Madhurakavi (meaning in sanskrit the sweet poet ) appeared at a holy place in Thirukolur,, Tamilnadu which happens today (chitrai nakshatram)
Once Madhurakavi Azhwar undertook an pilgrimage to Ayodhya.
He was very moved by the beauty of deities of Lord Rama, Sita Devi, Lakshmana & Anjaneya and decided to stay in Ayodhya for sometime.
During his stay, one night he saw a bright light in the sky emitting from the southern direction .
He couldn’t comprehend if it was a bright star, a forest fire or anything else. Amazed with the strange happening , he decided to follow the light and see it for himself.
Unmindful walking long distances , he followed the light .
After days of voyage, he finally reached Azhwarthirunagari a remote village and the light suddenly disappeared .
He was surprised at the phenomenon.
He enquired from the villagers about anything strange happening in their village assuming the dazzling light could have some prophecy too .
The villagers replied in negative, but expressed that a boy has been meditating under a Tamarind tree for past 16 years without even opening his eyes.
He had crawled to the tree as a baby 16 years back and remained in the tree thereafter.
Madhurakavi Azhwar was amazed with the villagers expression .
He decided to see the child for himself. Azhwar goes close as near to the tree and finds the divine child with tejas . Eyes closed and meditating the boy was glowing with radiance which was what he saw at Ayodhya .
The place was filled with divine aura and true the boy was looking too divine as much as Lordships themselves ..
Azhwar attempts to question the divine boy about what is True knowledge and gets convinced with his instant replies .
He immediately accepts the divine boy who is none other than our great Swamy Nammazhwar as his ACHARYAN
Sri Madurakavi AzhwAr becomes an ardent disciple of NammAzhwAr and serves him with utmost devotion . With all humility he submits the 11 verses of the grand KaNNinunchiRuthAmbhu glorifying his Acharyan Swamy NammAzhwAr / Sri SaTakOpar with all humility equating to Lordships .
A devotee can dwell and enjoy these verses for ages on the divine works of Madhura kavi AzhwAr’s grand
“KaNNinunchiRuthAmbhu” .
Azhwar declared in this Prabhandham
“tEvu maRRariyEn”
( I do not know of any God other than my AchAryan, Swamy NammAzhwAr).
After NammAzhwAr departed from this earthly world to srivaikuntam , MadhurakaviAzhwAr was worshipping deity of Swamy NammAzhwAr with deep devotion
which he consecrated and performed ThiruvarAdhanA and uthsavams in his honour.
Impressed by Swamy NammAzhwAr’s works he wanted to stage NammAzhwAr’s works in front of other scholars .
Azhwar used to contemplate on the divine knowledge shared by Acharyar .
Vaikaasi visaakam the appearance day of Swamy NammAzhwar was celebrated in a grand manner .
One particular year, when Swami Madhurakavi azhwar was taking azhwar’s deity in a procession during the celebrations, few poets from Madurai Thamizh Sangam objected to Swami Madhurakavi azhwar and said .
“Oh! Madhurakavi!!
You are worshiping Nammazhwar who is a just a ordinary devotee not Perumal and reciting verses glorifying him ..
Are those verses “sangam” certified? and authenticated by the great Madurai Tamil Sangam as “ the original and of the highest quality”?
and is he really qualified enough to translate the Vedas into tamil ”?
Azhwar was completely disappointed hearing these critics .
He politely went to Azhwar’s sannidhi and pleaded “Azhweer!!
These people are objecting to adiyen’s only kainkaryam which is my only purpose of life ..
Please do something that will not come in the way of my service to you . Nammazhwar pleased with his devotion appeared before Swami Madhurakavi azhwar in a disguised form.
Dressed like an old man he asked Swami Madhurakavi azhwar about his reason for his grief. Swami repeated the story to the old man.
The old man replied please do not worry about these trivial issues. Submit this pAsuram of “kaNNan kazhaliNai…” and see the miracle “saying this he disappeared.
“Kannan Kazhalinai”
will support you always”.
Madhurakavi obeyed as instructed and proceeded to Madurai to meet the so called great sangam poets .
All of them were debating in a boat discussing the authenticity of the literature .
Madhurakavi offered the holy verse to the poets .
(Madhurakavi azhwar had offered the divine verses in a small leaf which was used during olden times and the divine verse “Kannam Kazhalinai…” from Thiruvaaimozhi was ever glowing )
The poets read those verses and laughed at Swami Madhurakavi azhwar for his childishness and threw it aside .
Suddenly the whole boat top sided all the poets much to their surprise .
They swam hard and with great difficulty reached the shore. To their astonishment, they found that the boat retained only that palm leaf .
The poets read it patiently and were of opinion that Swamy Nammazhwar was not any ordinary saint and apologised for their foolishness . Thus their ego was shattered
Azhwar further says that For a true devotee of Lord Krishna ….
all is Lord Krishna the Food – eaten to satisfy the appetite,
water drunk to quench the thirst,
the betel leaves consumed after the food, are all Lord Krishna .
Chanting HIS holy name, speaking of HIS qualities, and thinking of HIM , HIS devotee will feel the hunger and the thirst and all other needs satisfied.
kaNNan kazaliNainaNNum manamudaiyeer
eNNum thiru_naamam
thiNNam naaraNamEnaaraNan emmaan
paaraNangaaLan
vaaraNam tholaiththa
kaaraNan thane
thaanE ulagelaam
thaanE padaiththidandhu
thaanE undumizndhu
thaanE aaLvaanE
aaLvaan aazi_neer
kOLvaaya aravaNaiyaan
thaaLvaay malarittu
naaLvaay naadeerE.naadeer naaLthORum
vaadaa malar_kondu
paadeer avan_naamam
veedE peRalaamE.
mEyaan vEngadam
kaayaa malarvaNNan
pEyaar mulaiyunda
vaayaan maadhavanEmaadhavan enRenRu
Odha valleerEl
theedhonRum adaiyaa
Edham saaraavE.
saaraa EdhangaL
neeraar mugilvaNNan
pEr aar Othuvaar
aaraar amararEamararkku ariyaanai
thamargatku eLiyaanai
amarath thozuvaargatku
amaraa vinaikaLE
vinaival iruLennum
munaigaL veruvippOm
chunai nan malarittu
ninaimin nediyaanEnediyaan aruL soodum
padiyaan sadakOpan
nodi aayiraththippaththu
adiyaarkku aruL pERE
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics : Credits to antaryami.net, Smt Geetavasudevan, divyadesam all the advanced devotees who captured the picsVideos : Credits 4000 Divyaprabhandam
Hare Krishna…
Countless saashtaangam to SriGovinda perumal who once again took avathaaram as our greatest of great Namazhwar to redeem each of mankind…
Kodi kodi Pallandu to the highest Mahatma Sri Namazhwar and Sri Madhura Kavi Azhwar.
May their divine most glories resonate in the whole cosmos…
Kodi Pallandu thayar perumal.
Thanks a lot Varadhan Anna ….excellent divine write up and super videos.
Adiyen Sri Ramanujar acharyan Dasan
HARE KRISHNA
Mahan vaishnava SRI VARADAN SWAMIGAL Thiuvadigale Sharanam.
Hari Om!
Both pasurams – 1.Kanninum chiruthambu 2.Kannan Kalalinai – V.V.Powerful pasurams & Adiyen enjoyed uttering all along with Bhagavadas ….THANKS a lot indeed, Varadan.
Adiyen – Ramanuja dasan – Jai Sriman Narayana!
Reblogged this on kazhiyur varadan's web blog and commented:
Azhwar further says that For a true devotee of Lord Krishna …. all is Lord Krishna the Food – eaten to satisfy the appetite, water drunk to quench the thirst, the betel leaves consumed after the food, are all Lord Krishna . Chanting HIS holy name, speaking of HIS qualities, and thinking of HIM , HIS devotee will feel the hunger and the thirst and all other needs satisfied. They will not eat any other food since KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS is enough food for them and always remain in that bliss forever ……
Very informative. Pictures posted add charm.
A very enlightening story of SRI Madhura Kavi Azwar meeting SRI Nammazwar, it is he who brought out the Great Nalayeera Dhivya Prabandham. All devotees of Emperuman Are Greatly indebted to him for having got such a veritable Goldmine. Swamy Nammazwar Thiruadigale Sharanam. SRI Madhrakavi Azwar Thiruadigale Sharanam. The Translation not only enhances the beauty of the Pasurams but also gives a better perception of their contents. Thanks a lot to those Mahanubhavas who kindle our enthusiasm to go through the Pasurams.
dhandavath pranams. Hare Krsna. Jai Madhurakavi alzwar Jai Swamin Adiyan Sri Kazhiyur Varadhan!! Jai HO to your service!!