yathIndhra pravaNa prabhAvam – Part: 34

SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:

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Now, thirumalai narration

On the first day, in the month of purattAsi (kanyA mAsam), the brahmOthsavam starts at thiruvEngadam hills. periya kELvi jIyar (the prime person at the hill, looking after the temple there) had a dream that night where people told him that they saw a SrIvaishNava, lying like periya perumAL (SrI ranganAthan), to the sourthern direction of AzhwAr thIrtham at the foothills, near the groves. He had a huge form, equalling the length of the entire thirumalai hills. He had his divine head on the western direction and his divine feet in the eastern direction, looking in the sourthern direction. A jIyar was standing near his divine feet. When he asked them as to who he was, they told him “He is azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr, who is an expert on muppaththARAyiram (Idu, commentary for thiruvAimozhi). The person standing near his divine feet is ponnadikkAl jIyar”. Early next morning, when periya kELvi jIyar went to the temple for morning worship, he told the dream to the gathering for iyal (morning ritual when pAsurams from thiruppallANdu, thiruppAvai etc are recited), thOzhappar, who heard this composed a SlOkam

svapnEbhruhath yathIndhrasya SrISailasamithOmahAn
SayAna: purushOdhrushta: saumyajAmAthru dhESika:
thadharSa paSchAth thasyaiva pAdhamUlE yathISvaram
prAnjalim nibhrutham prahvam svarNAdhipathipadhasamjgyakam

(in the dream of periya jIyar, a distinguished person by the name of azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr was seen reclining. periya jIyar also saw near that distinguished person’s divine feet, with humility, ponnadikkAl jIyar, who was cupping his palms in salutation).  Everyone felt happy, hearing this. Some people who were coming to the temple from afar areas, said that he is kOyil nAyanAr. Some others said that he is coming for the uthsavam (brahmOthsavam); some others said “nAyanAr considers his disciple vAnamAmalai jIyar as dear to his heart; he is also known by the name ponnadikkAl jIyar”. Everyone was expectantly waiting for a great event during the brahmOthsavam.

nAyanAr, as part of his travel, worshipped thirumalaiyAzhwAr (hills), reciting thiruvAimozhi 3.3.8 “thiruvEngadamAmalai onRumE thozha nam vinai OyumE” (as soon as we worship the divine hills of thiruvEngadam, [the effects of] all our past deeds will disappear). He prostrated in front of thirumalaiyAzhwAr, looking at the hills without removing his eyes off the hills, reached svarNamukhi nadhi as said in “suvarNamukharIm thathrasangathAm mangaLAsvanAm” (suvanamukhi, with sweet noises, flowing alongside that thirumalai), took a divine bath in it, applied the twelve Urdhva puNdrams starting with kESava. When the abhayahastham (hand symbol manifesting refuge), sweet fragrance and divine garland of gOvindharAjar came there, he accepted them and gave them to his followers too. He mercifully went to gOvindharAjar’s sannidhi, carried out mangaLASAsanam to him, received the temple respects (sacred water, SatAri, thuLasi etc), worshipped azhagiyasingar (narasimha) at the foothills. As mentioned in upanishath “Evamvith pAdhEna adhyArOhathi” (one who worships like this climbs up with his feet), he started climbing up the hill. On the way, he worshipped parishad thiruvEngadam udaiyAn [parishad thiruvEngadamudaiyAn is the archA rUpam of emperumAn when he came to help thoNdaimAn chakravarthi, with his divine conch and divine disc, to fight with his enemies; thoNdaimAn chakravarthi was a very devoted follower of thiruvEngadamudaiyAn). Then, at the nearby kaRpUra kA (garden of camphor) he mercifully took  water, then worshipped kAttazhagiya singar and mAmbazha emperumAnAr .

(There is an interesting narrative about mAmbazha emperumAnAr: When emperumAnAr (rAmAnujar) was climbing up thiruvEngadam, thiruvgEngadamuadiyAn, disguising himself as a SrIvaishNava, one of the disciples of ananthAzhwAn (disciple of emperumAnAr and who was sent by him to take care of the needs of thiruvEngadamudaiyAn), went with curd rice and mango to emperumAnAr and told him that these were sent by thiruvEngadamudaiyAn. When asked as to who was his AchAryar, he said that his AchAryar was ananthAzhwAn. emperumAnAr then asked him to recite his AchAryan’s thaniyan; immediately, that SrIvaishNava recited the thaniyan

akhilAthma guNAvAsam agyAna thimirApaham
ASrithAthAm sucharaNam vandhE ananthArya dhESikam
yathIndhra pAdhAmbuja sancharIkam SrImadh dhayApAla dhayaika pAthram
SrIvEnkatESAngri yugAntharam namAmi ananthAryam ananthakruthva:

and disappeared. emperumAnAr was amazed seeing this; he realised that it was thiruvEngadamudaiyAn who had come with the prasAdham. He ate the curd rice in that place, ate the mango fruit and planted the mango seed in that place. When thiruvEngadamudaiyAn’s divine feet appeared in that place later, people who came in later period, consecrated a vigraha of emperumAnAr there and this vigraham is called as mAmbazha emperumAnAr).

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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