KULASEKAR AZHWAR - PART 4

The Golden Step and the Final Surrender

We have traveled with Kulaśēkhara Azhwār as he climbed down the "Ladder of Rejection." He has turned away from crowns, celestial kingdoms, and even his own humanity. Now, he stands at the ultimate boundary: the very entrance to the inner sanctum of Tirumala. He no longer asks to be a bird or a tree; he asks to become the threshold itself, for one specific reason: to never stop looking at the Lord.

The Climax: The Golden Step (Verse 9)

This is the absolute culmination of his Strategy for Permanence. Kulaśēkhara acknowledges his own heavy burden of ancient karma (valvinaikaL) and offers his final, breathtaking request:

PERUMAL THIRUMOZHI – 4.9

செடியாய வல்வினைகள் தீர்க்கும் திருமாலே!

நெடியானே! வேங்கடவா! நின்கோயிலின் வாசல்

அடியாரும் வானவரும் அரம்பையரும் கிடந்தியங்கும்

படியாய்க் கிடந்துஉன் பவளவாய் காண்பேனே.

śeḍiyāya valvinaigaḷ tīrkkum tirumālē!

neḍiyānē! vēṅkaṭavā! ninkōyilin vāśal

aḍiyārum vānavarum arambaiyarum kiḍandiyaṅgum

paḍiyāyk kiḍand un pavaḷa vāy kāṇpēnē.

Line-by-Line Meaning

śeḍiyāya valvinaigaḷ tīrkkum tirumālē: Oh Tirumāl, the One who dissolves the grave sins committed over eons!

neḍiyānē! vēṅkaṭavā!: Oh Lord of Tiruvēṅkaṭam! Oh Neḍiyānē (The Great One who never forgets His assurance to those who surrender)!

ninkōyilin vāśal: At the entrance of Your temple...

aḍiyārum vānavarum arambaiyarum kiḍandiyaṅgum: ...where Your devotees, the gods, and the celestial dancers constantly move...

paḍiyāyk kiḍand un pavaḷa vāy kāṇpēnē: ...let me lie down as the entrance step, so that I may forever gaze upon Your coral-red lips.

The Vantage Point of the Step

His desire is not just to be "floor," but to be in a position of constant, unblinking adoration. By choosing this exact spot, he ensures that his sight-line is permanently fixed on the Lord. He chooses this spot to receive the Bhakta Pāda Dhūli (the holy dust of the devotees' feet), but his eyes are fixed on the pavaḷa vāy. He wants to witness the Lord in all His glory, specifically that bewitching smile that signals the dissolution of all his fears and sins.

The "NediyaanE" Insight: He calls the Lord Neḍiyānē—the One with the "long memory" for grace. While we might forget the small good we do, the Lord remembers it forever. Kulaśēkhara finds his ultimate security here: in the gaze of a Lord who refuses to see the faults of His adiyaar.

Beyond Choice: The Ultimate "Anything" (Verse 10)

In a state of total, egoless exhaustion, he eventually stops even choosing his form. He tells the Lord:

...எம்பெருமான் பொன்மலைமேல் ஏதேனும் ஆவேனே.

(...Let me be born as ANYTHING on the golden hill of my Lord!)

As Sri Paraśara Bhattar noted, "Anything" (yEdhEnum) means asking for a form so humble that it goes unnoticed. Having rejected the spotlight of the throne, he simply wants to merge into the Tirumala landscape—as long as he is there, in the presence of that Grace.

The Steadfast Conclusion

The Azhwār seals the decad with the word "Maṇṇiyē" (Steadfast/Everlasting). He successfully traded the mortal "wealth of the flesh" for the eternal "wealth of the Spirit."

To this day, the entrance step leading into the inner sanctum of every Sri Vaishnava temple is honored as the "Kulaśēkhara Paḍi." Although today only the Archakas (priests) cross this threshold to perform the daily Kaimkaryam, the Azhwār remains where he wished to be: at the feet of the Lord, serving as the silent, golden foundation for all who approach the Divine.

We end the journey with the Azhwār's own immortal words:

படியாய்க் கிடந்துஉன் பவளவாய் காண்பேனே.

paḍiyāyk kiḍand un pavaḷa vāy kāṇpēnē.

 KULASEKARA AZHWAR – 3

The Great Exchange — The Ladder of Rejection

Let us pause for a moment and look at what Kulaśēkhara Azhwār is actually doing here.

This is not a king giving up his throne.

This is not even a devotee expressing love.

This is a mind thinking aloud.

At each step, he seems to say:

“Let me be this…”

And almost immediately:

“No… even this will not do.”

He goes on like this — choosing, rejecting, refining —

until finally, nothing remains to be chosen.

In the earlier parts, we saw how Kulaśēkhara Azhwār slowly turned away from worldly life and began to seek only one thing — constant proximity to the Lord at Thirumalai.

In this decad (Uneru), that search becomes intense, almost restless.

The Ascent through Letting Go

Verse 1: Crane

Undesirable: Heavenly kingship

Substitution: A crane in the sacred waters of Thirumalai

Movement: But a bird can fly away.

Verse 2: Fish

Undesirable: Heavenly pleasures and earthly kingdom

Substitution: A fish in the same sacred waters

Movement: The bird may fly away — but even a fish can be caught or eaten.

Verse 3: Vessel (Human Server)

Undesirable: Even a secure place in nature is not enough

Substitution: To be the one who holds the vessel in the Lord’s presence

Movement: Close to the Lord — yet still human, and open to distraction.

Verse 4: Champaka Tree

Undesirable: Human life with its ego and distractions

Substitution: A flowering tree offering itself to the Lord

Movement: But even a tree can dry up.

Verse 5: Pillar

Undesirable: The display of kingly power — making people step aside in fear

Substitution: A pillar in the temple

Movement: Silent and still — causing no fear, yet always present near the Lord.

Verse 6: Hill Peak

Undesirable: Even the pleasures of heaven — like those of Menaka and Urvasi

Substitution: A peak on the Tirumalai hills

Movement: High and steady — but only a few can reach it.

Verse 7: Mountain Stream

Undesirable: Being fixed in one place without serving

Substitution: A flowing stream in the forest

Movement: Useful — but it may dry up or disappear.

Verse 8: Path

Undesirable: Being something that just exists on the hill — like a tree, rock, or stone

Substitution: A path leading to the temple

Movement: Used by everyone — yet walked over and unnoticed.

Verse 9: Step

Undesirable: All these earlier forms — bird, fish, tree, pillar, hill, stream, even the path — each with its own limitation

Substitution: The step at the temple entrance

Here, for the first time, the search comes to rest.

But what makes this “step” so final… so complete?

That is what we will pause and see next.

Verse 10: The End of Choosing

Up to now, he has been choosing and rejecting.

Here, that movement ends.

“I will become anything.”

Anything is enough —

as long as it keeps him there.

Closing Reflection

What begins as rejection becomes refinement.

What appears like descent reveals itself as ascent.

At every step, he lets go — not out of denial, but out of clarity.

Not because the world has nothing to offer, but because nothing it offers can equal the joy of nearness.

And so the king who once ruled a kingdom now seeks only this:

Not heaven.

Not power.

Not even identity.

But a place — however small, however unnoticed —

where he will never have to leave.

There is one image still waiting — simple, almost unnoticed —

and yet, it holds the answer to everything he has been searching for.

We will return to that.

“Yedenum Aaven” — I will become anything.

To be near is greater than to be great.

 KULASEKAR AZHWAR-2

The Divine Postures and the Geometry of Grace

Before we can understand Kulaśēkhara Azhwār’s personal journey, we must first look at how he saw the Divine. In our tradition, the Lord (Perumāl) does not remain in a single, static form. He manifests in various "postures" to meet the needs of His devotees:

Standing (Sthanaka)

Sitting (Asana)

Reclining (Sayana)

Semi-Standing/Starting to Rise (Utthana Sayana)

The Vertical Mystery: Tirukoshtiyur

A striking example of these postures existing together is found at Tirukoshtiyur. This temple is famous as the place where Swami Ramanuja, moved by infinite compassion, climbed the temple tower to publicly share the Ashtakshara Mantra with everyone.

Ramanuja chose this site because the temple itself is a "Stone Mantra"—a three-tiered Aṣṭāṅga Vimāna that maps out the Lord's presence in three distinct forms:

Ground Level: Irundha Thirukkolam (இருந்த திருக்கோலம்). The Lord appears in a Seated posture as Sowmya Nārāyaṇa Perumal, representing grace, accessibility, and the act of teaching.

Second Tier: Nindra Thirukkolam (நின்ற திருக்கோலம்). The Lord appears in a Standing posture, symbolizing His readiness to act and protect His devotees.

Top Tier: Kidandha Thirukkolam (கிடந்த திருக்கோலம்). At the highest point, the Lord appears in a Reclining posture, representing His supreme transcendence and cosmic rest (Yoga Nidra).

By seeing the Lord in these three levels, the devotee understands that Grace is accessible at every stage—moving from the Lord who teaches us, to the Lord who protects us, and finally to the Lord who sustains the entire cosmos.

But the Lord is not only stillness and structure—He is also movement.

The Dynamic Reach: Aravamudhan of Kumbakonam

In Kumbakonam’s Sarangapani Temple, we find a rare and beautiful posture: Utthana Sayana. Here, the Lord, known as Aravamudhan ("Inexhaustible Nectar"), is caught in the mid-motion of rising from His serpent bed. It is a posture of immediate response; it shows a God so moved by the love of His devotee, Thirumazhisai Azhwar, that upon his request to the Lord to stand up, He cannot remain lying down.

He begins to rise—and then, at the Azhwar’s request to stop, remains there, held in that moment.

The Southward Gaze: Srirangam

While Kulaśēkhara marveled at all these forms, his heart was most captured by the Reclining form of Sri Ranganatha at Srirangam. Standing before the sanctum, he witnessed the orientation later described by Tondaradippodi Azhwar in his composition Tirumalai:

குடதிசை முடியாய் வைத்து

குணதிசை பாதம் நீட்டி

வடதிசை பின்பு காட்டித் தென்திசை இலங்கை நோக்கி...

(kuḍa-disai muḍiyāy vaittu, guṇa-disai pādam nīṭṭi...)

(With His head to the West, His feet (pādam) stretched toward the East, His back to the North, and facing South toward Lanka...)

This "Southward Gaze" held a deep, personal meaning for Kulaśēkhara, the ultimate Rama-Bhakta. He knew the ancient story: after the coronation in Ayodhya, Rama gave his own family deity (Ranganatha) to Vibhishana. On his way back to Lanka, Vibhishana, against advice not to stop anywhere, placed the deity down at Srirangam, and the Lord chose to stay there forever.

However, to honor Vibhishana’s devotion, the Lord promised to always face South toward Lanka. For Kulaśēkhara, this posture proved that even in "sleep," the Lord’s grace is active, protective, and always directed toward those who have surrendered to Him.

The Threshold of Transformation

But as Kulaśēkhara stood before these beautiful forms, a profound shift occurred in his heart. He began to look at his own royal existence through a new, haunting lens. He realized that even though he was a powerful ruler, he was still bound by his mortal body.

He coined the term "Uneru Selvam"—the wealth that nourishes the flesh—to describe his kingship. He realized that the body is a fragile vessel, subject to decay. He feared that death would eventually close his eyes and pull him away from these divine feet forever.

The Turning

This fear of separation found its resolution at Tirumala, the "Bhuloka Vaikuntam" (Heaven on Earth). He saw that the Lord had "stepped down" to stand on these hills just to be close to us.

Kulaśēkhara realized that as long as he was a "person"—a King or a visitor—he would eventually have to leave. To stay forever, he felt he must stop being a "someone" and become "something."

He rejected his high status: Royalty was a barrier to being close to God.

He sought permanence: He wanted to become something that does not die and never has to leave the temple.

He began to yearn to become a bird, a fish, or a pillar on those hills. He was trying to overcome separation by becoming part of the temple’s very foundation. He wanted to trade his "wealth of the flesh" for the "wealth of being a stone step" at the Lord's feet.

The Birth of Uneru

And this leads to the actual composition

 Uneru, which I will be posting next.

          Kulasekar Azhwar 

I am presenting a four-part article on Kulaśēkhara Azhwār, focusing specifically on one of his most moving compositions, the Uneru.

Kulaśēkhara Azhwār was one of the twelve ancient Sri Vaishnava Azhwārs—the poet-saints who immersed themselves in the love of the Divine. His primary Tamil work is a vital part of the Nālayira Divya Prabandham and is known as the Perumāl Tirumozhi. Beyond the Tamil canon, he is also the author of the celebrated Sanskrit devotional poem, the Mukunda Mala. Remember 

ghuṣyate yasya nagare raṅga-yātrā dine dine

tam ahaṁ śirasā vande rājānaṁ kula-śekharam?

Perhaps his most enduring physical legacy is found at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple; the threshold or doorstep leading into the Garbhagriham (sanctum sanctorum) is known to this day as the Kulaśēkhara Padi. This name immortalizes his ultimate prayer: to remain forever at the Lord's feet, even as a humble stone step.

The King, the Collection, and the Heart of Rama

To understand the spiritual depth of the South Indian Vaishnava tradition, one must first look at the Nālayira Divya Prabandham—the "Four Thousand Divine Verses." Within this vast ocean of poetry, the Perumāl Tirumozhi stands out for its raw, regal, and deeply personal emotion.

The Scholarly Landscape

While the Divya Prabandham contains works from many saints, it is helpful to distinguish the "Tirumozhis" (Sacred Words):

Periazhwār: Periazhwār Tirumozhi

Tirumangai Azhwār: Peria Tirumozhi

Nammazhwār: Tiruvaimozhi

Kulaśēkhara Azhwār: Perumāl Tirumozhi

The Perumāl of the Poet

In the Sri Vaishnava tradition, the title "Perumāl" is a reverent term for Lord Vishnu in all His magnificent forms. For Kulaśēkhara Azhwār, this devotion was multi-layered:

His Primary Focus: His heart was anchored in Srirangam, yearning constantly for the grace of Lord Ranganatha.

His Poetic Soul: He was a magnificent devotee of Lord Rama, often immersing himself so deeply in the Ramayana that he forgot his own royal surroundings.

His Ultimate Refuge: However, it was to Lord Srinivasa at Tirumala that he turned for Prapatti (absolute surrender). He viewed the sacred hills of Venkatam as the place where he wished to remain eternally.

There is a famous account of the Azhwār listening to a recital of the Ramayana. When the storyteller reached the part where Sri Rama was heading into battle against 14,000 Rakshasas, the King’s "Kshatriya" spirit flared. Forgetting it was a tale from a previous age, he leaped from his throne, seized his weapons, and ordered his army to march immediately to aid the Lord! It took his ministers a long time to gently convince him that Rama had already triumphed. For the Azhwār, the Lord’s struggle was not history—it was happening now.

Rejecting the "Wealth of Flesh"

As his devotion deepened, the King began to see his royal status as a burden. He famously coined the term "Uneru Selvam" to describe kingship—calling it the "wealth that only increases the fat/flesh." He realized that worldly power was transient, and he began his systematic "demotion" from a King to a servant.

The Trial of Faith: The Pot of Snakes

The turning point of his life came not from a book, but from a moment of lethal danger. When his jealous ministers framed his fellow devotees for a palace theft, the King proposed a "Trial of Truth." He ordered a pot containing a deadly, venomous cobra to be brought forth.

Declaring that the Lord’s servants were innocent, he thrust his hand into the pot. The snake remained calm; the King was unharmed. This miracle shattered his attachment to the palace. He saw his royal power as "Uneru Selvam"—the wealth that only increases the flesh—and chose to leave it all behind. He crowned his son, renounced his throne, and began a life-long pilgrimage to the holy Divya Desams.

Coming Tomorrow…

As the King-turned-Saint began his travels, he encountered the Lord in forms that seemed to breathe, move, and even grow heavy with divine presence.

In Part 2, we will explore the mystery of the "Divine Postures"— a Lord who is caught in the middle

 of rising from His sleep. Stay tuned.