||     Thondaradippodi Azhwar     ||

Thondardippodi Azhwar was born in Marghazhi Kettai at the Chozha Naadu village of Thirumandangudi. His name was Vipra Narayanan at birth. He is considered as an amsam of the Lord's Vaijayanthi maalai. Later, he chose the Bhagavatha naamam of Thondaradipodi or the dust of the feet of the Lord's servants (Thondars) to show his utmost reverence for them. He was saved by the redemptive grace of Lord RanganAthA at a time when he became infatuated with a beautiful courtesan and gave up his cherished garland kaimkaryam to the Lord in favour of her. He acknowledges the divine intervention of Lord RanganAtha at the time of his distraction from Bhagavath kaimkaryam in the 16th verse of ThirumAlai this way( Dr.K.C.Varadachari) :

"At the time, when I was a gambler and a thief and, caught in the net of a woman's fish-like eyes , was helpless, was it not the Lord of Srirangam , who called me , entered into my mind and made my love increase for Him?"

Lord Ranganatha's intervention
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Vipranarayanan followed the foot steps of Periyazhwar to perform maala kaimkaryam to the Lord. He built a garden in Srirangam and cultivated Tulasi bushes and flower trees for making maalais for Ranganathan's pleasure. He remained a bachelor and was dedicated to a pious way of life.

One day, a beautiful courtesan by the name of Devadevi was passing by the garden of Vipranarayanan and stopped there to rest from the heat of the midday sun under the shade of a tree. Her maid mentioned that the owner of the garden was a great devotee of Ranganatha and would not even look at a woman. The haughty Devadevi was intrigued and vowed to her maid that she will bring the pious Brahmin under her total control in six months and if she failed in her effort, she would become the servant of her maid.

Next day, Devadevi wore simple clothes and showed up at the hut of Vipranarayana and begged him to accept her as his helper in bhagavath kaimkaryam. She explained to him that she was born of a deva daasi caste and regretted over the wasted days pursuing her trade. She mentioned that she wanted to turn a new leaf in her life and hence wanted to join in Bhagavath kaimkaryam. The guileless Vipranarayanan trusted her and accepted her as a helper in the garden chores. She was diligent in her assigned duties.

One day, there was a heavy down pour of rain and both Devadasi and Vipranarayanan ran for cover into the hut. Devadasi was drenched in the rain and the kind Vipranarayana gave his (spare) dry upper garment for her to dry herself. At that time, Vipranarayana got a glimpse of her extraordinary beauty and became infatuated with her irresistible charm. Devadevi thus accomplished her goal and won the bet with her maid. Vipranarayana got passionately involved with Devadevi and neglected completely his duties to Ranganatha. Devadevi took all the property of Vipranarayana and when he had nothing more to give her, she left him and went back to her own home. Vipranarayana was heart broken and begged at Devadevi's door for reunion . She chased him away through her servants.

Sri Ranganayaki took pity on her child's suffering and appealed to Her Lord to intervene and save His devotee. Lord took on the role of a servant of Vipranarayanan by the name of Azhagiya MaNavalan and went to Devadevi's home and gave her a golden cup used in His daily Aaradhanam and told her that it was a gift from Vipranarayanan, His master. Devadevi was pleased and invited Vipranarayanan back to enjoy her company.

Next day , the archakas at the temple noticed that the golden cup was missing and notified the king . The search revealed that the missing cup was in the possession of the courtesan. Devadevi's maid told the king's men that a servant of Vipranarayanan by the name of Azhagiya manavalan brought the cup to her mistress. The king arrested both Devadevi and Vipranarayanan; latter pleaded that he had no servant and that he was not guilty of the crime of stealing. Yet, he had to spend the night in the king's prison. During the night, Ranganatha appeared in the dream of the king and told him that it was His play (bringing the golden cup to Devadevi as the servant of Vipranarayanan)to reclaim both Vipranarayana and Devadevi as His devotees. Ranganatha said that the humiliation suffered by Vipranarayanan was sufficient punishment and that he should be released form prison . After the release from the prison, Vipranarayanan realized his folly and understood the depth of love of Ranganatha to rescue him from his utter disgrace. He vowed to rededicate himself to the Lord's service and took on the name of Thondaradippodi and composed two prabhandhams –Thirumaalai and Thiruppalliyezhucchi--to celebrate the divine anugraham of the parama dayAlu, Lord Ranganathan. He continued with his Tulasi garland kaimkaryam to the lord all his life.

Thondaradippodi has performed Mangalasasanam for four dhivya desams in his two prabhandhams: Srirangam, AyOddhi, Thirupparkadal and Vada Mathurai. Strictly speaking, we can conclude that all of this AzhwAr's paasurams are about Ranganathan, since the Moolavar and Uthsavar at Srirangam are recognized as KrishNan(Vada Mathurai) and Raaman (Ayoddhi) respectively .He is indeed a Ranganatha pathivrathai.


The two prabhandhams, ThiruppaLLiyezucchi and Thirumaalai of Thondaradippodi celebrate the power of Bhagavan naamam and the greatness of the devotees of Sriamn NaarAyana resting in the archa form at the glorious temple of Srirangam in the middle of the two branches of the sacred Cauvery river.

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