Madhurakavi Āzhwār

At that time an elderly brāhmaṇa scholar named Madhurakavi was on pilgrimage to the shrines of the north. At Ayodhyā he saw an extraordinary, gentle light glowing like a star in the southern sky. Eager to discover its source, he travelled south. Even when he reached Sri Rangam, the light still shone further south. He continued his search until he came to Tirukkurugūr, where the light merged into Nam Āzhwār, seated in bliss beneath the tamarind tree.

With great difficulty, Madhurakavi succeeded in drawing Nam Āzhwār out of his deep samādhi. He became his disciple and learned from him the secrets of all the Shāstras. From then on he remained at his lotus feet, recording the divine poetry that welled up from Nam Āzhwār's heart in the ecstasy of Krishna bhakti, sometimes in a rapid stream and sometimes slowly, according to the intensity of the Āzhwār's inspiration. At the very thought of the birth and beauty of Sri Krishna, the Āzhwār would fall into a deep trance for months together.

Nam Āzhwār is the seer of the Drāviḍa Vedas. He sang four immortal works that are revered as the Tamizh counterparts of the four Vedas.

Nam Āzhwār remained on earth in his bodily form for only thirty-five years. His return to Vaikuṇṭham by the archirādi gati, the path of light, is sung by him in the closing portion of the Tiruvāymoḻi.