Post No. 13,808
Date uploaded in London – 23 October 2024
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Learn Tirumanthiram through Pictures- 10 (Last Part) Post No.13,808
Sugarcane: Learn Tirumanthiram through Pictures- 9 (Post No.13,770) was posted on 11 October 2024 .
Tirumular under Linga Puranam section of Tirumathiram shows how compassionate was Lord Shiva. Through four verses he shows Shiva was merciful and sympathetic towards Ravana, Sandesar and Brahma and Vishnu. These episodes are in most of the Saivite scriptures as well.
Let us look at the four verses first :
348: The Lord is not Beyond Reach
Mighty is the Lord
The Flying Fortess He destroyed.
Thus despair not
That He is your reach beyond;
Sure is the Lord to seekers true
In them He abideth, Grace abounding.
349: The Lord Blessed Aya and Mal
The Lord is the Primal One,
He is the Light Effulgent;
Seeking Him they went–Aya and Mal
Girdling the boundless oceans
And across the endless aeons;
And to Atchutha He granted the Disc Divine
And to Brahma, Jnana’s Sword Eternal.
350: Lord Blessed Ravana
Of peerless in might and shoulder twenty
Ravana the Giant lifted lofty mount Kailas;
With toe down, the Lord but gently pressed
And lo! the Giant screamed: “Lord Eternal.”
351: The Lord Blessed Chandeswara
Dandi, that knew the way of Hereafter
Heaped sands into linga shape
And poured on it in adoration
The five products of his herd of cows;
His father seeing beat the boy
And kicked his fond image off;
Dandi flew into a blind rage
And smote the parent’s leg with sword;
And lo! the Lord
Bedecked Dandi with His own garland of flowers forever to sport.
****
First verse quoted above shows how he destroyed the three flying fortresses. Symbolically speaking he destroys everyone’s Kama, Krodha and Lobha- Lust, Anger and Greediness. Lord Krishna says these three are the gateways to Hell; as a part time Hindu prison chaplain in England, I also saw all the prisoners or most of the prisoners came into jail because of the three vices. These three things lead one to extreme violence.
*****
The second verse describes Shiva’s great virtues and then says , Lord Shiva gave Vishnu the disc and Brahma the sword. Here also the commentators see the symbols Disc and Sword represent Power and Knowledge. Lord Vishnu destroyed many demons with the boomerang like Chakra, the disc. Brahma’s sword here represent knowledge. Sword of Wisdom is used by many Hindu saints and Lord Krishna.
****
The third verse shows Lord will punish anyone with arrogance, but he shows utmost sympathy when the offender relinquishes that. Ravana, King of Lanka, tried to lift the Hill of Kailash, the abode of Lord shiva and got crushed. When he apologised by singing the glory of Shiva by playing Veena, Lord also relented and pardoned him.
****
The story in the Fourth verse is not known beyond Tamil Nadu. It is part of Periya Puranam.. And the story is,
In Seyanur, a town in Choza country, a Brahmin boy was born whose name was Visakasarumar. He instinctively understood the whole Saiva creed. When the sages came to instruct him, he met them with the recitation of the essential doctrines of the system which he grasped by a divine intuition.
Here Sekkizar, author of Periya Puranam explains the doctrine at length.
One day he went to the bank of the river with his classmates. The village cows were grazing in charge of a man of herdsman caste. This rustic, having no sense of right and wrong, beat one of the cows with a stick. Visakasarumar was vehemently stirred by this outrage and rushed up to him with great wrath. He explained the importance of the cows and the five products—Panchagavyam– the Hindus use. He sent him home and took charge of the cows from that day. The village also accepted his offer of maintaining the cows.
For a long time, this continued, and the cows increased in number and the milk was available in plenty.
The young boy constructed Siva Lingam with the sand under a tree and used the milk for bathing the Lingam. But all the owners of the cows got their usual quota. One bad guy watched this and reported this to his father Yagnaduttan (in Tamil Echchaduttan) . He went to the spot and watched his son doing abisheka- bathing- of sand Linga with milk. Without saying anything, he beat him severely. And yet the boy was continuing what he was doing. Enraged father raised his foot and broke the vessels and destroyed the lingam. The boy did not know that his father was doing this heinous act. He took the staff nearby and gave a blow at the offender’s feet. The staff became axe and cut off his legs. He fell and died. The boy then went on with his worship as if nothing had happened.
Lord Siva came with his wife Uma on the white bull and blessed the boy. He said, you did this because of great devotion to me. So you will become the chief among my servants and you are Sandeswarar from this day. The meaning is Impetuous Lord. Siva took his cassia flower wreath from his head and crowned the youthful saint. He ascended to heaven. Father was also forgiven and restored. The whole family went to Siva’s abode according to Periya Puranam. It has the story of 63 saints including this Sandesa Nayanar story.
Original Tamil verses of Tirumular’s Tirumanthiram are given below:
348. திரிகின்ற முப்புரஞ் செற்ற பிரானை
அரியனென் றெண்ணி அயர்வுற வேண்டா
புரிவுடை யாளர்க்குப் பொய்யலன் ஈசன்
பரிவொடு நின்று பரிசறி வானே
349. ஆழி வலங்கொண் டயன்மால் இருவரும்
ஊழி வலஞ்செய்ய ஒண்சுட ராதியும்
ஆழி கொடுத்தனன் அச்சுதற்க் கவ்வழி
.வாழி பிரமற்கும் வாள்கொடுத் தானே
350. தாங்கி இருபது தோளுந் தடவரை
ஓங்க எடுத்தவன் ஒப்பில் பெருவலி
ஆங்கு நொத்தம ராவென் றழைத்தபின்
நீங்கா அருள்செய்தான் நின்மலன் தானே
351. உறுவது அறிதண்டி ஒண்மணற் கூட்டி
அறுவகை ஆன்ஐந்தும் ஆட்டத்தன் தாதை
செறுவகை செய்து சிதைப்ப முனிந்து
மறுமழு வால்வெட்டி மாலைபெற் றானே
–subham–
Tags- Learn Tirumanthiram, Pictures, Part 10, Last part, Sandesa Nayanar, Sandevarar, Ravana, Brahma Vishnu, Shiva. Compassion, mercy, Periya puranam, Yagnaduttan, Ecchaduttan
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