Who is that MaraPrabhu? :)

Dear blog-pals, I wanted to post on this stuff for a long time , but I guess I would have to wait for probably one more year to get such an appropritate time.. On this auspicious eve of Jenmaashtami ( acc to American Time) , I'd like to bring to the attention of the reader about one of the sincere krishna bhakthas. He is the one who said "While little Krishna is dancing in our hearts, why do we need little ones of our own?." on the accidental loss of his only child... The superiority of his bhakthi is often compared with one of his contemporaries that often used to laugh at his poor sanskrit. Once he was laughed at when he wrongly recited "Padmanaabho Maraprabhu" . Maraprabhu means "Lord of trees" in malayalam. His contemporary laughed at him and said it is supposed to be "Ammaraprabhu" (lord of immortals) and not Maraprabhu. Immediately there sounded a celestial voice that said that "I am also Maraprabhu".. ok, time to break the suspense .The subject of this post is "Shri poonthanam namboodhiri" , a staunch devotee of "guruvaayurappan" and the contemporary is the well versed Sanskrit scholar ,"Shri Melapathur Bhattadhiri" and the famed composer of Naraayaneeyam. I want to write a bit about his great pieces of work .He has the following works to his credit 1. Karnamritham 2. Kumaraharanam 3. Santhanagopalam Pana 4. JnanaPana (Pot of knowledge) Jana Pana is popularly known as "Malayala Gita" among keralites. It is known for its simplicity in the explanation of things that are difficult to comprehend. Here are a few verses translated from his jnana pana (courtesy ,http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/prd2/mala/lit14.htm) "Is there scarcity of the Lord's name? Or has fear of hell declined? Is there life without use of tongues? Have we escaped from mortality? Alas, alas, without reflection We roast and eat out life in vain. After how many lifetimes of labour We happened to be born here by luck! How many lifetimes spent in water, How many lifetimes lived like trees, How many lifetimes as beasts, as cattle Ere we could be born as men? After so much hard labour We fell into our mother's womb, Ten months have been spent in the womb, Ten or twelve years spent as a child too And the rest of the time not knowing ourselves We spend in self-centred vain glory." I have left untold lots of other things about this krishna bhaktha , expecting the interested reader to dig with the help of google. :) I would also like to salute all the gifted true Krishna bhathas on this beautiful Jenmaashtami eve.. B4 i quit , I 'd like to invite the reader to check out the new blog on Smt M.S.S amma Hare Krishna P.S : I thank my friend Unni Chandran who informed me about this great Krishna bhaktha