SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
nampiLLai once asked a person by name periya kOyil vaLLalAr to give the meaning of the first verse of thirumangai AzhwAr’s thirumozhi 1-1-9 pAsuram kulam tharum (this pAsuram describes the benefits of chanting the divine name of SrIman nArAyaNa; the first verse says that reciting his divine name will bestow a good clan (of being born to a SrIvaishNava)); vaLLalAr replied “If I, who had been born in an uncouth clan, were made as a servitor of nambUr clan (nampiLLai is from nambUr), I would consider as having been bestowed a good clan. In other words, to be at the disposal of the clan of one’s AchArya is to be considered as belonging to an esteemed clan. nampiLLai’s disciples asked him “How will be the incarnation [of emperumAn]?” He said “The divine form will be pale and tongue will be dry” They asked him in turn, “Why are they so?” He responded “His form will be pale since he had not attained a suitable person fit enough to be granted mOksham; his tongue will be dry because even if he sees a person like that, the person will be prayOjanAnthaparar (asking for other benefits and not bhagavAn himself)” The implied meaning is that even if emperumAn searches everywhere, it is very rare for him to get a person who is fully devoted to his / her AchAryan and who is not looking for other benefits.
Thus, when nampiLLai was living like this, removing the darkness of kali (kaliyugam, the fourth among the four ages in time, when ignorance about emperumAn is at its worst) from the world, with bliss flowing everywhere, correcting all and making them as devotees of thirumAl, he developed illness in his divine body. He realised that his end was nearing; he called all his disciples, prostrated before them, asking them to pardon him for any offence that he would have committed towards them. He offered them food and took the remnants after they had eaten; his disciples started chanting brahmavalli from upanishath as well as thiruvAimozhi 9th decade from 10th centum sUzhvisumbaNi mugil. nampiLLai kept his divine head on the divine lap of naduvil thiruvIdhippiLLai bhattar and his divine feet on the divine lap of pinbazhagiya perumAL jIyar and closed his eyes, meditating on his AchAryan, nanjIyar. He left samsAram for thirunAdu (SrIvaikuNtam) with his disciples periyavAchchAn piLLai, naduvil thiruvIdhippiLLai bhattar, vadakkuth thiruvIdhippiLLai, pinbazhagiya perumAL jIyar et al letting out cries like the sound of ocean, and going into an unconscious state due to separation from their AchAryan. Then they regained their consciousness, shed copious tears due to extreme sorrow, consoled each other, and with garland and parivattam (cloth) arriving from namperumAL, prepared for the final rites of nampiLLai, including tonsuring themselves. nampiLLai had the greatness of having lOkAchAryan as a title given by kandhAdai thOzhappar (who was mudhaliyAndAn’s grandson). lOkAchAryan refers to being a teacher for the entire world. He also had the greatness of knowing the rare meanings of AzhwAr’s dhivyaprabandham and explaining them to all. Another greatness that he had was that with a handwritten note given by him, his neighbour (a lady who gave up her residence to nampiLLai since he had many disciples and his existing residence could not house them all), reached paramapadham. The details of the third incident have not been mentioned by piLLailOkam jIyar; however, pinbazhagiya perumAL jIyar has written about it in his ARAyirappadi guruparamaparA prabhAvam.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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