Universal Abundance: Unleash Stupendous Possibilities

Foreword

The Tamil Saiva Canon comprises of 12 Thirumurais authored by 26 saints, consisting of more than 20,000 verses. Of these, Peria Puranam is the 12th, the last one. This great work, authored by the Minister turned Saint Sekkizhar, runs to 4286 verses dealing with the lives and times of 63 Saiva Saints who served Man and God during the 3rd century BCE to the 9th century CE. The original work of Sundaramurthy Nayanar had only 11 verses mentioning the names of 62 saints. This was followed by a slightly longer version of 100 verses (of which 89 are available) by Nambiandar Nambi which included Sundaramurthy Nayanar also. It is to the lasting credit of Sekkizhar that he went into great detail in narrating the histories of these saints. It is not as if information on these were readily available. Of these 63, only 7 had left (poetic) records of their own search for God. The other 56 did not say or record anything about themselves – they were ardent devotees and that is about it all. Sekkizhar (1113- 1173 CE) was the Chief Minister of the great Chozha Emperor Kulothunga II who requested and encouraged Sekkizhar to undertake this difficult work.

The Administrator- Scholar, coming 300 years after saint Sundarar went round the Southern Kingdom, gathered information by local enquires, examined epigraphs and copper plates, perused local literature and gathered much authentic information on these saints. Coupled with his own knowledge of Saivism and temple rituals and traditions as also the political history of the Tamil Kingdoms and Sangam literature and the Thevaram, he put in great efforts and, with divine blessings, produced this great epic to the delight of the king and his subjects. The ‘arangetram ‘of Peria Puranam was held at Thillai Natarajar Temple between the 4th April 1139 and 22nd April 1140. After this Sekkizhar himself retired to a saintly life.

The original title given to the work was Thiruthondar Puranam. People so impressed with the work started calling it Peria Puranam (the great epic). G.U.Pope felt that every Tamil student should study it. Scholars have acclaimed it as an encyclopaedic lexicology and literary master-piece. In this connection the observations of Francois Gross- a great polymath – deserve to be quoted It should be recognised that this work is an exceptional memorial. The examination of its multiple facets reaches the highest standard of Indian Scholarship- an awesome recollection of texts, anecdotes, a feeling for narrative, characters and situations and, all this in the service of a noble cause.

For the last about seven centuries, Saivites kept this in their Pooja Room as Sacred Tamil Vedam and a few verses of the same were recited at the Temple rituals and festivals. Only in the last about 100 years Tamil Scholars studied it, made their own research and published articles conveying its greatness and it started reaching the educated class slowly. The common men and women have only heard about the stories of the Nayanmars in various versions. However, all this changed in the last about 30 years and we now hear about Seminars on Peria Puranam held all over Tamil speaking world with regular classes being held by the academicians and devotional scholars to the delight of students young and old. It is now recognised not only as a biography or a Puranam but also as a revolutionary piece of devotional literature, equally known for its poetic beauty.

Who are these 63 Adiyars and why have they caught the imagination of the people? Some of the answers may be:-

1.  They belong to all castes including brahmins, kshatriyas, vysyas, sudras and panchamas and represent almost all professions and callings.

2.  Except Thirumoolar, the other 62 are householders attending to normal domestic duties.(God did not look into the nature of their work- rather He recognised the devotion behind it)

3.  They had overcome desire and attachment,

4.  Most of them were not ritualistic or formal worshippers of idols in Temples. They worshipped the devotees of Siva by rendering a loving service to them. This includes their wives, children, servants etc.,

5.  All of them attained Mukthi by sheer love, devotion and service – without expectations.

No other literature of a religious nature asserts so positively like Peria Puranam saying in effect- ‘Love God, Serve Mankind, give up attachment and Mukthi is yours’.

It is this great epic which is now adding itself one more loving tribute by the hands of my esteemed friend Mr S.Ponnuswamy. He is an engineer and transport planner who had worked in the Indian Railways in different parts of the India. He has authored or co-authored a number of books on bridges and transport systems used in India and abroad. After retirement he did not just rest and enjoy life, but continued his academic interest and obtained his PhD degree at the age of 66. Subsequently, his interest in spirituality grew, particularly in Saiva Sidhanthic philosophy. He also read Peria Puranam and became an ardent student –admirer of Sekkizhar. He strongly felt the need to propagate it to the present younger generation. To catch their interest, he rightly felt that a free rendering of his biographies of the Saints in English (without too much of religious or spiritual content) is the first step. Accordingly, he had worked with diligence during the last four years and the result of his devoted labour is in the readers’ hands now.

Mr Ponnuswamy has faithfully followed the original work without any exaggerated sentimentality. He has written this book in easily readable English without frills. A few illustrations have been added to sustain the interests of the youngsters and to kindle their imagination. The manuscript was in the making and refining during the last four years and the production into the present book form has taken one more year. The work and perseverance of Mr Ponnuswamy at this advanced age of 87 has made my admiration for him greater.

I hope the readers will find the work inspiring them and enhancing the quality of their lives. They may like to narrate these stories to their children. Some of them may be motivated to read the original. Some of them may even like to do some research about the stories, places and events. Some of them may become ardent devotees. But above all, I wish and pray that all of them should become volunteers of social service- loving service to men and women without any differentiation of caste, creed, religion and region.

I thank Mr. Ponnuswamy for the honour he has bestowed on me by asking me to write this Foreword. May Lord Shiva shower His blessings on the author and his family.

A.M. Swaminathan, I.A.S. (Retd.)

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Preface

Thiruthondar Puranam, unlike other Puranas, narrates the life stories of people who lived in more recent period between BCE 300 and CE 865. It covers the life sketch of sixty three ardent devotees of Lord Siva, an appreciation and account of importance of the holy brahmins of Thillai (Chidambaram), the most important and hallowed shrine of Lord Shiva in South. His work contains a total of 4286 verses. The voluminous nature of the work and its literary merit has brought it the name of Periya Puranam (Superior/Huge legend).

The poet was born in Kundrathur a small town near Chennai, famous for a hill temple of Lord Muruga. He was born in a Saivite Vellala family with family title of Sekkizhar. He was originally named Arulmozhi Thevar. His father was a minister in the Chola court. His contemporary, the Chola King, Kulothunga Chozhan (alias Anabayan), who ruled in the twelfth century was famous for his fair and just rule. He was fond of Tamil literary works. Impressed by the intellect and character of Shekkizhar, the king appointed him as is his minister.

Though a Saivite by tradition, the king’s interest in literature attracted him to a Jain epic ‘Seevaka Chintamani’. That work covering the life of a Jain prince, had almost equal mix of interesting poems on divinity as well as on sensual pleasure. Seeing his king distracted by the Jain work, Sekkizhar wanted to turn back the king to the Saivite tradition and advised him that his reading such works would neither help him in this life nor will it lead him to find the way of ‘liberation’. The minister advised that he should read works like Thiruthonda Thohai’ and Thiruthonda Thiruvandhadi’, composed by Sundaranar and Nambiandar Nambigal respectively. The minister explained to him about their merits in recounting the lives of many ardent Shiva devotees, who by their sincerity and devotion had attained salvation and reached the Lord’s abode. The king, after going through them, became interested in the lives of the Nayanars and asked his minister to retell the stories in more details in form of an epic.

Sekkizhar accepted the assignment, being an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva himself. He shifted to Chidambaram, to seek Lord Shiva’s blessings and guidance. He went to Lord Nataraja’s temple and prayed to Him for guidance. The Lord advised him in form of an ‘asareeri’ (heavenly voice) to start the narration with the word ‘ulagellam’ (all the world over). Shekkizhar obeyed and started his narration. In fact he has used this term at fifteen locations in all (beginning, middle and end) in his work. On completion of the work, it was made public (arangetram) in presence of the Lord at Chidambaram and intellectuals, saints and others. It is said that the reading commenced on a Chithirai, Adhirai star (the birth star of Saint Thirugnanasambandar’ and was completed on the same stellar day the following year.

After this was done, the king honoured the poet devotee by taking him along with the work in a procession on an elephant back round the town. This epic is considered the twelfth (and last) Thirumurai in Tamil, thus equating it with the works of the trinity Appar, Sambandhar and Sundarar and Manickavasagar. It is also considered the fifth Veda (Marai) in Tamil. Though quite a number of the stories contain some unbelievable and some socially unacceptable incidents, they indicate the depth of their devotion and faith in the Lord and their belief that ’there can be no second to the Divine, and all is resolved and redeemed in the burning brazier of His Grace’.*

There is enough evidence at different locations in the south to indicate that these Nayanars actually lived there and left some marks. Sekkizhar, as the minister of the Chola king had by himself visited many of the places where the savants had lived and collected information from people and from stone inscriptions. Recently, a well known Tamil writer, Thiru Sivapathasundaram, famous for the travelogues based on his visits to places connected with Lord Buddha and Manickavasagar earlier, had gone round visiting about 100 places and temples connected with the stories of the Nayanars mentioned by Sekkizhar and collected details and evidence by visit to local archives and enquiries from Archakas, temple administrators and local people. He has followed it up with publishing an excellent book in Tamil ‘Shekkizhar Adichuvattil’ (in the footsteps of Shekkizhar). The book contains a sketch map of the places he visited and route taken from Kalahasthi in north to Ilayangudi, south of Madurai and to Thiruvzhanchuli in south-west. Many photographs connected with some of the incidents also find a place in the book.

Thirteen of the Nayanars are believed to have lived during the life time of the first chronicler of them, Sundaramurthy Nayanar himself (CE 840- 860). It is believed said that he composed them at the behest of Lord himself in form of ‘Thiruthonda Thohai’, the first work covering the lives of the Nayanars. It is a very brief work comprising eleven stanzas of eight lines each. This was followed some centuries later by a work named ‘Thiruthondar Thiruvandhadi’ sung by Nambiandar Nambigal comprising 89 verses of four lines each, as available.In the years following Sekkizhar, many scholars have rendered the works in a prose form and many books of appreciation and critiques have been published in Tamil. This work is considered so important a literary work in Tamil that, every year, a two day conference is held in Chennai to discuss different aspects of the work and generate interesting discussions, debates, research topics and competitions. There are very few books of the kind in English for people interested to know about the lives of the great devotees. The latest notable one available is ‘Peria Puranam’ by a well versed Saivite scholar Sri G.Vanmikanathan containing translation partly in verse form of the original poems and partly in prose with comments. Some of the illustrations in this book are based on those in that book and the same is gratefully acknowledged.

The author, having gone through the original work out of curiosity, felt as a tribute to Sekkizhar, it would be desirable to make available the contents of the epic in easily readable English prose form for the benefit of those who are not well versant in Tamil and at the same time read the stories. He has tried to cover all major incidents in the different life sketches, with minimum of abbreviation of original text. While consulting his friends regarding its suitability for publication, Mrs. Urmila Vaidhyanathan offered to go through the text and edit it. In that attempt, she has taken lot of pains to go through it a number of times and has helped in corrections as well as in the presentation. The author is very grateful to her for the excellent work she has done and for the Mr V.R. Vaidhyanathan who helped in the initiation of the process.

He is grateful to Sri R.T. Namasivayam who has taken upon himself the task of liaison and processing through in preparation of sketches and publication. He is highly indebted to Dr. A.M. Swaminathan who initiated the process of the publication and has taken personal interest and follow up acction in having this work published. He being one of the forces behind the Sekkizhar Research movement, there can be no better person than him for giving a Foreword to this work. The author is very thankful to him additionally for having kindly given a very scholarly Foreword to the book.

The author is grateful to his younger son Senthilnathan and daughter-in- law Malini for the unstinted support and encouragement they gave in the preparation of this work and also for sponsoring its publication. Last but most importantly, the author is highly indebted to M/s. Giri Trading Agency Private Limited for coming forward to take up the regular publication of this book for wider circulation within a very short time.

S. Ponnuswamy

Chennai

April, 2015

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Dedication

To the memory

of my brother Shanmugam

Introduction

Sekkizhar’s Periya Puranam is a narrative consisting of 4286 verses, depicting the lives of sixty three ardent and famous devotees of Lord Siva, known as ‘Nayanmars’. They spearheaded the Bhakthi movement in Tamil land between the third century BCE and ninth century. While Sekkizhar’s is the best known work on the subject, the earliest one, (in the form of short verses, but very brief), was written by Sundaramurthy, a Nayanar himself. It is called ‘Thiruthonda thohai’. Periyapuranam is based on Sundarar’s composition, although it is a far more elaborate account of the exemplary and deep devotion of the Nayanmars and a graphic description of the land in which they had lived and moved about. It is said that Sekkizhar, who happened to be the chief minister of the Chola king, had sent emissaries to various places and went himself to many to collect details of the Adiyar’s lives and used the information in his epic description. On completion of this work, he renounced his office and became an ascetic himself.

Sekkizhar has started his narration with eleven verses as an invocation extolling the virtues and greatness of the 3000 Sivachariars inhabiting Thillai, (Chidamabaram) solely devoted to the service of the ‘Dancing Nataraja’.

He then starts with the incident of how Lord Siva came in the guise of an old Vediyar in order to ‘enslave’ Sundaramurthy Nayanar, who is to be the first and prime chronicler of the lives of the Adiyars. Then follow the stories of others. He concludes with how Sundarar leaves this world and travels to Kailash, the abode of Lord Siva and Mother Uma to resume his services to them.

This work follows the same order in which Sekkizhar penned the narrative except for some minor changes in the events of Sundarar’s life. The contents of the original have been compressed to some extent, especially in case of Thirugnanasambandar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundarar.

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1. SUNDARA MURTHY NAYANAR

Childhood

Sundarar was actually a celestial being who used to be an important helper in Kailash. He was cursed to be born on this earth because he strayed from his holy duties and fell in love with two Apsaras (beautiful girls)who were helpers of Shakti, Lord Siva’s consort. During his life on this earth, (as commanded by Lord Siva Himself), he chronicled the lives of the Nayanmars. The stories of some of the Nayanmars who were his contemporaries and with whom he had some form of contact or connection are also covered in the original narration by Sekkizhar in a number of places. (The narrator of the work has tried to compile all such incidents into an integrated whole for the convenience of the readers).

Sundaranar’s original name was Nambiarurar. He was born in a devout family of Sivachariars, as the only son of Sadayanar and Isaignaniyar. It was a family which, for generations, had been devoted to Lord Siva and provided hospitality to His devotees. The child was brought up with all care. As a young toddler, he used to play on the streets pulling his toy cars. The king of the place, Narasinga Munayar, happened to see the child thus playing, and was immediately attracted to him. The king expressed a desire to adopt the child. The parents also agreed and hence the child was brought up as a prince. Yet, Sadayanar and the other learned brahmins desired that he should go through the ritual of wearing the sacred thread, be initiated into learning the Vedas and follow the Brahmin traditions. The king agreed to their wishes. All the necessary rites were performed and the boy was initiated into learning the Vedas. He also learnt various religious scriptures quickly and became a good exponent of the same..

Time rolled by and Nambiyaruran reached marriageable age. Sadayanar and his kin wanted to get him married. After due enquiries they opined that the daughter of a Sivachariar named Sadangavi of the neighbouring town of Puthur would be the most suitable girl to marry the boy. They then proceeded to Puthur with the proposal. On learning about their coming to Puthur, Sadangavi and other leading Brahmins welcomed them and arranged for their stay. The girl’s father readily agreed to the alliance. On returning to Nallur, they informed the king, who was the foster father of Nambiyaruran. He also agreed and wanted the wedding to be conducted in a grand manner befitting a prince. Sadayanar made all the preparations and had the invitations prepared. It was sent to Puthur so that the girl’s family could make the arrangements.

Enslavement

Both the towns were well decorated for the occasion. The day before the wedding, Sadayanar carried out the necessary formalities and tied a golden band or kappu (amulet) on Nambiarurar’s wrist, in order to protect the bridegroom from evil. They performed all the necessary rites that night. At dawn, auspicious instruments were played; the sun rose, as though eager to see the bridegroom. Nambiarurar went into the appointed chamber where he had a sacred bath in scented holy water and wore a new silk dress and ornaments. He smeared thiruneeru on his forehead, thinking of the Lord. He tied an angavastram (upper garment) across his shoulders and was ready to depart for Nallur. The party left, with the groom on a horse and other gentry in their palanquins. They were accompanied by learned Brahmins chanting sacred texts.

In the meantime, the girl’s father had made arrangements for the wedding in a big mandapam, which was well decorated with flowers, buntings etc. The approach roads too were well decorated and young women holding pots with holy water and singing welcome songs in chorus lined the streets. As the groom’s party passed, all the women were awestruck at his beauty and commented that one should have countless number of eyes to see the young bridegroom. The party reached the hall and Nambiarurar dismounted from the horse even as the other gentry alighted. After being accorded due welcome they entered the hall. As they were getting in, an elderly brahmin also entered the pandal. He was none other than Lord Siva in disguise. He had covered the third eye on His forehead with a thick coating of thiruneeru and the crescent on his head with thick grey hair. He wore ear drops of rudhraksha, a white towel across his shoulders and a piece of cloth covering His loin cloth. He was holding a bamboo stick in one hand and a bunch of sacred reeds in the other just as a learned priest would. People looked at Him wondering who it could be; was he just a very old man or the originator of the Vedas in the guise of an old man.

Just as Nambiarurar went to his seat for doing the yagna preceding the wedding, the old Brahmin went up to him and asked everybody assembled to listen to him first. Nambiarurar and others welcomed him saying, Your coming here is welcome and is our good fortune. The old learned person told Nambiarurar, Settle the old dispute between you and me before you start the velvi. Nambiarurar asked for the details of the dispute

The Vediyar, who was in fact Lord Siva in disguise (and whom even Brahma, Thirumal and other celestials could not fathom) replied that the native of Navalur (Nambiarurar) was his slave. Surprised, the people asked for an explanation. Some expressed their anger and some laughed at his words. Navaloorar also laughed. The Vediyar glared at him and said, Hey, why are you laughing when your father’s father has committed to hereditary slavery? and he showed a palm leaf containing the supposed declaration. Nambiarurar replied, We are hearing the proposition of one Brahmin becoming the slave of another only from you. Are you a marayavan or a mad person? Vediyar replied that Nambiarurar should stop ridiculing and start serving Him. Nambiarurar asked to see the leaf and moved close to snatch it. But the Vediyar started running to prevent him from snatching it. Nambiarurar chased him, caught hold of the leaf and tore it to pieces. The Vediyar appealed to the elders for justice and said by snatching and tearing the leaf, Nambiarurar had proved his guilt and that he was his slave.

The elders felt that this person appeared to be an old habitual litigant and asked him where he was from. He replied that he hailed from neighbouring Thiruvennainallur. On hearing this, Nambiarurar suggested that he should come to that town to prove his claim. Vediyar readily agreed to do so in the presence of marayavars, thereby showing the original agreement. So saying he started walking towards Vennainallur and others followed him, attracted by his magnetic personality. There, in the presence of the elders, he presented his case and accused Nambiarurar of flouting the agreement. Nambiarurar responded saying that what the Vediyar asked for was against established practice and therefore not acceptable. The elders then asked the Vediyar to prove his point by any of the three means viz., government order; proof of agreement; or outside witness. The elder then said that he would prove his claim by showing the agreement; and he showed them a palm leaf and sought a promise that it would not be destroyed as the first one was. The elders asked the Karana (village accountant) to read the leaf. The Karana took the leaf and read, I, Arooran of Naval ancient saiva brahmin family, through this writing, declare that I, my progeny and family members agree to serve the Vennainallur Pithan generation after generation with our body, mind and deed. My signature stands testimony to this agreement. The elders then saw that the leaf contained the signature of the person who had written it and of witnesses below the statement.

Then the elders asked Arooran to have a look at the document to check if the signature on the leaf was that of his grandfather. The Vediyar then asked the elders, Is he the right person to check the signature? Please check the signature with any other document signed by his grandfather. Accordingly, they called for such old documents and found that the signatures tallied. They then concluded that there was nothing more to be done and told Arooran that he had lost the case and it was his duty to serve the Vediyar. Nambiarurar replied that if it was their decision, he could not go against it. The elders then addressed the mendicant and said that since the document showed that he belonged to Vennainallur, he should show them his house and proof of long time residence there.

The great mendicant then told them that none of them had recognised him yet; they should follow him so that he would show them his residence. So saying, he entered the temple. Nambiarurar and the brahmins followed him, wondering why he was entering the temple. Nambiarurar went ahead of the group and called out for the Vediyar. Then the Lord appeared before him in the form of Siva, with his consort Parvathi, seated on the bull and asked him to follow them inside the temple. Once inside, he told Nambiarurar, "In your previous birth, you were my thondar (servant). You took this human birth on my command. In order to save you from the effects a difficult life here which may befall you, we followed you and adopted you." Nambiarurar expressed his gratefulness by raising his folded hands and worshipping the Lord. Celestials showered flowers and Vedic hymns were heard. Then the Lord told him that since he was so argumentative, he would also be called Vanthondar (famous devotee). He then asked him to sing His praise in Tamil, as that was the form of worship He liked the most.

A diffident Nambiarurar asked the Lord by what name He should be called. Siva replied, "Since you called me Pithan, address me as ‘Pittha’ and start. Nambiarurar was thus inspired and started rendering his first pathigam Pittha Pirai soodi" (oh mad one, donning the crescent moon on Your head). He sang it set to sweet Hindola pan (ragam). Observing this, the celestials blessed him with a shower of flowers. The Lord asked him to continue singing about Him in the same vein for the good of the world.

In the meanwhile, in Puthur, the wedding was cancelled due to these events. The bride who had already considered Nambiarurar as her husband decided to keep his memory alive and continue to serve the Lord. She did so and reached salvation at the Lord’s feet in due course.

Nambiarurar thence went to Navalur, where he worshipped the Lord with a string of verses and then reached Thiruthurayur, where he rendered another series thanking the Lord for having come in time and saving him from straying away and praying that He should show him the correct dharmic path. He visited a few more shrines in the area and proceeded towards Thillai, eager to have dharshan of the Lord in the dancing mode. He reached River Pennai and crossed over. He reached the outskirts of Thiruvadhigai Veerattanam but did not enter that town. It was the town where the elderly saint Thirunavukkarasar had cleared the temple premises of wild growth and rubbish with his own hands. Overcome by awe and reverence for the elder devotee, he was hesitant to tread the land. With his thoughts dedicated to the holy feet of the Lord of Veerattanam, he slept with other devotees in the Sithavada mutt set in beautiful surroundings. The Lord of the place assumed the guise of an elderly priest, entered the mutt and lay down near Arooran so that His feet touched the head of Aroorar. The latter woke up and asked the elderly priest why he treaded on his head. In reply the priest said that due to old age, he did not have a proper sense of direction. Aroorar shifted his place, but the elder went there also and repeated the act. Now Aroorar asked him angrily why he was repeating