Manickavasagar - Jijnasu Ananya Bhaktha

உளையா அன்பு என்பு உருக ஓலமிட்டு

அலைகடல் திரையினார்த்து ஆர்த்தோங்கித்

தலை தடுமாறா வீழ்ந்து புரண்டலறிப்

பித்தரின் மயங்கி மத்தரின் மதித்து

நாட்டவர் மருளவும் கேட்டவர் வியப்பவும்ங்

கடக்களிறேற்றாத்  தடப்பெரு மதத்தின்

ஆற்றேன் ஆக அவயவம் சுவைதரு

கோற்றேன் கொண்டு செய்தனன்.

Thinking of your unsolicited love I cried loudly until even my bones melted. My loud cry is like the roar of the waves in a raging sea. And like the waves I roll around and cry.  I lose control over senses like one possessed and gone mad.  Those who saw me were shocked and those who heard about me were surprised.  I am like the mad elephant struggling with its keeper who is trying to mount it to control it.   This intoxicating love is pervading my whole body and make it feel sweet all over as if honey is flowing through all the veins of my body.

The above is how Manickavasagar felt when he was soaked in Sivananda, after the Deeksha received from the Lord himself, as told in his own words in Thiruvandappahuthi of Tiruvachagam.  This flood of ecstatic emotion of love for divine is called Mahabhava, a superior state in Para Bhakthi, which some ananya bhakthas only attain at times, like  Sri Ramakrishna Parmahamsa and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in recent times.  This Mahabhava is described in sutras 6 of Narada Bhakthi sutras, as quoted below:

यज्ज्ञात्वा मत्तो भवति स्तब्धो भवति आत्मारामो भवति ॥ (yanjnyaatva maththo bhavathi, sthabdho bhavathi athmaramo bhavathi i.e. knowing which one becomes intoxicated, ecstatic and enjoys bliss in the Self)

We shall now see under what circumstances Manickavasagar who had been a Jijnasu bhaktha blossomed into an ananya bhaktha experiencing Mahabhava. 

Manickavasagar was born in a pious Amatya Telugu Brahmin family, devoted to Lord Siva, who lived in Tiruvadavoor, near Madurai. Amatya Brahmins are ones who were engaged in other than priestly jobs, as compared to Vaidhik Brahmins who served as priests.  His original name is not known and he is referred to by his place of birth as Vadavoorar and we will be also using this name.  Vadavoorar was pious and brilliant as a student and he was also interested in the study of scriptures.  His scholarship, brilliance and pious disposition attracted the attention of King Arimardhana Pandian, who employed him as his minister and also honoured him with the title, “Thennavan Brahmarayan”.  He served the king faithfully but at the same time he was also looking for a right Guru who can guide him further in his quest for liberation. 

On one occasion, the king sent him with money for purchase of high quality horses that were coming from Arabia to his coastal town.  Vadavoorar offering worship in the temples on the way proceeded on his mission.  In the town of Tiruperundurai, he passed a Saivite saint seated with his disciples under a tree, near the temple.  He was attracted to the saint like a magnet, and when he went closer, he instinctively felt, that saint was the Guru he was looking for.  He fell at his feet seeking acceptance as a disciple.  The sage initiated him with the Mantra “Shivaya nama” and his touch electrified Vadavoorar who now sang at his feet Sivapuranam starting with Nama Shivaya. The sage now christened him as Manickavasagar for singing gem of a hymn with sparkling ruby-like words.  When Manickavasagar wanted to stay with him as his disciple, he said he should bide his time for that and asked him to attend to renovation of the temple there and disappeared.

Immediately Manickavasagar realised it was Lord Himself who had come as an ascetic to be his Guru and bless him with Deeksha Mantra.  He was transported into an ecstatic state which he later described in Thiruvandappahuthi, a portion of which we saw in the beginning.  When he became normal he was a transformed person. He forgot all about the king and horses and devoted his time and mind in renovating the temple and feeding the devotees of Siva.  In that process he spent all the money that the king gave for the purchase of the horses.  The king hearing about his activities in Tiruperundurai was upset and summoned him to the court and asked when the horses are coming.  Manickavasagar had a flash in the mind and on that basis told the king that they will be arriving in Madurai on Avani Moolam day.  When there was no sign of the horses anywhere in the kingdom even two days prior to Avani Moolam day the king ordered his minister to be jailed for dereliction of duty and misappropriation of funds.  Manickavasagar made no protests and endured the torture in the jail with indifference to pain and discomfort, immersed in thoughts of the Lord. On the Avani Moolam day the horses arrived led by a handsome young horseman with imperial looks.  The king was greatly impressed and after the horseman left, he met Manickavasagar in the prison and apologised for doubting him and released him.  Manickavasagar knew that it was Lord’s leela and took the king’s apology in its stride as he took his earlier wrath and incarceration, neither depressed then nor elated now.

That night the horses turned into jackals and howling loudly attacked and killed the other horses in the stable and then ran away.  The king was furious at this turn of events.  Raging with anger that Manickavasagar had played a trick on him, he ordered his arrest and torture. He was made to stand barefoot on hot sand-bed of Vaigai in the scorching heat of midday Sun carrying a heavy boulder on the head.  Unperturbed Manickavasagar stood in hot sands, carrying the big boulder on the head thinking of the Lord and chanting His name, surrendering himself to His will.  Suddenly there were heavy floods in the river and flood waters entered the town all over. The king ordered the river bank to be raised and each family was ordered to send one able-bodied member for this work.

There was an old lady in the town who lived all alone and who was a great devotee of the Lord. She earned her living by making and selling puttu.  There was no family member she could send nor had she money to hire a person. Fearing the punishment that maybe inflicted for not being able to depute a person, she prayed to Lord for help. As she was praying, an able-bodied young man came to her and offered to help in return for puttu.  She gladly gave him fresh puttu and he went to work on her behalf.  But he did not concentrate on the work.  He was singing, dancing and resting, in between short spells of work and disturbing others as well with his song and dance.  The king, who was inspecting the work, saw this and got angry. He hit him with a stick.

The young man disappeared  but the blow was felt by all including the king and the flood also subsided as suddenly as it came.  Then the king realized that the horses turning into foxes earlier and the sudden floods now are all Lord’s work only and that Lord Himself had come as horseman earlier and now as a young man, to reveal to king, his devotee’s greatness.  He repented his treatment of Manickavasagar, rushed to him and setting him free, fell at his feet seeking his forgiveness for inflicting punishment on him not knowing his greatness.  Manickavasagar merely said it is all Lord’s leela only and wanted to be relieved of the ministership to fully devote himself to Lord.  The king agreed and Manickavasagar left on a pilgrimage to various shrines of Siva before settling finally in Chidambaram. 

Hearing about the glory of Chidambaram from a devotee of Lord Siva, the chief Buddhist monk in the court of the king of Sri Lanka boasted to the king that he will go to Chidambaram and establish the supremacy of Buddhist doctrines there and win those Saivites to Buddhism.  The king also accompanied the monk with his dumb daughter to Chidambaram.   When the Buddhist monk came and challenged the priests for a debate on respective philosophies, they agreed and deputed Manickavasagar to represent them, as earlier Lord had appeared in their dreams and asked them to depute Manickavasagar to argue on their behalf.  In the course of debate, unable to stand the monk’s denigration of Saivam with blatant lies, Manickavasagar prayed to Saraswathy Devi to stop this tirade.  Suddenly the flow of words from monk’s mouth ceased and he sat there dumbstruck unable to utter a word. The King realizing Manickavasagar’s greatness pleaded with him to make his daughter speak.  Manickavasagar again prayed to Saraswathy Devi to bless the king’s daughter with speech.  Then the little girl not only started to speak but also cogently and convincingly started exposing Monk’s lies and false arguments.  Now the king along with the monk changed to Saivam. Manickavasagar then prayed to Saraswathy Devi for forgiveness of the monk and he got back his speech. 

Manickavasagar had not recorded his hymns of Tiruvachakam .  One day an elderly Brahmin approached him and requested him to recite the hymns of Tiruvachagam so that he could record them and read them repeatedly to get freed from the shackles of samsara. Manickavasagar started singing for him his entire work of Tiruvachakam.  The day passed into night and that too passed as Manickavasagar lost himself  in singing.  Even after it was over, he was in a state of trance and did not notice the Brahmin collecting the palm leaves and leaving. The next morning when the temple doors were opened the priests found a bundle of palm leaves wherein was written “ As recited by Manickavasagar. Tiruchitrambalam Udayan”  They took them to Manickavasagar to ask who wrote that.  Manickavasagar came out of the trance when he saw them and guessed it was Lord Himself who came as a Brahmin to record his works.  He led them back to the temple.  There he stood before the shrine, pointed at the Lord and said  “There is the answer to your query” and  merged into the Lord. 

Along with Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar, Manickavasagar is revered as one of the four spiritual leaders of Saivam.  Their works constitute the first eight volumes of Panniru Thirumurai.  But the songs of Appar , Sambandar and Sundarar together are called Thevaram and their life history also figures in Sekkilar’s Peria puranam,  while Manickavasagar’s life story is gleaned from Thiruvilaydal puranam and Vadavoorar puranam.  Appar lived from later part of sixth century to the middle of seventh century.  Sambandar, who was a contemporary of Appar lived in early part of seventh century.   Sundarar’s time is much later than these two but much earlier to  Manickavasagar’s time.  So Sundarar did not refer to him in his work, Thiruthondathogai  and  Periya puranam which is based on Sundarar’s work also did not contain Manickavasagar’s life story, runs one school of thought.

Manickavasagar’s path of Bhakthi is said to be Sanmarga i.e. as of a Bhaktha to God.   While serving as minister he was a jijnasu bhaktha seeking a Guru for guidance to get Jnanam for liberation and so he is called jijnasu ananya bhaktha.  After he was blessed with Jnanam by Lord Himself through  Deeksha in Tiruperundurai,  Manickavasagar’s attitude changed to one of total surrender, with no “my, mine” feeling and with no feeling of himself as doer or enjoyer. This can be seen from his following  simple song which needs no explanation:

அன்றே என் ஆவியும்

உடலும் உடைமை எல்லாமும்

குன்றேயானையாய் என்னை

ஆட்கொண்டபோதே கொண்டிலையோ

இன்று ஓர் இடையூறு எனக்குண்டோ

எண்தோள் முக்கண் எம்மானே

நன்றே செய்வாய் பிழை செய்வாய்

நானோ இதற்கு நாயகமே.                (குழைத்த பத்து – 7)

---------------------------