I have tried to present
the Sri Periya Nambhis Charitram , it may be available in websites but I
am presenting it once again and if any mistakes please bear with me and
point out the mistake by a private mail please.
Periya Nambhigal .
Periya Nambhigal also known as Mahapurna was the one of the Five
Precipitators who taught Bhagwath Ramanuja.Peria Nambhigal was a person
with large heart, you can see true to his name his heart his also large,
will anyone encourage his pupil to study under different gurus, and also
keeps a tab on his pupil, and will you imagine he sacrificed his life
for his for the welfare of his protégé. Now let us study more about this
unique Guru of our Jagath guru.He was born in the Tamil year of
Hevilambi (997 C E). in the Tamil month of Margazhi on a Wednesday,
under the asterism of Jeshta ( Ketai Nakshatram) Star. It is said that
He is the amsham of Kumudhaksha a Nityaasuri in Vaikunta. His parents
named him as Parankusadasa. we don't have much information about his
early part of his life. He was born in Bharadwaja Gothra in Good
Brahacharnam In guruparampara text it is mentioned that he is one of the
Pradhana Shishya Of Yamunaithuraivan oh i mean Alavandar who is
also known as Yamunacharya .{For those who are new to this subject i
wish to inform that Yamuna was the grandson of Founding father of Sri
vaishnavism Sri nathamunigal. It is Nathamunigal who laid a strong
foundation for a sapling named Sri vaishnavism , then Sri Yamuna the
grandson of Sri Nathamunigal took care of the sapling and it grew into a
small plant ,then Bhagavath Ramanuja who is the Incarnation of
Adhiseshan descended the Bhooloka in this kali yuga to propagate the Sri
Vaishnavism faith ,He was guided by his five precipitators who were the
Pradhana Shishyas of Alwanadar, then the plant grew into a big tree and
then under Swami Desikan and Sri Manavala Munigal it grew further into a
massive tree and it is flourishing now and it is grown into a massive
banyan tree and it is has branched all over the world.}.
Our Yamunaithuraivan had seen the our Young Ramanuja along with
Yadhavaprakasha in Thirukachi during the formers one of the visit to the
place, he saw a divya thejus in our Ramanujars face but did not disturb
him as he was busy in studies, a thought came to yamuna that he will be
the beacon of Sri vaishnavism in near future, Then he prayed to Lord
Varadhan to Help him in this regard, Then yamuna went back to Srirangam
,Then one day he told Mahapurna to go and fetch the Young Ramanuja to
Srirangam as he wanted to see him. Mahapurna went to Kanchi , He located
Ramanuja and placed himself near the earshot distance of him and started
reciting some particular verse from Yamuna's "Stotraratna" Glorifying
the Lord Sriman Narayana compared to other Gods, Once Ramanuja heard
this he immediately looked to the direction where the sloka was recited
then , He asked who is the author of this sloka, then Mahapurna told it
was Yamunacharya, then Ramanuja told Mahapurna that he would like to
meet him, since the saraamsa conveyed by sloka and also the what was
Ramanujars Views about Sriman Narayana was same. Then they both
proceeded towards the Srirangam by that time Yamuna had gone back to
Vaikunta shedding his mortal coil. Ramanuja was sad and then both
participated in Journey of Yamuna's Physical bodies last Journey. Then
when Ramanuja went and saw the Physical body of Yamuna , he observed
that three fingers of Yamuna's hands were in folded condition as if he
wanted to convey something to somebody, Then we all know about the
further story that Alavanadar had three unfulfilled wishes , then some
people told about this to Ramanuja and he vowed to fulfill the same.
Immediately the fingers straightened. Then after the event , Ramanuja
returned back to kanchi little dejected and continued his services to
Lord Devadirajan. After hearing the Alavandars shostra and what was
taught to him at Yadhavaprakasha Academy were contradictory and he was
little confused , so then turned to his well wisher, friend philosopher
and guide Sri Thirukachi Nambhigal another of the great soul who was
doing Alavatta ( Fanning) Kainkaryam to Lord Theperumal and it is said
that he was in in talking terms with Supreme Lord of Kanchi and his
consort to help him. Then As desired by Young Ramanuja , Thirukachi
Nambhigal asked Deva Perumal about his doubt , Then Lord Told him six
pints ( We will deal about it in detail in In Udayavars Vybhavam Page
separately ) Then Lord deva Perumal also told Nambhigal to convey to
Ramanuja that he should accept Mahapurna or Periya Nambhigal as his
Preceptor who was staying in Srirangam. As this divine command was
conveyed to Ramanuja then he immediately left for Srirangam. Then the
same way Our Namperumal commanded Periya Nambhigal to Accept Ramanuja as
his pupil and guide him. so at he same time Periya Nambhigal also left
for Thirukachi. The fate desired something and it wanted to Bring Glory
to VagulaAranya Kshetram of Madhuranthakam , and latter on in the
History of Sri Vaishnavism the place came to be known as "Dwayam
Villaintha Thirupathi " I will give a nice narration about what my well
wisher and Bhattar Sri V C Rangaraja Bhattar told about this Sri
Kshetram of Madhuranthakam ( I will narrate what he told and also give a
option to download the recording of what Rangaraja Bhattar expressed in
MP3 format) Now let us now move on to Periya Nambhigals Vybhavam, I am
sorry I am often deviating from main track of the history. I am trying
to give whatever I was told by my elders, I am giving you explanation so
that those youngsters who are new to Sri Vaishnavism will understand )
,now we will come back to main track , one fine day it was Avani Month ,
Sukhla Paksha , Panchami Thi-thi ,Periya Nambhigal reached
Madhuranthakam and so our Ramanuja also. Then they both met at the
Madhuranthakam Eri and then and greeted each other and both conveyed the
divine command of Lord Devadirajan and Namperumal to each other, Then
Nambhigal was very glad and he told let us hurry to Thirukachi and do
the Panchasamaskara aka Saranagathi at the Devaperumals Sannidhi, but
Ramanuja was not willing to go to kanchi and he quoted a sloka and told
let us get it done at this Place where our Saranagatha Vathsalans
Sannidhi. ( Rama gives ashraya to those who approached him. You will
know about Vibhishana , Samurdhararajan who surrendered at the feet of
Saranagatha Vathsalan ) Then Nambhigal was moved by Ramanujars words and
he immediately told let us go take a dip in the hold Eri and they
hurried to the temple then prayed to Lord Kothandarama, and also his
Aradhana Perumal Karunakara, Then Nambhigal told it is divine will and
then prayed to all Janakavalli Thayar and then went near the Maghizam
tree behind the temple, there Nambhigal took out the Aradhana Moorthy of
his Lord Sri Krishna and then conducted the all the five rituals known
as Panchasamaskara. Then Periya Nambhigal did the Sankuchkranganam, Then
Udhvapudhara daranam, Dasya Namam ,then Yagyasamaskaram and
Mantrathratnam of Dwayam. When you go to Madhuranthakam please don't
miss to ask the Bhattars to show you the Panchajanyam and Chakra which
as used by Mahapurna to do Panchasamaskara to Ramanuja and also the
Dolai Kannan worshipped by the Periya Nambhigal. ( Every year The event
commemorating the holy Panchasamaskara Vybhavam of Udayavar is
celebrated here in grand manner every year on Avani Month in Sukla
Paksha Panchami Thi-thi. You can easily remember this day , because it
falls on very next day after the Vinayaka Chathurthi which is celebrated
throughout India My humble request is please make time and visit
Madhuranthakam ( last year it was pathetic condition because Udayavar
and Periya Nambhigal were supposed to be carried to Bhashyakarar Padi
thurai and then do Thirumanjanam to both and then come back and
Panchasamaskara Vybhavam is enacted under tree very same Maghizam tree
where original event took place long long ago). Sorry I am often taking
you often from main track., what i wanted to convey was the crowd
participation was less and they have to bring water from Kinaru
and conduct the Thirumanjanam as there was not enough people , so kindly
make sure you participate in this event, as you all celebrate events in
your household.
Then After this event Ramanuja wanted to serve his Guru and he requested
Periya Nambhigal to come and stay with him and then continue his studies
under him , they , after reaching Thirukachi He accommodated his Guru in
a portion of his house. It is said he taught Ramanuja Brahma sutras and
Divya Prabhandam except the Thiruvaymozhi . Then a small incident
happened and the it shows the humility and his large heart of Periya
Nambhigal. It is said the when Periya Nambhigals wife was drawing water
from well in he portion allotted to her but some water from her pot fell
on the pot of water which Ramanujars wife was drawing. Then they had a
small quarrel ,when Periya Nambhigal heard of the incident , he did not
want to put turbulence in his pupils family life , without informing his
Disciple he quietly along with wife left for Srirangam , without
informing his pupil. When Ramanuja heard of this incident he was deeply
disgusted with his wife's behavior, he was already annoyed with his wife
for Thirukachi Nambhigals dinning incident.Then after sometime vexed
with his wife's behavior Ramanuja decided to take Sanyasa, he took
Sanyasa and traveled to Srirangam the Fort of Sri vaishnavism , he met
his Guru and prostrated and took his ashis and took the reins of the
vast establishment of Yamunaithuraivan as his successor, as usual like
any other Guru he wanted his pupil get the best possible in the earth.
You see the Vishala Hrudiya of great teacher Periya Nambhigal , he
desired that Ramanuja should also learn from his co disciple of
Yamunacharya who specialized in certain branch of Sampradaya Scriptures,
So he recommended Ramanuja to Sri Thirukoshtiyur Nambhigal aka Sri
Goshtipurna to learn ashtaakshara and charmasloka in detail, Then he
sent him to Alavandar Alwar to study Thiruvaymozhi and Stotraratna and
ther Hymns, then to Maladhara to do further advanced studies in
Thiruvaymozhi and then to Ramanujars Own maternal Uncle Sri Thirumalai
Nambhigal aka Sri Srisailapurna for studies of Srimad Ramayana) This
clearly shows the magnanimity of Periya Nambhigal and it also showed he
was not jealous and tolerance towards his peers and co-disciples. He
closely monitored the Ramanujars Progress and also he knew Ramanuja
needs all asthras ( here read it as knowledge ) to defend the Sri
Vaishnavism faith in future. please note a small incident which shows
Mahapurna's concern for his protégé , the incidence is When Ramanuja was
under the tutelage of Maladhara for further studies in Thiruvaymozhi,
Teacher found pupil giving the correct interpretation to a certain verse
which Maladhara never heard, So he chided Ramanuja and told he will not
teach him further, Then on getting the news of these incidence Periya
Nambhigal took Thirukoshtiyur Nambhigal and met Maladhara and explained
that Ramanuja was a brilliant , Devine soul and he was no ordinary
person , The new interpretation which he gave was in fact mentioned by
their Guru Alavandar and hence it is correct. Observe one more incidence
which will show Periya Nimbigal's Dayalu Ghuna. Maneri Nambhigal was a
co disciple of Alavandar (Maneri Nambhigal was of a lower caste ),
Maneri Nambhigal Passed away and nobody was there to do last rites , so
our dayalu ghuna Periya Nambhigal did his last rites, certain people
objected ,for that he citied the precedent of Sri Ramachandra Murthy
performing the last rites of Jatayu a mere pakshiraja and A Noble King
Yudhishtra in spite being the Kshtriya he performed the last rites for
Vidhura a was of lower caste. He asked in what way he is better than two
great souls, and also he has discharged his duties according to Sri
Namalwar's teachings.
Now we are coming to last part of Periya Nambhis life and it is the
ultimate sacrifice for his disciple Ramanuja, We all know there was a
evil Chola King named Kolothunga Cholan aka Keermikandan Cholan , He was
a staunch Shivate and did not tolerate any other religion. He had a
wicked Advisor named Nalooran who incidentally was a Shishya of Koortha
Alwan. Keermikandan summoned the Bhagavath Ramanuja to his Court, Then
Our Koorathalwan ( Whose 1000 Birth Anniversary we are going to
celebrate shortly ) prevailed upon Udayavar not to go the Kings court
for the sake of Sri Vaishnavism sake, and asked him to give his ascetic
robe and escape in white robe . ( We all know Udayavar Followed the
course of River Cauvery and reached Melnadu), Periya Nambhigal On
hearing the danger which has come to his disciple and supreme sacrifice
which Koorathalwan was making , Nambhigal offered to go along with
Koorthalwan in spite of knowing that he will be harmed by evil king.
Periya Nambhigal felt that Alwan should not be left to defend himself at
Kings court all alone. He also felt also as a preceptor of Ramanuja and
Senior Surviving Vaishnavite he had to defend the system Propounded by
Alavandar and carried forward by Sri Ramanuja . All this things would
have made Nambhigal to accompany Koorathalwan despite of his ninety
years old age. We we will see what happened in Chola Kings court in
Kooram website and also udayavars Charitharam , so let us not elaborate
Much. Then at Kings court Nambhigals Eyes was gouged out by kings
minions and Koorathalwan himself plucked his eyes, While Alwan survived
and reached Srirangam with great difficulty , but Mahapurna died en
route to Srirangam unable to bear the agony of the cruelty.
Now to conclude we can say Nambhigal is truly is Periya Nambhigal, He
was highly dependable person and we have thank him for giving such a
lovely protégé who spread the Sri vaishnavism. he played a vital part in
molding Ramanuja and also made other expert also mould his pupil . He
protected him like a How a cat does to it little ones.
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