BG7.4

In his Periathirumozhi, Thirumangai Alwar has dedicated ten pasurams entirely for Thirucherai [7.4]. It has an interesting background. Alwar was in nearby Thirynaraiyur [Nachiarkovil], where the Lord asked the Alwar to come to Thirucherai and there He would be available for divine vision. Alwar came to Thirucherai. The Lord welcomed Alwar. At the feet of the Lord, devotees offer flowers, which are soft, and they smear sandal paste and it is cool to the feet. The Lord had similar feelings when Alwar's head touched His feet. So, He desired to keep a foot on Alwar's head and grace him. He selected a place, which was a short distance away, for this rare incident. That place is known as Mudikondan. First the Lord thought of placing His right foot on Alwar's head, but Alwar rejected that as once it was on the hood of serpent Kalinga and could have stains of poison! The Lord then tried to place His left foot, but this also was rejected by Alwar, as it was used to measure the entire Universe in Sri Trivikrama Avatar! The Lord was wonder struck, as normally all devotees vie with each other to have His foot on their heads, but this Alwar is rejecting. The Lord graced with ths Saligrama form and the Alwar kneeled down to bend to worship and in the same bent fashion, he came on his kneels to Thirucherai from Mudikondan. He then sang the ten pasurams on the Lord here. Alwar says in the pasuram 'kann sora..', that the Lord as an Infant drank the milk and the life of Poothana. Swami Koorathalwar says in his Athimanushastavam, that just as fireflies flock at a lamp and die, all the demons deputed by Kamsa, came to Sri Krishna, the Child of Gokulam, and lost their lives [Ayarkulathu anivilakku - Andal]. Alwar says that just as He destroyed Poothana, He should destroy his ego and pride. He calls Him 'ma madalai ' [great Infant] and 'vanavar ko' [ Lord of Nityasuris or Sri Vaikuntapathi]. Further Alwar says that he wanted the feet of the devotees of the Lord on his head. So, the Alwar did not want the Feet of the Lord on his head, but the feet of His devotees. This shows the distinction of devotees of the Lord. An interesting episode is narrated here. Two persons were going near this temple and one said that they would go in and worship Sri Saranatha Perumal. The other replied he would not come as that would disrespect Thirumangai Alwar. First person was perplexed as how worshiping the Lord here would disrespect the Alwar. For that the second person quoted the pasuram of Alwar and said that whoever worshiped this Lord here, the Alwar would place their feet on his head and so he did not want his feet on Alwar's head! That would disrespect the Alwar!! To come out of this embarrassing situation, we should prostrate to Alwar and ensure Alwar's feet on our heads and then worship the Lord also. So the devotees or Bhaktas are great and this is also the theme of Chapter 7. The sloka 3, describes how rare among rares, to get Bhakti:

manushyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah

"Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth."

This is a sloka of saram. Saram means essence, which we obtain by filtering unwanted things. Here the Lord is going to filter out from people to get the saram of people. Manushyanam sahasresu = thousands of people are there. Here by mentioning manushya or mankind, He considers those as human beings, who accept Vedas and understand that the Lord is the basic concept of Vedas. Such qualified persons alone are considered. So only one in thousand would be accepting to live as prescribed by shastras. Kascid = only a few or only one, siddhaye = aspire to attain siddhi, yatati = tries. In millions of humans, only some thousands are living according to shastras. Only one or very few, will try to reach the end of that pursuit. Finally one in millions attain the end result. Yatatam api siddhanam = among such persons who try to reach the end result, mam = I [Sri Krishna] am, tatvata = truly, vetti = understand, kascin = only one or so. Among millions only a thousand want to follow as shastras ordain. Among such a thousand, only very few try to pursue to reach the end result. Among such thousands of seekers, only one or two, succeed in understanding Sri Krishna truly. Thus there is a thorough filtering and the essence of human beings is found. In this Kshetram, the Lord [Utsavar] is standing with His right fore arm holding a lotus flower and that is unique. By having darshan of the Lord here, we become one among the rarest .