Yes. It is He who fosters in us the desire to be of service to Him.

In a world where selfishness dictates man’s every move, if I am able to serve God without any expectations, wanting nothing but Him, it is only due to His Infinite Grace.

We require His Grace to even think of Him and pray to Him. And for gaining the role of His whole time servant, nothing but His Mercy makes it possible.

Thevaram states, ‘Ennai thaduthu adimai kondu, en pazhavinai aruthu thannai ninaindhuruga  tharuginraai’. Life is split into three stages. At the appropriate time, God frees you from the tangles of worldly illusions and draws you into His Folds. Then He absolves you of your past karmas.

Assume a person is to be appointed to a particular post and he is recommended by a high official. If the prospect has a case pending against him, he will not be promoted.

Similarly, if you want to be promoted into God’s service, you have to break free of the karmas of your past births. This is ‘pazhavinai aruthal’. And then He keeps you absorbed in constant thoughts of Him. Andal sings, ‘Maal enakku urugumaalo’; her mind melts at the sound of the Lord’s name. Arunagiri seeks Muruga’s Grace so that his heart may mellow at the mention of His Name, ‘Nenju negizhndhu negizhndhu urugi, Muruganidathu naan thanjam seidhu Arul ketkinren’.                    

God determines the right time to mellow every person. If you study the lives of Mahaans, you will understand how God moulds everyone.

Manickavachagar served as a minister in the court of Arimarthana Pandian. He was given some money to buy horses for the royal stable. On his way, he got engrossed in a discourse by a Saivite saint and forgot the purpose for which he had set out. Instead, he constructed a temple in that place, and stayed there. The king demanded the money back, failing which Manickavachagar would be punished. Manickavachagar prayed to Lord Siva, and God advised him not to worry, presented him with a parcel and directed him to tell the king that the horses were on their way. Soon enough, the Lord, in the form of a well-built person led some horses to the court and instructed the king to check them before they were led to the stables. Sometime later, the king heard the ‘horses’ (horse in Tamil is ‘pari’) howling (fox is ‘nari’ in Tamil) instead of neighing. Manickavachagar was imprisoned and beaten up.

The river Vaigai started overflowing and flooding Madurai. The king commanded each family to send one person as its representative to join the efforts of controlling the flood by constructing a dam. There was a poor old woman who had no representative but herself. Siva presented Himself to her as a young man, partook of ‘pittu’ (a sweet delicacy) prepared by the woman and offered to go as her representative. At the construction site, while others toiled, Siva, who was in disguise, took rest. The king whipped him and was surprised to find that everyone including himself bore the blows. Only then did the king understand that these were the Thiruvilayadal(s) (pranks) of the Lord. And Siva revealed Himself, ‘Do not think of Manickavachaga as an ordinary mortal. He was Thiruvadhavoorar with me in Kailash. During one of My discourses, his attention was diverted to Indra travelling across Siva loka. And so I sent him down to Earth to satisfy his pending desires and make him realize that they are illusions. When he came across the Saivite saint (which was none other than I), he was reminded of his real self, and so got engrossed in it. He cannot serve you as a minister anymore’.

So Manichavachagar was freed, and he constructed an ashram for himself near Chidambaram and composed the Thiruvachagam. ‘Thiruvachagathirku urugaar oru vachagathirkum urugaar’. ‘One who is not overwhelmed by the beauty of the Thiruvachagam verses, has a stone-heart that will not melt in anything’.

There was a Saivite Mahaan in Sri Lanka during the time period when Buddhism was reigning strong. He used to repeat ‘Ponnambalam, Ponnambalam’ for every word spoken to him. The Buddhist monks reported this to the king. Called for an explanation, the Mahaan explained that anyone who feasted his eyes on Lord Nataraja performing the Cosmic Dance at Ponnambalam, would not seek anything else. The king, along with his daughter who was dumb by birth, and ministers, set out to check on this statement. The Lord instructed Manickavachagar to welcome them. Manickavachagar welcomed them with an invocation song on the Lord, and to the amazement of the gathered crowd, the mute princess was blessed with the power of speech. So the king of  Sri Lanka embraced Saivite philosophy.

These are instances of the Lord using Manickavachagar as His instrument.

Siva appeared in the form of an old man and told Manickavachagar, ‘Your songs are impregnated with spiritual depth. These must be preserved for posterity. So dictate them and I will be your scribe’. That is the infinite mercy of the Lord. Vinayaka transcribed while Veda Vyasa recited the Mahabharatha. Similarly, Lord Siva acted as the scribe for Thiruvachagam. Manickavachagar did not realize then, that it was Lord Siva in disguise, transcribing his compositions. On completion of the transcription, Lord Siva signed off with these words, ‘The Lord of Ponnambalam transcribed Manickavachagan’s compositions’. (‘Manickavachagan odha Ponnambalamudaiyaan kaiyezhuthu ittadhu’.) That is how Thiruvachagam came to be.

If you recapitulate these episodes from the life of Manickavachagar, you will arrive at the answer to this question.

Manickavachagar was with Lord Siva. His attention got diverted to worldly desires and he had to take birth to fulfil his wants. He was thrown into prison. This is ‘pazhavinai aruppadhu’ (resolving karmas).

How does the Lord remove your illusion? Just as He presented Himself in the form of a Saivite saint and delivered a discourse that brought back memories of Kailash to Manickavachagar, making him realize who he was. That is the split second in which the Lord brings you back to your senses.

The next step is mellowing your mind to concentrate on Him always. This is the state of Manickavachagar singing the Lord’s Infinite Glories in Thiruvachagam.

Take the case of Appar Swami. He was born into a Saivite middle class family, but was drawn towards the Jain cult. He was afflicted with severe stomachache. His sister Thilakavathy, who did not approve of his embracing Jainism, advised him to chant the Panchakshara mantra and partake of the Lord’s Vibhuthi (holy ash) considering that Jainism was unable to cure him. He was healed and returned to the Saivite faith.

Enraged by this, the king engaged elephants to trample him, had him thrown into the ocean and attempted to kill him in various ways. Appar continued chanting, ‘Lord Siva is my constant companion. There is nothing to fear.’ (‘Natrunaiyaavadhu Namachivaayame! Anjuvadhu yaadhonrum illai. Anjavaruvadhum illai.’) Lord Siva saved him and absolved him of his karmas. Realizing himself by God’s Grace, Appar continued his mission of spreading the Lord’s message and when he grew old and could not travel to Kailash, Lord Siva assumed the form of an old person, bade Appar to take a dip in the lake and thus Appar was granted the darshan of Kailash at the the Lake at Thiruvaiyaar.

As far as Appar Swami was concerned, the Lord gave him severe stomach-ache to take him into His Folds; absolved him of his karmas by the torture he was subjected to by the king; engaged the saint in His service by making him do temple service … cleaning the temple area. Appoothi Adigal, drawn to the service that Appar was rendering the Lord, invited the saint for a feast, the devotee’s son was stung by a serpent when he went to fetch a plantain leaf for the guest and Appar revived him. These are instances from Appar’s life to show how God takes care of you.

Sundaramoorthy Nayanar dwelt in Kailash, as Siva’s personal friend. He was attracted to two of Parvathi’s assistants. And so Siva instructed him to take birth on Earth, complete his karmas (caused by the distraction) and when Sundarar pleaded for mercy, Siva promised that He would take charge of him at the appropriate time.

So Sundarar took birth on Earth; when his marriage to a Brahmin girl was about to take place, Siva decided that the time was ripe to free Sundarar from worldly illusions. 
He appeared in   the form of an old man, declared that Sundarar was his slave and flourished a document to support his statement. The infuriated Sundarar addressed the 
old man as ‘Pittha’ (Madcap) and tore the document to shreds; but the old man had the original document with him and so the bridegroom had no other option than to follow his master. God had to enact this scene because there was no connection between the bridegroom and the prospective bride. Parvathi’s maids whom Sundarar had been distracted with, had also taken birth on Earth as Sangili Nachiar in Thiruvaroor and Paravai Nachiar near Thiruvotriyur, and were waiting for Sundarar.

 I will soon revert to the topic we are discussing.

(Continues next week ....)

<<<<Previous