Birth in Tiruvarur, the land of Sundara Murthi Nayanar, a fertile ground for thoughts on the Destroyer of Three cities, bestows natural inspiration for the devotion towards the Almighty. In that renowned town Dandiyadikal was born. As if he wanted to only meditate on Lord Shiva who is present in the void of the inner self and not want to see the world outside, he was born visually impaired. His physical sight was impaired but not his vision to see the Truth. He saw the Lord as love and offered himself to the Lord of Tiruvarur. He would salute, circumambulate and sing ‘Nama Shivaya’ at the temple of Arur.

Dandiyadikal once was quite anxious to note that the tank on the western side of the temple was encroached by the Jains. The poor state of that place dedicated to the Destroyer of the demon Jalandhara, drew the concern of this selfless sincere servitor. He wanted to serve society by salvaging the tank. He stuck a pole in the crater of the tank, wound a rope to it and connected the other end to the column on the bank. With the help of the rope, he slowly walked to the tank, dug the silt, and returning to the bank with the help of the rope, he would dump the silton the bank. He did all this while chanting the name of the Lord. The Jains who occupied the place were irked by the devotee's deeds. They started lecturing him that it would affect the small creatures living there if he continued to dig the tank. The devotee replied to them that he was only serving the Lord with the Moon as His crown. The usurpers maligned him by calling him deaf since he was not heeding to their lectures on morals. The rude occupiers kept commenting on Nayanar’s disability and he simply replied that while he saw the Light though he was blind, they dwelt in the darkness of ignorance despite their power of sight. ‘What would you do if I recover my power of sight and you people lose yours by the grace of the Great Lord?’ he queried. The Jains vowed that they would leave the area if it so happened by his Lord's grace. They snatched away the rope and poles.

The devotee, angry with the Jains obstructing his noble service, prostrated in front of the altar of the Lord of Gods and prayed that he could overcome this disgrace. He reached his monastery, lamented and cried over the unfinished service and slept off in the tiredness. The Lord who is the sole refuge for His devotees, delighted with the service of the devotee despite his disability, appeared in his dream. He consoled him declaring that he would get his sight and the usurpers would lose theirs. The Lord came in the king’s dream too and told him about troubles the Jain gave to Dandiyadikal. The shocked king praising the Lord reached the spot. He asked the devotee about the problem. Nayanar narrated how the Jains had disrupted his service, maligned him, and taken away the poles and rope. He also mentioned about their vow that they would not stay in the town if he got the power of sight and they lost theirs. The king made inquiries with the Jains too and they confirmed that what he had heard was indeed true.

The devotee, king and the Jains reached the bank of a temple tank. The king requested the devotee to show that he could get his sight by the grace of the Lord. “If I am a true servitor of Shankara, I will get the power of sight and these vicious people would lose theirs which would only prove that the ultimate Truth is Lord Shiva!”, thus declaring, the devotee took a dip in the tank. The devotee rose up with his eyes clearly seeing things around. The Jains were suddenly unable to see and started struggling. The king declared that the Jains had bad intentions. He ordered them to leave the town. The darkness which was ignorance and present only in their mind till now, became darkness in front of their eyes too. The intruders ran away, falling down and crawling away, dropping their belongings on the way. The king drove them out, saluted the devotee and left. The determined devotee who had sought refuge at the Feet of the Lord, covetable even to Brahma and Vishnu, completed the sacred task he had undertaken. Upon the completion of the renovation of that tank, he lived in the bliss of chanting the Holy Five Letters and finally attained the compassionate feet of the Lord. Let Dandiyadikal Nayanar's determination to serve despite personal infirmity, under duress from others, stay in the mind.

Guru Pooja: Panguni / Sadayam or Meena / Shatabhisha

Har Har Mahadev

• Birth place of dhaNdiyadikaL nAyanAr
• The puranam of Tandi Atikal Nayanar in English Poetry
• தண்டியடிகள் நாயனார் புராணம் - செய்யுள்
• தண்டியடிகள் நாயனார் புராணம் உரைநடை
• दण्डियडिकल नायनार दिव्य चरित्र

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