Chapter 87 - Thiruchuzhial or Tirucculiyal (Hymn 82)

I

This is another temple in the Pandya country. This hymn describes in the last line of every verse, the efficacy of worshipping the Lord. At least, one verse points out how one can escape from birth (6) and the whole hymn may be taken as such an address. The greatness of the temples of the Pandya country, because of our poet almost hankering after them, comes surcharged with emotion. These temples, are so many oases in this desert of life; the Lord has enshrined Himself in these temples to save us, taking them as His favourite resort (5). What a good fortune that in these temples He is happily well established unlike in the desolate places elsewhere! The poet speaks of the place as Thiruchuzhial in every one of the verses—without omitting the word ‘Tiru’.

I

The swarms of bees sing their tune in their love for the honey of the gardens of this holy place (1), reminding one of the followers of the Lord singing His praises in their great love for the wonderful honey of the place—the Lord. It is the beautiful place where in the ponds, the damsels of soft ruddy lips—red like the ‘kovai’ fruit duck and bathe so much that their pearls drowned during their play in the pond are moved on to the shore by the very motion of the waves they create (3). These pearls are described as those which the roaring sea—‘Kavvaikkatal’— the principal sacred tank of this holy place—brings with cries of fright (3). As the sea is far away from this place this must be taken as a general description of the pearls as being the tribute paid by the sea to the damsels of the Pandya country, the empresses of beauty. The tradition has felt this difficulty about the reference to the sea and the principal sacred tank of this holy place is pointed out as bearing the name “Kavvaikkatal” the very phrase found in Arurar’s poem. Was the tank known by that name in his age? We know tanks being named ‘Sagaram’. This picture of the pearl of the sea also suggests the followers of the Lord revealing to all, the pearl of the Lord as the inner secret of the universe. There is no room for further description of the place in the scheme of this hymn.

III

This is His place. He resides there, a place which He had occupied as his favourite resort. It is His city, and He resides there taking it as a great city. He resides there happily established—what a great boon for Him—(Perran—peru is a rare gift received) (5). That way He had come to us, He our relative (5)—our Lord—‘Emperuman’ (4). This seems to emphasize the idea that God is in search of loving souls. This is a new way of looking at the temple cult. It is our worship of self-surrender that He is hankering after. Love knows no restrictions and our poet as the poet of harmony looks upon every kind of worship as good, an expression of love as anything else. He is thought of in various ways and the people of the Lord of Death will never tease those who contemplate on the Lord (1). After this escape from the fear of Death, service comes next to our poet’s mind. Those who are experts in performing services—they are all divine services—are indeed the good people who worship only the feet of these Bhaktas (3). Hark, these are no slaves; they are those who become the kings of those various parts of the compass; they reside and the Goddess of wealth never deserts them (3).

IV

In passing it may be noted that this accepts regionalism as distinguished from universal sovereignty which our poet spoke of when referring to the Pallava king as ruling the world surrounded by the seas (39: 9). Perhaps the political picture had changed since then. It is said that freed souls are given poorer over the universe to save the souls and, therefore, power in the service of the Lord is not to be looked down upon. Therefore, our poet is preaching no philosophy of world negation. The followers worship the feet of the Lord and the defects of their mind do not continue. They shine in their glorious fame suggesting thereby their great achievements. The fame is eternal and they rise above into the high Heavens (4).

He is the Lord of the Beautiful Form contemplated on by those who had conquered their five senses (5). This conquest is T. 113 not negation but a positive enjoyment of the Beauty, the incarnation of the Absolute. There again, those with an unswerving mind learn the Holy name of the Lord (5). Learning, as Tiruvalluvar puts it, is also acting according to the knowledge gained (Rural— 391). To know is to do. They reach without fail the ideal or the goal. Therefore, it is our duty to praise the Lord. “O, those who strive to cut away this fetter of birth resting on the ‘malam’ or the intrinsic evil blot” (6)—thus our poet addresses the followers of the Lord and points out to them that the worship of the Lord with flowers and unguents will be the best kind of Tapas. The third line in this stanza ‘Nilam tankiya’ is relied upon as an internal evidence to the version in the Stala Purana that Bhumi Devi worshipped the Lord in this place with flowers and perfume, giving Him the name ‘Bhuminatan’. The earth bears up these flowers (6). Are not the trees in bloom firmly rooted in this earth? They are there showering the flowers on God; that seems the ideal of their florescence. The whole world goes on thus in this worship of beauty. The rich fragrant smokes curl up as though to go to the Heavens to please the Lord (6). The whole space thus offers as it were a foundation and support for the fame of those who contemplate on this universal worship of beauty and sweetness and who praise the Lord similarly with flowers and unguents (6). Tiruvalluvar speaks of fame as the happy consummation of domestic life and Tapas as the consummation of a life of renunciation. Here, this worship of beauty and sweetness making us understand the inner ideal of this universe, leads us not only to great fame but through this fame comes and stands created the great Tapas or sacrifice. For, the beauty and sweetness are not used for selfish ends; attachment to them is renounced in the cause of perfection and universal enjoyment. It is a great Tapas. This is indeed great wisdom (catur) an expert knowledge of the art of life; for, thus one achieves both the contradictory aims of the conflicting ways of life.

These devotees are the divine Tapasvins. The Lord worshipped and praised by them is the eternal child or youth (7); old age or decay is not in their fresh thoughts. To those who contemplate on His feet enshrining Truth in their mind, it is indeed easy to be cured of their karmas (7).

The humility which is still conscious of its power, ceases to be the humility of self surrender, being carried to the giddy heights of a superior egoism by this self-conscious rulership. These rulers know not the way of approach. The couchant bull, the Dharma of self-surrender is His banner. He is Himself the incarnation of such humility and mercy; for, is He not Himself carrying in His hand the meek and humble deer? He thus stoops to conquer. His feet is on our heads (8).

The same idea of the fall of the arrogant is suggested by the vanquishment of Ravana. The mountain of the creeping waters of cataract is personified as Tirumalaiyar (10). (Here we are reminded of the Vaishnavites’ belief that the freed or free souls have become the various weapons of Visnu and the many places in Vaikunta). The great Daksa never honoured the Lord and the sacrifice came to naught. It ended in His play of destruction. The heretics know not this truth and indulge in their wanton egoism. Alas! That is their fate coming according to the great law of the Heavens (9).

V

(The Heretics referred to are the Jains and the Buddhists. The Buddhists are called the Cakkiyas being the followers of the Buddha of the Cakkiya clan. They probably went about with an umbrella and hence the description ‘kutai-c cakkiyar’.—Some have interpreted this as to mean teasing cakkiyar. But in that case we must have ‘kutai cakkiyar’ without the doubling of ‘c’—a reading given by no text. The Jains are called Caman—perhaps a Tamilian form of gramana. This word had come to mean naked; for the Digambara Saints of Tamil land went without any covering. ‘Atar’ is another description. It is also a name of the ‘Arhat according to Cudamani Nighantu— perhaps a form of the word Apta, though there is underlying this a humorous vein laughing at their ‘apta vacana’. The word also signifies a mean person. ‘Atan’ was such a common name of many persons in, the Cankam age that it had come to mean any ordinary man—man of no worth. “Kuntatiya— relishing in kuntu— is another description of the Heretics. ‘Kuntu’ may refer to the well built form of flesh and it may mean the depth of meanness or ignorance or vulgarity. ‘Mintatiya’ is their revelling in their arrogance in debate and elsewhere. These words ‘kuntu’ and ‘mintu’ are often used by Teva-ram and Nalayira Prabhandam with reference to these heretics derided as vile arrogant and violent—with what justification one cannot say though one cannot quarrel with the poets describing their rivals in the way in which they experienced them).

VI

Leaving this digression at this point, one may continue to see the picture of the devotees. Their ideal (5) (gati) is the conquest of death and birth, of fetters, desires and blots, the achievement of fame, and truth, sacrifice, goodness of a blotless heart or mind, happiness derived from power of service, truth and the extinguishment of karma. As against the western prejudice accusing the East of indifference to morality, it is seen here that the poet is emphasizing truth and goodness of these followers of God lost in the worship of the Absolute and Beauty. There is one other name ‘Saivatta cevvuruvan’—‘The red or proper form of Shaivite’— a name which summarizes all the greatness of Sai-vism (7).

VII

The puranic stories of Ravana (10), of the banner of Bull (8) and the meek deer in His hand (8) and of the destruction of Daksa’s sacrifice (9) have already been referred to as emphasizing the message of the Bhakta’s life. His battle axe (2), His club (2), His bull (2), His feast of poison (2), His burning of the three castles of the air (2), His company of the damsel of the mountain (4), His flaying of the elephant’s skin (4), His mat-lock with waves of the Ganges (4, 6), His crescent moon (5), His sacred ash (7), and His remaining unknown to Visnu and Brahma (8)—all these are also referred to. The description given of the Lord as standing on the chariot for the sake of the Devas at the time of the destruction of the three cities (2) has been probably influenced by the description of Krishna standing on the chariot for delivering the message of the Gita, suggesting thereby the Lord Shiva is equally a great Guru,

VIII

The universal vision is hinted at the very beginning itself. He becomes the flesh, the refuge, the soul, the vast expanse of space, and the Heavens showering the rains through the clouds (1). He comes as the intellectual, His decision finding out the way to conquer fate and He comes also as the Fate or Providence (1). The law of our mind or Intellectual decision of human effort and the law of Nature or Fate are thus harmonized as the aspects of the law of the Lord. The Lord is the blotless: He that removes the blot (4). This spirit of holiness breathes through the later hymns. The Lord is glorified as He who has extinguished the five senses, reminding us of the Kural’s description of God, ‘Porivayil ainta-vittan’ (6). (It is possible to take this description as applicable to the Bhakta as we have already done—5).

IX

The poet influenced by his description of the followers as kings, calls himself the king of the people of Navalur (10). There is a pun in this word and one may call the poet the king as well of the lords of the tongue. But he glorifies himself in all humility as bearing the name of His Lord ‘Ati peyar—Aruran’. This hymn breathes the Bhakta’s spirit of freedom from all miseries, and therefore, the poet assures the readers who know well this Tamil garland of Ten verses that they will be also devoid of miseries.