Day: January 13, 2015

Acharyar Varadaguru …. Nadadoor Ammal . …

by Kazhiyur Varadan, posted in Uncategorized

Acharyar Varadaguru   the  great  Acharya had the deepest bhakti to Lord Varadaraja. One night when he was serving  ” LORD”  in an ecstatic mood, the priest brought very hot milk to the Lord as offering .

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Acharyar Varadaguru was deeply distressed that such hot milk would burn the tender tongue of the Lord! He stopped the priest from offering the hot milk and began cooling it down until it was warm enough to be offered .

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The Lord himself was moved by the Vatsalya bhava of Varadaguru  and called him ‘Amma’ – my mother! From then onwards Varadaguru became Nadadoor Ammal. After this episode, in a dream one night, Lord Varadaraja commanded Ammal to erect a Mantapam for His Vasantotsavam. Accordingly Ammal fulfilled the Lord’s desire, just as a mother would fulfill the wishes of her son in spite of difficulties.

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Another glorious pastime remains to be cherished .

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Once Ammal and his disciples undertook a pilgrimage to Tirumalai hills. The  graceful personality and humility  of Acharyar attracted the people there.. A Chieftain Kandavaran was the leader of that Lada  race . He was annoyed and irritated to see the crowd falling the the feet of Acharyar. 

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He decided to disturb them. With his mantric power he made the disciples unconscious. Ammal meditated and chanted the Sudarsana maha mantra

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and his own composition ‘Hetipungavastotram’ and broke the spell.

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The angry Kandavaran called Ammal for a debate and when defeated surrendered to the Acharya himself. The benevolent guru not only excused him but also made him a Srivaishnava by offering him Panchasamskaras.

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With the money offered by Kandavaran, Ammal established a beautiful village and named it ‘Ladagraharam’ and continued his journey.

On the way, the Lord himself came as a young brahmachari and appeased the hunger of the pilgrims with curd and rice. At the same time, there was a big commotion in the temple as the silver vessel with the naivedyam had suddenly disappeared.

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Lord Venkateswara Himself announced to the temple authorities that He Himself fed his dear Ammal and his disciples and that they should receive Ammal with all temple honours who will be arriving shortly . 

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Swami Engalazhwan was  Acharya of Nadathur Ammal ,  who was the direct disciple  of Thirukkurukaippiran Pillan .

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Acharya Nadadoor Thiruvadigale sharanam
Srimathey Ramanujaya namah

Pics credits : Google images

LORD walks with his devotee as ordered ….

by Kazhiyur Varadan, posted in Uncategorized

Peyazhwar  the senior most Azhwar was maintaining a garden and another devotee  Parama Siva Vakyar used to  walk that way. They both used to discuss about the religion they followed and wanted to establish about the religion followed was superior. One day Peyazhwar took a weak rope with knots and a pot with holes and drew water from the well and poured it to plants that he planted upside down. Siva Vakyar who came along saw this and laughed loudly. Peyazhwar asked him why he was laughing. He replied that he was behaving like a foolish person man as the plant , that was planted upside down and the pot that contained no water as it had holes , what purpose would it serve. In giving you the fruit ? Peyazhwar turned around and told him that he was the one who was being  misguided  .Peyazwar told him that the rope was the example for his Athma which is searching through different religions to find the Paramathma, but not succeeded in its search for the truth and still going on searching. He told him that our ancestors had explained in the following verse“ Thirumaal is like the root of the plant and the only ParamporuL. ( LORD )  From the root only leaves, branches, flowers and fruits appear . Similarly all the  deities took forms only from the root and so they might wither away at some time or other. Hence it is foolishness to think that the other parts of the plant are superior to the root, meaning without the root the plant cannot survive. Peyazwar’s explanation put Siva Vakyar in deep thought.

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He realized that he was still searching for the true knowledge , but couldn’t find it. He requested Peyazhwar to accept him as his disciple. And slowly understanding the  greatness of the Vaishnava sampradaya  became Thirumazisaiyazwar and started following sri vaishnavism and serving Peyazhwar .

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Later he took leave of Peyazhwar and went on divya desa yathra. After visiting few divya desams he went to  Kancheepuram  and served LORD VARADARAJA  there.

KaNiKaNNan a devotee , requested Thirumazisaiyazwar to accept him as his disciple. Azhwar accepted him as his disciple. At  his ashram an old lady used to come and clean his place, and perform small service to him. One day she prayed him that being old she felt that she may not be able to serve him longer and regretted for joining this pious service after becoming old. Azhwar was touched with her devotion and sincerity and blessed her regain her youth .

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One day the king who ruled over Kanchi happened to see this lady who was so beautiful after Azhwars blessings , and instantly fell in love with her. He married her and took her to his palace. As years rolled by the king was becoming old, but his wife was as young as she was when he got her married. He asked her what was the secret and she told him what had happened with her after serving Azhwar .She suggested the King to ask KaNaikaNNan to request Azhwar to the palace and pray for the same. . The king sent for KaNIkaNNan and told him to bring Azhwar and compose a verse in his praise and to change him young. KaNikaNNan told him that Azhwar would not compose verse praising mortals, but only in praise of Thirumaal. The king told KaNikaNNan, in that case being a true devotee of the Azhwar, he should compose a verse . But KaNIkaNNan refused his request and the king got very angry with him. He ordered him to leave the city immediately. KaNikaNNan went and told Azhwar all that had happened, and also told him that he was leaving the city as for the king’s order. Azhwar got very upset and told that when his disciple was not allowed to stay, he also would leave the city. He prayed to the Lord and requested Him also to join along with them folding His AravaNai.                                                                                               ( THE FOLDING MAT WHERE HE WAS RECLINING )

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Lo presto! What a surprise! The Lord obeyed his true devotee’s order, He got up and followed his devotees out of the city, folding His snake-bed and sticking it under arm.
The next moment the whole city plunged into darkness and ill omens occurred. The king got frightened and called his ministers for quick remedy. They told him that he had committed a big blunder by expelling a true devotee of the Lord and so no other alternative, but to go and ask for his pardon and beseech him to come back. The king along with his courtiers reached the place where Azhwar and KaNikaNNan were staying for the night. He fell at their feet and begged them to return to the city. Azhwar again requested the Lord to return to his abode with His snake-bed and the Lord also was happy to return. From then onwards the Lord got the name Sonna VaNNAm Seytha Perumal and in Sanskrit Yathokthakari. The place they stayed for the night got the name Oriravu Irukkai and at present is known as Orikkai where a Mani Mandapam is erected.A special feature of Thirumazhisai Azhwar at the Jagannatha Perumal temple in Kancheepuram is that he is seen with a third eye. Thirumazhisai Azhwar’s contribution to the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham includes over 200 verses (Naanmugan Thiruvanthaathi and Thiruchandha Viruththam) of praise. Thirumazhisai Azhwar spent his final years at Thiru Kudanthai and attained moksham there.

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Azhwar Thiruvadigale sharanam
Sonna VaNNam Seytha PerumaL ThiruvadikaLe SaraNam!

Oh! My Lovely Lord! My Chella piLLaay! Please come and sit on my lap!”

by Kazhiyur Varadan, posted in Uncategorized

During his short exile from Srirangam , Swamy Ramanujar was staying at Thondanur in Karnataka . Once , Swami Ramanuja found that there was no Thiruman ( Tilak) to apply . He was sad and thus submitted his prayers to Lord to show him the place where he could get the white clay ( Thiruman ) .

The Lord who always comes to the aid of His true devotee, appeared in his dream. LORD told him to go to Yadhavadri where there was a tank called Kalyani Pushkarani where he could locate the ThirumaN.

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He also expressed that there was a Thulasi vanam nearby. Under the Thulasi plant he could find the Lordships buried underneath. LORD advises Swamy Ramanuja to bring the deity and after all the purification rites , construct a temple for Him. Swami Ramanuja was very happy and at once started walking towarsd the place to find LORD and Thiruman. With the able guidance and love for Swami Ramanuja , King Vishnuvardan sent his men to make a path for Swami Ramanuja as he had to travel through the forest. Swami Ramanuja reached Kalyani pushkarani.

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To his surprise , He found lot of white clay near Kalyani pushkaraNi. On further trekking , He found the Lord’s Moola Murthi in Thulasi vanam under the mole. Lord was carefully taken out reciting vedic chants .The King was excited and immediately ordered that a temple for LORD has to be built .

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Accordingly necessary consecration was conducted. The King and people were very happy and honored Swamy Ramanuja very much. Swami Ramanuja made all arrangements for Nithya puja according to agama sasthras. But being in a far location , the people had to come to the temple to have darshan of the Lord. But those who were old and sick could not have His darshan. This was a cause of concern as Utsavar deity of LORD was not there .

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Once again the Lord appeared in his dream pleased with Swamy Ramanuja for building a temple and installing him, and declared the Uthsava murthi Sri Ramapriyar was at the custody of Badasha devotee daughter at Delhi .

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Swami Ramanuja immediately left to Delhi with his disciples. He reached Delhi after nearly two months. He met the Delhi Badshah ( Emperor) in his palace. The Badshah was very much impressed with Swami Ramanuja’s knowledge and his thejas.

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Swami informed him that he came to know that the king had the Idol of Sri Ramapriyar and he wanted to take him back to Yadavadri as per Lord’s command . The king requested Swamy Ramanuja to be escorted with his men to the museum where he had kept all his collections of deities and was free to take .

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Sadly , Swami Ramanuja was not able to find Sri Ramapriyar diety in the museum . Swami was disappointed and worried. He returned to the place where he was staying. Again that night Swami Ramanuja prayed and beseeched the Lord to show him the place where He was being worshipped .

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That night the Lord appeared in his dream and revealed that Badshah’s daughter was worshiping Him in her palace .

The next morning Swami Ramanuja informed the king that his daughter was having the deity of Sri Ramapriyar.The king was surprised to hear this. He said,” Oh! Is the Idol my daughter dotes on is your Ramapriyar? She is very fond of the idol and I do not think she would agree to part with it.

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She does every thing with so much love to him .

But I am sure that she would vehemently oppose to part with it. But being a King , I do not want to go back on my words also. I’ll take you to the entrance of her room.

You call out your LORDs name and if he comes to you on His own then you can take Him.” They went to the Badsha’s daughter’s palace and the Badsha told his daughter about Swami Ramanuja’s wish. The princess was quite upset to hear it.

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Swami closed his eyes and prayed, “My beloved Lord! All along you only showed me the place where you were staying and brought me this far. I came here to take you to the place where you belong. You have to come back to your place to give darshan to your devotees !

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Kindly grace me with this dictum given by the King . Now , Swami Ramanuja with folded hands and bent head lovingly calls , “Oh! My Lord! My Chella piLLaay! Please come and sit on my lap!”

And Lo! to everybody’s surprise ,

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The most spectacular scene was witnessed by people who were there………..

Lord got down from the Prince’s decorated bed and walked slowly while his anklets made sweet sound and his crown dazzled. He sat on Swami Ramanuja’s lap and with tears , Swami Ramanuja embraced and fondled the LORD as a father would dote on his child.

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Filled with emotion he called him, “You are my Chella Pillai! You are my treasure (Sampath)”…..

The Delhi Badsha was spell bound to see the scene. He cried, “Achcha! Achcha! You are really the great guru! Even the Lord loves you and I can understand He came and sat on your lap when you called Him! It shows your greatness! Now who am I to stop you to take Him to His abode?”.

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The King with great respect gave presents to the Lord and Sri Ramanuja . The King provided a palanquin to the Lord.

Swamy Ramanuja was very happy and started his return journey.

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With the sudden developments , happening around the Kings daughter started crying and pleaded with him to go along with her lover Sriramapriyar . No amount of cajoling explaining that their religion is quite different and people would call her mad with her behaviour does appeal her . The princess remarks that she would die if she parted with her lover Ramapriyar. The King with no other option left makes arrangements to send her with escorts. Enroute , some robbers surround Swami Ramanuja and others and attempt to rob the gifts given by the King . But ,the local harijans give them a tough fight and send them away and escort Swami Ramanuja upto to Melkote. Swamy Ramanuja out of love to their devotion to LORD christened them as ‘Thirukulathar’ .

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They were allowed inside the temple to have darisanam of Lord . The kings daughter in pangs of separation , enters the temple and merges with the Lord, like Andal and ThirupaNazwar.

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Swami Ramanuja is stunned and impressed with her devotion he makes arrangement for an idol of the princess and installed it in the temple and she is affectionately called Bibi Nachiyar.

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Religion and caste is no bar for a true devotee. The Lord accepts a true devotee without any inhibition. There is a separate sannadi for Bibi Nachiar in the Srirangam temple also.

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Lord Ramapriyar loved Swami Ramanuja, his true devotee and revealed the places where he was staying. When Swamy Ramanuja called out to HIM , He came dancing and sat on his lap. He did not discard Bibi Nachiyar who also loved him dearly and followed as per his devotees choice .

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SwamyRamanujar ThiruvadikaLe SaraNam!

Sri Selva Pillai ThiruvadikaLe SaraNam!

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Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Picture Credits : Google images

LORD VARADARAJA ARRIVES WITH AN UMBRELLA FOR HIS DEVOTEE SWAMI THIRUKACHINAMBI

by Kazhiyur Varadan, posted in Uncategorized

Swami Thiru-kachchi Nambi occupies a very unique position, both as an Acharyar, and as an advanced  devotee of Lord Varadaraja . Swamy Nambi  is one of the very few devotees with whom the Lord Himself conversed regularly.

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Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi appeared  at a place called poo irunda valli (currently called poonamallee, near Chennai). He moved to kAnchIpuram, and started performing  devotional service to LORD Varadaraja at Kancheepuram temple.

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His service was to fan the Lord of Kanchi, Swami Varadaraja, everyday in the late morning-early afternoon, and in the night before Lord takes rest .

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While carrying out the service (called thiru-Ala-vatta Kainkaryam in tamil), Lord Varadaraja used to talk to Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi about the happenings of the world. The topics used to be anything from how the temple was being run, to the happenings in the city of Kanchipuram and esoteric topics about philosophy.

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The Lord considered swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi as His closest friend, and talked to him just like any friend would.

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All this was due to the great qualities of swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi – his supreme devotion to Lord Varadaraja, his being devoid of any ego, and his being a true servant of the Lord, wanting no other thing but service to the Lord.

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One incident in his life is used to show how much Lord cared for him.

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One morning, after the  rituals were completed in the temple ,   Swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi was   performing the usual Kainkaryam of fanning the Lord. They were immersed on some interesting topic, and time passed without both of them noticing.

Suddenly , It began to rain very heavily.

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The time for thiru-k- kachchi nambi to go home for his afternoon prasadam arrived, and the Lord seemed to be resting.

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Nambi was  concerned that if he is delayed,   coming back to the temple for evening services would be a problem .He was restless as at no point the evening service can be delayed .

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Suddenly, an aged Sri Vaishnava person appeared with an umbrella, and told swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi that Lord Varadaraja had instructed him to accompany  to his home with the umbrella, and bring him back. for the evening service .

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Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi was very moved with his  kindness. He  thanked the Sri Vaishnava and the Lord for this trouble.

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Evening came, and swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi was delayed a little bit in starting for the temple.

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The Sri Vaishnava who accompanied him to his house was still there, waiting for him, so that he could accompany him back to the temple. Meanwhile, in the temple, the priests arrived  to start performing the evening rituals. When they entered the sanctum , they were shocked and taken aback.

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The Lord was not there in the temple! They looked everywhere, and the Lord was not there! They were very  much worried .  Awaiting for swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi  arrival  to ask him if he knew where the Lord went, or if the Lord was upset  with some mistake that might have happened.

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After sometime, Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi  accompanied by the SriVaishnava entered the temple .

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The priests immediately went to him, and explained the situation, and asked him with great concern if he knew anything. Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi told them he had no idea about what might have happened, and immediately started sobbing .

 

After all, Lord Varadaraja was not just the Supreme Being to him but  was also his closest friend.

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After a few minutes, swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi wanted to go to the Lord’s usual place and see if he can get any clues from there.

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He went and lo and behold, the Lord was there as usual smiling and with a very satisfied look on His  lotus face! Immediately, swami thiru-k-kachci nambi ran to the priests and conveyed the happy news. Everyone wanted to celebrate, and looked for the Sri Vaishnava who had accompanied swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi so that they could invite him to join the celebrations too.

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They could not find him. He had vanished. When the priests went near the Lord to start performing the services ,they saw water droplets on Him!

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Everyone now realized what had happened. The Lord Himself, unable to bear the thought of swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi getting wet by the rain, had accompanied him to his home.

Not only that, He waited there so that He could accompany swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi back to the temple!

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Such is the greatness of swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi…

Thirukachi Nambee swamy Thiruvadigale sharanam

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

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