முசல கிசலயம் musalakisalayam

 

Sri Periyavachan Pillai had a kainkaryaparar named Varadarajan. Sri Varadarajan helped in the thirumadappaLLi (kitchen) of Sri Periyavachan Pillai. Sri Varadarajan had not undergone formal vedic studies and he had passed over three decades of his life without attending school (patasalas).

One day when his acharyan was away, he noticed the students of Sri Periyavachan Pillai engrossed in philosophical debates. Feeling curious, Sri Varadarajan approached them and asked them the topic they were discussing. The disciples felt that the naïve Sri Varadarajan would not understand the philosophy and one of them in a humorous vein said, “We are discussing முசல கிசலயம் musalakisalayam!”

Sri Varadarajan did not understand that the students were making fun of him. Later he mentioned to Sri Periyavachan Pillai that the students had been discussing முசல கிசலயம். Sri Periyavachan Pillai felt very sad that the naïve Sri Varadarajan did not even understand the insult. Sri Periyavachan Pillai explained that முசல கிசலயம்  meant உலக்கைக் கொழுந்து in Sanskrit. The embarrassed Sri Varadarajan sought refuge under Sri Periyavachan Pillai. With the blessings and guidance of Sri Periyavachan Pillai, Sri Varadarajan transformed into a great scholar and composed a commentary on Sri Nammazhwar’s thiruvaimozhi called 12000 padi. As he became adept at winning debates, he got the title “Sri Vadhi Kesari”. He also composed a grantham titled “musalakisalayam”. Later, he embraced sanyasa and was known as Sri vadhi Kesari Azhagiya Manavala Jiyar.