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UPADESA RATHNA MAALAI: PART 15( PAASURAMS 50-52)

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Sadagopan • November 13, 1999 


Laying the foundation to praise the glory of Sri Vachana BhUshanam
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NamperumAL NammAzhwAr Nanjeeyar NampiLLai
  yenpar --avarvar tamm yERRAtthAl--anbhudayOr
satthu thirunaamangaL thaamm yenRu nannenjE 
  yEtthu athanai solli nee inRu....(50)

(meaning): Oh My dear mind ! Please salute today 
the great souls , who out of their affectionate
reverence gave the names NamperumAL, NammAzhwAr ,
Namjeeyar , NampiLLai to the Lord of Srirangam ,
Swami NammAzhwAr , the prime sishyar of ParAsara Bhattar
and his own dear sishyan VaradachAr respectively .

(Comments) : In this and the two subsequent paasurams,
MM lays the corner stone for building an edifice for
our appreciation of the greatness of Sri Vachana-
BhUshaNam , which was created by PiLLai LokAcchAr 
as a RakshA grantham for aruLiccheyalkaLs. Lord RanganAthA
got His name NamperumAL from a devout Arayar ; Lord of
Rangam gave the name of NammAzhwAr for SatakOpan ;
ParAsara Bhattar gave the name of Namjeeyar to 
VedAnthi Muni of MelkOte ; Namjeeyar gave the name 
of NampiLLai to KalikanRi Daasar (VaradAcchAr ).
MM asks his mind to reflect on the generosity 
of the poorvAchAryAs in coming up with such names
out of their premai .

How did NampiLLai get the name of LokAcchAr?
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Thunnu pukazh KanthAdai ThOzappar tamm uhappAl
  Yenna UlahAriyanO yenRu uraikka --pinnai
UlahAriyan yenum pEr NampiLLaikku Ongi 
  vilahAmal ninRathu yenrum mEl...(51)

(Meaning) ThOzhappar of wide fame belonging to
the KanthAdai vamsam with joyful respect asked once 
NampiLLai :" Are You THE teacher of the Universe 
(LOkAchAryan)? " out of respect for his extraordinary 
Scholarship and humility .From that day onwards , 
that name of LokAcchAryan stayed with NampiLLai 
as a mark of his guNa visEsham .

(Comments): KanthAdai ThOzhappar belonged to 
the AchArya Vamsam of Mudali AaNDAn and was 
a contemproary of NampiLLai. Both lived on 
the same street in nearby houses. NampiLLai
had many disciples , who sought his feet as 
AchAryan.The Scholarly ThOzhappan from a great
AchArya paramparai had no one , who approached 
him to become his sishyan.Thozhappan Swamy got
jealous over the popularity of NampiLLai and
talked bad about him in public .One day, Thozhappa
Swamy regretted over his harshness to NampiLLai and 
wanted to go over to NampiLLai's house to seek
aparAdha KshAmaNam ( seeking forgivenness for
his misdeed) from NampiLLai. At he same time, 
NampiLLai felt very bad that he had caused 
a great AchAryan like Thozhappar to be angry 
at him and porceeded to Thozhappar's house and waited
at the front of the house to fall at the feet of 
Thozhappar , when he came out . Few minutes later, 
Thozhappar came out to go to NampiLLai's house
to tender his apologies for his bad behavior and 
he saw NampiLLai there at his porch falling at his feet .
Thozhappar was moved to tears over the humility 
and guNa visEsahm of NampiLLai and hailed :
" Are You the LokacchAryan ? " .From that time on,
the name of LokAchAryan stayed with NampiLLai.

Vadakku Thiruvedhi PiLLai named his son LokAchAryan
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Pinnai Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai --anbhAl
  anna Thirunaamatthai aatharitthu --mannu pukazh
Maintharukku saatthuhayAl vanthu paranthathu--yengum
  intha Thirunaamam inghu.......(52)

(Meaning): Later, NampiLLai's sishyar, Vadakku-
Thiruveedhi PiLLai gave the name of LokaachAryan
to his son out of his own deep reverence for his
AchAryan . This son - who became a very famous
AchAryan later - came to be revered as PiLLai
Lokam Jeeyar .

(Commnets): Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai(VTP) had a wife,
who appeared to VTP in his conjugal bed as a sarpam (Snake)
and as a result , VTP's marriage was not consumated 
for quite some time . When Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai 
conveyed this nightmarish experience to his AchAryan ,
the most merciful NampiLLai gave manthrAkshathai
and blessed his sishyan to be rid of the sarpa dhOsham 
As a result of the blessings of NampiLLai , 
the marriage was consumated and two lovely children 
were born to Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai.
The first one was named LokAchAryan by the grateful 
sishyan to record his AchArya Bhakthi .The second 
one was named Azhagiya MaNavALa PerumAL NaayanAr
after Lord RanganAthA .

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan