Tamil Saint Pattinathaar.
Date uploaded in London – 7 July 2024
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
https://www.pustaka.co.in/home/author/london-swaminathan
xxxx
बोद्धारो मत्सरग्रस्ताः
प्रभवः स्मयदूषिताः ।
अबोधोपहताः चान्ये
जीर्णम् अङ्गे सुभाषितम् ॥ 1.2 ॥ Bhartruhari’s Niti Ssataka
The learned are filled with jealousy, the wealthy are full of arrogance, all others are ignorant. Therefore my words of wisdom have become emaciated 1-2 Bhartruhari’s Niti Ssataka
xxxx
kamini- woman Kanchana- gold in R K Paramahamsa’s yeachings
Comment on Sloka seven from Viveka Chudamani (VC) of Adi Sankara continued…….
In the last article we saw the influence of money in one’s life. Pattinathar, one of the great Tamil saints, also confirmed what Adi Sankara (aadi Sankara) and R K Paramahamsa said; let us look at three stories:
My Research Notes on VC Part-6
Story 1
“Money is an upadhi ( a deceptive influence) of a very strong nature. As soon as a man becomes rich, he is thoroughly changed. A Brahmin who was very meek and humble used to come to Dakshineswar every now and then. After some time, he stopped his visits, and we knew nothing of what happened to him. One day we went to Konnagore in a boat. As we were getting down from the boat, we saw him sitting on the banks of the Ganges, where in the fashion of a big folk, he was enjoying the breeze of the river.
On seeing me, he accosted me in a patronising tone with the words, ‘Hello, Thakur! How do you do now?’
At once I have noticed the change in his tone and said to Hriday who was with me, ‘I tell you Hriday, this man must have come by some riches. See what a great change has come over him!’ And Hriday burst into laughter. – Sri Ramakrishna
That is the evil power of money.
xxxxxx
Story 2
‘Eyeless Needle’ Changed the Life of a Millionaire! (Post No.3508)
Compiled by London swaminathan;
Date: 2 January 2017
Pattinathar was a rich man who lived in the port city Kaveri Poompattinam (also known as Pumpuhar) in the tenth century CE. He has not been included among the Sixty-Three Saiva Nayanmars, though five of his poems have been taken into the Eleventh Tirumurai.
Pattinathar had no issue. At that time ,a bright infant was left uncared for in a garden at Tiruvidaimarudur. It was picked by a poor couple who gave it to Pattinathar for some money . They treated the child ,their own son, naming him Marudapiran. Some years later the boy disappeared after asking his mother to handover a box to his father when he returned home. When Pattinathar opened it he found an eyeless needle and a palm leaf on which a conundrum had been written. This is said to have opened his eyes to the truth about the divine nature of the boy, who was thought to be God Shiva himself. He immediately arranged for the distribution of his wealth to the poor, renounced life and became an ascetic. He wandered far and wide visiting several sacred places and temples and finally attained salvation at Tiruvotriyur. The writing on the palm leaf said “Not even an eyeless needle will accompany you in the final journey of life.”
“The eyeless needle, tradition maintains, was the means of Pattinathar’s conversion. It swiftly flashed across his mind that just as a needle without an eye is of no value., though the eye itself be the tiniest of things, so the human soul which does not devote itself to God, is lost. The little symbol brought home to him that great truth.
He revelled in divine vagabondry. He sang
Our home is Tiruvalankadu; we have with us
A begging-bowl – God given- and never empty;
To supply as whatever we need, there is the rich land;
O goody heart, there is none our equal.
xxxx
Alexander and Tamil Saint Pattinathar
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was the king of Macedonia. He conquered several countries from Greece to India. Pattinathar was a Tamil saint who lived in tenth century AD in Tamil Nadu. Alexander and Pattinathar were born rich. Both of them sent a powerful message by their deeds: “ In the end we leave empty handed”.
When death was neaing Alexander reflected within himself: “ I have committed so many evil deeds to amass all this wealth. Now death’s call has come. When departing I have to leave all the riches behind and go alone without taking a single coin”. He told his followers and courtiers : “when my body is taken to the grave, you have to see that my two hands are stretched out, with palms open, and fully exposed, while the rest of the body is covered, so that my subjects may see that I, a great king, the richest man in the world, went on my final journey, quite empty handed, as I could not take anything with me”. Alexander was buried according to his wish.
Happiness does not consist in storing or accumulating wealth. We bring nothing with us when we came in to the world and we take nothing with us when we leave the world. Pattinathar story was another example to emphasize this.
We see the message of leaving empty handed in most of his hymns. Alexander showed it in body. Pattinathar said it in his poems.
In Thiruvekampamalai, he says,
Nothing was brought at the time of birth
Nothing will be taken at the time of death;
What then shall I say of that class which
Knows not giving, well realising that the wealth
Gained in the interval is that which was given
by Shiva, Oh Kachi Ekampa.
xxxx
In another verse he says what happens to emperors,
Crowned kings and others , in the end, are burnt
And reduced to a handful of ashes and dirt;
(This article is posted by me in Tamil as well—london swaminathan)
Pattinathar Poems translated by Dr T N Ramachandran.
For Tamil readers:
பிறக்கும்பொழுது கொடுவந்ததில்லை பிறந்து மண்மேல்
இறக்கும்பொழுது கொடுபோவதில்லை இடை நடுவில்
குறிக்கும் இச்செல்வம் சிவன் தந்ததென்று கொடுக்கறியா
திறக்கும் குலாமருக்கு என் சொல்லுவேன் கச்சி ஏகம்பனே
முடிசார்ந்த மன்னரும் மற்றுமுள்ளோரும் முடிவில் ஒரு
பிடி சாம்பராய் வெந்து மண்ணவதுங் கண்டு பின்னும் இந்தப்
படிசார்ந்த வாழ்வை நினைப்பதல்லால் பொன்னின் அம்பலவர்
அடிசார்ந்து நாம் உய்யவேண்டும் என்றே அறிவாரில்லையே.
xxxxx
STORY 3
Rockefeller and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa on Desire! (Post No.4030)
Written by London Swaminathan
Date: 27 June 2017
American billionaire John D Rockefeller made a big fortune in the oil and natural gas industry. For over a century his family has been maintaining their position in the list of 100 richest men in the world. He never stopped making money. One curious American reporter asked him one day, “Mr Rockefeller, How much money is enough? Would you ever stop making money?”
Mr Rockefeller replied immediately without any hesitation, “Just a little bit more”. It is a very interesting answer. All of us want the same thing in every field, ‘a little bit more’. We never stop making money.
Everyone wants to compete with his neighbour or his close relative or his professional rival. This is a never-ending process. Great religious leaders like the Buddha, political leaders like Mahatma Gandhi emphasized contentment in all the fields. They taught us that ‘desire is the root cause of evil’.
xxxx
Barber and the Seven Jars of Gold!
This reminds me of a popular story told by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa; the story is given below:
“ A barber, who was passing under a haunted tree heard a voice saying, ‘Will you accept seven jars full of gold?’. The barber looked around, but could see no one. The offer of seven jars of gold, however, roused his cupidity and he cried aloud, ‘Yes, I shall accept the seven jars.’ At once came the reply, Go home, I have carried the jars to your house.
The barber and ran home and he saw the sevens when he entered the house. He opened them and found them all full of gold, except the last one which was only half full. A strong desire now arose in the mind of the barber to fill the seventh jar also; for without it his happiness was incomplete. He therefore converted all his ornaments into gold coins and put them into the gold jar; but the mysterious vessel was as before, unfilled. This exasperated the barber. Starving himself and his family, he saved some more amount and tried to fill the jar; but the jar remained as before.
So one day he humbly requested the king to increase his pay, saying his income was not sufficient to maintain his family. The king also doubled his pay. He saved all the money and converted them into gold and tried to fill the jar, but in vain. He started begging from door to door. Nothing changed. The last gold jar was only half full.
Seeing his sad plight the king asked him one day, “Hello, when your pay was half of the pay you get now you were happy. Now you look dejected. What is the matter? Have you got the ‘seven jars’?
The barber was taken aback, and he told the king his full story. Then the king told him that the Yaksha offered him the seven jars but he rejected them when he knew that he could not spend it. The barber realised his mistake and returned the seven jars to the tree (yaksha) taking the advice of the king. Such is the state of some men . Those who do not understand the difference between what real expenditure is and what is real income, lose all they have.”
xxxx
Why did God smile? Why did Sun laugh?
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s quotations on Money
Money can fetch you bread alone. Do not consider it as your sole end and aim
xxx
There are some who boast of their wealth and power, of their name and fame, and high status in the society; but all these are for few days only. None of these will follow them after death.
xxx
On two occasions the Lord smiles, first when the doctor comes to the bed side of a patient who is taken seriously il and is about to die, and says to his mother,
“Why, madam, there is no cause for anxiety at all, I take upon the responsibility of saving your son’s life”. Next He smiles when two brothers , who are busy partitioning their land, take a measuring tape, put it across the land and say “this side is mine, that side is yours.”
xxx
There is nothing to be proud of in money. If you say you are rich, there are richer and richer people than you in comparison with whom you are a mere beggar. After dusk when the glow worms make their appearance, they think that we are giving light to the world. But when the stars begin to twinkle, the pride of the glow worms is humbled.
Now the stars begin to think “We are illuminating the universe”. But after a while the moon ascends the sky, and her silver light humiliates the stars and they pale away in sadness. Again the moon grows proud and thinks by her light the world is lighted and bathed in beauty. But presently the dawn proclaims the ascent of the sun on the eastern horizon. And where is the moon now!
xxx
He is truly a man to whom money is only a servant; but ,on the otherhand , those who do not know how to make a proper use of it, hardly deserve to be called men.
(Taken from the book “ Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna”.
–subham—
Tags – Money, Viveka Chudamani, Adi Sankara, Rockefeller, Story, Pattinathar, Alexander, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Doctor, God smiles, Needle without ear, rich, bhartruhari
Tamil Saint Pattinathaar.
Date uploaded in London – 7 July 2024
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
https://www.pustaka.co.in/home/author/london-swaminathan
xxxx
बोद्धारो मत्सरग्रस्ताः
प्रभवः स्मयदूषिताः ।
अबोधोपहताः चान्ये
जीर्णम् अङ्गे सुभाषितम् ॥ 1.2 ॥ Bhartruhari’s Niti Ssataka
The learned are filled with jealousy, the wealthy are full of arrogance, all others are ignorant. Therefore my words of wisdom have become emaciated 1-2 Bhartruhari’s Niti Ssataka
xxxx
kamini- woman Kanchana- gold in R K Paramahamsa’s yeachings
Comment on Sloka seven from Viveka Chudamani (VC) of Adi Sankara continued…….
In the last article we saw the influence of money in one’s life. Pattinathar, one of the great Tamil saints, also confirmed what Adi Sankara (aadi Sankara) and R K Paramahamsa said; let us look at three stories:
My Research Notes on VC Part-6
Story 1
“Money is an upadhi ( a deceptive influence) of a very strong nature. As soon as a man becomes rich, he is thoroughly changed. A Brahmin who was very meek and humble used to come to Dakshineswar every now and then. After some time, he stopped his visits, and we knew nothing of what happened to him. One day we went to Konnagore in a boat. As we were getting down from the boat, we saw him sitting on the banks of the Ganges, where in the fashion of a big folk, he was enjoying the breeze of the river.
On seeing me, he accosted me in a patronising tone with the words, ‘Hello, Thakur! How do you do now?’
At once I have noticed the change in his tone and said to Hriday who was with me, ‘I tell you Hriday, this man must have come by some riches. See what a great change has come over him!’ And Hriday burst into laughter. – Sri Ramakrishna
That is the evil power of money.
xxxxxx
Story 2
‘Eyeless Needle’ Changed the Life of a Millionaire! (Post No.3508)
Compiled by London swaminathan;
Date: 2 January 2017
Pattinathar was a rich man who lived in the port city Kaveri Poompattinam (also known as Pumpuhar) in the tenth century CE. He has not been included among the Sixty-Three Saiva Nayanmars, though five of his poems have been taken into the Eleventh Tirumurai.
Pattinathar had no issue. At that time ,a bright infant was left uncared for in a garden at Tiruvidaimarudur. It was picked by a poor couple who gave it to Pattinathar for some money . They treated the child ,their own son, naming him Marudapiran. Some years later the boy disappeared after asking his mother to handover a box to his father when he returned home. When Pattinathar opened it he found an eyeless needle and a palm leaf on which a conundrum had been written. This is said to have opened his eyes to the truth about the divine nature of the boy, who was thought to be God Shiva himself. He immediately arranged for the distribution of his wealth to the poor, renounced life and became an ascetic. He wandered far and wide visiting several sacred places and temples and finally attained salvation at Tiruvotriyur. The writing on the palm leaf said “Not even an eyeless needle will accompany you in the final journey of life.”
“The eyeless needle, tradition maintains, was the means of Pattinathar’s conversion. It swiftly flashed across his mind that just as a needle without an eye is of no value., though the eye itself be the tiniest of things, so the human soul which does not devote itself to God, is lost. The little symbol brought home to him that great truth.
He revelled in divine vagabondry. He sang
Our home is Tiruvalankadu; we have with us
A begging-bowl – God given- and never empty;
To supply as whatever we need, there is the rich land;
O goody heart, there is none our equal.
xxxx
Alexander and Tamil Saint Pattinathar
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was the king of Macedonia. He conquered several countries from Greece to India. Pattinathar was a Tamil saint who lived in tenth century AD in Tamil Nadu. Alexander and Pattinathar were born rich. Both of them sent a powerful message by their deeds: “ In the end we leave empty handed”.
When death was neaing Alexander reflected within himself: “ I have committed so many evil deeds to amass all this wealth. Now death’s call has come. When departing I have to leave all the riches behind and go alone without taking a single coin”. He told his followers and courtiers : “when my body is taken to the grave, you have to see that my two hands are stretched out, with palms open, and fully exposed, while the rest of the body is covered, so that my subjects may see that I, a great king, the richest man in the world, went on my final journey, quite empty handed, as I could not take anything with me”. Alexander was buried according to his wish.
Happiness does not consist in storing or accumulating wealth. We bring nothing with us when we came in to the world and we take nothing with us when we leave the world. Pattinathar story was another example to emphasize this.
We see the message of leaving empty handed in most of his hymns. Alexander showed it in body. Pattinathar said it in his poems.
In Thiruvekampamalai, he says,
Nothing was brought at the time of birth
Nothing will be taken at the time of death;
What then shall I say of that class which
Knows not giving, well realising that the wealth
Gained in the interval is that which was given
by Shiva, Oh Kachi Ekampa.
xxxx
In another verse he says what happens to emperors,
Crowned kings and others , in the end, are burnt
And reduced to a handful of ashes and dirt;
(This article is posted by me in Tamil as well—london swaminathan)
Pattinathar Poems translated by Dr T N Ramachandran.
For Tamil readers:
பிறக்கும்பொழுது கொடுவந்ததில்லை பிறந்து மண்மேல்
இறக்கும்பொழுது கொடுபோவதில்லை இடை நடுவில்
குறிக்கும் இச்செல்வம் சிவன் தந்ததென்று கொடுக்கறியா
திறக்கும் குலாமருக்கு என் சொல்லுவேன் கச்சி ஏகம்பனே
முடிசார்ந்த மன்னரும் மற்றுமுள்ளோரும் முடிவில் ஒரு
பிடி சாம்பராய் வெந்து மண்ணவதுங் கண்டு பின்னும் இந்தப்
படிசார்ந்த வாழ்வை நினைப்பதல்லால் பொன்னின் அம்பலவர்
அடிசார்ந்து நாம் உய்யவேண்டும் என்றே அறிவாரில்லையே.
xxxxx
STORY 3
Rockefeller and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa on Desire! (Post No.4030)
Written by London Swaminathan
Date: 27 June 2017
American billionaire John D Rockefeller made a big fortune in the oil and natural gas industry. For over a century his family has been maintaining their position in the list of 100 richest men in the world. He never stopped making money. One curious American reporter asked him one day, “Mr Rockefeller, How much money is enough? Would you ever stop making money?”
Mr Rockefeller replied immediately without any hesitation, “Just a little bit more”. It is a very interesting answer. All of us want the same thing in every field, ‘a little bit more’. We never stop making money.
Everyone wants to compete with his neighbour or his close relative or his professional rival. This is a never-ending process. Great religious leaders like the Buddha, political leaders like Mahatma Gandhi emphasized contentment in all the fields. They taught us that ‘desire is the root cause of evil’.
xxxx
Barber and the Seven Jars of Gold!
This reminds me of a popular story told by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa; the story is given below:
“ A barber, who was passing under a haunted tree heard a voice saying, ‘Will you accept seven jars full of gold?’. The barber looked around, but could see no one. The offer of seven jars of gold, however, roused his cupidity and he cried aloud, ‘Yes, I shall accept the seven jars.’ At once came the reply, Go home, I have carried the jars to your house.
The barber and ran home and he saw the sevens when he entered the house. He opened them and found them all full of gold, except the last one which was only half full. A strong desire now arose in the mind of the barber to fill the seventh jar also; for without it his happiness was incomplete. He therefore converted all his ornaments into gold coins and put them into the gold jar; but the mysterious vessel was as before, unfilled. This exasperated the barber. Starving himself and his family, he saved some more amount and tried to fill the jar; but the jar remained as before.
So one day he humbly requested the king to increase his pay, saying his income was not sufficient to maintain his family. The king also doubled his pay. He saved all the money and converted them into gold and tried to fill the jar, but in vain. He started begging from door to door. Nothing changed. The last gold jar was only half full.
Seeing his sad plight the king asked him one day, “Hello, when your pay was half of the pay you get now you were happy. Now you look dejected. What is the matter? Have you got the ‘seven jars’?
The barber was taken aback, and he told the king his full story. Then the king told him that the Yaksha offered him the seven jars but he rejected them when he knew that he could not spend it. The barber realised his mistake and returned the seven jars to the tree (yaksha) taking the advice of the king. Such is the state of some men . Those who do not understand the difference between what real expenditure is and what is real income, lose all they have.”
xxxx
Why did God smile? Why did Sun laugh?
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s quotations on Money
Money can fetch you bread alone. Do not consider it as your sole end and aim
xxx
There are some who boast of their wealth and power, of their name and fame, and high status in the society; but all these are for few days only. None of these will follow them after death.
xxx
On two occasions the Lord smiles, first when the doctor comes to the bed side of a patient who is taken seriously il and is about to die, and says to his mother,
“Why, madam, there is no cause for anxiety at all, I take upon the responsibility of saving your son’s life”. Next He smiles when two brothers , who are busy partitioning their land, take a measuring tape, put it across the land and say “this side is mine, that side is yours.”
xxx
There is nothing to be proud of in money. If you say you are rich, there are richer and richer people than you in comparison with whom you are a mere beggar. After dusk when the glow worms make their appearance, they think that we are giving light to the world. But when the stars begin to twinkle, the pride of the glow worms is humbled.
Now the stars begin to think “We are illuminating the universe”. But after a while the moon ascends the sky, and her silver light humiliates the stars and they pale away in sadness. Again the moon grows proud and thinks by her light the world is lighted and bathed in beauty. But presently the dawn proclaims the ascent of the sun on the eastern horizon. And where is the moon now!
xxx
He is truly a man to whom money is only a servant; but ,on the otherhand , those who do not know how to make a proper use of it, hardly deserve to be called men.
(Taken from the book “ Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna”.
–subham—
Tags – Money, Viveka Chudamani, Adi Sankara, Rockefeller, Story, Pattinathar, Alexander, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Doctor, God smiles, Needle without ear, rich, bhartruhari
Tamil and Vedas 