Guruvayurappan - Poonthanam

Part 3

Poonthanam Neelakantan Namboodiri (1547-1640 AD), the  famous Malayalam devotional poet, was born in the Illam of  Poonthanam after his mother had partaken the Trimadhuram (Plantains, Honey and Jaggery) that was prepared in the Thirumanthamkunnu Bhagavathi Temple, which is  near Angadipuram, in the present Malappuram district of Kerala. As he was born with the blessings of the Devi, at this temple, he was also known as Mathru Dattan. He was one of the most ardent devotees of Lord Krishna at Guruvayur and he is chiefly remembered by the Malayalis for his masterpiece in Malayalam “Njanappaana” which means “the Pot of Wisdom”.

There is a belief that the celestial Devas would visit this temple every night and perform pujas to the Bhagavathi.  So, before closing the doors of the Sanctum Sanctorum at night, the Namboodiris would prepare a bowl of this Trimadhuram and place it inside the temple for the pujas to be conducted  by the Devas.

It is this Trimadhuram that was offered by the Melshanthi of the Bhagavathi Temple to the woman devotee of the Poonthanam family that resulted in the birth of Poonthanam who later became a great devotee of Lord Krishna, at Guruvayur.

Poonthanam was a contemporary of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri and Thunjathu Ezhuthachhan, the great Malayalam scholar and writer. He also hailed from Shoranoor.   He did not have much of an education unlike the others. 

Poonthanam Namboodiri got married very late comparatively. The couple waited for a long period to be blessed with a baby. At last, the Antharjanam (wife of Namboodiri) gave birth to a baby boy. This made the whole village happy. Poonthanam Namboodiri being a devotee of Guruvayurappan, used to pray that when he gets a baby, he will give the Lord’s name to his baby.

They invited all their relatives to the naming ceremony. The house was full of relatives, Namboodiri’s wife fed the baby and made him sleep in the corner of the room and was busy with the guests. Due to non-availability of adequate light in the room, whoever came in, left their angavastram in one corner of the room. After some time, everyone was searching for the baby and found that he had died of suffocation there.

After this tragedy, Poonthanam became more and more devoted to his Lord, Guruvayurappan. He thought when the Lord himself is playing in my mind, why do I need a baby! Thus, he consoled himself and started giving Sri Bhagavatham lectures in and around the village temples. People used to gather in huge numbers to hear his lecture because he used to explain Sri Bhagavatham in a very simple language, so that everybody could understand.

There is a story in the Srimad Bhagavatham about Narada whose mother died of a snakebite and that incident helped the Rishi to focus all his attention towards Maha Vishnu. The same happened to Poonthanam whose bhakti-yoga became more intense after this tragedy. By stoically absorbing it with a sense of reality, Poonthanam submitted himself to the will of Guruvayurappan. He was at once blessed with a glorious vision of the divine child Sree Krishna, inspiring him to sing the famous verse, "While baby Krishna is playing in my mind, do I need another baby of my own"?

Poonthanam composed the world famous Njanappaana while suffering this agony. He transferred his vatsalya for his dead son, to Lord Guruvayurappan, as the little Unnikrishnan, whom one can see daily at the famous Guruvayur Temple in Kerala, during the early morning Nirmalya Darshan. Right from the time of his personal loss, Poonthanam would derive solace by believing in this little Unnikrishnan of Guruvayur.

He adopted the little Unnikrishnan at Guruvayur as his son and obtained enlightenment. His enlightenment started with his reciting the puranic story of Kumara Haranam. It is believed that he would often repeat, “It is all his divine play.  One who lives in opulence today becomes a pauper tomorrow. But when my little Unnikrishnan is playing in my heart, do I need another son of my own?”

How many grieving fathers could take solace in such staunch belief? But it happened to Poonthanam, because his devotion to Guruvayurappan was such and He engulfed him and accepted him as his Parama Bhakta.

Totally devoted to the Lord of Guruvayur, Poonthanam would spend days together inside the Guruvayur temple praying to his Lord. In fact, the temple of Guruvayur had become another home away from home for him. This gave him back his peace of mind, mental balance and tranquility.

Among the Malayalis, Njanappaana is considered as an epitome of Bhakthi Yoga. And through these verses, the Lord of Guruvayur makes his devotees realize how the sufferings of a tortured soul, could be converted into an outpouring of divine hymns, only if the devotee has immense faith in Him.