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mozhiyai kadakkum perum pugazhAn!!!

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sumithra varadarajan • January 22, 2003 


From: sumithra varadarajan  
Cc: oppiliappan@yahoogroups.com, sv-general@yahoogroups.com, 
jetusa@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Wed Jan 22, 2003 9:52pm 
Subject: mozhiyai kadakkum perum pugazhAn!!!  


Sri Parthasarathi thunai
Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha
Sri Vara Vara MunayE Namaha
Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Dear bhagavatAs,
    Today (Jan 23rd 2003) is Thai hastham, the thirunakshatram of the 
great acharya, koorathAzhvan, the close and foremost disciple of 
EmperumAnAr considered to be the pavithram (thandam and pavithram are 
two essentialities for any yethi) of Sri rAmAnujar.  Born as a king 
of the village called kooram near kanchipuram he shed all his wealth 
and belongings for the sake of acharya abhimAnam.

Sri thiruvarangaththamudhanAr (one another shisya of EmperumAnAr who 
was corrected from his bad deeds by koorathAzhvan) in his rAmAnuja 
nootrandhAdhi says:
 "mozhiyai kadakkum perum pugazhAn 
vanjamukkurumbAm                           kuzhiyai kadaththum nam 
kooraththAzhvAn charan koodiya pin"


Here amudhanAr says that the greatness of kooraththAzhvan is beyond 
words.  When amudhanAr who has sung such an excellent prabhandam like 
rAmAnuja nootrandhAdhi refrains from talking about the greatness of 
Azhvan then what can mandha buddhis like adiyen attempt to do?  Still 
just with the wish to spend the time in a proper way on this very 
fine avatara dhinam of kooraththAzhvan let me just write a few words 
on kooraththAzhvan to purify our mind and body.  

AmudhanAr further says kooraththAzhvan is a person who has surpassed 
the mukkurumbhu.  What is mukkurumbhu? It is nothing but considering 
oneself great due to the wealth he possesses, or due to the family or 
caste in which he is born or due to his educational qualification or 
intelligence.  KooraththAzhvan had all the three.  He was so wealthy 
that he used to do anna dhAnam throughout the day which even 
surprised perundEvi thAyar of kAnchipuram, who is none other than the 
goddess of wealth (SridEvi).  KooraththAzhvan was a high class 
Brahmin but he never cared about that, he cared about only rAmAnuja 
sambhandham and considered all rAmAnuja sambhandhis irrespective of 
their birth to be equal.  Thirdly, the intelligence of 
kooraththAzhvan.   Azhvan is the prime reason for us to have got 
SribhAshyam today.  He was an Ekasandha krAhi (one who learns all the 
lessons in just one session).  He just out of interest scanned 
through the pages of the bhOdhAyana vriththi grandham got from the 
saraswathi bandharam during the nights when ethirajar was asleep.  
After losing the grantham to the saivaits, rAmAnujar was struck with 
grief but Azhvan with great confidence assured that he can recollect 
whatever he has read in the two or three nights and since he has seen 
through the whole book he will help EmperumAnAr with the writing of 
SribhAshyam.  Only with this confidence EmperumAnAr started writing 
the bhAshyam and completed it successfully.  In appropriate places, 
Azhvan corrected EmperumAnAr without any hesitation.  Such was the 
understanding between the acharya and shisya.  But at no time did 
Azhvan feel that he is more intelligent and great. He always 
considered himself to be only the shisya of EmperumAnAr.

The three egos, which generally puts down a person was won by 
koorththAzhvan and that has been remarked by amudhAnAr in the above 
paasuram.

Azhvan gave his darshan for our darshanam (rAmAnuja darshanam).  He 
is the acharya who saved the life of our ethirajar.  Even when 
ethirajar forced him to pray to the lord to grant him vision he 
refused saying that it is against the norms of a prapanna to ask for 
anything from the lord.  A prapanna is deemed to accept whatever the 
lord grants him and always remain in the service to the lord.  
KooraththAzhvan showed it in practice.  Even after loosing vision he 
did not keep quiet but continued to do pushpa (flower) kainkaryam to 
Azhagar in thirumAlirunchOlai.  He sang excellent prabhandams 
famously known as panchastavams viz., Sri Vaikunda stavam, 
athimAnusha stavam, sundarabhAhustavam, VaradarAja stavam, Sri stavam.

On top of all these one speciality of kooraththAzhvan is that he is 
the only shisya who assured moksha for his own acharya.  We all say, 
ethirajar to be the acharya who will lead us all to moksha (rAmAnuja 
sambhandam attains moksha).  We praise EmperumAnAr to be the "Vishnu 
lOka manimantapa mArgadhAyee" but that EmperumAnAr himself says that 
moksha was assured to him only due to the sambhandham of 
kooraththAzhvan.  Isn't this surprising?  Yes.   In one kalashepam 
EmperumAnAr explained how the jeevatma going to moksha would be 
welcomed by the already present mukthAthmAs there.  Listening to this 
kooraththAzhvan wanted to go there before ethirAjar so that he could 
continue kainkaryam to his acharya even in moksha and hence requested 
the same from namperumal.  Namperumal accepted and said that he has 
granted moksha to Azhvan and his sambhandhis.  Hearing this news 
ethirAjar first took his uttareeyam (top clothing) and threw it into 
the air with joy.  What made ethirAjar so happy?  Ethirajar 
explained, " I committed a abhachAram by going against the words of 
my acharya, thirukkOshtiyur nambi when I gave the thirumanthrArtham 
to all so I will not be granted moksha but now that emperuman himself 
has assured that all sambhandhis of kooraththAzhvan will attain 
moksha I will also surely get the same".  In this way, Azhvan paved 
the path of moksha for rAmAnuja himself.  But then ethirAjar himself 
literally cried to loose the sathsangam of Azhvan.  

At the last, rAmAnujar uttered the dvaya mahA manthram in the ears of 
kooraththAzhvan.  When the shisyas objected to the same saying that 
the acharya should give the dvaya manthram to the shisya only once, 
ramanujar replied that the manthram to Azhvan was like bhOgha dravyam 
to a king.  Such was the jnanam and anushtAnam of kooraththAzhvan.

When arjuna asked Krishna to tell him about the lord's vibhuthi, 
Parthasarathi exclaimed, "hantha!"  It is very difficult even for me 
to say all my greatness in totality.  Similarly adiyen stops here 
saying that it is very difficult for anyone to even start talking 
about the greatness of Azhvan leave alone completely saying it.

   Alwar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

Adiyen rAmAnuja dAsee
Sumithra Varadarajan

 



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