Chera Nadu is otherwise called as "Malai Nadu", which is rich in wealth and is surrounded by

big beautiful mountains and rivers. In this Chera Nadu, lots of Elephants are found as cows
found in Thondai Nadu. All the people found in this empire are said to be great warriors. Not
only in war, but also in education and the way they led the country and their life. Chera Nadu
was ruled by Chera Kings, who ruled for more decades. They led the empire in peace and
made the life of the people happy.
In that generation, a king by named "Thidaviradhan", ruled the Chera Empire, who had a
great bhakti towards Sriman Narayanan. He gave proper respect and gave lots of valuable
things to Vishnu bhaktas. As the kind of life by the king, as the Hamsam of Sri Vishnu's Sri
Kousthu, a baby was born in Prabhava year, Maasi month, Sukla Dvadesi, friday in
Punarpoosa Natshatram (Star). Since, the child was born as the result of Vishnu bhakti of the
king, it look very bright and beautiful.
As the birth of child, the entire empire celebrated his birth and after 10 days, the child was
kept the name "Kulasekaran". He did all the mischief things in the childhood days what a
child does generally. But, at the same time, he learnt all the important issues and also learnt
the Sanskrit language, which is said as the Veda Mozhi (Vedic language). He was not only
taught with the studies, but also with various was teachings like horse riding, Elephant ride,
practiced the sword fight, Gadhai and Chariot riding. He was very well taught with studies
and also with various fighting aspects for war.
After attaining the proper age, he was given the throne and led the Chera Nadu, better than
his father led. He also gave the proper respect to the Vishnu bhaktas and made the people
very happy. He fought with great speed in the war and defeated all the opposing kings. On
seeing this, the Chozha kings and Pandiya kings got jealous on him and tried to defeat him in
the war. But, Kulasekarar with his mighty soldiers and army defeated them and extended his
empire towards Chozha Nadu.
On seeing the greatness and the masculine character of Kulasekarar, Pandiyan
king married her daughter to Kulasekarar. After getting married, he led his life
with his wife and along with the war and capturing the various empires. But,
seeing all this, the Emperumaan who is found on the Paambuanai (Perumal
found on the Aadhiseshan using him as his bed) wanted to make kulasekarar to
get out from the Maayai and wanted him to lead an spiritual life.
But the life of Kulasekarar went on as this and one fine day, he got irritated for his leading of
life and felt sorry for the lives he had killed in the war. This made him to think about Sriman
Narayanan and thought that he should lead his life by being useful to others and at the same
time he should spread the Vishnu Bhakti in the midst of human life.

He was really worried that he should have not born in a rich family, but instead he might
have born in an unwealthy family, so that he could not lead a luxurious life. He even thought
that he might have born as a fish in any of the Punniya theerthams, so that he might have a
close relationship with the Perumal.
This thought didn't stop, it extended assuming him (Kulasekarar) as the mother (Devaki) of Sri
Kannan, he explained the childhood leelas of Sri Krishnar. He explained his leelas as :
"Thann Am Thamaraik Kannane! Kanna
Thavazhtu Ezhundhu Thalarndhu Oar Nadayaal
Mannil Sempodi Aadivandhu Enthan
Maarbil Mannidam Petrilen! Andho!
Vanna Chemsiru Kaiviral Anaithum
Vaari Vaaikkonda Adisilin Micchil
Unnaip Petrilen oh! Keduvinaiyen
Ennai Enseip Petradhu Em Moyae"!
In this, Kulasekarar thinks Sri Kannan as his child and explains him about his childhood leelas.
He started to love the God and it extended so well.
Because of his great bhakti, he did lots of Dhaanams to Vishnu bhaktas. He praised the
Perumal by praising and satisfying his bhaktas.
Kulasekarar had a great attention towards hearing the purana stories. He called up lots of old
persons and heared lots of old stories and the thathuvam in it. He gave lots of prizes to the
old person. Likewise, one day an old yogi was called to say a story in the puranas.
The old yogi told the story of Ramayana and the way of life led by Sri Ramar. On hearing the
story of Sri Ramar, Kulasekarar as he was deeply attracted by the life of Sri Ramar, his eyes
started to release water and he was totally surrounded towards Sri Ramar.
The next day, the old yogi explained about the war scene that happened in Ramayana. In that
he explained, that Lakshmanan was asking for the permission to fight with the Arakkars
(Demons) who had come against them. But, at that time Sri Ramar stopped him not to go to
fight with them, but asks him to stay as the protection for Seetha amd came out from the
hut. On seeing Sri Ramar, Soorpanaka roared at all of the Arakkars that Rama has come out
and asks his entire troops to surround him. All the arakkars had lots of sharp weapons and
surrounded Sri Ramar.
On hearing the story of Sri Ramar and he was deeply attracted by this scene, Kulasekarar
thought that there is something harm is going to happen for Sri Ramar and quickly stood
from that place and orders all of his army persons to get ready for the war.

But, all the war members, on seeing the action of Kulasekarar was amazed and surprised that
why and with whom they are going to raise the war, since the choza and Pandiya kings who
are treated as their enemy are being quiet at that time. But, they have to obey the orders of
their king and prepared all the horses and Elephants for the war.
Kulasekarar made himself comfort for the war and came out of the palace and stood on the
Chariot. But, on knowing the great bhakti towards the Emperumaan he had towards Sri
Ramar, his ministers found that the war plan was because of the story the old yogi was telling
and asked the yogi to tell the complete story to their king.
The yogi completed the story that their is not necessity for the war, since Sri Ramar, single
handedly have defeated all the arakkar. On hearing this and the greatness of Sri Ramar, he
was very much attracted to him and at the same time, he order all of him army members to
go to their places and tie up the horses and elephants in their places. This explains about
great attraction of Kulasekarar towards the Emperumaan.
But, this action of their king towards the Vaishnavism increased, all the ministers were angry
on all Vishnu bhaktas and this anger turned towards them. Some of his ministers, stealed the
ornaments of the Perumal.
The next day, Kulasekarar was surprised to see some of the ornaments being stolen. He
wanted to know who had done that, knowing the situation, the ministers complained that
the ornaments are stolen only by the Vishnu Bhaktas. But, kulasekarar denied that by saying
it cant be done by any of Vishnu bhaktas and having a great faith of them, Kulasekarar asked
some of ministers to bring a vessel in which lots of poisonous snakes are put.
His ministers also did the same thing as said by their king. They came along with a vessel in
which lots of poisonous snakes are found. Kulasekarar said to all of his ministers in the midst
of the palace, that he is going to insert his hand into the vessel. If the ornaments are stolen
by the Vishnu Bhaktas as said by his ministers, the snakes will bite him, but if not, they will
not bite him.
By telling this, he inserted his hand into the vessel, but since the ornaments are not stolen by
the bhaktas the snakes didn't bit him. He took his hand without even a single bite. The entire
minister was ashamed of their act towards the Vishnu bhaktas and they asked sorry to
kulasekarar for what they have done. But, Kulasekarar asked then that he is not the right
person to ask for, they should ask sorry to the Vishnu Bhaktas. This acts of Kulasekarar
explains how dedicated he is towards Vaishnavism and to the Vishnu bhaktas.
This kind of great character of Kulasekarar made him to get the name as "Kulasekara Alwar"
and he followed the Vaishnava bhakti to a vast extent. He had a great bhakti towards Sri
Ramar who is also called as "Periya Perumal" and he wrote "Perumal Thirumozhi". He did a
lot of Kainkaryams (devotion) towards Aranganathan and finally got the Paramapadham.

Period 8th C. AD
Place Thirvanjikkolam
Other Names Kollikkaavalan, Koodal Naayagan, Koyikone, Villavar Kone, Cheyralar Kone
Month Maasee
Star (Natshatram) Punar Poosam (Punarvasu)
Hamsam Kaustubha (Gem Necklace)
Chera Nadu is otherwise called as "Malai Nadu", which is rich in wealth and is surrounded by
big beautiful mountains and rivers. In this Chera Nadu, lots of Elephants are found as cows
found in Thondai Nadu. All the people found in this empire are said to be great warriors. Not
only in war, but also in education and the way they led the country and their life. Chera Nadu
was ruled by Chera Kings, who ruled for more decades. They led the empire in peace and made
the life of the people happy.
In that generation, a king by named "Thidaviradhan", ruled the Chera Empire, who had a great
bhakti towards Sriman Narayanan. He gave proper respect and gave lots of valuable things to
Vishnu bhaktas. As the kind of life by the king, as the Hamsam of Sri Vishnu's Sri Kousthu, a
baby was born in Prabhava year, Maasi month, Sukla Dvadesi, friday in Punarpoosa Natshatram
(Star). Since, the child was born as the result of Vishnu bhakti of the king, it look very bright and
beautiful.
As the birth of child, the entire empire celebrated his birth and after 10 days, the child was kept
the name "Kulasekaran". He did all the mischief things in the childhood days what a child does
generally. But, at the same time, he learnt all the important issues and also learnt the Sanskrit
language, which is said as the Veda Mozhi (Vedic language). He was not only taught with the
studies, but also with various warfare skills like horse riding, Elephant ride, practiced the sword
fight, Gadhai and Chariot riding. He was very well taught with studies and also with various
fighting aspects for war.
After attaining the proper age, he was given the throne and led the Chera Nadu, better than his
father led. He also gave the proper respect to the Vishnu bhaktas and made the people very
happy. He fought with great speed in the war and defeated all the opposing kings. On seeing
this, the Chozha kings and Pandiya kings got jealous on him and tried to defeat him in the war.
But, Kulasekarar with his mighty soldiers and army defeated them and extended his empire
towards Chozha Nadu.

On seeing the greatness and the masculine character of Kulasekarar, Pandiyan king married her
daughter to Kulasekarar. After getting married, he led his life with his wife and along with the
war and capturing the various empires. But, seeing all this, the Emperumaan who is on the
Paambanai (Perumal found on the Aadhiseshan using him as his bed) wanted to make
kulasekarar to get out from the Maayai and wanted him to lead an spiritual life.
But the life of Kulasekarar went on as this and one fine day, he got irritated for his leading of
life and felt sorry for the lives he had killed in the war. This made him to think about Sriman
Narayanan and thought that he should lead his life by being useful to others and at the same
time he should spread the Vishnu Bhakti in the midst of human life.
He was really worried that he should have not born in a rich family, but instead he might have
born in an unwealthy family, so that he could not lead a luxurious life. He even thought that he
might have born as a fish in any of the Punniya theerthams, so that he might have a close
relationship with the Perumal.
This thought didn't stop, it extended assuming him (Kulasekarar) as the mother (Devaki) of Sri
Kannan, he explained the childhood leelas of Sri Krishnar. He explained his leelas as :
"Thann Am Thamaraik Kannane! Kanna
Thavazhtu Ezhundhu Thalarndhu Oar Nadayaal
Mannil Sempodi Aadivandhu Enthan
Maarbil Mannidam Petrilen! Andho!
Vanna Chemsiru Kaiviral Anaithum
Vaari Vaaikkonda Adisilin Micchil
Unnaip Petrilen oh! Keduvinaiyen
Ennai Enseip Petradhu Em Moyae"!
In this, Kulasekarar thinks Sri Kannan as his child and explains him about his childhood leelas.
He started to love the God and it extended so well. Because of his great bhakti, he did lots of
Dhaanams to Vishnu bhaktas. He praised the Perumal by praising and satisfying his bhaktas.
Kulasekarar had a great attention towards hearing the purana stories. He called up lots of old
persons and heard lots of old stories and the thathuvam in it. He gave lots of prizes to the old
person. Likewise, one day an old yogi was called to say a story in the puranas. The old yogi told
the story of Ramayana and the way of life led by Sri Ramar. On hearing the story of Sri Ramar,
Kulasekarar as he was deeply attracted by the life of Sri Ramar, his eyes started to release water
and he was totally surrounded towards Sri Ramar.

The next day, the old yogi explained about the war scene that happened in Ramayana. In that
he explained, that Lakshmanan was asking for the permission to fight with the Rakshasas who
had come against them. But, at that time Sri Ramar stopped him not to go to fight with them,
but asks him to stay as the protection for Seetha amd came out from the hut. On seeing Sri
Ramar, Soorpanaka roared at all of the Rakshasas that Rama has come out and asked Rakshasas
to surround him. They all surrounded Rama with sharp weapons in their hands.
On hearing the story of Sri Ramar and he was deeply attracted by this scene, Kulasekarar
thought that there is something harm is going to happen for Sri Ramar and quickly went out
from that place and ordered his army to get ready for the war.
But, the army was amazed and surprised that why and with whom they are going to raise the
war, since the choza and Pandiya kings who are treated as their enemy are being quiet at that
time. But, they have to obey the orders of their king and prepared all the horses and Elephants
for the war.
But the Ministers understood the event. They realised that Kulasekhara got emotional and so
they asked the Yogi to tell the subsequent events in the story so that Kulasekhara could get to
know that the war with Rama was already over. The yogi completed the story saying Sri Ramar,
single handedly defeated all the Rakshasas. On hearing this and the greatness of Sri Ramar, he
was very much pleased and ordered his army to get back to barracks. This explains about great
bhakti of Kulasekarar towards the Emperumaan.
Days passed. Kulasekhara was continuing to be more devotional than ruling the country.
One day he found that some of the jewels adorning his Lord were missing. Kulasekarar was
angered by seeing the ornaments having been stolen. He wanted to know who had done that.
Since the Minisiters wanted to turn the Kings attention away from Vishnu and Vishnu Bhaktas,
they said that the ornaments were stolen only by the Vishnu Bhaktas. But, kulasekarar refused
to believe since he had a great faith in them. He ordered for a pot filled with snakes.
He told his Ministers that he is going to put his own hand inside the pot and if the
Vishnubhaktas had stolen the jewels as was mentioned by the Ministers, then let the snakes
bite his hand. And if not, they would not bite his hand. God wanted the truth to come out.
When Kulasekhara inserted his hand into the vessel, the snakes did not do any harm. The
ministers then came out with truth. Kulasekhara wanted the Ministers to say sorry to
Vishnubhaktas whom they defamed. This act of Kulasekarar explains how dedicated he is
towards Vaishnavism and to the Vishnu bhaktas.

In honor of Sri Rama, Kulasekhara wrote "Perumal Thirumozhi", 105 Pasurams. Perumal here
means Sri Rama of whom Alvar was a great devotee. Thirumozhi is Alvars holy sayings.
Following are the titles under which he has composed the hymns with most of them with 10
hymns or pasurams under each title or group. Some have been sampled to show the meaning
and
richness
of
composition
in
imagination
and
bhakti.
1. Alvar is longing for darshan of Lord at Srirangam
He wants to join devotees and lose himself in Darshan of the Lord with tears of joy flowing in
his eyes, his mind melting in devotion to the Lord etc. He says he wants to roll on the dust of
holy devotees feet on the floor in temple.
2. In this group Alvar is proclaiming himself to be mad after Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal (
Another name of Sri Ranganatha) whose temple is found on opposite bank of Cauvery and
Srirangam in place called Uraiyur, Near Trichy Tamilnadu.
3. In one of the Pasurams, Alvar says that he finds the worldly folk is like a spirit (Pey ) that is
non-existent to him as he is a spirit to the common folk immersed in worldly matters . He does
not wish to speak on this and calling O Ranga, O protector he has become a spirit immersed in
Bhakti to the Lord.
4. Alvar says that it is satisfying for him to be born and live in holy Thiruvengadam ( Thirumala
hills, Thirupathi.) In one of the hymns ( Pasuram ), Alvar he likes to be born as the doorstep in
Lord Venkateswaras temple. The step crossed by devotees, celestials and nymphs like Rambha
so alvar can constantly be looking at the red lips of the Lord, which resemble Red Coral Even
today, the innermost step in front of The Lord Venkatesha of Tirumalai at the sanctum
sanctorum
is
known
as
KULASHEKHARA
PADI,
after
the
Alvar.
5. In these pasurams Alvar prays to Lord at Vitthvakkodu in Kerala Alvars family deity. These
are soaked in devotion and shows the utter helplessness of Alvar who is dependent on Divine
Mercy for existence. In one of the pasurams, Alvar compares himself to a sick patient who is
totally dependent on his Apothecary (vaidyan ) The latter may by way of treatment cut by knife
(operation ) burn diseased location patient does not lose his goodwill or faith in him. Similarly,
even if God gives him difficulties / sorrow Alvar is looking forward to His Grace to alleviate his
suffering.
6. This group is on Gopikas chastising the Lord for having deluded them.

7. This group is on lamentation of Mother Devaki on deprivation of the pleasure of the bringing
up the child Krishna, which fell to the lot of Mother Yashoda.
8. This group is the famous Lullaby sung on Lord of Thirukkannapuram, whom Alvar sees as
child Sri Rama.These are very popular and sung by many young mothers for their babes.
9. Dasharatha is lamenting the Lord Ramas entering the Forest.
10. Alvar while worshipping Lord Govindaraja of Chidambaram , sees Lord Rama in him and
sung the epic of Ramayana in these 11 pasurams.
These are titles of pasurams soaked in Devotion by Mahatma Sri Kulashekhara Alvar
KumbhE Punarvasubhavam KeraLE ChoLa PattaNE
KaustubhAmsham DharAdheesham KulashekaramAshrayE
Today Maasi punarvasu is Sri KulasEkara PerumAn Thirunakshathram.
Ponpuraiyum kulasEkaranE MAASIP
Punarpoosatthezhil vanjik kaLatthut thOnRi
anbudanE num perumAL sempoRkOil
anaitthulagin peruvaazhvum, adiyaar thangaL
inbamigu perunkuzhuvunkaaNa maNmEl
iruLiriya venReduttha visaiyiR chonna
nunporuL sErthirumozhi nOORainthu (105) paattum
nunRaaga enakkaruL sey nulgi neeyE? [from Swamy
Desikan?s prabandha saaram- 8the verse]
GushyathEyasya nagarE rangayaathrA dhinE dhinE
Thamaham sirasaa vandhE rAjAnam kulasEkaram
Sri KulasekarAzhwAr inherited the kingdom from his father. Even while he was a king, ruling his
kingdom, he was deeply devoted to the Lord Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan; he was firm in the
Supreme Lordship [Parathvam] of Sriman Narayanan as the one and Only One; intensely
aspired for having a Bhagavath anubhavam of the enjoyment of the Lord?s incarnations as Sri
Rama, Sri Krishna and the like and the Lord?s dhivya mangaLa vigrahams at Divya Desams at
Srirangam, Thirumalai, VitthuvakkOdu etc.. His composition expresses the glories of the
devotees who had the good fortune to be residents of Srirangam, under the shade of the
lotuses of Sri Ranganatha?s feet and expresses his longing to have the darshan of the
magnificent and glorious congregation of such BhAgawathas at Srirangam.

It is said that in Sri KulasekarAzhwAr?s cicty there were always shouts hailing the golden
opportunity of a pilgrimage to Srirangam.
Translation of Prabandha saaram- 8th verse extract from Sri Srinivasa Varadan?s article]:
Kulasekara wielding a sharp spear shining like gold! Incarnating in the month of Maasi, on the
day of Punarvasu star, in the beautiful Thiruvanjikkulam, with intense devotion and longing for
the great wealth of residing in the red and golden sacred city known as Koil- Srirangam divya
desam- of our PerumAL (Num PerumAL), with a deep desire to enjoy the darshan of and to look
at the blissful great congregation of those devotees of Srirangam Ranganathan, in order to drive
away the darkness (of ignorance) on this earth, you gracefully sang at the grand pitch of your
voice the 105 verses [devotional hymns] in chaste Tamizh known as PerumAL Thirumozhi
starting with the words IRULIRIYA, filled with a good essence of greatest spiritual truths.
May You be pleased to grace us conferring on us well (a perfect knowledge of such glorious)
PerumAL Thirumozhi.
Anjana maalai piRavi sindhippOn vaazhiyE
aruN maasip punarpoosath avaritthAn vaazhiyE
anchudarsoozh thirumaNatthooN adaintha piraan vaazhiyE
aNiarangan adiyaarkkE ATpattAn vaazhiyE
senjaalimiguvanji nagar vandhaan vaazhiyE
thirumozhi 105 seyyuL seppinaan vaazhiyE
vanjamaRa adiyaarkkaay sapathamittaan vaazhiyE
vanjiyarkOn malarp padhangaL maanilatthil vaazhiyE..
Perhaps, he is the only Alvar who has written a Sanskrit Shloka, MUKUNDAMALA, in praise of
Lord Krishna. This shloka is a classic in itself showing Alvars devotion, ecstasy he feels in
chanting Lords names. It is adiyEn's delight and Bhagaym to post a slokam from his Mukunda
mala for our enjoyment and ourobeisance to the Great AzhwAr.
This is 33rd verse there:
krishNa tvadheeya padha pankaja pancharaantham
adhyaiva mE visathu maanasa raaja hamsa:/
praaNa prayaaNa samayE kapa vaadha pitthai:
kaNTavarOdhanavidhou smaraNam kuthasthE?//

Oh KrishnA! At this moment, at this spot of time, in my life, let the swan of my manas (mind),
enter the Lotus Feet of Yours.. How can I remember You at the dying moment when my throat
is choked with phlegm (and emotions), mucus, bile and air (gasping..)
A Tribute to Kulasekara AzhwAr ( Masi - Punarvasu )
Kulasekara, an incarnation of Koustuba, (divine gem of Lord Vishnu) was born to King
Dridavrata at Tiru vanchi kalam. He was born in the year ParAbhava, MAsi month, Sukla Paksha
DwAdasi (a Friday) in the constellation of Punarvasu. As a prince, he learned all the martial arts
besides becoming proficient in Sanskrit and Tamil. In due time, he ascended the throne after his
father. He married the PANDya princess. He was a great devotee of Sri Rama. His other names
are Kolli KAvalan, Koodal NAyakan and SEralar KOne.
Like Rama, he was born as a Kshatriya;
Like Rama, he was born in Punarvasu nakshatram;
Like Rama, his Archa moorthi was that of Lord Ranganatha;
Like Rama, he renounced royal pomp and preferred a simple ascetic life.
Like LakshmaNa, he desired to do service to Bhagavan;
Like Bharata, even while carrying out his duties as a King, he considered himself a vassal of the
Lord's pAdukA;
Like Satrugna, he valued BhAgavata seva above all.
Sri Rama is called PERUMAL; Sri Ranganatha worshipped by him is known as PERIYAPERUMAL;
Periya Perumal's temple is known as PERIYA KOVIL; Kulasekara who was so devoted to all these,
came to be called as KULASEKARA PERUMAL.
And, his work is naturally called PURUMAL TIRUMOZHI.
He was fond of listening to Srimad Ramayana. Once, when a lecturer was narrating how Sri
Rama had to fight single handedly the rAkshasa headed by Kara and Dushana, he was so excited
that he rose up from his throne and gave orders to his troops to march to help Sri Rama.
Immediately, the lecturer switched over to saying that Sri Rama vanquished the rAkshasas and
returned triumphant. Then only, Kulasekara realized that the episode was not
contemporaneous and regained composure.

He was so much devoted to BhAgavatas that he would even cancel his tour programs should
any BhAgavata arrive to visit him. The ministers became annoyed and on an occasion hid a
costly pearl necklace that the king used to adorn the ArchA moorthi idol and put the blame on
the visiting BhAgavatas. The king ordered a pot into which a live cobra was let in. He boldly put
his hand into the pot challenging that if any of the BhAgavatas had stolen the jewel, the cobra
would bite his hand. The cobra did not bite and thus he vindicated the innocence of the
BhAgavatas. The ministers apologized. Disgusted with the royal pomp he anointed his son as
king and left on a pilgrimage of holy places.
SwAmi Desika praises him as ?Thuyya KulasEkaran? meaning ?one who had a pure mind with
regards BhAgavatas?
He composed a poem of 105 verses called " PerumAL Tirumozhi"- a classic example of the
yearning of a Bhakta to serve the Lord. Every single verse of the 105 verses of this work is so
filled with touching emotion and packed with palpable sentiments that even a cursory reading
is sure to bring tears flowing from one's eyes and leave an indelible impression in one's mind.
Distributed in 10 decads, each one vividly portrays a different facet of AzhwAr's experience of
the Lord as shown below: DECAD 1: AzhwAr expresses his yearnings to do service to Lord Ranganatha and the
BhAgavatas. He asks" When ! Oh! When am I going to enjoy the sight of the Lord who reclines on the serpent couch
at Srirangam? ' Kanninaigal Enru kolo Kalikkum Naale?'
When! Oh! When am I going to offer mouthful of praise of the Lord?
' Vaayaara Enru kolo Vaazhthum Naale?'
When Oh! When would I be blessed with the company of Bhagavatas?
" Adiyavarodu Enru kolo Anugum Naale?'
When! Oh! When am I going to shower flowers at his feet?
"Kaikal Koi malar Thoo Enru kolo Kooppu Naale?'
When! Oh! When am I going to bow my head at the foot of the Lord?
" Malar Chenni Enru kolo Vanangum Naale?'
When Oh! When am I going to develop the amount of Bhakti that would melt my heart?
'Ullam Miga Enru kolo Urugum Naale?'
When! Oh! When my eyes are going to shed tears of joy on seeing the form of the Lord?
'Neer Malga Enru kolo Nirkum Naale?'
When! Oh! When am I, the worst sinner, going to redeem my life?
'Vul Vinaiyen Enru kolo Vaazhum Naale?'
When! Oh! When am I going to roll on the ground sanctified by the Lord's presence?

'Bhoothalattil Enru kolo Puralum Naale?'

When! Oh! When am I going to reach the proximity of the great Adiyaars of the Lord?
'Isaindu Udane Enru kolo Irukkum Naale?'
DECAD 2: He expresses his dedication to BhAgavatas. In verse 9, he declares that those who are
overwhelmed by the joy of serving the servants of the Lord are not insane: It is only the others
who are insane
moyththukkaNpani sOrameykaLsi
lirppaEngi yiLaiththun^inRu
eyththukkumpidu nattamittezhun^
thaadippaadiyi Rainci,en
aththanassa Nnaranganukkadi
yaar_kaLaaki avanukkE
pittharaamavar piththarallar_kaL
maRRaiyaarmuRRum piththarE 2.9
Decad 3: He avers that the act of shunning worldly pleasures and adhering to the feet of the
Lord is the ONLY REAL duty one has. In Verse 8, he repeats the same sentiments as above. He
says - I may appear crazy for others but it is they who are really crazy. Yes! I am madly in love
with my Lord!'
675:
pEya rEyenak kiyaavarum yaanumOr
pEya NnEyevark kum_ithu pEsiyen
aaya NnEaraNG kaaenRa zhaikkinREn
pEya Nnaayozhin^ thEnempi raanukkE 3.8
DECAD 4: In this, he expresses his longing to be associated with Tiruvenkadam- the abode of
Lord Venkateswara in any capacity- whether as an animate being or even as an inanimate
object. "Can I be born?" he asks as a kurugu bird in the forest, or as a fish in the pond, or a
temple vessel, or a flower at his feet, or even a pillar, or a flowing rivulet, or as a rock or even as
a stepping stone leading to the innermost sanctum sanctorum in the temple of the Lord on
which the Bhaktas would place their holy feet- all in the sacred Tiruvenkadam? It can be seen
that such a step in every Vishnu temple is called as "KULASEKARAP PADI"- the 'KULASEKARA
STEP'

DECAD 5: In this, he addresses the Lord of TiruVittuvakkodu saying that even if the Lord were to
forsake him, he will never ever leave him and he has no other refuge. This he expresses drawing
different parallels: "Like a child that clings on to the feet of the mother even when she spurns it
indignantly; Like a Pativrata who holds on to her husband steadfastly even if he is of a
despicable character; Like the fish that stays even at the risk of death when the waters in the
tank becomes dried up (having nowhere to go); Like a patient who loves the surgeon even
though he cuts and burns his flesh (during surgery); Like the seagull that perches on the mast of
a ship flies all over in the mid ocean only to return to rest on it (having no other go); Like the
lotus flower that does not blossom by the heat of even fire but blossoms only to Sunshine: Like
the fields that though parched always look up to the rain bearing clouds for succor; Like the
torrential flowing rivers that ultimately merge only in the Ocean and nowhere else and
Like fortune that favors only that person who is not after it - I will forever resort ONLY to your
feet"
DECAD 6: Here, he simulates the despair and disappointment experienced by the GOpis when
Lord KrishNa does not turn up as promised.
DECAD 7: This is one of the most heart- rending portions of the poem. Here he imagines himself
as DEvaki. DEvaki laments that even though she gave birth to KrishNa she missed the joy of
witnessing KrishNa's childhood pranks. " I am your mother only in name; How unfortunate am
I? I did not put you in the cradle; I did not sing any lullaby to you; I did not enjoy seeing the
various stages of your growth from babyhood to childhood to boyhood; I lost my pleasure of
breast feeding you; I am so unfortunate to have missed all these.
But, Lo! And, Behold! What was my loss became Yasoda's gain! How fortunate she has been to
see your pretending to be afraid of her?"
715:
muzhuthum veNNe yaLainthuthot tuNNum
mukizhi LanchiRuth thaamaraik kaiyum
ezhilkoL thaampukoN tatippathaR keLkum
nilaiyum veNthayir thOynthasev vaayum
azhukai yumanchi nOkkuman^ nOkkum
aNikoL senchiRu vaayn^eLip pathuvum
thozhukai yumivai kaNta asOthai
thollai yinpath thiRuthikaN taaLE 7.8
He calls YasOda "Deiva Nangai" - the divine damsel. He pleads to the Lord on behalf of DEvaki
tearfully "If possible, can you reenact all these for my sake?"

DECAD 8: Here, the AzhwAr simulates Kausalya and describes the joy she experienced in rearing
Sri Rama in his childhood. The cradle- song to baby Rama " Mannu pugazh Kauasalai thun" is
very touching. and is being sung almost in all households as a lullaby.
DECAD 9: Here is another heart- rending episode. Here, the AzhwAr simulates the grief of
Dasaratha on his banishing Sri Rama to exile. As Dasaratha, he visualizes how Sri Rama had
unjustly been subjected to the hard and harsh life of a wandering ascetic when he should have
been ruling AyOdhya in the cozy comfort in all his royal regalia. He curses himself bitterly,
curses Kaikeyi who induced him and finally he curses Kooni who influenced Kaikeyi - setting
forth the chain of misfortunes and finally says "O! Rama! I will also leave the AyOdhya which
you left; Nay, I will even quit this world and go to the other world never to return"
DECAD 10: Sage VAlmiki elaborately dwelt with the story of Sri Rama in his Srimad Ramayana.
Here, the AzhwAr addresses the Lord in the Tiruchitrakoodam ( Chidambaram) and gives a
condensed version of the entire epic in just 11 verses.
SwAmi Desika pays a glorious tribute to him in his PrabandhasAram:
Pon puraiyum vEl kulasEkaranE mAsip
Punarpoosathu ezhil vanjikkaLathu thOnri
AnbuDanE nam perumAL sempor kOil
Anaithulagin peruvAzhvum aDiyAr thangaL
Inbamigu perum kuzhuvum kANa maN mEl
IruLiya venreDutha isaiyir sonna
Nan poruL sEr Tirumozhi nootraindhu pATTu
NanrAga yenakkaruL nalgi neeyE.
Meanin
Kulasekara wields a spear of shining gold; He was born at TiruvanjikkuLam in the month of mAsi
in the asterism of Punarvasu; He composed a work consisting of 105 verses out of an
outpouring of love and devotion towards the Lord of Sri Rangam and the devotees of that Lord
who had the good fortune to stay at the holy place to render service to the Lord; May he grant
me the understanding of these 105 verses for my emancipation?
The Thritheeya Brahma Tantra Swatantra ParakAla SwAmi in his 3000 PaDI- Guru
ParamparA prabhAvam has composed the following on Kulasekara:
KumbE punarvasu jAtham kEralE kOLapaTTaNE/
KousthubhAmsam dharAdeesam kulasekaramAsrayE//
Meaning I resort to KulaseEkara, an AvatAra of Lord?s Kousthubam, was born in Masi monthpunarvasu nakshtram at KOLapaTTaNam (VanjikkuLam) in KeralA?

THANIANS ON PERUMAAL TIRUMOZHI

1. Composed by Emperumaanaar
innamutham oottukEn ingEvaa paingiLiyE
thennarangam paadavalla seerpperumaaL ponnaNY
silaisEr nuthaliyarvEL sEralar_kOn engaL
kulasE karanenRE kooRu
" O! Green hued parrot! Come hither ! I will give you some sweet nectar! You should always
mutter the name of Kulasekara- who composed the sweet poem on the auspicious qualities of
Lord Ranganatha lying in the South direction at Srirangam; who is the darling of beautiful
damsels with bow - like eyebrows; who is the King of Chera kingdom; who is a great Prapanna
and who is our crown jewel"
2 Composed by MaNakkAl Nambi
aaram ketappara Nnanpar_koL LaarenRu avar_kaLukkE
vaaraNG kodukutap paambilkai yittavan maaRRalarai
veeraNG keduththaseNG kOlkolli kaavalan villavar_kOn
sEran kulasE karanmudi vEnthar sikaamaNiyE
"Kulasekara is the one who put his hand boldly into the pot containing the deadly King Cobra in
order to vindicate the innocence of the Srivaishnavas when they were accused (by his
ministers) of stealing the precious pearl necklace; Kulasekara is the one who vanquished the
valor of his enemies; He was theking of Kola; Kulasekara was the Emperor of other kings: the
very gem of the Chera dynasty; the very crown of the crowned monarchs"
Divya Desams consecrated by Kulasekara AzhwAr
1.Tiruvarangam 2.Tiruk Kanna Puram 3.Tiru Chitra Koodam 4.Tiru Vittuvak Kodu 5.Tiru
Venkadam 6.Tiru Ayodhya 7.Tirup Paar Kadal.

SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:
Dearest all,
Kushyate Yasya NagarE Ranga YAtra Dine Dine
TAmaham ShirasAm VandE RajanAm Kulashekaram.
KumbhE PunarvasuBhavam KeraLE ChoLa PattaNE
Kaustubhamsham DharAdeesham KulashekaramAshrayE
Continuing on AzhwAr life and works series under "MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR", let us enjoy
Sri Kulasekara PerumAn in this journal.
KulasEkarAzhwar was born as a prince to ChEra king Dhidavradhan and nAdhanAyagi during 8
th century(?) in the month of mAsi and the nakshatram of punarpoosam(same as that of Lord
Rama). The child looked divine and made everyone who saw it happier and cheerful. The
entire kingdom was in a jubilant mood. The kid was named kulasEkaran and when he grew he
was taught all sAstrAs, epics, arts, Tamil and Sanskrit and was also given training on fighting,
Horse riding, Elephant riding, etc. In each endeavour, he excelled and came out in flying
colours. When Dhidavradhan became old, kulasEkaram ascended the throne and since then he
was ruling like Lord Sri Rama and brought in RamaRajyam to his kingdom. People were very
happy and there was rich harvest throughout the year; there were regular rains and there was
only subheeksham. Hence the citizens had great amount of love and respect for their king
kulasEkarA.
Once without knowing kulasEkarA's strengths, the neighbouring kings (Chola and pAndyA)
came to fight and during the battle kulasEkaran won with no difficulty. Impressed PandyA king
gave his daughter to kulasEkarA for marrying her. kulasEkarA was blessed with a son (whom he
named dhidavradhan) and a daughter ILai.
One night, The Lord wished to divert kulasEkarA's attention to Him and he appeared as Lord
Tirupati Venkatachalapathi in the king's dream and blessed him. The king was overwhelmed
with the Lord's love and became silent and was only thinking of the Lord at all times. He
became totally like water in Lotus leaf (Water never wets the Lotus leaf) and was ruling the
kingdom without any attachment; He was spending his time more and more on Thiru
vArAdhnam and Bhajans and listening to stories of Rama and KrishNa. He even started disliking
the battles since he did not like to see more loss of lives in the battle. He started singing in
Tamil and sanskrit with full of love and Bhakti in praise of the Lord. He spent his most of the
time only on religious activities and attending discourses.

Once when the UpanyAsakar was narrating Rama RavaNa yuddham where the battle was going
on for a long time and RavaNa was giving a tough fight, kulasEkara was so much attached to the
story and it the discourse he ordered his Army General to immediately organize to send the
soldiers, elephants and horses and the king was also making himself ready for the battle to give
a helping hand to Sri Rama.
The upanyAsakar and all others were totally perplexed and could not say anything. The
upanyAsaker at last came to the king and said" O, mighty king, We need not go. The Lord Rama
has already killed ravaNa and is on his way back to AyOdhyA for his pattAbhishEkam". That
made the king silent and he came to normal; Such was kulasEkarA's bhakti for Rama. It is told
Lord Rama appeared in his dream that night and said" kulasEkarA, I am deeply moved by your
readiness to offer me help in the battle. I Since you are having blind affection and live for me ,
you did not realize my Strength and parAkramam. We can win asurAs with no effort; You are
acting just like LakshmaNA, who is also attached to me deeply. From today you will be called
kulasEkara perumAL like ILayaperumAL LakshmaNA. Even today he is reverred as kulasEkara
perumAL. The pAsurams he sang were compiled under "perumAL thirumozhi". One can see his
feeling of deep regret for not being born during RamA's time in his pAsurams.
As he was getting more and more involved in Bhagavadh Bhakti and Bhagavadha Bhakti and
was spending all his time in such activities, the ministers were not clear as to how to bring the
king back to his administration. The king had even consecrated a Golden statute of Sri Rama in
the palace where he was spending most of the time with other pundits and upanyAsakALs.
Once during a Ramanavami day (the birthday of Sri Rama), the king was astonished to see a big
nice Navaratna mAlai which had adorned Sri Rama missing. He was confused as to how somoen
can come inside the palace with so much security and so many people around. The ministers
were asked; One of them (may be the chief minister) hesitantly stammered to say" May be ..O
.king........one
of
upanyAsakALs,
or
pundits...could..........have.....take...."
He did not even finish his statment. The king was shivering and was literally shocked to hear
that statement as if he has stepped on a Red hot burnt iron; He could not believe his ears as to
how these minister can even think of these GREAT BHAKTAAS as ones who could have flicked;
"What are you saying? Are you talking about these adiyArs of Sriman NARAYANA. Are you not
ashamed to say that? Is your tougue still alive? How dare you think them as thieves when their
love is only for th Lord and they consider the Gold and dust the same; Those UTTHAMARGAL Do
you think they have stolen the MAALAI? . He did not stop with that. He called somone to bring a
pot wherein he had arranged to place a poisonous snake; Bewildered ministers obeyed. He
showed them the pot with the snake inside. He said and prayed to the Lord" If the mAlai has
been taken by one of the BhaktALs, let the snake bite me; If not, I will come out unscathed."

He put his hand inside the pot. The snake NEVER TOUCHED his hand. The minister came out
openly saying "we are very sorry and we beg your pardon. We are the ones who removed the
MALAI and put the blame on BhaktA so that you will start disliking them and will
concentrate on administrative matters. Please forgive us for this irresponsible act." KulasEkarA
thought silently after listening to all this and understood the underlining concern of his
ministers for the kingdom and the rule. He immediately decided to bring his son into the pictute
and trained him for some time before he started off his kshEtrAdanam throughout India singing
Lord's Glories and GuNAs.
He visited almost all the temples and he lost his heart for Sri Rama. He has sung lullabies for Sri
Rama as "RaghavanE ThAlElO!". He has even sung pAsurams on Devaki's misfortune of not able
to enjoy kaNNan's leelA's and " thollai inbam" which yasOdhA was blessed with. One can
greatly be moved by his pAsurams where in he longs for being born as a step in Tirupathi Lord's
temple or a fish in the Holy pushkaraNi or a seNbhaga tree in Tirupathi(standing in front of the
temple) or a Big stone which cannot be removed so easily; He even wished to be born as a
servant holding the Golden Bowl in front of Sriman nArAyaNan to spit the water after washing,
girgling and cleaning His mouth in the morning. Such was his desire to serve the Lord ceaslessly
and that too from a king!.( One can imagine our plight with so little(or no) material possessions
and for that we walk with so much pride with even a very little achievement (which too is
possible only with His grace)).
He lived till 67 years and then reached His abode and it is also told that his daughter ILai
followed her father kulasEkara perumAn and was also blessed with the Lord's ThiruvaruL.
A sample pAsuram to taste the sweetness and longing deaire of AzhwAr before we conclude
this post.
AnAtha selvatthu arambaiyargaL thaRsoozha vAnALum selvamum; maNNarasum yAn vENdEn |
thEnAr poonchOlai thiruvEngadatthu chunaiyil meenAi piRakkum vidhiyudaiyOnAvEnE ||
Such a wonderful pAsuram. He says" I do not want to be a king even if it is to rule this earth and
the "vAn lOkam" [Devendra loka] where there is great wealth, and where there are beautiful
damsels dancing around; I do not wish that; All that I want is to be born as a mere fish in the
pond (PushkaraNi) in Thirupathi (as mentioned earlier, or a tree standing in front of Thirupathi
or a big rock [or at least as a tall building.. to be in the vicinity of ThiruvEnkatamudaiyaan.
AzhwAr ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Tribute

to

Kulasekara

AzhwAr

Masi

Punarvasu

Kulasekara, an incarnation of Koustuba, (divine gem of Lord Vishnu) was born to King
Dridavrata at Tiru vanchi kalam. He was born in the year ParAbhava, MAsi month, Sukla Paksha
DwAdasi (a Friday) in the constellation of Punarvasu. As a prince, he learned all the martial arts
besides becoming proficient in Sanskrit and Tamil. In due time, he ascended the throne after his
father. He married the PANDya princess. He was a great devotee of Sri Rama. His other names
are Kolli KAvalan, Koodal NAyakan and SEralar KOne.
Like Rama, he was born as a Kshatriya; Like Rama, he was born in Punarvasu nakshatram;
Like Rama, his Archa moorthi was that of Lord Ranganatha; Like Rama, he renounced royal
pomp and preferred a simple ascetic life.
Like LakshmaNa, he desired to do service to Bhagavan;
Like Bharata, even while carrying out his duties as a King, he considered himself a vassal of the
Lord's pAdukA;
Like Satrugna, he valued BhAgavata seva above all.
Sri Rama is called PERUMAL; Sri Ranganatha worshipped by him is known as PERIYAPERUMAL;
Periya Perumal's temple is known as PERIYA KOVIL; Kulasekara who was so devoted to all these,
came to be called as KULASEKARA PERUMAL. And, his work is naturally called PERUMAL
TIRUMOZHI.
He was fond of listening to Srimad Ramayana. Once, when a lecturer was narrating how Sri
Rama had to fight single handedly the rAkshasa headed by Kara and Dushana, he was so excited
that he rose up from his throne and gave orders to his troops to march to help Sri Rama.
Immediately, the lecturer switched over to saying that Sri Rama vanquished the rAkshasas and
returned triumphant. Then only, Kulasekara realized that the episode was not
contemporaneous and regained composure. He was so much devoted to BhAgavatas that he
would even cancel his tour programs should any BhAgavata arrive to visit him. The ministers
became annoyed and on an occasion hid a costly pearl necklace that the king used to adorn the
ArchA moorthi idol and put the blame on the visiting BhAgavatas. The king ordered a pot into
which a live cobra was let in. He boldly put his hand into the pot challenging that if any of the
BhAgavatas had stolen the jewel, the cobra would bite his hand. The cobra did not bite and thus
he vindicated the innocence of the BhAgavatas. The ministers apologized. Disgusted with the
royal pomp he anointed his son as king and left on a pilgrimage of holy places.

KulasEkarAzhwar was born as a prince to ChEra king Dhidavrathan and nAdhanAyagi in the
month of mAsi and the nakshatram of punarpoosam (same as that of Lord Rama). Today is this
AzhwAr?s Thirunakshathram. The child when born looked divine and made everyone happier
and cheerful. The entire kingdom was in a jubilant mood. The child was named kulasEkaran and
when he grew he was taught all sAstrAs, epics, arts, Tamil and Sanskrit and was also given
training on fighting, Horse riding, Elephant riding, etc. In each endeavour, he excelled and came
out in flying colours. When Dhidavrathan became old, kulasEkaram ascended the throne and
since then he was ruling like Lord Sri Rama and brought in RamaRajyam to his kingdom. People
were very happy and here was rich harvest throughout the year; there were regular rains and
there was only subheeksham. Hence the citizens had great amount of love and respect for their
king kulasEkarA.
Once without knowing kulasEkarA's strengths, the neighbouring kings (Chola and pAndyA) came
to fight and during the battle kulasEkaran won with no difficulty. Impressed PandyA king gave
his daughter to kulasEkarA for marrying her. kulasEkarA was blessed with a son (whom he
named dhidavradhan) and a daughter ILai.
One night, The Lord wished to divert kulasEkarA's attention to Him and he appeared as Lord
Tirupati Venkatachalapathi in the king's dream and blessed him. The king was overwhelmed
with the Lord's love and became silent and was only thinking of the Lord at all times. He
became totally like water in Lotus leaf (Water never wets the Lotus leaf) and was ruling the
kingdom without any attachment; He was spending his time more and more on
ThiruvArAdhnam and Bhajans and listening to stories of Rama and KrishNa. He even started
disliking the battles since he did not like to see more loss of lives in the battle. He started
singing in Tamil and sanskrit with full of love and Bhakti in praise of the Lord.
He spent his most of the time only on religious activities and attending discourses. Once when
the UpanyAsakar was narrating Rama RavaNa yuddham where the battle was going on for a
long time and RavaNa was giving a tough fight, kulasEkara was so much attached to the story
and it the discourse he ordered his Army General to immediately organise to send the soldiers,
elephants and horses and the king was also making himself ready for the battle to give a
helping hand to Sri Rama. The upanyAsakar and all others were totally perplexed and could not
say anything. The upanyAsaker at last came to the king and said" O, mighty king, We need not
go. The Lord Rama has already killed rAvaNa and is on his way back to AyOdhyA for his
pattAbhishEkam" . That made the king silent and he came to normalcy; Such was kulasEkarA's
bhakti for Rama. It is told Lord Rama appeared in his dream that night and
said" kulasEkarA, I am deeply moved by your readiness to offer me help in the battle.

Since you are having blind affection and live for me , you did not realize my Strength and
parAkramam. We can win asurAs with no effort; You are acting just like LakshmaNA, who is also
attached to me deeply. From today you will be called kulasEkara perumAL like ILayaperumAL
LakshmaNA. Even today he is revered as kulasEkara perumAL. The pAsurams he sang were
compiled under "perumAL thirumozhi". One can see his feeling of deep regret for not being
born during RamA's time in his pAsurams.
As he was getting more and more involved in Bhagavadh Bhakti and Bhagavadha Bhakti and
was spending all his time in such activities, the ministers were not clear as to how to bring the
king back to his administration. The king had even consecrated a Golden statute of Sri Rama in
the palace where he was spending most of the time with other pundits and upanyAsakALs.
Once during a Ramanavami day (the birthday of Sri Rama), the king was astonished to see a big
nice Navaratna mAlai which had adorned Sri Rama missing. He was confused as to how
someone can come inside the palace with so much security and so many people around. The
ministers were asked; One of them (may be the chief minister) hesitantly stammered to say"
May be ..O .king....... .one of upanyAsakALs, or these scholars ...could.... ......have. ....taken. ..."
He did not even finish his statement. The king was shivering and was literally shocked to hear
that statement as if he has stepped on a Red hot burnt iron; He could not believe his ears as to
how these minister can even think of these GREAT BHAKTAAS as ones who could have flicked;
"What are you saying? Are you talking about these adiyArs of Sriman NARAYANA. Are you not
ashamed to say that? Is your tongue still alive? How dare you think them as thieves when their
love is only for the Lord and they consider the Gold and dust the same;
Those UTTHAMARGAL - Do you think they have stolen the MAALAI? . He did not stop with that.
He called someone to bring a pot wherein he had arranged to place a poisonous snake;
Bewildered ministers obeyed. He showed them the pot with the snake inside. He said and
prayed to the Lord" If the mAlai has been taken by one of the BhaktALs, let the snake bite me; If
not, I will come out unscathed." He put his hand inside the pot. The snake NEVER TOUCHED his
hand. The minister came out openly saying "we are very sorry and we beg your pardon. We are
the ones who removed the MALAI and put the blame on BhaktA so that you will start disliking
them and will concentrate on administrative matters. Please forgive us for this irresponsible
act."

Such was his love and reverence on Bhagawathas. He has written special ten for Bhagawatha
Eshathvam in His perumAl Thirumozhi. In one of his paasurams , he revealed to us that those ,
who wear the dust from the feet ( Thondar adippodi) on their heads do not need GangA
snAnam to wash away their sins :
aadip paadi arangavO yenrazhaikkum
ThondaradippodiyAda naam peRil ,
Gangai neer kudainthAdum vEtkai yennAvathE ?
In another paasuram, Azhwar states that his hairs stand on end over the thought of those
BhagavathAs , who enjoy Sri Ranganaathan as the SaarnghaPaaNi and get goose pimples:
..tiNNa maamathiL TennaranganAm meysilaik
karumEhamonRu tamm nenjil ninru thihazhap pOy mey
silippavar tammayE
ninainthu yenn manam mey silirkkumE
In another paasuram of PerumAL THirumozhi, AzhwArexpressed his deep desire. He revealed
that his prayer was to lose his mind in devotion to the BhagavathAs, who sing and dance with
aanandha paravasam about the glories of the Lord of Sri Rangam with the beautiful eyes
reminding one of the beauty of the soft, red lotus flower. He wanted to become one of the
BhagavathAs to get closer to the Lord of Sri Rangam (Thondar vAzhvukku maalayuRRathen
nenjamE ).
Let us get back to his history. Sorry for the digression. We were lured by the Bhagawatha
sEshathvam of AzhwAr. KulasEkarA thought silently after listening to all this and understood the
underlining concern of his ministers for the kingdom and the rule. He immediately decided to
bring his son into the picture and trained him for some time before he started off his Divya
Desam pilgrimage throughout India singing Lord's Glories and GuNAs. He visited almost all the
temples and he lost his heart for Sri Rama. He has sung lullabies for Sri Rama
as "RaghavanE ThAlElO!". He has even sung pAsurams on Devaki's misfortune of not able to
enjoy kaNNan's leelA's and "thollai inbam" (naughty Kannan?s divya chEstithangaL) which
yasOdhA was blessed with.
One can greatly be moved by his pAsurams wherein he longs for being born as a step in
Tirupathi Lord's temple or a fish in the Holy pushkaraNi or a seNbhaga tree in
Tirupathi(standing in front of the temple) or a Big stone which cannot be removed so easily; He
even wished to be born as a servant holding the Golden Bowl in front of Sriman nArAyaNan to
spit the water after washing, gargling and cleaning His mouth in the morning.

Such was his desire to serve the Lord ceaselessly and that too from a king!. [One can imagine
our plight with so little(or no) material possessions and with that few pennies in our wallet we
walk with so much pride, with arrogance with even a very little achievement in our lives (which
too is possible only with His grace).] He lived till 67 years and then reached His abode and it is
also told that his daughter ILai followed her father kulasEkara perumAn and was also blessed
with the Lord's ThiruvaruL.
As mentioned earlier, this AzhwAr had dreamt about pilgrimage to Srirangam every day from
his kingdom. He gave up his kingdom finally and moved to Srirangam and reached the Lord's
sacred feet there. He blessed us 105 marvellous pAsurams in his PerumAL Thirumozhi known
for their depth of Bhakthi. The first three of his ten decads are about Azhagiya MaNavALan Sri
RanganAthan.
In the first decad, KulasEkarA longs for the day, when he would be able to stand in the
courtyard of Sri RanganAthan hugging the two ThirumaNatthUNNkal (huge pillars in His
sannidhi)- that one can see even today in Srirangam. These two pillars are known as the
marriage pillars. They are recognized as a pair representing the fragrance of Sri RanganAthan.
The BhakthAs overcome by the Lord's beauty hold on to them to maintain their balance, when
the flood of the Lord's beauty hits them as they stand in the
ThirumuRRam of the Lord :
KadiarangattharavaN ayil paLLIk koLLUM MaayOnai, maNat
thUNE paRRi ninru yenn vaayAra yenru kolO vAzhtthum
nALE
(when will that day arrive, when I can stand holding the two marriage pillars in the sannidhi of
Sri RanganAthan and praise Him with all the power of my tongue?).
In the third decad , AzhwAr explains the transformation in him as his mind fell in love with
the BhaagavathAs of Lord RanganAthan . He says that he developed VairAghyam [detachment]
and lost interest in pomp and circumstance and discarded all perishable pleasures that are
fleeting. He says that he avoided from then on all those who confuse their body with their
AthmA and equate the perishable worldly pleasures with the divine Bliss of relating to the Lord.
In the sixth paasuram of this decad , Azhwar states with conviction:
yemparatthar allArodum kUdalan
umbar vAzhvai onRak karuthalan
TampirAn amararkku , Aranganahar
EmpirAnukku Yezhumaiyum pitthanE

(Meaning ) : I will not associate with those, who have are not the servants of the Lord like me. I
will always stay intoxicated with the love for my Lord of Nithya Sooris, who is at His Periya Koil
at Srirangam .
A sample pAsuram to taste the sweetness and longing desire of AzhwAr for
ThiruvEnkatamudaiya an and be there in Tirumala in any form whatsoever.
AznAtha selvatthu arambaiyargaL thaRsoozha/
vAnALum selvamum; maNNarasum yAn vENdEn/
thEnAr poonchOlai thiruvEngadatthu chunaiyil/
meenAi piRakkum vidhiyudaiyOnAvEnE/
Such a wonderful pAsuram. adiyEn requests all those who can read Tamil to read these 105
pAsurams of PerumAl Thirumozhi today and it takes only about 30 minutes at a maximum.
adiyEn?s daring and rash desire to start the anubhavams of these verses as next kaimkaryam.