Today I was listening to a podcast by Vinay Varanasi called 'Hamsa Yatra' is basically the journey of RamaKrishna Parama hamsa. And I was watching it because I didn't know much about him, and also I grew in a typical south indian household where I was more exposed to the Bhaktas here like Ramadasu, Annamayya etc. So i was a bit disconnected with the devotees from other places. I couldn't relate to Parama hamsa because I knew nothing about him.
But this man so beautifully connected Ramakrishna parama hamsa to Tyagaraja. He was talking about the very early samadi experience of Gadadhar, were he accompanied few yogis to the vishalakshi temple near his home town. He entered the temple and froze as soon as he saw amma and entered a samadi like state. Seeing this the yogis there uttered Visalakshi, Visalakshi in his ears and he slowly came back. But as he heard the name he couldn't control his tears of joy and started crying as the hairs of his skin stood to their ends.
పులకశరీరులయి ఆనంద పయోధి నిమగ్నులయి ముదంబునను యశముగలవా
ఎందరో మహానుభావులు అందరీకీ వందనములు
pulaka śarīrulai yānanda payōdhi nimagnulai mudambunanu yaśamu galavā
Endarō mahānubhāvulu andarīki vandanamulu
translation: Whose body shivers and blooms at the name of god as they meditate on the god and are always happy about it, are many such great souls. To each one of them my vandanam.
This is a line from a very very famous composition of Sadhguru Tyagaraja called 'Endharo Mahanubhavulu'. And suddenly i find myself completely connected and mesmerized by Parama Hamsa. The way devotion is universal and has do difference of time, place and background.
Honestly credits to Vinay Varanasi for giving such an incredible connection between two such great devotees and telling that devotion is all about losing yourself into god. it's not the language, place, people or background. It's about the experience. Both Ramakrishna parama hamsa and Sadhguru Tyagaraja were devotees of experience, not research or bookish knowledge.