Page 35 - Sri Ramanujacharya Sahasrabdhi - 1000th year anniversary of Ramanujacarya

She who is dear to all the ladies, Please wake up
Hey, Krishna who is the king of Gods,
Who went up tearing the sky.
Please wake up, and do not sleep.
Hey Baladeva (Krishna’s brother), who wears pure golden anklets,
Please wake up along with your brother, (Stanza 17 or Pasuram – an
ode to God)

Andal makes many references to Krishna by calling Him Kesava, Go-
vinda, Vishnu, Madhava, and other descrip ve phrases like “We wor-
ship thine valour in breaking the ogre who came like a cart, We worship
thy strength which threw the calf on the tree, We worship thine good-
ness in making the mountain as an umbrella” (Parsuram 24) Her love
for Lord Krishna is beau fully expressed in subtle and tantalizing Tamil
poetry that leaves no doubt that she is devoted with love to serving the
Lord in Vrindaban. Andal and all the Alvars were dedicated completely
to serving Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Nammalvar, who was the fi h Alvar, appeared just 43 days a er Lord
Krishna disappeared from this planet over 5000 years ago. A king who
ruled over the area where Nammalwar lived passed a law making it
mandatory for every poet to submit his works to the council headed by
the court poet for its scru ny. The saint refused to go to the court of
the king. He did, however, send his disciple with a palm leaf that con-
tained one stanza from one of the hymns that he wrote. It was the fol-
lowing: The passage engraved in the palm leaf read, “Kannan-kazhal
inai nannu manam udayir ennum ru-naman nnam naraname,” which
means “Those whose hearts are in love with the lotus feet of Lord Krish-
na, take this mantra for medita on, it is indeed the holy name of the
Lord.” A er reading that par cular passage the council consis ng of
300 scholars and the court poet became the disciples of
Nammalwar.

There is no doubt the Nammalvar was completely dedicated to worship
Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Another important point is that Ramanujacarya has iden fied the Cha-
rama Sloka as the most important verse that is the quintessen al

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