MUKUNDAMALA

The Azwars were mystics of a very high order who lived in God and thought about Him every second of their existence!The very name of Krishna or Narayana would conjure up the various Leelas or Divine sports exhibited by the Almighty! The black cloud in the sky would take them instantaneously to the figure of their Lord Krishna who is supposed to be black in color! Anything related to their beloved Lord sent them into fits and trances visualising the form of God and enjoying his presence in their vision! They were totally detached from the mundane and materialistic aspects of life! They yearned for the vision of God and merging into His ineffable ..form! They were, mostly, not opulent, lived an austere life always pouring out their sincere unalloyed love for God! Their intense attachment to the Lord has come out in beautiful, rare 'Pasurams’ codified as “Nalayira Divya Prabandham” which is considered as “ Dravida Vedam”.The underlying thought throughout their Pasurams is total surrender unto His lotus feet! They excelled in experiencing the Lord as a friend, master, spouse, child and even as servant which is usual in expressing devotional fervour or Bhakthi! One such great Azwar who revelled in his devotion  to Lord Krishna was Kulasekhar Azhwar whose “ Mukundamala” is a magnum opus in the the expression of his deepest devotion to Krishna.

After wishing victory to the son of Devaki and the chief of Vrushni clan and the one who has taken avatar to reduce the burden of mother Earth, the Azhwar tells that he is not enamored of money or fulfilment of desires. He Knows that every thing in the world happens according to his good and bad karma. His only desire and prayer to Krisna is that he should be granted imperturbable devotion unto his lotus feet! Can devotion sprout all of a sudden? The Azhwar is conscious of it. He tells the Lord, “ Krishna! I have at the outset placed the royal swan of my manas in the cage of your lotus feet! I know that during my terminal stage it would be impossible to utter your name as the throat will be afflicted blood, by sputum, choler, bile and other obstacles! According to sri Kulasekhara Azhwar, Samsara is a shoreless sea. Wife, sons and daughters are weights that hang heavy on the Individual! They are all totally soaked in experiencing poisonous ‘ vishayas’- of material existence! He calls the wife as the moat and the children as the terrible crocodiles in the moat! He feels depressed and despondent that he is completely drowned in the fathomless ocean of Samsara! He beseeches the Lord to grant him the boat of true devotion unto His lotus feet to cross it!

The Azhwar wants every part of the body to have some connection with God! The tongue should sing His glory!  Manas should think about Lord Krishna! Both the hands should worship Him! The ears should involve themselves in hearing stories of His Divine sports or Leela's! Of what use are the eyes if they don't look at his beautiful form resplendently bedecked with ornaments? The only way for the feet is to visit His temples! The nose has to smell the scent of holy Tulasi used in worshipping Him! The head has to bow down to Him in an act of complete surrender! In an ecstatic and despondent mood the Azhwar cringes before Him that he does not know anyone else except his “ Gopalaka the ocean of compassion, the spouse of Sindhu Kanya or Lakshmi, the destroyer of cruel Kamsa, the Saviour of Gajendra, the brother of Balarama, the preceptor of all the three worlds and the one with lotus eyes! What are His credentials and qualifications? He destroys all the difficulties and dangers of His devotees like the Garuda the snakes! He is the protector all the three worlds! He is the special drop of water to the Gopikas who long for him like the chataka bird! He is the signature brand of Beauty! He is the adornment on the chest of His dear wife Sri Rukmini Devi! He is the chief of all the Gopalas!

How can mortal man attain his fulfilment in his earthly existence? The Azhwar has his mantra for it. It is the mantra for destroying all enemies outward and the Arishadvargas or the inner enemies! It is worshipped by all the Vedas and the Upanishads! It lifts up man from the toils of Samsara; It terminates the dense cluster of darkness or ignorance; It is the bestower of every type of prosperity; It is the remover of snake like worries that bite man! The Azhwar addresses the tongue and directs it to chant that Krishna mantra again and again for the fulfilment of its janma! There are a number of maladies, physical, mental and spiritual, affecting man. What is the antidote for all these ailments? The Azhwar has a very powerful and effective remedy for all the ills of man! It is the blessed “Sri Krishna Divyaushadham”. It bestows physical, mental and spiritual well being on man beyond any doubt! It removes all illusion or Maya, obsession; it is the remedy for the disposition of sages and saints! It is the reason for the terror among the demons; it is the potion for the rejuvenation of all the three worlds! While it is the dearest for all the devotees or bhakthas, it is also the destroyer of the great fear of Samsara or family life and its entanglementsl

Is the body permanent and unchanging? Surely it is not. It changes from childhood to boyhood , youth, middle age, old age and senility and finally is cremated and turns into ashes! “Why doubt about the medicine of Krishna elixir?” questions the Azhwar! It is total surrender to the Lord that should be the aim of every mortal! In the concluding part of his “ Mukundamala”, Sri Kulasekhara Azhwar offers his pranams unto the lotus feet of  Lord Krishna! Always he offers worship to Lord Narayana! He chants the sacred name  of the Pure Being and for ever contemplates on the  ‘tatwa’ of the Supreme Lord Narayana! On the sacred day of Sri Krishna Jayanthi let us resolve to make our lives worthwhile by remembering the Jagadguru Sri Krishna and follow a small portion of the counsel the Azhwar has given us!!!