Saiva Archaryas

Four Great Teachers

"There have been many 'intellectuals' even in India who have looked down upon the path of Bhakti (devotion) as something inferior to Jnana (wisdom). Their short-sightedness becomes at once apparent when we study the lives of the great Four Teachers (Sambandar, Appar, Sundarar, and Manikkavacakar) and realise that these great Jnanis, too, were great Bhaktas who loved to visit Temples and sing the glories of the Lord.

The principal teachings of the four Saiva Samaya Acharyas is of love and surrender to God; and of service to God and godly men. And it is only through love, devotion, and service to God that one can obtain His Grace. God is One and He is Shiva. Man must get over his bonds which keep him in ignorance and obtain inseparable union with Shiva through the Lord's Grace

Left to Right: Thirujnana Sambandar, Thirunavukkarasar Swami, Sundaramurthi Nayanar, Manikkavackar

Love of the Lord cuts at the very root of our attachment to this world, and snaps all worldly ties, to father, mother, son, wife or relatives. The devotee is ever ready to renounce all, in favour of devotion to Lord Siva".
[Extract by Venkatesananda]

Sundaramurti Nayanar Utsavam, Big Temple

As well as individual ceremonies of worship and celebration for each of the four great saints at Tiruvannamalai, the Saiva Samaya Acharyas are also recognised during the yearly Deepam festivities at Arunachala. This observance occurs during the 6th day of the 10-day Festival when murtis of the Nalvar Samaya Acharyas and representations of all the Nayanars, are brought out in procession around the maha veedhis of Arunachaleswarar Temple.

Saiva Samaya Acharyas carried in procession 6th day of Karthigai Deepam

These Kuravarkals of Saivism took birth in the world to show the path of elevating oneself to the Supreme Shiva. There is a well known statement that declares that these four great ones, (Jnanasambandhar, Appar, Sundaramurti and Manikkavacakar) had differing relationships with Shiva: Jnanasambandhar saw himself as the son of Shiva, Appar as his servant, Sundaramurti as his friend, and Manikkavacakar as his beloved.

The Nalvars were the spearheads of a revolutionary movement in matters religious and spiritual in the south. A decadence had set in, and apostles of Buddhism and Jainism found the opportunity to seize peoples' minds with their tenets and beliefs. Soon they made converts of the kings of the land, after which the conversion of the people was but the enforcement of a royal decree. People were torn and confused and these four Great Saints came as the leaders of a spiritual renaissance in Tamil Nadu, to restate the great truth - the perennial philosophy, and to lead people towards Godhead.

It is customary to observe the day on which these Saints attained the Lord's Feet, as a holy day. Given below are such days in respect of the Four Great Saivite teachers, with their holy days, according to the Tamil Calendar.

Tamil Nadu Spiritual Works

Spiritual works are divided into Thoththiram and Saaththiram, i.e., Hymns and Works on Doctrine respectively. Among the Thoththirams the first in point of time and merit too is The Tiruvacakam. This and the Thirukkovaiyaar by Manikkavacakar, are placed by scholars in the 3rd century A.C. They top the list with 658 and 400 stanzas respectively, and are followed by the first seven Thirumurais, the devotional works of Thirujnana Sambandar, Thirunavukkarasar (both contemporaries in the 7th century A.C) and that of Sundarar of early 9th century. These form the bulk of the twelve Thirumurais and contain between them 8328 stanzas.

These saints visited between them more than 250 cities, towns, villages and hamlets of what was then Tamil Nadu, i.e. the land lying between Venkata Hills (near Tirupati which is now in Andhra Pradesh) in the North, Cape Comorin in the South, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the East.

The Tenth Thirumurai, the Thirumandiram, a hand-book on Yoga, comprises 3000 stanzas. This work and the Tiruvacakam, form the fountain-head for the doctrines of Caiva-Siddhantha. The 12th and last Thirumurai, the Thiruththondar Puranam, more well known as the Periyapuranam of 400 stanzas is a hagiography of the best known saints of Tamil Nadu (up to the date of its compilation).
(Extract from G. Vanmikanathan)

Thirujnana Sambandar Life

Thirujnana Sambandar was a Saiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived around the 7th century. He is one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars, Tamil Saiva bhakti saints who lived between the sixth and the tenth centuries. Sambandar's hymns to Shiva were later collected to form the first three volumes of the Tirumurai, the religious canon of Tamil Saiva Siddhanta. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Saiva saint.

Sambandar took birth in a Brahmin family in Sirkali in the district of Tanjore which is also known by the name Brahmapuri. His parents were Sivapada Hridayar and Bhagavathiar.

Brahmapureeswarar Temple, Sirkali fresco of Sambandhar's life

At that time apart from Saivism; Jainism and Buddhism were among the popular faiths in South India. Even though the forces of Jainism were very powerful, both Sivapada Hridayar and his wife as ardent devotees of Lord Siva refused to give up Saivism and embrace Jainism.

Sivapada Hridayar prayed to the Lord for the boon of a son who would re-establish Saivism. The Lord granted this boon, and soon a male child was born. One day the parents took the child, who was then around three years old, with them to the Temple tank and left him on its bank so they could bathe. In response to the child's crying the Lord and Goddess Parvati appeared before him. The Goddess fondled the child and suckled him with her Milk of Wisdom. His father saw drops of milk on the child's mouth and asked who had fed him, whereupon the boy pointed to the sky and responded with the song Todudaya Seviyan, the first verse of the Tevaram. From that moment the child was known as "Aludaiya Pillayar" or one who enjoys the protection of the Lord: and also as "Tirujnana Sambandar" as he attained divine wisdom through the grace of Lord Siva and the Goddess Parvati.

From the moment he drank the Milk he began to compose and sing songs in praise of Lord Siva; the collection of these songs are called Thevaram. At his investiture with the sacred thread, at the age of seven, he is said to have expounded the Vedas with great clarity. The ancient texts say that Sambandar brought two people back to life by singing hymns to them.

The child, accompanied by his father, went on pilgrimage to various Temples throughout South India, where the boy would compose and sing songs of praise to Lord Shiva. When Tiru Neelakanta Yazhpanar, an ardent devotee of the Lord and an expert musician on the Veena met Sambandar. Sambandar requested Yazhpanar to play. The music melted the heart of Sambandar. Yazhpanar wanted to be always with Sambandar and to play hymns in praise of the Lord. Sambandar went on pilgrimage to Chidambaran where The very sight of the Lord entranced him. He had heard about the greatness of the Brahmins of Tillai (Chidambaram). To him, they actually appeared as Siva Ganas (celestial servants of Lord Siva).

Information about Sambandar comes mainly from the Periya Puranam, the eleventh-century Tamil book on the Nayanars that forms the last volume of the Tirumurai, along with the earlier Tiruttondartokai, poetry by Sundarar and Nambiyandar Nambi's Tiru Tondar Tiruvandadi. The first volumes of the Tirumurai contain three hundred and eighty-four poems of Sambandar, all that survive out of a reputed more than 10,000 hymns.

Sambandhar says in one of his Padigams: "O foolish man, do not allow days to pass. Serve Lord Siva who has a blue neck. Hear His praise. Meditate on His form. Repeat always the Panchakshara. Live in the company of devotees of Siva. Serve them. His name will remove all evils and dangers . . . Worship Lord Siva, He will confer on you eternal bliss and immortality".

Appar helping to carry Sambandar's palanquin

One time when Appar Swamigal was at Tirupoonthurithi, Sambandar went to meet him. Appar got mixed with the crowd and joined a group of devotees carrying Sambandar's palanquin. When Sambandar enquired about Appar, Appar responded from below: 'Here I am, carrying the palanquin, due to the virtuous deeds of many past lives.' Sambandar jumped down and embraced the great saint Appar.

Thirujnana Sambandar Nayanar

After visting a number of shrines, Sambandar eventually returned to Sirkalii. He had reached his sixteenth year. His father wanted to get him married. The wedding was to take place at Nallur Perumanam. On the appointed day, Sambandar reached Nallur Perumanam, went to the temple, worshipped the Lord and got His blessings. The couple went into the temple and Sambandar sang a Padigam praying for Liberation. The Lord granted his wish and said: 'Oh Sambandar, you, your wife, and all those who witnessed your marriage will merge in the Siva Jyoti and come to Me.' At once, an effulgent Light emerged from the Lord. Before merging in that Light, Sambandar sang a Padigam known as the Panchakshara Padigam. Then all those who were there merged in the Light of Siva.

Sambandar Visit to Arunachala

In an English translation of the Arunachala Mahatmyam, Sri Thirujnana Sambandar's pilgrimage to Arunachala is recorded thus:-

Upamanyu said: When Tirujnanasambandha (one of the four great Tamil saints) was staying at Tiruvarayaninallur (adjoining Tirukkoilur) adoring the Lord there, some of his followers pointed out Arunachala standing majestically at a distance. The child saint spontaneously composed a hymn of ten stanzas beginning with the words: "Unnamulai Umayalodum', meaning, the Lord who is accompanied by Uma known as Unnamulai.

The child saint was looking for someone who would show him the way to Arunachala and saw an old Brahmin gathering flowers. He was moved by the sight of the old man and asked him respectfully, in a voice choked with emotion, "where have you come from? What is your place? Why have you come here?" The old man replied, "I have come from Arunachala. That is where I live. I have come to gather flowers for the Lord." At this, Jnana Sambandar asked him, "How far is Arunachala from here? Is it a small wood or a big forest? Kindly lead me for I do not know the way." The old man said, "Yonder is the Hill. It is not very far. I am old but I come here everyday and return with flowers required for the morning worship of the Lord. I shall take you there quickly by a good path"

Sambandar followed him along with his retinue. When they reached the precincts of Arunachala the old Brahmin who had been leading them suddenly disappeared. The Brahmin was none other than Arunachala leading his child to His abode.

In accordance with the Lord's command, His bhutaganas appeared as hunters and robbed Jnana Sambandar and his followers of their personal possessions. The Saint thought: Alas! I cannot find the old Brahmin who was leading the way, our only recourse now is to pray to the Lord who grants wealth and joy. When he sang the praise of the Lord, the extremely compassionate Arunachala appeared mounted on Nandi along with His consort. When Sambandar saw the Lord, he sang melodious hymns praising the Lord with great devotion and overflowing love.

The Lord with great affection and in a reverberating voice said: Child! Because of my love for you I wanted you to come to Arunachala which is my eternal abode. Hence I assumed the form of an old Brahmin and came to the garden at Arayaninalloor in the guise of plucking flowers for the Lord's puja. Upon my orders, bhutaganas took away your possessions. The belongings of your followers shall be returned. A feast shall be set before you and your followers so that your hunger may be appeased. Sambandar and his followers got back what they had lost and a veritable feast was set before them. The Lord bade the child Saint to come to His temple. In ecstasy, Sambandar approached the Lord's Temple whose mighty towers were visible from afar.

In every house the chanting of the Vedas could be heard. Great hospitality was shown to the guests by the residents of the holy city of Arunachala. In the streets around the temple of Arunachala; sounds accompanying the celebration of the festival for the deities could be heard, yagas were performed, deities were brought out of the temple on procession accompanied by elephants, horses and chariots. Sambandar saw tapasvis deeply absorbed in the bliss of Siva. The city of Arunachala was flourishing; with scholars well versed in the Vedas and sastras and bodies radiating with the glow of intense tapas, devotees with Arunachala's name on their lips, wearing rudraksha and bodies smeared with vibhutti, jnanis uncaring for the state of Brahma and yogis immersed in their Heart in perfect bliss.

After passing the streets on either side of which stood many storied buildings, Sambandar reached the Temple of the Lord. Sambandar entered the Temple replete with courtyards and majestic walls. With profound devotion and love for Arunachala he reached the sanctum sanctorum and surrendered himself. He circumambulated the Lord and the Goddess Apitakuchamba. He adored the Lord and paid his homage by praising Him with a decad beginning with the word 'Poovar malarkondu'.

He resided in the vicinity of Lord Arunachala for a few more days singing decads praising gloriously the Lord and the Hill of Arunachala. Sambandar and his followers left Arunachala after seeking the Lord's blessings and continued their journey.

Emissary at Tiruvoodal Festival

"Thiruvoodal Festival is celebrated in the month of Thai approximately on January 16th during Pongal (which has to do with the movement of the sun from the southern to the northern hemisphere). Legend has it that the Lord in answer to a promise given to Parvati appears on this holy day (Uttarayana) to dance on one foot. He says; 'On Uttarayana holy day, I will do the dance when the sun rises.'

The word 'Thiru' signifies; deity, sacred, holy and wealth and the word 'Voodal' actually means 'tiff' or 'petty quarrel', and represents the friction between the male and female in a love relationship which is consciously exacerbated. The distinguishing mark of Voodal is that it should arise and stay only for a brief period and not be prolonged as its focus is the bliss when the Voodal is withdrawn.

To support the enactment of the 'tiff' between Shiva and the Goddess, emissaries are employed by both to convey messages between the deities and participate in 'brokering a deal' between the feuding couple. The emissary used by Shiva on his behalf is Sundaramurthi Nayanar–a saint feted as a great devotee of Lord Siva and one of the Tamil Samaya Acharyas (four Tamil religious Teachers). His story is included in the famous book entitled Periyapuranam. Saint Sambandhar is the other emissary engaged to help conciliate the Divine couple."

Thirujana Sambandar Hymns

In the first half of the seventh century A.D. the worship of Siva Was at its lowest ebb, overpowered by the Jainism and Buddhism which prevailed throughout the Tamil country. But a few pious Saivites remained faithful. One of them, whose name means that his heart was laid at Siva's foot, and who lived in the town in the Tanjore District (now known as Shiyali), prayed to the Siva worshipped in the Shiyali temple that he might be given a son who would dispel the godless dark and win men to Lord Siva again. Sambandar's birth was the answer to that prayer. At the tender age of three (orthodox Saivites believe), this child was fed by Siva's spouse with milk from Her divine breast, mingled with divine wisdom, whence he is called in his full name, "The man connected with wisdom divine," - Tiru Jnana Sambandar.

He grew up to be a pilgrim poet, who visited most of the Saivite shrines with which South India abounds; in each place singing the praise of the Siva whom there he worshipped. The cause he loved suffered a severe blow when the great king of Madura, with many of his subjects, went over to the Jain religion. The queen-consort and her prime minister (see stanzas 20 and 21) remained faithful to Saivism, and sent for Sambandar.

The lonely saint faced a vast multitude of Jains in the royal presence, conquered them in argument, and reconverted the king. Eight thousand of the stubborn Jains, with Sambandar's consent, were impaled alive. Later on, after a similar mission in another of the three great kingdoms of the Tamil country of his time, Sambandar converted to Saivism a crowd of Buddhist opponents.

This is about all that is known of the man who helped to sing Buddhism right out of Southern India, and who composed the collection of hymns which stands first among the canonical works of Saivites. Legends make him a wonder-worker, but we must draw our knowledge of the man from his poems themselves. He certainly was skilful in the handling of the many metres in which Tamil poetry is written, and it is not impossible that his productions were as effortless as the stories of him tell. That is their weakness, for there is not very much of heart religion in them. But they seem to have powerfully helped in that process of eliminating Jainism and Buddhism from India of which we know so little, though it was complete enough to be one of the marvels of history. Their author holds the foremost place among the four great 'Saivite Preceptors' (Sivacharyars), and some call him the incarnation of one of the sons of Siva.

His date seems to be one of the few clearly established dates in the history of the religion of the country. Stanza 19 shows that he was a contemporary of another great early Saivite, whose name means "Little Servant of God," and who is known to have fought in a battle which took place in 642 A.D.

We begin with the first verse which the author composed. According to the legends he uttered it at the age of three, on the banks of the temple tank at Shiyali (once Bramapuram), after Siva's consort had fed him with milk from Her own breast. The stanza itself of course contains no allusion to the story, but it is one of the best known verses in the Saivite hymnbook.

1. His ears are beringed, He rideth the bull;

His head is adorned with the crescent moon's ray;
White is He with ash from the burning-ground swept;

And He is the thief who my heart steals away.
Great Brahma enthroned on the lotus' full bloom

Erstwhile bowed him down and His glory extolled,
And singing received he the grace of our lore

Who dwelleth in famed Bramapuram old.

No pilgrimage in South India is more popular than that to Tiruvannamalai in North Arcot, the temple by a hill celebrated in many poems. Saivism has tried to express the existence of the 'eternal feminine' in deity by giving Siva a lady who not only is His consort, but is actually a part of Him, and is so represented in many images, which show Siva as masculine on one side and feminine on the other.

2. He is our only Lord, conjoined still

To her whose breast no sucking lips have known.
They who in Annamalai's holy hill,

Where falling waters noisy chatter down,
And the hill glistens gem-like, bow before

Our great one who is lord and lady too,
Unfailingly for them shall be no more

Dread fruit of good and bad deeds they may do.

One of the first puzzles to a student of Saivism is the way in which each of the numerous shrines seems to be spoken of as if it were Siva's exclusive abode. The broad river marked on English maps as the Cauvery, but in Tamil called the Kaviri, which brings so much blessing to a large part of South India that the respect in which it is held is not difficult to understand, is fringed throughout its length with shrines which are believed to confer the blessings of Siva on all who visit them. One of these is 'Neyttanam - Place of Ghee.'

3. So ye but say Neyttanam is the home

Of our great Lord who wears in his long hair
The crescent moon, the river, and the snake,

Neyttanam where chaste maidens gather fair,
On the north bank of Kaviri's loud stream,

Your vileness, guiltiness, the sin you dread,
Your sorrows many, shall be banished.

This specimen of a hymn connected with Palny in the Madura District alludes (in stanza 5) to the well-known legend which says in the Saivite way that those who love God need not fear death. Markandeya was a boy devoted to Siva, but over his life hung a terrible cloud, for the fates had decreed that he would not live beyond his sixteenth year. As the appointed time drew near his father lived in an agony of dread, but Markandeya, free from fear, spent all his time in the worship of Siva. The god of Death came at last. Regardless of the fact that the boy was at worship he threw over him that noose which pulls out human life from the body. The boy clung to Siva's lingam with both his hands. From within the lingam Siva burst forth, kicked the terrible death-god and pierced him with his trident. So Markandeya was saved. The scene is sculptured on many temples.

4. Holy Vedas chanting,

Sacred thread He wears;
All His hosts surround Him

Whom the white bull bears.
Cometh He in splendour,

Tiger-skin attired.
'Lord, our naked beggar

Above all desired,'
Cry ye in your worship,

At His feet appeal.
He who dwells in Palny

All your sin will heal.

5. Three eyes hath His forehead,

Fair moon crowns His hair;
When Death sought a victim,

Siva's foot crashed there;
Gory streams of blood flowed,

Death it was that died,
Such is He, our Father,

Uma, at His side;
Dwells He aye in Palny,

Where bees hum around
Drunk with honeyed sweetness,

Till its groves resound.

A multitude of hymns chant the glory of Chidambaram, ancient Tillai, holiest of all the Saivite shrines. The tending of the sacrificial fire comes down from pre-historic times, being firmly established when the earliest hymns of the Rig Veda were composed.

6. Tending as taught of old the sacrificial fire,

At Tillai Brahmans pure drive out misfortune dire.
There dwells the First of all, moon-crowned, and

those who cleave
For ever to His foot, no cleaving sin will grieve.

Conjeeveram, the ancient Tamil name of which is given in this stanza, though more famous as a Vaishnavite than as a Saivite shrine, offers in its temples a remarkable compendium of the religious history of South India.

7. He is the pith of holy writ;

And in the tangle of His hair
The spotless crescent's ray is lit;

He is both Lord and Lady fair.
He our great sovereign doth abide

In Kachchi Ehambam's fair town.
My mind can think of naught beside,

Naught beside Him, and Him alone.

The next two stanzas, taken from two separate hymns associated with the great cities of Trichinopoly and Madura, both sacred places of Saivism, are set side by side in order to bring out a point which even the most sympathetic student may not ignore. Siva is commonly spoken of as all good, as in stanza 8, and yet not infrequently He includes, as in stanza 9, both good and its opposite. The pantheistic tendency even in these hymns causes God to be sometimes depicted as so all-embracing as to include evil as well as good.

8. All goodness hath He and no shadow of ill.

Grey-white is His bull, fair Uma shares His form.
His wealth is past searching. Chirapalli's hill

Is His, whom to praise keeps my heart ever warm.

9. Thou art right and Thou art wrong,

Lord of holy Alavay;
Kinsman, I to Thee belong;

Never fades Thy light away.
Thou the sense of books divine,

Thou my wealth, my bliss art Thou,
Thou my all, and in Thy shrine

With what praises can I bow?

No one can know Siva unless He chooses to reveal Himself. This thought constantly recurs with great emphasis. Hymn singers are fond of contrasting with the vain search of Brahma and Vishnu the revelation of Himself which Siva has graciously granted to them. Compare stanzas 25 and 48.

10. Thou Light whom Brahma, being's fount, and Vishnu could not see,

No righteousness have I, I only speak in praise of Thee.
Come, Valivalam's Lord, let no dark fruit of deeds, I pray,

Torment Thy slave who with his song extols Thee day by day.

Astrology plays a large part in popular Hinduism, and the influence of baleful or auspicious stars must be reckoned with in daily life. Most baleful of all is the influence of the eclipse, which is caused by two dragons Rahu and Ketu which swallow the moon or the sun. This stanza enumerates the nine planets, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury; Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu, and says that to the singer, who has Siva in his heart, all of them, even the dragons of eclipse, are auspicious. It is a powerful and characteristically Hindu way of saying that all things work together for good to those who love God.

The reference to the bamboo constantly recurs in descriptions of ladies' beauty. Everyone who has seen a feathery clump of bamboo trees waving in the breeze will understand it as a symbol of delicate grace.

The vina is the most delicate and beautiful instrument played in South India.

11. She shares His form whose shoulders' curve vies with the bamboo's grace.

His throat the poison drank, He touched the vina into tune.
The lustrous moon and Ganges crown His hair, and He a place

Hath made Himself within my heart. Wherefore let shine the moon
Or sun or any star of good or ill, or serpents twain.

For Siva's slave all are benign, all work for him great gain.

White ash from burnt cow-dung must be worn by all true Saivites. Every day the worshipper, facing north-east and crying 'Siva, Siva,' must dip in the ash the fingers of his right hand and draw the three middle fingers from left to right along his forehead, so leaving three horizontal white lines. The ceremonial side of Saivism is so prominent that this one stanza must be given, a specimen of many extolling the virtues and potencies of the ash.

The Tantras are works inculcating ceremonies, also magic performances and mystic rites. Some of these are of an immoral nature.

12. The sacred ash has mystic power,

'Tis worn by dwellers in the sky.
The ash bestows true loveliness.

Praise of the ash ascends on high.
The ash shows what the Tantras mean,

And true religion's essence tells,
The ash of Him of Alavay,

In whom red-lipped Uma dwells.

Equally important with the wearing of the sacred ash is the constant repetition of the five syllables, or panchakshara, 'Namasivaya.' This, which means literally 'a bow to Siva,' is the chief mantra or mystic utterance of Saivism. In Saivite catechisms a whole chapter is devoted to its uses.

13. Those who repeat it while love's tears outpour,

It gives them life, and guides them in the way.
'Tis the true substance of the Vedas four,

The Lord's great name, wherefore 'Hail Siva,' say.

The next three stanzas are from a hymn written in a very attractive short-lined metre, and promise light, freedom from rebirth, and bliss, through devotion to Siva at Arur (now Tiruvallur in the Tanjore District).

14. For the Father in Arur

Sprinkle ye the blooms of love;
In your heart will dawn true light,

Every bondage will remove.

15. Him the holy in Arur

Ne'er forget to laud and praise;
Bonds of birth will severed be,

Left behind all worldly ways.

16. In Arur, our loved one's gem,

Scatter golden blossoms fair.
Sorrow ye shall wipe away,

Yours be bliss beyond compare.

Associated with the hymn from which our next verse is taken is a story of the author, Sambandar, helping a sorrowing woman by raising to life the man she loved, who had been killed by snake-bite. The hymn makes no allusion to such a miracle, but it does give an example of intercession on behalf of another, an element which is somewhat rare in these devotional books.

17. Prostrate with fear at Thy feet she cries 'Lord with matted hair, my Refuge, Rider of the bull! Lord of Maruhal where fresh water-lilies bloom, is it right to leave her in this anguish of heart?

Our present writer's poems contain such frequent denunciations of Buddhism or Jainism that it is clear that they were written at a time when the struggle between Hinduism and these other religions was at its height. Buddhism and Jainism are scarcely known in South India to-day, though at one time they were supreme. It is probable that these songs helped not a little to drive them out of the country.

18. Those Buddhists and mad Jains may slander speak.

Such speech befits the wand'rers from the way.
But He who came to earth and begged for alms,

He is the thief who stole my heart away.
The raging elephant charged down at Him;

O marvel! He but took and wore its hide;
Madman men think Him, but He is the Lord

Who in great Bramapuram doth abide.

The "Little Servant of God" mentioned in the next verse is one of the 63 canonized saints of Saivism. According to the collection of legends known as the Periya Puranam, which is a Tamil Saivite classic, he fought at the battle of Vadapi, the modern Badami, which took place in 642 A.D. There are other indications which strengthen the view that these hymns date from the seventh century A.D.

In the first three lines of the verse Siva is conceived as a lover, and the devotee as the woman whom He loves. In India the pain of absence from a lover is supposed to cause spots to appear on the skin of the woman who loves.

19. Birds in the flowering green-branched punnai tree,
Love writeth clear its marks on me, for He
Who cured my grief, yet left unending pain.
Senkattankudi is His holy fane,
And there His "Little Servant" dwells, who now
And ever doth before Lord Siva bow.
There in the burning-ground, with fire in hand,
Sporteth unceasingly our Master grand.

Another possible indication of date occurs in the next two verses, given in English prose because the Tamil names will not fit into English metres. The Mangaiyarkkarasi here mentioned was the wife of a king of Madura, Kun Pandiyan, known to history. According to the above-mentioned collection of stories, this king became a Jain. Then the queen and the prime minister named in our poem sent for Sambandar, our author, through whose efforts the king was reconverted, and all Jain teachers were executed by impaling. Unfortunately the date of Kun Pandiyan cannot at present be accurately determined. An able discussion of it can be seen in "The Tamilian Antiquary, No. 3."

The explanation of the term 'Fish-eyed maid,' which sounds curiously in English ears, is that in Madura Siva's consort is called Minakshi, i.e. fish-eyed. The suggestion of the epithet, frequently applied to beautiful women, is that the motion of their eyes resembles the beautiful motion of a fish in water.

20. This is Alavay, where dwells the flame-formed lord of hosts, giver of the four Vedas and their meaning, with the fair fish-eyed maid. Here, reigning like the goddess of good fortune, Mangaiyarkkarasi the Chola king's daughter, braceletted chaste Pandiyan queen, daily serves and praises God.

The poem from which 20 and 21 are taken consists of stanzas like these alternately praising the queen and the king's minister, the last verse praising them both together.

21. This is Alavay, Siva's abode. To those who forsake the world He reveals Himself as world-forsaking too. Head of the heavenly ones, He rides the one white bull. Praised is He by Kulachchirai, minister of that monarch who wears white ash, and loves to lay himself bare at the feet of Siva's slaves.

Once, says a story, when Sambandar was about to contend with the Jains, the queen feared the consequences which might befall him, but he assured her in this verse that he could dare all when his God of Madura was on his side.

22. O fair one with the deer's glance meek,

Pandya's great queen, think not of me
As of some sucking infant weak,

Because such wicked foes there be.
If only Hara by me stand,

Stronger am I than all their band.

The story here is that the Janis had set fire to Sambandar's house. He prayed in this stanza that the fire, transformed into a fever, might go to the Pandyan king, then a Jain. It did so, and the king was converted.

23. O Thou whose form is fiery red,

In holy Alavay, our Sire,
In grace deliver me from dread.

False Jains have lit for me a fire:
O, let it to the Pandiyan ruler go,

That he the torture of slow flame may know.

Our specimens of Sambandar's poetry may end with a verse which is a kind of benediction, often set as an auspicious word on the front page of a book.

24. Blest be the Brahmans pure, the heavenly ones, and kine.
Cool rain fall on the earth! May the king's glory shine!
Perish all forms of ill! Let Hara's name resound!
May sorrow pass away, from earth's remotest bound.

Thirunavukkarasar Swami

Thirunavukkarasar was a seventh-century Saiva Tamil poet-saint and one of the most prominent of the 63 Nayanars. He was an older contemporary of Thirugnanasambanthar.

Appar Swami carrying the Uzhavaram

Details of Appar's life are found in his own hymns and in Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam (the last book of the Tirumurai). Appar was born in the middle of 7th century in Tiruvamur, Tamil Nadu to a Vellala family. His childhood name was Marulneekiar. His sister, Thilagavathiar was betrothed to a military commander who died in action. When his sister was about to commit sati and end her life, her brother pleaded with her not to leave him alone in the world. She decided to lead an ascetic life and bring up her only brother and thereupon started serving in the Shiva temple at Athikai (now called Thiruvathigai Veerattanam).

Throughout boyhood, Appar was very interested in Jainism and studied its scriptures. He travelled to Thirupadhiripuliyur (Cuddalore) to join a Jain monastery where he was given the name Dharmasena. "Seeing the transient, ephemeral world he decided to probe into truth through renunciation."

After a while, afflicted by a painful illness in his stomach (intussuception), Dharmasena returned home. He prayed for relief at the Siva temple (where his sister served) and was cured. Because of his miraculous cure and the prayful intercession of his sister, Appar returned to the fold of Saivism.

The Jain heads influenced the King to torture Tirunavukkarasar in order to renounce his belief in Saivism. He was thrown into a burning lime kiln, poisoned, faced a rampaging elephant and finally tied to a stone and thrown into the seas. Under the protection of the Lord, Tirunavukkarasar was saved from all these calamities.

The Saint tied to a stone and thrown into the sea

The Pallava king who had persecuted the Saint now convinced of the superiority of Saivism went to Tirunavukkarasar and begged his pardon. Tirunavukkarasar embraced the king with love and affection, and the king embraced Saivism and built the magnificent temple of Siva called Gunabharaveechuram at Tiruvathikai.

On his return to this religion he was involved in converting the Pallava king, Mahendravarman to Saivism. Additionally this was also the period of the resurrection of the smaller Shiva temples. Appar sanctified these temples by reciting his verses. He served in the cleaning of dilapidated temples called "uzhavarapadai" and was always seen with an Uzhavaram (a blade with a long handle) on his shoulder which was used as a tool to clean temple grounds and paths to enable devotees to walk comfortably.

Thirunavukkarasar stayed for many years at Thiruvathikai with his sister and rendered many Pathigams about Lord Shiva. Later, he started visiting other Shiva temples. Appar heard about Thirugnanasambanthar and went to Sirkazhi to meet the young boy. Thirugnanasambanthar respectfully addressed Thirunavukkarasar as Appar (father). It is believed that this is the reason this Nayanar is also fondly referred to as Appar. Both saints travelled together visiting many temples and rendered their Pathigam separately.

In Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam one finds reference to the fact that Appar travelled to many temples in South India including Sri Kalahasthi in Andhra Pradesh and continued his journey all the way to Kasi (Varanasi) by foot. He wanted to go to Mount Kailas but his health did not permit him. He prayed to Lord Shiva seeking his help who in turn asked him to take a dip in a pond that he had created nearby. When he took a dip in that pond, Appar was surprised to find himself in Thiruvaiyaru. He rushed to the temple to praise the lord and it is believed that at this place Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati gave him Kailas darshan.

It is believed that in some of the Shiva sthalams, he performed miracles by reciting his pathigams. For example, in a place called Thingalur, his hymns brought Apputhi Adigal's son back to life after he was bitten by a snake.

Out of 276 Paadal Petra temples, Appar is believed to have personally visited 126 temples. He travelled to all these temples by foot, covering at least a few thousand kilometres. Sundarar states in his Thiruthondarthokai that Appar composed 4,900 hymns consisting of ten to eleven verses each. This was reiterated by Nambiyandar Nambi and Sekkizhar, but only 313 hymns (3120 verses) are available today. He was known as Thirunavukkarasar, meaning the "King of Divine speech". Appar's pathigams, also called "Devaram", were compiled by Nambiyandar Nambi into the fourth to sixth volumes of the Thirumurai.

Appar attained mukti (salvation-union with the Lord) at the age of 81 years, on Sadhaya Nakshtram day in the Tamil month of Chithirai at Thirupukalur Shiva temple, Tamil Nadu.

Thirunavukkarasar Hymns

Abridged from Hymns of the Tamil Saivite Saints, by F. Kingsbury and G.P. Phillips, [1921]

Tirunavukkarasu Swami (Also known as Thirunavukkarasar Swami)

SAMBANDAR, had a friend older than himself, named Appar, or Tirunavukkarasu, belonging to that Vellala caste which to this day makes a very solid element in the population of the Tamil country. Left an orphan at an early age, Appar was brought up by a loving elder sister as a pious devotee of Siva. Great was the sister's grief when Appar forsook the faith of his fathers and became a religious teacher among the Jains. But her earnest prayers at last prevailed, and Appar not only came back to Saivism himself, but was the means of reconverting to Saivism the king of his country.

His full name was Tirunavukkarasu, or 'King of the Tongue', but his young friend Sambandar called him Appar, or Father, and the name stuck to him. He too wandered throughout the Tamil country, sometimes alone, sometimes in company with Sambandar, singing his way from shrine to shrine. Pictures show him holding in his hand a little tool for scraping grass, with which he used to scrape the stones of the temple courts. The Jains persecuted him, and many stories tell of his miraculous escapes from their hands.

His hymns show a truly religious nature, with a deep-rooted sense of sin and need, and an exalted joy in God. There is real critical acumen in the old epigram which represents Siva as appraising the three great writers of the Devaram, or Saivite hymn-book: "Sambandar praised himself; Sundarar praised Me for self; My Appar praised Me Myself."

God, the essentially unsearchable, in His grace will reveal Himself to men. Athihai Virattanam, in the South Arcot District, is the shrine here commemorated.

25. Vishṇu, spouse of Lakshmi, and four-ways-facing Brahma,

Searched the heights and depths, but Thy feet could never see.
Yet, O only Lord, who in Athihai dost dwell,

Formless, in Thy grace, grant the sight of them to me.

The notable thing about the next verse is not so much the legend of the crushing of Ravana, who tried to storm the mountain Kailasa, where Siva had His heaven, but rather the thought of the devotee being stamped as the property of his god, a thought which recurs in other hymns. According to tradition Apparswami did receive the Hindu equivalent of St. Francis' stigmata, the mark of Siva's bull as if branded on his body. (Refer to St. Paul's expression in Galatians vi. 17).

26. All other worlds his sceptre swayed,

But when Kailasa he would rule
Thy crushing foot presumption paid.

O stamp me with Thy sacred bull,
White as Himal'ya's snowy hill.

Accent me, O our truth divine,
There where the moon outsoareth still

Groves of Tunganaimadam's shrine.

Here is the divine vision as the enraptured Saivite sees it.

27. See, there His bright trident appears to me;

See, there is the moon in His tangled hair;
His garland of flowers from the kondai tree,

And the ear-ring white in His either ear,
The cloak that He tore from the elephant wild,

His glittering crown and His body's sheen.
Ash-smeared, He is ever the undefiled,

In Puvanam circled by groves all green.

The singer, standing at the shrine of Tiruvalur (Arur) in the Tanjore district, muses over the ancient connection of his Lord with the holy place, suggesting that it began before creation, before Siva wrought his greatest marvels, perhaps even before the one Supreme, Isvara, expanded into the triad Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra.

28. When was that ancient day our Lord

Chose Arur should His temple be?
Was't when He stood 'mid praising worlds

Alone, or when the One grew three?
Was't when in wrath He burned up Death,

Or turned on Lust His flaming eye?
Or when creative, immanent,

He called to being earth and sky?
Was't when, his young deer in his hand,

He came, with Uma as His part?
Or ere He joined that lady fair

Took He our Arur to His heart?

It is often said, not without truth, that Hinduism fails to create a strong sense of sin. But there are great exceptions: witness the following verses, samples of many, taken from a hymn which trembles with feeling. The author is sunk in sin. Or he has been like a swing, flying first toward evil and then towards God; but now, joy! the cord has snapped, and he lies fixed at his Lord's feet. Yet the old mood returns; his soul is bound and drugged with sleep, and life has no joys to offer unless God will save.

THE SOUL'S BITTER CRY

29. In right I have no power to live,

Day after day I'm stained with sin;
I read, but do not understand;

I hold Thee not my heart within.
O light, O flame, O first of all,

wandered far that I might see,
Athihai Virattanam's Lord,

Thy flower-like feet of purity.

30. Daily I'm sunk in worldly sin;

Naught know I as I ought to know;
Absorbed in vice as 'twere my kin,

I see no path in which to go.
O Thou with throat one darkling gem,

Gracious, such grace to me accord,
That I may see Thy beauteous feet,

Athihai Vīrattanam's Lord.

31. My fickle heart one love forsakes,

And forthwith to some other clings;
Swiftly to some one thing it sways,

And e'en as swiftly backward swings.
O Thou with crescent in Thy hair,

Athihai Virattanam's Lord,
Fixed at Thy feet henceforth I lie,

For Thou hast broken my soul's cord.

32. The bond of lust I cannot break;

Desire's fierce torture will not die;
My soul I cannot stab awake

To scan my flesh with seeing eye.
I bear upon me load of deeds,

Load such as I can ne'er lay down.
Athihai Virattanam's Lord,

Weary of joyless life I've grown.

Fresh pictures in another hymn set forth his sad condition. God's vessels are full of the sweetness of grace, but his spoon has no handle. He feels himself in the deadly grasp of fate, like the frog in the cruel mouth of the snake which is slowly swallowing it down. Or he is on a raft on the sea of life, wrecked on the rock of lust.

33. While violence is in my heart,

Care of my body cage is vain.
My spoon no handle hath when I

Thy honey's grace to drink am fain.
As in the serpent's mouth the frog,

Caught in life's terrors, wild I rave.
Thou, King of holy Ottiyur,

Wilt Thou not care for me and save?

34. When on life's angry waves I launch,

My heart's the raft I take to me,
My mind's the pole I lean upon,

Vexation's freight I bear to sea.
I strike upon the rock of lust!

O then, though witless quite I he,
Grant, King of holy Ottiyur,

Such wisdom that I think of Thee.

It would be hard to find a more comprehensive confession of sin than our next stanza from another hymn.

35. Evil, all evil, my race, evil my qualities all,

Great am I only in sin, evil is even my good.

Evil my innermost self, foolish, avoiding te pure,

Beast am I not, yet the ways of the beast I can

never forsake.

I can exhort with strong words, telling men what

they should hate,

Yet can I never give gifts, only to beg them I know.

Ah! wretched man that I am, whereunto came I to birth?

We give next a series of stanzas in various metres from different hymns, in which the saint utters in song some of the joy which his religion has brought him. God has revealed mysteries to him which tongue cannot tell, and dwells in his life's innermost places. God is to him the fabled Katpaha tree, supplying his every need. God is his all in all, and His presence is sweeter than melody or evening moonlight.

36. The moving water He made stand unmoving in

His hair;
And He my thoughtless heart hath fixed in

thought of Him alone:
He taught me that which none can learn, what

none can see laid bare;
What tongue tells not He told; me He pursuer

and made His own.
The spotless pure, the holy One, my fell

disease He healed,
And in Punturutti to me e'en me, Himself

revealed.

37. O wealth, my treasure, sweetness, lustre fair of

heavenly hosts,
Of lustre glory that excels, embodied One, my

kin,
My flesh, yea heart within my flesh, image within

my heart,
My all-bestowing tree, my eye, pupil my eye

within,
Picture seen in that pupil, lord of Aḍuturai cool,

Immortals' king, keep far from me strong pain of fruits of sin.

38. Thou to me art parents, Lord,

Thou all kinsmen that I need,
Thou to me art loved ones fair,

Thou art treasure rich indeed.
Family, friends, home art Thou,

Life and joy I draw from Thee,
False world's good by Thee I leave,

Gold, pearl, wealth art Thou to me.

39. As the vina's pure sound, as the moonlight at

even,
As the south wind's soft breath, as the spring's

growing heat,
As the pool hovered over by whispering bees,

So sweet is the shade at our Father-Lord's feet.

40. No man holds sway o'er us,

Nor death nor hell fear we;
No tremblings, griefs of mind,

No pains nor cringings see.
Joy, day by day, unchanged

Is ours, for we are His,
His ever, who doth reign,

Our Sankara, in bliss.
Here to His feet we've come,

Feet as plucked flow'rets fair;
See how His ears divine

Ring and white couch-shell wear.

41. Though they give me the jewels from Indra's

abode,
Though they grant me dominion o'er earth, yea

o'er heaven,
If they be not the friends of our lord Mahadev,

What care I for wealth by such ruined hands

giv'n?
But if they love Siva, who hides in His hair

The river of Ganga, then whoe'er they be,
Foul lepers, or outcastes, yea slayers of kine,

To them is my homage, gods are they to me.

Often the Hindu devotee asks and re-asks the fundamental question 'Who am I?', coming to the saddest of conclusions, but setting against the background of his delusive life of self the great reality of God, to worship whom is to find release from the prison-house of personality.

42. Thy father, mother, brethren, wife,

Ask thyself who are they?
Thy children; yea, thy very self,

Who art thou, canst thou say?
How cam'st thou here, how wilt depart?

Love not this world unreal.
Ye anxious souls, this lesson learn,

To one pure name appeal.
Our father He, crowned with the moon

And snake. Who Him adore,
Prone lying, with ''Hail Siva, hail,''

In heav'n live evermore.

Our next hymn with the short-lined verses (nos. 43 to 48) is a kind of Saivite consecration hymn, mentioning successively various parts of the body - head, eyes, cars - to be given to the worship of Siva. Verse 46 must sound sadly to a Saivite, for it is frequently sung in the ears of the dying, as a plaintive appeal to think of God. Verse 47 rises far above the usual ideas of future absorption to the thought of a blissful state of communion with and praise of God.

43. Head of mine, bow to Him,

True Head, skull garlanded,
A skull was His strange begging-bowl,

Bow low to Him, my head.

44. Eyes of mine, gaze on Him

Who drank the dark sea's bane.
Eight arms He brandishes in dance,

At Him agaze remain.

45. Ears of mine, hear His praise,

Siva, our flaming king.
Flaming as coral red His form:

Ears, hear men praises sing.

46. What kinsmen in that hour

When life departs, have we?
Who but Kuttalam's dancing lord

Can then our kinsman be?

47. How proud shall I be there,

One of His heavenly host,
At His fair feet who holds the deer,

How proud will he my boast!

48. I sought Him and I found.

Brahma sought in vain on high.
Vishnu delved vainly underground.

Him in my soul found I.

The mystic can never be a satisfied ceremonialist. These Saivite devotees commonly praise the god of a particular shrine in language which might suggest that Siva is only to be found there. And everyone who knows India remembers the ceaseless streams of pilgrims journeying to the Ganges or the Cauvery (Tamil Kaviri), to Rameswaram or Cape Comorin or a hundred other holy places. But with a fine inconsistency these ancient singers sometimes point men away from externalities to a worship inward and spiritual; witness the following hymn. As to the terms used, in v.50, Vedas are the religious works of the highest authority, Sastras are philosophical and practical works based on them, while Vedangas are sciences subordinate to the Vedas, and there are six of them.

49. Why bathe in Ganga's stream, or Kaviri?

Why go to Comorin in Kongu's land?
Why seek the waters of the sounding sea?

Release is theirs, and theirs alone, who call
In every place upon the Lord of all.

50. Why chant the Vedas, hear the Sastras' lore?

Why daily teach the books of righteousness?
Why the Vedangas six say o'er and o'er?

Release is theirs, and theirs alone, whose heart
From thinking of its Lord shall ne'er depart.

51. Why roam the jungle, wander cities through?

Why plague life with unstinting; penance hard?
Why eat no flesh, and gaze into the blue?

Release is theirs, and theirs alone,
Who cry Unceasing to the Lord of wisdom high.

52. Why fast and starve, why suffer pains austere?

Why climb the mountains, doing penance harsh?
Why go to bathe in waters far and near?

Release is theirs, and theirs alone, who call
At every time upon the Lord of all.

It looks like a sudden drop when the same writer in our next hymn seems to say that everything depends upon the pronunciation of the five sacred syllables which can be translated 'Hail, Siva!' In the later development of Saivism the pronunciation of these syllables was exalted into a primary religious duty. But in the creative period in which these hymns were written the name probably stood for the person, so that we have here a religious 'calling upon the name of the Lord' in the devotion of worship. In the first stanza there is a remarkable use of the term 'Word.' Modern Saivites identify this 'Word' with Uma, Siva's consort. We can compare the Sanskrit Vak (Word) in the Rig Veda.

The last lines of verse 53 are connected in the minds of Saivites with a story that Apparswami was actually sunk in the sea by Jain persecutors, with two great stones tied to him, but on crying 'Hail, Siva! he floated to the surface.

The five products of the cow referred to in verse 54 are all used together in ceremonial purification - milk, curds, ghee, urine, and dung.

53. O Lord of Scripture, whom the Word doth help,

Celestial light of heaven, so I but praise,
With hands meetly upraised, Thy golden feet,

Then though men tie on me two weighty stones,
And sink me in the ocean's depth, e'en then

The cry 'Hail, Siva,' would salvation be.

54. The lotus is the glory of all flowers;

The glory of all kine is Hara's use
Of that which they put forth. Glory of kings

Is the unswerving straightness of their deeds.
But if we ask the glory of the tongue,

'Tis to cry out aloud, 'Hail, Siva, hail.'

55. For men who all renounce, 'tis glory true

To wear the sacred ash. For Brahmans pure
The Vedas and Vedangas are their pride.

The white moon's glory is to shine serene
On the long locks of Siva, while for us

True glory is to cry 'Hail, Siva, hail.'

Tradition connects our next stanza with a story of Apparswami being smitten with an inward disease when he forsook Saivism and became a Jain. The pain proved, says the legend, a convincing argument which reconverted him, whereupon he was promptly cured. But internal evidence proves this hymn to have been composed long after his return to Saivism. (Nandi is the name of Siva's bull).

56. Thou takest not my deadly pain away,

My torments, Nandi-rider, never cease;
At Thy feet would I worship night and day,

But since my bowels writhe, and ne'er find peace,
I can no more! O Sire, to Thee I cry,

Who dwell'st by Kedila, in Athihai.

Nature sometimes spoke to our author of God. The union of sexes even in animals one day spoke to him as a revelation of divine things.

57. I'll follow those who going to the shrine their praises sound,

With blooms and water for the god who wears the moon so mild
All lovely in His locks, a garland wreathed His neck around,

And with Him sing they Parvati, the mountain god's fair child.
Once as I went to Aiyaru, with light and reverent tread,

I saw come two young elephants, male by loved female led,
And in that sight I saw God's foot, saw secret things unsaid.

God is the great yogi, the wielder of mystic powers.

58. "O greatly loved, our King, our Lord, from all eternity,

Our portion, our true mystic," thus from day to day I sing.
O golden one, O hill of coral, I in love of Thee

Have wandered far and wide, Athihai Viīrattanam's king,
Have wandered far the shining blossom of Thy foot to see.

One whole hymn, from which our next verse is taken, is a prayer for the opening of a door. Tradition has it that the great locked temple door at Vedaranyam swung open in answer to this song.

59. Uma is Thy portion, whose words are like song.

In fair Maraikkadu men circle round Thee
In worship. O graciously open this door

That we Thy true servants Thy glory may see.
Here is a very popular stanza. There used to be a beggar in Madras who recited it, and it alone, all day long.

60. He is ever hard to find, but He lives in the thought

of the good;
He is the innermost secret of Scripture, inscrutable,

unknowable;
He is honey and milk and the shining light. He

is the king of the Devas,
Immanent in Vishnu, in Brahma, in flame and in

wind,
Yea in the mighty sounding sea and in the moun-

tains.
He is the great One who chooses Perumpattapuli-

yur for His own.
If there be days when my tongue. is dumb and

speaks not of Him,

Let no such days be counted in the record of my

life.

Whatever karma may teach of the inevitable consequence of evil, devotees hold that they may count on receiving divine forgiveness, for which the gracious nature of God is a sufficient pledge and guarantee.

61. Thy throat the black sea's poison drank, as 'twere

ambrosia sweet,
O deer-skin wearer, Uma's lord, king of the gods

on high;
Kailasa's hill is Thine abode, and when Thy

lovers cry
"Forgive our sin," great One, forgiveness is Thy

duty meet;
For with Thee is great grace, lord of celestial

beings all,
Who dwell'st in Avaduturai, where peacocks

dance and call.

The dreadful fate in store for irreligious men that is of being slowly killed by sore sickness, then being born again to a joyless life that circles round once more to death in unending cycles of dreariness.

The 'letters five' in no. 63 refer to the five-syllabled phrase na-mah-Śi-vā-ya, whose praise is chanted in vv. 53-55.

62. The ill-starred town without a house of God,

Wherein white ash on no man's brow doth glow,
The town where pious praises are unsung,

Where are no wayside shrines men's faith to show,
Where none blow joyfully the conch-shell white,

Where spread no canopies, no flags appear,
Where none make flowery offerings ere they eat,

Call it no town, 'tis but a jungle drear.

63. If men speak not His name in letters five,

Nor e'er the fire-formed Siva's praise repeat,
And never walk in reverence round His shrine,

And pluck no flowers for offering ere they eat,
If they for healing wear no sacred ash,

I'll tell you where unto such men were born,
'Twas that foul plagues might torture them to death,

Then death bring rebirths endlessly forlorn.

Our last fragment from Apparswami is in the minor key, in which so many of his refrains are pitched. It seems to prove, contrary to tradition, that Appar was once a married man.

64. Immersed in painful cherishing

Of child and wedded wife,
No room is there in me to feel

Thy power, Lord of my life.
O whereunto came I to birth?

To cherish this false world?
Or watch it, bubble-like, appear,

Then be to nothing hurled?

Life of Sundaramurti Nayanar

Sundaramurthi Nayanar flourished in the 8th century. He was a great devotee of Lord Siva and one of the Tamil Samaya Acharyas (four Tamil religious Teachers). Sundarar had the Sakhya Bhava or the attitude of a friend towards the Lord and freely demanded of the Lord whatever he wanted.

Sundaramurthi Nayanar was born Arurar in Thirunavalur village located in erstwhile Thirumunaippadi Nadu to Sadaya Nayanar and Isaignaniyar. His childhood name was Nambiyarurar. It is significant to note that both of his parents find a place among the 63 Nayanmars. Sundarar also known affectionately as "Thampiran Thozhan" (Comrade of Lord Shiva) and "Vanthondan" (the argumentative follower). He was a contemporary of Chola King Cheraman Perumal and Kotpuli Nayanar, both of who also figure in the 63 Nayanmars.

There is a legend associated with Sundarar's life - that he was once an attendant of Lord Shiva at Mount Kailas with the name Alala Sundarar. When the Milky Ocean was being churned by Devas and Asuras, a deadly poison began to spread on the surface of the ocean threatening the existence of all beings. Alala Sundarar collected the poison in his hands and gave it to Lord Siva - who drank it for the protection of the world. Hence, the word Alala (for Halahala, the poison) was prefixed to his name.

When Sundarar's marriage was about to take place, Lord Shiva intervened and prevented it. In the guise of an old Brahmin he declared Sundarar to be bonded as his servant. He further said that Sundarar's grandfather, Aruran of Navalur had pledged him as a servant and had given this in writing on a palm leaf manuscript. Sundarar and those assembled for the wedding ceremony scoffed and called the ascetic a madman (piththan). When the crowd demanded the Brahmin show evidence, he told them to follow him to Thiruvennainallur where he had the original palm leaf manuscript.

On reaching Thiruarudthurai temple in Thiruvennainallur, the ascetic disappeared inside the sanctum - and the Lord's divine voice was heard saying from inside, that He had come to remind Sundarar of his previous birth as Alala Sundarar - his servant at Mount Kailas. He further told Sundarar that since he quarrelled with him, he would henceforth be known as "Vanthondan" and asked Sundarar to worship him by way of singing his praise.

The document the Brahmin acetic produced read:

"I, Aruran, the Adi Saivite of Tirunavalur, execute this bond of slavery with heart and soul. I and my progeny for all time to come are bond-slaves to Piththan of Tiruvennai Nellur, and we are bound to serve him by all means."

Piththan means Lord Siva who delights to be called a 'mad man', to exemplify the state of the highest Yogi whose behaviour resembles that of a mad man but who teaches us that there is nothing in this world worth taking notice of and indeed it is worldly men who are the mad ones. The Lord instructed Sundarar to compose a hymn starting with the word "piththan". This resulted in his first song - Piththan Piraichudi". Since Lord Shiva stopped Sundarar's wedding, the lord at Thiruvennainallur is called by the name "Thaduththatkonda Nathar".

After this, Sundarar travelled and visited numerous sacred sites and temples and rendered many pathigams in praise of Lord Shiva. At some sthalams, it is believed his recitations created miracles.

Sundaramurthi Nayanar at Temple

Once at Thirupunkoor was devoid of rains for a long time. The reigning Chola king sought Sundarar's help to address the problem. The saint agreed to help on the condition that twelve acres of land be donated to Thirupunkoor temple if he was successful in causing rain to fall. The king agreed and as soon as Sundarar completed his hymn praising the Lord at Thirupunkoor temple, it started to rain incessantly. After some days, Sundarar was summoned by the king to stop the heavy rains. Sundarar once again insisted twelve acres be given to the temple should the rains stop after his hymn. The rain stopped and the temple became richer by twelve more acres.

At Avinashi temple, Sundarar recited his pathigam and resurrected an eight-year-old boy who had died after being swallowed by a crocodile.

Child and Crocodile

Legend states that at Thiruvarur he recited the names of the Nayanars and this recitation is called "Thiruthondar Thokai". In one of his pathigams, he refers to himself as servant of the Nayanmars.

While serving the Lord at Mount Kailas, Sundarar came across two girls; Aninthithai and Kamalini, (attendants to Goddess Parvati) who he wanted to marry. Knowing his desire, Lord Shiva blessed them to be born on earth all at different locations. Alala Sundara as Nambiyarurar, Kamalini as Paravai Nachiyar and Aninthithai as Sangili Nachiyar. During his pilgrimage, he met Paravai Nachiyar in Thiruvarur and Sangili Nachiyar in Thiruvottriyur. In both places, legend has it that Lord Shiva played a major role arranging the marriage of Sundarar to the two women.

Sundarar is believed to have visited 84 temples and rendered around 3800 pathigams (hymns). However, only 100 hymns (1000 verses) are available today. It is significant to note that he travelled to all the temples by foot, covering at least a few thousand kilometres. Sundarar's pathigams "Thiruppattu" are collected into the seventh volume of the Thirumurai along with the compositions of Thirugnanasambanthar and Appar. The popular compositions of Sundarar are Ponnar Meniyane and Piththa Piraichudi.

Both Sundarar and his contemporary King Cheraman Perumal embarked on pilgrimage together. However, when Sundarar reached Thiruvanchikulam, he became tired of life and requested Lord Shiva to take him to his abode. It is said that Lord Shiva instructed the celestial gods to bring him to Mount Kailas on a white elephant.

Sundaramurthi on White Elephant

The king followed him on his horse. This occurred on a 'Swathi Nakshtram' day in the Tamil month of 'Aadi'. Sundarar lived for only eighteen years.

Emissary at Tiruvoodal Festival

"Thiruvoodal Festival is celebrated in the month of Thai approximately on January 16th during Pongal (which has to do with the movement of the sun from the southern to the northern hemisphere). Legend has it that the Lord in answer to a promise given to Parvati appears on this holy day (Uttarayana) to dance on one foot. He says; 'On Uttarayana holy day, I will do the dance when the sun rises.'

The word 'Thiru' signifies; deity, sacred, holy and wealth and the word 'Voodal' actually means 'tiff' or 'petty quarrel', and represents the friction between the male and female in a love relationship which is consciously exacerbated. The distinguishing mark of Voodal is that it should arise and stay only for a brief period and not be prolonged as its focus is the bliss when the Voodal is withdrawn.

To support the enactment of the 'tiff' between Shiva and the Goddess, emissaries are employed by both to convey messages between the deities and participate in 'brokering a deal' between the feuding couple. The emissary used by Shiva on his behalf is Sundaramurthi Nayanar - a saint feted as a great devotee of Lord Siva and one of the Tamil Samaya Acharyas (four Tamil religious Teachers). His story is included in the famous book entitled Periapuranam. Saint Sambandhar is the other emissary engaged to help conciliate the Divine couple."

Sundaramurti Hymns

Abridged from Hymns of the Tamil Saivite Saints, by F. Kingsbury and G.P. Phillips, [1921]

SUNDARAMURTI SWAMI (Abbreviated as SUNDARAR)

Sundaramurti Swami, was, like Sambandar, a Brahman. He was born in the South Arcot District, and is generally believed to have flourished in the first quarter of the ninth century A.D. Of his two wives; one was a dancing-girl in the Saivite temple at Tiruvarur, the modern Tiruvalur in the Tanjore District, while the other was a Velala woman of Tiruvottiyur, now a suburb of Madras. His life seems to have been no happier than life in polygamy usually is, and to add to his difficulties he sometimes found himself without food for his ladies to eat. He frankly praised God for what he could get, and on the whole his hymns are on a lower spiritual plane than those others of the Great Ones, some of who bore the marks of real spiritual experience. Of the sixty-three saints whom Saivites hold in special honour, Sundarar seems to have been the last, for he sang the praises of the other sixty-two. Sundarar was the last of the sixty-three canonized saints of Saivism.

65. Nanasambandar and Tirunavukkarasar, skilled in the Tamil tongue, Nalaippovan, learned Sudan, Sakkiyan, Silandi, Kanmappan, Kamampullan, these may do wrong, but yet Thou count'st it right. Hence have I come to the sounding anklets of Thy feet, O lord of Tiruppunguūr with its pools where blossoms many a golden lotus gem.

To English ears the metre of the next two verses, which are common favourites, has a curious sound. It is a close reproduction of the Tamil, so close that the tune of the Tamil hymn could be sung to the English words.

66. Golden art Thou in Thy form, girt around with the fierce tiger's skin,

Fair shines Thy tangle of hair, crowned with blooms

from the kondai's bright tree,

Sov'reign, great jewel art Thou, the red ruby of Malapaḍi,

Mother, on Thee, none but Thee, can my heart evermore fixed be.

67. Clad in the little loin-cloth, my body with holy ash white,

Lo I have come to Thy foot; O my head, I beseech Thee, take me.

Portion of sword-eyed Uma, Thou red ruby of Malapaḍi,

Friend, 'tis on Thee, none but Thee, can my heart evermore fixed be.

Is the Siva manifested at one shrine so distinct from the Siva manifested at another as to endanger the unity of God? If tradition is right, the danger is very real, for Sundarar was already worshipping at one shrine, Tiruvottiyur, when he remembered the lord of Arur, and deciding to go to him like a returning prodigal, sang this stanza.

68. Ah sinful, I have left the path of love and service pure!

Now know I well the meaning of my sickness and my pain.

I will go worship. Fool! how long can I so far remain

From Him, my pearl, my diamond rare, the king of great Arur.

The joy in God which shines in our next hymn evidently rests on some experience of divine grace which we should have liked to hear more definitely described.

69. O madman with the moon-crowned hair,

Thou lord of men, thou fount of grace,
How to forget Thee could I bear?

My soul hath aye for Thee a place.
Venjey-nallur, in "Grace's shrine"

South of the stream of Pennai, there
My father, I became all thine;

How could I now myself forswear?

70. I roamed, a cur, for many days

Without a single thought of Thee,
Roamed and grew weary, then such grace

As none could win Thou gayest me.
Venmey-nallur, in "Grace's shrine"

Where bamboos fringe the Pennnai, there
My Shepherd, I became all thine;

How could I now myself forswear?

71. Henceforth for me no birth, no death,

No creeping age, bull-rider mine.
Sinful and full of lying breath

Am I, but do Thou mark me Thine.
Vennney-nallur, in "Graces shrine"

South of the wooded Pennai, there
My Master, I became all thine;

How could I now myself forswear?

The varying mood of the saint, now joyous and triumphant, now plaintively looking for death, is reflected in the next two verses from one hymn.

72. Linked to naught else in life, my mind thinks only of Thy holy feet.

I'm born anew, from this time forth I pass the way of birth no more.
In Kodumudi, lord austere, where wise men Thee with praises greet,

Should I forget Thee, my own tongue 'Hail, Siva' ! crying, would adore.

73. When will the end draw nigh, sense fade, life

close, and I the bier ascend?
This, naught but this, is all my thought. But,

lord of speech, Thou light on high,
Where the bright streams of Ksviri to Kodumuḍi

coolness lend,
Should I forget Thee, my own tongue to Thee

would loud 'Hail, Siva' cry.

God should deliver His own from death. The appeal here is to the familiar story of Markandeya. Yama is the god of death who gathers in the souls of men.

74. The young saint refuge sought from Death;

To save him, Thou grim Death did'st slay,
Such deeds Thy might accomplisheth,

And I who have beheld them pray
"O Father, should dread Yama press

On me, forbid him. 'Tis my slave";
Do Thou in green Pungur confess.

I've reached Thy foot, and Thou can'st save."

Sundarar is sure that Siva will understand his perplexities in supplying the needs of his fair ladies. For does not Siva Himself bear the burden of two ladies, Parvati his consort, and Ganga (lady Ganges) in his hair? Sundarar, in the legend with which these verses are connected, when one of his wives was suffering hunger, miraculously received some uncooked rice from Siva. This was not enough; to complete the miracle Siva must remove the rice for him to Arur the abode of his fair one. This too was done in answer to the hymn of which the next two stanzas are a sample.

75. Ever I think but of Thee;

Daily in worship I bow;
She of the sword-piercing eyes,

Leave her not suffering now.
Kolili's lord, Thou didst give

Rice in Kundaiyur this day.
No man to bring it have I,

Bid it be sent me, I pray.

76. Thou art half woman Thyself;

Ganga is in Thy long hair.
Full well canst Thou comprehend

Burden of women so fair.
Kundaiyur circled with gems,

There didst Thou give rice to-day.
Source of all, wonderful one,

Bid it be sent me, I pray.

The saint advises his fellow-poets to sing the praises of Siva rather than the praises of men because they seldom reward the poets. Siva rewards them here and hereafter. The Pari mentioned in 78 was a chieftain in the Tamil country in the early centuries of our era, famed for his liberality.

77. Though ye fawn on men of lies,

They to saints will nothing give;
Sing not them, O poets wise,

But if ye would wealth receive
Sing the Sire of Puhalur;

Here your wants will be supplied,
Pain will flee; there evermore

Ye will kings in heav'n abide.

78. Call the weak by Bhima's name,

Style him Arjun with his bow,
Give the mean man Pari's fame,

Not a gift will he bestow.
Sing, O bards, our holy God,

White with ash, in Puhalur.
In the deathless one's abode

Ye shall reign for evermore.
Life and experience have no value, no reality. God alone is real, the refuge from the unreal.

79. Our life is all unreal,

Its end is only dust,
Out of the sea of birth

Come ruin, pain and lust.
Delay not to do good

But praise Ketaram's king,
Whom Vishnu and great Brahma

Vainly sought sorrowing.

Life of Manikkavacakar

Manikkavacakar was one of the poets of the Hindu bhakti revival and his work forms one volume of the Tirumurai - the key religious text of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. His work is a poetic expression of the joy of God-experience, the anguish of being separated from God.

This great saint who aided the spiritual and religious revival is revered as one of the four Nalvars (lit.'The Four') of Shaiva Siddhanta who took birth in the world to show the path of elevating oneself to the Supreme Shiva. There is a well known statement that declares that these four great ones, (Jnanasambandhar, Appar, Sundaramurti and Manikkavacakar) had differing relationships with Shiva: Jnanasambandhar saw himself as the son of Shiva, Appar as his servant, Sundaramurti as his friend, and Manikkavacakar as his beloved.

Manikkavacakar (the name means, "words like jewels") was a Tamil poet whose most famous composition was a book of Saiva hymns known as Tiruvacakam. He was an Adi Shaiva Brahmin servitor who wore the top tilted knot to denote his servitorship to Shiva. He was born in Vadhavoor near Madurai on the banks of river Vaigai. The exact date of his birth is subject to controversy. The oldest record of his life comes from the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam, a text that narrates the divine events associated with Madurai Temple. Four chapters from this work, fifty-eight to sixty-one, are devoted to the story of Manikkavacakar.

Manikkavacakar was born in a village called Vaadavur (Vaatapuri) in Pandya Desha - and people called him Vaadavurar [man from Vaadavur]. He read many religious books, absorbed the lessons therein, and became noted for his devotion to Shiva and for his kindness and compassion towards all living things. Having heard about him, the Pandya king sent for him and made him his prime minister and conferred on him the title of Thennavan Brahmarayan, i.e., 'Premier among Brahmins of the South'. Though he performed the duties of minister with tact and integrity, he had no desire for material involvement. His mind was always absorbed in spiritual matters. Feeling convinced that for the attainment of jnana the grace of a Guru was essential, he continued his search for a spiritual master.

Once the Pandya king ordered the minister to purchase horses and bring them to him. Vaadavurar felt that performing this mission would give him an opportunity to search for his guru and as his mind was intensely seeking a Guru, he visited numerous temples.

Having realised the spiritual maturity of Vaadavurar, Parameswara assumed the form of a schoolteacher and for about a year taught poor children in the village of Tirupperunturai seated on a street pial near the temple awaiting the arrival of Vaadavurar. When he came, Iswara assumed the shape of a Siddha Purusha [realised soul] with many sannyasins around him and seated under a Kurundai tree within the compound of the temple. Vaadavurar came to the temple, had darshan of the Lord, and while performing pradakshina around the temple, saw the Siddha Purusha. He was thrilled at the sight, tears welled up in his eyes and his heart jumped with joy. Spontaneously his hands went to his head in salutation and he fell down at the feet of the Guru like an uprooted tree. He then arose and prayed that he, a humble being, might be accepted as a disciple.

Vaadavurar taking blessing from guru

Having come down solely to bestow grace on him, Iswara, by his look, immediately gave him jnana upadesa [initiation into true knowledge]. That upadesa took deep roots in Vaadavurar's heart, and gave him indescribable happiness. With folded hands and joyful tears, he performed pradakshina of the Guru, offered salutations, stripped himself of his official dress and ornaments, placed them near the Guru and stood before him dressed only in a kaupina. As he felt like singing in praise of the Guru, he sang some devotional songs, which were like gems. Iswara was pleased, and addressing him as 'Manikkavacakar' [meaning 'one whose speech is gems'] ordered him to remain there worshipping him. Then he vanished.

Fully convinced that He who had blessed him was no other than Iswara, Manikkavacakar was stricken with unbearable grief and fell on the ground weeping and saying, 'Oh, my Lord! Why did you go away leaving me here?' Sometime later, Manikkavacakar acted according to the injunctions of Iswara; sent away his retinue, and instead of purchasing horses for the king, spent all the money he had on the Temple.

The king immediately sent an order to Manikkavacakar to return. But how could he go to the king without the horses? If he wanted to purchase them - where was the money? Not knowing what to do, he prayed to Lord Shiva for help. That night Lord Shiva appeared to him in a dream, gave him a priceless gem and said, 'Give this to the king and tell him the horses will come on the day of the Moola star in the month of Sravana'. Startled by the vision he opened his eyes but the Lord was not there.

On the day of the Moola star, Iswara assumed the guise of a horseman, transformed the jackals of the jungle into horses, and brought them to the king.

Lord in disguise delivering horses to King

The king was astonished and took delivery of the horses and had them tied up at the same place where all his other horses were kept. The same night the new horses changed into their real forms, killed the other horses in the stables, created havoc in the city and fled. The king grew angry, branded Manikkavacakar as a trickster and imprisoned him.

Again the Lord came to the rescue of his devotee, and made the River Vaigai rise in flood and soon much of the area was under water. The king ordered his people to send one man from each family to raise bunds to contain the flood waters. One old woman, a seller of steamed rice rolls, had no male member in her family nor could she hire anyone, as every available man had been engaged already by others. The Lord in the guise of a coolie came and offered to work for her provided she gave as wages the crumbs fallen off the rolls she had cooked..

She agreed and the Lord in the guise of a coolie went to the work-spot and busied himself with loafing about, dozing off on a sand bank or playfully demolishing the work of others under the pretence of helping them. The king arrived to inspect progress and found that the portion allotted to the old woman's hired coolie remained undone. On enquiry, his servants told him of the pranks of the coolie. The king infuriated, called the coolie and said, 'Instead of doing the allotted work, you are lying down and singing'. So saying, he hit the coolie on the back with the cane he had in his hand. The blow recoiled not only on the king but on all living beings and all suffered the pain of the king's blow. The king immediately realised that the man he had beaten was Parameswara in the guise of a coolie. The king was aghast.

Parameswara vanished and a voice from the sky said, 'O King! Manikkavacakar is my beloved devotee. I myself did all this to show you his greatness. Seek his protection.' The King went to Manikkavacakar and requested he accept the rulership of the kingdom. The saint refused and asked to be permitted to go to Perunturai. Both went to Madura to worship the Lord. Manikkavacakar then left for Perunturai. The king renounced everything soon after this and reached the Lord's Abode.

At Perunturai, Manikkavacakar sang highly inspiring songs and prayed that he should see the Lord in the form of the Guru. On the way he visited many shrines and by stages reached Chidambaram. He stayed in a garden near the temple and sang the famous Tiruvacakam. The people of Tillai heard the hymn and enjoyed its bliss

It is at Chidambaram that the Lord takes the Form, of Nataraja, the divine dancer, for the welfare of the world. The object of His dance is to free souls from the fetters of Maya. Inside the temple there is a tank called Siva Jnana Ganga tank. In this tank Hiranyavarman, the son of Manu, took his bath and was cured of leprosy. It is believed that those who take a bath in this sacred tank and then worship Lord Nataraja are purified of all sins.

The Buddhist Gurus declared they would go to Chidambaram and defeat the Saivite in debate and convert the temple into a Buddhist shrine. So saying the Buddhists left for Tillai accompanied by the King and his mute daughter. The Buddhists opened the debate. Manikkavacakar explained the principles of Saivism. The Buddhists could not offer counter-arguments but continued to repeat their arguments! Manikkavacakar prayed to the Lord for help and Devi Saraswathi withdrew Her grace from the Buddhists - who became dumb and were defeated in argument.

The Buddhist king understood Manikkavacakar's greatness and said: "You have made my teacher and all his disciples dumb. If you can make my dumb daughter speak, I and my subjects will embrace Saivism." Manikkavacakar asked him to bring his daughter. He prayed to the Lord for His help and then asked the girl to give proper answers to the questions on Lord Siva. The dumb daughter not only began to speak but gave fitting answers to the questions asked. All were wonder-struck at this miracle and on recognising the superiority of Saivism - embraced it.

One day Lord Siva desired to hear Tiruvacakam from the lips of Manikkavacakar and bestow Moksha on him. He went to Manikkavacakar in the disguise of a Brahmin. Manikkavacakar welcomed the guest with respect and enquired of his needs. Lord Siva in the guise of a Brahmin, told Manikkavacakar: "I want to hear Tiruvacakam from you. I shall write it down, so that I can learn it and with its help free myself from the shackles of Samsara." Manikkavacakar recited the Tiruvacakam. The Brahmin (Lord Siva) wrote it down on palm leaves. Then he suddenly disappeared! At once Manikkavacakar knew that the Brahmin was the Lord Himself.

Tiruvacakam

The Tiruvacakam is the celebrated collection of hymns by the Tamil Saivite poet-saint Manikkavacakar. Together with the shorter poem Tirukkovaiyar, it forms the eighth book of the Tamil Saivite canon Tirumurai. Tiruvacakam contains 51 hymns comprising a total of 3,414 lines. The hymns range in length from eight to 400 lines and show a significant variety of metrical forms, with 14 sub-varieties of meter. The hymns are usually rhythmically recited or sung rather than read.

The work includes some unusual themes. Some have a woman in the role of devotee to the Lord, singing songs appropriate for playing games or doing village chores. One interesting poem is meant to be sung to awaken the divinity in the temple in the morning (a common part of Indian temple ritual). Because of its sacredness, Tiruvacakam has no traditional commentaries attached to it.

Manikkavacakar's most important theme is the shadow of karma, which hovers over all as a spectre. The poet calls to God to remove the bonds of karma and free him. He also speaks of impurity that takes him on the long road; when impurity has been removed, he becomes a slave to Lord Shiva. Most importantly he asks for Shiva's grace to escape the hold of the senses, which lead one to impurity and destruction. Manikkavacakar was wary, as are many renunciants, of the pull of the unrestrained senses.

"When He abode in state in Idaimaruthu and planted thereat the imprint of his Divine feet (on my head)"
Keerththithiruvahaval lines 75-76

The history of the great Manikkavacakar is told in Thiruvadhavur Puranam and Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam. His compositions are Tiruvacakam and Thirukkovaiyar. The day he immersed himself in the Supreme and became one in Lord Shiva is Ani Magam Day.

Manikkavacakar's visit to Tiruvannamalai

Manikkavacakar had been specially commissioned by Shiva to tour the Tamil region and sing songs in His praise. One of the places he visited was Tiruvannamalai, which even in those days was a major Shaiva pilgrimage centre. Manikkavacakar composed two of the Tiruvacakam poems, 'Thiruvempaavai' and 'Thiruvammaanai', on his visit to Tiruvannamalai.

There is a tradition in Tiruvannamalai that both poems were composed while Manikkavacakar was doing pradakshina of Arunachala. A small temple on the pradakshina road in the village of Adi Annamalai is supposed to mark the spot where the two poems were composed and sung.

Manikkavackar Temple, Adi Annamalai

To read the Thiruvempaavai go to this link here

To read the Thiruvammaanai go to this link here

The Tiruvadavuradigal Puranam, a poetic retelling of Manikkavachakar's life, includes the following verses that describe his visit:

After worshipping at that shrine [Tiru-Venney-Nallur],
with love in his heart he departed,
following the righteous path,
passing through the middle lands,
traversing tall forests and mountains,
where lions and fearsome elephants dwelt,
until he drew near to enduring Arunai's city.

When he saw the palaces and gopurams,
the strong walls, decorated with jewels and pearls,
the great gateways festooned with banners,
towering up in the midst
of a cool densely wooded grove,
in a forest of tall areca trees,
he joyfully made obeisance,
experiencing great bliss.

'You [Shiva] who abide in the form of a mountain
which appeared on that day as a column of flame
for the two to seek!
Blissful life which fills our hearts!'
Thus did he worship the Supreme Mountain Lord,
receiving His grace, before proceeding forth
to enter Arunai's prosperous city.

Leaving behind the groves, the city walls,
the streets decorated with many beautiful banners,
and the various shrines of the gods,
and taking the path which led to the holy presence,
he bowed down before the temple of the One
who wears in His locks a kondrai garland,
datura flowers, the moon and the snake,
and then did he perceive the form of Him
who on that day had enslaved him.

'Praise be to the dark-throated One
who swallowed the poison halahala
when Brahma, Vishnu and the rest of the gods,
crying out in distress, appealed to Him for protection!

Praise be to the Mountain of cool ambrosia,
mixed with the milk of green-hued Unnamulai,
which men and gods alike drink down
to cure the overpowering malady of their birth and death!

Praise be to the great ocean of grace of Him
who placed His feet upon my head,
the feet which tall Mal could not see,
though he burrowed deep into the earth
in the form of a powerful boar!

Praise be to the Mountain of burnished gold,
at whose side sits the slender
green-hued form of Unnamulai,
who is the earth's protectress!

Praise be to Him who granted His grace
to the victorious Durga,
when She worshipped Him and begged Him
to absolve Her from the sin
of killing the powerful buffalo-headed demon!

Praise be to the beauteous Lord Annamalai,
who came to me on that day and held me in His sway!'
Thus worshipping and praising the Lord
out of heart-felt love,
he dwelt there for some days.
It was the month of Margazhi,
when, in the ten days before the ardra asterism,
the beautiful maidens go from household to noble household
calling each other out in the early dawn,
just as the darkness is dispersing, and, banding together, go to bathe in the holy tank.

On observing their noble qualities he sang the immortal hymn 'Thiruvempaavai' which is composed as if sung by the maidens themselves. Later, seeing them dance and sing

Thereafter Manikkavacakar moved from one place to another, singing and composing devotional songs. Finally, he settled in Chidambaram. His Tiruvacakam is placed near the idol of Shiva there. Several verses of Tiruvacakam are also engraved in the walls of the Chidambaram temple.

Margazhi Month of Bhakti and Music

The Tamil Month of Margazhi is known as one of bhakti and music during which there are recitations, chanting, singing and spiritual readings conducted at Arunachaleswarar Temple and throughout Tamil Nadu. In particular the music of Manikkavasagar's Thiruvempaavai is celebrated during this month.

"There is a festival in winter in which devotees go to their Shiva temple very early in the morning to sing songs to Shiva in order to wake him up. In 'Thiruvempaavai' young girls move from house to house, waking up their friends, and encouraging them to come to the temple to perform this rite. Though, ostensibly, it is merely a poem about young girls encouraging each other to go and worship Shiva, their trips to the temple are interpreted to be emblematic of the soul's journey towards union with Shiva. It is thus a poem which encourages enthusiasm for the ultimate pilgrimage that culminates in the experience of Shiva."
[G. Vanmikanathan]

Ladies praying at Navagraha outside Mother's Shrine, Big Temple

Ladies lighting Deepam outside Mother's Shrine

Pundit giving recitation at Big Temple compound

Prayers and Recitations throughout Margazhi Month

Joyful Song of the Lord

Manikkavacakar led a life dedicated to Shiva worship and visited shrines of Shiva throughout what is now Tamil Nadu. His devotional Tamil songs, praising his Guru, Lord Siva and His Grace which changed his life from worldly to divine were compiled into a single form and named as Tiruvacakam.

There are many autobiographical remarks in the Tiruvacakam with reference to the Guru-disciple relationship. This relationship turned afterwards into that of lover and beloved - with Manikkavacakar as the bride of Lord Siva and where he speaks of the stripping of his soul when united to Siva.

"The Tiruvacakam relates an autobiographical story of the different stages of Manikavacakar's spiritual life and experience which ultimately enable him to attain bliss ineffable and eternal. It is a torrential outflow of ardent religious feelings and emotions in rapturous songs and melodies. The work may be regarded as a convenient handbook on mystical theology."

[Ramachandra Deekshithar]

There is a common saying that "Those hearts melted not to Tiruvacakam would melt to no other Vachakam". Tiruvacakam, particularly, the very first decad 'The Civapuranam' is daily sung in Temples and homes throughout Tamil Nadu.

Thiruvathirai Festival at Arunachaleswarar Temple

Thiruvathirai ('sacred big wave' which refers to the creation of the Universe by Lord Siva) is yearly observed in Tamil Nadu Saivite temples. The Festival takes place on the full moon night of the Tamil month Margazhi (December - January) which is the longest night of the year. Historical evidence show that the Festival has been observed on this day for more than 1500 years and celebrates the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva as is represented by the form of Nataraja. Arudhra (Thiruvathirai in Tamil) signifies 'golden red flame' and Lord Shiva performs the dance engulfed by His red-flamed light.

For the first nine days of the Festival the statue of Saint Manikkavacakar is taken from its place near the Siva Sannidhi Shrine, and brought out in procession around the Big Temple's maha veedhis (four perimeter streets).

Manikkavacakar was a poet of the Hindu bhakti revival movement and his work forms one volume of the Tirumurai, the key religious text of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. His hymns are a poetic expression of the joy of God-experience and the anguish of being separated from the Lord. This great saint aided the spiritual and religious revival of Hinduism and is revered as one of the four Nalvars of Shaivism who took birth in the world to show the path of elevating oneself to the Supreme Shiva.

Manikkavacakar's hymns of the Tiruvacakam (particularly the hymn Thiruvempaavai) are chanted in temples.

Gods exiting 1000 Pillar Hall

Lord Nataraja to perform procession around Temple

On the very day of Thiruvathirai the idols of Nataraja (Lord Shiva) and his consort Shivagami (Parvati) join Manikkavacakar in a procession around Arunachaleswarar Temple. It is one of the major events in almost all Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu.

Manikkavacakar Hymns

Abridged from Hymns of the Tamil Saivite Saints, by F. Kingsbury and G.P. Phillips, [1921]

In the days when the powerful Pandyan Kings flourished in Madura, there was once a prime minister who became convinced of the transitoriness of this world's life and its riches. When on a visit to Perundurai, now Avudaiyarkoil in the Tanjore District, he suddenly and completely came under the influence of a Brahman religious teacher, who for him was the manifestation of the very God Himself. Then and there he began to sing the "Sacred Utterance" (Tiruvasaham), and was named by his preceptor "Utterer of Jewels" (Manikka Vasahar). Returning to Madura, he forsook his high office with all its rewards, to become a religious poet wandering without earthly attachments from shrine to shrine.

The stories clustering around his religious experience can be read by English readers in Dr. Pope's great edition of his work. We find him practising austerities at Chidambaram, or miraculously giving the gift of speech to the dumb daughter of the Chola king, or defeating in disputation a band of Buddhists from Ceylon, but of certain historical information about him we have practically none. Even the question of the century in which he lived is a battleground of the antiquarians. Tradition places him in the fifth century, earlier than the writers of the Devaram; but the opinion of scholars seems to be converging on the view that he lived in the latter half of the ninth, or the first half of the tenth century of our era. Another of his works is the Tirukkovaiyar, an erotic poem of four hundred stanzas. Among Tamil Saivite writers none makes a stronger devotional appeal than Manikka Vasahar. There is a common Tamil saying that nothing can melt the heart of the man who is not melted by the Tiruvasaham.

Stanzas 80-92 are samples from an opening poem of one hundred stanzas, each ten of which has its own metre and is fairly complete in itself. They fairly reflect the saint's varying moods. Notice the importance he attaches to emotion; his worst self-reproach is for feeling no frenzy. As to his conception of God, see how the word 'grace' recurs in nearly every stanza. And yet that God of grace is called (in No. 84) both being and non-existence.

The Hundred Verses

80. Thrills and trembles my frame;
Hands are lifted on high;
Here at Thy fragrant feet,
Sobbing and weeping I cry;
Falsehood forsaking, I shout,
"Victory, victory, praise!
Lord of my life, these clasped hands
Worship shall bring Thee always.

81. Indra or Vishnu or Brahma,
Their divine bliss crave not I;
I seek the love of Thy saints,
Though my house perish thereby.
To the worst hell I will go,
So but Thy grace be with me.
Best of all, how could my heart
Think of a god beside Thee?

82. Though like Thy saints I seem, 'tis but the acting
of a part.
Yet wondrous swift I run to reach the heaven
where Thou art.
O hill of gold and precious gems, grant in Thy
grace to me
A heart to melt, lord of my life, in ceaseless
ove to Thee.

83. I have no fear of births, but quake at thought that
I must die.
E'en heav'n to me were naught; for earth's whole
empire what care I?
O Siva wreathed with honeyed blossoms, "When
shall come the morn
When Thou wilt grant Thy grace to me?" I cry
with anguish torn.

84. The sky, earth, wind, the light, our very flesh and
life art Thou,
Being art Thou, non-being too, Thou king, who
see'st how
Men dance like puppets with their foolish thoughts
of 'I' and 'Mine,'
While Thou the cords dost pull. What words can
tell Thy praise divine?

85. At sound of cries like this, "O Bull-rider whose
spreading hair
The falling stream receives! "Heaven's Lord," true
devotees there were,
Whose love-thrilled heart broke forth, like stopped-
up rivers rushing down.
Yet Thou didst choose no one of them, but me to
be Thine own.
And yet my body will not turn from heel to head
one heart
To melt in love for Thee, one eye to shed the tears
that smart
In swelling floods. Ah! wretched that I am, who
only moan!
My two eyes are unfeeling wood, my heart a great
dead stone!
86. Amid the fruits of deeds I lay. Thou didst thy-
self reveal
With words of comfort saying "Come, I will de-
struction deal
To evil fruit of deeds," and thus thou mad'st me
all Thy slave.
And yet I stand as if a statue made of steel, nor
rave,
Nor sing, nor cry, nor wail - woe's me - nor in my
spirit faint
With deep desire, so dull am I. O being ancient,
Thou art beginning, Thou art end: tell me, how
can I be
So dead at heart? The end if this I do not dare
to see.

87. Him though men seek, none fully know; in Him
no evil is.
None are His kindred; knowledge perfect, effort-
less is His.
A cur am I, yet He hath giv'n to me in sight
of men
A place on earth, and shewed me things far beyond
mortal ken.
He told me what no ears can hear; from future
births He sav'd.
Such magic wrought my Lord who me hath lovingly
enslaved.

88. Our God of gods, whom e'en the devas' king knows
but in part,
Ruleth the three who in the fair world-gardens life
impart,
And life maintain, and life destroy; our First,
Reality,
Father of old, whose consort Uma is, our sovereign,
He
Came down in grace and made e'en me to be His
very own.
Henceforth before no man I bow; I fear but Him
alone.
Now of His servants' servants I have joined the
sacred throng,
And ever more and more I'll bathe in bliss. with
dance and song.

89. The meanest cur am I; I know not how to do the
right;
'Twere but what I deserve, should'st Thou my
wickedness requite
With the dread fate of those who never saw Thy
flowery feet;
For though mine eyes have seen, my ears have
heard saints guileless, meet,
Who reached Thy fragrant presence, yet I stay, for
false am I,
Fit for naught save to eat and dress, Lion of victory.

90. None but myself has sunk myself. Thy name be
ever praised!
No blame lay I on Thee, lauds to my Master be
upraised!
Yet to forgive is aye a mark of greatness. Praise
to Thee!
Lord of the land celestial, Praise! O end this life
for me.

91. The fawn-eyed maid is part of Thee! From
holy writ Thou'rt hid!
Thou'rt honey, yea ambrosia, by man's mind not
compassed.
O king who bearest with my faults, some harsh
words did I say.
Thy saints have entered heaven. Without, false-
hood and I still stay.

92. Since I am false, and false my heart, and false my
very love,
Howe'er I weep, still held by deed can I reach
Thee above?
O honey, nectar, O essential sweetness, great as
sweet,
Grant grace to me to find the path that leads unto
Thy feet.

93. Heav'n, earth, and all that therein is, thou makest
without seed.
Thou dost preserve and Thou destroy. 'Tis Thou
who hast decreed
That I though treacherous, mean, should be a man
who frenzied faints
Before Thy temple gates, one with the band of
Thy true saints.
What men themselves have planted, e'en a poison-
ous mango tree,
They root not up. O Lord of mine, as such a
tree keep me.

Our next five stanzas, taken from a hymn of fifty, are full of the pathos expressed in the title, which is a refrain recurring in every verse. Only flashes of the light of the presence of God pierce the prevailing gloom. The saint cannot free himself from sensuality, even while he hates it. He wonders whether even the God who drank poison for others' sake will leave him alone.

Wilt thou leave me?

94. Mingling in grace with me, O rider of the bull,
Thou mad'st me Thine.
But wilt Thou leave me? Thou whose form in
the fierce tiger's skin is clad,
Uttarakosamangai old has Thee for king. O lord
of mine
With matted hair, hold Thou me up; for I am
weary grown and sad.

95. Set in the marge of flowing stream that eats its
banks away, the tree
Shakes to its fall; and thus am I, my sense
bewitch'd by maids' dark eyes.
Uttarakosamangai's king, spouse of gem-vested
Parvati,
Who dwell'st in Arur holy, O protector, for my
help arise.

96. In ignorance I spurned thy grace. Dost Thou,
my gem, now me despise,
And wilt thou leave me? O destroy my sum of
deeds and make me thine.
Uttarakosamangai's king, 'tis surely true, the
great and wise,
When only little curs play false,
to mercy ever will incline.

97. With none to cheer me from my fear, far have I
wandered wearily,
O Lightning-like, and wilt Thou leave me? If I
truly thee compare,
Uttarakosamamgai's king, I find naught else resem-
bling Thee;
But a true father, mother dear art Thou to me,
my treasure rare.

98. Whether I praise or curse Thee, still I'm stained
with sin and sorrowing.
Yet, wilt Thou leave me? Splendour shining
like the red-hued coral mount,
Master, thou drankest poison black, the humbler
beings pitying,
That I, Thy meanest one, might find no poison,
but a nectar fount.

Our poet made songs which maidens might sing in their rhythmical games, or as they sat at the grinding-stone. In India the boatman sings as he rows, the ryot sings as he draws from the well, the sepoy sings on his march. A feature of such songs is the refrain, which is usually a mere collection of euphonic syllables, though it may have a meaning. Here are specimens of a few songs intended for women. The refrain of the first, "Elorembavay" probably means "Receive and ponder what I say, O lady." The Grinding song, strangely enough, is used at funerals, as also is the 'Antiphony.' The song of 'The Three Castles' Destruction' is supposed to accompany play with a ball or a kind of shuttle called 'undī.' 'The Shoulder-Play' is for some ancient game in which women grasped each other's shoulders.

Song of the Maiden

99. Older are Thou than the oldest of all,
Newest of all that is new.
At Thy saints' feet we in service will fall,
We are Thy handmaidens true.
None but Thy bondsmen shall call us their own;
Lord, we would none others wed;
We would be slaves at their bidding alone:
So be our bliss perfected.
Elorembavay.

100. "Sure for Thy child there is refuge with Thee,"
Trembling we take up the cry.
Hear, O our Lord, while we bring Thee one plea,
Grant but one boon for our joy.
May only Thy lovers rest on our breast,
Let our hands' labour be theirs.
Only on such our eyes night and day rest,
Then sun rise west, east, who cares?
Elorembavay.

The Grinding Stone

101. Grind we the powder gold, that He may bathe;
For He is Scripture, He is sacrifice;
He's being's truth, and being's falsehood too;
Light is He, yea, and He is darkness deep;
He is deep sorrow, and true bliss is He;
He is the half, and He again the whole;
Bondage is He, but He is true release;
He is the alpha, He the omega.

SIVA'S MYSTERIES (An Antiphony)

102. "His form is smeared with ashes white; the
snake His strange adornment is;
The secret scriptures utters He: what kind of
god, my friend, is this?
"Why talk of ash-smear, holy speech, adornment
strange? This only know,
This god, of every living thing is the true
nature. Chalalo."

103. "My father and my master, He of all men Lord
supreme, is clad
With but a hanging loin-cloth stitched; pray
tell me, friend, is He not mad?
"The Vedas four with meaning fraught, the
everlasting Sastras, know
That these are but the threads whereof is wove
His loin-cloth. Chalalo."

104. The burning-ground's His temple fine; the
tiger's skin His raiment is;
Father or mother hath He none; He's all alone;
my friend, see this.''
"Though He no parents hath, no kin, yet
should His anger kindle, lo,
The whole wide world would straightway turn
to dust and ashes. Chalalo."

105. "Though I am but a cur, yet when I turned to
Him who hath no end,
Into a sea of bliss He made me sink o'erwhelmed;
see this, my friend."
"Those holy feet that sank thee in the sea of
bliss o'erwhelmed, know,
E'en to the very gods in heav'n they're richest
treasure. Chalalo."

The three castles destruction

106. Bent was the bow, begun the fight,
The castles three were 'whelmed quite, (Fly, undī)
Three castles blazing with one light. (Fly, undī)

107. One bolt in Siva's hand saw we,
One single bolt for castles three, (Fly, undī)
And e'en that one scarce needed He. (Fly, undī)

108. Cleft lay the car at His foot's tread,
The axle was all shatterEd, (Fly, undī)
Three castles ruined lay and dead. (Fly, undī)

The Shoulder Play

109. Poor slave was I, how long I poured out all my
days for naught,
To Him the all-supreme no homage rendering!
Yet see,
How He, the jewel from eternal ages incorrupt,
Has come and drawn the prison-bolt of births,
and set me free.
Play we Tonokkam

In the poetry of all lands, lovers have appealed to birds to be their messengers to the distant loved one. This is so common in Indian poetry as to have become a recognised convention. Here the saint sends his message of love and devotion, in one case by a humming bee, in the other by the Indian cuckoo, to Siva who dwells in Tillai, i.e. Chidambaram.

The Bee's Message

110. Hard-hearted thief, stiff-necked was I, but no such
name He called me;
My stony heart He melted, and by mercy He
enthralled me.
The swans abound in Tillai's lovely hall of gold,
His dwelling.
Fly, king of bees, at His gold anklets hum, my
message telling.

111. Cur though I am, my lord has set me His great
glory singing;
To me, the mad, His patient grace is aye forgive-
ness bringing;
Scorning me not, He deigns to take the service
can do Him.
Mother and God. Go, king of bees, hum thou my
message to Him.

112. Far would my heart and mind have gone from
Him, but He compelled me,
The lord with tangled locks, and His fair spouse,
they saved and held me.
He is the sky, the mighty sea, east, west, north,
south, indwelling.
His feet with honey drop. There, king of bees,
my praise be telling.

113. In this world's treasure false immersed lay I, and
self-deceived,
Held it for treasure true, but for His own He me
received.
My precious life itself is He, in Tillai's hall
abiding.
Go, king of bees, at His red lotus feet my words
confiding.

The Cuckoo's Errand

114. Hear, little cuckoo in the honey'd orchard groves.
Heav'n did He spurn; to save us men, to earth
He came,
Boundless in giving, reeking naught of flesh of
mine,
Entered my mind, and there my very thought
became.
He, the alone, the spouse of her whose pure eye's
ray
Shames the gazelle in softness, call Him hither,
pray.

One of the rituals involved in idolatry is that every morning with solemn ceremony the idol must be wakened from his sleep, bathed, and dressed. Here is a song with which he is roused from slumber. But notice how successfully our author has filled his poem with the fresh morning feeling, and the sights and sounds of the sudden break of the Indian dawn.

The Idol's Awakening

115. Hail to Thee, treasure rare,
Source of all prosperity,
Dawn has come, at Thy feet,
Flowers themselves, fair flowers lay we.
Praising Thee, we await
Smiles that blossom fair and sweet
In Thy face, as we fall
Prone adoring at Thy feet.
Siva, Lord, dweller in
Perunduṛai, where expand
Lotus flowers, petalled white,
In the cool moist pasture land,
Thou whose flag is the bull,
Thou the Lord of all my ways,
Now O Lord of us all,
From Thy couch rise in Thy grace.

116. Now anigh Indra's East
Draws the sun; dark flies apace
At the dawn; and the sun
Of the kindness in Thy face
Riseth high'r, ever high'r,
As like fair flowers opening,
Eyes unclose from their sleep,
Eyes of Thee our beauteous king.
Hear how now clouds of bees
Humming bright fill all the air.
Siva, Lord, dweller in
Holy Perunduṛai fair,
Thou wilt come to bestow
Favours rich, Oh shew Thy face!
Mountain-joy, ocean-bliss,
From Thy couch rise in Thy grace.

117. Cocks now crow to the morn,
While the cuckoos loudly call;
Little birds sweetly sing,
And the conch-shell sounds o'er all;
Light of stars fades away
Into common light of day;
Dawn and sun come as one,
Now to us, O God, display
In Thy love Thy twin feet,
Gracious, decked with anklets rare.
Siva, Lord, dweller in Holy Perunduṛai fair,
Hard for all men to find,
Yet to me Thou shewedst Thy face.
Now O Lord of us all,
From Thy couch rise in Thy grace.

118. On this side some men play
Lutes and vīṇas sweet of sound;
On that side some men chant
Ancient Rik, their songs resound;
In their hands some have brought
Wreaths of many blossoms wove;
Some bow down, some men weep,
Some men sway, o'ercome by love;
Clasping hands o'er their heads,
Others stand with reverent air;
Siva, Lord, dweller in
Holy Perunduṛai fair,
Even me didst thou save;
Sweet to me have been Thy ways.
Now, O Lord of us all,
From Thy couch rise in Thy grace.

The rest of our specimens of the 'Holy Utterances' may be left to explain themselves without comment, save for a single line of title. Where two or more stanzas are given from a poem, the title here given is a translation from the Tamil.

Only with Thee and Thy Saints

119. Our lady aye is in Thy heart,
As Thou in hers; and if ye both
In mine do dwell, grant me a part
Among your slaves, O ever First.
Unending lord, in Tillai's hall who dost abide,
Let this deep yearning of my soul be satisfied.

What can I give Thee?

120. Thou gav'st Thyself, Thou gained'st me;
Which did the better bargain drive?
Bliss found I in infinity;
But what didst Thou from me derive?
O Siva,. Perunduṛai's God,
My mind Thou tookest for Thy shrine:
My very body's Thine abode:
What can I give Thee, Lord, of mine?

Passions's Pain

121. Caught am I in passion's snare from women's
liquid eyes;
Stabbed at heart, a cur. O wisdom's light,
no aid I see.
Only lord, whose lady's feet are softer than the
down,
How I long to hear Thy coral lips speak cheer
to me.

Longings for Death

122. Our lord supreme, both earth and heav'n indwelling,
See how I have no other help but Thee.
Thou king of Siva's world, bright beyond telling,
Dweller in Perunduṛai, look on me.
Who'll hear my cry, who list to my complaining,
If Thou Thy grace deny, who saved'st me?
I find in sea-girt earth no joy remaining.
Now let Thy grace speak, bid me come to Thee.

123. In Thee she dwells whose feet than down are softer;
See how I have no other help but Thee.
Thou king of Siva's world, my gracious master,
Dweller in Perunduṛai, look on me.
Fear holds me; for, in dark confusion godless,
I did forget the grace that savèd me.
Dog and deceitful am I. Life is joyless.
Now let Thy grace speak, bid me come to Thee.

124. In Thee she dwells whose ancient praise is faultless;
See how I have no other help but Thee.
Thou king of Siva's world, the bright moon wearing,
Dweller in Perunduṛai, look on me.
Whom save Thee could I worship with my praises?
Can any other refuge give for me?
O Rider of the bull, my life is joyless.
Now let Thy grace speak, bid me come to Thee.

The Balancing of Deeds

125. O lord of Perunduṛai, place of peace,
To them who call Thy name, beyond compare
True joy art Thou. Thou mad'st my woe to
cease
When good and ill deeds done were balanced fair.
Then lest unwith'ring seeds of birth should
grow,
In Kal̤ukunḍu Thy fair self didst shew.

Life's Consuming

126. Myself I cannot understand, nor what is day nor
night;
He who both word and thought transcends has
reft my senses quite,
He who for bull has Vishṇu, and in Perunduṛai
dwells,
O Light supreme, in Brāhman guise has cast on
me strange spells.

127. I ask not fame, wealth, earth or heav'n. No
birth, no death for me.
None will I touch who love not Siva. Now 'tis
mine to see
Abiding Perunduṛai, wear the King's foot as my
crown;
Never will I leave this His shrine, nor let Him
leave His own.

128. Art Thou like honey on the branch too high for
me to climb?
Or art Thou nectar ocean-churned? O Hara,
King sublime,
In Perunduṛai, circled with moist fields, I can see
Thee
With form ash-smeared, the spotless. Can I bear
my ecstasy?

129. Many in this great earth who live do penance; I
alone
Bearing this frame of flesh, a barren jungle-tree
have grown.
Dweller in Perundurai old where blooms the
kondai tree,
May I the sinner cry "Wilt Thou not grant
Thyself to me"?

Pious Fear

130. I fear not serpents lurking smooth;
I fear no liars' feignèd truth;
But when I see fools venturing
E'en to the foot of Him our king,
Our three-eyed Lord with matted hair,
Of His great godhead unaware,
Fools thinking other gods can be,
Terror such sight inspires in me.

131. I fear no javelin's gory blade;
Nor sidelong glance of bangled maid;
But when I see men void of grace
Drinking no sweetness from the praise
Of my unchiselled Gem, whose dance
In Tillai's hail is seen, whose glance
Melts men's whole frame in ecstasy
Terror such sight inspires in me.

I cling to Thee

132. King of the heavenly ones! All-filling Excellence!
E'en to vile me Thou Thy wonders hast shown;
Balm of true bliss, ending false earthly bliss of
sense,
Thou my whole household did'st take for Thine
own.
Meaning of holy writ! Wondrous Thy glory!
True wealth, our Siva, to Thee, Lord, I cling.
Never to loose my hold, firmly I cling to Thee;
Where canst Thou go, leaving me sorrowing?

133. King of celestial ones, ever with bull for steed,
Evil am I, yet my riches art Thou;
Lest I should rot in my foul flesh, and die indeed,
Thou hast preserved me, and Thine am I now.
Thou art our God; Thou of grace art a boundless
sea,
Saved from my flesh, now to Thee, Lord, I cling.
Never to let Thee loose, firmly I cling to Thee;
Where can'st Thou go, leaving me sorrowing?

134. Thou dids't come into my vile fleshly body,
E'en as 'twere into some great golden shrine;
Soft'ning and melting it all, Thou hast savèd me,
Lord condescending, Thou gem all divine!
Sorrow and birth, death, all ties that deceivèd me,
Thou did'st remove, all my bonds severing;
True bliss, our kindly Light, firmly I cling to
Thee;
Where canst Thou go leaving me sorrowing?

Naught but Thy Love

135. I ask not kin, nor name, nor place,
Nor learnèd men's society.
Men's lore for me no value has;
Kuttalam's lord, I come to Thee.
Wilt thou one boon on me bestow,
A heart to melt in longing sweet,
As yearns o'er new-horn calf the cow,
In yearning for Thy sacred feet?

Longing for Union

136. I had no virtue, penance, knowledge, self-control.
A doll to turn
At others' will I danced, whirled, fell. But me
He filled in every limb
With love's mad longing, and that I might climb
there whence is no return,
He shewed His beauty, made me His. Ah me,
when shall I go to Him?

The Wonder of Grace

137. Fool's friend was I, none such may know
The way of freedom; yet to me
He shew'd the path of love, that so
Fruit of past deeds might ended be.
Cleansing my mind so foul, He made me like
a god.
Ah who could win that which the Father hath
bestowed?

138. Thinking it right, sin's path I trod;
But, so that I such paths might leave,
And find His grace, the dancing God,
Who far beyond our thought doth live,
O wonder passing great! - to me His dancing
shewed.
Ah who could win that which the Father hath
bestowed?