(tirumUladEva nAyanAr purANam - Periyapuranam as English poetry)

 
 
        "I am a serviteur of the serviteurs 
        Of our lord Tirumoolar" 
                     
                    - The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai. 
 
1.     In Mount Kailaas of the Lord who wears the young  
    And crepuscular crescent in His crest, Nandi, the Chamberlain, 
    In the hoary and ever-during temple, regulates the entry 
    Of Indra, Vishnu, Brahma and other Devas for the darshan 
    Of Lord Siva; a Siva-yogi well-versed in the four Vedas 
    And initiated by Nandi thrived there.                (3564) 
 
2.     He came by all the rare eight occult powers beginning 
    With Animaa; desiring to sojourn with saint Agastya, 
    Privileged by claims of intimacy, he through the sky, 
    Fared forth from the Lord’s divine Kailas towards 
    The Potiyil-hill of goodly Tamil.                (3565) 
 
3.     He adored at aeviternal Kedaaram, and the great saint 
    Came to the celebrated Pasupati Nepal where he hailed 
    And worshipped the Lord; then he came to the shore 
    Of the broad ford where swans teemed in the Ganga 
    Of pure water which Lord Siva received in His matted hair.    (3566) 
 
4.     He bathed in the long ford of the Ganga and adored 
    The Merciful One who abides in joy in Varanasi, 
    The Lord who helps lives reach the shore of birthlessness; 
    He then adored at cloud-capped Vindya, at sempiternal 
    Sri Sailam and he then came to the Tirukkaalatthi-hill 
    Where abides the crescent-crested Lord.                (3567) 
 
5.     He adored the abiding Sthaanu at ever-during 
    Tirukkaalatthi; he then came to Tiruvaalangkaadu--, 
    One of the five courts--, where the Lord enacts 
    His dance, and adored there; then at Tiruvekaamparam 
    He adored the Lord unknowable to the questing two; 
    He sojourned in Kaanchi, the city of foison which is 
    Girt with great and lofty walls.                (3568) 
 

 
 
6.     He companied with Siva-yogis in love in that godly city; 
    He then came to Tiruvatikai girt with a rocky rampart 
    And there adored the Lord; then he came 
    To the golden city of Perumpatra-p-Puliyoor 
    Whose street girdles the Tiruvambalam where 
    The blue-throated Lord enacts His wondrous dance.        (3569) 
 
7.     He adored the Lord’s roseate foot 
    Uplifted for the deliverance of all the worlds, in fitting love; 
    Delight welled up in his heart; he witnessed the dance 
    Of bliss in his inner and godly consciousness, 
    And adoring the Lord in that felicity he abode there, 
    Unable to part from it.                        (3570) 
 
8.     At the end of his sojourn at Puliyoor rich in mansions 
    Of bright and lofty thresholds, he adored the Lord 
    And left the city; then he came to the bank of the Cauvery 
    Which endowed its regions with plenty, but would 
    Not feed the maw of the sea thinking 
    That it was not afraid to feed the Lord-Rider 
    Of the martial Bull, with venom.                (3571) 
 
9.     He bathed in the great water of the Cauvery and pursued 
    His course on its bank; he came to Tiruvaavaduthurai 
    Where Uma performed tapas in the form of a calf; 
    He circumambulated the splendorous shrine of Lord Pasupati 
    Who rides the Bull, and in great love adored Him; 
    He longed to sojourn there.                    (3572) 
 
10.     He divined a hint which urged him not to leave 
    That town; he loved it all the more; yet he left 
    The town, and as he moved on, he saw many herds 
    Of kine in the pasture-lands abutting 
    The Ponni’s bank, pining in great grief.            (3573) 
 
11.     A man called Moolan, a neatherd by profession 
    That came in the line of cowherds of Saatthanoor-- 
    The village where Brahmins dwelt in splendour--, 
    Was grazing his cattle all alone; as his allotted days 
    In this world ended, fierce Death smote him, 
    And down he fell on earth, lifeless.                (3574) 
 
12.     When the yogi of great tapas beheld the herds of kine 
    Come near his body, wheel round it, bellow in anguish, 
    Go round and round the corpse and smell it, 
    By the grace of the Lord, he mused thus: 
    “I will wipe off the distress of these cows.”            (3575) 
 
13.     “These kine will not be relieved of their distress 
    Unless he rises from the dead.” Thus he concluded. 
    The muni of tapas who decided to cause his life 
    Course into the corpse, had his own body safely guarded. 
    And by his art of controlling the vital breath, 
    He breathed his life into the decad body.            (3576) 
 
14.     Having thus infused his life into that body whence 
    He rose as Tirumoolar, all the cows in great joy 
    Neared him, licked him, smelt him and in joy bellowed. 
    In loving delight they leaped about 
    With uplifted tails; cured of their misery 
    They duly grazed in the pasture.                (3577) 
 
15.    When he beheld the herds of kine grow happy, 
    Grace and mercy welled up in him he went 
    After them where they grazed; they came to the ford 
    Of the Cauvery, drank water and came up to the bank; 
    He took care of them by causing them 
    To browse in the flowery pasture-land.                (3578) 
 
16.     When the fierce sun sank behind the western mountain 
    The herds of kine slowly moved onward of their own 
    Accord, thinking of their calves; when they came 
    To the world-renowned Saatthaanoor; Tirumoolar who came 
    By truthful consciousness poised in the Saiva way, 
    Followed the kine to their destination.                (3579) 
 
17.     He that went behind the cows stopped at the houses 
    Where the cows entered; the glorious wife of the neatherd 
    Thinking on the delay in her husband’s arrival 
    Even after the sunset, in fear, proceeded forth and found 
    Him poised in a different state; she thought thus:  
    “Some evil had befallen him.” When she tried to take 
    Hold of him physically he would not suffer her do so.        (3580) 
 
18.     She had neither children nor kin rare; she grew 
    Scared and was bewildered; addressing him she said: 
    “What may your action mean?” She grieved sorely. 
    To her Tirumoolar thus spake; “I have no nexus 
    With you whatsoever”, and he of soaring tapas 
    Moved into a public matam.                    (3581) 
 
19.     Having perceived the altogether different outlook 
    Of her husband, she would not, that whole night, whisper 
    A word to any one; neither would she sleep 
    As her husband was not with her; next day she petitioned 
    To the town-elders about her husband’s plight; 
    The goodly men came to him, 
    Studied him closely and mercifully spake thus:            (3582) 
 
20.     “This is neither frenzy nor dementia; nor is there 
    For this any external cause; lo he is firmly 
    Poised in lucid Siva-yoga having weeded out 
    All mental oscillations and vacillations; 
    Endless is his glory; aeviternal is his beatitude.        (3583) 
 
21.     “Like one initiated and thus gaining the feet 
    Of the Supreme One while yet alive, having done 
    Away with all desire, he has become a seer 
    Endowed with omniscience; he will no longer be 
    Involved in his former relationship with you.” 
    When told thus, she grieved much; those who were 
    Close to her, took her with them.                (3584) 
 
22.     Tirumoolar proceeding from the matam, traced his way 
    Following the route of the kine, back to the place 
    Where he had his body guarded; lo, the fleshy heap 
    Was not to be seen; through his ominiscience 
    He contemplated the incident to get clarified.            (3585) 
 
23.     For Tirumoolar to indite on carth in his Tamil 
    The message of the Agamas authored by the Lord 
    Who wears in His crest the cool-rayed crescent, 
    The Lord in His well-dispensed grace concealed his body; 
    ‘So, it is but the Lord’s own grace’. 
    Thus, he of infinite consciousness comprehended it.        (3586) 
 
24.     Unto the tribesmen that accompanied him,  he made it 
    Absolutely clear that he had no nexus with them; 
    When they departed, he meditated on the feet 
    Of the Lord whose banner sports the Bull; then he who had  
    Pulled down, root and branch, desire, wrath and the like, 
    Came to cool Tiruvaavaduturai.                    (3587) 
 
25.     At Tiruvaavaduturai he adored Siva, the Rare Ens, 
    In all propriety, and sat in yogic posture under 
    The peepul tree situate west of the temple’s court; 
    Poised in Siva-yoga he became oned with the Lord 
    Enthroned in the lotus-heart.                    (3588) 
 
26.     For the dwellers of earth to rid the poisonous 
    Embodiment and gain deliverance, he composed 
    Tirumantramaalai of fourfold path culminating 
    In Gnaanam; he but uttered a stanza, once a year; 
    His work hailing the Lord who wears the tusk 
    Of the boar, began thus: “Onru Avanthaane.”            (3589) 
 
27.     He composed his garland of Tamil made up 
    Of three thousand stanzas of (Aagamic) import; 
    For this he joyously flourished on earth 
    For three thousand years; then he reached 
    The sacred Kailaas by the grace of the Lord 
    Who wears the crescent in His crest and for ever 
    Became irretrievably oned with His feet.            (3590) 
 
28.     Having adored the flower-feet of Tirumoola Devar 
    Who explicated the fourfold path of Gnaanam, 
    Yogam, Kiriyai and Cariyai we now proceed 
    To narrate the celebrated and strong servitorship 
    Of heroic Tandi Atikal who at Tiruvaaroor 
    Of spreading renown, confounded the Samanas.            (3591) 
 
---------------- 
 
NOTES 
 
Verse No. 
 
   1.    This verse informs us that Tirumoolar was a direct disciple of Nandi  
    who was a direct disciple of Lord Siva Himself.  Nandi is also one of  
    the names of  Siva. “Nandi naamam Namasivayave” is the affirmation  
    of St. Sambandhar. 
 
   2.    Agastya: The saint who is hailed as the first grammarian of Tamil.  He  
    chose to reside for ever in the Potiyil-Hill.  This hill is sacred to the  
    Tibetan Buddhists. 
 
   9.    Tiruvaavaduthurai: This is the name of the shrine.  The town is called  
    Saatthanoor.  See verse 11. 
 
  10.    He divined. . . that town: This observation is fraught with significance.  
    Our saint essayed to ignore the divine intimation, in vain. 
 
  11.    Moolan: This is the name of the neat herd.  This eventually became our  
    saint’s name.  Moola means origin, here is it symbolic of the origin of  
    Aagamaanta in Tamil. 
 
  13.    Metampsy chosis is resorted to by our saint.  This was but a child’s  
    play     for our saint.  Verse two of this Puranam says that our  
    saint -- a Siva-yogi--, came by all the rare eight occult powers  
    beginning with Anima. 
 
  14.    Our saint detracted from his course; it was to wipe out the distress of  
    cows.  The cow is a sacred animal.  The Puranam of Chandesa Naayanaar  
    and the chapter entitled Go-pura Viyal (Siva Dharumotram) attest to the  
    aeviternal glory of cows. 
 
15-16.    Tirumoolar the Good Shepherd is supremely happy when his flock is  
    happy.  Macarism marks the great. 
 
  21.    She grieved much: This is the general lot of a Hindu wife whose life is  
    one of total forbearance. 
 
  22.    The fleshy heap was not to be seen: See verse 10.  None can transgress  
    a divine command.  Now our saint meditates on his plight and is blessed  
    with clarity. 
 
  25.    The peepul tree: This becomes the Kallaala tree for our Siva-yogi. 
 
  26.    Tirumantira Maalai: This is the name of the tenth Saivite Tirumurai.   
    It is both Sastra and Stotra.  It is the quintessence of the Vedas and  
    the Saiva Aagamas.  Each verse is packed with the concentrated wisdom  
    of one whole year.  Each verse has several layers of meaning.  It can be  
    understood only by the grace of the Guru. 
 
  27.    The work comprises 3,000 verses.  “Tillai vaazh Antanar tham  
    Adiyaarkkum Adiyen” (I am a serviteur of the servitors of the  
    Tillai-Brahmins) said Lord Siva.  Their total number is three  
    thousand.  The Tirumantiram is the Veda with its three thousand  
    ramifications. 
 
        Here ends the Puranam of St. Tirumooladeva Naayanaar 

Sincere thanks to Sri. T N Ramachandran of thanjavur, for permitting his English rendering of the holy text periyapurANam be published here.

See Also: 
1. thirumUla nAyanAr purANam in English prose 
2. திருமூல நாயனார் புராணம் (தமிழ் மூலம்) 
3. thiruththoNDar purANam main page
4. 12 shaivite thirumuRais