham houses.They

recognized very well that Madhura Kavi's Prabhandham

is exactly like the middle padham in our beloved

AshtAksharam (viz)., Nama: padham and therefore this

prabhandham fits very well in the middle of the sacred

collect of the Four Thousand .

 

(Comments): All the AzhwAr's prabhandhams other than

that of Madhura Kavi extolled the svarUpa rUpa guNa

vibhUthi chEshtithams of Sriman NaarAyaNan .Madhura

Kavi's Paasurams dealt only with the celebration of

NammAzhwAr .There may be people who might question the

wisdom of combining under one roof the prabhandhams

that praise the Lord and the Prabhandham

that bypasses the Lord and focuses only on the

AchAryan. We celebrate the other AzhwAr's Prabhandhams

since they deal with the deep meanings of the three

rahasyams ( Thirumanthiram ,Dhvayam and Charama

slOkam).

 

In Thirumanthiram , the middle padham is nama: sabdham

, which stands for the most important tattvam of

BhAgavatha sEshathvam. Madhura Kavi's prabhandham

celebrates this BhAgavatha Seshathvam exclusively

and hence PoorvAchAryALs decided that KaNNinuNN

SirutthAmpu has its rightful place in the middle

of Dhivya prabhandham .

 

Madhurakavi AzhwAr ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan