Transcending the beginning and end the dance the Lord plays in the
Golden hall of thillai (chitambaram) with the mother of the
universe witnessing it, to that feet of the master of marvelous unique
dance had his mind always this devotee. He was always keen on serving the
devotees. Never did he lean towards contradicting his words; Had been keeping
the hara always in the lotus seat of his heart; followed the
discipline of married life that is intended for humble service.
His profession was making pots and clay items. Hence his service was
to provide clay bowls to whoever bows down the pinAka bow shouldered
Lord shiva. He being the place of all good qualities, there appeared a small
black spot. His young feelings led him once to a lady whose work is to give
bodily pleasure. His better half was a very beautiful lady with the heart
more beautiful than that and had the most beautiful Lord in that heart.
With the entire heart going upbeat in the feeling of ecstasy she will chant
thirun^IlakaNtam - one name of the Lord who got a spotted throat
by taking the poison that rose to destroy the entire universe. What can the
poison do to Him ? He is not an ordinary creature to get destroyed by the
poison. Even the spot cannot appear, but probably He had it to indicate to us
that He is there to rescue when we are in trouble.
She was unhappy with him for his deed. She did all the
responsibilities of the wife but didn't allow him to be with her. To bring
down her resentment he went with sweet words and tried to hug her. She said
immediately, "If you touch us(me) ! thirun^IlakaNtam !" (The thamiz word
emmai means "us" but she used it to mean "me"). At the same moment of
hearing her pledge on the name of Lord that great man whisked off his
hands away from her. The immense respect he had for the Hero who burnt the
lust made him say with determination, "As you said "us" (emmai) I won't even
touch in dreams any females". It is the quality of the people who stand for
their principles that if they do mistake once and realize it they never
do that again, they will in fact become more strong in their principles.
Hence they stand supreme in the history. The couple of wonderful
determination and self control did the duties of the married life, but
abstained from the base feeling of sex. They never revealed it to others -
the ideal couple. It could be easier to conquer the world, but it is more
difficult to conquer the senses and the toughest in presence of the charming
spouse. Given that the person had a great amount of desire for that in the
past that led him even outside, how difficult it would be to conquer ! He did
conquer that for the Name of God and there he stands grand for even the
sages, who conquered the senses by practice, to look up to !
The years rolled down and not their determination, even the rocks
could have changed in their stability, but they stood by their oath. With
their appearance, beauty and charm disappearing they became old, but held
strongly the Oldest feet of Lord in their heart. To exhibit to the world the
path that should be followed as the way of salvation the Scholar who taught
sitting beneath the banyan tree, stood in the form of a sage in front of
n^AyanAr's house. Welcoming and worshipping the devotee, n^AyanAr asked in
humble words what order the sage had for him. The shankara who
came stealthily as sage gave the clay bowl in His hand to the humble n^AyanAr
and asked him to preserve it till the time He asks for it, as it was a rare
bowl, He claimed. The servant of devotees took it and kept in a secured place.
The Robber who robs away the rotten pAcham from
pachus removed the bowl from that place and reached at the devotees house
after a lot of days. The truthful slave of God shocked to find out that the
bowl disappeared from the specified place, searched the entire place with
shivering heart, but couldn't get it. By then Immortal who witnesses the
innumerable creation destruction cycle of the universe, shouted as if He was
impatient to make it fast. The devotee begged for pardon to forgive the
loss of the bowl and was ready to give a real nice new bowl instead of that
old one. But the Giver of liberation asked for the same bowl that he had given
and refused to accept even if he would give a golden bowl. As he was not able
to give He charged him to be cheating. That devotee pleaded Him to trust his
honesty. The sage said if he takes a dip in the pond holding the hand of his
son He would believe. n^AyanAr told him that he did not have any offspring.
When the sage asked him to have a dip holding his wife's hand he replied humbly
that due to a pledge he was not ready to do that. Acting as if angered the
Graceful went to the court of the priests of thillai . "It was true
that the sage gave the bowl but I am really ignorant of where it disappeared",
said the man of immense integrity. The court upheld the argument of the sage
that n^AyanAr should have a dip in the pond holding his wife's hand.
Without breaking the secret of not touching his wife to the court,
he came with her to the pond of the thiruppulIchcharam (temple of
chithambaram ), the abode of the Lord with inseparable shakti
. Each holding one end of the same bamboo, that sinless said the secret
behind his not touching his wife and his deed behind that to the entire people
present there and went into the water. The couple who raised from the water
after the dip appeared to the astonishment of all as young as one could covet
and at the same time found the disappearance of the Lord who came in the form
of sage. There appeared the Lord in the horizon on the holy Bull with the
consort to bless the hailing devotee, "You both are very great due to your
victory over the five senses. You be with me in bliss without an end to this
youth". That marvelous man and his worth praising wife lived in the youth
that was excelling with the service to the Lord at His abode than it could
have been in this mortal world. No doubt, pattin'ththAr laments,
"I am not as great as the devotee who sacrificed his youth for the pledge of
his wife". Let the respect thirun^IlakaNta n^AyanAr gave to the name of the
Lord and the determination he had in standing by the principle stay in the
mind.
