The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : An epitome of compassion

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Tamil Nadu

An epitome of compassion

— PHOTO: R.M. RAJARATHINAM

Symbol of devotion: Idols and picture of Sri Koorathazhvan, left, and his brother Sri Veda Vyasa Bhattar at Sri Koorathazhvan Thirumaaligai in Srirangam.

One of the great disciples of Sri Ramanuja, Sri Koorathazhvan was born in 1008 at Kooram, near Kancheepuram. He lost his mother in his childhood and his father, a rich man, obviously brought up him with utmost care.

Sri Koorathazhvan was a religious leader of the common masses and had compassion for the downtrodden, a lesson he learnt from his mentor Sri Ramanuja.

Anecdotes testify to his passion for even a suffering snake and his inclination to help the masses above caste-based differences. His close association with Sri Ramanuja for about seven decades perfected him to be a great philosopher, thinker and above all a symbol of compassion.

Extraordinary memory

Sri Koorathazhvan assisted Sri Ramanuja in scripting the latter’s great works such as ‘Sri Bhashya,’ a commentary on Veda Vyasa’s Brahma Sutras. He was blessed with a rare trait of memory, known as ‘Eka chintha grahi,’ an extraordinary capacity of memorising the contents of a document at a glance.

This quality helped him to record the contents of a manuscript at Kashmir on Bodhayana Rishi’s commentary on Brahma Sutra and reveal it to Sri Ramanuja.

Sri Koorathazhvan, hailing from a wealthy family, parted his riches in the cause of the economically poor and the downtrodden and lived on alms collected on a daily basis.

He stayed at the East Chithra Street in Srirangam for 70 years and the place is now known as ‘Koorathazhvan Tirumaaligai.’

A protector of preceptor

Sensing the danger to Sri Ramanuja’s life at the court of a Chola King, Sri Koorathazhvan, disguised as Sri Ramanuja, went to the court, only to lose his eyes.

He prayed to Lord Varadaraja not to punish the court staff, Nalooran, who was instrumental in removing his eyes.

Sri Koorathazhvan had authored five ‘Sthavams’ - Sanskrit literary works of high order.

His attachment and devotion to his mentor is brought out in an incident in ‘Koyilozhugu.’

He preferred loyalty and devotion to Sri Ramanuja to any other privilege bestowed on him.

As per the rules of Chola kingdom at that time, devotees could offer worship to Lord Ranganatha only after declaring to the effect that they had severed off their loyalty to Sri Ramanuja.

Though Sri Koorathazhvan, as a special case, was allowed by the authorities to enter the temple without the declaration, he politely stayed away from entering the temple.

He later moved to Tirumaliruncholai, popularly known as Azhagarmalai near Madurai, where he spent a good number of years till Sri Ramanuja returned to Srirangam.

M. Balaganessin

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