http://tamizhportal.org/2020/07/personalities-thirumazhisai-alvar/ Introductory TCP post on the amazing life story of #Thirumazhisai Alvar. Revered as an incarnation of Mahavishnu's Sudharshana Chakra, his contributions to #Dharma, #Bhakti traditions, and #Tamizh are profound.

#Thirumazhisai Alvar rose from a most humble family background and overcame many obstacles to become a great Vedic seer and poet. He earned the praise of Rudra himself for his unflinching devotion to Vishnu.

#Thirumazhisai Alvar composed many sacred #Tamizh works. Of these, two poetic masterpieces that beautifully explain the all-encompassing vision of #Vishishtadvaita are extant: #ThirucchandaViruttam and #NaanmukanThiruvandhadhi.

A main reference for this post are the books of Dr. Sri. N. Ranganathan. We thank the author for this great seva to #dharma and simplifying and explaining the works of this great Azhwar so all of us can benefit. (book links in article).

#Thirumazhisai Alvar was born near Poovirunda Valli (present day: #Poonamallee) located near #Chennai. His life story is dotted with divine and mystical events, from birth. We can see parallels with the life of Sri Krishna.

Born to Sage Brigu and his wife as an under-developed fetus, he was abandoned and later found by a woodcutter family. Divine intervention breathed life into this form and it grew into an infant who was graced by the vision of Bhagavan when he first opened his eyes.

#Thirumazhisai Alvar identified himself in his works with this simple family that raised him. 'Elite erudites' reminded him of this family status more than once; Each time, the grace and power of Narayana residing in Alvar humbled their ego and revealed the divinity within.

A profound event in #Kanchipuram is associated with #Thirumazhisai Alvar. The king, displeased with Alvar's disciple Kani Kannan, banished him from Kanchi in haste. The disciple informed Alvar, who also decided to leave. He took his disciple to the Thiruvehka #Vishnu temple ...

#Thirumazhisai Alvar addressed the deity:
" #KaniKannan is going. O' Sapphire hued Lord of the beautiful Kanchi, do not lie down. The courageous sweet tongued poet that I am also going to follow. You also roll up your serpent bed."

The temple deity dutifully rolled up Adisesha like a mat and quietly followed his Bhaktas! Sans Sriman Narayana, prosperity, and peace too deserted Kanchi. After the city suffered a series of misfortunes, the King’s ministers made him realize his mistakes ..

The king fell at the feet of the great Alvar who forgave him. Alvar requested the deity to return to Thiruvehka and rest on his serpent bed again, which #Mahavishnu immediately accepted. Peace and prosperity returned to Kanchi.

those who have not heard this powerful story before may reflect on the implications, including: What is the nature of god? who is the leader and who the follower here? is it the Guru or Shishya? The Supreme cause #Narayana or his Bhakta who surrendered all at his lotus feet?

Two prominent poetic works of #Thirumazhisai Alvar survive: Thirucchanda Viruttam (120 verses) and Naanmukan Thiruvandhadhi (96 verses). Both works have been looked upon as Saranagati Prabhandhams by Sri Vaishnava scholars.

Thirucchanda Viruttam extols #Narayana the supreme cause; surrender of all ego to this supreme cause is the path to #Moksha

"Thirucchanda viruttam captures the direct experience of the Azhwar of the simultaneous reality of the five-fold Divinity."-Dr NR.

Naanmukan Thiruvandhadhi is a poetic garland composed in the cyclical #Andhadhi style wherein the word or syllable at the end of one verse is also the start of the next verse. The work firmly establishes the Paratvam of #Narayana.

#NeedleMagnetMetaphor Foreword to Dr. Ranganathan’s book by his brother N. Rajagopalan: “As a #siddha, the #Azhwar had a dynamic relationship with the living deities in the temples like “the attraction between the needle and the magnet”+

+to borrow sage Ramakrishna #Paramahamsa’s phrase to describe the relationship between a true devotee and the Lord. Only it was difficult to tell at times who was the needle and who the magnet. Such was the love of the Azhwar that the Lord could not but follow him at his call“

The deity of the Thiru Vehka (Sri Yathothkari) temple reclines in a direction opposite to the conventional left-to-right that we see in other temples. The deity left & later returned to Kanchi heeding the words of his Bhakta #ThirumazhisaiAlvar

We conclude with a note on another great quality of #Thirumazhisai Alvar that is so important today:

He is revered as a true seeker who first studied all dharmic paths of his era including other Hindu Sampradayas, Buddhism and Jainism before becoming a Bhakta of Mahavishnu.