The Vedas, the sastras and the puranas teach in one voice that Narayana is the Supreme Truth and the highest Purushartha for all jivas. The sages and rishis steeped in meditation have also been blessed to know this truth with utmost conviction in their inner being. Likewise, the Azhwars, held to be the incarnations of the Nityasuris and endowed with the highest jnana by the Lord Himself, convey their experience of God in their hymns in a simple and direct manner.
Tirumazhisai Azhwar, in his two famous hymns Tiruchanda Vrittam and the Nanmukan Tiruvandadi, makes the emphatic claim that by bowing down to the Supreme Lord and by having faith in His protecting power, one can be redeemed from the cycle of birth, said Sri A. Srinivasachariar in a discourse. Azhwar states that the validity of this truth is Timeless, and does not depend on his affirmation. The other important truth he reinforces is that the Lord cannot be attained by human effort, that is, by practising karma, jnana or bhakti yogas alone. No doubt, these ways of worship are useful as stepping stones. It is only by the Lord’s Sankalpa that a devotee becomes eligible for mukti. The duty of the jiva is to surrender his entire being to Him and remain devoted to Him at all times. This act of nyasa and prapatti helps the jiva shed the sense of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ and he leads life in accordance to the Lord’s wish.
Tirumazhisai Azhwar is also known as Bhaktisara. The name reflects his extraordinary bhakti, which in his case is not merely a means to attain God, but is his very life’s mission. His whole self is drawn to God naturally and this experience overflows as selfless devotion to God at all times with no other motive whatsoever. This is the highest state of bhakti yoga that Krishna teaches in the Gita.
