We live – we pray – we
go to temples….. in Sri Vaishnavism, in the various forms of God – the one
which is easiest and the form in which the Supreme God makes Himself available
to us daily is ‘Idol worship’ in Divyadesams and other temples – this is known
as ‘Archai’ ~ Archavatharam, where the Supreme Lord
Maha Vishnu manifests Himself in various idol forms and comes near us to shower
his munificence to us ………..
Sri Poigai Alwar; Pillai Logacharyar and Swami Manavala Mamunigal
We see Him in the
beautifully decorated Idols…… there lived Azhwars who have sung beautiful verses
on God in Tamil, which are collectively known as “Sri Nalayira Divya
Prabandham’…… one must ponder over the greatness of the ‘mayarvara
mathinalam arulap perra Azhargal’ ~ those Azhwars were supreme in their wisdom
and were showered specially by God Himself with abundance of knowledge and
devotion to thyself…….. to the Azhwars, the transcendental reality was not
merely an abstract principle ~ the life was not illusion… to them their very
purpose of birth and living and their confinement on earth was for service to
Lord Sriman Narayana – serving Him in the most servile manner with all
glorious, flawless and auspicious attributes which included floral worship and
lyrical – those of verses on Supreme Lord.
They realized that the entire cosmos of all sentinent and insentinent entities were alive with the
underlying divinity of Emperuman being the inner controller or the soul; they
realized the need for not just feeding this earthly body but more of the ‘soul
– the athma’ inside.
Among the 12 Azhwaars of Srivaishanva Tradition,
Poigai Azhwar, Boothath Azhwar and Peyazhwar – were the ones to have descended
on this Earth earlier. They
were contemporaries and are praised as “Muthal
Azhwars (the first among the Azhwars). They were born in the month of “Aippasi: in the
thirunakshathirams of ‘Thiruvonam, Avittam, Sathayam’ respectively. This divine
trio met on a rainy day at Thirukkovalur – when they sang 100 verses each which
now form part of Moonravathu Ayiram (Iyarpa) in Naalayira
Divyaprabandham.
ஐப்பசியில் ஓணம் அவிட்டம் சதயம் இவை - ஒப்பிலவா நாள்கள் உலகத்தீர் - என ஸ்ரீ மணவாள மாமுனிகள் தமது 'உபதேச ரத்தினமாலையில்' எடுத்து உரைத்தார். இவை எப்புவியும் பேசு புகழ் "பொய்கையார், பூதத்தார், பேயாழ்வார்' - இவ்வுலகில் வந்துதித்த நாள்கள். பன்னிரு ஆழ்வார்களில் முதலில் வந்துதித்ததனால் முதல் ஆழ்வார்கள் என பெருமை பெற்றவர்கள் இவர்கள். ஸ்ரீ மணவாள மாமுனிகள் "உபதேச ரத்தினமாலை"யில் மேலும் :
மற்றுள்ள ஆழ்வார்களுக்கு முன்னே வந்துதித்து *
நற்றமிழால் நூல் செய்து நாட்டை உய்த்த * -
பெற்றிமையோர் என்று முதலாழ்வார்கள் என்னும் பேரிவர்க்கு *
நின்றது உலகத்தே நிகழ்ந்து.
-- என சிறப்பித்தார்.
In the Thondai
Naadu, the land of radiance and nature's beauty, is Thiru
Vekka, nearer the Thiru Kachi Sri Devathirajar temple, also called as
"Yadhothakaari Sannadhi" [sonna vannam seitha perumal ~ the God who did
as ordained by His devotee]. Nearer to
the Yadhothakaari temple, is found a Poigai (small pond), which is full of
beautiful, fresh lotus flowers are found. In this Pond was born Sri Poigai Azhwar in the
month of Aippasi and on Thiruvonam nakshathiram being the amsam of Panchajanyam
– the weapon of Lord. Alwar was
extremely devoted and led his life in service to God only, going to several
Divyasthalams and doing service to Lord and His followers
The muthalazhwargal vaibhavam is a very interesting one… the trio came
together for the first time at Thirukkovalur on a rainy day when there was
lightning accompanied by thunders – in the front passage [idai kazhi] of a
house referred as ‘dehali or rezhi’……….. the place being very small – it was
good enough for Poigai Azhwar to lie down; when Boothathazhwar joined him, they
were able to sit ~ and then came Peyalwar who was invited to their fold saying
that ‘one can lie; two can sit while there is sufficient place for all the
three to stand’……. They were sharing their peregrinations in their divine
journeys, they felt strange pressure in total darkness as there was some one
more amidst…… being great sages with total
dedication to Lord they lit light ~ how great and mighty in their bakthi they
were…. Poigai Azhwar made the Great
Earth as the lamp; Ocean as the oil; the
Sun as the light – all to be placed at the Lotus Feet of the Supreme Lord and he sang 100 verses ~ Muthal
Thiruvanthathi. Sri Boothathalwar
followed – making ‘love as the lamp; eagerness as the oil – the endearing
thoughts as the wick to the lamp and the lit the lamp of wisdom’ – Sri Peyalwar
having had the benefit of these lights rendered his ‘Moondram Thiruvanthathi’.
வையம் தகளியா வார்கடலே நெய்யாக *
வெய்ய கதிரோன் விளக்காக, *- செய்ய
சுடராழி யானடிக்கே சூட்டினேஞ்சொன் மாலை,*
இடராழி நீங்குகவே என்று.
Today 10th Nov 2013
being ‘Aippasiyil Thiruvonam’ marks the birth of first among them – Sri Poigai Azhwar. Today assumed more significance as today happens to be
birthday of a great Acharyar – Pillai Ulagacharyar ~ a person of great wisdom
who underwent untold sufferings in ensuring that the primordial Lord
Thiruvaranganar is safe [more
on this on a later post…] ~ today along with Sri Poigai Azhwar and
Pillai Ulagariyar – Swami Manavala Mamunigal also had purappadu being the
culmination of ‘Vidayarri’ utsavam.
There was the most grand purappadu of Azhwar, Acharyargal and Sri
Parthasarathi Perumal at Thiruvallikkeni mada veethis and fortunate were those
who had darshan of this grand purappadu.
Here are some photos of the purappadu at Thiruvallikkeni
Adiyen Srinivasadhasan.
10th Nov. 2013
Sri Poigai Alwar
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