Certain names get the beauty by who calls it

In srivaishnava sampradhyam, only if certain people call out certain names, it will be nice, sweet, beautiful and apt. There are few example for this. Only if Paranakusa Nayaki calls the dhivyadesam of "Tholaivilli mangalam", it will be nice. Parankusa nayaki's friend, at first, was trying to tell the name of this dhivya desam. But after having listened to the way Parankusa Nayaki calls it , the friend realized that she should, from then on, stop saying the name of "Tholaivilli mangalam". She would just refer to the place as "Avvoor" or "That place". This can be seen in "Thuvalil maa mani maadam" padhigam in Thiruvaimozhi.

Similarly, only if Somaasaiandan calls "Emberumaanare", it will be very nice. Likewise, only if Thirumangai azhwar calls "Thirukannapuram", it will be nice. Only if Parasara Bhattar calls "Azhagiya Manavaala" (Srirangam Perumal), it will be nice. Only if Ananthaazhwan calls out "Thiruvenkatam", it will be nice.

Azhwar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam

74 Simhaasanaadhipathis of Swami Ramanujar

Swami Ramanujar established 74 people as simhasanaadhipathis to spread Srivaishnava 

sampradhayam, to let people interpret Vedas and scriptures in their truest sense.
Here is the list of 74 acharyas (taken from bhakti list archives) but sorted alphabetically.

1. Aalavandhaar aandaan
2. Aasoorip perumaal
3. Aatkonda villi seeyar
4. Alankaara vengadavar
5. Ammangi ammaal
6. Ammangi yaandaan
7. Ammangip perumaal
8. Ananthaazhvaan
9. Arana puraththu aazhvaan
10. Arulaalap perumaalemperumaanaar
11. Eechchambaadi aachchaan
12. Eechchambaadi seeyar
13. Eesvar aandaan
14. Eeyunni pillai aandaan
15. Embaar
16. Engalaazhvaan
17. Kaaraanci somajiyaar
18. Kaattup pillaan
19. Kaniyanoor siriyaachchaan
20. Kidaambi aachchaan
21. Kidaambi perumaal
22. Komaandoor ilaiyavilli
23. Komaandoorp pillai
24. Komadaththu aazhvaan
25. Kongil aachchaan
26. Kooraththaazhvaan,/battar/sriraama pillai
27. Koyil aazhvaan
28. Kuravai nambi
29. Kurinchiyoor siriyaandaan
30. Maaruthip periyaandaan
31. Marudhoor nambi
32. Matronrillaa maaruthicciriyaandaan
33. Mazhuvoor nambi
34. Milagaazhvaan
35. Mudhaliyaandaan/kandhaadai aandaan
36. Mudumbai ammaal
37. Mudumbai nambi
38. Munip perumaal
39. Nadaadhoor aazhvaan
40. Naduvil aazhvaan
41. Nambi karundhevar
42. Neyyundaazhvaan
43. Paruththi kollai ammaal
44. Periya kovil vallalaar
45. Periyaandaan
46. Pillaipillai aazhvaan
47. Pilli urandhai udaiyaar
48. Pundareekar s/o periya nambi
49. Ramaanujam s/o peria thirumalai nambi and his son thirumalai nambi
50. Sattampalli seeyar
51. Seeyar aandaan
52. Settaloor siriyaazhvaan
53. Siriyaandaan
54. Siruppulli dhevaraaja Battar
55. Somaasiyaandaan
56. Sottai ammaal
57. Sottai nambi s/o aalavandhaar, His son ennaacchaan, his son pillaiappan.
58. Sriparaangusa nambi
59. Sundhara tholudaiyaan s/o thirumalaiyaandaan
60. Therkaazhvaan s/o thirukottiyoor nambi
61. Thiru kannapuraththu araiyar
62. Thiruk kovaloor aazhvaan
63. Thiruk kurugai piraan pillaan
64. Thirukkurungudi nambi
65. Thirumalai nallaan
66. Thirumogoor aazhvaan
67. Thirunagari pillaan
68. Thiruvellarai seeyar
69. Thondanoor nambi
70. Ukkal aazhvaan
71. Ukkalam ammaal
72. Vaduga nambi
73. Vangeepuraththu nambi
74. Vedhaanthiyaazhvaan

Meaning of "Sri" and "Aa"

There are some one lettered word that is both a letter and a word by itself. A word is usually a collection of one or more letters. For example, ship is word that is a combination of four letters namely "s", "h", "i" and "p". But there are few words that are made of only 1 letter. For example, "a" is a word as well as a letter. It denotes ONE.  Similarly the letters "i", and "u" are both letters and words by themselves.  In Thamizh and Sanskrit, there are quite a handful of examples like this.

"Sri" (श्री: or ஸ்ரீ:) is "one-lettered" as well as "one-word".  "Aa" (अ  or அ) and Bhoo (भू: or பூ:) are another examples. While the former denotes Perumal, the latter denotes Bhoomi Piraati. All these have an origin for what they represent. They are known as "daathu" in Sanskit. Let us take the word "Sri" first. This is the name of Periya Pirati / Mahalakshmi . The root (daathu) has 6 meanings for this one lettered word / name. They are as follows:

1) Shrayathe Sri: - The One who takes refuge (under the Lotus feet of Perumal only).

2) Shriyathe Sri:-  The One who is been taken as refuge (by all others except Perumal).

3) Shrunothi Sri:- The One who listens to our complaints.

4) Shraavayathi Sri:- The One who ensures Perumal listens to her when she requests HIM to forgive us and our sins.

5) Shrinaathi Sri:- The One who removes our sins (by recommending and serving as mediator between us and Perumal).

6) Shreenaathi Sri:- The One who takes us and makes us surrender under the Lotus feet of Perumal

So, Pirati does these aforementioned 6 tasks and so is being referred as "Sri". This is a good junction to realize that all these 6 tasks Pirati performs is being performed by Acharyan (guru) also. The letter "Uu" (उ or உ) refers to both Pirati and Acharyan for this same reason. Both of them perform the same role. However, Acharayan gets the power to do these because of Pirati sambandham.

Likewise, the letter / name "Aa" (अ  or அ) denotes only Sriman Narayanan. The root / origin (daathu) for it is (अ  or அ) = "ava rakshanae", that means "One who protects". There is a separate section in Vedas that talk in more detail as to why "Aa" (अ  or அ) represent Sriman Narayanan only and no one else and also why only HE can be the lone protector and no one else can. It talks about "Saamanyadhikaranam" logic which we will not go through here. But let us try to understand it in much easier and simpler terms. Sriman Narayanan is the cause of all causes (primordial cause). This has been proved by azhwar's pasurams, Vedas, Upanishads and what not. He is the source of all objects, both finite and infinite, conscious and non-conscious. There is nothing in the universe that was not born without HIM or without HIS connection. Similarly, in the phonetic scheme of things, the letter "Aa" (अ  or அ) is present in all other letters in one form or the other (explicit or implicit).

For example, in Thamizh if we look at the word "ப" , it is a break of "ப் " + "அ". If we consider "கி", we can break it up into "க +  இ". Now if we further break the "க" in it, we get "க் + அ". Thus, the letter "கி" would be like this: "கி = க +  இ = க் + அ +  இ". The presence of "அ" is implicit . While, in some cases it is implicit, in some others they may be explicit. But whatever may be it, "அ" is present in one form or the other. It is the source of all letters / words  / sounds, just like Perumal is the source of all objects. Swami Nammazhwar says in his Thiruvaimozhi, "karandhengum parandhulan" and "karandha silidam thorum  idan thigazh porul thorum". He is present in each and every entity. It is like seeing ghee inside milk. It is there but not visible to us at this point of time. But the presence of ghee in milk cannot be negated at all. 

Thus, the letter / name "அ" and Perumal are similar in the manner that it is from these that all the others have been born out of. So "அ" denotes Perumal only and no one else. If any other entity that has the "cause-less cause" feature in it, then it can be referred as "அ". But there has not been any such thing, and will not be in the future.  

Poli Solludhal

To prove a point, we do substantiate by different means. We give examples, we compare and contrast by similies, metaphors, we extrapolate things so on and so forth. Giving examples is one of the most common ways to prove a point. To prove this, I do not have to give an example though :-). "Comparing" is also a very effective means, especially in our scriptures.

In thamizh, we use the word "uvamaanam" to refer to "comparisons". Strictly speaking, this is not a pure thamizh word as it has Sanskrit origins. The exact thamizh word though is called "Poli Solludhal". It is called so because the word "pola" itself means "like that". When one says, "Avan singatha pola veeram kondavan", it means "He has great valor like that of a lion. "Idhai pola adhu" is the basic format for comparison. So, this comparison process is actually called "poli solludhal".

Singam pola veeram kondavan

In the example above, lion is the object that is used for comparing a brave man and so the lion is technically called a "poli". Likewise, if one say, "Aval poovai pole menmaiyaanaval" , meaning, she is very soft natured like that of a flower, the flower is the "poli" there.

Like many other words and phrases, this one also has lost its true meaning. People started to use the word "poli" and started to associate with "duplicate" because they lost the essence of the word. So in the previous examples, the person who is compared to a lion or a flower, they were thought upon as one that can never equal a lion or a flower, the original object that had the highest quality of valor or softness in their basic constructs of comparisons. So, since they cannot never have the valor of a lion or a softness of a flower, they were construed as "duplicate lion" or a "duplicate flower" that tries to mirror the original but cannot match up. This kind of thought made people to associate the word "poli" with "duplicate", which is not right in the first place. "Poli Solludhal" simply means "to compare" by saying "avan singathai pola" or "aval poovai pola".

Soft Flower

But, though people misuse the phrase "poli solludhal", it is true in one way, when the phrase is used with Lord Sriman Narayanan. Let me explain. We all know that our Lord is full of "audaryam" or "vallal thanmai". This is the quality of the Lord by which HE gives us anything and everything in infinite measures. To prove this point or to make this quality understandable, people use "Lord is like a dark rain bearing cloud" or "Perumal karu megathai pola". This is an example of "Poli Solludhal". In this case, the cloud is the "poli", both literally and figuratively. A dark rain bearing cloud will pour all the rain it had impregnated and will become white at some point of time when it does not have any more rain to pour. But Perumal, can HE or will HE ever stop giving anything or everything to everyone? He gives whatever people ask HIM, from aishwayram, kaivalyam and bhagavam HIMSELF. Can there be something in this universe that we can use to compare the "audarayam" of Perumal? Or for that matter any other quality of Perumal? Certainly no. So the cloud is really a duplicate in this sense. For that matter, anything that we think we use to compare Perumal's quality can only be a "poli" and not the original. So people, unknowingly, are correct, if they describe Perumal's qualities, even when they use the word "poli" in a wrong fashion.

Arulala Perumal Emberumanar Vaibhavam

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha!!!

Sri Dhayabala munayE namaha!!!

Sri Thathacharya GuravE namaha!!!

Who was Yagyamurthy?: During the period of Swami Ramanujar, there lived a great "Advaitha" proponent named 'Yagyamurthy' near a place called "Vinjimoor" in the plains of Tirumala hills in the present Andhra Pradesh state of India. He was an extremely erudite scholar who won over many battles over his peers in "Tarkha Vaadham" or "Tarkham". Tarkham refers to the art of debating, making counter points to disprove an already established theory or practice. A lot of analytical skills are needed to do tarkha vaadam. Yagyamurthy, the great intellect, was highly successful in tarkha vaadam as a result of which he made his oppoents embrace "Advaitha" philosophy. In those days, when an opponent accepts defeat in an argument, he should and he would embrace the philosophy of the winner at once.

Yagyamurthy becomes popular: As days progressed, his victories grew by leaps and bounds. Yagyamurthy started to go to different places near and far to win over his contemporaries and bolster the roots of "Advaitha". But how far could he go and how could he? Just because he went on converting loads of folks to Advaitha, would it mean that "advaitha" is the right way of interpreting Vedas? The answer is definitely a "NO". Universal and eternal truth is one and that is the one which stands the test of time. Advaitha came into this world to counter the soonyavaadhis mainly who advocated the concept of "nothing". It was successful in that aspect and just that; it was not comprehensive in any way but was good enough to attack on Vedas by some miscreants to Sanathana dharmam (Hinduism). So we do recognize that Yagyamurthy should be and will be corrected at some point of time. But during those times, who could have dared to face Yagyamurthy in tarkha vaadam? Who can put an end to this invincible scholar? The simplest answer to the toughest task was obviously our great Jagadaacharyan, Sri Ramanujar who did the task deftly.

Swami Ramanujar

Tarkham between Yagyamurthy and Swami Ramanujar: Lord Sriman Narayanan planned for their meet at Srirangam as a part of his leela. As usual, the rules of the debate were laid clearly before it began. Swami Ramanujar was certainly very confident about our Sri Vaishnava Sampradhayam, but is now going to undergo a stern test in the form of Yagyammurthy. The debate started and both these great philosphers started to argue in their stand. Attacks, counter attacks and defenses ensued from both parties. At one point it looked that the battle would never end. Yagyamuthy challenged Swami Ramanuja on a key point for which Swami could not retaliate immediately. The day's battle was regarded as "Over" and was set to continue the following morning. Swami was very worried about how to win and establish Vishitadvaita. He closed his eyes and prayed to his "Aaradhana Perumal –Varadarajan" (AruLaLa perumal at Thirukachi also known as Kaanchipuram). He pleaded to Him, "If the great Vishitadvaita sampradhayam which was nurtured and propelled by the likes of Swami Nammazhwar, Naadhamunigal and Sri Aalavandhar would have to come to an end because of an ignorant person like him (Swami Raamanuja), then what a disgrace he had caused to Vishitadvaita philosophy".  He felt very bad for himself and believed that his "PerAruLaLan" would always come to his rescue. And sure HE did. The same night, AruLaLa perumal came in Swami Ramanujar's dream and pointed out some of the arguments he could use for winning over Yagyamurthy. Specifically, HE suggested to take excerpts from "Maayavaandha Kandanam" chapter from Swami Alavandar's Sidhithrayam.

Battle continues the next day: Next day Swami Ramanujar looked gleeful right from the beginning. As usual, he finished his bath and had 12 urdhva pundrams. He was resplendent with "Tejas"and proceeded to the debate with so much confidence that upon just seeing him, Yagya murthy realized that Ramanujar has got some solid arguments prepared to win. So, he prostrated before Swami just on seeing Swami's roopam. To everyone's delight, Ramanujar won the debate and was happy that Vishitadvaita sampradhayam will flourish no matter what the size and nature of obstacles that come in its way. Yagyamurthy accepted defeat and became an ardent disciple of Ramanujar from then on.

Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar

Swami Ramanujar gives daasya naamam to Yagyamurthy: When Peyazhwar conquered Thirumazhisai azhwar  who wandered across various philosophies, the latter puts it, "Sakhiyam katrom samanam katrom sangaranaar aaki vaitha aagama nool aaraaindhom paakiyathaaal sengat kariyaanai cherndhom". Translated loosely it means that Thirumazhisai azhwar was into various religions and philosophies like Jainism, shaivisim, etc but all those did not answer the one basic question. The basic question is "What is the One Thing that if we catch hold of will get the answers to everything?. Is there a one Supreme being that is the causeless cause by Itself and IT is the cause for all other things? Thirumazhisai azhwar was given the answer in Sriman Naarayanan by Peyazhwar. Yagyamuthy felt exactly like how Thirumazhisai azhwar felt when he was corrected. Since Swami Ramanujar had won this debate with the help of Arulala Perumal, he gave Yagya murthy the name 'Arulala Perumal Emberumanar', (by combining Perumal's and his own name). From that day on, Yagya murthy was known by 'Arulala Perumal Emberumanar'.

Confusion in names between Emberumanar and Arulala Perumal Emberumanar: Ramanujar also established a separate mutt for Arulala Perumal Emberumanar. Once there were some strangers in Srirangam who wanted to visit Swami Ramanujar's madam. Since they were new to the place, they asked one of the locals "Where is Emberunar's mutt?". Immediately, the local person replied them, "which Emberumanar mutt are you guys talking about? Is it the one of Swami Ramanujar who is also known as Emberumanar/Ethirajar/Udayavar/Godhagrajan OR Swami "Arulala Perumal Emberumanar's mutt"? While this conversation was going along, Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar accidentally happened to listen to it. He wept terribly hearing that his mutt had caused confusion in the minds of people to an extent that they may believe there is another Swami. In Srivaishanvic parlance, when we say "Swami", it can refer to only one person. He is none other than Swami Ramaujar himself. Just like when we say "kovil" it refers to Srirangam, when we say "Swami", it is our Ramanujar only. But  Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar now was very upset that he went ahead and tore down his mutt and came to live in Swami Ramanujar's mutt itself from then. This is why they say "thesu poli matan thannai sidhaithittan vaazhiye" in his vaazhi thirunamam. Such was his devotion.

Arulala Perumal Emberumanar's Kainkaryam: Swami Ramanujar gave various kainkaryams to his disciples. Swami Mudaliandan and Swami Koorathazhwan's main duties were to take care of the literary works like SriBashyam by disseminating its substance to the masses. Another task was for them to go and take care of "vaadham" with scholars from other philosophies. Likewise, Kidambi Achan was given the task of "thaligai kainkaryam". A small story why he was given this task.

Kidambi Achan gets the kainkaryam of making food for Swami Ramanujar: Thirukotiyoor Nambi, was one of the five acharyas of Swami Ramanujar He lived in Thirukoshtiyur divyadesam and he was the one who gave Swami Ramanujar the Thirumanthraartham. Once, a group of people had decided to kill Swami Ramanujar, by poisoning his food. Hearing this, Thirukotiyoor Nambi immediately rushed to Srirangam to protect Swami Ramanujar. Swami Ramanujar along with his sishyas, met his acharayan Thirukotiyoor Nambi on the banks of River Cauvery, on a hot afternoon. On seeing his Acharyan, Swami Ramanujar immediately prostrated before him right on the burning hot banks of the river. Thirukotiyoor Nambi wanted to test something there. He did not ask Swami Ramanujar to get up. He was keeping mum and this continued for sometime. Due to heat, Swami Ramanujar's body turned red in color. Swami Ramanuja being an emodiment of Acharya anushtaanam, did not get up and lay there till Thirukotiyoor Nambi asked him to get up. But Thirukotiyoor Nambi continued staying silent. Along with Swami Ramanuja, there were a few sishyas. One sishya by name "Swami Kidambi Achaan" was mad at Thirukotiyoor Nambi and went lifted up Swamy Ramanuja and question Tirukkotiyoor Nambi saying “What is it you are doing? Don’t you see that our acharyan's thirumeni has turned red!!? What do you gain from making my guru like this? Thirukotiyoor Nambi was all smiles now and he said "I am happy now. I was searching for a person like you who could take care of Swami Ramanujar. Since you were the sishya who could not tolerate any wrong happening to your acharyan's body, I want you to take care of  Swami Ramanujar's "thaligai". So from that day on, Swami Kidambi achan was given the kainkaryam of doing "thaligai" to Swami.

Kainkaryams of few other sishyas: Anandhaazwan was given the kainkaryam of making Thiruvengadam a nice place to worship by cleansing the area  near temple. We all know about "Pillai Urangaa Villi Daasar" story. Swami Ramanuja made Lord Ranganathar to show "Pillai Urangaa Villi Daasar" HIS divine eyes. Earlier, Pillai Urangaa Villi Daasar" was very much fond of his wife's eyes. But from that point when he saw Lord Rangantha through Swami Ramanujar, he denounced everything and became a ramanuja dasan. For him, the kainkaryam that was given was to take care of the procession whenever Namperumal goes for Veedhi purappadu. Likewise, there was a task assigned to each of his sishya. For Arulala Perumal Emberumanar the kainkaryam given was special. We saw that he had a debate with Swami Ramanujar and at the end of it Swami was victorious. Arulala Perumal Emberumanar became a Srivaishnava. Initially, he was living in his mutt, but later he destroyed and joined Swami Ramanujar's. Swami Ramanujar gave him a very special kainkaryam of doing 'Thiruvaaraadhana" to his pEraRuLaalan. Arulala Perumal Emberumanar was very delighted and followed his acharyan’s orders to his utmost satisfaction.

Arulala Perumal Emberumnar serves as acharyan: When Anandhaazwhan and some other persons caught the lotus feet of SriRamanujar for the first time, the latter asked him to go to Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar and seek refuge under him. Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar could not say no since it was his acharyan's order again. But he told them that "I am doing this because my Swami had asked to do so. Even though you surrender to me, there will be only one acharyan to you, to me and to the whole world. He is Swami Ramanujar. So, He will take care of you just like he takes care of me".

Literary Works and its purport: Arulala Perumal Emberumanar has written two wonderful Tamil granthams called "Gnyana Saaram" and "Prameya Saaram". He is the first acharya to write in Tamil. Sri Manavala Mamunigal has written vyakhyanam for these granthams. From his granthams it is clear that he was a strong believer that Perumal and thayar is fond of us like how a cow would be towards its calf; that Perumal and thayar would love us even with our many apachaarams like how a cow would clean its new-born calf with its tongue without anything else in mind. These granthams are so great, that great acharyas like Nampillai and Periyavachan Pillai also followed these principles. The great Arulala Perumal Emberumanar's thirunakshathiram is Karthigai Bharani, that is on Dec 08 2011.

Thaniyan: This is the thaniyan about Arulala Perumal Emberumanar:

Ramanuja padhamboja samsaridham gunavarithim!!!

Dhayabaalamunim vandhe vedantha parinishtithim!!!

Dhaybalana devaya gyana sara pradheyine!!!

Prameyasaaramthu thathe namosthu premasaaline!!!

Yathiraja dhayapathram ethipankthi vibukshanam!!!

Dhyabala munim vandhe desikaakrecharam sadha!!!

Ramanujaarya sathchsihyam veda saasthraartha sampadham!!!

Chathurthaasrama sampannam devarajam munim bhaje!!!

Kaarthige Barani Jaatham Yathindraashramaashraye!!!

Gyana Premeya saaraapihi Vakthaaram Varadham Munim!!!

Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar's descendants: Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar was one among the 74 Simhaasanaadhipadhis. established by Sri Ramanujar. He had a son by name "Alankaara Venkatavar" who also caught hold of the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujar who appointed him as one of 74 Simhaasanaadhipadhis. Alankaara Venkatavar's son was "Swami Thaathacharya" who was born in the month of chithra, under the star of "Thiruvonam" – the very same star of Thiruvenkatamudayaan. Swami Thaathacharya's maternal grandfather was "Periya Thirumalai Nambigal" who was one of the acharyas of Swami Ramanujar himself. Swami Periya Thirumalai Nambi lived in Thiruvenkatam doing kainkaryam to Thiruvenkatamudayan. He used to finish his daily kainkarya duties for Thiruvenkatamudayaan and rush downhill near Thiruchaanoor where Swami Ramaujar stayed and conducted discourses on Sri Ramayanam. We may wonder why would an acharyan would ever do this to a sishyan? The reasons is that Swami Alavadhar, before he left this materialistic world had ordered his sishya "Swami Periya Thirumalai Nambi" to be one of acharyas for Swami Ramanujar and impart the deep meanings impregnated in Sri Ramayanam. Inorder to fulfill his acharyan's order and to get the sambandham of Swami Ramanujar and with the magnanimous thought that all the people in this world should be liberated by Swami Ramanujar's grace, he happily   imparted all the knowledge that he had accrued about Ramayanam to Swami Ramanujar. That is the greatness of Swami Ramanujar. Even, his achayan had yearned for his sambandham. Periya Thirumalai Nambi would boast of his connection with Swami Ramanujar. All that we should want is his sambandham (connection) and there is no thought about if it is his acharya or sishya. As a side point, all the great acharyas before the time of Swami Ramanuja are regarded as his "Thirumudi" sambandham and all others after him are his "thiruvadi" sambandham. As years passed by, ""Periya Thirumalai Nambi" grew old but he did not stop his service to his Thiruvenkatamudayan for a single day. Swami Thaathachaaryar (paternal grandson of Aruulala Perumal Emberumaanar) learnt all shastras from his father "Swami Alankaara Venkatavar" and also from his maternal grandfather "Periya Thirumalai Nambi". One fine day, when Periya Thirumalai Nambi was doing kainkaryam, he had filled his vessel with water to offer the same for Perumal. While he was doing pooja, Thiruvenkatamudayan disguised himself in the form of a small boy. He looked at the vessel from Thirumalai Nambi's  behind and drank it fully without any trace. Periya Thirumalai Nambi was astonished to see the vessel empty. When he turned himself, he saw that little boy was running rounds by calling "thaatha, thaatha" and finally went inside the sanctum sanctorum and merged with Perumal. Periya Thirumalai Nambi realized then that his grandson is none other than an avathaaram of Thiruvenkatamudayaan Himself. Since He had called "thaatha, thaatha" (thatha means grandfather in thamizh), he gave the name of "Thaathaacharyan" as the thirunamaam to his grandson and thus the latter was quite famous in the later days . All the descendants came to be known as "Arulaala Perumal Emberumaanar Vamsam: or "Thirumalai Vinjimoor Vamsam" or "Swami Thaathacharyaar paramparai". 

Vaazhi Thirunamam:

Arulaala Maamunivan adiyinaigal vaazhi!!!

Arai amar sendhuvarudayodu ani yundhi vaazhi!!!

Arulaarum angayodu mukkOlum vaazhi!!!

Ani vadangal purinoolodu aagamadhu vaazhi!!!

Therulaazhi sangamodu thirutholgal vaazhi!!!

Thirukananinnai naamamadhu sernudhalum vaazhi!!!

Porulaaru narkalaigal pugal naavum vaazhi!!!

Pongezhil thoomaalaipunai porkunji vaazhi!!!

Thiruvaazhun thennarangam sirakavandhom vaazhiye!!!

Thenarulaalar anbaal thirundhinan vaazhiye!!!

Tharuvaazhum yathiraasan thaazh adaindhon vaazhiye!!!

Thamizh gyana premaya saaram thamarkuraipon vaazhiye!!!

Therulaaru madhurakavi nilai thelindhon vaazhiye!!!

Thesu poli madandhannai sidhai thitaan vaazhiye!!!

Arulaaala maamuniyaam aariyan thaazh vaazhiye!!!

Arul kaarthigai baraniyon anaithoozhi vaazhiye!!!

Important Points that should be remembered about Swami Arulala Perumal Emberumanar:

1. Arulala Perumal Emberumanar belongs to the cream of the cream, elite league of bhagavathas who have revered their acharyan as everything. This state of mind is popularly known as "Charama Parva Nishtai"  that includes the likes of Andal, Madhurakavi azhwar, Shathrugnanan and Vaduga Nambi. This point can be seen in one of the "Vaazhi Thirunamam" lines above namely, "Therulaaru madhurakavi nilai thelindhon vaazhiye".
2. Arulala Perumal Emberumanar, who regarded Swami Ramanujar as everything, restated and bolstered this point of "Acharyabimanam" as the crux of his works namely "Gyana Saram" and "Prameya Saram", 
3. Arulala Perumal Emberumanar was Advaithi in his poorvaashramam, lost the verbal intellectual duel against Swami Ramanujar, became his one of his important sishya and performed thiruvaradhana kainkaryam

Arulala Perumal Emberumanar has sannidhis in Srivilliputtur and Pandavadoodhan shrine(near Kanchipuram). For more information on the sannidhi at Srivilliputtur, you can visit the site: http://arulalaperumal.tripod.com/srivilliputtur/ 

Adiyen feels very honored to be a part of this glorious paramparai, by having him as our acharyan and to get the samashryanam done by Sri. U.Ve. Vinjimoor Venkatachariar Swami in Kuppaniyengar mandapam in Srivilliputhur.

Azhwar Emberumnar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam!!!

Kaisika Ekadasi

Ekadasi: Ekadasi is the 11th day after a full moon / new moon day in a lunar cycle. "Eka" is 1 and "dasa" is 10 in sanskrit and hence the meaning of the word. There are many ekadasis that come in a year. There are two that stand out from the rest. One is Vaikunta Ekadasi that occurs during the month of margazhi (either late December or early January). There is a lot of significance to this that it deserves a separate blogpost by itself. We shall now focus on the second one that is known as the "Kaisika Ekadasi" that comes during the month preceeding margazhi namely "Karthigai". This typically occurs in late november / early december , depending on the stars. Today, Dec 5 2011 happens to be Kaisika Ekadasi (going by the Pacific time calendar). There is a story behind its history and we shall see it in this blog. The whole story was from Sri.U.Ve. Velukudi Krishnan Swamy's Upanyasam on Thirukurungudi Mahaatmiyam. The 18 points listed here are from Sri U.Ve. Elayavilli Srinivasa Bhuvarahachariar Swami's writings.

Story: Long long ago, there lived a great Srivaishnavite who was fondly called "Nampaaduvan" in Thirukurungudi, a town located near the Southern tip of India, near Thirunelveli. He was born in a very low caste chandala clan, however that was the only thing that was low about him and which was totally inconsequential to a true Srivaishnavaite. He had an unparalleled bhakthi towards the Lord in Thirukurungudi who is known as "Nambi". Inspite of his great love for the Lord,  since he was a chandala, and since he followed the shahstra, he never entered the temple at any point of time.

Thirukurungudi Temple Entrance

He just used to stand outside the temple premises, sing songs for his "Nambi" in a musical format known as "pann" and then take leave from there. This was his routine. Since his bhakti was bestowed upon him by "Nambi", the outpurings of it were also as sweet as the source of it. Nampaduvan used a lot of different raagas to sing Perumal's auspicious qualities.

Brahmarakshsas stops Nampaduvan: Nampaduvan used to observe fasting on all ekadasis. On a karthigai dwadasi  day, Nampaduvan was as usual singing Perumal's glories and HIS valor and was proceeding towards the temple premises and thereby thought of ending his ekadasi viratham. Suddenly, a huge monstrous Brahmarakshasan stopped him. He threatened Napaduvan that he would eat him alive as he was starving for a long time. Nampaduvan did not get scared. He replied that he would visit the temple premise, finish the ekadasi vratham that he was observing and then return back as Brahmarakshasan's food. However, Brahmarakshasan was least convinced as he thought that who will come back and offer himself as food if he is set free. He did not leave Nampaduvan as he cluthced Nampaduvan's fist tightly.

Brahmarakshas threatens Nampaduvan

Nampaduvan wanted to convince him so badly that he would atleast allow him to finish his ekadasi viratham. That was his only motive to convince him and he was totally happy to be a food for Brahmarakshas because by this way he can end up the bonding with this world and can reach Srivaikuntam. In order to convince Brahmarakshas, he started to make a lot of promises like if he does not return, let this papam (sin) cast its wrath upon him etc. So he started to list a series of papams. Brahmarakshas was inshakaeable for the 17 papams that Nampaduvan had listed. The 18th one shook him off which made Brahmarakshas let Nampaduvan go. Let us see what are those and then see why Brahmarakshas was shell shocked on hearing the 18th one:

1. If I do not return as per my promise let me get the sin of a man who is a liar
2. Let me get the sin of a person who commits adultery, if I don’t return.
3. While eating in the company of a person if a man differentiates in menu (i.e. serving inferior or less quantity of food to the guest), he gets a great sin (Papam). Let me get that sin, if I don’t return.
4. If a man donates a piece of an earth to a Brahmin and takes it back after some time he will certainly accrue sin. Let me get that sin, if I don’t return.
5. If a man enjoys the company of a woman during her youthful age and subsequently rejects her when she becomes old he is sure to get sin. Let me get that sin, if I don’t return.
6. Having performed ablution rite (Tharpanam) on Amavasya day and then recourse (physical relationship) to his wife the same day, he will entertain great sin. Let me get that sin, if I don’t return.
7. Having dined delicious dishes in the house of a host and then if a person showers heaps of abuse on his host, he is sure to meet with great sin. Let me get that sin, if I don’t return.
8. A man makes a solemn promise that he would give away his young daughter in marriage to a youth but later on breaks his promise, which would entertain sin. Let me get that sin, if I don’t return.
9. A man is prohibited from eating without taking bath on Shashti (the sixth day of both fortnight), Ashtami (the eighth day), Chaturdashi (the fourteenth day) and Amavasya (the fifteenth day of bright fortnight). Let me get that sin, if I don’t return.
10. A man promises to donate something to another man but he doesn’t keep up his promise. Let me get the sin of breach of promise if I fail to come back.
11. If a person tries to allure the wife of a friend who has helped him in manifold ways, he is sure of reaching hell. I will get that sin, if I fail to return.
12. If a person, afflicted by lust, enjoys the company of his revered teacher’s wife who is responsible for his salvation; and so also the company of the wife of a king who endows all worldly pleasure to him - he will be the worst sinner. I will suffer that sin by not keeping up my promise.
13. A man marries two girls without being impartial to both of them. If he evinces greater pleasure in the company of one rejecting the other, he is sure to accrue very great sin. Let me get that sin, if I don’t keep up my promise.
14. If a man divorces his wife who is very chaste and has no one to care for her, he will become a sinner. Let me be equated to him for not returning.
15. If a man causes obstruction to the cattle that are afflicted very much by thirst to drink water, he will get a sin. Let me also get that sin by breaking your faith in me.
16. Killing a Brahmin, addiction to liquor, stealing gold, breaking a vow are considered to be heinous crimes. Severe punishments are prescribed for a sinner, who commits all these crimes. Let me suffer all these punishments in case I fail to get back to you.
17. If some people worship only other deities and not Sri Vasudeva who is easily accessible to His votaries and is Omnipresent, they will get a great sin. Let me get that sin, if I do not return.
18. Sriman Narayana is the supreme deity. He is the inner soul for all created beings, both sentient and insentient. He is worshipped by all karmas (i.e. by all holy rites prescribed by the Shastras). He is to be meditated by all who are desirous of liberation. He alone has the ability to grant salvation. He is to be reached by all the liberated souls. Having understood the supreme qualities of the Lord, if a man equates Him to all other demi gods and angels who are bound by karma, He will be born in this world again and again. Let me get that sin by breach of this promise.

Brahmarakshas relieves Nampaduvan: The first 17 promises did not convince the Brahmarakshasa, but the 18th one totally convinced him about the certainty of Nampaduvan’s return. As a Srivaishnava, after surrendering unto HIM through an acharyan, we therefore have to understand that the last sin is the greatest sin of all sins. Hence it is to be meticulously avoided.

An old man interrupts Nampaduvan: Nampaduvan went to Thirukurungudi temple premises, sang about his Nambi. The last raaga in which he sang was the "kaisika" raaga. After finishing the viratham, Nampaduvan was en route to meet Brahmarakshas. On the way, he was stopped by an old man who asked Nampaduvan "Where are you going so fast"? Nampaduvan replied that he is going to offer himself as food for the Brahmarakshas to whom he had promised earlier.



An old man (leftside in the picture) stops Nampaduvan

The old man tried to convince Nampaduvan not to go to Brahmarakshas as he is a cannibal and can eat him alive. The old man was trying to test the resolve of Nampaduvan. Nampaduvan replied "I have no fear in being a food to Brahmarakshas. I have given him a promise and I need to stand up to the promise. So kindly let me go". The old man, who was in a disguise, was Lord Sriman Narayanan himself, let Nampaduvan go and meet Brahmarakshas.

The return of Nampaduvan: Nampaduvan came back and stood in front of Brahmarakshas. Seeing it, Brahmarakshas was taken aback because a man once held as a captive, when he comes back on his own accord and surrenders again, then he really knows no fear. Brahmarakshas started to realize the greatness of this great bhagavatha and thus he remembered the curse that he had in his previous birth. In his previous birth, he was born as Soma Sharma in a Brahmin family. He committed a lot of blunder in his yagam and other sacrifices that he had this curse inflicted upon him. Moreover, he developed a fatal disease towards the latter part of the yagam that he died without completing it. In order for him to get out of this sin, he was told that he would be liberated when he meets a great bhagavatha of a chandala clan. After saying this, Brahmarakshas begged Nampaduvan to give the merits of all the songs that he had sang for Nambi. 



Brahmarakshas begs Nampaduvan to give the merits of his songs

Nampaduvan replied "I did not sing, expecting something in return. So I cannot give the merits to you". Then Brahmarakshas continued, "Can you please give me atleast the merit of half of the songs that you had song". Nampaduvan refused again. Finally, Brahmrakshas said "I want to get liberated. So can you please give me the merit of the last song that you sang in "Kaisika" raaga?. Nampaduvan thought for a while "If Perumal's wish is to liberate him through me, I cannot stop. Ok. Let me give you the merit of the last song that I sang in Kaisikia raaga".

Brahmarakshas' previous birth: On getting it, the Brahmarakshas was relieved of his curse. He was born in a Brahmin family in his next birth , at the end of which he attained Srivaikuntam. The viratham that Nampaduvan was observing was on ekadasi day and he broke the fast on the next Dwadasi day by singing in Kaisika ragam. So this ekadasi came to be known as "Kaisika" ekadasi. Observing fast during this auspicious day and thinking about Lord Sriman Narayanan is sure to get us liberated. All these incidents can be found in Varaha Puranam, that Sri Varaha Perumal Himself told to Sri Bhooma Devi.

Whole Story in Picture Format: Here are a few pics that adiyen saw in internet that gives the story in a pictorial format. Mangalasasanam to the bhagavatha who took those pictures.

https://picasaweb.google.com/b.senthil2002/KaisikaEkadasi#

Azhwar Emberumnar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam!!!

Swami Ramanujar and Embar Incident

Araiyar Sevai: There are certain group of people in three places namely Srirangam, Srivilliputhur and Azhwar Thirunagari, who depict azhwar's dhivya prabandha pasurams using dance poses. These poses are known as "abhinayam" and the one who gives those poses is known as "Araiyar". They are descendants of the great poorvacharya Nadhamuni, who is known to have reclaimed the 4000 dhivya prabandha pasurams, when it was lost. He got it back after reciting "Kanninum Siruthambu" 12,000 times. Swami Nammazhwar appeared before Nadhamuni after 12,000th time and gave him the 4,000 pasurams that was lost from the time period between Thirumangai azhwar and Nadhamuni. He was very much ectastic to receive the lost treasure. Since he was blessed by the azhwar himself, who was in turn blessed by Sriman Narayana, nothing was impossible for him. He had tremendous bhakti for azhwars and their pasurams. He had an extraordinary talent in music as well that he organized the pasurams and even created tunes and dance poses so that people can easily get the purport. This knowledge was passed on from generation to generation that "Araiyar sevai" was one great experience for people watching it. The "Araiyars" perform usually in front of the Moolavar. Today, it happens only in the three aforementioned dhivya desams but history says that there were more than these 3 dhivya desams in which it was performed. Melkote is one abhimana sthalam in which it is performed even today.

Once during the times of Swami Ramanuja, "Araiyar Sevai" was happening in Srirangam. Swami Ramanujar was sitting in the first row, carefully watching the "abhinayam" of araiyar. The particular pasuram that was been enacted by Ariayar now was from "Maasaru Sodhi" padhigam in Thiruvaimozhi. To be more exact, the pasuram (5.3.6) was:

அன்னை என் செய்யில் என்? ஊர் என்சொல்லில் என்?தோழிமீர்!!!
என்னை இனி உமக்காசை இல்லை அகப்பட்டேன்

முன்னை  அமரர் முதல்வன் வண் துவராபதி

மன்னன் மணிவண்ணன் வாசுதேவன் வலையுளே!!!

annai en seyiil en? oor en sollil en? Thozimeer!!!
ennai ini umakaasai illai agapatten

munnai amarar mudhalvan vann thuvarapathi

mannan manivannan vasudevan valaiyule!!!

The overall meaning of the pasuram is that Nammazhwar, as Parankusa Nayaki, cries out to her mother and other folks from her town. She says "The lord of Dwaraka. The king of all devas! He has trapped me. So whatever you guys tell / advice me to stay away from HIM, it is not going to work. I have succumbed in his net, like how a fish would fall in a net.

Araiyar, when he was giving abhinayam to the word "net", he was trying to demonstate a net by cris crossing his fingers in both hands so that it looks like a net. Ramanuja was watching this with rapt attention in the front row. Embar was watching from behind as he just entered. Seeing this dance pose of araiyar and the nammazhwar pasuram, Embar, from the back,  alluded araiyar by showing and pointing toward his eyes. Araiyar understood the purport that Embar was trying to convey. So the second time, when Araiyar gave abhinayam for this same word "net", araiyar assumed himself to be Sriman Narayanan and then showed the classic dance pose of revealing the beautiful eyes. 



Araiyar giving abhinayam (dance poses)

This was the actual intent in which Nammazhwar had sung, meaning he has fallen at the beauty of Perumal's lotus like eyes and nothing else. Looking at this particular abhinayam of araiyar, Swami Ramanujar who was sitting in the front row exclaimed without even turning back, "Did Embar enter the hall now?". He said so because he knew only Embar would have interpreted this in a very beautiful manner. Wow. What can we say. Whom shall we praise? Sriman Narayanan for His beautiful eyes? or Swami Nammazhwar who sang about Perumal's beautiful eyes? Or Embar who suggested araiyar for an awesome abhinayam or the araiyar who picked up cue from Embar and enacted it beautifully or finally Swami Ramanujar who knew how each people would interpret and judged correctly? Adiyen has no words for the glorious poorvacharyas in our "Emberumaanar Darisanam", their deep anubhavam on azhwar's works, their knowledge about it and the way the lead the life as prescribed by the elders.

Azhwar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam!!!

Beautiful eyes of Pundareekaakshan