izhaiAzhwar asks four questions to the perumal through thirukatchinambi.
Amongst the means to attain moksha which is the best? Before attaining moksha when is the ultimate smrithi. In which janma will one attain moksha? Which acharya should I seek? are the four questions. Whilst thirukatchinambi is performing the Azhavattakaikaryam to perumal, perumal looks at thirukatchinambi and inquires as to what is on his mind and whether he seems to be wanting to ask something from the perumal. Then thirukatchinambi presents the four questions asked by izhaiAzhwar. For which pErarurAzhan answers, "sruthvA hariHi priyam vAkyam kAnthi poornam abhAshathe. aHamEva param tattvam jagath kArana kAranam ksEtragnE swharAyOHo. vEdaHa siddayEva
mahamathE mOkshaupAyOHo nasayEva. janAnam mukthi nichathAm madbhakthAnAm janAnAmchana anthimasmrithiyishyathE. dEhavasAnE bhakthAnAm dadAmi paramampadam. poornAchArya mahAtmAnAm samAshraya gunAshrayam idhi rAmAnujAcharya mayOktham vadasatvaram".
mahamathE mOkshaupAyOHo nasayEva. janAnam mukthi nichathAm madbhakthAnAm janAnAmchana anthimasmrithiyishyathE. dEhavasAnE bhakthAnAm dadAmi paramampadam. poornAchArya mahAtmAnAm samAshraya gunAshrayam idhi rAmAnujAcharya mayOktham vadasatvaram".
This was the answer bhagavan provided for the four questions in six sentences. What are these six sentences? I am the paratvam, the one and only one and who is the cause of the tattvam in the world. The difference between the jeevan and eswaran is clearly proven. Bhagavan is sarvagnyan, jeevan is alpagnyan. Bhagavan is sarvasakthan, jeevan is asakthan. Like this we keep seeing that there are differences in many ways. Whoever is willing to attain moksha by way of surrendering to me they attain it. Those who have adopted this means will not need anthima smrithi. For these people, I myself will grant paramapadam. Take shelter at the feet of the nargunam filled periyanambi. Upon hearing this, IzhaiAzhwar did not think that he will find a suitable good date or time to go and have darshan of periyanambi. When the lord himself has told, izhaiAzhwar did not hesitate to waste even one second and hastened to leave for srirangam from kanchipuram. For everyone there are good days and even for a country there are good times and days too. If you take India, on August 15th we celebrate the date of indian independence. Similarly on 26th January all the people of india celebrate happily the republic day. Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi is another. Like this there are specific memorable days to celebrate for a country. Likewise the avatAra day of mahapurushars are also celebrated. For bhagavan, in case of Sri Rama we celebrate Sri Rama Navami and in case of Sri Krishna we celebrate Gokulashtami and Narasimha Jayanthi. All these days are very important for the devotees. For each of us, there are special days such as the wedding day which we celebrate, we celebrate the birthday or the day when we first got the job. When we reach 60 or 80 years we celebrate those years too. So there are specific days to celebrate for a country, for the lord and for the person himself. But honestly if we think within ourselves, the only day we need to really celebrate is the day one attains the feet of the acharya and one gets transformed and the day one met with the acharya. This is the day that is never to be forgotten and indeed the most important day in ones whole and entire life itself. From this day onwards ones life gets transformed. Till now the life was something and now having attained the acharya this is completely different. Because at the same time a person cannot go eastwards or westwards. Both are on opposite sides. As we keep walking eastwards for a long time we are going away very far from the westward side. Likewise as we walk westwards for a long time we are very far from the eastward side. Therefore a person cannot walk both eastwards and westwards at the same time. Therefore a life led for divinity in the aim of attaining the bhagavan is a different thing. When does that life materialise for him is on the day he gets the darshan of the Gurunathar or the acharyan or the upadesham of the acharyan and only on this day does the life of divinity materializes. In samskrit there is a word described for the birds called dwijan, in tamil it will be called iruppirapAzharghaz. When a cow delivers a calf, the calf first comes out. When a goat gives birth to a kid, the kid comes out first, but in the case of birds out comes the egg first and then egg breaks for the young one to come out.
Just like the bird, a jeevan can also become a đwijan. The first life that the jeevan was leading will be quite different from the moment he sees the Guru or Acharya and obtains the upadesham and from this point onwards his life will then get transformed as this will be his second birth. Everything then becomes different for him, his walk, talk, thoughts, aim etc., and the means to attain all things will totally change and therefore his life also changes from then onwards. Therefore, as soon as izhaiAzhwar was told to see periyanambi, he started immediately for Srirangam.
In Srirangam, however, after Azhavandar had attained paramapadam it was desolate and void. They were wondering who could be the successor for Azhavandar. Who would take care of the day to day proceedings and nithya Aradhana of the temple. The Vaishnava community had to be led. As an answer to this situation, the Vaishnava community of Azhavandar and periyanambi jointly agree that it was in the mind of Azhavandar that it should be izhaiAzhwar who should lead. Once in Kanchipuram, when periyanambi had been to have the darshan of pErarurAzhan, it was Thirukatchinambi who had shown izhaiAzhwar to him. Not only that, when Azhavandar attained paramapadam, did we not see three folded fingers in Azhavandar's hand and when izhaiAzhwar had come to srirangam, did we not see the three fingers of Azhavandar's hand open one by one as if it was an acknowledgement and answer to the questions on the mind of izhaiAzhwar. Hence they decided that it must definitely be izhaiAzhwar no doubt who should lead and that he will be the most fit for the temple kainkaryam and leading the Vaishnava community. They began to pray for izhaiAzhwar to be permanently situated in Srirangam itself.
After taking leave of the other vaishnavas, periyanambi taking his family now comes to Kanchipuram to invite izhaiAzhwar to come and stay at Srirangam permanently. Walking all the way from Sriragam, periyanambi along with his family go to Kanchipuram. On the other side, izhaiAzhwar had also begun his journey and started to walk towards Srirangam from Kanchipuram. At a place called Madurantakam by divine decree both happen to meet. Madurantakam, a very big place, where there is a big lake and the kshetram is called "bahulAranyam", the ramar in the famous temple there is called "yErikAtha rAmar". It so happened that when periyanambi was taking some rest in that temple, izhaiAzhwar had chanced to come into this temple too. izhaiAzhwar, at the same time and periyanambi as well could not contain each other's happiness at this divine ordained happening. For izhaiAzhwar, whom he wanted to go in search for periyanambi at Srirangam, he himself had come. Similarly periyamnambi was so happy that whom he wanted to see at Kanchipuram, he himself had come here, what a kripa of Sriramar he wondered. Both hug each other. Immediately izhaiAzhwar asks periyanambi to have panchasamskAram to be performed for him. Periyanambi agrees to it but this panchasamskAram must be performed at a good time and in a good kshetram. Therefore periyanambi says that as he is on the way to Kanchipuram and it being the "satyavratha kshetram / mokshapuri" the panchasamskAram can done at the sannidhi of pErarurAzhan itself. izhaiAzhwar says that is how once with great interest he had come to Srirangam to see Azhavandar and how when he visited there he was unable to see him as by the time he could come Azhavandar had attained paramapadam itself. In human birth one thing can never be certain which is, the time when the bhagavan will take one to paramapadam. The human life is unpredictable, in this second we are alive and it is only upto that time it is certain, beyond that time nothing is certain, whether we wiĺl be still alive for the next minute, hour or day is uncertain and cannot be said. Life seems uncertain. There is water in a mud vessel and a child who is playing nearby accidentally kicks the vessel and all the water flows out and now this water cannot be collected back into the vessel. Death is something one cannot gaurantee when it will happen, what time it will happen and where it will happen but for one who has born into this world, death is certain and no one can escape from this. So "how can I wait until we reach Kanchipuram", says izhaiAzhwar. "You mentioned a good day isnt it, for one which day is a good day that is greater than on the day he saw the Acharya. The day and time one meets the acharya is greater than any other day and since this is that day and time and having met you so today in this moment itself, please do the samAshrayam to me", says izhaiAzhwar.
samyathu+ashrayanam=samAshrayanam.
What this means is to think of the enperuman himself as the only means to attain saranagathi. What is this panchasamskAram -
"thApaha punraha sadAnAme mantrO yAgascha panchamaha anithi panchasamskAraha paramaikanthi hEthavaha".
First wearing of the sankachakram punram, then dAsa nAmam, then the mantram called dwayam, then a perumal for the nithya ArAdhana. Likewise all these five called panchasamskArams, our periyanambi does for izhaiAzhwar in this ErikAtharAmar temple. Even today the sankachakram done by periyanambi is present in this temple. A small archAvathAra moorthi of pErarurAzhan was given by periyanambi to izhaiAzhwar and that is what izhaiAzhwar does the daily arAdhana to the perumal as part of the panchasamskAram. Then accompanied by periyanambi, izhaiAzhwar comes to Kanchipuram. After coming to Kanchipuram periyanambi stays in the home of izhaiAzhwar itself. Whilst being with periyanambi, from him, izhaiAzhwar listens to the 4000 divyaprabhandam or the drAvida vEdam in tamil as it is called, as well as listens to the sAtvIka puranam discourses such as the vishnuvpurAnam, Srimad BhAgavatha purAnam. izhaiAzhwar staying with periyanambi is very happy now, on one side he is doing the kainkaryam of pErarurAzhan and on the other side he has the sangam of Thirukatchinambi. On top of it all, periyanambi also is staying with him itself for six months and listening daily to the 4000 divyaprabhandam and the sAthvIka puranas such as the Vishnupuranam and the Bhagavathapuranam, izhaiAzhwar is in a great state of happiness.
At that time a situation arises where periyanambi has to go back to Srirangam again. During that time, izhaiAzhwar gets the thought to take up sanyAshrama which is on the top of his mind.
Subham
Radhe Radhe
