“ Oh Lord, the day you claimed me as Thine own, You coveted my body, spirit and belongings, My Lord of Three Eyes, can then any ill befall me? Whether you bless me or abandon me, That is Thy responsibility, not mine.” Thiruvachakam
Eminent saints who appeared in Tamil Nadu have laid the foundation for Saiva Sidhantam. Saiva Sidhantam is the doctrine that aims to reach Siva, the Supreme Godhead, by means of Agamas, the set of sacred principles. It is regarded as equal to Vedas. It became a powerful Bhakti movement. Among the many saints who contributed to the establishment of Saiva Sidhantam, the four saints, called ‘Nalvar’, occupy the prime position and they are Sri Sundaramurthy Nayanavar, Sri Thiujnana Sambhandar, Sri Appar and Manikkavachagar. They lived a life of total detachment and defined what true devotion is. The Thevaram songs rendered by Sri Sambhandar, Sri Appar and Sri Sundarar and Thiruvachakam rendered by Sri Manikkavachakar, commonly known as Thirumurai, are great inspiring works.
Whenever moral and spiritual values decline, either God himself manifests to revive those values or chooses a devotee, blesses him with the knowledge and ability to fulfill that task. Manikkavachakar seemed to be one such devotee who came with a sacred mission and fulfilled it successfully. He is remembered as the saint who kindled the light of devotion in the heart and shown the path of truth and righteousness. Thiruvachakam, his outstanding works, is considered as the confluences (sangamam) where literature blended with devotion. The very name of Manikkavachakar is synonymous with devotion, dispassion and dedication. He is a star who shines brilliantly in the galaxy of accomplished saints.
Manikkavachakar was born sometime in ninth century at Thiruvathavur in Madurai District. He was known as Vadhavurar, by the name of his birth place. Since his words shone as sparkling gems, he came to be known as Manikkavachakar. Even when young, Vadhavurar acquired knowledge of the Vedas and scriptures. Having come to know of his brilliance, the Pandyan King, Arimarthanan appointed him as a Minister in the Royal Court. The King entrusted him with the responsibility of buying horses and asked him to explore the market, find the best horses and buy them at a good price. The King also gave him a bag containing gold and precious stones to finalize the deal. Vadhavurar proceeded on his mission and reached Tirupperunthurai. Here, he felt a divine air being pervaded all over the place. He asked his bodyguards to go back and inform the King that he would return with the horses soon. He then saw a Master, sitting under a tree, teaching the students and captivated by his divine charm prostrated at his feet. He then rendered a song in praise of Lord Siva. Having observed his sincerity, humbleness and devotion, the Master conferred his blessings. Gradually, a transformation had taken place and Sri Vadhavurar detached himself from the external world. He started singing songs glorifying Lord Siva. He forgot the purpose for which he came here. He gave away all the money he brought to poor people and also for renovation of the temple.
Having known the dereliction of duty on the part of his Minister, the King summoned him, but unable to face the King, Manikkavachakar prayed Lord Siva to save him from his predicament. Subsequently, all the foxes in the forest turned out to be horses and reached the palace. Seeing the horses, the King ordered the release of Manikkavchagar, but by the time the night fell, all the horses came back to their original fox form. The King became furious and imprisoned Manikkavachagar again. Soon, as a result of divine intervention, the whole of Madurai got flooded. As the Vaigai river rose, the King ordered one member from each family to join the task of creating an embankment.
A woman called Vandhi, a great devotee of Siva was residing on the banks of the river. She was a vendor of rice-cake (pittu), but being old she could not do the manual work. Then a stranger appeared and volunteered to help her. Accordingly, his name was listed among the volunteers but instead of doing the work allotted, he was singing and dancing. Having heard about it, the King came and ordered the soldier to beat the man, but surprisingly everyone including the King felt the pain. The King realized that this man was a divine personality and prostrated. Agreeing to his request, the King released Manikkavachakar. Manikkavachagar declined the offer of Minister-ship given to him and went on a long pilgrimage.
He visited many holy shrines like Thiruperundurai, Thiruvarur, Sirkazhi, Thillai, Thiruvannamalai and Thirukazhukundram and composed songs in praise of Lord Siva. On reaching Thillai (Chidambaram), Manikkavachakar stayed in a small cottage. One night, while resting, he heard a knock on the door. On opening the door, he found a stranger standing outside and received him with respect. The stranger said that he has heard about Manikkavachakar’s songs and has come to see him and listen to his songs. Deeply absorbed in devotion, with eyes closed, Manikkavachakar started rendering the songs on the glory of Thillai Natarajar. While rendering the last line of the song, Manikkavachagar opened his eyes but he could not see the person before. He felt that this mysterious visitor could be none other than Lord Siva which was proved the next day. When the priest opened the sanctum sanctorum, he found a set of palm leaves placed at the foot of Lord Nataraja. Pundits, scholars and devotees all assembled to witness this rare phenomenon. On going through the text which was titled as ‘Thiruvachakam’, they found at the end of the manuscript the following words: “Dictated by Thiruvadhavuran (Manikkavachakar) and written down by Chitrambalamudayar (the One Who Resides In the Temple)”. Everyone marveled at the grace of Lord Siva and at the greatness of Manikkavachakar. They realized that Manikkavachakar’s poetic creation, the Thiruvachakam got its title ‘the sacred letters of God’ rightly because it has received the divine approval of God Himself. Manikkavachakar was called in and he was amazed to find the same manuscripts in which the stranger had noted the lyrics. These songs were hailed as Thiruvachakam.
The opening lines of Thiruvachakam hails the glory of Lord Siva. (“Namasivaya Vazhga, Nathan Thal Vazhga!”). The poet says that Lord Siva is the supreme master of the universe. “Even for the blink of an eye lid, that Sacred Name should never leave me!,” he said. “Bless me with a mind that surrenders at Your Lotus Feet! O Siva, the Lord who could not be reached by Vishnu and Brahma, who dances wearing a garland of skulls in the graveyard, remove my karma and accept me unto You!” The poet continues: “O Lord Siva, though you graced me, I failed to hold on to You and allowed my mind to stray. You have graced many disciples and elevated them, but instead of following the path shown by them, I strayed from the path of devotion. Having distanced myself from you, I am suffering the pangs of separation. I take refuge in You and pray for being united with you.”
Thiruvachakam is a treasure trove which contains precious gems; a few of them are shared here. “If the birth one takes in this world to be of worth, one should keep praising the glory of God by words and deeds” “This human birth is very rare. It is the culmination of many other births as animals and insects and therefore the individual must make it worth by being good, noble and devoted.” “Let us seek the grace. It is by the grace given by God that one is able to worship Him.” (Avan Arulale Avan Thal Vanangi). Grace me with the privilege of always being at your Lotus Feet.” “Oh Siva, I do not seek the company of family and relatives. I do not aspire for power, fame or position. All that I seek is to remain forever at your Lotus Feet!. Let me be born again and again to recite your sacred names.” “Rather than holding on to you, like the baby monkey holding on its mother, I went towards sense objects and remained glued to my own world of attachment. Please rescue me”. Manikkavachakar made these prayers from the viewpoint of ordinary devotees; but in his own case, his mind was pure and he was perfectly conscious of his true nature.
Apart from Thiruvachakam, Manikkavachakar has composed many other works, and Sivapuranam, Keerthi Thiru Agaval, Thiruvilayadal, are few of them. In ‘Pottri Thiru Agaval’, he prays for being able to escape from various barriers in life; escape from being born as different animals and insects, escape from being confined in the womb of mother, escape from different obstacles of worldly life, escape from desires and escape from the illusory world. Once escaped from these barriers, one experiences the Sat – Chit – Ananda (Truth, Consciousness and Bliss).
There are many works on the life and teachings of Manikkavachakar, some written in his time and some later. The most recent one is the Thiruperunthurai Puranam written by Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. Though there are many devotional works, each one unique in its appeal, Thiruvachakam is supreme for its divinity, for the depth of its devotion and for its literary value. Sri Sivaprakasar has compared it with the Vedas. In his Nanmani Malai, he says, “No other works reach the inner core of the heart as does the Thiruvachakam.” It is said that those whose mind does not melt on hearing the verses of the Thiruvachakam, would not melt on hearing any verse. (Thiruvachakaththukku Urugar Oru Vachakaththukkum Urugar).
Sri Ramana Maharshi remained still (achala), silent, motionless and unmoved and ever at peace. But there were occasions when even he became a little emotional while listening to Tiruvachakam. Tears rolled from his eyes. While speaking to Mr B.C. Das, a Physics Lecturer, Maharshi quoted the following line from Thiruvachakam: “O humming bee (mind), why do you take pains of collecting tiny specks of honey from innumerable flowers? There is one from whom you can have the whole storehouse of honey by simply thinking of Him. Get within and hum to Him.”. On the day of his mother’s death, Maharshi requested all his disciples to sing the Thiruvachakam. This was also the favorite hymn of Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamigal, the Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Math. It was the Thiruvachakam that Arut Prakasa Vallalar always carried with him. In fact, on the first night of his marriage, when he entered the room of his wife, he was carrying the Thiruvachakam. The greatness of Thiruvachakam cannot be described in letters. A question has been raised as to why its author, Manikkavachakar, was not included in the Saivite saints and why his name is not included in the Thiruthondar Thogai composed by Sundarar. This is because the Thiruthondar Thogai was dedicated to highlight the glory of Siva devotees and its author did not consider Manickavachakar as mere devotee of Lord Siva but as an incarnation of Lord Siva Himself!
“Never before I have read a devotional and literary work as magnificent and heart-rending as Thiruvachakam”, said G.U. Pope, a Canadian Missionary. He was so impressed with it that he translated it and adopted its principles.
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Source:
(1) The article ‘Manikkavachakar’ by Munaivar Thiru Jnanasundaram in ‘Jnanaparamparai’ published by Ramanantha Adigalar Arakkattalai, Coimbatore and presented by Arut Selvar, Dr N. Mahalingam.
(2) Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi by Sri Ramana Kendra, Hyderabad.