The Narayaneeyam, composed by Bhattathiripad, which used to be one of the daily readings of my mother, extols the greatness of Guruvayoorappan (the presiding deity of Guruvayoor Sri Krishna Temple, in Kerala).
According to the legend Bhattathiripad was afflicted with rheumatism and suffered severe pains. He finally went to Guruvayoor and stayed there, singing the praises of Sri Krishnan. He tells stories of how Sri Krishnan helped different people in distress and at the end of each story he pleads with Guruvayoorappan to alleviate his suffering also.
Most stories are told in ten verses and in the last verse is his plea for help. My mother always used to tell me that her favourite stories were the ones about the two little boys, Prahlada and Dhruva. The story of Prahlada is quite well known so I want to talk about the other litttle boy, Dhruva.
Dhruva was the son of King Uttaanapaada, who had two wives, Suruchi and Suneeti, who both had a son each. Suneeti who was Dhruva’s mother (her name meant one who does what is right) was a virtuous person but Suruchi as her name indicated (it meant one who does what pleases her) was selfish. Suruchi, however, was the favourite of the King.
One day Dhruva’s half brother was sitting on his father’s lap and Dhruva also wanted to sit on his father’s lap. But Suruchi pushed him away and shouted at him. Hurt, Dhruva went to his mother. Suneeti told him to take refuge in God and Dhruva, who was a little boy of five, decided to go to the Madhuvana forest and do thapasya.
On his way Dhruva met Sage Narada who gave him the mantra and told him the procedure for worship. Then Narada came to Dhruva’s father who had been very sad and reassured him of Dhruva’s safety. After following severe austerities Dhruva had the vision of Vishnu who came before him and blessed him. Now Dhruva went back to the city to the delight of the King and all the people. Soon his father retired to the forest and Dhruva became the king and ruled over for several years.
After narrating this story Bhattathiripad asked the Lord who removed Dhruva’s sorrow to rid him of his ailments too. Like that at the end of each story he pleads with Guruvayoorappan and according to the legend his pains became less and less and by the time he finished he was completely cured of all his afflictions and Sri Krishnan appeared before him. So the last ten verses of the Narayaneeyam are a description of Guruvayorrappan as he saw Him in front of him.
After being cured of his sickness Bhattathiripad continued to live at Guruvayoor, venerated by everyone as the living proof of the Lord’s grace and benevolent power to protect. As time went on he became proud of his achievement in composing the Narayaneeyam as well as the fact that God had chosen him to show His powerful and benign presence at the Temple.
At that time there was another devotee who was also a poet, Poonthanam, who came to the temple everyday to worship Sri Krishnan. Unlike Bhattathiripad he did not live at the temple and he was also not as learned as Bhattathiripad. So he wanted Bhattathiripad to check through what he had composed and if necessary correct it. One day he approached Bhattathiripad humbly and requested him to look at his work. Bhattathiripad asked Poonthanam in what language his work was. Poonthanam replied that it was in Malayalam.
Bhattathiripad then refused to look at Poonthanam’s work, saying that he would only go through it if it was in Sanskrit. Bhattathiripad was expressing his contempt for Poonthanam who did not know much Sanskrit (the language of the scholars) but only his native Malayalam. Poonthanam was disappointed and quietly left.
That night Bhattathiripad was woken up with severe pains in his legs. His rheumatism seemed to have come back. Then he saw Unnikrishnan (Sri Krishnan as a little boy) in front of him who said to him to go and help Poonthanam. Before disappearing Sri Krishnan told him that He preferred Poonthanam’s devotion to Bhattathiripad’s scholarship.
The whole night Bhattathiripad could hardly sleep because of the pain. He got up early in the morning and waited for Poonthanam to come to the temple. When he came to the temple Bhattathiripad approached him and apologized for what he said the previous day and asked him to bring his work for Bhattathiripad to check. The simple Poonthanam was thrilled at the offer.
This legend about Bhattathiripad and Poonthnam was made into a dance drama and used to be performed by the renowned dancer, Guru Gopinath, among whose many students were the famous Travancore sisters (film stars), Lalita, Padmini and Ragini.
Today if one goes to Guruvayoor one hears the mellifluous voice of P. Leela ( a famous singer from Kerala) singing the last verses of the Narayaneeyam, where Bhattathiripad describes the Lord as he saw Him, adding to the serenity of the early morning peaceful atmosphere. This is similar to what happens in Tiruppathi every morning with M.S. Subbulakshmi’s Venkateswara Suprabhatam (morning greetings to Lord Venkateswara) being played.