BRILLIANT "VIBHAKTI"-STORY WITH THE FOLLOWING NIRNAYA (VERDICT): "never ridicule illiterate bhaktas". BECAUSE BHAKTI-BHAVA ALWAYS HAS THE PREDOMINANCE OVER NOBLE BRAHMANIC/PUNDIT LINEAGE. HAD BEEN FOUND IN "SAPTAGIRI", 1998, APRIL.
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"Poonthanam Namboothiri was a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna of Guruvayur. He hailed from Angadippuram in Malappuram district of Kerala.
With his unflinching faith on Lord Krishna he rose to become one among the ardent devotees of Guruvayoorappan. He was a contemporary of the great Narayana Bhattathiri - the author of the celebrated devotional work Narayaneeyam.
Poonthanam was not highly educated. But he could compose poems in beautiful Malayalam language. His ’Jnanappana’ and ‘Santhanagopalam’ are noteworthy. There are many interesting anecdotes, regarding the origin of ’Jnanappana’ and ‘Santhanagopalam’.
DETACHMENT STORY.
Poonthanam had a son. When he was 6 months old, Poonthanam decided to
celebrate the Annaprasanam (feeding rice for the first time). The mother of the baby made him sleep in a dimly lit corner of the house.
celebrate the Annaprasanam (feeding rice for the first time). The mother of the baby made him sleep in a dimly lit corner of the house.
Many invitees were present to attend the function; they kept their bag and baggage on the baby which was covered with a cloth. The priest asked to bring the baby as the auspicious time had approached.
The mother was taken aback, when she found that her boy was dead due to asphyxiation. From that moment onwards, Poonthanam lost interest in worldly pleasures and led a life of detachment.
He always engaged himself in praising Lord Krishna of Guruvayur and composed 'Jnanappana' which he sang with heart and soul. It will be apt to quote a few lines from 'Jnanappana':
"You the Almighty is responsible for the prosperity and poverty of human beings - You can make a man rich and all on a sudden a beggar also".
VIBHAKTI STORY.
For begetting a child Poonthanam composed ‘Santhana-Gopalam’ a Malayalam poem. As he was only a devotional poet without much erudition he wanted it to be verified by Narayanabhattatiri who was a renowned Sanskrit scholar.
Bhattatiri too proud of his scholarship ridiculed Poonthanam thus: “You don’t even know the vibhaktis (grammatical usages) properly and your compositions will be full of mistakes, I’m not going to correct it".
On hearing this, Poonthanam was terribly upset and burst into tears.
Suddenly there came a celestial voice (Asareeri) declaring that Poonthanam's Bhakti is greater than Bhattatpiri's vibhakti.
At this Bhattatiri - himself a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna - was taken aback and begged pardon from Poonthanam".
Cited from Saptagiri, 1998 April issue
"Poonthanam" article by S. RajaLakshmi
