மாசில் வீணையும் மாலை மதியமும்
வீசு தென்றலும் வீங்கிள வேனிலும்
மூசு வண்டறை பொய்கையும் போன்றதே
ஈசன் எந்தை இணையடி நீழலே.
The flowing Grace from
incomparable feet of the Lord is like the melodious music flowing from Veena, refreshing
chillness of the evening moon, soothing touch of the gentle breeze,
exhilarating joy of early spring and charming sight of a lake with humming bees
circling swaying flowers, all rolled into one.
The
above song was not sung by a lakeside on a cool spring evening with the moon in
the sky and music in the air but sung by Thirunavukkarasar as he emerged out of
burning-hot lime kiln alive after a lock-up for seven days. As Lord had kept him comfortable through that
ordeal, as we see from the song, he must be an ananya bhaktha alright, but
why the suffix aartha? That we
shall see briefly in this blog.
The original name of Thirunavukkarasar was Marul Neekkiyar. He was born in a devout saivite family in
Thiruvamur. He had an elder sister by
name Thilakavathyar who was a few years older than him. When Thilakavathyar attained age twelve her
parents arranged marriage for her with Kalippakaiyar who was a commander in the
army. Before the marriage could be celebrated war broke out and Kalippakaiyar
had to leave for the front. As the war
was going on Thilakavathyar’s father succumbed to a serious illness and her
mother also followed him unable to bear the shock of his death. Before she could
recover from parents’ loss came the news from the battlefield
that Kalippakaiyar had attained a martyr’s death in the battlefield. As the
marriage had been agreed to though not celebrated, she still considered him as
her husband and did not want to live after his death. But as her brother weepingly attached himself
to her legs and cried that she should not take out her life, she decided to
live for the sake of her brother but to lead an austere life forsaking all luxuries
of life, including ornaments. She spent
her time engaged in charity work and service to devotees of Lord Siva.
In the
meantime Marul Neekiyar who was interested in the study of various religions was
greatly attracted to Jains’ advocacy of Ahimsa. So he converted to Jainism and joined their monastery near Cuddalore, changing
his name to Dharmasenar. There he
mastered their scriptures and became their chief spokesman in their debate with
other religious sects including Buddhism and Saivam. Thilakavathyar distressed
by the turn of events wound up her establishment at Thiruvamur and shifted to
Thiruvathigai and spent her time in prayer and service to the Lord in Veerattanam
temple. Daily she prayed to the Lord that He should bring back her brother to
the Saivite fold. One night Lord appeared in her dreams and assured that her
brother will come back to her soon but in great distress and she should bring
him to the Veerattanam temple, smeared all over with sacred ash and her wish will be granted.
Soon after this Dharmasenar had a severe burning pain in the stomach that
was unbearable. The Jain priests tried all medicines and magic in their
knowledge, but to no avail. When their efforts failed and he could not stand it
any longer, Dharmasenar thought of his sister. He sent a message to her through
the cook in the monastery seeking her presence and help. She told the cook to convey to him that she
cannot come to the monastery but asked him to come to her. Dharmasenar left the monastery that night without
informing anybody relinquishing all the symbols of Jainism. He reached
Thiruvathigai and fell down at the feet of his sister pleading that she save
him from the excruciating pain. She asked him to surrender to the benevolent
Lord Siva and seek his Grace with faith and applied the sacred ash on the
burning stomach. Then itself he had a
little relief and the next morning it was total when he went to the Veerattanam
temple with his sister, fell at the Lord’s feet with his body smeared all over
with sacred ash and passionately pleaded with tears in his eye through the song
starting with “கூற்றாயினவாறு விலக்ககிலீர்” (Kootrayinavaaru vilakkagaleer i.e. please cure this
deadly pain). His pain completely disappeared
and a voice rang out that he will be called thereafter Navukkarasu (king of
language) in view of the beautiful song he sung, pleading for cure with a promise not to leave His fold thereafter. Now not
only the name changed but the person also changed totally. With the mind engaged in Shiva Dhyan, tongue
chanting the Panchatchara Mantra “Om Namasivaya” and hand
carrying a cleaning instrument for cleaning the temple grounds, Thirunavukkarasu
was now a completely transformed person with body, mind and speech totally devoted
to the service of the Lord.
When
news of this cure and change of faith reached the Jain monastery, the Jain
saints there were very much rattled.
They feared that the inefficacy of their Mantras and medicine to effect
the cure, which could be secured by surrendering to Lord Siva, will undermine
faith in their religion not only among the followers but also of the king, a
convert to Jain faith. So they rushed to
the king and presented a twisted version saying Dharmasenar had enacted a false
drama to change faith and thereby had brought discredit to their religion,
which should not go unpunished. The king believing them sent his guards to
bring Tirunavukkarasu without disclosing the purpose. Thirunavukkarasar refused
to accompany them to the court, with the song starting with “நாமார்க்கும் குடியல்லோம்,” (namarkkum
kudiyallom i.e we are not citizens
of anybody)
The
king was furious at this and the Jain saints also added to his anger stating that Dharmasenar's act of blasphemy compounded now by defiance should be suitably punished by confining
him to the burning lime kiln. The king agreed and also decreed
accordingly. Unperturbed,
Thirunavukkarasar entered the kiln with Panchatchara
on his lips and Lord Siva’s form in his heart and after seven days when the
kiln was opened he walked out safe and sound, to the amazement of the assembled
and sang the song we saw in the beginning.
Jain saints told the king that he has survived only through the power of
Mantras learnt from them and that he should be punished this time by making him
drink poison. The king followed their
advice but on the one who has entrusted himself to the Lord who once drank the
terrible poison of Aalahala itself to save the Devas, this had no
effect. Still the Jain saints did not
give up. They persuaded the king to let him be
trampled under the elephant’s foot. The
elephant instead of crushing him went round him and then charged on the Jains
who came to witness the spectacle. They
ran to the king and said that if he is allowed to get away with his magic, people will lose respect for the king himself and so he should be punished, this time
by drowning in mid-sea with both hands and feet tied and body also tied to a big boulder . As Thirunavukkarasar sank in water, the bonds broke, the boulder turned into a float and on it he triumphantly rode
the waves chanting Panchatchara and landed in Thiruppathiripuliyur. He
proceeded to Thiruvathigai to offer his grateful thanks to the Lord in Veerattanam
temple who had seen him through all these ordeals. In the meantime the king realized
the Truth, repented his actions, denounced the Jains, renounced their faith, came and met Thirunavukkarasar and changed
over to Saivam.
After
worshipping in several temples Thirunavukkarasar came to Sirkazhi to meet the child prodigy Thirugnanasambandar,
who had been blessed with the breast milk of Uma Devi as a toddler of three
years and who had started singing hymns on Lord Siva from then onwards. Thirugnanasambandar also hearing about the
venerable figure of Thirunavukkarasar coming to meet him, went to receive him.
When Thirunavukkarasar saw Thirugnanasambandar, he fell at the latter’s feet.
The latter lifting the other with his tender hands, fell full-length at the
other’s feet calling the much older Tirunavukkarasar as Appar, father. And from
then on Thirunavukkarasar was referred to as Appar. Let me also refer to them hereafter as Appar
and Sambandar. After spending some time together Appar and Sambandar parted
company to go their separate ways, only to meet again at Thirupugalur and travel
together to a few places.
When they were staying in different mutts in Tiruvizhimalai with their
followers, they found there was a severe famine in that place due to drought
caused by the failure of seasonal rains.
They prayed for the alleviation of peoples’ sufferings due to
drought. Lord appeared in their dreams
and said that he will grant them each a gold coin, which they can use
individually to provide food for the people. From next morning they found gold
coins at designated places which they utilised in feeding the people. Sambandar found that feeding took place
earlier in Appar’s place than his. When
enquired why the delay in his place, he learned from his people that what he
received was flawed coin and so of a lesser value than Appar’s, which was
flawless. So when
they went to the shop to procure grains, the people from Appar’s place were
attended to first and then only they were attended to. Sambandar wondered why this discrimination and
then it struck him that services of Appar who served the Lord not only through
mind and word like him but also through body, by cleaning the temple gardens
wherever he went, received more value than his.
He prayed to Lord that he may also be granted a flawless coin and was
rewarded similarly thereafter. Soon the
rains fell and the sufferings of the people eased. Then only both Appar
and Sambandar left the place to continue their pilgrimage.
In
Tirumaraikadu, it was Appar’s turn to wonder.
In the temple at Tirumaraikadu, the main door was closed and devotees
were using a small side door for entering and leaving the temple. On enquiry, they leant that Vedas who once worshipped in the temple, left sealing the door after their worship. Both the saints wanted the people to have the services of
the main door. So they decided that Appar will sing and have the door opened
and after the worship Sambandar will sing and have the door closed, and
thereafter the opening and closing of door can become routine. Appar had to sing 11 hymns to get the door
opened, while after Sambandar’s first hymn itself the open door responded and closed. Appar wondered why this discrimination and then
cleared his doubt himself that Vedas were quick to oblige the one who had received the
milk of Jnanam from Uma Devi herself.
Soon after, they parted ways with Sambandar going to Madurai and Appar going
to Kanchi. From Kanchi, Appar went to
Kalahasthi and there arose a desire in him to go to the abode of Lord Siva,
Mount Kailas. So he went north and
travelling with difficulty, enduring hardships he reached the foot of the
mountain, worshiping in many shrines on the way. Unable to walk further he started crawling
uphill. When that too became difficult
for him he tried to roll uphill to reach the top. When he was lying down tired
and exhausted with no strength left even for rolling, an elderly Saivite saint with sacred ash
smeared all over the body came that way and tried to persuade him to go back
after refreshing himself in the pond nearby.
Appar declined saying that he will rather lay down the body there itself
than go back without the Darshan of Lord in Kailas. The old man disappeared and a voice rang out
from the sky instructing him to have a dip in the pond and rise up in Thiruvaiyaru where he will be blessed with the desired vision. Now feeling rejuvenated, he entered the pond
and had a dip only to find himself getting up from a pond in Thiruvaiyaru. As he got out of the pond to go to the temple, he saw the whole
town transformed into Kailas, with Nandikeswara, Sivaganas, Devas and Apsaras standing
in attendance on Lord Siva, who was seated with Parvathi Devi by his side. It was as if whole Kailas was transported to
Thiruvaiyaru. Grateful Appar poured out
the hymn starting with “மாதர்பிறைக்கண்ணியானை” (mathar piraikkanniyanai i.e the one with the pleasing crescent moon) and ended it with “கண்டறியாதன கண்டேன்” (kandariyadhana kanden
i.e I had seen wonderful sights which I had never seen before).
Appar worshipped the Lord in Dasa Marga, surrendering himself to Lord as a slave to his Master. Such
was the greatness of Appar that not only time and again Lord came to his rescue
when he was tormented by Jains because he had gone back to Saivam, but also
transported as it were Kailas to Thiruvaiyaru in answer to his prayers,
forgiving his earlier prodigal ways as Dharmasenar when he vigorously refuted the tenets of Saivam . As he came back to the faith praying for
relief from his physical distress, “aartha” suffix is added and he is referred
to as aartha ananya bhaktha.
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