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The life of chun^dhara mUrthi n^AyanAr is spread throughout the periya purANam as compared to the other devotees. Actually the periya purANam is organized in such a way that it describes the coming of this great devotee from the abode of the Lord and tells through his life the 62 great devotees and the 9 groups of devotees sung by him and tells about his return to the abode of the Lord. This saint of marvelous devotion, chun^dhara mUrthi n^AyanAr, gave out of his humbleness for devotees the thiruththoNdaththokai(1). Here a glimpse of his life is presented continuously taking from the various parts of the periya purANam.

Introduction:

The abode of the Lord who is difficult to be explored for anybody is the great mount kailash. This being the seat of the Supreme it is revered as the ensemble of all holy places. Amidst the songs and praises of various sections, dances of the Lord's organized group of liliput bhutas, salutation of the divines is the great place of the Lord guarded by the adorable n^an^dhi devar who is the head of the many who attained the sArupya. In the ranges of that highly sacred mount was the sage upamanyu adorned by his devotion for Lord shiva and who was the guide of shri kR^ishNa. He was surrounded by the yogic devotees. There appeared a splendid luminance bright as thousands of suns. The yogis wondered what that was. The sage upmanyu mahaR^ishi realized with the grace of the Lord that it was the arrival of chun^dhara mUrthi n^AyanAr back to His abode. The devotees around the sage were quite inspired and wanted to know about that wonderful devotee chun^dharar. The sage started to tell his story.

The early state:

The attendant of the Lord shankara was one by name AlAla sun^dharan who used to serve the Lord bringing flowers and water for the worship. One day when he went to bring the flowers from the garden the two beautiful girls who served the Goddess shakti also came here to take flowers. AlAla sun^dharar was attracted by their beauty and so were they at him. They plucked the flowers and left for the Lords place. The Lord who is inseparable with umA indicating his deed asked him to be born in the world and lead the life of love with those girls. The devotee shivering begged to the Lord to rescue him in time. The Lord blessed so. Because of the boon the southern peninsula did that marvelous saint was born there to give to the world hymns of His love.

The incarnation of sun^dhdrar

In the state thirumunaippAdi n^Adu which gave birth to two marvelous saints of Shaivism consisted of the town thirun^AvalUr. chun^dharar was born to the couple of respected characters and slavery of love to the Golden feet of Lord shiva, chadaiyanAr(1) and ichainzAniyAr(2) in the tradition of vEda chanters. The child that came as a boon to this world was given the name n^ambiyArUrar. When one day he was playing on the street with a toy chariot, the king n^arachiN^ga munaiyaraiyar (3) saw the charming child and adopted him in love. The young chun^dharar grew up as a royal child but at the same time learnt the vEdas and the arts in accordance to his vEdic tradition. His father chadaiyanAr looking for a match for chun^dharar arranged his marriage with the girl of chadaN^gaviyAr.

On the day of wedding the fascinating chun^dharar was bathed with scented substances; Dressed in the wedding robe; sprinkled in sandal and perfumes; adorned with garlands. The attractive chun^dharar saluting the Holy Feet of the Lord covered his forehead with the Holy Ash. He went on a big procession riding a horse to the hall where the wedding arrangements were being done by the family of the bride. The Eldest One who had given the word that He would rescue chun^dharar in time came as a old man obscuring His forehead eye in the Holy Ash, the white hair resembling the rays of His moon-crown, with the holy tri-thread decorating His chest. He entered the wedding hall and called for attention. The relatives welcomed the respectable old man and listened to what He has to say. The Old man challenged chun^dharar to settle an old account they both had and then to go ahead with the wedding. The good charactered chun^dharar asked Him what the old transaction between them pending was.

The Lord who has the great divines including braHma, vishNu as His slaves declared that bride-groom chun^dharar was His slave. The crowd and chun^dharar scoffed at Him saying, "Are you mad(piththan )?". The Old man for becoming whose nice slaves the great people do very long austerities, acted scared and said that He would not be ashamed even if he mocked at Him as mad or devilish and He had the palm leaf document that was given by his grand father that chun^dharar was His slave. Shocked and irked chun^dharar dared Him to show the document. The Old man with whom all creatures take refuge acting as if he was afraid of chun^dharar said he would show it in the local court and rushed out. The blessed chun^dharar followed Him, following whom the painful bonds stop following.

The Old man appeared in the local court and put forward His claim, further charged n^ambiyArUrar of tearing the document evidence! When the authorities asked how would it be possible that a brahmin was given as a slave of one other brahmin and from which town was He from. The Old man replied He was from thiruveNNain^allUr and said that He had the original document still with Him with that He would appeal in the court of vEdic chanters at thiruveNNain^allUr. n^ambi ridiculed at Him and challenged Him to put the claim in His town court as He wanted. The Old man went to thiruveNNain^allUr and n^ambiyArUrar followed as an attracted iron piece. The Old man put His case in the thiruveNNain^allUr court. The jury bench asked Him to substantiate His claim with either'a practice or a document or an eye-witness. The Old man after getting an assurance from the bench that they would not make any harm produced before them what He claimed to be the original document. The document read, "ArUran of n^AvalUr (chun^dharar's grand father) writes. For the reverend piththan (mad) of thiruveNNain^allUr I and my heir successors are given to serve. Here is my authorization." The court verified the signature with the old documents and miraculously found them to be the same! The court ordered that n^ambiyArUrar had to serve the Old man.

chun^dharamUrthi n^AyanAr - part II (vanRoNdar)