Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha                                           Srimad Varavara Munaye Namaha

The Crowning Jewel

Celebrations peak at this time of the year. Every Srivaishnava's calendar is chock full of events to participate in and place to be at. The processional deities of nearly every divyadesam take it upon themselves to keep their devotees entertained. They provide ample fodder for one's senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Ten-day celebrations fill the four directions that have temples and each Perumal competes for the attention of the devotees bringing their best to the fore. This time of the year is also witness to the Sri Rama Navami Utsavams in Srirangam Periya Kovil and the annual asterism of Swami Ramanuja.

All of these celebrations are like the various jewels that adorn the Lord. Some like bangles, some like glittering necklaces. Some are like the bold brocades of his shawls and some like the quiet bracelets of his hands and then there are the chirpy chatelaines, grandiloquent gold brooches and aureate anklets. But what of his Crown?

Of all the characteristics that the twin-worlds have in a lavish spread, the one that is of utmost fondness to the Lord is that of "Acharya-Bhakti" or Love towards one's Preceptor. He holds this feeling above all else. Vishadavak sikhamani Swami Manavala Mamunigal says:

jnyaanam anuttanam ivai nandragave udaiya
nana guruvai adaindhakkal manilatheer!
thenar kamala thirumamagal kozhunan,
thaane vaigundham tharum

Bold words these! A rough translation of the above verse would be - "Oh Denizens of the Earth! If you were to attain a preceptor decorated by the two-fold qualities of Knowledge and Practice, The Spouse of the divine consort who resides amidst the nectar-filled lotus shall grant the eternal-realm of his own accord". By no means does the above translation match the lyrical beauty of Swami Manavala Mamunigal's verse and all our readers are encouraged to practice reading the tamizh original and the commentary by Swami Pillai Lokam Jeer. Moving on, this verse espouses a rather critical principle of the sath sampradayam which is that if one is to exhibit a sense of Supremacy and Sovereignty at the Lotus feet of one's Acharya, the Lord has enabled a "mechanism" by which their deliverance is organic and assured.

Two souls who have exhibited this sense of extreme devotion towards their preceptors have been Swami Anandhazhwan and Sri Madhurakavi Azhwar. They were born on the Chittirai month under the Chittirai asterism. Swami Anandhazhwan is told to have taken the intent of Swami Ramanuja and fulfilled his wish of creating gardens in the then hostile environs of Tirumala. Swami Ramanuja is said to have expressed his intent while explaining the phrase "sindhu poo magizhum Thiruvenkadam". In the august gathering of his followers, only Sri Anandhazhwan expressed the courage to undertake Swami's orders. When he did so, Swami Ramanuja embraced him with love and called him "Sri Anandha-Anpillai".

The life history of Swami Madhurakavi Azhwar and his devotion at the feet of Swami Nammazhwar is quite well known. Just like Swami Madhurakavi Azhwar has no singular bearing in life without Swami Nammazhwar, his life history has no singular bearing barring Swami Nammazhwar. His composition the Kanninun Siruthambu is an expression of nothing but the utmost adoration of his preceptor. "Devu mattru ariyen" he proclaims - which means, I know of no other Lord. No justice can be made to the magnitude of service done by this great soul to Swami Nammazhwar, when expressed in mere words.

Fittingly, it is the annual asterism that marks the birth of Swami Madhura-kavi Azhwar and Swami Anandhanpillai that the good Lord Sriman Narayana, the Purushottama adorns as his crown!