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Kulasekhara Alvar
Sri Parthasarati Dileepan
March 1, 1996
This year the thiru nakshathram (birth star) for Kulasekaraazhvaar falls on March 1, 1996 (Tamil Month of Maasi, Star: punarpoosam.)
Kulsekaraazhvaar was a King of the Chera country of Tamil Nadu (present day Kerala.) He is credited with one poem called PerumaaL Thirumozhi (Lord's sacred poem) containing 105 verses in Tamil, many of which are dedicated to Lord Rama and Lord Krishna.
Kulasekaraazhvaar was a legendary Rama bhakthaa. He
devoted almost a third of his verses to Lord Rama. While
other Azhvaars celebrated Rama's victory over evil
Ravana, Kulasekaraazhvaar chose to sing lullaby to
Rama, with ``RaaghavanE thaalElO.'' In another part
of his poem, he pours out his heart and wails ``emm
iraamaavO'' expressing Dasarathaa's sorrow upon Rama's
departure. Azhvaar's Rama bhakthi was so intense that
one day, during a discourse of Srimad Ramayana, he
became distraught and ordered his generals to get his
armed forces ready so that he can rush to the aid of
Lord Rama!
For Sri Vaishnavaas there is no greater expression of devotion for our Lord Sriman Narayana than devotion for our Lord's devotees. As a matter fact Sri Vaishnavas consider reverence towards our Lord's devotees as the culmination of our reverence to Lord Sriman Narayana. No other Azhvaar expressed this principle more elegantly than Kulasekaraazhvaar. This is completely in character for he is said to have unhesitatingly put his hand inside a pot with a cobra to prove the innocence of our Lord's devotees maliciously accused of steeling the royal jewels.
Unlike Thondaradippodi and to some extent Namaazhvaar, whose relevent verses tend to be guidance for our behavior towards fellow devotees, Kulaseakaraazhvaar expressed these sentiments in the first person. There are several verses where he starts out with beautiful description of our Lord, and then, when we expect him to finish by surrendering to such a Lord, he ends with a surrender to the devotees of such a Lord! Here is an example:
aathi yantham anantham aRputham
aana vaanavar thampiraan
paathamaamalar soodumpaththi
yilaatha paavikaL uyndhida
theethiln^anneri kaatti yengum
thirintha arangan emmaanukkE
kaathalsey thoNdarkku eppiRappilum
kaathalseyyum en nencamE.
"All pervading Lord of Sri Rangam has shown us
the impeccable code of prapaththi (surrender), the
code, if followed, is sure to save even those with
no devotion for the Wonder, the Lord of heavenly
gods who is the beginning, the end, and the
infinite. In all my lives my heart shall be filled
with love for these devotees who love our Lord so
dearly."
For me personally, the first 10 of the 105 paasurams of this Azhvaar's PerumaaL Thirumozhi never fails to evoke nostalgia for Sri Rangam. These verses resonate with the longing in a sweet melancholy tone. Here are some samples:
karumaNiyaik kOmaLaththaik kaNdu koNdu en
kaNNiNaikaL enRukolO kaLikkum naaLE.
"I long for the day I can behold my Lord and
delight at the sight of the dark gem the
emerald!"
maNivaNNan ammaanaik kaNdu koNden
malarsenni yenRukolO vaNangum naaLE
"I long for the day I can see my Lord of
emerald hue and worship with my head
bowed."
oLimathisEr thirumugamum kaNdu koNden
uLLamika enRukolO vurugum naaLE
"I long for the day when my heart will melt
away at the sight of the luminous sacred face
of my Lord of Sri Rangam."
kulasEkaraazhvaar thiruvadigaLE saraNam!
