Spiritual experience is unique and does not lend itself to rational scrutiny. It lifts one to the divine plane from the mundane world experiences. The Upanishads contain revelations of this transcendental experience felt by sages and rishis steeped in meditation. It is possible to share their spiritual experience if only one is attuned to seek it and pursues it constantly. Similarly, the soul-stirring hymns of azhwars, which are a permanent record of their mystic experiences of God, can evoke analogous experiences in kindred souls in search of spiritual truth, pointed out Sri L. Sampathkumar in a discourse.
Kooresa, a foremost disciple of Ramanuja, was an ardent student of the Azhwar’s hymns. His deep knowledge of the sastras coupled with his unflinching bhakti added a touch of brilliance to his exposition of the meanings of the hymns of azhwars.
Many would flock to hear him explain with fervour the intricate meanings of the Nalayira Divya Prabandha. It is held that on one such occasion when he began the discourse, there was a debate among the audience about the Saguna and Nirguna aspects of the Lord. When Kooresa opened the text, he saw the very first hymn ‘Uyarvara Uyarnalam’ of Nammazhwar’s Tiruvaimozhi. Kooresa went into a trance and swooned, perhaps being overwhelmed when the all-encompassing import of the ultimate truth embedded in it was revealed in his consciousness.
With extraordinary brevity and felicity of expression the hymn establishes the nature of the Supreme Brahman that the scriptures hail as beyond thought and expression. The arguments and debates on the Nirguna and Saguna aspects of the Lord seem to get resolved as a matter of course.
