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thirunyanachampandha-nayanar-part-VII-the-unburnable-undrownable-glory

Thirunyanachampandha Nayanar - part VII (The Ineffaceable, Unswerving Divine Glory)


The king, queen(1) and the minister(2) adored the grace of God and devotion of thirunyAnachampan^dhar which brought the pANdiya king out of its suffering. The Jains unable to accept their defeat wanted to do some face saving actions. They thought they would not be able to win the discussion if it was a complete neutral analysis. So they wanted to still trust on the magical powers of their mantras to establish their philosophy. When champan^dhar asked them to put forward their views of the Truth, they asked for a fight of principles where the victory would be visible clearly. The king asked them when they were not able to cure his heat disease to prove their ideology, what argument they wanted to have. Taking that cleverly as a question asked to them the Jain preachers asked for putting the truths of both sides written in separate Olai(palm leaf used in earlier days for writing) and put it in the fire, whichever is not burnt in fire would be the victorious. Before the king who came out of the illusion of their false preachings reject their further proposals for continued fight, champan^dhar accepted their demand and the king ordered for making fire in front of the court. The fire with far raising flames was put up there with the fire dEva ready to show the glory of his Lord. champan^dhar taking the palm file of his beautiful compositions on the Lord on the holy Bull saying "Our Lord is Supreme" opened it praising Him. When he randomly selected with the ash smeared hand there came thethirun^aLLARu padhikam pOgamArththa pUNmulaiyAL . Praying the Lord of thirn^aLLAru he took that leaf out in his hand. He sang thaLariLa vaLaroLiand put the leaf in the fire putting the hearts of the opponents in the flame. The fire like bodied Lord, the fire eyed Lord, the Lord dancing with fire pot, the Lord who is the God for the fire itself is there in the song, so how would the fire char it ? It like the emerald in the left part of the Lord, appeared green. The Jains with shivering mind whether it would survive put their philosophy written leaf in the fire.

 

Thirunyanachampandha Nayanar - part VII  (The Unburnable Undrownable Glory)

With all the people in the assembly wondering champan^dhar took the leaf he had put in the fire which was more green than earlier and intact. The king asked the Jains who were shocked at their leaf burnt to take out and show theirs. Looking at the charred out leaf the king ordered to quench the fire with water. The Jains saw there nothing but ash and charcoal like their idea on God. The king laughed at them and asked them to go away as they lost first not able to cure him and again with their burnt out philosophy. The Jains still wanting to put themselves into further embarrassment asked for one more combat. The king refused to accept saying there was nothing special for a new contest. But champan^dhar accepted the challenge with the trust on the Lord's glory. The Jains wanted to decide the success this time by putting the leaf of philosophy in the flow of the river. Whoever 's leaf stays back without getting washed away by the current would be of the winning philosophy. The minister told whoever loses in that contest would be decided to be the ultimate loser. The Jains intolerant, irate and mad vowed that the king would execute them in kazu(sharp pointed killing column) if they lose. To the river vaigai flowing beautifully in madhurai champan^dhar went in his pearl palanquin, the king on his horse and the Jains with their fear and darkness. Seeing the servant of Lord shiva - thirunyAnachamapan^dhar, the people of madhurai started exclaiming the devotion, small in appearance but marvelous in deed of the prodigy, the glory of the Ultimate Truth the Lord sha.nkara with inseparable shakti and the miserious deeds they underwent with the philosophies of Jains.

The river vaigai was flowing in its full swing eager to fast clean the dust that settled on the faith of the kingdom. It was ready to participate in the historical event where it could demonstrate that the faith on Blue throated Lord can not be washed away. On reaching a point where the current was at its peak the king decided to find out the peak of philosophies there. The Jains this time wanting to try their luck first wrote their theory aththi n^Aththi((is) there, not there) and put it on the flow. While the philosophy itself is wavering how can the palm leaf stand on the flow of the time or the flow of the vaigai ? It took it fast from the eyes of people to ditch it in the sea. The Jain preachers ran behind it haplessly unable to catch the Truth and returned back like returning back to reincarnation. The Jains though lost in their pursuit were still thinking that the shaivite saint could not also do it. thirunyAnachampan^dhar - related to the Supreme knowledge - started singing thiruppAchuram to thwart the ignorance that shadows in all other philosophical forms. Beginning the hymn (vAzga an^dhaNar)with the acclamation of the love hearted worshippers, the dEvAs who make the life possible by the way of staying as nature, the cow herds - the three creatures that participate in the vEdhic worship of the Lord. He emphasized throughout the hymn that Don't get swayed away by the arguments and illusions. It is unexplorable but one can surely feel It if there is devotion. It is graceful that It removes the sufferings of the worshippers. (This thiruppAchuram is a marvelous hymn that upon analysis shows up very clear philosophy that can be experienced. In thiruththoNdar purANam chEkkizAr gives a magnificient commentery for this thiruppAchuram (820 - 844, thirunyAnachampan^dha n^AyanAr purANam)).

The ocean of wisdom thirunyAnachampan^dhar wrote the song in the blessed palm leaf and placed over the flowing river. Like the mind and progress of the disciplined that moves forward even against the strong force of material benefits, the holy hymn inscribed sheet piercing the stream went against the flow showing the Right thing for the world to follow. As the saint said in the hymn "Let the king be raised", the pANdiya king's hunch in the back became up right. The king was raised to the highly respectable n^inRachIr n^edumARa n^AyanAr(3) from kUnpANdiyan(Bent back pANdiyan). The association with devotees always takes to progress. The king soaked with the oil of the association with maN^gaiyarkkarachiyAr and kulachchiRaiyAr was lighted with the devotion of saint thirunyAnachapan^dhar to illuminate the entire kingdom. The modest minister flew behind the leaf on his horse to get it. The saint sang on the Lord vanni to make the sheet settle at the Lord's thiruvEdakam. The minister took the leaf on his head joyfully, worshipped the Lord at that temple and rushed back to champan^dhar. The sea of people on the bank of the river roared harahara. Jains who had taken the oath that they would kill themselves in that kazu column if they lose, and adament about the oath went forward to die on the kazu. Those who didn't want to do that left the country. Many who realized the glory of shiavism started worshiping Lord shiva. The prodigy who won with the complete grace of Supreme Truth gave the Holy Ash to the king. He smeared with humbleness and devotion for the easily forgiving Lord. The kingdom deserted false beliefs and got awakened in shaivam.

The turbulence was gone and the breeze of elephant skin cladded Lord's grace was nurturing the minds to the blissful shaivam path. The blooming flower on the Lord's holy feet - thirunyAnachampan^dha n^AyanAr who never attributed the victories to himself but was looking at the ways of serving and enslaving himself to the white smeared blue throated Lord rushed with eagerness to salute the Lord of thiruvAlavAy. The enlightened king, the woman who showed how best a wife could be to correct and accompany the husband in the proper path, the brave minister and all other devotees followed the saint to the temple. Circumambulating His abode entered the temple with the whole mind, speech and body directed towards Him. With raised folded hands he praised the Lord singing vIdalAlavAyilAy with the falls of tears fertilizing the land with devotion. He remarked the ritual is to think of that God of truth with the wholeness of mind. The respectable king who won the battle of thirunelvEli surrendered himself to the Lord adoring Him, "Oh Lord ! sunk the illusion I failed to know of you. Oh graceful who gave the champan^dhar to bring me to your fold !" With the heart unwilling to leave His abode champan^dhar came back to the monastery. On one of the days while champan^dhar stayed in madhurai obeying to the Lord, the father who gave birth to the prodigy - shivapAdahR^idayar came there to know about the saint who went to win the intolerant Jains. Welcoming and seeing his father the beacon of shaivam reminisced the holy feet of the Lord sitting on the boat. He sang maNNin^alla praising the Lord of chIrkAzi.

The loveful king, queen and minister unable to bear separation from him coming along, the saint saluted the South facing Teacher's abodesthirupparaN^kunRam, AppanUr, thiruppuththUr, pUvaNam, kAnappEr, chuziyal, kuRRAlam, n^elvEli and many others. He adored the Remover of sins at the place thiruvirAmEchchuram where shri rAmacha.ndra worshipped after killing rAvaNan. He sang the Lord nicely blessing in the Srilankan abodes thirukkONamalai, thirukkEdhIchcharam. Traveling northwards, he worshipped the Unmeasurable Lord at thiruvAdAnai, punavAyil and prostrated at the disciplined minister's town maNamERkudi. Asking in the name of God the king, queen and minister who wanted to come along with him to stay back and govern the country in the right path of shiavam, the glow that illuminated the pANdiya kingdom returned back to kAveri flowing 

Thirugnanachambandha Nayanar - part VIII  (The continuing victory)
 

aNgadhu kEttu ninRa amaNarum avarmER chenRu ,     poNgiya vekuLi kURap poRAmaikA raNamEyAgath ,     thaNgaLvAy chOrndhu thAmE thanivAdhil azindhO mAgil ,     veNkazu vERRU vAniv vEndhanE enRu chonnAr

See also:
1. maNgaiyarkkaracAr
2. kulachchiRaiyAr
3. ninRachIr n^edumARa nAyanAr

 

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