- 01
Ananthalvan was stringing a garland in the Yamunatturai mandapa when an arcaka brought the Lord’s command: come at once. He answered that buds must be bound while they are opening; delay withers the kainkarya. When he arrived with the finished malai, the curtain was lowered. The Lord asked what he would do if he were banished from the Hills.
- 02
“I am not here at your beckoning,” Ananthalvan said. “I am here because Emberumānār ordered flower and water service — ozhivil kālam ellām uḍanāy manni, the service of cindu pū magizhum Tiruvēṅkaṭam. You left Vaikuṇṭha and came to the bank of Svāmi Puṣkariṇī a little earlier; I came a little later. Śrī Varāha Perumāḷ was on this Hill before you. Because you arrived after him, can you drive others out? Madhurakavi knew no God but Nammāḻvār. I recite Kaṇṇinuṇ ciṟuttāmpu. I would rather disobey you than disobey my ācārya. Consider me Madhurakavi’s dāsa.”
- 03
He left the garland and turned to go. Srinivasa caught his hand, wore the flowers, and said the anger had been a test of ācārya-bhakti. That bhakti was no less than Madhurakavi Āḻvār’s for Nammāḻvār. Their stars are the same: Cittiraiyil Cittirai. He granted puruṣārthas beyond Brahma and Rudra, and said that Ananthalvan and his descendants — the Ananthanpiḷḷai line — should sign themselves Madhurakavidāsa. From that day they do.
- 04
At Tirupati, in the temple of Govindarāja, Madhurakavi and Ananthalvan share a single shrine — the mark of that Madhurakavidāsatva.
Māyāvī paramānandaṃ tyaktvā vaikuṇṭham uttamam Svāmi-puṣkariṇī-tīre ramayā saha modate
The Lord of wondrous play left highest Vaikuntha and rejoices with Ramaa on the bank of Svami Pushkarini.