(attained ‘siva padham’ in the month of ‘Aadi’ under the nakshatram ‘Swathi’
In the heavenly abode of Mount Kailash, Lord Shiva was
served by a devotee called Aalaala Sundarar. He fell in love with two heavenly
maids called Kamalini and Anindhathai. As a result, the Lord decreed that
Sundarar be born as a mortal on this earth, where Sundarar’s love for both the
women would be satiated. When Aalaala Sundarar pleaded for mercy, Lord Shiva
granted him the boon that he would be guided and helped by Him, when needed in
Sundarar’s earthly life. The story of Aalaala Sundarar, born on this earth as
Nambi Aarooraan, is the final and 63rd story, in this series of
naayanmaars.
In the kingdom of ThiruMunaipaadi[2],
there was a town called ThiruNaavalur[3]. In that town, there was a
brahmin called Sadaiyanaar – he had a wife called IsaiGyaaniyaar. Sundara
Moorthy naayanaar was born unto them – the baby was named Nambi Aarooraan[4].
Once, as the young boy was playing, he was once seen by their king Narasinga Munaiyaraiyar[5].
The king at once was attracted to the beautiful child and wanted to adopt Nambi
Aarooraan. With the consent of the child’s parents, the king brought Nambi
Aarooraan to the palace and the child grew up there.
As the young child grew, ‘upanayanam’ was celebrated
as befitted a brahmin boy and the young boy excelled in studies. Nambi
Aarooraan grew up to be a handsome young
man and his father Sadaiyanaar wanted to get him married. He found a suitable
bride for his son. The young lady was called Senthaamarai – she was the
daughter of a brahmin called Sadankavi Sivachariyaar[6] from Puthur[7].
On the day of Nambi Aarooraar’s marriage with
Senthaamarai, Lord Shiva appeared as an old brahmin at the marriage hall and
demanded that the marriage celebration be halted. The old brahmin claimed that
he had documents signed by Nambi Aarooraar’s grandfather, which stated that he
and his descendants would be enslaved to the service of the old brahmin. When
Nambi Aarooraan heard this, he jumped in anger and tore the said document to
shreds. The old man, who was Lord Shiva, asked for justice from the onlookers. Nambi
Aarooraar asked of the old man if he was a ‘piththan’ (mad) that he was not
aware of the commonly known fact that custom did not permit brahmins being
enslaved by fellow brahmins. Since the story appeared implausible, the crowd
was unwilling to believe the old man’s story. But the old man would not budge
from his statement and since Nambi Aarooraan had torn the claimed evidence, it
was an impassé.
The old man said that though the bridegroom had
destroyed the evidence and the crowd was predominantly on the side of the young
man, he could still prove his case, if they would go with him to
ThiruVennaiNallur, the old man’s hometown. The old brahmin claimed that the
destroyed document was in fact a duplicate and that the original still existed
in ThiruVennaiNallur.
And so, everyone went to ThiruVennaiNallur, where the
old man produced the original document. The document validated the statement
made earlier by the old man. So, Nambi Aarooraar had to accept his enslavement
to the old man, notwithstanding the custom of brahmins not being bonded slaves to
fellow brahmins. In obedience to the old man, Nambi Aarooraar enquired about the
whereabouts of the old brahmin’s residence. The old man led the way briskly and
everyone followed.
When they reached the ThiruVaruttarai (the name of
the temple at ThiruVennaiNallur), the old man vanished inside the temple. Nambi
Aarooraar followed and wondered where the old man had vanished- Lo and Behold!
Lord Shiva and Ambikai appeared on ‘rishabha vahanam’ in front of Nambi
Aarooraar and reminded him of his previous life in the Heavens. The Lord
blessed Nambi Aarooraar and said that because this favourite devotee of His,
had argued coldly and harshly earlier in Puththur, he would get a new name ‘Vun
Thondan’ (‘vanmai’ meaning harsh and ‘thondan’ meaning devotee/servant).
The Lord then asked Nambi Aarooraar to sing His
praises and the devotee pleaded for the Lord’s guidance. Lord Shiva said that
since Nambi Aarooraar had earlier called the Lord a mad – a ‘piththan’, he
should now begin singing with the same word. And Nambi Aarooraar sang “piththaa, pirai soodi,
perumaane, arulaala …”.
Having heard of the incidents in VennaiNallur, the
bride-to-be Senthaamarai, became a recluse, her soul devoted to her
groom-to-be, Nambi Aarooraar. Living thus, she reached the Lord’s feet.
Vun Thondar, Nambi Aarooraar, left ThiruVennaiNallur
and went to ThiruNallur and ThiruThuraiyur. Wanting to go to Porpuliyur (
Chidambaram), he crossed the river ThenPennai and reached ThiruVadhigai
Veerattanam. Since ThiruNaavukkarasar had ploughed in the lands of
ThiruVeerattanam, Nambi Aarooraar did not want to step on that holy earth. He
stopped and stayed the night at a nearby place called ‘Siththa Vadam’.
After Nambi Aarooraar had gone to sleep, the deity at
ThiruVeerattanam decided to play with his devotee. The Lord took the form of an
old man and went to the same rest-house that Nambi Aarooraar was sleeping in.
The old man lay down such that His feet came to rest on the head of Nambi
Aarooraar. Awakened by the disturbance, Nambi Aarooraar told the old man that
his feet were placed amiss. But the old man retorted that since Nambi was much
younger by comparison, he could move his sleeping position where His feet would
not reach the younger man’s head. And Nambi Aarooraar obliged by lying down,
elsewhere. Soon, he found that again the old man’s feet were on his head. Nambi
Aarooraar woke up again and upset by the constant disturbance to his sleep,
asked the old man who he was. Thereupon, the old man asked Nambi Aarooraar if
he did not recognize Him and vanished into thin air. Nambi Aarooraar realized
that the Lord Himself had blessed him by placing His feet on the devotee’s
head. And Nambi had not even recognized Him - he sang “ thammanai ariyaadha saadhiyaar
ulare…”
After this, Nambi Aarooraar left ThiruVadhigai and
reached ThiruMaanikkuzhi, where Lord Vishnu had worshipped Lord Shiva. From
there he went to ThiruThinai and later reached Chidambaram, where Lord Nataraja
in His Divine Dance form, held his devotees enraptured. In this holy town of
ThiruChitrambalam, Nambi Aarooraar heard the Lord call him to ThiruVaarur.
So, Nambi Aarooraar left ThiruThillai, crossed the
tributary Kollidam and reached SirKazhi. Not wanting to soil the holy town
where ThiruNaavukkarasar was born, Nambi Aarooraar stayed outside the town. But
Lord Shiva in the form ThiruThoniyappar, appeared to Nambi Aarooraar. After
this, Nambi went to ThiruKolaakaa, ThiruPunkur and crossing other holy places,
reached the river Kaveri. He crossed this river and reached
ThiruMayiladuthurai(Mayavaram)
When the residents of ThiruVarur came to welcome
Nambi Aarooraan, he sang “ … yendhai iruppadhum
aaroor ! avar yemmaiyum
aalvaaro kaeleer…”. So
singing, he reached the Thyagaraja temple where as he worshipped, he heard a
divine voice tell him that The Lord for Nambi would be a friend – though He had
caused Nambi’s marriage to be halted mid-way earlier, thenceforth Nambi was to
always adorn the dress of a bridegroom and enjoy on this earth, the love-life
that he had yearned for, in his earlier life in Heaven.
From then on, Nambi Aarooraar dressed and adorned
himself like a bridegroom and since the Lord had proclaimed that He was Nambi’s
friend, Nambi began to be called ‘Thambiraan Thozhar’
In the meanwhile, Kamalini, one of the two heavenly
maids that Aalaala Sundarar was in love with, had been re-born in ThiruVaarur,
in the ‘pathiyilaar’ caste and was known by the name of Paravaiyaar[8].
In this caste, the women gave themselves to the service of the Lord and since
they took no husband, they were called ‘pathi ilaar’.
Nambi Aarooraar and Paravai Naachchiyaar saw each
other one day as they were going to the temple. The two instantly fell madly in
love with each other. Though they had not spoken to each other or even introduced
to each other, Nambi Aarooraar lusted for the beautiful Paravai. And the young
lady in turn, was completely enchanted by Nambi Aarooraar. The two spent the
rest of the day and the night, thinking of each other, suffering from being
kept apart. Lord Shiva decided that it was time to keep his promise to Sundarar
that he be born on this earth and enjoy to his heart’s content on earth, his
desire for the two women.
So, Lord Shiva appeared in the dreams of His devotees
in ThiruVaarur and instructed them to conduct the marriage of Nambi Aarooraan
with Paravai Naachchiyaar. And the next day, the lovelorn young man Nambi and his ladylove
Paravai, got married to each other. Man and wife, the two made love, enjoyed
each other and got what they had been seeking since their previous life in the
Heavens.
One day, Nambi Aarooraar was going to the temple to
worship Thyaagesa Perumaan, when he crossed a number of ‘
sivan-adiyaar’s(devotees of Lord Shiva). He did not stop, on seeing them,
intent on his worship of the Lord. Seeing this, one of the sivan-adiyaars
called Viranminda naayanaar, who believed that the service to the
sivan-adiyaars was holier than the service to the Lord, proclaimed that the
misbehaving Nambi Aarooraan was from then on, an outcaste – and indeed,
outcaste was the Lord Himself, who Nambi was going to worship. Hearing this,
Nambi felt very sorry and hoped that he too would be a devotee – nay, a devotee
of the devotees. At the temple, he wondered while praying when he attain that
prospect. The Lord heard his plea and blessed that Nambi Aarooraar too would be
a sivan-adiyaar and bade him sing in praise of the other sivan-adiyaars.
Nambi Aarooraar then left the temple and went to the
place where the sivan-adiyaars had gathered and bowing to them, sang the
ThiruThonda Thogai, beginning “ thillai vaazh
andhanar tham adiyaar-k-kum adiyaen…”. In every line he sang,
praising the service of a sivan-adiyaar, he ended that line saying that he was
an adiyaar to that adiyaar. And the sivan-adiyaars were pleased.
In those days, there lived an old man at a place
called ‘Kundaiyur’, who loved Nambi Aarooraan and out of that love, used to
send rice and pulses as gift to Paravai Naachiyaar’s house. Kundaiyur Kizhaar,
as he was called, did this unfailingly for a long time. Until a drought struck
the land and Kundaiyur Kizhaar ran out of rice and pulses. The old man prayed
to Lord Shiva – and the Lord appeared in the old man’s dream and informed him that
He had sent rice for Aarooraan. So saying, the Lord vanished and the old man,
found on waking, there were mountains of rice in Kundaiyur. Now, the old man
was perplexed that he would not be able to transport the rice to ThiruVaarur.
He decided to confer with Nambi Aarooraan himself, to solve this problem.
In the meantime, the Lord had also informed Nambi
Aarooraan of this. So, Nambi went to Kundaiyur to meet the old man. When
Kundaiyur Kizhaar explained the transportation problem and his predicament,
Nambi Aarooraan prayed to Lord Shiva and decided that only the Lord could help
transport the rice to ThiruVaarur. At a place called ThiruKolili, he sang “ neeli
ninaindhadiyaen umai …” . A
divine voice informed Nambi that rice would be transported and fill not just
Paravaiyar’s house but the entire ThiruVaarur. Pleased at this, Nambi left for
ThiruVaarur and slept the night peacefully. The next morning, ThiruVaarur woke
to find mountains of rice and everyone was told that the rice belonged to them
and they could take as much rice as needed from the rice around their respective
homes. And all the residents at ThiruVaarur were happy.
Kotpuli naayanaar once visited ThiruVaarur and
invited Nambi Aarooraar to visit his home town of ThiruNaatiyaaththaan kudi.
Nambi Aarooraar accepted his invitation and went there. Kotpuliyaar welcomed
Nambi and during his stay, offered the hands of his daughters- Singadiyaar and
Vanapagaiyaar – in marriage to Nambi. But Nambi considered himself as a father
to the two girls and said so. He also sang a verse, referring to himself as
‘Singadi-appan’- meaning the father of Singadi.
On his way back, he went to ThiruValivalam, where he
sang “valivalan thannil
vandhu kandaene…”. And then
he returned to ThiruVaarur. The festival of Panguni Uththiram was at hand and
Paravaiyar needed some gold, to celebrate the festival. Having no money, Nambi
went to ThiruPugalur where he prayed to Lord Shiva, to give him some gold. Not
wishing to go to any rest-house, he slept at the temple. Picking up one of the
bricks, meant to be used in the re-construction of the temple, he used it as a
pillow and went to sleep. When he awoke, he found that brick, he had used as a
pillow, had turned gold overnight. Overjoyed, he sang “ thammaiye pugazhndhu…” . From there he went to ThiruPanaiyur, where
he sang “ aadumaaru vallaar
avare azhagiyaare…”. He
returned to ThiruVaarur, where the goldbricks were sent to Paravaiyar’s house
to celebrate the Punguni Uththiram festival.
Then, Nambi Aarooraar went to ThiruNannilam and sang
“ thanniyal vemmaiyinaan…”.
And he went to ThiruVeezhimalai, where he sang “ vizhi kondeer
adiyaer-kum aruludheerae…”. Then, he went to
ThiruVanjeeyam, ThiruPuththur, ThiruNaraiyur, ThiruSitheeswaram, Arasirkarai
puththur, ThiruVaavadu thurai, ThiruVidai Maruthur, ThiruNageswaram,
ThiruSivaparam, Thirukalaiya Nallur, Thirukkuda Mookku, ThiruValanchuzhi, ThiruSotruthurai,
ThiruKandiyur, ThiruVaiyaaru, ThiruPoondhuruthi. He reached ThiruAalam pozhilai
on this sojourn and that night when he slept the Lord appeared in his dream and
asked if he had forgotten Mazhapaadi. The next morning, Nambi Aarooraar reached
the northern banks of the river Kaveri and went to ThiruMazhapaadi and sang at
the temple “ ponaar meniyane… … annae, unai
allal ini yaarai ninaikkaenae…”.
After spending awhile at ThiruMazhaipaadi, Nambi then
went west and reached ThiruVaanaikka (ThiruVaanai kovil). At the temple he
sang, “ maraiyaayina naangum… …
yemmai aaludaiyaarum” in which he told
the story of the Chola King from Uraiyur who lost his jewel in the river Kaveri
and the king had then prayed that the jewel reach Lord Shiva; this ornament
found its way to the deity at ThiruVaanaikka, in the water from the Kaveri,
brought for the bathing of the idol at the temple.
When he reached ThiruPaachilaGramam, he prayed for
wealth.When he sang “ivar alladhillayo
piraanaar… … vaiththanan
thanakke thalaiyum yen-naavum… …
yesina aalla ” and then gold coins
poured from the Heavens for Nambi Aarooraar.
And then he went to ThiruPayingneeli, where the Lord
appeared in the form of Kangaalar and Nambi sang the story of Lord Shiva’s
attractive appearance in the Kaaruga forest “ kaarulaaviya… …aarinaya
vidangare…”
From there Nambi Aarooraar went to ThiruVeengoy
malai, ThiruPaandi KoduMudi and ThiruPerur. At ThiruPerur, the Lord appeared to
him in the form of Chidambara Natarajar. Then, he went to ThiruVenjamaa Koodal,
ThiruKarkudi, ThiruVaarai Metrali, ThiruVinnambar, ThiruPuramPayam, Skipping
the holy place of ThiruKoodalaiyaaru, he decided to go to ThiruMudhu Kundram.
Nambi Aarooraar saw a brahmin and asked him the way to ThiruMudhu Kundram. But
the brahmin said that the way was the path to Koodalaiyaaru and accompanied him
all the way to that holy site. On reaching the place, the brahmin vanished.
Nambi realized that the brahmin was none other than the Lord Himself. Nambi
Aarooraar was moved and he sang “ vadivudai mazhuvendhi…”. And when he went to
ThiruMudhu Kundram, he sang at the temple seeking some gold “nanjiyidai… … meyyai mutrappodi”. And Lord Shiva blessed him
with twelve thousand gold coins. Nambi Aarooraan prayed that the gold coins
reach ThiruVaarur. And Lord Shiva instructed Nambi to drop the gold in the
river ThiruManiMuththaar and re-find the gold at the holy pond Kamalaalayam at
ThiruVaarur. Nambi marked the gold coins and dropped them in the ManiMuththaar
river, as instructed by the Lord.
Then, he went to Chidambaram where he sang “ madiththaadum adimaikkan
andriyae...”. From Chidambaram, he went to ThiruKaruppariyalur,
where at the temple ThiruKokudi, he sang “simmaandhu…”.
AT ThiruPazhaMannipadikkarai, he sang “ munnavan…”.
At ThiruVaazhkoli Puththur, Nambi sang “ thalaikkalan…”.
At ThiruKaanaattumullur, Lord Shiva appeared in front of Nambi Aarooraar yet
again. Then, he went to ThiruYedhirkolpaadi and when he reached ThiruVelvi
kudi, he sang “ mooppadhumillai…”.
Eventually, he returned to ThiruVaarur.
After a few days, accompanied by a disbelieving
Paravai, Nambi went to the holy pond of Kamalaalayam. And initially, he could
not find the gold in the pond and was teased by Paravaiyaar. And Nambi began to
sing “pon seydha maeniyineer…”
and still the gold was not found. Then
he sang “ yektha thiruththariyaen…” and fished in the pond.
This time he found the gold. But the gold was sub-standard and not the same
quality that he had originally got. Nambi Aarooraar sang again and the gold was
turned to high quality – after all, the Lord too wanted to hear more of Nambi’s
Tamil verses.
Nambi Aarooraar then went to ThiruNallaar and at
ThiruKadavur, he sang “ maruvaar kondrai…” and “ podiyaar maeniyanae…” . At
Thirulalampuram, Nambi sang “ yenakkini…”.
He went to ThiruSaay kaadu, ThiruVen kaadu, ThiruNani palli, ThiruChempon
palli, ThiruNindriyur, ThiruNeedur, ThiruPunnur and ThiruKolaakka.
On the way to ThiruKarukaavur, Nambi and his fellow
devotees were hot and tired. Lord Shiva took pity on his friend and appeared as
a brahmin with food and water. After all the devotees ate and drank, they
rested. Nambi and others went to sleep and on waking up found that the brahmin had
vanished. Nambi once again realized that the Lord had helped him once again and
sang “ iththanaiyaa maatram
arindhilaen…”. From there, Nambi went to Chidambaram and when he
reached ThiruNaavalur, he sang “ kovalan naanmugan…”
From there Aarooraar went to ThiruKazhugu kundram and
then to ThiruKachchiyur. At the temple called ThiruAala koyil, he once was very
hungry as the cooks had not come on time, to prepare the food for the devotees.
It was high noon and Nambi Aarooraar felt faint. Then, a poor brahmin appeared
and seeing Nambi very hungry, offered to go around ThiruKachchiyur, begging for
food, at the houses. The poor brahmin brought the food collected thus, to
Aarooraar and offered it. Nambi Aarooraar ate this food and felt better, at
which the poor brahmin vanished. Nambi Aarooraar realized that Lord Shiva had,
for the sake of his dear friend, had gone around the town begging at high noon.
Nambi was moved to sing “ mudhuvaayori..”
After visiting many holy places, Nambi Aarooraar went
to Kancheepuram. At ThiruKaamakkottam, he sang “ nundhaa vensudarae…” .Embracing the Lord at ThiruVonakaandhali, he
sang seeking wealth, “neyyum , paalum…”
and gold was given by the Lord. At Thiru Kachchiyanega thangaavadham, he sang
“ thaenai purindhuzhal…” . At ThiruVan paarthaan
panagaattur, he sang “vidayil mael varuvaanai…”.
He then went to ThiruMaarperu, ThiruVallam and reached ThiruKaalaathi malai.
Remembering Kannappar’s story, he sang “sendaadu vidaiyaay…”. He went to ThiruParupadham,
ThiruKedharam and on reaching ThiruVotriyur, he sang “ otri nagar neengal…”.
In the meanwhile, Anindhathai, the other heavenly
maid with whom Aalala Sundarar had been in love, in the previous life, was born
to a farmer, in a place called ‘Gnyaayiru’. She was named Sangiliyaar and when
she grew up to a young woman, her father decided to marry her off. But due to
her memories from her previous life, Sangiliyaar refused to marry the young man
her father had chosen , saying that she would only marry a sivan-adiyaar. The
young man who was supposed to marry her, met with an untimely death. Fearing
that she was indeed blessed by the God, her family decided to let her leave
Gnyaayiru. They took her to the temple at ThiruVotriyur, where she stayed with
a few servants, serving at the temple.
One day, as she was handing over the flower garlands
she had made for adorning the deity at the temple, Nambi Aarooraan who was also
at the ThiruVotriyur temple, saw her. Nambi Aarooraan fell immediately in love
with her – after all, this was destined to be, as he was born on this earth,
for the purpose of satisfying his lust over the two women, he had fallen in
love with, in heaven.
Nambi Aarooraar was troubled – he did not know how to
seek the hand of Sangiliyaar. So, he sought the help of his good friend Lord
Shiva. He prayed to the Lord, to help him get the lady. Lord Shiva, true to his
friend as ever, appeared in Sangiliyaar’s dreams that night and advised her to
marry his devotee Nambi Aarooraan. The good lady agreed but reminded the Lord
of Nambi’s other love Paravai in ThiruVaarur.
So, that very night, Lord Shiva brought Sangiliyaar’s
message back to Nambi Aarooraar and said that while Sangiliyaar agreed to marry
him, he must promise never to leave her. Nambi thought this over and knowing
that he would not be able to rescind on a promise made in front of the Lord,
told Lord Shiva that he would indeed promise Sangiliyaar. But Nambi added a
condition to lord Shiva that the Lord should at the time of their meeting, not
be at the temple altar- rather, He should move under the ‘magizham’ tree in the
temple courtyard. The Lord agreed .
Lord Shiva returned as a messenger once again that
night and appeared in Sangiliyaar’s dream and advised her that Nambi Aarooraar
would indeed marry her. The Lord also advised Sangiliyaar that she should
insist on Nambi making his promise to her, under the magizham tree and not at
the temple altar.
The next morning when Sangiliyaar and her friends
came to the temple, Nambi Aarooraar was waiting and he asked Sangiliyaar to
come inside the temple, so he may promise her not to leave ThiruVotriyur, as
she had wished. But having been forewarned by lord Shiva the previous night,
Sangiliyaar’s friends said that making such a promise inside the temple would
be inappropriate. They suggested that the promise be made under the temple
magizham tree, where ofcourse, as Nambi had requested, Lord Shiva Himself was
present. And thus, Nambi promised
Sangiliyaar in front of Lord Shiva, that he would not leave ThiruVotriyur.
In order that His friend be happy, the Lord appeared
in the dream of His devotees that night and asked them to conduct the marriage
of Nambi Aarooraar with Sangiliyaar. The wedding was celebrated by one and all
and Nambi spent his time luxuriating in the love of Sangiliyaar.
When spring came, Nambi Aarooraar was reminded of
‘vasantha vizha’ in ThiruVaarur and of Paravai. But remembering his promise, he
despaired of not being able to see the deity at ThiruVaarur and he sang “ bakthimaiyum
adimaiyum kai viduvaan paaviyaen…
… yeththanai naal pirindhiruppaen yen aaroor
iraivanaiyae”.
Not being able to bear being away from ThiruVaarur,
one day, Nambi Aarooraar decided to leave ThiruVotriyur. As his feet crossed
the town limits, he lost his eye-sight and fell down in a faint. When he
recovered from his faint, he still could not see. He knew that this was a
punishment as he had defaulted on his promise. Praying to the deity at
ThiruVotriyur, he sang “ azhukku
meykodu…”. And still the Lord did not relent. Determined to worship the
Lord at Thiruvaarur, the sightless, blind Nambi Aarooraar continued on his way
and reached ThiruVenpaakkam.
When Nambi Aarooraar pleaded to the Lord at
ThiruVenpaakkam, the Lord merely gave him a stick for the blind and sent him
away. And Nambi pleading mercy and begging forgiveness, sang “pizhaiyai poriththiduvar..”. But the Lord was
unrelenting. Nambi then reached Pazhayanur, where he sang “muththaa, muththi tharavalla…”.
Then, Nambi Aarooraar reached Kancheepuram and at the temple there, his left
eye-sight was restored. In his thankful happiness, Aarooraar sang “ aalanthaan
ugandhu amudhu seythaanai…”.
Nambi Aarooraar then proceeded on his way. He went to
ThiruVaamaththur, ThiruNel vaayila thurai and at ThiruVaavadu thurai, he sang
describing his single eyesight, “ gangai
vaazh sadai-yaay oru kannilaen…”. At ThiruThuruththi, he bathed at the
temple and was cured of his illness and he sang “ minnumaa megam…”
Nambi Aarooraar reached ThiruVaarur and not being
able to see the deity with both his eyes, he pitiably sang several verses “ thoovaayaa…”, “kurugupaaya…” and “meelaavadimai…”.
At last the Lord relented and Nambi’s right eye-sight was also restored.
Now that both his eyes were restored their sight and
he had had his fill of the deity at ThiruVaarur temple, Sundarar wanted to go
to Paravaiyar’s house and enjoy her company. But Paravai had heard of his
marriage and life with Sangiliyaar at ThiruVotriyur- she was very hurt that he
had loved another woman - she had made clear to everyone that Nambi was no
longer welcome in her house.
Hearing this, Nambi Aarooraar was heart-broken. He
could not bear the thought of spending even one night in ThiruVaarur, without
Paravai. So, he sought the help of Lord Shiva, who appeared in front of Nambi
Aarooraar. Nambi requested the Lord to go to Paravai’s house immediately and
plead Nambi’s case on his behalf.
And the good Lord went to Paravai’s house as a
brahmin. Thinking Him to be a sivan-adiyaar seeking alms, Paravai welcomed him.
But when Lord Shiva, in the form of the brahmin, advised her to take in Nambi
Aarooraar, she refused and angrily sent Him away.
The Lord returned to Nambi Aarooraar and explained
that Paravai could not be persuaded. But Nambi Aarooraar would not take ‘no’ for
an answer. He could not believe that Paravai would have refused Lord Shiva’s
plea. Nambi threatened that he would die that very night if Lord Shiva did not
unite him with Paravai immediately.
And so, Lord Shiva went again to Paravaiyar’s house
that night-m but this time not as a brahmin, but as the Lord Himself. By then,
Paravaiyaar had also suspected that old brahmin was probably Lord Shiva Himself
and was very worried that she had turned the Lord away. When Lord Shiva
returned to her house, the second time for his friend carrying his friend’s
message to his ladylove, Paravaiyaar was moved. She accepted the Lord’s request
immediately, moved by His gesture to His friend.
And Nambi Aarooraar was able to go to Paravaiyaa’s
house that night and the two met once again love and praised the Lord for
bringing them together.
On hearing this story, a sivan-adiyaar called
Yeyarkon Kalikkaama naayanaar was upset that Sundarar had sent the Lord as a
messenger for a mere woman. The Lord decided to teach a lesson to Kalikkaama naayanaar.
So, he made Yeyarkon Kalikkaama naayanaar suffer from the ‘soolai’ disease . He
was also informed that only Sundarar could cure him of this disease. But
Yeyarkon naayanaar could not bear the thought of Sundarar curing him – so, he took
out his sword and killed himself. Seeing this, Sundarar also tried to kill
himself with his sword. But the Lord saved them both and the two became friends
forever.
Later,
once in ThiruPukkoliyur (now known as
Avinaasi) , when Sundarar was going to the temple, he heard good sweet
music from one house. From across
the street, there was the sound of wailing and crying. When Sundarar
enquired,
he found out that each house had a son. The two sons had been friends
and had
gone to the river together. But while one boy was swallowed by a
crocodile, the
other boy had survived and the upanayanam of the boy who survived, was
being celebrated that day. And hence, the two different nature
of sounds from the houses across the street. Hearing this story,
Sundarar went
to the place where the boy was swallowed by the elephant. He sang “yetraan marakkaen.,.”. Before he could complete
the verse, the crocodile came to the banks and spat out the boy wholly. Not
only that the boy had come to no harm – indeed he was even more grown-up than
when last seen.
And then Sundarar went to meet Seramaan naayanaar,
the king who was also a sivan-adiyaar.
Seramaan naayanaar welcomed Nambi Aarooraar and the
two spent many days together. They visited many holy places and reached ThiruVanjai
kalam at Magdha. By then, Sundarar had reached the end of his purpose in life
on earth – and he pleaded to the Lord to take him back to the heaven which was
his home.
Hearing his plea, Lord Shiva ordered that Sundarar be
brought on a white elephant to His heavenly abode. And thus it happened that
Sundarar was taken from ThiruVanjai kalam, on a white elephant. Seeing his
departure, Seramaan naayanaar followed the white elephant on his horse, all the
way to heaven- at the gates, Seramaan naayanaar was stopped while Sundarar on
his white elephant went in, to meet Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva welcomed back Sundarar. At his request,
Lord Shiva asked nandhiyaar to bring in Seramaan naayanaar too. On meeting Lord
Shiva, Seramaan naayanaar sought permission to sing in front of the Lord, a
verse he had composed. The Lord agreed and listened to Seramaan sing. Both
Seramaan and Sundarar got appointed to some heavenly duties, in the service of
the Lord. Paravaiyaar and Sangiliyaar also returned to heavens as Kamalini and
Anindhathai – the two women went on to serve UmaDeviyaar.
The verse that Aalaala Sundarar had composed on the
way to heaven “ thaanenai mun
padaiththaaan..” was sent through Varuna, to this earth in the holy
place of ThiruVanjai kalam. The other composition by Seramaan naayanaar
‘Gnyaana ulaa’ was brought to earth by Maasaaththanaar, in the holy place of
ThiruPidavur.
This story of Nambi Aarooraar, Sundarar, is the final
episode and ends the Periya Puraanam.
[2] ThiruMunaipaadi - pronounced ‘thiru munaiy paadi’
[3] ThiruNaavalur – pronounced ‘thiru naavaloor’
[4] Nambi Aarooraan – pronounced ‘nambi aarooraan
[5] Narasingha Munaiyarayar – pronounced ‘nara singha munaiy arayar’
[6] Sadankavi Sivachariyaar – pronounced ‘sadankavi sivA chAriyAr’
[7] Puthur – pronounced ‘puththUr’
[8] Paravaiyar – pronounced ‘para vai yAr’
Home Previous
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Next
No comments:
Post a Comment