Vipra Nārāyaṇa

The Chola kingdom, rich in every kind of produce and watered by the Kāveri, was a land of great beauty and abundance, where lakes and streams wound through green fields. In this kingdom lay the village of Tirumaṇḍangudi, where the anthaṇars who lived there expounded the Rig, Yajur, Sāma and Atharvaṇa Vedas. Among its people was a community known as the Kuḍumi Sōzhiya brāhmaṇas, also called the Vipras, whose daily life was devoted to the praise of Sriman Nārāyaṇa.

One of them, an anthaṇan named Veda Vishāradar, had great devotion to Emperumān and served Him by offering garlands every day. By the grace of Sriman Nārāyaṇa, in the year Prabhava, in the month of Mārgazhi, on Krishna Chaturthi, a Tuesday, under the Kēṭṭai nakshatram, a beautiful son was born to him as an amsham of the Vaijayanti, the garland of the Lord.

On the twelfth day after his birth, the child was named Vipra Nārāyaṇa. He was lovingly raised and given a sound education, together with devotion to Sriman Nārāyaṇa. He grew up with every good quality and a strong, well-formed body. For all his goodness, beauty and devotion, he was humble, and he treated elders and those younger than himself alike with respect.

One day, Sēnai Mudaliyār, the commander of the Lord's hosts, came down to earth and revealed to Vipra Nārāyaṇa why he had been born into this world and what he must do to attain mukti.

Learning the truth of his birth, he was filled with love and devotion for Sriman Nārāyaṇa, and he began to consider how best to express it. He resolved to worship at every kshethram where Emperumān gives His sevai, but wondered where to begin. After long thought, he decided to begin with the greatest of all the kshethrams of Sriman Nārāyaṇa, Sri Rangam, on the banks of the Kāveri, and he set out for it.