Poonthanam Nambudiri

Poonthanam is a 16th centuary Malayalam devotional poet, noted for his masterpiece, Njanappaana. He was a famous devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan (Krishna). Poonthanam was the family name, his personal name is not known.

The legend about him goes like this: Poonthanam married at 20, but for a long time , they had no children. He began to propitiate the Lord of Guruvayur and a son was born. He called for a celebration and everybody known was invited , but the child died an hour before the ceremony. Grief-stricken Poonthanam sought refuge at Guruvayur and started praying with the puranic story of Kumaraharanam. He considered Lord Krishna as his son and achieved enlightenement. In his work he writes: "While little Krishna is dancing in our hearts, why do we need little ones of our own?" Poonthanam spent the rest of his life reading the Bhagavatham and singing the Lord's glories in simple Malayalam. His magnum opus, Njanappana,was composed during this period.[1]

He is contemporary of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, another famous poet associated with Guruvayur.

Legends

Legend goes, though Poonthanam and Melpathur were great devotees of Lord Guruvayurappan, Poonthanam, a great poet, who wrote his verses in the vernacular, was famous for his bhakthi where as Melpathur, an erudite scholar and great poet in Sanskrit was known for his vibhakthi. The Lord was partial towards Poonthanam than Melpathur. Melpathur used to laugh at Poonthanam's Sanskrit reading and recitation. One day Poonthanam was wrongly reciting "Padmanabho Maraprabhu",which means Lord of trees in Malayalam. Melpathur openly laughed at Poonthanam and corrected saying, Padmanabha is not Maraprabhu (Lord of trees) but Amaraprabhu (which means Lord of immortals in Sanskrit). Immediately, there was an asareeri (celestial voice) from the inner shrine, "I am also Maraprabhu" (Lord of trees). [2]

According to another legend, Bhattathiri had presented Poonthanam a ring that Poonthanam always wore. Poonthanam used to go through a forest to Guruvayoor to have the darshan of the Lord. One day he got delayed when he started. As a result of starting late, it was twilight and he was still walking in the forest. Three robbers waylaid him. The robbers started searching him. Poonthanam was very scared and prayed to his Lord. Suddenly there was sound of horses. Hearing the noise the robbers ran away. The minister of Guruvayoor was coming accompanied by his soldiers. Poonthanam thanked the minister for his timely help and begged him to accept a gift as a token of gratitude. The minister asked for the ring that Poonthanam was wearing. Though Poonthanam knew that it was given to him as a token of affection by Bhattathiri, he decided that he should give him the ring. Accordingly he removed the ring and gave it to the minister. The minister went away and Poonthanam reached Gururvaayoor safely. That night, the temple priest had a dream. The Lord appeared in the dream and told him to remove the ring in his foot and return it to Poonthanam as it was his. The next day, Poonthanam came into the temple after his bath. The temple priest promptly brought him the ring that he had found on the Lord’s feet and returned it conveying his dream. Poonthanam was speechless! Only now, did he realised who had come as the Guruvaayoor minister.[3]

Bhakti Poet of the Masses

"UNNI KRISHNAN Manasil Kalikkumbol Unnikkal Matru Venamo Makkalai? ... " ("When the divine child Krishna dances in my heart, Is there any need to have other (human) children?")

So rings a vibrant verse of Krishna-consciousness, a song of grace, born out of a blissful state of oneness and union with the Supreme.

"Jnanappana" (Song of Wisdom), a devotional poem in Malayalam comprising the foregoing lines, was composed by poet Poonthanam. He wrote this soulful poem after a transforming spiritual experience following the tragic death of his child. The irony is that the father in Poonthanam lost a child and the poet devotee in him rediscovered divine child Krishna (Unnikrishnan), to be idolised by succeeding generations of devotees.

Poet Poonthanam (1547-1640), a Namboothiri Brahmin was born near Perinthalmanna in the present Malappuram district of Kerala. A contemporary of Meppathur Narayana Bhattatiri, the celebrated author of `Narayaneeyam,' Poonthanam was a great devotee and a recipient of the grace of Guruvayoorappan.

Illustration of life

Poonthanam's only child - a child of thousand prayers - born late in his career was not destined to live. On the eve of `Annaprasanam' (rice feeding ceremony in Guruvayoor) the infant, by accident, fatally fell under hot boiling rice being prepared for the function. By stoically absorbing the tragedy with a sense of reality, Poonthanam submitted himself to the will of the Lord of Guruvayoor. He was at once blessed with a vision of the divine child Krishna, inspiring him to sing `Jnanappana.' Poonthanam's life is one illustration of how sufferings (soka) of noble men can result in verses (sloka).

Composed in a literary style called `Panapattu,' as suggested by the title, `Jnanappana' consists of about 360 short lines in verse form simple in language, musical in sound, rich in meaning and filled with philosophical wisdom, the poem is a veritable treatise on `namasankirtan' or devotional worship. In chorus, when every verse is repeated at the end with the refrain of "Krishna Krishna Mukunda Janardhana... " the effect is one of long lasting joy and warmth of feelings. No wonder, Poonthanam's `Jnanappana' is a household name in Kerala.

This popular pen conveys the message of devotion of the Krishna cult. By highlighting the ideas of the ephemeral human life, cycle of birth and death, theory of karma, spiritual vacuum of modern civilisation and delusions of materialistic life, the poet urges men to sing the glory of the Lord, by giving up ill will and hatred among themselves.

Covetousness for wealth and attachment keep man away from God. Poonthanam hits the nail on the head of the malady by his plea against the lure of money. `Jnanappana' eulogises Bharatavarsha as a `Karma Bhoomi' to discharge one's duties to attain salvation; people in other `13 worlds' `respectfully worship (India) with folded hands by lamenting that they were not fortunate enough to be born even as a grass' in India.

Historical necessity

Poonthanam's mission, in retrospect, was a historical necessity for the revival of the Bhakti movement in Kerala. To combat moral and social degradation and political violence consequent to Portuguese rule in Kerala, the poet laid a new emphasis on the doctrine of Bhakti as the best means of attaining salvation. Spontaneously, poetry came in handy for Poonthanam to preach and popularise the keertana form of Bhakti.

As a `Basha Kavi,' or a vernacular poet, Poonthanam succeeded in elevating Malayalam as a popular medium of devotional literature; he deified tradition by using vernacular at a time when Sanskrit and Manipravalam were dominant in the literary horizon of Kerala. Poonthanam's influence on the masses has been wide and profound on account of his literary skill marked by beauty of expression, simplicity of language and elegance of style.

Poonthanam could easily deliver the message of devotion in pure and simple language at the doorsteps of the uneducated masses. Besides `Jnanappana,' the poet's zeal for Malayalam and devotion for Lord Krishna found supreme literary expressions in other poems — `Santhana Gopalam,' `Sri Krishna Karnamrutham,' `Noortettu Hari,' `Kuchela Virutham' and a host of melodious songs in praise of Lord Krishna and other deities.

Poonthanam's life was a saga of absolute faith and total surrender to the Lord of Guruvayoor. While Poonthanam was an inspired Malayalam poet, Meppathur Narayana Bhattatiri was a profound Sanskrit scholar.

Once, Bhattatiri in contempt of Malayalam, refused to edit `Sri Krishna Karnamrutham' of Poonthanam, causing displeasure to the latter. On the same day of this incident, the paralytic disease of Bhattatiri, cured earlier by God's grace, re-emerged in virulence. Lord Krishna, appearing before Bhattatiri in dream, declared: "To me the bhakti (devotion) of Poonthanam is far more pleasing than your vibhakti (scholarship)."

References

http://www.guruvayurdevaswom.org/lpoonthanam.shtml