21. dhEvu maRRaRiyEn enREnO madhurakaviyaip pOlE

Madhurakavi Azhvar was born in the divyadesam of Thirukkolur near Azhvar Thirunagari. He was on a yatra to the North when he saw a divine light in the southern sky. Following it he reached Azhvar Thirunagari and found Swami Nammazhvar. He then tested him and realizing the greatness of Azhvar fell at his feet and became his disciple.

He then considered his acharya Nammazhvar as everything - mother, father, acharya and God - to him ("annaiyAy aththanAy"). He expressed that in his divine work Kanninun Siruththambu - a work entirely dedicated to Nammazhvar (for meanings of this great work see the link: http://www.acharya.org/vyakyanam/kst/index.html).

In that work, occurs the following pasuram:

nAvinAl naviRRu inbam eydhinEn
mEvinEn avan ponnadi meymmaiyE
dhEvu maRRaRiyEn kurugUr nambi
pAvin innisai pAdith thirivanE

In this pasuram, Madhurakavi Azhvar states that he knows no God other than Nammazhvar ("dhEvu maRRu aRiyEn"). He not only is renouncing the things of this world, but he is rejecting the other world and even Him, in favor of his acharya. This is the status of Sri Shathrugna who ignored even Sri Rama and was devoted only to Sri Bharatha.

The philosophy of following one's acharya as everything, demonstrated by Srivaishnava Acharyas ("AchArya abhimAnamE uththAragam") arose from Madhurakavi Azhvar's Acharya bhakti.

Thirukkolur Ammal is asking "Did I demonstrate Acharya bhakti like Madhurakavi Azhvar did?"