पून्तानम्

{ pūntānam nambūtiri }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

PŪNTĀNAM NAMBŪTIRI   
1) General information.
The illam (house) of this Nambūtiri who was a contemporary of Meppattūr Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭatiri was in Nenmeni aṁśa of the taluk of Valluvanāḍu in south Malabar. Though some say that his original name was Brahmadatta there are no sufficient records to support the statement. His Guru according to the work ‘Śrī Kṛṣṇakarṇāmṛta’ was a nambūtiri named Nīlakaṇṭha. Pūntānam had only ordinary education. He worshipped Kṛṣṇa at the temple of Guruvāyūr for a very long time and became a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. He lived for ninety years. When he became very old he found it difficult to come to Guruvāyūr for worship and so one day he bade farewell to the deity. Then a voice from heaven said “Do not worry. I will be near you on your left side.” He went and sat on a hill named Tirumāndha and to his astonishing ecstasy he found Kṛṣṇa sitting on his left side. He then constructed a temple there and installed his deity Kṛṣṇa there and continued his worship. That was the Vāmapura (left place) of Pūntānam.
2) Kṛtis (works).
The following are the works of Pūntānam:
(i) Bhāṣākarṇāmṛta
(ii) Kumārāharaṇam (Pāna)
(iii) Jñānappāna
(iv) Pārthasārathistava
(v) Ghanasaṅgha
(vi) Nārāyaṇakīrtanas
(vii) Govindakīrtanas
(viii) Ānandanṛtya
(ix) Dvādaśākṣaranāmakīrtana
(x) Śrīkṛṣṇakīrtanas
(xi) Aṣṭākṣarakīrtana
(xii) Brahmaparagovindakīrtana
(xiii) Gopālakṛṣṇakīrtana
(xiv) Gaurīkīrtana
(xv) Vāmapureśakīrtanas
(xvi) Padmanābhakīrtana
(xvii) Vivekodayakīrtana
(xviii) Jayakṛṣṇakīrtana
(xix) Viṭakolkīrtana
(xx) Śrī Rāma Kirtana
(xxi) Mukundakīrtana
(xxii) Daśāvatārastotra. Besides these he has composed some philosophical songs in Tamil also.
3) Jñānappāna.
Pūntānam got a son after a long time of prayer and for the ceremony of Annaprāśana (feeding rice for the first time) all the people of his community were invited. The women who came for the function threw their upper garments on to the cradle where the little child was suffocated to death. Pūntānam thereafter became disgusted with life and Jñānappāna was written at that time.
4) Santānagopālam.
Pūntānam spent most of his time in the temple of Guruvāyūr after the death of his child. It was at this same time that the great scholar Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭatiri, author of the famous Nārāyaṇīya, was in the temple worshipping the deity there. Pūntānam had written a poem ‘Santānagopālam’ in the pāna style and he took it to the great pandit Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭatiri for correction. With the haughtiness that was his trait he said “What is there for correction in a Malayālam poem? Nothing but blunders will there be in it. Especialy when Pūntānam is not well-versed in Sanskrit grammar. It will therefore be full of mistakes.” Pūntānam could not contain the rebuff and he wept bitterly. Then from the inside of the temple came a voice which said “Though Pūntānam is not a grammarian like you Bhaṭṭatiri, he is a greater devotee of mine than you. His Bhakti is more appealing to me than your vibhakti.” The divine voice made Bhaṭṭatiri feel sorry and ashamed of his behaviour and he begged Pūntānam to grant him pardon and immediately went through his work giving suggestions for improvement.