||    KulasEkharaAzhwAr    ||

KumbhE PunarvasU jaatham KeraLE KOLa pattaNE
KousthubhAmsam DharAdhIsam KulasEkaharam AasrayE

This AzhwAr born as a Kshathriyan is an amsam of the gem Kousthubham on the Lord's chest. He incarnated on a Maasi Sukla DwAsasi day, when Punarvasu constellation was in ascendance. He was born as the son of Dhruta Vratha RaajA, king of Kolli Naadu, whose capital was VanchikkuLam in today's KeraLA. KulasEkhara raaja was a brave king and protected saadhu janams of his kingdom.

KulasEkharar was a great Raama BhakthA and was deeply involved in listening to the KaalakshEpams of Sri VaishNava BhaagavathAs at his court. He was so deeply involved with Sri Raama charitham as told by Sage VaalmIki --in his illusrious Srimath RaamAyaNam --that he would have difficulty in relating to the incidents of this IthihAsams as events that happened a very long time ago. At one time, when he heard from the BhAgavatha pravachanam that Lord Ramachandra went all alone to fight with the powerful group of 14,000 raakshasAs, KulasEkharar became anxiety ridden about the safety of the Lord and ordered his ministers to assemble quickly his army to join the Lord in His fight. The Bhagavathar, who was performing the KaalakshEpam quickly, took control of the situation and quoted another famous slOkam from Srimath RaamAyaNam that described the Lord's single handed destruction of the same 14,000 RaakshasAs at JanasthAnam and SitA Devi's welcome embrace of Her victorious Lord :

tamm dhrushtvA ChathruhanthAram MaharshINAm SukhAvaham
bhabhUva HrushtA VaidEhI BharthAram parishasvajE

KulasEkharar was relieved to hear the good news and happy over the Lord's safety and cancelled the plans to march his army in support of the Lord. Such was the intensity of KulasEkhara's involvement with Sri Raaama Charitham.

Because of his special reverence for the BhaagavathAs, KulasEkharar permitted them to have total access to all parts of the palace at all times. The ministers were very unhappy about these priveleges of the VaishNava BhaagavathAs that interfered with KulasEkharar's conductance of the royal duties; they conspired to reduce the influence of the BhAgavathAs at the royal court. The ministers took an aabharaNam from the AarAdhana Moorthy of their king, hid it and blamed the VaishNavaas as scoundrels, who stole that piece of Jewellery. KulasEkharar refused to accept that the vaishNavAs would do such a thing. He asked the ministers to bring a pot containing a poisonous cobra and declared that he will put his hand inside the pot and if he was right about the innocence of Sri VaishNavAs, the cobra will not bite his hand. Lo and Behold ! The hungry cobra did not even touch the hand of KulasEkharar. The ministers admitted their conspiracy.

KulasEkharar was saddened over this incident and decided to abdicate; he performed coronation for his son and retired to Srirangam to perform uninterrupted kaimakryam to Sri RanganAthan and be in the company of Sri RanganAtha BhakthAs. He shared that blissful anubhavam through two of his Sri Sookthis , one in Tamizh and the other in Sanskrit :

1. PerumAL Thirumozhi (105 Tamizh Paasurams)
2. Mukundha Maalai    (40 Sanskrit SlOkams)

Thiruvarangathu AmudanAr's Tribute to KulasEkharar
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In the 14th paasuram of RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi, AmudhanAr salutes RaamAnujA as a great devotee of KulasEkharar: “I shall never resort to severe pain-causing penance, whether in hot deserts or dense forests or deserted hills or in deep waters .Why should I? My goal becomes achievable by my clinging to RaamAnujA, who is unexcelled in his firm devotion to the great seers, who sing and enjoy the excellent work of KulasEkhara AzhwAr --the work studded with gem-like choice words (Kolli Kaavalan kalai soRRkkaL) and designed to conveythe import of the holy sAsthrAs ...." (Dr.V.N. VedAntha Desikan)


There are 105 Bhakthi-laden paasurams in PerumAl Thirumozhi housed in ten decads. The subject matter of these ten decads are:

1.  AzhwAr's yearning to worship Lord RanganAthan at  Srirangam and celebration of his Bhagavath PrAvaNyam (devotion to the Lord).

2.  Reverence for the devotees of Lord RanganAthan and yearning to join that Bhagavatha GhOshti (aanukoolya-Sankalpam) and Celebration of his Bhaagavatha PrAvaNyam (devout disposition to the BhAgavathAs of the Lord).

3. Renunciation of the impediments to God-Realization, AzhwAr's parama vairAgyam, rejection of Ihika-PurushArthams (pleasures of this world) out of his great love for the sacred feet of Lord RanganAthan (Praathikoolya-Varjanam).

4.  KulasEkhara’s moving prayer to the Lord of Venkatam for His DayA to be born as any thing on His hills for removal of obstructions to Moksha Siddhi(kaarpaNyam). Expressions of His desire to have the sevai of the Lord of Venkatam at all times (gopthruva varaNam).

5.  AzhwAr's total dependence on the mercy of the Lord of VitthuvakkOdu and AzhwAr's mahA visvAsam in the Lord as a SaraNAgathan(Aathma NikshEpam/Bhara NyAsam). Describtion of the varieties of realtionships between the JeevAthmA and the ParamAthmA : Mother and the helpless Infant , straying Husband and Pathivrathai, unsteady king and loyal subject,Curing Surgeon and the sick patient,the stable ship and the exhausted bird seeking refuge in it in the middle of the ocean, the life-giving Sun and the Lotus that needs it for its existence , the life giving rain and the crop that depends on it , the vast Ocean and the many rivers that enter into it (ananaya Gathithvam and Aakinchanyam).

6. Celebration of Naayaki-Naayaka BhAvam in the form of a Gopi, who never had any samslEsham (union) with the Lord expressing Her longing for Him (madhura bhakthi).

7. Celebration of the Mother-child love through the anubhavam of Devaki vis-a-vis Bala KrishNan after VasudEvar moved Him to AaypAdi for"safety". The Mother (Devaki), who had to give up her own child and her missing the Aanandham of enjoying her child growing up. Frustrated Devaki's lament about her misfortune (dourbhAgyam). AzhwAr experiences the sorrow of Devaki and relates it to his vislEsham (seperation ) from the Lord.

8. Celebration of another type of Mother-Child love through the joyous anubhavam of Kousalai singing lullaby to her child ,Raamachandran. MangaLAsAsanam of ThirukkaNNapuram PerumAL as RaamAvatharan.In this avathAram , BhagavAn was not separated from His birth mother. AzhwAr enjoys the anubhavam of the blissful mother (Kousalai)singing lullaby to her SuprajA.

9. Reflection on the Father-Son seperation (Lord Raamachandran as Son and Dasarathan as the Father) and articulation of the sorrow of the father after the exile of his dear son. AzhwAr identifies himself with Dasaratha here. The lamentations of Dasaratha are heart-breaking.This is AzhwAr's anubhavam enjoying the Lord as his puthran.

10. The tenth and final decad provides the climax to AzhwAr's exploration of the relationship (Sambhandham) between the Lord and himself as His Bhakthan seeking liberation from the SamsAric ills to perform nithya kaimkaryam to Him. AzhwAr's joy breaks forth in the form of MangaLAsAsanam for Thillai Thirucchithrakoota EmperumAn. AzhwAr visualizes the Lord of Dhivya Desam as the happy Raamachandran enjoying the beauty of Chithrakootam hills with SithA PirAtti. AzhwAr uses the occasion to bless us with SankshEpa RaamAyaNam (RaamAyaNa Saaram). This decad is Srimath RaamAyana Sarvasavam indeed! UtthamUr Swamy's special monograph on Srimath RaamAyaNa Sarvasavam provides excellent description of the tattvams celebrated by the great Raama BhakthA, KulasEkhara AzhwAr in many paasurams of PerumAL Thirumozhi. It would be appropriate to recall here the two slOkams summarizing the 18 tattvams behind Srimath RaamAyaNam that were revealed by Thirumalai Nampi to his nephew RaamAnujA over a period of one year at Thiruppathi:

VidhyA sarvAapi bhAhyathyajanamakhila
saddhdharma aadhyAthmikArthA : I
arTaanAm panchakam Sriraghupathi paratatthvam
Prapatthi: padham tath( pumarTa:) II

Seshathvam Paaratantryam tadhavadhiragathithvam
virakthirgurOrdhruk I
SrIsAhyam nirbharathvam suvasathirapi
TaddhdhyAyitha-ashtaadasArTA: II

Illustrative Examples of KulasEkhara's Prabhandham
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Swamy Desikan salutes this AzhwAr's prabhandham as "Nann PoruL sEr Thirumozhi" (the divine utterances that have deep and auspicious doctrines (meanings) embedded in them. These uniquely Sri VaishNavA doctrines are Lord's Parathvam, Prapatthi at His sacred feet, Sesha-Seshi relationship, Bhaktha Paaratantryam (subservience to BhakthAs), fearlessness after SaraNAgathi, SrinivAsathvam and others.

While AzhwAr was king, his raajadhAni vibrated with the sounds of daily preparations for his yAthrA to Srirangam to worship Lord RanganAthan (ghushyathE yathra nagarE Ranga-yAthrA dinE dinE). He longed for the sevai of the Lord of Srirangam and pined over the royal duties that interfered with the journey to Srirangam. Keeping in mind all of our procrastinations to make that journey and stay at Srirangam until shaking our mortal coils , KulasEkhara sets the first decad to express his longing to arrive at Srirangam to feast on the beauty and reflect upon the anantha kalyANa guNams of the Lord reclining on AdhisEshan there. Dr.K.C.VaradachAri has translated this decad beautifully:

“The touch of the feet of the Lord is that has made SeshA, the thousand-headed, fierce serpent and Kaveri, the river, enjoy their supreme bliss. When shall I have the pleasure of witnessing the splendour of the Lord of Srirangam? When will be the day, when I can see the Lord and enjoy Him? When will be the day when I can sing His praise to the fullest powers of my speech? When will be the day when I shall be with the servants of the Lord at Srirangam? When will be the day, when I can loudly praise Him and offer Him fresh flowers with my own hands and do obeisance? When will the time come, when my tears of ecstasy shall flow on seeing that wonderful Lord (MaayOn)? When will the time come, when I shall see Him without interruption and place my head at His feet? When will that time come, when my mind gazing at His moon-like face will melt into Him? When will the time come, when I, a sinner, shall be redeemed through becoming fit to enjoy the darsanam of the Lord? Moving with devotees with unabating love for Him, singing His excellent names, propelled by love with intense emotion, thinking of Him with tear drops of ecstasy falling like rain, melting throughout the day praising Him, when will that time come, when I shall worship the Lord at Srirangam, where the lordly music simulates the billows of the ocean (in the yonder world) on which He is lying on the serpent, adorning the discus, awaiting battle? When shall I roll on the floor dancing with ecstasy? When is that day to come, when standing before Him and His devotees I too can become one of them?" (First decad: Paasurams 1-10).

Other passages revealing AzhwAr's VairAghyam and his total dependence of the Lord are referred below to appreciate the intensity of AzhwAr's spiritual journey:

“I shall not join those who have love for their bodies. I shall not move with those, who are unable to leave the contemplation of delicate waisted women (indhriya Sukhams). I shall not join those whose sole preoccupation is food and clothing and enjoyments of the perishable pleasures of this world. With those, who seek such lowly pleasures, I shall not join. Nor shall I join those, who do not seek our Lord only. I shall not think of the (transient) pleasures that one can get from the demi-gods and others (who are but lords of senses). On the other hand, I shall set my mind on the Lord of Srirangam and become absorbed in His devotion. "(Meyyil Vaazhkayai: Third decad dealing with prAthikoolya Varjanam aspect of SaraNAgathi).

KulasEkara AzhwAr's deep attachment to the archai form of the Lord at Thiruppathi pours out in the form of moving plea to be any thing on the sacred hills of ThiruvEnkatam:

“I who am enlightened shall not seek the transient human frame again. I shall seek to be a bird in the temple at Thirumalai. I do not pray for Indra"s pomp surrounded by immortal beauty of the apsaras and the heaven (Svargam), but shall seek to be a fish in the streams of Thirumalai hills. I do not seek to rule over the kingdom, the joys of riding elephants. I do not crave to see the dance of Urvasi, Menakai and others and hear their music. Even though I gain the company of the excellent, gold-bejewelled Urvasi, I shall not desire her. I shall seek instead to be ANYTHING on the sacred hills of ThiruvEnkatam (to be near my Lord always)" (PerumAL Thirumozhi: V.1,2,5,10).

His total and unconditional devotion to the Lord is etched in the paasurams for the VitthuvakOttu AmmAn:

“I am like an infant which cries out thinking of its mother's grace, though with anger fierce, she has thrust it away from her face. Even like well-born girl, who only her husband knows ,though deeds such as men may mock her husband does, so will I sing , though thou wilt not be my Lord. ..Like the subjects looking to the (just) rod of the king, though he regards them or not, I am like a sick man, who though surgeon cut with knife and brand, yet loves him with a love as long as life. Like a great (sea) bird on a ship , which goes around and sees no shore and comes atlast back over the tossing sea and perches (safely)on the ship's mast , I am returning to the Lord's (sacred and redeeming) paadhAravindham ."(PerumAL Thirumozhi: Paasurams 1-5).

KulasEkharaAzhwAr thiruvadigale saranam,

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