श्री:
Shree GurubhyO Namah
MADHURAKAVI AZHVAR CHARITRAM
श्रीपराङ्कुश सद्भक्तं मधुरं कविं आश्रयॆ ॥
Madhurakavi AzhvAr was born in tirukOLoor, a place near AzhvAr-tirunagari/tirukkurugoor, TirunelvEli, at the end of dwApara yuga, eeshwara varsha, chittirai month, chittirai nakshatra, in a sAmavEdi brahmin family. He is believed to be the incarnation of ‘kumuda’ (an attendant of Lord VishNu and a disciple of Lord VishvaksEna), and is also the incarnation of GaruDa.
He was born much before NammAzhvAr (shaThakOpan) who became his AchArya in the latter part of his life. Just as the rays of the sun, (aruNOdayam) appears before the actual sunrise (suryOdayam), madhurakavi appeared much before the divine appearance of Shri nammAzhvAr.
He mastered the vEdas, shAstras, sanskrit and tamizh languages in his young age and became a devout vishNu bhakta. He sang sweet songs on krishNa and so was called madhurakaviyAr or inkaviyAr. Not interested in family life, he spent his time on pilgrimages to divya dEsams and divya teerthams.
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| MADHURAKAVI MEETS ACHARYAN NAMMAZHVAR |
MADHURAKAVI AZHVAR MEETS HIS ACHARYAN NAMMAZHVAR
Years passed and he was reaching old age. Pursuing his long time wish of visiting ayOdhyA, he set forth on a pilgrimage towards the North. He reached AyOdhyA and was blessed with the divine darshan of SHRI RAMA and SEETA DEVI. Absorbed in the beauty of the divine couple, he decided to stay back there.
One day, while he was worshipping his native tirukOLoor vaittamAnidhi perumAL, he saw a glowing ball of light. Not able to figure out what it was, he kept observing. Three days passed and AzhvAr could still see the glowing light. Out of curiosity, he advanced towards it. To his surprise, the light started moving towards the southern direction. AzhvAr followed the ball of light until it disappeared at AzhvAr-tirunagari/tirukkurugoor, a town near his native place on the banks of the tAmaraparaNi river. There, he saw nammAzhvAr in trance, seated under a tamarind tree. Having already heard about the story of a sixteen-year-old kid in continuous meditation who never consumed food or water or uttered any word, Madhurakavi could co-relate the purpose of the glowing light.
He observed that nammAzhvAr showed no movement. To draw his attention, madhurakavi threw a stone in front of him and asked him a question.
“செத்ததின் வயிற்றில் சிறியது பிறந்தால், எத்தை தின்று எங்கே கிடக்கும் ?”
“settatin vayiRRil siRiyadu piRandAl, ettai tinRu engE kiDakkum ?”
“If the minute soul (the chEtana) is born in the matter called body (achEtana), what will it eat and where will it rest?”
NammAzhvAr was awakened by this question and immediately answered:
“அத்தைத்தின்று அங்கே கிடக்கும் !”
“attai tinRu angE kiDakkum !”
“It eats there and rests there itself”
Madhurakavi was baffled at this reply. This was the first time nammAzhvAr ever uttered any word. Madhurakavi realised that though nammAzhvAr had a body, he never attached himself to it. He refrained from eating normal food and subsisted on divine knowledge, offering his soul to the supreme brahman. Though he was much older to nammAzhvAr in age, Madhurakavi immediately bowed down with folded hands and begged nammAzhvAr to accept him as His shishya and servant.
NammAzhvAr was blessed with the vision of Shreeman nArAyaNa and mahAlakshmi together on GaruDa. His exhilaration poured out into four divyaprabandams namely tiruviruttam, tiruvAsiriyam, periya tiruvandAdi and tiruvAymozhi. NammAzhvAr initiated Madurakavi AzhvAr with panchasamskArams, knowledge of bhakti and prapatti, and his divya prabandhams. Life transformed totally for madhurakavi AzhvAr. He spent his entire life doing kainkaryam at his AchAryan’s feet and spreading nammAzhvAr’s divya prabandhams to the world. He composed only a single prabandham of 11 pAsurams called “kaNNinuN-sirutAmbu’ on nammAzhvAr, exalting the paramount importance of AchArya bhakti.
Thus, he came to be referred by the name மாறனடிபணிந்துய்ந்த இராமானுசன், “mARan-aDi-paNindu-uynda-irAmAnusan”.
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SANGALPALAGAI RETAINS TIRUVAYMOZHI 10.5.1 SENT BY MADHURA KAVI |
NAMMAZHVAR’S TIRUVAYMOZHI ENTERS MADURAI SANGAPALAGAI FAME
Madhurakavi Azhvar, used to glorify AchAryan NammAzhvAr through a poem called “SHATAGOPAN KATTIYAM” which reads as follows:
SHATAGOPAN KATTIYAM
திருவாய்மொழிப் பெருமாள் வந்தார்!
திருநகரிப் பெருமாள் வந்தார்!
திருவழுதிவளநாடர் வந்தார்!
திருக்குருகூர்நகர் நம்பி வந்தார்!
காரிமாறர் வந்தார்!
சடகோபர் வந்தார்!
பராங்குசர் வந்தார்!
vEdam tamizh seyda perumAL vandAr!
tiruvAymozhi perumAL vandAr!
tirunagari perumAL vandAr!
tiruvazhutivaLanADar vandAr!
tirukkurukoornagar nambi vandAr!
kArimARar vandAr!
saTakOpar vandAr!
parAngushar vandAr!
Some tamizh sangam poets who heard this kaTTiyam objected to the glorification of nammAzhvAr as the one who gave the essence of vEdas. They challenged madhurakavi that only if nammAzhvAr’s poems are accepted by the “SANGA PALAGAI’ (the magical plank kept in Madurai for this purpose), they will accept nammAzhvAr’s proficiency.
Out of 1296 pAsurams composed by NammAzhvAr, Madhurakavi AzhvAr selected just one powerful pAsuram containing 2 verses, from tiruvAymozhi 10.5.1 and wrote it on a palm leaf and sent it to Madurai through the Sangam poets.
எண்ணும் திருநாமம் திண்ணம் நாரணமே.
kaNNan kazhaliNai naNNum manamuDaiyeer!
eNNum tiru nAmam thiNNam nAraNamE.
“Devotees who have set their minds on KaNNan’s feet! You need to recite only one divine nAma called NARAYANA. Nothing else.”
The sangam poets took the palm leaf to the Sanga ManDapam at Madurai. All the poets assembled for justice. On one side of the ‘sanga palagai’, nammAzhvAr’s verse of 2 lines were placed. On another side of the plank, the poems of 300 poets were kept. The plank retained the 2 verses of tiruvAymozhi and pushed down all the other poets’ poems. The poets accepted nammAzhvAr’s greatness and many of them wrote poems in praise of him on the spot. It was astonishing to see that all the poets glorified Madhurakavi with the same words as follows:
நாமம் பராங்க்குசமோ, நாரணமோ, தாமம்
துலவோ, வகுளமோ, தோளிரண்டோ நான்கு
முளவோ பெருமான் உனக்கு.
chEmam kurugaiyO, seyya tiruppArkaDalO,
nAmam parAngushamO, nAraNamO, tAmam
tulavO, vakuLamO, tOLiraNDO nAngu
muLavO perumAn unakku.
Is your native kurugoor or tiruppArkaDal?
Is your name parAngusha or nArAyaNa?
Is your necklace made of tulasi or vakuLa flowers?
Oh Lord! Do you have two hands (shoulders) or four hands?
This was an interesting episode that carved history of Madurakavi AzhvAr’s devotion and NammAzhvAr’s greatness.
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| NAMMAZHVAR BLESSES MADHURA KAVI WITH 2 IDOLS |
MADURAKAVI AZHWAR IS BLESSED WITH TWO IMPORTANT IDOLS.
NammAzhvAr lived for 35 years under the tamarind tree. It was time for him to ascend VaikunTha, the ultimate abode of Lord VishNu. With tear filled eyes, Madhurakavi AzhvAr asked his guru how to spend his life without Him. NammAzhvAr advised him to boil some water from the tAmraparNI (tAmarabarani) river to find an idol of Him for worship. AzhvAr did so and got an idol but it did not resemble NammAzhvAr. When asked, nammAzhvAr said that it was the idol of ‘bhavishyadAchArya rAmanuja’, who will be born in future. He again advised AzhvAr to boil the waters. An idol of nammAzhvAr came out the second time.
NammAzhvAr ascended paramapadam. After that, AzhvAr installed His archA vigraham and began nitya tiruvAradhanam to the nammAzhvAr moorthy. He conducted monthly and yearly utsavams for his AchAryan, thereby propagating ‘AchArya nishThA to the approaching mumukshus.
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| MADHURAKAVI AZHVAR |
PRABANDHAM - KANNINUN SIRUTAMBU
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| Swami Desikan extols Madhura Kavi's AchArya Bhakti in his work Prabandha Saaram and Adhikaara Sangraham |
Madurakavi AzhvAr's andAdi prabandham has been named after its first word, ‘KaNNinuN-siruttAmbinAl’, meaning - ‘the many knotted thin, small rope used by yashOdhA to tie Lord krishNa to the mortar’.
kaNNinun siruttAmbu is a unique prabandham in many ways, a short ballad of 11 verses though.
THE PRABANDHAM THAT GLORIFIES ONLY ACHARYA (AchArya dEvO bhava)
While all other AzhvArs have glorified Shreeman nArAyaNa in their prabandhams, madhurakavi AzhvAr has glorified only his AchArya nammAzhvAr (mAran shaThakOpan) in all the 11 pAsurams, taking the name of the Lord just once in the beginning. Having seen with his own eyes all the kalyANa guNas of bhaghavAn in his guru NammAzhvAr, he worshipped Him alone as God.
THE PRABANDHAM THAT TEACHES FIFTH UPAYA, ACHARYA NISHTA (AchArya abhimAnam)
AzhvAr introduces us to the fifth path to liberation, the panchama upAya called “ACHARYA NISHTHA”, the previous four paths being gyAna yOga, karma yOga, bhakti yOga and prapatti yOga. Every pAsuram illustrates how a shishya’s devotion and gratitude towards his Guru can grant liberation. No other means is required.
This status of AchArya bhakti is called "charama parva niSHTha" which means "the final level of faith". The devotion towards bhagavAn alone is called as "prathama parva niShTha" which is "the first level of faith".
THE PRABANDHAM THAT EXPLAINS THE EESSENCE OF THE WORD - ‘NAMAH’ – (bhAgavata shEShatvam)
SwAmi MaNavALa mAmunigaL refers to this prabandham as “வாய்த்த திருமந்திரத்தின் மத்திமமாம் பதம் போல்’ in his upadEsha ratnamAlai -26. This prabandham is equated to the essence of the middle word of the TIRUMANDIRAM/ASHTAKSHARAM.
‘tiruppallANDu’ is the essence of the first word, Om – The primeval praNavam,
‘tiruvAymozhi’ is the essence of the third word, narAyaNAya (Lord VishNu) and
‘kaNNinuN siRuttAmbu’ is the essence of the middle word, namah/namO meaning “not mine. The term implies that this jeeva is for the humble service of bhAgavatas - bhAgavata shEshatvam”.
THE PRABANDAM THAT SERVED AS THE GATEWAY TO THE 4000 DIVYA PRABANDHAMS.
Once, all the divya prabandhams were lost due to passage of time. Around the 9th century, AchArya nAthamuni heard a few brahmins sing a part of NammAzhvAr's tiruvAymozhi. When he enquired about them, they advised him to recite ‘kaNNinuN siruttAmbu’ 12000 times under the tamarind tree at AzhvAr tirunagari where nammAzhvAr lived. Being a bhakti yOgi, NAthamuni followed the instructions with profound dedication after which NammAzhvAr appeared and imparted to Him all the 4000 Divya Prabandhams. NAthamuni in turn taught the divya prabandhams to his relatives and shishyas.
Let us all consign ourselves to the AzhvAr twain and pay humble obeisance to all our Gurus in our Guru paramparA.
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| MADHURAKAVI AZHVAR AND NAMMAZHVAR |
MADHURA KAVI AZHVAR VAZHI TIRUNAMAMS
MADURAKAVI AZHVAR VAZHI - 1
சித்திரையில் சித்திரை நாள் சிறக்க வந்தோன் வாழியே
திருக்கோளூர் அவதரித்த செல்வனார் வாழியே
உத்தர கங்காதீரத்து உயர் தவத்தோன் வாழியே
ஒளி கதிரோன் தெற்குதிக்க உகந்து வந்தோன் வாழியே
பத்தியொடு பதினொன்றும் பாடினான் வாழியே
பராங்குசனே பரனென்று பற்றினான் வாழியே
மத்திமமாம் பதப்பொருளை வாழ்வித்தான் வாழியே
மதுரகவி திருவடிகள் வாழி வாழி வாழியே
chittiraiyil chittirai nAL siRakka vandOn vAzhiyE
tirukkOLUr avadaritta selvanAr vAzhiyE
uttara gangAteerattu uyar tavattOn vAzhiyE
oLi kadirOn teRkku udikka ugandu vandOn vAzhiyE
pattiyoDu patinonRum pADinAn vAzhiyE
parAngushanE paranenRu paRRinAn vAzhiyE
mattimamAm padapporuLai vAzhvittAn vAzhiyE
madhurakavi tiruvaDigaL vAzhi vAzhi vAzhiyE
MADHURAKAVI AZHVAR VAZHI - 2
PRABANDA SARAM BY SWAMI DESIKAN
தேறிய மாஞானமுடன் திருக்கோளூரில்
சித்திரையில் சித்திரைநாள் வந்து தோன்றி
ஆறிய நல்லன்புடனே குருகூர் நம்பிக்கு
அனவரதம் அந்தரங்க அடிமை செய்து
மாறனை அல்லால் என்றும் மறந்தும் தேவு
மற்றறியேன் எனும் மதுரகவியே, நீ முன்
கூறிய கண்ணினுண் சிறுத்தாம்பு அதனிற் பாட்டுக்
குலவு பதினொன்றும் எனக்கு உதவு நீயே.
tERiya mAgyAnamuDan tirukkOLUril
chittiraiyil chittirai nAL vandu tOnRi
ARiya nallanbuDanE kurugoor nambikku
anavaratam antaranga aDimai cheydu
mARanai allAl enRum maRandum tEvu
maRRaRiyEn enum madurakaviyE, nee mun
kURiya kaNNinuN chiRuttAmbu adaniR pATTuk
kulavu padinonRum enakku udavu neeyE.
AZHVAR TIRUVADIGALE SHARANAM.
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